[ New Gear ] Panasonic announces the GH3 (with images and FULL press release)

[bousozoku]

I joined the GH3 party after coming close to jumping ship from Olympus to Nikon. That D7100 looked very good and the body is US$100 cheaper than the GH3.

I spent nearly the whole winter shooting sports with the E-5 and ZD 35-100mm f/2.0 and it's worked well, but basketball and swimming often are in dark rooms. At ISO 1600, I had to anticipate the action quite a bit more than with outdoor sports.

Putting the GH3 to work, it often chooses ISO 3200 under the same conditions, but I've seen some photos with ISO 5000 or 6400--and poor detail/exposure. Instead of using the ZD 35-100mm through an adapter (which I now have), I also bought the Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8. The best thing I can say is that it's not terrible. The combination finds focus fairly quickly (yes, I'm using auto focus because the lens is so short!), and the sharpness isn't great wide open but it's not terrible. Coming from the ZD SHG lens, you'll understand that.

It's been an interesting transition. It's probably less of a problem than going to the D7100, plus 70-200mm f/2.8 but I'm uncertain. When I first opened the box, I was shocked and wondered where the rest of the GH3 and 35-100mm lens were. The body is small and the lens is tiny, but I was shocked that they're both marked "Made in China" for the price.

 

[Agrivar]

I joined the GH3 party after coming close to jumping ship from Olympus to Nikon. That D7100 looked very good and the body is US$100 cheaper than the GH3.

I spent nearly the whole winter shooting sports with the E-5 and ZD 35-100mm f/2.0 and it's worked well, but basketball and swimming often are in dark rooms. At ISO 1600, I had to anticipate the action quite a bit more than with outdoor sports.

Putting the GH3 to work, it often chooses ISO 3200 under the same conditions, but I've seen some photos with ISO 5000 or 6400--and poor detail/exposure. Instead of using the ZD 35-100mm through an adapter (which I now have), I also bought the Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8. The best thing I can say is that it's not terrible. The combination finds focus fairly quickly (yes, I'm using auto focus because the lens is so short!), and the sharpness isn't great wide open but it's not terrible. Coming from the ZD SHG lens, you'll understand that.

It's been an interesting transition. It's probably less of a problem than going to the D7100, plus 70-200mm f/2.8 but I'm uncertain. When I first opened the box, I was shocked and wondered where the rest of the GH3 and 35-100mm lens were. The body is small and the lens is tiny, but I was shocked that they're both marked "Made in China" for the price.

So far I don't have problems with MIC. My iPhone is also MIC. : )
If you have problems try using S-AF and set AFS to AFF. The AFF works best with motion under S-AF. Also update the fw of the 35-100 to 1.1. It reads at 240fps rather than 120fps.

 

[Agrivar]

I joined the GH3 party after coming close to jumping ship from Olympus to Nikon. That D7100 looked very good and the body is US$100 cheaper than the GH3.

I spent nearly the whole winter shooting sports with the E-5 and ZD 35-100mm f/2.0 and it's worked well, but basketball and swimming often are in dark rooms. At ISO 1600, I had to anticipate the action quite a bit more than with outdoor sports.

Putting the GH3 to work, it often chooses ISO 3200 under the same conditions, but I've seen some photos with ISO 5000 or 6400--and poor detail/exposure. Instead of using the ZD 35-100mm through an adapter (which I now have), I also bought the Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8. The best thing I can say is that it's not terrible. The combination finds focus fairly quickly (yes, I'm using auto focus because the lens is so short!), and the sharpness isn't great wide open but it's not terrible. Coming from the ZD SHG lens, you'll understand that.

It's been an interesting transition. It's probably less of a problem than going to the D7100, plus 70-200mm f/2.8 but I'm uncertain. When I first opened the box, I was shocked and wondered where the rest of the GH3 and 35-100mm lens were. The body is small and the lens is tiny, but I was shocked that they're both marked "Made in China" for the price.

Another thing. Because of the stronger AA filter you might want to dial in NR-5 to preserve the max details and pp to your liking later. Leaving it at the default 0 still has strong NR. Shoot in RAW.

 

[bousozoku]

So far I don't have problems with MIC. My iPhone is also MIC. : )
If you have problems try using S-AF and set AFS to AFF. The AFF works best with motion under S-AF. Also update the fw of the 35-100 to 1.1. It reads at 240fps rather than 120fps.

Thanks! The 35-100mm was shipped with the v1.1 firmware. I updated the old but almost free 45-200mm to the latest firmware and found that it wasn't a difficult process.

 

[jackwolf]

anyone know whether the flash model FL360L is in town already ? got a quote from a local shop only to find out in store that they thought its FL360.. waste of trip down.. what a shame for pany to come out with such conflicting model with confuse not only consumer, and seller as well..

 

[shong84]

I bought mine from US as well.
What I can say it totally same with Oy FL600R.

 

[Agrivar]

anyone know whether the flash model FL360L is in town already ? got a quote from a local shop only to find out in store that they thought its FL360.. waste of trip down.. what a shame for pany to come out with such conflicting model with confuse not only consumer, and seller as well..

Bro... Panny OEM from Olympus.. might as well buy the Oly FL600R.. easier to find and cheaper

 

[jackwolf]

Bro... Panny OEM from Olympus.. might as well buy the Oly FL600R.. easier to find and cheaper

considered that as well.. just thought it might be nicer to have all in the same badge if the price doesn't differ too much when it arrives the shore..

 

[bousozoku]

Another thing. Because of the stronger AA filter you might want to dial in NR-5 to preserve the max details and pp to your liking later. Leaving it at the default 0 still has strong NR. Shoot in RAW.

