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Panasonic G6 topic, GH2 replacement camera
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  • DanPVDanPV

    Today was the first day I took my G6 out to take still photos. I'm sorry to say I am pretty disappointed with it. The quality of the images was fine but the design of the controls made it unpredictable to use. I would say that 10% of the time I inadvertently changed a setting by mistake. The most common problems are with the white balance control, the display button and the wifi button. Do you have any tips or suggestions as to how you have your G6 controls re-mapped to minimize accidental settings changes? The most frustrating thing is with the white balance randomly changing from shot to shot.

    I can't see how it's possible use this camera for serious photography without an optional grip but then that defeats the purpose of having a small camera in the first place. I have large hands so maybe this is more of an issue for me than most people.

    Is the GH3 any better in this regard? Perhaps I should be looking at larger APS-C cameras with better ergonomics?

  • oscillianoscillian

    @DanPV I have the same problem. The GH3 is better in this regard with no buttons near the bottom right corner.

  • RdCRdC

    DanPV.

    Hi did you tried custom setting? I use this setting for photo mode:

    Custom1: display is set for lcd live view, fn1-picture quality, fn2-flash mode (iam using external flash), fn3-af mode, fn4-focus mode, fn5-aspect ratio, fn6-peking, fn7-el.shutter, picture style is natural 0000 (i mostly shoot in raw),

    Custom2: same, but picture style is monochrome 0000.

    Video mode: fn1-motion picture set, fn2-ex. tele, fn3-af mode, fn4- focus mode, fn5- picture style (natural -5-50-5, vivid 0+500-for peaking only, mono -5-50-5), fn6-peak, fn7-histogram.

    ISO-arrov up. WB-arrov down. Iam using mostly auto balance, but if i have a time i set wb manually.

    With this settings is my camera very comfortable. I love Fn buttons. Sorry for my english.

  • DanPVDanPV

    @RdC - thanks for the suggestions, I'm going to try what you said and see if it helps.

    @oscillian - thanks, I hope to get my hands on a GH3 and try it out sometime, it seems to have a properly designed cursor buttons on the back.

    A big part of the problem with the G6 is that the cursor buttons are the same type as what you find on a point and shoot camera. You don't grasp a point and shoot with your hand, you operate it with your fingertips. The G6 is kind of a poorly designed hybrid with a dslr grip (which is meant to be grasped) but with a back side of a point and shoot. Thus half of the controls are susceptible to being triggered by your palm when you grasp the camera like a DSLR. I wish some of the initial reviews of the camera would have mentioned this. It's frustrating because I really like the performance, features and price of the G6 but the handling drives me nuts.

  • kurthkurth

    Me thinks you'll have a hard time finding a camera the size of the g6 , with so many features with no function buttons that can't be accidentally pushed. I have the same problem with the display button but this is simply a result of small cameras. The first day, before I figured it out, I was constantly saying, wtf did that change ! They have limited real estate. I don't consider it poorly design, on the contrary, if you want physical camera controls. The option is a camera with only menu systems , or a much larger camera like the 5d. I'm using my g6 for some photos as well. And as well, I've remapped the f buttons, based on shooting video. With street photography, the silent electronic shutter eliminates any Pavlovian response to having your photo taken. Of course that means I use it like a p&s . Bringing the vf up to one's eye is a dead giveaway . Or better , act like you're perusing old photos on the lcd. You can get up nice and cozy that way.

  • thorgasthorgas

    For anyone who is interested in what difference the G6's color profiles make, see my test with a color and grey chart here: http://gro.solexiv.de/2014/02/panasonic-g6-color-profiles/

  • oscillianoscillian

    @thorgas Excellent test! Thanks :-)

  • Rain__Rain__

    Hey guys, I have a question: at the same price (530€) would you buy a new G6 or used GH2?

  • cjdincercjdincer

    I have both of them and I'd say go for G6. but 530E is too much for any of them. also if you only shoot 24p video strictly you might consider gh2 too, but no peaking, no time lapse, no mic input and no other bunch of new stuff comes with G6. again it is your call according to your needs.

