_ Year Two –Tester 13īut a good product with poor features or capabilities can be salvaged by its users, as evidenced by numerous hacks that have appeared over the past few years for various cameras. The bottom line is that Panasonic lost the race even before they hit the starting gate by not equipping the camera with a 1080P/24 codec that serious users would find acceptable. If there’s motion in the frame you get “ mud“, which is the official ISO term for crappy footage.Īs first explained in my 2009 reviewthe reason for this is that Panasonic crippled the GH1 with a poor AVCHD codec that embeds its 24P footage in a 60i envelope ( forcing users to use specialized software to unwrap it before transcoding), and a codec which does not properly utilize “B” frames, which assist in motion prediction. In 720P/60 mode image quality is excellent, though in 1080/P24, which is what most people want for indy video production, its really great – so long as neither the camera nor subject move. It had full manual control of exposure, a high quality electronic viewfinder, metering, zooming, silent auto-focus and also image stabilization during video, and therefore appeared to press all of the right buttons, so to speak. So what about the Panasonic GH1? It caused quite a sensation when it came out, because frankly it appeared at the time that it would trump the 5D MKII at its own game. An entire accessory and support industry has grown up around them. These are pretty lousy video cameras from an operational point of view, but their shallow depth of field, great low-light capability, and high video IQ have earned them a solid reputation among both amateur and professional film makers. If you’re reading this I needn’t remind you that there’s a revolution happening in video, with major TV shows and even feature films being shot in whole or in part with video-capable DSLRs, in particular the Canon 5D MKII, and more recently the Canon 7D. No, it doesn’t have the same IQ as a Leica M9, Sony A900, or other high resolution DSLR, but then again it’s a lot smaller, lighter, and it shoots video.Īnd that, dear friends, is what this brief article is about. About a year ago, in July, 2009, I reviewed the Panasonic GH1’s video capabilitieson these pages, and in the months since have used it as a favored stills camera on a number of trips and shoots, where its small size, high image quality, and versatility made it a pleasure to use.
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