New Panasonic GH3 image samples!
Panasonic is now sending the GH3 cameras to bloggers for testing (not with me of course..LOL). Within the last 24 hours FourThirdsUser (Click here), Pocket Lint (Click here), Photographyblog (Click here) and ePhotozine (Click here) posted new GH3 image samples. There are no RAW files available yet. As I said before I suspect the GH3 quality is more or less on par with the E-M5. Same sensor I guess…
The GH3 preorder links at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), Bhphoto (Click here) and in Europe at Wexphotographic UK, Technikdirekt DE and Digit-photo FR.
For EU readers: The less than 300 Euro camera deals:
White Olympus E-P1 body for 184 Euro on eBay Germany
White Olympus E-PM1 body for 199 Euro on eBay Spain
Black Panasonic GF3 body for 199 Euro on eBay Germany
White Olympus E-PM1 body for 249 Euro on eBay Germany
White Olympus E-P1 body for 249 Euro on eBay Germany
Silver Olympus E-PL3 body for 259 Euro on eBay Germany
White Olympus E-PM1 with kit lens for 279 Euro on eBay Germany
Silver Panasonic GF2 with kit lens for 284 Euro on eBay Germany
Black Olympus E-PM1 with kit lens for 285 Euro on eBay Germany
Black Olympus E-PL1 with kit lens for 287 Euro on eBay Germany
Via 1001noisycameras
GaryG
8 months ago |I am not particularly interested until we see some RAWs.
Rep96st
8 months ago |Yep.
Panasonic has gotten better with jpeg quality recently, but I only in RAW anyways.
Duarte Bruno
8 months ago |There has been a RAW ISO series on Personal-View since early PhotoKina.
It looks promising (OM-D level).
Matthias
8 months ago |And I want to see some full size pictures. And pics made when it’s good weather
Duarte Bruno
8 months ago |Those pics on PV are full sized RAWS. Indoors only though.
From my perspective there is a very noticeable drop in JPEG IQ when you go from ISO1600 to 3200 and then again from ISO6400 to 12800.
Having said that, I’d use ISO1600 without thinking and up to 6400 on an emergency.
sadwitch
8 months ago |Looks good even at iso3200.
I think it would be unwise for panasonic not to put effort into JPEG processing if they’re to sell this to the masses.
Miroslav
8 months ago |“I suspect the GH3 quality is more or less on par with the E-M5. Same sensor I guess…”
You’ve started a storm
.
If that’s indeed the case seems that all m4/3 cameras are going to have the same sensor soon. A good one, though.
jevfp
8 months ago |If GH3 has the same sensor as the OM-D ,.who’s do you think make the better JPEG engine,.,..Oly or Pana,..
is up to you guys,.lets give your opinion,.
TheEye
8 months ago |I don’t care much about JPG performance. The GH3 looks like it has much better ergonomics than the E-M5. An important comparison would be the EVF quality and performance. I find the electronic shutter option of the GH3 very useful. I am not sure how the Panny’s wireless flash performance is. I have no hope that AF performance of the 12-60 is better on the GH3 than it is on the E-M5. I can live without IBIS.
My hope is that and better OMD is coming, better in terms of AF and ergonomics. And for the love of the Olympian gods, please let there be an electronic, if not global shutter (What’s the holdup?).
JP
8 months ago |Olympus OM-D uses a Sony sensor, Panasonic uses a Panasonic sensor — this and the Oly JPEG processor explain why the OM-D image quality is so much better than the GH3!
Duarte Bruno
8 months ago |Where did you compare apples to apples to say something like that?
ArKersaint
8 months ago |Admin provided a huge set of examples
You just provided nil analysis
Please have a look before sending your opinion
alexv
8 months ago |I don’t think that Pan could use a Sony sensor mainly because Pan has a brand and a name to prewserve. Secondly, if you check the specifications, the top ISO is lower for the GH3 (12800 againt 25000 for Sony). Does the GH3 could produce the same level than the Sony, I hope but I’ll not surpized that the Sony outperform in still image.
Does anyone know what kind of wireless the Pan flash will use (IR, Wifi)?
Esa Tuunanen
8 months ago |I wouldn’t keep Sony sensor in Panasonic camera impossible.