Thanks! That was very helpful in finding more hidden settings. Perhaps, they thought that these settings were logically-placed but they need to have a huge tutorial to find everything. I finally became comfortable with the Olympus Super Control Panel and now, I don't have it.

 

[Agrivar]

Thanks! That was very helpful in finding more hidden settings. Perhaps, they thought that these settings were logically-placed but they need to have a huge tutorial to find everything. I finally became comfortable with the Olympus Super Control Panel and now, I don't have it.

Panny has a SCP like setting. You toggle it via the disp button to cycle between showing icons and the level indicator then the view where you have all the settings on one screen. Sort of like SCP. Only that its not a one button press to bring up.. another quick way to change settings is usin the qmenu button and set it for the most regularly changed settings.. I find both implementations are good enough.

Another thing.. this 4 part series on settings for your GH3 on youtube. Can be quite helpful..

[video=youtube;T58muPZ1uFw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T58muPZ1uFw[/video]

 

[bousozoku]

Panny has a SCP like setting. You toggle it via the disp button to cycle between showing icons and the level indicator then the view where you have all the settings on one screen. Sort of like SCP. Only that its not a one button press to bring up.. another quick way to change settings is usin the qmenu button and set it for the most regularly changed settings.. I find both implementations are good enough.

Another thing.. this 4 part series on settings for your GH3 on youtube. Can be quite helpful..

Thanks!

I looked at 3 of the 4 videos in the past week. The video about JPEGs wouldn't be particularly useful since I only use raw files but I might look at it later.

It's just going to take time and acclimation. I've been using Olympus equipment for too long to just jump to another brand. It's a good thing for me to switch a bit.

I'm glad to have the GH3. The full size Four-Thirds lenses seem okay on the body via an adapter, even the Leica/Panasonic 25mm and SHG lenses--as long as I'm paying attention. They could come loose from my hands easily. I was surprised that they focused more quickly than on the Olympus E-1. :bsmilie:

 

[kandinsky]

GH3 update, along with a couple of lens updates (H-FS45150, H-PS14042, H-PS45175) No peaking...

Update Contents for DMC-GH3

Update Contents for DMC-GH3
Date/Version: 2013/03/28
Description: Ver 1.1

1. Connecting to PC via Wi-Fi by inputting the computer name (the NetBIOS name for Apple Mac computers) is enabled.
2. 1920 x 1080, 60p[NTSC]/50p[PAL], 28Mbps mode is added in the video recording option of [MP4].
3. Speed of AF, consecutive shooting performance of AFC is enhanced in use with H-PS14042 and H-PS45175. *Please update the firmware of the lens to its latest version.
4. The monitor continues to display images during HDMI output even while [Auto LVF/Monitor OFF] is set.
5. Instability of shutter interval during interval shooting is improved.
6. When [Shutter AF] is OFF, operation is changed not to enlarge the image while using [Pinpoint AF] when even if shutter button is half-pressed.
7. Performance of image signal processing is enhanced during video file playback.

Update Contents for DMC-GH3

 

[Agrivar]

GH3 update, along with a couple of lens updates (H-FS45150, H-PS14042, H-PS45175) No peaking...

Update Contents for DMC-GH3

I tried the u/g. Works great !! One more movie mode and some bug fixes.. What can immediately be felt is that once you press the playback button, its almost instantaneous, not like before where theres a split second before it displays..

 

[kababoom]

the u/g seems to 'fixed' the evf halo issue reported by some after the upgrade i dun feel the 'halo' effect anymore

 

[RyanKhoo]

Just wondering, is the moire problem solved in the current batch of GH3 ?

Thanks

GH3 update, along with a couple of lens updates (H-FS45150, H-PS14042, H-PS45175) No peaking...

Update Contents for DMC-GH3

 

[RyanKhoo]

GH3 update, along with a couple of lens updates (H-FS45150, H-PS14042, H-PS45175) No peaking...

Update Contents for DMC-GH3

Sorry novice question here:

1) how do I know whether I need to update ? I mean how do I know the software in my gh3 which I just bought is the latest ?

2) can I know if we can record videos of different format (avchd, mp4 and mov) as well as same format format but in different bitrate & resolution (eg mov in 1920 x 1080 in 25p in 28Mbps and mov in 1280 x 780 in 50p in 50Mbps) all in the same class 10 SD card (ie record all these in one card)?

Thanks

 

[Agrivar]

Sorry novice question here:

1) how do I know whether I need to update ? I mean how do I know the software in my gh3 which I just bought is the latest ?

2) can I know if we can record videos of different format (avchd, mp4 and mov) as well as same format format but in different bitrate & resolution (eg mov in 1920 x 1080 in 25p in 28Mbps and mov in 1280 x 780 in 50p in 50Mbps) all in the same class 10 SD card (ie record all these in one card)?

Thanks

1) Under the menu there's a section called "setup". There's a function [version Disp ] that will display body firmware & lens firmware.

2) yes. Mixing modes or formats no issue.

 

[RyanKhoo]

1) Under the menu there's a section called "setup". There's a function [version Disp ] that will display body firmware & lens firmware.

2) yes. Mixing modes or formats no issue.

Thanks Agrivar.

Really appreciate it, bro !

 

[RyanKhoo]

Thanks! The 35-100mm was shipped with the v1.1 firmware. I updated the old but almost free 45-200mm to the latest firmware and found that it wasn't a difficult process.

can elaborate what u mean by free 45-200mm ? thanks

 

[RyanKhoo]

The body is small and the lens is tiny, but I was shocked that they're both marked "Made in China" for the price.

Mine, the body says "made in China" but the 12-35 lens says "made in Japan"