It's here! As Andrew Reid at eoshd says, "This camera is basically a dream..." I have to agree. The convergence of pro stills and video in the same camera makes the GH3 the realization of the hybrid camera dream.
As a GH2 still shooter who was dissatisfied with the build quality, autofocus speed and the lack of dynamic range in my stills, the new magnesium alloy body, lightning fast autofocus and HDR mode are what I have been waiting for.
As a GH2 video shooter reluctant to hack my camera, I have been waiting for a high bit rate camera with a stable codec capable of shooting 1080/60p with one hour plus video clip length (outside of the EU), manual audio level control, a headphone jack, XLR inputs (or at least an external accessory with XLR inputs), and clean recordable HDMI output.
So, for $1300, Panasonic has given us much of what has been on photographers' and filmmakers' wish lists for the last couple of years - and more besides (official specs here).
After being tempted by one or two of the plethora of cameras that Sony has announced over the last few weeks, I have put my pre-order in for the GH3. Sony came closest to getting my business with the $3600 EA-50 or the $2800 A99, but $3600 is a lot of money for a prosumer camera - and the A99's 30 minute continuous shot limit makes it a "video clip" camera, and not a video camera.
It is a great day to be a photographer/filmmaker!
If you enjoy these posts, please support this blog by pre-ordering your GH3 through these links from Amazon for $1299.00 or Adorama for $1299.99. They won't charge your card until it ships.
This morning, Panasonic posted a promo video for the GH3 (hat tip to 4/3 rumors) - which may or may not be pulled before the official announcement scheduled for Monday. I admit that I'm biased - but this camera looks like it has been worth the wait. Hard to tell from Vimeo, but the still images are impressive - it certainly looks like Panasonic has overcome the GH2's dynamic range challenge. And with a ruggedized body and weathersealing; a battery grip; 1080/50 or 60p and 72mbps ALL-I encoding - this camera, if it adds the rumored headphone jack and retains the GH2's unique competitive advantages of near moire-free video and unlimited video clip length, becomes the hybrid camera to beat in the DSLR/DSLT/DSLM form factor. If the price (and image quality) are right, Panasonic will sell a lot of these.
And is that Philip Bloom we see shooting with a GH3 at about 2:46 into the video? If
so, it certainly is nice that he has an articulated, swiveling LCD to look at and doesn't have to crouch down behind the camera - not at all like the shot where he had to lie down on the beach in his review of the 5D Mark III with its old-fashioned fixed LCD :)
I guess you can tell from the name of this blog that I'm a bit of a revolutionary - that's why I like "insurgent" companies like Blackmagic Design - whose mission in life seems to be to upset the old order. Well, they did it with the original $2995 Blackmagic Design Cinema Camera (BMCC) for EF mount a few months ago, and now they've done it again with a new Micro 4/3 (MFT) mount version, announced at IBC 2012 in Amsterdam. The new version will be available in December for the same $2995 price! (see image below, with Voitglander 17mm f/0.95)
This is great news - one of the major criticisms of the original camera has been the EF mount - which seemed to be a poor match for the size of the BMCC's sensor, limiting lens choices at the wide end. This problem is dealt with much more easily with the new MFT mount. With the MFT mount, the camera is opened up to a range of manual lens options not available with the EF-only mount, such as the $549 SLR Magic HyperPrime Cine 12mm T/1.6 - while still retaining the ability to use manual PL or Nikon lenses with inexpensive adapters - or EF lenses in auto mode with a $600 Redrock LiveLens Active Lens Mount.
So, for $4 or $5K (plus SSDs), you can have a camera with 2.5K resolution that shoots 12 bit RAW with 13 stops of dynamic range and will mount just about any lens ever made?
Although this blog is nominally about the hybrid still/cinema camera convergence, and this is "just" a cinema camera - I am still excited. Because what this blog is really about is the revolutionary democratization of image-making made possible in this century by the breakneck pace of change in technology. When I was in film school, Super 8 sound cameras were revolutionary. The idea that amateurs could actually get lip-synced sound in their movies without a clapboard and a Nagra was pretty heady stuff. My Super 8 sound camera actually had full manual audio level control (I wish my GH1 and GH2 had that!).
But sadly, the image quality from those cameras was terrible, even by 1970s standards. The images were grainy (even at low ISOs - or low ASAs in those days), the registration was awful, so the picture jumped around, and the resolution was so low it couldn't stand up to projection on the big screen. Okay, 16mm was better for projection, but not much better. And it was an order of magnitude more expensive (not just the cameras and lenses - but the film stock and processing cost a fortune).
Fast forward to today - and with a few thousand dollars, a film school or amateur or indy pro crew can produce image quality with nearly the dynamic range of film that will stand up to the 2K projection in most theaters. No more excuses. Thanks Blackmagic Design!