Panasonic and Sony are even cooperating in development and eventual production of big OLED screens.
BassRock
8 months ago |It is hard to tell looking at low resolution jpgs but these pictures do seem to show better noise handling than my GH2. I am tempted !
Rolf Silber
8 months ago |Definitely too much penguin & bird shots ….
GP
8 months ago |Sony sensor … sensor globalization … quality flattening
kesztió
8 months ago |@admin,
The Canon EOS650D is DxO marked and seems to be just marginally better than G5 (62 points vs. 61) and lags behind E-M5 (and presumably GH3)!
Shame…
Alexander
8 months ago |GH3 is too big!
for this one could buy a DSLR.
kesztió
8 months ago |Well, just wait for G6 (same sensor or even better) and you’ll get an exceptional camera with good ergonomics and really small size. And let the professionals be happy with this body size.
maggy
8 months ago |Yeah…
Pavlo
8 months ago |GX2 expected to come out earlier
homer
8 months ago |how big? have you held it? compared to what? a PEN? its still smaller than the rebel t4i and with the ergonomics of a full frame, where are you getting the huge size reference?
Ivar
8 months ago |It’s only 50 grams lighter then the sony A-77. The differents is the lenses are much smaller and lighter then from APS-C cam’s. And I held it at the photokina and it felt great in combination with the 12-35mm.
The buttons are well placed and the wheels have more grip because they are now made of rubber instead of the hard plastic wheels of the GX1.
The shuttersound is louder in comparrison with the om-d.
Esa Tuunanen
8 months ago |GH3 is 550g vs. A77′s 730g.
> The shuttersound is louder in comparrison with the om-d.
No wonder Panasonic needs electronic shutter.
digi2ap
8 months ago |The alleged use of the same Sony sensor (as OM-D) is curious in my view as Sony sensors in other mirror less cams have not been feted as great for video. And yet the GH3 is meant to be a camera that is first video and second stills. I don’t get it at all.
TheEye
8 months ago |“the GH3 is meant to be a camera that is first video and second stills”
I keep reading this, but what exactly is behind that claim? As far as I can tell, there’s nothing that makes the GH3 less a still camera compared to other cameras. Please fill me in.
st3v4nt
8 months ago |I think that claim come from assumption that Panasonic GH series have good performance as video camera like shown by hacked GH-2. Also there’s news that Panasonic will discontinue their more professional m4/3 video camera AG-AF 100 series. Most assuming GH-3 will be made to fill the gap left by AG-AF-100 although the form and feature is quite different.
TheEye
8 months ago |The good perfomance as a video camera does however not take away from the camera’s capabilities as a still camera, unless I am missing something.
zebarnabe
8 months ago |I do believe the Nikon D5100 (or even D3100 or D3200) delivers better stills than GH3 while being cheaper…. discarding lens size, GH3 is roughly the size of a Nikon D5100 (or D3100/3200 for the matter), so, I guess saying that GH3 it’s first a video camera and a stills camera second makes sense to me…
G5 or the next G6 (if they don’t increase the size) should fit the bill for many, shame that they cut in some features (when comparing GH2 to G5), leaving a gap (not only in features but price wise as well) between G5 and GH3
MikeH
8 months ago |Discarding lens size/weight is a rather silly thing to do when comparing interchangable lens camera systems.
TheEye
8 months ago |Shouldn’t you be comparing the GH3 to other m4/3 bodies?
Rep96st
8 months ago |Simple, it’s not a Sony sensor. Thank Goodness.
Me
8 months ago |There’s NO Sony sensor in the GH3. Think about it for just a moment… Panasonic is one of the few existing sensor makers. Why on earth would they use a sensor from a competing company in their flagship camera?
Also, those samples at ePhotozine are quite amazing. Looks better to me that what the OM-D is able to produce. The colorchecker looks very clean even at ISO 12800 (be sure to click the High-Res link).
ChristianG
8 months ago |Completely agree. It holds together very well at 25500 even. Impressed.
Digifan
8 months ago |What a croc of bull, in order to compare you need the same scene for both. No way you can say the GH3 is better without the same sample of the OM-D next to it.
The way you put it, you sound like a bunch of fanboys.
