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GH3 - Worth waiting?
  • 45 Replies sorted by
  • Yeah, I don't think we are going to get much better video from now on with Panasonic, perhaps enhancement in the photo side like better low light and Dr might migrate to the video side. The big thing might be avchd 2.0 60p. Not that it will be particularly useful in standard mode 28 mbits, but a hack version could bring a very nice 1080p slowmo to the gh line. The rest might be incremental, but could be very interesting. We could have a better viewfinder, metal body and auto focus for example.
  • @alcomposer I bought my first GH1 for $350 body only then my second for $299, both plus tax and shipping of course. While the GH2's probably won't get that cheap....I'm waiting to see how cheap they get. :)

    Plus I'm going to try and do a serious shoot soon that will probably cost me around $1k so I need all my spare cash for that. My only worry is will Panny make new GH2s unhackable and will Vitality take the time to hack those if they do.
  • @CRFilms when Panny made the GH1 unhackable people stopped buying them... and now Panny is almost 'happy' about the hack... (considering that it is free advertising for them- they would be stupid to not 'say yes').
  • @alcomposer I hope you're right, but I have ZERO faith in Panasonic doing the right thing. Zero.
  • @CRFilms- I do share your worries... But especially after the Red announcement companies can no longer expect high prices for their gear any more. This will hopefully push their hand into allowing (and even developing) higher quality products at super prices - or people will just move to red! Easy sum- Panny; Sony; Nikon; Canon =0 Red =1
    What they have to do NOW is get away from talking and start doing.
    Anyway, if Panasonic does the wrong thing- we don't buy- and possibly they lose VK (who has facilitated more sales of GH1+GH2 than all the Panasonic Reps put together!!)
  • @DouglasHorn thanks for feedback. Do you have any footage to have a look at or do you mind sharing your settings?

    Do you think its a good idea to start off with the kit lense 14-140? I later on plan to go for canons 50 1.4 or even voigtländer. What did you start shooting with?
  • @lenuisible i also have a cheap one and i do not use it with a big gear, cause i dont have any, and i dont want to have any, the way i use it also, is by placing the highest of the two f numbers i need on the lens, and then moving the open-lock ring slowwly to the open side
  • @Alexauwa well, the advantage is this, let´s say you are following someone with a camera from a sunny outside to a less illuminated interior of a house, well there you will have to change the aperture, and if you do it with the hard stops of the photo legacy lens, that shoot will not have a smooth graduation in exposure...

    or if you are panning from the inside of a room to what is on the outside of a window

    or...

    hope you get the idea...


    of course you can achieve this also on legacy lenses by placing a fader nd in front of the lens, but that way you probably wont´be able to use the max aperture of the lens

    so i don´t know is up to you of course, but the ring is just a plus, i don´t see the downside of just having xtra features on a legacy lens
  • @Alexauwa btw i own the 14-140, and unless you really need those xtra mm, to let say shoot "on the run" a documentary, or a wedding, or something...
    you will probably be best buying the other kit, as the 140 is not a remarkable lens, a usable one, to get "on the run" shoots, but by saving that money i will reccomend you to buy the 14mm 2.5, as it is something that has autofocus and you will be missing the autofocus in nightshots specially in the wide spectrum, as the legacy lenses that are wide and fast are really not cheap

    so unless you need the autofocus on the xtra mm that the 140 offers compaired to the 14-42, i will reccommend you to buy the other kit, as it is actually a better lens (in definition)

    or if you are ok by not using the autofocus, or auto exposure, just buy the body only
    and a complete legacy lens kit
  • @lolo Thanks! So this ring comes with that adapter?

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-FD-FL-AF101-AF100-G2-G3-GF3-E-PL3-GH2-E-P3-micro-4-3-adapter-/250912965876?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a6b9404f4

    I mean, do I lose lots of automatic features when shooting manual/adaptor?
  • @Alexauwa
    For lenses, it really depends on what you shoot. I shoot almost exclusively with prime lenses--I just like the look and I don't consider having to pick the right lens or zooming with my feet to be a negative. I don't use the kit zoom and the Panny 20mm and 14mm I have but somehow don't love. The only Panny lens that I adore is the 45mm F2.8 Leica macro. To me, a big part of the look I love in the GH2 comes in conjunction with my legacy FD prime lenses. You could easily get 4 fast primes with adapter(s) on ebay for less than the 14-140, if prime lenses fit your shooting needs. But if you're shooting a documentary, maybe the zoom is better.

