Lumix GH1, 1080P Shooting DSLR Wows

depth of field, DSLR, g1, gh-1, lumix, lumix gh-1, micro four thirds, panasonic

1 May, 2009 by New York Herald in Uncategorized

Behold the Panasonic, cough, Lumix GH1, the successor to the popular G1.  The takeaway on this camera is that it promises everything, 1080/24 fps or 720/60 fps video recording with DSLR like depth-of-field yet with new micro four thirds technology that cuts the weight down.  The lense has been completely redesigned to shoot either stills or HD video equally well, and sample footage provided by Panasonic was impressive.  Add in a mic input and Canon 5D Mark II-beating $1,500 price tag and you have the makings of a super camera.  Did we mention that Gray Lady’s gadget critic David Pogue is a big fan?

Our biggest quibble?  While Panasonic’s AVCHD format is very efficient, doubling the HD recording time compared with Motion JPEG, it is quite compressed.  The top end of AVCHD’s recording bit rate, 17 Megabytes per second, is significantly less than HDV — the price for getting rid of those pesky tapes.  Panasonic of course doesn’t think it matters, and David Pogue says the footage looked remarkable.

Whether this camera will be the hybrid hit of the summer or simply a sign of things to come, Panasonic should he commended for their ambition in producing a camera that almost does it all at a relatively reasonable price point.