hi,

i dont know if this is new, but never saw it before:

nice highlight rendition and a DOF preview:
“®‰æ�FˆêŠá‰æŽ¿�bDMC-GH1�bƒfƒWƒ^ƒ‹ƒJƒ�ƒ‰ LUMIX�iƒ‹ƒ~ƒbƒNƒX�j�bPanasonic (http://panasonic.jp/dc/gh1/movie_quality.html)

a focus pull and a waterfall example, dont know what it is supposed to show:
“®‰æ�F‚±‚¾‚í‚è�bDMC-GH1�bƒfƒWƒ^ƒ‹ƒJƒ�ƒ‰ LUMIX�iƒ‹ƒ~ƒbƒNƒX�j�bPanasonic (http://panasonic.jp/dc/gh1/movie_photographing2.html)

autofocus demo:
“®‰æ�F‚©‚ñ‚½‚ñ�bDMC-GH1�bƒfƒWƒ^ƒ‹ƒJƒ�ƒ‰ LUMIX�iƒ‹ƒ~ƒbƒNƒX�j�bPanasonic (http://panasonic.jp/dc/gh1/movie_photographing1.html)

Hi Tom,

Yeah these have already been posted. I presume the waterfall shot is supposed to demonstrate the control over shutterspeed. The focus pull of the two girls is a nice looking picture, but it shows that with this very small setup, you're going to need the camera really well locked down to do focus while filming. There is a bit of camera shake, just as the cameraman ( or should it be a hybridograher? ) pulls focus.

Adrian

yea, tru that, you really need to add some weight to the rig before doing some stuff
like focus pulling without a followfocus.

“®‰æ�FˆêŠá‰æŽ¿�bDMC-GH1�bƒfƒWƒ^ƒ‹ƒJƒ�ƒ‰ LUMIX�iƒ‹ƒ~ƒbƒNƒX�j�bPanasonic (http://panasonic.jp/dc/gh1/movie_quality.html)

the vignetting is pretty strong on the DOF sample video, where u see the sand as a still.
and it doesnt even look like a short focal length.

lets use this threat to post more footage:

Panasonic Micro 4/3 GH1 and 14-140mm - Video feature hands-on ? AF and Manual mode tests - SlashGear (http://www.slashgear.com/panasonic-micro-43-gh1-and-14-140mm-video-feature-hands-on-%e2%80%93-af-and-manual-mode-tests-0736780/)

And so it begins...
YouTube - LUMIX GH1 ??????? ????????? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug6fp2hbKAI)

And here's one in HD:
YouTube - LUMIX GH1 ??????2 ????????? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJFGZygiwUs&translated=1)

YouTube - 720p30 from GH1 INDIRECT (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_MlPKT3Zo0)

From that clip it seems that non moving shots look good
but once you move the camera in a pan then horrible looking
horizontal noise lines start to appear which seemed colored
so they don't appear to be skips from youtube streaming
but rather from the camera itself though I may be wrong.

I suppose this could be because it may have been in an auto mode
that can't react quickly when panning or creates these noise problems
when it has any type of vibration.

In the newest clips from the Japanese store, the zoom
is silent but the aperture button gives
a very noticeable sound and the footage wasn't that good
looking.

Dylan: Maybe this was a prototype model ? There is no such artefacts on previous GH1 videos, even with pan/etc...
Hope other footage won't show the same issue :/

Can't someone put some footage on Vimeo. That's at least real 720p and we could download the original... This youtube cr*p is so hard to judge...

confirmed, the footage posted by Dylan was from a prototype camera:
GH1 1080p24 at PMA 2009 By Steve Mullen On ExposureRoom (http://exposureroom.com/members/DVC.aspx/assets/16bd2c056dc44df094f387ef9628a57c/)

I hope you are right and that problem was fixed from the prototype.

I found this new clip from what appears to be
someone using it in their house, and it looks very good but the user didn't pan.

