An adventure into the Panasonic GX85/80 begins - and a look at the Leica Nocticron for Micro Four Thirds

[feanorfinwe]

 

[tweak]

What was that???

[The Chris]

A new vid with the GX80/85, lots of people and wide shots

https://vimeo.com/168318144

And a good example showing the stabilization. But that moire, yikes!

 

[geotboy777]

Hey Guys Photographed as a hobby and want to get into filming more. Recently purchased the GX85 and read through this entire post. Thanks guys, a lot of useful information in here. Anyways wanted to share some of the Low Light capabilities. I don't think anyone has posted anything yet. 

All hand held. Sigma 18-35 1.8 .... %95 of shots were at 18mm. ISO was 200 for everyshot. Shutter 50... 4k 24p Warp Stabilizer in PP

 

Also don't know what happened on that second to last shot. Maybe Warp Stabilizer made it worse.

-2 highlight -2 saturation -5 sharpness -2 contrast  +2 shadows  High iDynamic (setting borrowed from Inazuma)

I know its not a great video but wanted to display how it preformed in low light. 

[John Matthews]

39 minutes ago, The Chris said:

And a good example showing the stabilization. But that moire, yikes!

I wouldn't say it's THAT bad. Yeah, it shows up from time to time, but with some, it seems much more common. Let's not forget that moiré occurs naturally too with the human eye. Although the stabilization performs great in these shots, it seemed over-used... but I guess that was the point.

[TheSicilianGuy]

57 minutes ago, The Chris said:

A new vid with the GX80/85, lots of people and wide shots

https://vimeo.com/168318144

And a good example showing the stabilization. But that moire, yikes!

 

In the description it says that he voluntarily did not correct the images.. go figure! Quite the charming video, though, and lovely playing. 
Some shots are quite detailed and sharp (though less than what I've seen from the GX80/85 until now), others are just a blurry mess (like the one at 3:04). What gives?

 

Quote

This was not shot entirely handled, right? Only a few shots... 

Well done, but it seems that the GX80/85/7MKII is not so good in Low Light and there are few artefact on your footage too (I just food this out today). Still a great camera, but I will keep on using it as a B-came.

How would you compare the gx80's sharpness and detail in 4k video against your GH4? Is it better, worse or same?


And now a quick question for those who already have this camera: is grading with the natural profile that much of a far cry from the CineLike? Cause I read this camera doesn't have a Cine profile, and I was wondering whether this can prove or not a real dealbreaker for someone who wants to shoot some good video too, although using it mainly as stills camera.

I have reserved a GX80 from Amazon.de (btw, if you're interested, lowest GX80 prices in Europe, as far as I've seen) and it's bound to ship next month, but I'm still researching like crazy, even though I've already read a lot on this camera and I'm 95% sure of wanting to do that DSLR-> Mirrorless (m43) jump, especially with this camera, which looks to be a pretty good piece of equipment all around. 

Also, great article, this also made me discover Zoo Quest! Great stuff. And since this is my first post here, hello everyone.  

[mechanicalEYE]

https://vimeo.com/168318112

 

[The Chris]

3 hours ago, John Matthews said:

I wouldn't say it's THAT bad. Yeah, it shows up from time to time, but with some, it seems much more common. Let's not forget that moiré occurs naturally too with the human eye. Although the stabilization performs great in these shots, it seemed over-used... but I guess that was the point.

In this price range if you want 4k, its basically pick your poison. A6300 has bad RS and funky crops with 1080p. This has moire, no audio input and low bitrates in 1080p. NX500 has a crazy crop, no EVF and Samsung left it for dead.

[Inazuma]

10 minutes ago, The Chris said:

In this price range if you want 4k, its basically pick your poison. A6300 has bad RS and funky crops with 1080p. This has moire, no audio input and low bitrates in 1080p. NX500 has a crazy crop, no EVF and Samsung left it for dead.

To be fair, that moire is only appearing in 1080p with pretty harsh circumstances. And the a6300 has a really soft image at 1080p. 

 

3 hours ago, John Matthews said:

Although the stabilization performs great in these shots, it seemed over-used... but I guess that was the point.

Haha, we will nitpick at anything these days huh. 

[fuzzynormal]

3 hours ago, Inazuma said:

Haha, we will nitpick at anything these days huh. 

One's really got to be shortsighted to not appreciate the performance you're getting from such a camera at such a price point. 

Honestly, it's kind of ridiculous how good and cheap this is.

In my mind Its a value on par with the BMPCC that was sold @$500 awhile back. 

 

[John Matthews]

7 hours ago, Inazuma said:

Haha, we will nitpick at anything these days huh. 

