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GH3 user reviews and opinions
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  • @Cbrandin

    True 25P in .mov (50 mbs). In AVCHD : 25P wrapped in 50i (24 mbs).

    So big bug!

    25P Intra 72 mbs is ok. But noises! Too much also in 200 ISO. Not goof finally.

  • @uzland that video made me very hungry.

  • @From_Paris No big bug. 25p in mov 50M mode is AVCHD Progressive (AVCHD v2) High Profile level 5, 25p wrapped in 50i 24M is level 4 - as in GH2 AVCHD.

  • @driftwood

    So what is this problem of saccades with .mov 50 mbs at 1/50e?

  • "@driftwood

    So what is this problem of saccades with .mov 50 mbs at 1/50e?"

    I transferred the 50mbs clips directly to an ipad retina and the motion seems smoother, but judder is still very apparent at 24p@1/50 and 30p@1/60. When played back on my Mac Pro at full screen the motion is truly terrible and there almost appears to be some tearing in the image. Transcoding to Prores does not really help things either.

    Mr. Driftwood, have you not noticed any of this in your experimentation? Is there something that we just don't get?

  • I just encountered a bug with 40% slow motion in the .mov container. When the clip is inserted into a Sony Vegas timeline the file becomes much longer than the final conformed length. Basically the final frame repeats until the end of the clip. It's easy enough to drag the clip length back to fix it, but I figure it's an annoyance worth mentioning.

    That being said, the quality of the codec is ridiculously good on this SOB. I'm running with contrast at -5 and sharpness at 0, and it's grading very nicely. The shutter makes a beautiful sound in stills mode, it almost makes you feel like you're shooting shit with a rail gun. ChaWoooosh!!

  • Can anyone tell me what the GH3's shutter sounds like? or even direct me to a video?

  • GH3 AF-S test with 45-200mm lens. 40% slow motion. Minimal hunting or confusion seems visible during focus acquisition on dead center of frame. Password: GH3AFS

  • @lucapasturini: I think that quote is from Wally Pfister. :)

    I see many people today confuse cinematic with blured. I've seen plenty of movies, including some that have won festivals where the look seems video, or the picture is too detailed and nobody messes with that, but on the Internet everyone is an expert what film and what is video.

    I also believe the series GH's, -at least in my short experience with the GH2 and from what I've seen-, gives better cinematic aspect combined with old lenses. Modern lenses mostly a look plasticine.

  • @driftwood what would you say the flattest setting is on the GH3? (A la Smooth -2 across the board) I have access to one for the next 3 days, and gonna do some testing. Just looking to save some time if possible.

  • Has anyone tested the high dynamic range profile in video mode then do some colour grading to see how it holds up?

  • @shian interested to hear your impression

  • my first impressions. The low light response is just sick. It feels better to hold, but major macro blocking in the blue channel at 800 ISO more so than GH2 Intravenus at same ISO, and skin tones look like crap. But black response is crazy. So much detail all the way down to pure black.

  • All we've tested so far is High DR scenes 16:1- 64:1 in available light and/or single bounce, at 1080 24p 72Mbit ALL-I setting. Very disappointed with the noise in the shadows. Tried a myriad of settings from -5 NR to +2 and even at ISO200 the noise in the shadows bugs me. All the NR seems to do is blur the noise slightly, but you can still see it moving under the blur. At first I thought it was just the high ISO when testing 6400 - 800, but it's there at every ISO. I hate the skin tones, they look video-y (It looks very much like sony footage). So far it's getting pounded by the Intravenus GH2 IMO. What it has gained in DR, it loses in grain character. If hacking this thing changes the noise characteristic, then it has some serious potential. For now, nothing is making me want one.

  • @shian I thought I was alone here with the noise thing. while filming in what I believed to be a well lit room, discovered the footage to be very noisey on computer screen. I have tried different noise reduction settings but can't seem to make it any better.

    Did you find any settings that improved it?

    I found ISO 800 looked pretty clean but too dark if that makes sense. Once I got the lens down to 1.7 - 2.0 i didn't really notice it. Guess I won't be using the 12-35 in low light then

    Overall I am very impressed with the camera, with plenty of light the image looks great and I believe the Auto focus has been greatly improved over the gh2. I know a lot of people have complained about size and weight but for me this is a good thing. It feels solid, it looks solid and behaves very responsively. Ability to change settings very quickly is the big selling point for me, it makes it a little bit closer to run-n-gun for wedding stuff

  • I wont be commenting on GH3 vs GH2 till next wednesday when Part 8 of my reviews 'GH3 v GH2: Sogni d'oro Don Canoneone' comes out. :-)

  • @shian i also saw lots of shadow noise - a common trait among sony sensors. maybe part of the tradeoff for better DR.

    by the way, can you give me a link (and page #) for the Intravenus patch? i've looked for over an hour and still can't find it. i want to compare it with the footage i've been getting w/FM2.

    many thx

  • thx @shian i saw that but didnt realize the patch was still in experimental status. i'll download it and give it a whirl.

  • @Shian

    Shoot in Avchd mode 24Mbits. Many users as well as myself have stated it looks better. Also noise is not even close, I own a GH2 and GH3. At least testing in the Avchd 24mbits at 24fps iso 1600 is cleaner than iso 800 on the GH2. Also details in the shadow are Greatly improved.

    Try running some test in Avchd 24mbits mode.

  • @filmingart your workflow must be off. shooting in avchd 24 didn't improve my results. what you claim about shadow detail improvement is utter nonsense.

  • After 48 hours trials of GH3, I think I can say that the camera has big problems:

    • 50mbs (. Mov) 25P (1:50) = saccades and therefore unusable. The problem is visible on the screen of the camera until final edition.

    • 72 MB Intra (. Mov) = images too noisy in the shadows even at low ISO. It is very very ugly. Worse, the clip is amputated last 3 or 4 seconds of recording! For this last problem I need to do other checks (I use FCPX on Macbook Retina 32gb ram). A friend of mine has the same problem via AVID. So...

    • 24mbs AVCHD (as the GH2) : I prefer the image of the GH2 without hesitation. Around me too, Over 10 persons = 10 respondents chose the GH2 AVCHD pictures.

    !!!!!

  • Well those are not good news about its performance. If hack is possible, we may need it badly then. GH3 is more capable hardware tha GH2...i wonder why GH3 is being slaped so hard ?

    Is this cos more people is now buying GHseries or is cos its really bad?

  • Footage to back it up coming. Also might have BMCC and 5DmkIII flying in this weekend for full shootout with GH3 and GH2. Should that shootout go in this thread or another? or new thread?