YouTube - DMC-GH1 HD????? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5og20tO52k)

YouTube - DMC-GH1 HD????? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5og20tO52k)

I downloaded the file from YouTube. No doubt its very crisp. But I must admit it doesn't look like it has the special mojo the 5DMkII has. And, unfortunately, I'm seeing banding flutter on this.

But I'll be awaiting footage from skilled hands.

Low light sample:
YouTube - LUMIX-GH1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP9D-ivJskI)

raw 1080p footage here !
http://www.dvxuser.com/barry/PRIVATE.zip

edit:
raw 1080p footage from the night video:
http://sss1.sakura.ne.jp/download/20090424_205752.m2ts

and another 1080p footage:
http://sss1.sakura.ne.jp/download/20090424_212010.m2ts

The "PRIVATE" footage looks really nice. So now we know that the footage is good, you can have autofocus and manual aperture control, the only still unresolved question for me is the hdmi output, Can you record uncompressed to a device like the ona AJA just announced at NAB?

Well, unfortunately the "private" clip confirms the 24p in a 29.97i wrapper statement.
Sometimes I am reasonably glad to live in a PAL country.

I believe once people start adapting prime lenses this will look more like the Canon 5D2 (currently DOF is not that shallow with F4 upwards kit lens). And of course once they dial the sharpness and contrast setting down a bit.

Hair looks a bit blocky - wondering whether that's related to the way they read the 12mpx sensor.

And so it begins...
YouTube - LUMIX GH1 ??????? ????????? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug6fp2hbKAI)

Someone films with the GH1 in an electronics store. The first pan makes me dizzy. Yet when you pause during the pan and check the still, rolling shutter is not so bad at all! Clearly visible, but who would do such a mad pan in real life anyway?

Sensor readout speed seems to be at least 1/48th of a sec. No Nikon-style wobble.

Downloaded the folder. How do you drop this onto a timeline or play it back. It seems to be a succession of folders, like it's P2 material.

I just dopred the file named 00024.mts (\PRIVATE\AVCHD\BDMV\STREAM) and droped it on the DIXV player and it playes fine.

Never mind - used the AVCHD import function in Sony Vegas to check it out.

Footage looks nice, but obviously interlaced, and there does seem to be some vertical banding going on. A little disappointing; but of course it's very early footage.

For now, I am back waiting for the 5D MKII firmware update. Come on, Canon!

Some more HD on Youtube:
YouTube - ??? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIG5KsEWWs8&translated=1)

Multiple lens sample:

YouTube - Test: Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH1 Vol.1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ8YVKcMEQA)

Though crappy YouTube quality, still gives a nice idea of the possibilities.

Some more short tests:
YouTube - DMC-GH1 Test2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evOk7iUeGf4)
YouTube - DMC-GH1 Test3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfRFTMcmgQU)
YouTube - DMC-GH1 Test3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfRFTMcmgQU)

sexy footage here:
YouTube - GH1?AVCHD???? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afHZoLK_2xM)

Balcony shot in Japan
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=1133234

Banners in wind
YouTube - LUMIX DMC-GH1???TEST (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e4XsCd9RDo)

Motorcycle mounted riding shot
YouTube - Motorcycle Handlebar Mounted Lumix DMC GH1 Camera (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHR62kKyjok)

Outside Train and Trees
YouTube - [HD] Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH1 with LUMIX G VARIO HD 14-140mm vol.1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKHOA29NvtY)

Walking through flowers, low angle (nice)
YouTube - LUMIX GH1 - SAMPLE3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFLiA30op_w&feature=channel_page)

Trees panning down
YouTube - LUMIX GH1 - SAMPLE2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyO4kW80uAA&)

Night shot
YouTube - LUMIX DMC-GH1???TEST2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYpcMYYWKQc)

Love the night shot @f1.8 !

Love the night shot @f1.8 !

Yeah, so clean in the shadows. I wonder how controllable the NR will be in video mode?

GH1 group footage on vimeo

Panasonic GH1 videos on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/groups/12592/videos)

Nice variety, including some great night shots:
YouTube - Lumix GH1 short movie KICHIJOUJI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zed6fSntVYY)

I’ve posted under some of the YouTube videos to see if the person would be willing to upload an original file for people to download and here's one of them.

MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HVYYEJCD)
from YouTube - DMC-GH1??? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXjeQ5dmPLY)

I'm going to see how many other people responded to my request.

That's a golden suggestion, Paulo.

This might be of interest also.
Panasonic GH1 + Nikkor Ais28mm/f.2.0 on Vimeo (http://www.vimeo.com/4337192)

Ihere's one of them.

MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service (http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HVYYEJCD)

Thanks Paulo. I downloaded that master and played it using VLC. A lot of the frames, especially during pans, are turning to... well here's a frame grab (roughly 90% of the frame anyway). Are we seeing the codec fall apart or is this just a VLC problem?

Otherwise, the footage looks very crisp.

VLC doesn't have good h264 decoding, prefer MPC-HC.

Shot in moving bus of clouds outside, w/audio
YouTube - lumix gh1 movie test 20090426 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwOXGjU7yH8)

Am I missing something? The samples I have seen do not have anywhere near the impressive look as the Canon 5DII samples. I have been saving up for the GH1 because of manual control and articulated view finder - but now? I don't know!

Am I missing something? The samples I have seen do not have anywhere near the impressive look as the Canon 5DII samples. I have been saving up for the GH1 because of manual control and articulated view finder - but now? I don't know!

I think you missed thoses 4 footages:
YouTube - GH1?AVCHD???? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afHZoLK_2xM)
YouTube - LUMIX DMC-GH1???TEST2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYpcMYYWKQc)
YouTube - Test: Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH1 - Pt.1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ8YVKcMEQA)
YouTube - LUMIX GH1 - SAMPLE3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFLiA30op_w&feature=channel_page)

Am I missing something? The samples I have seen do not have anywhere near the impressive look as the Canon 5DII samples. I have been saving up for the GH1 because of manual control and articulated view finder - but now? I don't know!


Please remember the effective bitrate of the GH1 codec is ~1/3 that of the Canon 5D2.
That's NOT 1/3 less. That's 1/3 as in 66% less. As in ~38 - 42 Mbps vs. ~14 Mbps.
You would expect it to make a difference.

And then you have the issues of sensor noise and lack thereof, speed (ISO), lattitude, lens quality....and much of the footage we're seeing so far from the GH1 is what I would call grab shots, if that, with little or no effort to stabilize the camera on any kind of tripod, monopod, shoulder mount, or anything else.

By comparison the Canon 5D M2 hit the market with everyone going nuts over the footage Vincent Laforet, a true professional, shot. And it shows.

Vincent Laforet (http://www.vincentlaforet.com/)

For me a valid comparison is how does this compare to a HMC150? Canon XH-A1? You can make up/add to your own list. Is it better at half, or less, their price? It does have DOF covered along with interchangable manual lens choices. I would definitely get a Pentax K-mount lens adapter, if I get one. I could use all my FA lenses and some of my DA's.

I agree that the V. Laforet footage is not a fair comparison - high production values.
But here is a small file version of a 5DII shoot in an orphanage. If I knew that the GH1 could look near as good I would buy without hesitation
Ostashkovo orphanage 1min Film. By Oleg Kalyan On ExposureRoom (http://exposureroom.com/members/OlegKalyan.aspx/assets/56a5abce53a74945bff3f8ed10639615/)

Robin thanks for those samples I had looked at them before - but I was making a critical mistake. On YouTube samples I have to press the HD button to get a better looking HD viewing - makes a big difference - sorry for the mix up. I am more impressed now.
Paul

I agree that the V. Laforet footage is not a fair comparison - high production values.
But here is a small file version of a 5DII shoot in an orphanage. If I knew that the GH1 could look near as good I would buy without hesitation
Ostashkovo orphanage 1min Film. By Oleg Kalyan On ExposureRoom (http://exposureroom.com/members/OlegKalyan.aspx/assets/56a5abce53a74945bff3f8ed10639615/)


The Orphanage piece is very nice - but it has production values too.
I'm guessing every shot was on a tripod, monopod, or shoulder mount.
Most shots are static - the camera isn't moving even if the kids are.
At the 7/8 point you're looking into the face of a young boy and you can see light donuts in his eyes.
What do you want to bet that was a ring light.