Kirdgt
8 months ago |The GH2 is only 1 stop behind the E-M5 so it does not seem too difficult to accept that a generation forward GH3 could equal the E-M5.The suggestions of them using a Sony sensor are ridiculous Panasonic are a large sensor maker and using another brand in their top end product would be very bad for business. Perhaps the O-MD is using a Panasonic sensor {I could care less either way} that would be very amusing with all the Olympus fanboys in tears. One rather unclear statement about the origin of the O-MD and no mention of the E-M5 in the recent Sony-Olympus investment meeting are not exactly carved in stone. Surely it would have been a rather obvious choice to demonstrate how well the companies can work together.
Bart
8 months ago |You are right that there is only a vague statement, that actually didn’t even concern the E-M5 but some medical imaging devices.
That said, the characteristics as well as some initial QA issues with the E-M5 sensor that it shared with another Sony sensor based camera do suggest it is a Sony sensor, as do other ‘off-record’ comments from Olympus employees.
Personally, I don’t care, I care about what it does, not about who made it.
ulli
8 months ago |I prefer to see a non-resized jpg sample without NR; those colorchecker shots show quite an amount of noise reduction at 12800 i think.
Anonymoose
8 months ago |Why do you care about ISO 12800? A few years ago, people pined for clean ISO 1600 fjords. Now it seems that people want clean ISO 12800, which – to me – is sheer nonsense. I struggle to find any kind of realistic scenario in which such high ISO would be needed.
As for the sensor dilemma, the GH3 and the E-M5 have the exact same resolution and pixel count…
Mymaco
8 months ago |Agree! On my OMD I set maximum ISO at 1600, and if I use fast primes as pana/leica 25mm, Voigty 17.5mm or SLR 50mm I go down to 1000.. And I don’t use tripods of any kind. (I only take stills though, no videos)
Ulli
8 months ago |It’s not that i use 12800, it’s about the fact if a sample is posted at 12800, i prefer to see how it looks without NR, rather then an unspecified setting for processing. I have the impression the raw version would look very decent.Nobody expects a clean 12800 raw file, so your assumption is not valid.
amne
8 months ago |Whenever you take pictures of moving subjects in low light would be a scenario.
For me it’s event/concert photography. Depending on focal length 1/30 (wide angle, slow movement) to 1/100 (tele, fast movement) is usually the longest i can use. Combine that with little light (that is probably constantly changing) and all you can do is shoot wide open (using lenses below F2) at whatever ISO value makes sense.
I use the Olympus E-M5 with auto-ISO enabled up to 25k. Of course, above ISO 10k images get noisy and you probably want to denoise them, convert them to b/w and not look at 100% crops any more, but at the end of the day you actually have some nice shots that would have been severely underexposed at ISO 1600.
So, to answer your question, there are some scenarios, where ISO 10k or higher actually makes sense. The people who actually need it are probably outnumbered 1:10 by people just comparing high ISO tests and fighting which camera is best at which value though.
Anonymoose
8 months ago |That is VERY low-light. I shot some low-profile concerts in bars at f/2, M, auto ISO limited to 3200 on my E-5 and had no real problems… In those circumstances, ISO 12800 would be beyond what the eyes could see.
Ulli
8 months ago |I can imagine iso 12800 would be needed if you want to be able to use a shutterspeed fast enough preventing too much motion blur in such scenario.
amne
8 months ago |Exactly. Basically, if you were able to use a double shutter speed as i was able to use and twice as much light was available, you can reduce 12k to 3200.
Ton
8 months ago |Preferences and requirements change alongside with progress in technology. I remember more than a decade ago, most ‘expert’s said that: who would need/ or why or earth do you need more than 8 megabyte or RAM & 133mhz of horsepower in processor is too much & might be the ‘limit’ of processing power. Guess what?! Oviously, progress in tech is inevitable, so as requirements by the end user & software delvelopers. Before: 8mb & 133mhz; now 24gb & 4ghz w/ 8cores… How much change in requirements & in progress was that… I think same consideration can be applied to the tech in photography but in a little bit less.