Just thought that the camera movements in the video made me feel a little sick... a perceived "floating" this way and that way.. purely subjective and perhaps I shouldn't have made it. I wouldn't want my stupid comment to demotivate a struggling moviemaker who's trying to put him or herself out there. But perhaps this opens a larger discussion about IS? Now that the GX80 has it, at what point are people going to say "too much is too much?" Is it like the "clarity" slider in Lightroom? When it cam out, the internet started to be filled with images with super contrasty lines and they looked really strange and unnatural.

4 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

One's really got to be shortsighted to not appreciate the performance you're getting from such a camera at such a price point. 

Honestly, it's kind of ridiculous how good and cheap this is.

In my mind Its a value on par with the BMPCC that was sold @$500 awhile back. 

I agree. The BMPCC wasn't a great allrounder though... just a superb, inexpensive device for filmmaking. The GX80 is really a great still camera too.

[John Matthews]

11 hours ago, TheSicilianGuy said:

I have reserved a GX80 from Amazon.de (btw, if you're interested, lowest GX80 prices in Europe, as far as I've seen) and it's bound to ship next month, but I'm still researching like crazy, even though I've already read a lot on this camera and I'm 95% sure of wanting to do that DSLR-> Mirrorless (m43) jump, especially with this camera, which looks to be a pretty good piece of equipment all around. 

Also, great article, this also made me discover Zoo Quest! Great stuff. And since this is my first post here, hello everyone.  

I did the same. Sold 2 DSLR's and an RX100 to buy the GX80 and a lens. Mainland Europe has the best deal right now at 599 Euros body only. I'm quite happy, but you should be aware that the GX80 initially feels a little small and fiddly compared to a DSLR IMO. I got over that quickly and it felt great after a few days. There's so much tech in this camera to satisfy many people. You won't regret it. Welcome to the forum!

[7 Lakes]

2 hours ago, John Matthews said:

Mainland Europe has the best deal right now at 599 Euros body only

Could you, please, drop the link to the store? Thank you.

[John Matthews]

27 minutes ago, 7 Lakes said:

Could you, please, drop the link to the store? Thank you.

Sure. Bought mine here, but it's the "German" model of the GX80 in France... not sure what that was about. They seemed serious and sent it quickly. They have a shop only about 2 hours from where I live. That's why I went with them and they're the only ones in France to have it. Do what you like... not an endorsement.  

https://www.digit-photo.com/Appareils-photo-hybrides-numeriques-aFA0090/PANASONIC-Lumix-DMC-GX80-Boitier-Nu-Silver-rPANADMCGX80EFS.html

[tweak]

12 hours ago, The Chris said:

In this price range if you want 4k, its basically pick your poison. A6300 has bad RS and funky crops with 1080p. This has moire, no audio input and low bitrates in 1080p. NX500 has a crazy crop, no EVF and Samsung left it for dead.

Think you missed a few things on a6300 -
- Can't be used outside, will melt.

- Also has moire.

- 1080p is unusably soft.

- Extremely bad RS (not just bad).

I'd say GX85 is looking pretty decent in comparision .

[wobba]

Unless you need AF in which case GX85 sucks. 

[tweak]

I doubt that's an issue for most and even if it were what's the alternative? 

[John Matthews]

36 minutes ago, wobba said:

Unless you need AF in which case GX85 sucks. 

I'll go out on a limb here and say the GX80 doesn't "suck" at anything. AF is almost instantaneous in stills... needs work in video, but it beats a long list of other cameras in AF in video.

[BucksterUK]

very interested to see how the GX85 does - I have a G6 + 14-140 MKII and a Sony Nex 5n + Sigma 30mm Prime and Kit lens

I much prefer using the G6 and the video quality is much better - BUT especially in stills the photos the G6 takes seem very "flat" - I see the same in videos and stills from GH4 etc

doesn't seem to have the "gloss" you get with a APS-C size sensor -not sure if this is because low lower dynamic range, or colour bit depth, or a combo of the two

[TheSicilianGuy]

3 hours ago, John Matthews said:

Sure. Bought mine here, but it's the "German" model of the GX80 in France... not sure what that was about. They seemed serious and sent it quickly. They have a shop only about 2 hours from where I live. That's why I went with them and they're the only ones in France to have it. Do what you like... not an endorsement.  

https://www.digit-photo.com/Appareils-photo-hybrides-numeriques-aFA0090/PANASONIC-Lumix-DMC-GX80-Boitier-Nu-Silver-rPANADMCGX80EFS.html

Thanks for this link! Canceled the preorder @amazon (they didn't even know when they'd receive stock) and bought it there: they have it in stock and it will be shipped on the 30th of May. If I'm lucky I may also get it before vacations! I had already resigned to getting it later in June. So, thanks again. 

Also @wobba, judging by reviews, the AF is excellent on stills and acceptable on video. So I'm not sure what you're talking about? If you're talking about video, looks like it's good enough for candid/family shooting, and that's it. I think any serious videographer would pull focus manually anyway.