Sony NEX-VG20 and Panasonic DMC-GH2: Side-by-side Comparison

Finally!  Here is the hands-on with the VG20 that I've promised for two weeks.  Bottom line:  The GH2 is a great camera, but I liked the VG20 - a lot.  Yes, it lacks manual color, contrast and sharpness adjustments, but it has  a built-in headphone jack and full manual audio control, it is better than the unhacked GH2 in low light and the factory-set color profile is just fine.

The GH2 does handle moire better -- but just barely. You will see moire from both cameras on the venetian blinds in the final shots -- the VG20 has it on both blinds, the GH2 has it on one.

The only thing that keeps me from buying the Sony right now is the price. The body-only price twice as high as a GH2 with a kit lens (and higher than the A77 or the NEX7).  I think I'll wait until the price comes down (unless the GH3 turns out to be better ;-)).

I apologize for the focus and audio challenges, but I hope you find the comparison useful nevertheless

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Sony NEX-VG20 and Panasonic DMC-GH2: Side-by-side Comparison from Bill Bruner on Vimeo.

Slashcam Reviews Sony NEX-VG20 (in German) - GH2 still the champ!

First hands-on VG20 review that I have been able to find, after trolling Japanese and German sites for weeks, has been this one at Slashcam Deutschland.

If I understand Google Translate correctly, it sounds like they liked the ergonomics, but were disappointed with compression artifacts (moire) and the lack of picture profiles.

Here is the moire and picture profile critique from the review (Google translation is a little rough, but I think you'll get the gist):

"One [negative] is the scaling artifacts by the sensor. Since a picture is used with a converter optimized for photo pixel count, it must scale down the image of the camera now about 16 megapixels to 2 megapixels. And that will Sony not very good. So it is like its predecessor [the VG10] significant aliasing artifacts. The Canon EOS models while struggling with similar problems, but with the GH2 Panasonic shows that it is also cleaner. And that for about half the price of a VG20.

Moreover, we still bother to virtually complete lack of control for adjusting the image characteristics. The open secret of why, for example, the rather fuzzy Canon EOS 5D for many users the ne plus ultra of the indie film, is simply that one can create custom gamma curves here and can exchange data via the network. Because only this one you can create a dynamic that is similar to a film camera and you can later use by a professional color grading in post. 
Most filmmakers use this one "flat" look, the one with a VG20 simply can not reach. While the VG10 nevertheless still offered pre-Picture Profiles are now no longer even those present in the VG20. Only one Cinegamma tone curve is fitted, but the expression does not particularly flat. 

We strongly suspect that Sony is well aware that just such features for a DSLR camera users interesting. Finally, the Japanese also sell flat image profiles such as the S-log update for the professional camera F3 for a lot of money. It is therefore likely to be a pure marketing decision to make no additional gamma curves for the VG20. However, Sony should not be surprised if many buyers avoid the VG20 for precisely this reason." 

They also complained about the lack of XLR inputs and ND filter (but we knew that).

I am still interested in the camera for its headphone jack, manual audio level control and 60p -- but it looks like the GH2 is still the no-moire video image quality champ below $2000. Heck, it's the no-moire video image quality champ below $1000!

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