ChristianG
8 months ago |I shoot a lot after dark with zooms such as the 7-14 f/4 and 45-175 even. To get crisp shots every time you want to keep shutter speeds over 100; clean high ISO becomes important in those types of scenarios.. If I wanted to bring my tripod every time then I’d be better off slugging a D700 or D800, but I prefer to keep my gear light. My gorilla pods are great, but aren’t usable for all scenarios.
Luffy
8 months ago |to compete in the market? Cameras ppl get excited about always got the most reviews. If many reviews say the camera lack in still quality this could slash away a whole bunch of possible customers. Not everyone can afford two cameras for over 1000 bucks (whatever currency).
It would be wise to be able to compete in stills and on top of that kick everyone’s a** in video!
In the camera market there is still a lot of competition.
TTTulio
8 months ago |And video samples?
Dphotog
8 months ago |http://www.photographyblog.com/previews/panasonic_gh3_photos/
has a video sample
JP
8 months ago |When Olympus used garbage Panasonic sensors, their cameras beat Panasonic MFT cameras, but not by a lot. Now that Olympus uses excellent Sony sensors, their cameras beat Panasonic’s cameras by a lot. And by a lot, I mean utterly destroy.
Pavlo
8 months ago |Never saw cameras beating each other. May be fanboys?
fRET
8 months ago |The difference between the GH2 and the E-M5 is barely “one stop” probably less if you take the overestimated ISO settings on the Olympus. Have a look at the real ISO settings on each camera below.And please save the BS statement that the makers can say whatever ISO the wnat in the standard
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Compare-Camera-Sensors/Compare-cameras-side-by-side/%28appareil1%29/793|0/%28brand%29/Olympus/%28appareil2%29/677|0/%28brand2%29/Panasonic
Xeng
8 months ago |I want GH3 for Video firstly and secondly…thirdly for photos…
So, give us some video samples…
katy
8 months ago |JP,
Nonsense!
Katy
Xeng
8 months ago |hahaha what are these generalities this says…haha
JP
8 months ago |Katy, Panasonics are good, just not compared to Olympus. Olympus image quality annihilates Panasonic IQ.
Panasonic makes good lenses though, the 20 mm and 25 mm. The 12-35 is good too, just way, way overpriced.
That’s all.
katy
8 months ago |JP,
You might prefer Olympus image, but Olympus Images do not “annihilate” Panasonic.
To make your case for Olympus you need to use a more measured way of expressing yourself.
wats0N
8 months ago |Lets wait a moment then all will be known and stop people that stupid Olympus/Panasonic battle!
Dugo
8 months ago |Sony had won that one, anyhow, or so it would appear.
Luffy
8 months ago |Some ppl are just too obsessed with one brand? XD
For me I need to wait for RAWs Hopefully those will look good as well.
Is the GH3 going to be released Mid November?
Yun
8 months ago |I hope after GH3 , there will be turning point in Pana’s next camera .
GH3 although is impressive but as Pana’s benchmark camera , it still need further breakthrough in still imaging .
A huge improvement on sensor technology otherwise I can’t see it can cope with the rest .
With Fuji & Sony already thinking of fullframe compact while m4/3 still struggling with best APS Cmos sensor .
Things is getting hard & tough ahead for Pana .
Ian
8 months ago |Video Sample that you can download is pretty rough. Lots of pixel ‘freaking out’ in the tree’s. It’s almost like a film grain or something, very wierd. Anyone else see this issue in the downloadable footage from:
http://img.photographyblog.com/reviews/panasonic_gh3/photos/panasonic_gh3_01.mov
bitcrusher
8 months ago |@Ian
That looks like compression artifacts. I can spot some morie on the black fence in the background…..
bipbip
8 months ago |yeah, i see that.
MikeH
8 months ago |You aren’t referring to the rain?
Eric
8 months ago |I shoot mostly Olympus bodies, I have a E-M5 and its video exceeds *my* capabilities, so I’m not in the market for the GH3.
BUT I HOPE IT IS THE BEST CAMERA EVER!
I just want things to keep progressing, you know?
The people that need it or want it will benefit from the GH3, and it will push Olympus to improve things on their side for their next camera. Competition is good. Pointless bickering among users is not.
NPrincen
8 months ago |Agree totally! I shoot Panasonic GH for the video, but was really thrilled when the E-M5 came out because it raised micro4/3 to the next level. The more Olympus and Panasonic try to improve the breed, the better for all of us. At least they are better than lazy Canon, who seem to be resting on their prior success.
