GH3 user reviews and opinions

dustylense

@Everyone... Stay away from the ALL-I on the Gh3. Use the IBP or the ACVHD and transcode.

dustylense

@ Thewindchanger

Again, another user uploading a high frame rate vid. That Barcelona is in a 50p timeline. I like it though!!!

driftwood

@shian You're going to need to upload a high quality h264 transcoded version onto vimeo. Don't forget Vimeo's transcode is pretty shocking and can introduce its own artefacting inc macro blocking. Produce a 12000Kbps version graded to Vimeo's over saturation and then check the Flash and HTML5 versions before going live with it.

olegkalyan

@shian thanks for doing the test, of three cameras, (I would add Nikon D800 in the mix), it's clear that 5dmk3 is not a winner here, from the teaser hard to tell , too little of DR in the scene, too boring, flat lighting. Yes, thank you! Having original files, not graded somewhere would be the best.

EYESOUL

I think in @shian test that the first scene is the gh2 with intravenus..I say this because if you download the mp4 from vimeo it has less background artifacts and a finer noise rendition.I'm basing this theory on intravenus hack being such a high bit-rate it held up better in the final mp4 output with grading."the area the hack would show its true strength"If not I have been wrong before and it may give me a new outlook on high bit-rate hacks.also the other scenes seemed to have better DR but didn't hold up as well far as artifacts.If number one is not the gh2 it has to be the blackmagic.If number one is the gh3 time to upgrade.

L1N3ARX

@shian This is definitely the test I've been waiting for. Thanks so much for putting something like this out, seriously. Are you planning on releasing the full comparison today? And are you considering including a look at the same shots before grading as well?

So quick guess. #3 looks like the GH3, but only because of the way the motion looked... but it's super hard to tell in a short, well lit shot like this. I'm definitely excited to see the results!

EYESOUL

After further review dam if I know lol but I like 1 & 3 the best.

shian · 00001 (0.00.26.10).png

I did 14000 mp4 720 to save upload time, cuz i was tired. The final will of course be 1080. [EDIT - replaced the file with 1080, and the downloadable file is now 1080 18Mb/s] They've been graded to match in that series because the differences in the "raw" footage is jarring. And yes the 5D lost big time.

What you are seeing is AVCHD on both the GH cams and ProRes on the BMD. The order will be revealed as soon as we get EVERYTHING put together. SO hopefully this weekend, and hopefully no later than X-mas. We're still pouring over the results, and it's taking longer to try to properly and fairly frame the comparison

And as for the DR it's a 16:1 ratio between key and fill, and a 64:1 across the entire scene. (4 stops and 6 stops) The really contrasty stuff we saved for the garage, and for the identical lens test. Preview pic of garage shoot attached.

shian

Oh, and that particular series in the teaser was shot simultaneously on all 3 cams. It's the exact same lighting, same action captured on each cam in one take.

matthere

Thanks @shian for the teaser :) all three look good, which makes me think the gh3 is going some, if it maches intravenous which does look great!

At a guess Gh2 then gh3 and third BMC.. Although that's quite uneducated :) I look forward to seeing more, thanks!

shian

replaced the file with an 18,000Mb/s 1080p file for download.

kholi

Don't know what the other two are but the first is Blackmagic. Noise, skin, rolloff, hair are dead giveaways.

Good reminder why I stopped shooting with GH2 and just shoot Blackmagic now.

Angry_C

The GH3 has a really dark black, so I think the first is GH3.

kholi

If that's GH3 I'll eat a salad. That's beyond any solid quality I've seen coming out of anything sub 15K.

The moire in the hair's a tell that it's Blackmagic. Even outside of that, once you shoot enough of it you know the image, that is definitely not a GH series camera or a 5D but hey... weirder things have happened.

Angry_C

shian: "The results surprised us", go and buy a salad;-)

kholi

How about this: I'll put 20.00 into my paypal account, you put 20 into yours, and if that first camera was Blackmagic, you paypal me twenty and I'll buy a meal with it.

I'm thanking you in advance for the meal that I will enjoy.

GH2 and 3 are all well and good for the price, but nowhere near the base IQ of Blackmagic. Wishful thinking won't get it there, either.

Duncanario

Don't want to cheat but going by the screenshot of the setup and comparing framings seems to me 1: BMCC, 2:GH3, 3:GH2 unless he has been dastardly and changed them round.

driftwood

Canis Majoris Day AM finally released for GH2. See

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/3945/driftwood-settings-series-6-comp-apocalypse-now-cluster-galaxian-gx1-sedna-canis-etc.../p1

L1N3ARX

I'd actually be really surprised if the 1st was the BMC. My monitors are always set to pretty low contrast so I can spot noise and small details anywhere they might be hiding. I see noise that most people don't ever even see because they have their monitors calibrated "properly".

The first one, was definitely the one with the least DR, so I'm guessing the GH2... that or the curves were significantly adjusted to hide shadow detail. Look by the neck... the hair has no detail and is hidden in shadow... the other 2 cameras definitely picked up a good amount of detail in those same areas with the same lighting. If that was the BMC, the blacks were surely crushed to a certain extent.

That said, I doubt any one of these cameras were the BMC. Only 3 were shown anyway, and 2 really looked like GH footage. The second one, had that canon full frame look, so I'm gonna guess GH2, 5D, GH3... To make the BMC disappear among the other cameras in a shot like this, you'd seriously have to do some grading magic to dampen it's huge DR advantage.

Edit: Based on the framing as well, the first having the widest crop- assuming the cameras were more or less in the same position would lead me to believe that it was the GH2 sensor on that one. Third one looks the tightest... and *might be the BMC, but that would be kind of odd I think.

shian

@L1N3ARX there is no 5D in that teaser, but there is a BMCC

L1N3ARX

@shian , well now. Is it you putting together the footage or just a partner? So even you are guessing at which it could be as well?

This is really interesting then... you would think the BMC would kind of stick out like a sore thumb, even in a controlled lighting situation like this. You would normally see all kinds of detail in shadowy areas that should be a dead give away when put up against a GH camera. Guess I'll just have to wait and see on this one : )

pundit

BMC
GH3
GH2

Based on the highlights and moire I think No. 3 is the GH2. While the hotspot on her nose is obvious in all three clips it progressively gets hotter with each clip. Also tiny parts of her forehead and cheek look to be close to blowing out in clip No.3. Also clip No.3 has the least moire in her hair. No.1 has the smoothest highlight rolloff which I suspect is the BMC. That leaves the GH3 at No.2.

L1N3ARX

@kholi , totally thought you wrote "I'll toss a salad" lol, damn, I was like this guy is pretty serious about his camera observations. Lettuce see who is right in the coming days... : )

shian

I replaced the file with the version from the final presentation. NOW see what your impressions are. There will be 3 more tests like this in the final shootout. Each one with a grade like this which tries to balance everything out evenly, then the raw, and finally a grade where each cam is maximized to suit it's strengths. (that's where you'll really see the differences shine.)

L1N3ARX

Okay it's pretty obvious now that the BMC is the first, no question there. What really threw me for a loop was the slightly crushed blacks in the hair... you should totally be able to see all kinds of stuff going on by the neck, but 2 and 3 are definitely GH cameras.

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