If the G6 has a crop factor of x2 - I don't mind that as all my C - Mount lenses that just vingette a bit in the corners will be all OK on the G6 - No vingetting Pentax 25mm f1.4 and Wesley 24mm f1.4 both vingette a bit on my GH2

My G6 arrived this Thursday with the Oly 45mm as a starter lens. This is my first camera and I've found the camera satisfactory so far, and I've been shooting both outside and indoors. Now I just need to find another lens (12mm, 25mm) so I have something wider to shoot with.

@Starsailor:

If you want something fast the Olympus 17mm F1.8 is for sure quite nice (altough it´s not as sharp as the Panasonic 20mm F1.7 - But way faster focusing and it has a higher built quality). Or check out the Panasonic 25mm F1.4 - Which is also REALLY nice. But if you want a "always on" I can highly recommend the new Panasonic 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 Power OIS lens. It´s very well built, small, leightweight, has a good image quality (also at the corners) AND the most important - The built in Power OIS image stabilizer is noticable better than any of the Mega OIS stabilized lenses! VERY nice for video. And if you get it in a Kit (together with the G5 for example) and you resell the G5 it´s VERY affordable (I paid just around 500€ for mine over this way). Or if you just want something even smaller (which is at least equipped with the Mega OIS) - Check out the new Panasonic 14-42mm II ASPH lens. Also VERY good and cheap (the only con is the A LITTLE BIT lower corner sharpness at the lower end - compared to the centre).

Just a few hints if you search for something affordable and good ^^.

guys, about the crop difference in Panny Gx cameras, have a look at this nice article:

http://m43photo.blogspot.com/2013/05/multi-aspect-sensor.html

Well. I didn´t measure it (the OIS performance). But I recognized, that indoor shots (stills) are now possible which weren´t possible at all (by far) with my old 14-45mm Panasonic Mega OIS lens. The GH2 for example is now like a new camera for me (especially for indoor stills).

AND also video shots are noticable better stabilized. With a shoulder support (like the Cullman Cruiser I use for quick and dirty shooting) there is maybe not THAT much of difference (with both hands used - And compared up to the 45mm of my old lens) - But it´s already visible. And handheld, without any support at all, you recognize immediately, that the Power OIS is working WAY better than the Mega OIS (even at 45mm and below). Too bad that I don´t have the old 14-140mm lens here to compare. It´s planned to review it shortly (the new 14-140mm lens) - Maybe I can borrow the old one somewhere to compare them (it´s for sure interesting to see the differences).

Hmm. I tested it out (with a few short shots @ 14mm) and compared them to a HD2000 steadycam shot I made yesterday with the 14-140mm. There is not THAT much difference inbetween the 14-45mm and the 14-140mm as a "steadycam replacement". The new 14-140mm is again noticable more stable against wobbling / jittering from your hands - that´s true and for sure the footage is way more usable. But the main problem is, that the OIS (both versions) are only 2-axis stabilizers (vertical and horizontal). So any rotation movements are not stabilized at all. You will ALWAYS see them. And also the steps you make are not stabilized. Unless you´re walking without shoes (also tested ^^).

The only option is to stabilize the footage in post (the unwanted rotation movements and the steps which are also kind of always in your footage). But that´s also not always the best solution (and not always working as wished). Yes. The new 14-140mm is (kind of) better. But as a "real" steadycam replacement ... I think it´s still no option. Btw.: Don´forget: It´s also quite hard to move the camera as steady as possible over a longer period of time. For a short scene - sure. But for a longer shot it´s quite hard not to make any wrong movements with your hands (which are normaly compensated by the steadycam). Btw.: The best and steadiest solution was the cullman cruiser als a handle under the camera - Stabilized with both hands.

Hope that helps ^^.

@jakiman

Same thing on my G6. It appears to work only for areas that are fairly well lit and have enough contrast.

From your experience it make sense to switch from GH2 to G6? How is the video quality so far, better hacked GH2, G6 or almost the same?

Hello. I' am interesting in buying g6. I need live video out and remote video start/stop for distance about 3-5m(10-15ft). I'm planning to do it via wi-fi. Has anyone tried this feature? How is it? Is peaking available on wifi remote device? Thanks in advance.

And one more: does g6 have live hdmi out?

I have had the G6 for two weeks now and I can assure you that the G6 has better picture than GH2! Actually, miles ahead. It's really a fantastic camera with a lot of features. I have compared my old hacked GH2 with G6, In my mind, the G6 beats the Gh2 in some ways according to video. With my own custom settings It really has a cinematic look!! HDMI out, I don't really care. The result is very good on my SDHC 85mb write.

I sold my GH2.. :)

the G6 is very very good I would say better than GH2 hacked - no misquito noise in the blacks - its very clean

Stock video compression on G6 might be OK for talking head interviews, documentary shoots where image quality isn't all-important, videos of your relatives, pets and so on. But for work where visual quality is essential and there is much fine detail and color gradients in the image, 28Mbps just isn't enough. For that kind of material, no way can G6 with stock video compression outperform a hacked GH2 with good settings.

If you ask, I will try to film some material to make comparisons between frames that G6 saves in MP4 video and JPG shots of same view.