    BTW, One of those nice intangibles with the GH2 is how fast you can do a lens change. At times I will carry 2-3 lenses with me and just go for hours without opening the lens case. Not optimal, but necessary for some days of shooting.
  • Oh and to answer your question, yes, you lose all the automatic features when you shoot with a manual lens. You'll have to set aperture and focus yourself. But you also GET TO set them yourself in ways that the camera cannot limit you. To some that seems like a hassle, to others, half the fun.
  • @Alexauwa nope that one doesnt have it

    this one does:
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adapter-Canon-FD-FL-Lens-Micro-M4-3-Mount-H195-/300590070780?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45fc907bfc

    and yeap you lose all the auto features on the lens (auto focus, auto exposure, auto mode), but you can still have the auto white balance, and as douglashorn says, it is half the fun to set it exactly to your taste, the other half is to actually recording it :)
  • @lolo Thanks! As i am from Germany. This one should be it over here!?

    http://www.ebay.de/itm/MUNDUS-Adapter-Canon-FD-Panasonic-Lumix-G-Serie-Olympus-MFT-PEN-Serie-/320769624308?pt=DE_Foto_Camcorder_Objektive&hash=item4aaf5c08f4

    PS: Do you recommand any Canon FD lenses such as 35 1.4 / 50 1.4 / 55 1.2 S.C.C. / 85 1.8?
  • @Alexauwa yes, that one has the ring

    about the lenses, the only ones i have tried, of the ones you mention, are the 50mm and the 85mm

    the 50mm is the bang for the buck of the fd family, top quality, really cheap, a bit soft at 1.4, but at 2.0 it gets tack sharp, a must buy, unless you are buying the 1.2 of course

    about the 85mm, i would recommend you to buy instead the 135mm f2 wich is nicer for portrait and really top quality, with a beautiful bokeh

    as for other fd lenses, check this thread.
    http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/106/lenses-for-canon-fd-mount#Item_89

    and as you are loosing the autofocus please check this thread also (if you are saving bucks of course):
    http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/23816#Comment_23816

    and this webpages to get more fd info:
    http://www.fdreview.com/lenses.php?brand=Canon&mount=FDn&type=Prime
    http://www.canon.com/camera-museum/camera/lens/index.html

    of course please,
    always google every lens that you plan to buy,
    and try to check at least 2 different web sources before you make any decission, because everything has a portion of subjectivness

    as for me the only fd that i don´t like is my 28mm 2.8, but i don´t know if i get a bad unit or if it is a poor design, so...

    greetings from southamerica!
  • I have a pretty complete set of fast FDs, but the ones I use 90% of the time are the 50mm 1.4 (the best of the FD 50mms), the 35mm F2.0 and the 24mm F2.0. For the 85mm, I opted for the Rokinon EF F1.4 mount instead of the FD. It's a wonderful lens at such a great price that I couldn't justify spending for the the old Canon L lens at 5 times the price. The Rokinon looks beautiful and cuts very well with the others.

    Like Lolo, I am not really a fan of the 28mm F2.8. It's not a focal length that makes as much sense with a 2x crop factor. Better to have the 24mm and 35mm, in my opinion. I am considering the Leica 25mm F1.4 because it's a nice fast stop for that focal length. I also occasionally use my GH2 professionally for stills shoots and the Panny lenses excel at stills. (I kinda trashed them above, but that was for cinematography, not stills. Wanted to clarify that.)
  • I think discussion went little offtopic here :-)
  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev jajajjaajajaja, is just that fd glass is just so gooood
  • @Alexauwa, if you want to use the stepless aperture feature of the lock/open ring, choose the second one; if it annoys you to change it involuntary when changing the aperture ring, you could tape it. If you doesn't want that feature, the first one is one piece, so I would say sturdier.
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