Got 'em right :)

Part 2 is live now -

Im not sure if my Gh3 is faulty. EVF Preview image in in low light is very noisy. it looks like on ISO 12000 or more even when actual ISO is set to 200. EVF adjusting does not help (brightens etc.) Actual recorded mov its clean. Its only in lower light conditions in good light preview looks good. Can someone confirm the same thing in EVF in low light or my unit is faulty. Tell me please as I have last day to send GH3 back and cant check it anywhere around.

I think it would be almost impossible for me to get a great in camera image in some of the theater and night club shooting I do. I've gotten some really great results and then some absolutely awful results. I think that the entire idea of shooting with a more Neutral or Flat image is to be able to have the latitude to make changes whereas if I bake it in that makes it super hard to fix problems and end up with great results.

It's kind of like the issues I had with Mastering Audio projects that were mixed poorly and in the end that limited just what I could do to fix the problems and end up with a great finished product. Anyway From what i've seen none of the videos looked like super flat picture profiles we see in high end cameras. I think there was a nice balance struck. So far I really like the GH3 footage i've seen with things dialed down a bit. Not all the way on sharpness, but -3 or -4 seems to be enough. Everything else can come all the way down IMO.

@christianhubbard

I'm not here to make this a pissing contest and definitely not here to say wow I worked with this guy or that guy. Point is many dp's I worked with, seen work and have been on many sets get their look in camera.

Yes major budget movies and shows will generally have a professional colorist working on the project, this is very different though than purposely recording flat with a dslr camera though. Red, Arri, f3 are very different compared to a Dslr.

Run your own test, no need to even read what I am posting. Go and shoot your saturation and -4 and try to bring it back in post, you're going to run into certain colors popping more than others.

Back on topic, my opinion though is I never like to record with such flat settings as you lose a lot of information.

@jimagine

Personally I do not like recording so flat with neutral settings. Many professional dp's I work with get their look in camera and this is a style I adopted. Shooting at such negative settings introduces more noise into your footage, then adding de noise can soften image.

Unless your camera is recording Raw, I feel you should get the look in camera you are going for. Recording at -5 saturation is very difficult to bring back the colors without running into other problems.

If you feel sharpness is to high at 0, the lowest I would go is -1, the same goes for all settings.

" Your personal opinion on what constitutes a good image does not equate to a known fact'

I don't know what this means Tron. This is, of course, my opinion, but I'm not pulling it out of a hat. I'm basing it on years as a creative director, producer and owner of a production company and studios. It is certainly common knowledge within the film making community that cameras like the 5D and GH3 have exaggerated sharpening as defaults and dialing it down gives the best image to grade and sharpen in post. Many professional editors and colorists expect to handle these tasks with expensive computers and software capable of doing a much better job in post than the small processor in-camera can provide. That's just our opinion and you certainly should be comfortable with yours.

But please read my post above and my opinion regarding the subjectivity of all creative decisions.

Thanks..

also- i do see sharpening artifacts at the 0 setting. i see edge rolling and ropiness. when i get to -3 or -4 it looks better to me.

Beautifully shot and edited footage, Jim. Have you compared the 50 mbps MOV files from the GH3 with any of the GH2 "hacks"?

Agree, right now I'm working with -4 -4 contrast and sharpening to see how it holds up as a base image, and I'm liking it. And it isn't about pixel peeping or obsessing over details. This is a new creative tool and it's so great that a place like this has people testing and interacting in real time as we sort the best settings out.

Of course the best settings are, like all things creative, ultimately subjective. But a lot of us work from a common standard whether it's an F3, 5D, RED or GH - a wide DR negative that allows us to pull a great grade in post.

But there's also nothing wrong with establishing a look that you love in camera and shooting with that all day long. Sometimes the latter is better depending on your schedule.

Yes it's been known that sharpness setting 0 does add sharpening.

The settings range should have been from 0 to 10 to avoid confusion. But it is what it is.

Some said the lowest setting does add sharpening, too. That's not a bad thing.

You're right about the 20mm being very sharp. I's the first MFT lens I've used. My shelf is filled with Canon L glass, as well as Nikon AIS primes and lenses like the Sigma 50mm 1.4 which is as sharp as a full frame lens gets - even sharper than my Canon L 1.2.

My point is that if the Lumix is somehow sharper than my best glass, I'd still set the camera up the same way and just add a bit more sharpening in post if necessary.