Administrators Andrew Reid Posted April 15, 2013 Administrators Share Posted April 15, 2013 Above: my GH3 kitted out with Leica 14-50mm F2.8, Lanparte follow focus, carbon matte box and baseplate Six months in the making here is my final and full review of the Panasonic GH3 jointly published with DPReview.com. I highly recommend checking out that review as well, to which I contributed the video mode insights. The Panasonic GH3 is an affordable $1299 hybrid camera and has a special legacy to build on with indie filmmakers. Does it succeed?Read the full article here dahlfors, JR Lipartito and Wit 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean-Marc Abela Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Thank you for such a thorough review Andrew.. i've been waiting for your analysis before i commit to purchasing my next camera this helps a lot! Andrew Reid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voyagervideo Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Great article/review! Another thing to add to the cons list (unless you've found a way around this?): the info on the display disappears after 10 seconds, you have to keep pushing the button and there's no way to keep it on permanantly and it's terrible for trying to maintain exposure/watch histogram. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Prater Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Yay! I've been pretty excited to read your review of the GH3 Andrew! A couple additional things worth highlighting: 1. I'm surprised that it didn't get more play in your article, but the GH3 does 60p overcrank at 1080p. I don't think any other camera in it's class comes close. Is there anything under $5k, except for the FS100 that can do full HD slow-mo? (Bonus: some folks are saying to shoot in 60p, so you can still hear the sound on slo-mo sequences until you go to post! Great idea!) 2. WiFi integration. Having the capability to use your phone or tablet as a portable monitor is awesome. You can walk around a set, getting composition/lighting setup -- without running back to the unit or to an external monitor. Wireless HD + decent external monitor can be pretty pricey still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronjbase Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Great review, been using the Gh3 for about a month now, agree with everything you said. Plus after 35years in the business, It's easy on the back.... Hpong a fim ware upgrade with help with the lowlight issue down the road.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted April 15, 2013 Author Administrators Share Posted April 15, 2013 It does in-camera slow-mo, didn't cover it in the review as it is best to shoot 1080/60p and do the slow-mo in post. WiFi... Not convinced it replaces an HDMI monitor! I don't use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tungah Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Andrew, great review as always! Any chance we'll see peaking on a hack soon? Do you happen to know anything about hack development in this regard? Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiong Posted April 15, 2013 Share Posted April 15, 2013 Thanks for the review Andrew, always great to read your opinion on gear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntblowz Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Just wish that you have control over wifi after pressing the record button, cheap wireless controller/focus pulling! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingswell Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Thanks for the extensive review. Bit of a bummer on the low light side. Is there anything out there that does 108060p and is great in low light in the DSLR market? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zephyrnoid Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Good balanced review. Thanks. All eyes on Nikon and BlackMagic moving forward... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted April 16, 2013 Author Administrators Share Posted April 16, 2013 Thanks for the extensive review. Bit of a bummer on the low light side. Is there anything out there that does 108060p and is great in low light in the DSLR market? Canon 1D C... $12,000. NEX series have 1080/60p as does the new Samsung NX300... But poor video quality especially on the Samsung. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hluu Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Thanks for the review! FYI, in camera slow-motion is at 24fps (23.976) and personally, I find it better in post to use then 60fps because the GH3 recorded the motion in slow motion natively with less motion blur whereas recording in normal speed (at 60fps), you still have motion blur, then to slow it down in post, you are slowing down the footage but also the motion blur. Here's some test I did with in-camera slow motion and I used either Premiere Pro or Twixtor for super slo-mo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F44IIPUSNA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUW3aFJgG_w Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanielBunker Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Hi Andrew You own both the Cinema Camera and the GH3 so in light of recent announcements of both the 4K Production camera and the Pocket Cinema camera announcements would you still recommend the GH3 to serious shooters? Such as documentary filmmakers? Regards Daniel Bunker Director Bunker Media Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagz99 Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Hi Andrew, Thanks for the review - I've had my GH3 for a couple of months now, love it and have been eagerly awaiting your take on it. The one thing I'm struggling with is the effect of i.Dynamic and i.Resolution when recording video - I can't find much information about the pros or cons of such modes when filming. I've done some tests but the only thing I noticed is the max. i.Dynamic setting made everything flat and muddy but that's not exactly scientific. My GH3 display also seems to bump up the saturation whenever I press record - anyone else experience this and have any clues what might cause it? Makes it a bit tricky when lighting sometimes (esp with coloured gels!). Cheers! Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 You can walk into a store, grab a GH3 and start shooting today... that's definitely a big plus for the Panasonic :) Good to see DPreview teamed up with you Andrew! The GH2 was misunderstood by many Photographers I think. Still many Canon (video)shooters have no idea that this small chip can give better images than a fullframe 5D in many aspects. Spreading the word on DPreview might help :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndersM Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Nice review! I've had the GH3 for a few months and a few extra cons for me: - Ex-tele only works with 24/25/30fps modes. If you, like me, deliver to TV and have to shoot in 50/60i/p you don't have the ex-tele mode that worked in GH2. This is really disappointing! - On-display info disappears after 10 seconds. If you shoot an interview and want to keep an eye on the audio levels or other settings you have to hit a button every 10 seconds to have the info displayed. Also after the info has disappeared and you want to change a setting like ISO you have to push the button twice; Once to "wake" up the screen and once to access the setting. I still don't understand this behavior. - I'm not too sure about the build quality... I'm about to return my second GH3. On the first one the hot shoe came off, and the second one I have now shuts down randomly causing lost clips if I'm in record. Both these problems have been reported by others as well. Other than that, great camera! AndersM zephyrnoid 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noirist Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Has anyone measured the resolution of the GH3 footage, for example, using a test chart? How does the measured resolution of the GH3 footage compare to the GH2 and GH1? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nahua Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Great review Andrew! I really like my GH3, and when I make enough money I'm going to replace my GH2s. Another thing to think about is how reliable the camera is versus a hacked GH2. No matter how stable the hack, it is still a hack and I've had my GH2s lock up on me at the wrong times on paid jobs. Very embarrassing. The GH3 is a real champ, so reliable and great picture quality. I am very happy with mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gh3userdigi1 Posted April 16, 2013 Share Posted April 16, 2013 Thanks for this review. Here is a short film about a train market, filmed with gh3 and lumix 12-35mm: WeddingEtCetera.Com 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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