Great hands on with a pre-production model of the EA50 at a trade show in China. I love how Dan takes charge of the interaction with the Sony rep :) I was wrong about the power zoom - it is compatible with any NEX camera using the zoom control on the lens! Great news for VG20 and FS100 shooters. Worth watching to see how Dan takes the lens off the EA-50 and puts it on a 5N he "happens" to have in his pocket. This is my favorite trade show hands-on ever.
Sony has taken another huge step towards the convergence of large sensor interchangeable lens hybrid still/video cameras with the new NEX-EA50 for $4500, including a new 18-200 servo zoom lens (also compatible with the FS700, but notand the FS100). Here's the usual over-produced Sony release video (story continues after the jump):
The specs look like Sony engineers and marketeers have been reading my mind. Shoulder mount large-sensor camcorder with high resolution 16MP stills (with RAW). 1080/60p. Built-in XLR inputs with full manual audio level control and pro quality sound. A top handle. A real power zoom with a rocker instead of Panasonic's stupid ring. As anyone who reads my posts on this blog and elsewhere knows, I am a big fan of Panasonic's GH1 and GH2 cameras (I own both). And I've been looking forward to the rollout of the GH3, rumored to be next month at Photokina in Berlin.
But, even without seeing a whole range of images from this camera, if it only matches the image quality of the VG20 (which I have some experience with) this new entry from Sony steals a lot of Panasonic's thunder.
The Panasonic GH3 is unlikely to have XLR inputs or a shoulder mount - so shooters will still have to buy shoulder rigs and external recorders, closing the price gap with this new camera.
And if the GH3 doesn't have a headphone jack and 1080/60p, it is going to lose a lot of sales to this camera - perhaps including mine.
Worse for Panasonic - at the ~$4000 price point, the EA50 arguably has better video camera ergonomics than the AF100 - with the addition of the still camera chops that the AF100 lacks (it is even a better still camera than the $8000 8MP capable Sony FD700!).
No, it doesn't have the AF100's built-in ND filter or HD-SDI-out, but a $30 variable ND filter and a $180 HDMI to SDI converter will fix that for significantly less than adding the cost of a shoulder rig and separate still camera to the price of the AF100.
This camera really hits a sweet spot for shooters who want to upgrade from a DSL camera to a hybrid still/video camcorder with built-in XLRs - but aren't that excited about bringing their shoulder rigs along with them - and don't want to pay $8000 for the still/video capable FS700.
And for those thinking about the FS100, who want a shoulder mount and the ability to shoot high quality stills - and who want to pay about $1000 less for a camera with the 18-200 lens included - it might be worth giving up a little sensor size and image quality (Andrew Reid at eoshd disagrees with me ;)).
I rented the new Canon T4i with the 40mm STM (STepper Motor) pancake today for a side-by-side comparison with an unhacked Panasonic GH2. I will shoot the comparison over the next few days, with the emphasis on the T4i's new video friendly features (autofocus in video mode, silent lenses, touch screen rack focus). If there's anything else you'd like to see - please let me know in the comments section - I'll incorporate it in the shoot if I have time (it's a 3 day rental).
First impressions: After selling the T2i and shooting with the GH2 for a year and a half, I'd forgotten how big the mirror-box camera are. Even with the pancake lens, the T4i seems heavy and bulky compared to the GH. And I'd also forgotten how annoying it is not to have auto-switching between the viewfinder and the LCD - and to lose the viewfinder when I want to shoot video (grrr).
That said, I'd also forgotten how nice the Canon menus and interface are. I haven't used the T4i's touchscreen for video yet, but I have used it to set the date and time - and it is a lot more responsive than the GH2's touchscreen.
The new Canon T4i/650D was introduced today with several new features - to include a touchscreen, autofocus in video mode, new silent autofocus lenses, a built-in stereo mic and a new DIGIC 5 processor. Digital Camera World in the UK has the first hands-on preview:
As a former Canon T2i owner, it is nice to see that Canon is making an effort to catch up - and I look forward to seeing video images from the new DIGIC-5 processor, but it is hard to get too excited. I have had a touchscreen, video autofocus, a silent AF lens and a stereo mic on my relatively moire-free (and less expensive) Panasonic GH2 for a year and a half.
All that is left now for Canon is to do something about the 12 minute clip length limit and the viewfinder that goes black in video mode.
That said, this would be a great camera for digital filmmakers who have a significant investment in Canon glass. And the new high ISO modes made possible by DIGIC-5 look promising. Hopefully, DIGIC-5 will push Panasonic towards higher ISO/better stock low light performance as they finalize the GH3.
