with some info on the Micro Four-Thirds (MFT) lens mount system
by Karen Nakamura
Overview and Personal Comments
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 is what many people call a "DEVIL" camera -- Digital Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens -- or EVIL, if you drop the 'D'. This is because while it looks like a traditional Single Lens Reflex (SLR), there is in fact no reflex mirror -- the eyepiece actually contains a small electronic viewfinder rather than an optical mechanism. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
The GH2 was released in November of 2010 and represented at the time the flagship model of Panasonic's micro-four-thirds (MFT) lineup. It was also specifically designed to appeal to videographers attracted to the flexibility and visual quality of digital SLRs as video recorders.
More TBA.
The Tunnel Effect: My main complaint of many prosumer digitals SLRS and DEVILs including the 20D, Nikon D70, etc. is that the viewfinder magnification is low. The 35mm film equivalent magnification of the GH2 is 0.71x -- while this is high for a digital camera, it is low compared to full-frame or analog SLRs which are usually 1.0x. This low magnification is the cause of the "tunnel effect" when you look in the viewfinder of most DSLRs except the full-frame ones. Going from the gorgeous full-field viewfinder of a rangefinder such as the Leica M7 to the tunnel vision of a DEVIL is difficult for me to get used to. If you want the shock of your life, look in the viewfinder of something like a Leicaflex SL or Leica R9, these SLRs have the best viewfinders of any SLR I've ever seen, bar none.
Image Quality
Under testing...
Battery Life: Panasonic says you should get just over 300 images with the standard battery and kit lenses. Not the greatest battery life. They don't publish figures on battery life while video recording, I'll have to find that out myself.
Lens Work
I have the kit 14 - 140mm zoom lens from the GH2 as well as the 14-42mm lens for the DMC-G10.
Normally, I hate kit lenses, especially as Panasonic has only released one lens (the 14-140mm kit lens) that they consider "HD Video" ready, by which they mean that it has faster focusing and smoother apertures when doing video work. For videographers, we're really stuck with the 14-140mm for the most part.
I suppose you think I'll sing the praises of other micro-four-thirds lenses, but I won't. You should buy a MFT camera not because there are great MFT lenses (there are a few), but...
because you can put almost EVERY SINGLE classic camera lens on your MFT body with an adapter! Read on.
Lens Adapters:
The MFT lens mount is unique in that it has the shortest flange-back (also called registration) distance of any interchangeable lens camera. This means that you can buy lens adapters that will allow you to use almost every classic camera lens in existence. So far I've bought adapters in the following mounts:
- Leica R lens
- Leica M lens
- Leica M39 screwmount (LSM)
- Pentax M42 screwmount
These lens adapters do not need any optical correction in order to let you use the other manufacturer lenses on the Pansonic body. Just mount and load.
You do have to tell the GH2 to allow you to use it with "no lens attached" -- since there are no electrical contacts on the lenses, the body thinks that there is no lens on it. But once you make that setting, the camera turns on one additional feature -- automatic focus enhancement. When you are in lens-off mode and touch the rear control dial, the camera automatically zooms in digitally to allow you focus more precisely. A great feature, thanks Panasonic!
Technical Details
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Camera Name
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DMC-GF2 |
DMC-GH2
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DMC-G2
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Manufacturer
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Panasonic
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Place of Manufacture
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Japan
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Japan
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Japan
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Date of Manufacture
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2010.11~ | 2010.10~ | 2010.07~ |
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Focusing System
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Digital Interchangeable Lens |
Digital Interchangeable Lens
1.42 magnification w/50mm lens 0.71 magnification (35mm equiv) 100% viewfinder coverage 17.5 mm eyepoint relief 1,530,000 dots -4 to +4 diopter adj. |
Digital Interchangeable Lens
1.4 magnification w 50mm 0.7 magnification (35mm equiv) 100% viewfinder coverage 17.5 mm eyepoint relief 1,440,000 dots -4 to +4 diopter adj. |
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Rear Monitor
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Fixed 460,000 dots | Tilt-swivel 460,000 dots Touch-sensitive |
Tilt-swivel 460,000 dots Touch-sensitive |
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Lens Mount
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Micro Four-Thirds (MFT) Mount (Four-Thirds compatible with adapter) |
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Shutter
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Vertical focal plane shutter |
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Shutter Rate
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xx |
40 fps SH continuous shooting (4MP or smaller) 5 fps H continuous Unlimited JPEG maximum burst 7 RAW burst |
3.2 fps H continuous Unlimited JPEG maximum burst |
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Metering System
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Multizone TTL meter |
Multizone TTL meter |
Multizone TTL meter |
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Flash
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External hot shoe 1/160 sec X flash sync Built-in GN6 (meters; ISO 100) manual pop-up flash
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External hot shoe 1/160 sec X flash sync Built-in GN15.6 (meters; ISO 200) manual pop-up flash
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External hot shoe 1/160 sec X flash sync Built-in GN11 (meters; ISO 100) manual pop-up flash
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| Sensor |
4/3 Type MOS Sensitivity: ISO 100-3200 (6400 selectable) |
4/3 Type MOS 18×13.5 mm @ 3:2 (2.0x focal length equivalent) Sensitivity: ISO 160-12800 |
4/3 Type MOS Sensitivity: ISO 100-3200 (6400 selectable) |
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Memory Card
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SD, SDHC, SDXC
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Microphone
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On-board mic | On-board stereo mic 2.5mm external mic jack |
On-board mono mic 2.5mm external mic jack |
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Video rate
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On-board mic | AVCHD 1920x1080p @ 24fps (23 Mbps max) AVCHD 1920x1080i @ 60fps (17 Mbps max) |
On-board mono mic 2.5mm external mic jack |
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Battery type
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DMW-BLD10 | DMW-BLC12 | DMW-BLB13 |
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Dimensions and weight
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Body: 113 x 68 x 33 mm |
Body: 142 x 90 x 76 mm 394g (excluding battery) 609 g (w/ battery+ 14-42mm kit lens) 904 g (w/ battery+ 14-140mm kit lens) |
Body: 124 x 84 x 74 mm 371g (excluding battery) 593g (w/ battery+kit lens) |
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Retail price
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$xxx MSRP (body only) |
$1499 MSRP (body+14-140mm kit) |
$799 MSRP (14-42mm lens kit body) |
| Note: Using the text or images on this site in an ebay auction without permission is a violation of your ebay Terms of Service. I will report you to ebay if I discover such a violation taking place. | |||
About Panasonic
Panasonic was basically unknown as a consumer camera manufacturer until it started producing its Lumix series in partnership with Leica. Panasonic designed the bodies and the sensors, while Leica provided its optical know-how on the lenses. Its been a very successful partnership on both sides -- although perhaps benefitting Panasonic much more than Leica.
On the Net
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