  • Rain__Rain__

    530€ is too much including the 14-42 kit? Unfortunately this is the lowest price I found :(

    Anyway thanks for the info! I thought that GH2 had sensible higher video quality, but in case of similar quality...

  • Adam_MercierAdam_Mercier

    Got my G6+kit for 470€ on ebay. killer cam for this price!

  • Fran_GuidryFran_Guidry

    GH2 has mic input on 2.5mm stereo jack.

    Fran

  • Rain__Rain__

    Gosh Adam, where? Can you send me the link, please?

    At a similar price, I found it only by the seller "Tredec", and honestly I don't know how affidable he is!

  • red_pillred_pill

    I totally agree with cjdincer. I would go for G6.

  • cjdincercjdincer

    vitally would definitely beat that price if he has one available, you can ask him. also NTSC models don't have the record limit. @fran sorry should have said dedicated mic input, my bad :)

  • onedayoneday

    just order one g6, already have three GH2, I think that this camera with some Vitaly magic it could be a GH4 killer

  • Rain__Rain__

    @cjdincer Thank you, just asked! :) Honestly I expected a total agreement in favor of the GH2, due to the hack. Nicely surprised! :P

    An extra question: with the upcoming release of the GH4, would you expect a decrease of the price on these cameras?

  • cjdincercjdincer

    if you could wait two to three more months, eventually there would be a drop in prices but could you wait... :))

  • c3hammerc3hammer

    The G6 is a pretty incredible cam, much less at this price. Every time I try something new with it, I realize how incredible the image really is.

    This is my first try at filming serious skateboarding with it. This is about 1/2 the G6 and half a GoPro Hero3 Black with protune on. All in 1080-60p mp4 mode.

    I think the new processing, usability, color and noise reduction in the G6 way more than makes up for the bitrate advantage of the GH2. Macro blocking and bit rate issues are relatively minor compared to the massive advantages the usability and greatly improved overall image quality the G6 now provides.

    Cheers, Pete

  • DeadMeadowDeadMeadow

    Shot on my G6. Used the 14-42 kit lens purely for one of the only times I'd need a bit of auto focus and stabilisation. Was pretty dark in the hall, had ISO up to 1000. Footage took a good grade.

  • valdi99valdi99

    We know the HDMI video out signal is blocked by factory in G6, but how about AV video out? Anybody has suitable AV cable (like Panasonic DMW-AVC1 or similar) and would try if there is LifeView fed through this AV cable? As far as I can remember it was working on GH2.

  • DeadMeadowDeadMeadow

    Hi,

    Any of you guys know how to change the record display to show how much time is left on the card when in movie mode?

  • valdi99valdi99

    DeadMeadow - in PAL land you can't really see it - until less than 29min:59sek left... What I do is turning mode dial to M (one click, clockwise), so it shows how many pictures I can record. Then a quick recalculation tells me how much space left for video...

  • valdi99valdi99

    It seems we may see a LifeView through AV-OUT socket (mini-usb port on G6) on external monitor or TV. It is not HDMI-OUT, but better than nothing... Most of the Gx Panasonic cameras (like GH2, G3, G5, GF2 and maybe G6) can output LifeView through AV-OUT. But to activate it, you need to press "Trash" button (in record mode, not playback) and hold it for about 5-6sec. It worked this way on my GH2 and GF2, but I could not test it on G6, as do not have proper AV cable (mini-usb to RCA in this case). However, when I plugged some other mini-usb cable into the AV-OUT socket and pressed "Trash/Fn3" button on G6 - after about 6 seconds the LCD screen blinked once, exactly like on GH2 and GF2. So I think G6 sends the LifeView video to AV-OUT port, the same way as GH2/GF2. Does anybody have an AV cable for G6 and would confirm that please? Any AV cable (mini-usb<->RCA) should work.

  • valdi99valdi99

    It looks I was right about LifeView on G6 via AV-OUT. See this thread
    http://www.systemkamera-forum.de/micro-four-thirds-fourthirds-kamera-technik/47069-live-hdmi-aktivieren-bei-der-g5-g6.html I don't speak German, but google translate seems to confirm my guessing...

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