@allenswrench -I really cracked up too about your earlier rant re: the consumer camera and your clients and the cranes.

[advertising/corporate] Clients will almost always show you a bad time if they can't get good set photos and videos with their iphones to show their dates that they work on set. When it comes right down to it, clients almost always need to be educated, and sometimes schooled, about filmmaking.

I was thinking we should design and procuce [in China] an inflatable camera bag for the [gh3] that makes it look and sound like an arriflex 35bl3.

THese little panny devils are enough for most non-fx work, but really, with a big video village and a lot of hand wringers around, I'd try to get the PM to rent a bigger camera for clients to look at, while you grab all the shots you need in one hour with the little consumer camera.

I WILL buy the gh3 if the build is higher quality than the gh2 - even with the same specs as the gh2 I would buy a more solid feeling, ergonomic cam. My big sausage fingers alway get sweaty and cramp up using the gh2 on a hot day. Also, please forgive the typos.. ;)

Really it all comes down to what do you need? If you don’t need wifi, better stills, electronic shutter, 1080p @ 60 FPS, or any of the other new features then you won’t buy the GH3. If you do need any of those features then you have to decide whether the extra money is worth it.

The things that they have added are very specialized features. They simply are not going to help everyone. However, for the people that want them and know how to use them they could be very beneficial.

For the most part 1080p @ 24 FPS isn’t going to improve a great deal unless they really can achieve a significant increase in dynamic range. If you only shoot 1080p @ 24 FPS then the image quality probably isn’t going to change much.

@oscillian Roligt, va? :)

So what do people think is going to happen with the buffer? With the emphasis on video in the leaked specs, will the burst mode buffer likely remain about the same?

@RRRR Jo, peaking vore ju roligt att ha. Hoppas det kommer funka. :)

@astraban @RRRR Got it, so just hold it in like I normally would to switch the selection from aperture to shutter speed, except hold it longer. Thanks! Still not at all intuitive, but should be a lot easier. :)

@RRRR The burst mode seems good, until you compare it. Like you say, the speed is not that bad compared to a 50D for the first few pictures. But buffer is gone almost immeadiately and during concert photography (especially with RAW+JPEG) that is pretty frustrating. The Canon 50D is several years older than the GH2 and the used prices are modest, but the buffer is much, much better. And the 7D is better still. And the D4 and the 1DX make me wish I could justify their purchases right now, just for the buffers and ISO alone (let alone lowlight AF).

But maybe the GH3 can do something on the lowlight AF front. :)

@thepalalias: I use the shutter speed dial (press in) for manual focus assist on the gh2. I personally like the burst mode on the gh2. I find it very fast even with raw + jpeg, although it has to empty the buffer in-between bursts. But yes, I agree that it could be improved further. There should be some great possibilities with sequence shooting (also burst mode) if the rumours about an electronic shutter and fully utilized card writing speeds are correct..

Sorry astraban, I didn´t see your reply. :)

@thepalalias you don't need to touch the screen for focus assist w/ manual lenses. Just press the wheel w/ your right thumb. Seems pretty intuitive for me when shooting with EVF (always...) :-)

@mimirsan Yup, I took a fair amount of the photos with the GH2 over the last year, from bracketed HDR to concert photography to portraits of parents and children, etc. Oh and astro photography. Got some moonshots with the GH2 and Canon 600mm f/4 L with EF III Extender. (2X).

The small size of some of the lens choice and sm camera also having a all size make it informal and easy to use in a variety of conditions and people do not "stiffen up" like they sometimes do when I shoot with larger lenses on a 50D. The biggest drawback is the buffer, of course, which makes burst mode photography MUCH more difficult on the GH2 than mid-range DSLRS like the 50D or 7D (let alone the Canon and Nikon flagships). One thing that would be great is if they made it easier to enter focus assist on manual lenses without having to tap the screen. Right now it is cumbersome and counter-intuitive to try and do it if shooting via EVF.

Oh, and the f/0.95 Noktons are such a bargain for lowlight situations and (once again) not that big compared to some other options.

I am surprised you feel the JPEG performance is "piss-poor". I mean, would I also be happy if they improved it? To some extent, but when I am worried enough to care, I am usually shooting RAW+JPEG.

@mimirsan the only photos I take is if I accidentally switch it from C3 mode and press the shutter :-)

@Mimirsan

I for one hope for good stills capabilities. However, you say it´s not a video camea - it´s been clear from day 1 that the gh series is a hybrid, even if it hasn´t been perfect. Hopefully there will be no compromise (relatively speaking, not talking about tech jerk off pixel peeping mania but solid performance overall) anywhere with the gh3.

I'm more excited about the GH3 than I was before these rumors came out. This is much more of the camera most of us wanted the GH2 to be. I can't for the life of me understand any negative slant that could be put on what Pany has seemingly done with this camera. They've been promoting the GH2 as a Hybrid camera, which it was more so than most other VDSLR's. Now it's even more of a pro capable camera based on what is leaking out so far.

From what I can see most of everything we've been asking for has been implemented and i'm sure we haven't heard everything this camera has yet. I can't think of any camera in it's price range that will offer more bang for the buck. The only things that remain are just how much of an improvement there is in the image. Whether or not we'll get 4:2:2 or not. Most everything else seems to be a great improvement.

While I'm sure the GH3 will be a worthy upgrade to the GH2, my hunch is that Panasonic will offer only a modest bump in performance, combining the G3's low-noise sensor with the FZ200's 1080p50/60 video modes and high-speed auto-focus. I'd be surprised if they abandon AVCHD in order to implement higher bitrates or I-frame codecs. And if we're lucky, Panasonic may even clean up the HDMI monitor output to enable live recording of the 8-bit 4:2:0 video stream, with audio.

Where I think the GH3 is most likely foreshadowed is in the unique features of the new Lumix GX 12-35mm f2.8 zoom. This is Panasonic's first metal-barreled zoom with a rubber seal on the lens mount. It is also the first Lumix zoom with a fast, constant f2.8 max aperture, along with completely silent operation. That makes it particularly well-suited for shooting video.

To match these Lumix GX features, I expect the GH3 will have a magnesium body and some degree of weather sealing. Manual controls of course, with more dials and touch-screen controls than the G3. This would give the GH3/12-35mm combo a compact but solid feel compared to the sleek and lightweight G3.