CuriousBenjamin
8 months ago |I hope the sensor on GH3 is on par with EM5. That would prompt Oly to continue thinking about sensor upgrades and not bask at EM5 success. Keeps the competition alive.
shiv
8 months ago |why not 30 mp??? Poor GH3
swester
8 months ago |Yes, because we all just want to make billboard-sized prints.
dreamer
8 months ago |I can’t say that i’m very impressed by the image quality. And these pictures are reduced to 5MP. If 5MP pictures aren’t looking good at 100%, what about the 16MP images. But ok, it’s a pre-production model.
But the higer iso performace seemes to be much better than the GH2. And i’m more in video. And for video the images quality is good enough.
Ab
8 months ago |Wouldnt it be interesting if they share the same Sony sensor, all the quibbling here about “olympus escaping Panasonic” or anything along those lines would just be pure nonsense.
If they do share a Sony sensor it may show cooperation form the two companies to get additional volume with their sensor purchase at a certain size.
I look forward to seeing the tests with the GH3
Dugo
8 months ago |Gee-sus, people, when will folks start to accept the hard cold fact the Sony supplies digital sensors to Olympus, Panasonic, Nikon, and probably a few other camera makers as well. No ifs, buts, or maybes about it, either.
It is a fact of life in the year 2012, it seems. Might as well live with it and make the best of it, right?
Tron
8 months ago |It’s going to end up like when cameras used film from brand A or B. So manufactures will instead focus on features, glass, ergos and style to attract customers and differentiate their system. It seems Panasonic is leading in the ergo and feature realm with the GH3 release.
I would also add that the mirrorless full-frame trolls on here need to get a clue about lens weight, as full-frame simply cannot exist as a reasonable travel camera. You think you can easily haul a 200-400mm up a mountain (with other gear), think again. Journalists and nature photographers used to do this because there simply wasn’t anything else available for quality cams & lenses. So when the fast 2.8 tele’s come to m43, you can kiss full-frame goodbye for that market, no one in their right mind is going to haul the extra weight around for a measly 1 stop sensor advantage.
Dugo
8 months ago |Wow, the first sentence in the first link says this:
“Earlier today I had my first chance to take some pictures with the Panasonic Lumix DMVC-GH2, Panasonic’s new flagship Micro Four Thirds camera…”
Wow. whereas I have zero clue what a “Lumix DMVC-GH2″ camera really is, does it perhaps have some connection to a Panasonic “Lumix DMC-GH3″ camera? That would be so great, really it would be.
Sarek
8 months ago |Video samples from photographblog:
https://vimeo.com/user996475
Atlantaphotog
8 months ago |Well, thanks for the links but so far they’re not worth a whole lot – more “preview”. Panasonic “requested” they all resize JPG pics down to 5MP which would be fine if I were buying a 5MP camera, but I’m not. Pre-production or not, I want to see the full monty and then allow my common sense to tell me it’ll be tweaked a bit before final release. Video looks decent, though.
Xmas is coming as are people’s plans to buy something for the holiday for themselves or someone else. Hopefully they’ll get the final firmware done before the season kicks into full gear, otherwise, folks will be waiting for the GH5 instead.
toto
8 months ago |Why don’t you include cheaper EU GF3 prices than ebay Germany?
For instance: http://www.fotokungen.com/panasonic-lumix-dmcgf3-hus-svart-delad-kartong-p-5693.aspx
And it is from a real shop….not ebay
admin
8 months ago |Because I can’t every single shop from every single country of the world! Really can’t do that!
Ferruccio Busoni
8 months ago |Does anybody knows when the GH3 is coming to Japan? I cannot find even an advertisement here about this camera!
Admin, great work you do here, bravo
Dphotog
8 months ago |I would be very surprised it should come out there sooner than anywhere else because the factory happens to be located in Japan (near Tokyo) according to my Panasonic employee friend.
napalm
8 months ago |i dont think it’s a Sony sensor. Pany has the right resources to develop the same sensors as Sony’s. who knows, maybe Pany was able to catch up?
Zaph
8 months ago |Do Sony even make LiveMOS sensors?