How about the Panasonic guy that fixes this gets a new symphonic work in his honor?

Will it be big and performed by real orchestra?

I think we could throw this offer at interview :-)

@B3Guy @Vitaliy_Kiselev So... I have got to get far away from you guys for a while. ;)

I am more of a carrot guy than a stick guy. How about the Panasonic guy that fixes this gets a new symphonic work in his honor?

Let's do it.

They always never give you EXACTLY what you want. Granted we want it all, but this is something that's been a long time wanted and the fact they don't mention it or the reps don't know is a massively bad sign.

OK, $20 donation to personal-view.com IF there is FULL UNCOMPRESSED HDMI OUTPUT. I feel more than safe making this bet and would happily lose.

@thepalalias

I hope you turn out to be right about it turning to be better, but there is nothing definite about it >being a "definite all-around better camera". There are many promises and many questions.

We are anxious for the answers to those questions.

Sure, you're right. Nothing is etched in stone as yet. But we've only had a few video samples to go on at this point and also a bit of mis-information (or maybe a better term is non-verified) floating around. I personally am waiting to see more "real world" examples from others who can verify or discredit some of the confusing info (like whether they cripled the HDMI out "again") we've been hearing before I pass any judgement. In the mean time I'm trying my best to give Panachronic...I mean Panasonic the benefit of the doubt.

EDIT: What B3Guy said. :-)

That's a big deal and the fact they're not mentioning it, never mind shouting it from the rooftops, means it won't be in the GH3.

Just look at the number of available GH3 cameras :-) At actual press conference.
They got new high, even compared to GH2 lauch :-)

Why are you surprised that it is not selling point?

@thepalalias The footage they released ( genesis ) is filmed by many different lenses ( too much different for me ) and for night shots, wide open ( reffering to the bokeh ) so i can't tell if it is softer. I thook, the footage have to be slighty sharper cause of the number of effective pixel are smaller ( but the new low-pass filter may break the rule ). Pampuri's footage is not a refference for me, because aperture, shutter speed, white balance and more.. are not controlled. Reffering to the footage they released ( all of its ) i think extra DR is in black tones. BUT i take it with care cause nobody know wich picture profile they uses. AND we don't even know if Picture Profiles are on the pre-production unit

and for the moire, i didn't see it but i'll check.

I just spent the last couple of hours catching up on this thread (crazy right?). I have to laugh at ...um...most of these comments. I recognize that there are a number of people here that was lambasting the GH-2 over a year ago in the exact same way saying things like "it's not worth the upgrade" or "look at this or that in the sample footage" etc. Those same folks now own a GH-2. I can gurantee most of those same folks will "eventually" buy this camera.

Despite a few drawbacks this camera seems to have a lot to offer. It is definitely an all around better camera. Like I said earlier I have confidence that this machine will put out some great footage. The GH-1 was great and the GH-2 even better when it comes to the "final" image. As good as the GH-2 is I don't think Panasonic would skimp out on providing us with a comparable or even better image maker.

So much of this is either outright speculation . . . or very nearly speculation. Specs and numbers only tell you a little bit about the camera. I'll never buy this or any other cam until it has been widely used and proven to be a good camera. The Gh3 could still very easily turn out to be an incredible tool, 4:2:2 HDMI or no. Cool it a bit, hold your horses and don't prematurely condemn it to suckfestdom.

For me the increased crop factor is one of the most disappointing 'aspects' of the GH3. It just makes it even harder at the wide end. 15mm is the widest I have which gives an acceptable 28mm based on the GH2's 1.86 crop factor.

If the GH3 does indeed have a 2.1 crop then it appears 15mm will be more like 32mm which ain't so wide any more.

And my Voigtlander 17.5mm now goes from a 33mm to 37mm. It might not seem much on paper but...

In the meantime a 2nd GH2 is on my buying list before they all disappear.

The GH3 can wait for now.

Well, I guess it's Black Magic Camera for me. I was really looking forward to 60fps... but I just can't justify spending over $1000 on a camera without 4:2:2 anymore.

@bwhitz I know right, because there are soooo many $1,000 4:2:2 cameras out there.

I think it might be helpful to look back at what we were asking for and mentioning at the point the design decisions were being made, etc.

We asked for 1080P 50P and 60P. We got it. We asked for dedicated audio input and headphone jacks with uncompressed audio. We got it. Battery grip option? We got it. Clean HDMI? Sounds like we got it, but waiting to see the specifics.

None of these are the reasons we are really complaining. If this were the GH2 with those added features, there would be only minor complaints about the price and the community would be embracing the camera as a whole while (quietly) noting the room for improvement.

The primary reasons why we are complaining so much are:

1. The sensor appears to be such a redesign that we are talking about everything from a different FF crop ratio to concerns about the image quality (potentially) having changed completely. Almost none of us expected a single-aspect sensor with more in common with competing products than with the GH2 (and that is how some people are portraying it at the moment, whether true or not). Nobody expected that they might have to worry more about moire or check to see if could do things as well as the GH2, etc.

2. The market has gotten drastically more competitive over the course of the last year. While the established major camera manufacturers have been conservative in introducing new features and functionality, they have been more aggressive in their mid to low-end pricing, creating new competitors. But the bigger competition is coming from new sub-$10,000 dedicated video cameras and cinema cameras. The Sony FS-700 stands out for slow-motion (and promised4k via external recorder in future via paid update) and the BMCC stands out for 2.5K , 13 stop DR offered in RAW or 10-bit codec for ca. $3,000 (with the software to grade it included).

Keep in mind that before NAB this year, the Red Scarlet was the low price RAW released market offering with prices starting at $14-15k for the barest offering (and most people buying options for packages going over $20k from what I read). It also offered 4k using onboard recording, something neither of the cameras discussed could do.

In other words, our desires have expanded, the market has changed a bit and the new camera in the GH line seems to have given up some things we had no idea were even being considered. So that leaves a lot of us treating this camera more like an entirely new camera than a new GH. And for many of us, that is sad.

Here is hoping that the areas that were improved were done to such an extent that we can embrace the camera for it, despite the loss of things that were important to us (and the ones we did not know to ask for yet.)

I would also like to add that for me (personally) the GH2 at the time of release did everything I wanted from a camera at the pricepoint and size. I did not care about MJPEG because I never used it on the GH1. Everything seemed better. The additional things the hack added later on really helped me enjoy it more.

I am sure that GH3 will have few significant firmware related upgrades.