[quote name='Stephen de Vere' timestamp='1346232798' post='16775']
I can't find any reference on this site to the hope that the banding issue in GH2 will be resolved with the GH3. For me, unless that get's fixed every other improvement is pointless.
Am I missing something ?
[/quote]
Not at all bud:). Most of us are wondering ourselves. I hate the halos that emit from bright lights. I made a 4th of July vid and every firework looked like a nuclear missle launch. It's (gh2) - definitely got its issues regarding how it handles transitioning shades and such, but we never got the freedom to create our own color profiles either. I love cinestyle for my T2i, but i recently started using Visioncolor, and if you're pixel peeping, it Doesn't do the stairstep from one color to another. I'd assume it's the 8 bit space it has to work with. In After Effects, when I A/B 8 bit and 16 bit workspaces, i can see the banding in 8 bit. 16 bit doesn't do it. (granted, i transcode 5d to RGB 4:4:4 as well. You should try it if u don't already... And use Andrews gamma fix technique in Premiere with the Fast Color Corrector plug. full range input, 16-235 output... Double check that last number though.). Your shadows boost cleaner, and your highlights don't look like a supernova.
Personally man, Depending on how much they want for the GH3, if you're making movies primarily, i'd just save up a little more and grab the BMC instead? I only say that because you're much less likely to hit your head against the ceiling because of a lame colorspace, or a shitty codec, or whatever DSLR inherent issue you'd run into with a still's camera.
I can't believe i'm about to say this, but the Gh3's a "still's" camera first.... (I'm f--king banning myself from this site for that one.lol.). But who the hell takes pictures with a GH2 anyway..? Ha!
No doubt, the GH3 will be killer... But being completely redesigned, weathersealed, with an X series kit lens, (12-35 f2.8)... It's not going to be priced like a Gh2. People will easily drop $2000 for it if it's a killer, and it probably will be. If that's the case though, for a thousand more you can have a 12 bit camera with the option to shoot 220mbps pro res... And that's supposed to be the "lesser" codec! It's still 4 times higher than the GH3's. And i could almost guarantee the Gh3 won't be 4:4:4 12 bit raw.
But wtf do I know. Panasonic could've gotten wasted last weekend and said, "you know what f--kers?!.. Let's just go all out with this bastard. Yeah why not.. 4:4:4, 14 bit, RAW, clean HDMI out, 13 stops, X- series lens, unlimited lens options, $2000... Watch the world sh-t its pants.".
.....Only I would be that cool.