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Panasonic G6 vs GH2 video test!


Julian
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Panasonic GH2 hacked

Moon Trial 5 hack, shot in 1080p HBR mode 25 fps (~ 60Mbps)

Standard profile -2-2-2-2

Panasonic 14-42mm kitlens, OIS on.

 

Looks like there are some dropped frames in the GH2 footage, did use a Sandisk 95MB/s card though...

 

Panasonic G6

AVCHD 1080p 25 fps (24Mbps)

Standard profile -5-5-5-5

Panasonic 14-42mm kitlens, OIS on.

 

Everything shot with the same fixed white balance at 1/50s, various apertures but same on both camera's at all times.

 

My first impressions:

The G6 looks better to me. Better shadow detail and a bit more detail in the highlights. Probably due to flatter picture.

 

The G6 shares the picture styles with the GH3, so no smooth like on the GH2.  Kept both camera's on standard to keep it as close as possible. Everything dialed down maximum.

 

Less noise at high iso's, less banding. Couldn't detect any moire.

 

Looks a tad less sharp than (hacked) GH2, but that could be up to the sharpening at -5. With some sharpening probably same detail level.

 

Rolling shutter looks the same to me.

 

Although the G6 is a bit smaller I actually prefer the grip to the GH2. It holds very nicely. The lcd is much much better. The color cast on the GH2 screen is horrible. The G6 looks pretty natural and true to the output. Funny thing: the viewfinder looks quite smaller to me.

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I shot hacked with Moon Trial 5 at HBR (60Mbps). Might do more tests later. But it already looks pretty good for the G6 I think, so if I don't have to 'unhack' my GH2 I might keep it this way. On the other hand, I should try some more/other hacks.. so If I find the time :)

 

I'm planning on making some screendumbs so you can see the actual quality, the youtube compression is pretty harsh. Don't have time now, but here are some examples (make sure you see the full res 1080p image).

 

G6 on top, GH2 below. ISO 3200 and 160.

No tripod, so not a perfect test.

 

gallery_20742_44_918446.png

 

gallery_20742_44_1583485.png

 

gallery_20742_44_1920875.png

 

gallery_20742_44_1703638.png

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Video wont play for me but the G6 images look better to my eye. less noise in the mids in the top pic.

 

You should try against the intravenous II hack, that is the highest quality of the hack settings I've tried so far.

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Is it relatively safe hacking a GH2? I have never really heard of anyone having any trouble, and people seem to swap hacks pretty easily.. Unlike Magic Lantern which I'v heard and even seen errors/camera lockups (even when a CF wasn't in with ML) and that was the "stable" version.

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Video wont play for me but the G6 images look better to my eye. less noise in the mids in the top pic.

 

You should try against the intravenous II hack, that is the highest quality of the hack settings I've tried so far.

 

The ISO3200 example is sorta academic, to me.  I'd rather see more realistic comparisons at something like 640/800 where too much above that you're pretty much in a horrible lighting situation and just hoping you get an image you can use and then it becomes a contest of "which camera would I rather have when I'm not lighting anything and my light is shit?", more or less.

 

Some differences between the ISO160 examples could also come from the Standard profile reportedly not giving a correct exposure for medium gray on the GH2.  According to Shian Storm (ColorGHear) and his tests with scopes and handheld light meter (unconfirmed yet myself) only Nostalgia measures medium gray exposure @ 50% and the others are closer to 40%.  Perhaps they fixed this anomaly in the G6?

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I cant get the video to play.

 

Anyhow i currently have a GH2 (hacked), and am thinking of moving to the G6.

I have been waiting for more video samples and comparisons to be posted before deciding, as i mostly use the camera for video. 

 

I must say based on the photos posted here I feel the GH2 is better. The GH2 is much sharper, a little more noisy, but i can filter most of that out in post.

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This is great news. It appears that the G6 possibly performs even better than the GH2! (contrary to what earlier videos showed).

I took both cityscape screenshots and put them together for detail comparison. I sharpened the G6 one a tiny little bit to match the GH2 (which brought up a little artifacting), as well as touching levels a little.

 

GH2 on the left, G6 on the right.


Hope is back.

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I have high hopes for this camera too.  I can't wait to dump my GH2s.  Hacks are only good for the most extreme detail.  But in reality, there's way less banding and better noise with the G6.  And I hope I won't have to use the most expensive Sandisk cards and I can go back to using 32GB cards. 

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I have high hopes for this camera too.  I can't wait to dump my GH2s.  Hacks are only good for the most extreme detail.  But in reality, there's way less banding and better noise with the G6.  And I hope I won't have to use the most expensive Sandisk cards and I can go back to using 32GB cards. 


I shot a music video for Cabezones last monday using my beloved Sedna and the footage looks awesome. I love that detail and fine grain. But yeah, banding on the shadows and using high ISOs sometimes gets in the way, and on many shoots the stock codec quality will be more than enough, and the improvements the G6 brings to the table are great.

On the other hand, just think about the possibility of new hacks for the G6...

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I don't have a monitor or a hdmi cable to attach it to my tv so can't test that.. Is that fixed in the GH3? might be fixed in the G6 too in that case.

 

I'm really impressed by the G6, especially for the price. Think I'll replace my GH2 for it and keep it next to my upcoming BMPCC if I don't want to bother with the huge files from the Pocket cam :)  1080p50/1080p60 also is a big plus imo. Going to play with that soon!

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I didn't download any of the older G6 videos that were first online to check this, but could it be that their softness came from shooting at 1080p50/60? Perhaps the implementation of that new frame rate at that resolution on this same GH2 sensor isn't as good as 24p, and that's the mode in which those videos were shot? Did you try this, Julian?

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