I like the footage on Vimeo better than Youtube because more often than not you can download the original file. Gives a much better feel for the camera. Like this one:

http://www.vimeo.com/4354393

Very nice GH1 video:
YouTube - Test: Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH1 - Pt.3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg855hlHXHo)

After thoroughly testing AVCHD 24p over 60i workflow with the Canon HF S100, I finally started to see the staircase issues. For that camera I won't care - it's for fun. But it got me to go look at the 2 source files I have of the GH1 - there's barry's and a street night shot. I was curious if they also had the staircase, and alas, they do.

Has anyone else pixel peeped on these source files?

-steev

After thoroughly testing AVCHD 24p over 60i workflow with the Canon HF S100, I finally started to see the staircase issues. For that camera I won't care - it's for fun. But it got me to go look at the 2 source files I have of the GH1 - there's barry's and a street night shot. I was curious if they also had the staircase, and alas, they do.

Has anyone else pixel peeped on these source files?

-steev
Those are not the same stair-step issues that afflict the D90 (and 5D Mk II, more or less).

Those are not the same stair-step issues that afflict the D90 (and 5D Mk II, more or less).

Yes, the D90 has it's own stair-step issues, not having anything to do with 60i wrapping. The 5DMkII has it's own issues with Moire, but I haven't seen it have this issue with slim diagonal lines - they are very very clean.

Barry Green posted frame-grabs of footage with lots of diagonals, and they did not have any clear stair-step issues. You can go over there and see for yourself. The frame-grab from Barry's footage that you attached doesn't show any stair-step issues; the problem with it is an artifact of compression, both of color space and of the video codec, presumably.

Still, these artifacts are simply unnoticeable in a motion clip. I remember that soon after Laforet posted "Reverie," people at Reduser.net dissected it and were able to find some very unflattering frames that showed the compression at its worst. And this is H.264 at 40 Mbps, which should be more than two times better than XDCAM EX! Yet those artifacts aren't noticeable in motion either. You're going to get minor imperfections like these in any camcorder under $5K, at least, so fretting about them is pointless. It's like you're really trying hard to find stuff wrong with the GH1 and what it can do.

It's like you're really trying hard to find stuff wrong with the GH1 and what it can do.

Hi Fei,

I think people are just trying to evaluate the camera's performance (including its potential weaknesses) in order to make an informed decision about whether to place an order; at least that's true in my case.

I have a 5D mkII - within a week of purchasing it I posted clips on Vimeo highlighting moire issues, flicker under 50hz lighting, and the level of jello effect. I love shooting with the 5D - everyone knows it can make pretty pictures, but I posted those videos to help people see what they're getting into, and whether the shortcomings are ones they can live with/work around.

Likewise with the GH1, clearly it can produce pretty pictures, but I want to know what its limits are, where the camera shines, where it struggles. Living in a Pal country I'm keen to see the GH1 perform well because the 5D's lack of 25p is a real pain. But I only want to place an order once I'm comfortable with how far the codec can be pushed, what level of artifacts are produced, and so on. I'm not expecting miracles, just something I can work with in most situations.

In the footage posted so far there are instances of the GH1 looking great, but other times it seems to struggle. I'm yet to determine whether in the latter cases it was operator error, a problem with how my computer is handling the master files, or real limitations of the codec/compression rate.

If this camera's a winner, I'm thinking of selling the 5D and buying two... in the mean time I'm very keen to find out what the GH1's foibles may be.

Hi Fei,

If this camera's a winner, I'm thinking of selling the 5D and buying two... in the mean time I'm very keen to find out what the GH1's foibles may be.

Josh,

It's early to tell but for shooting video on DSLR, I think the GH1 is a generation ahead. We still don't know at what point the codec breaks but I've looked at all the footage and user info - a couple of seasoned hands have the camera in hand now. The camera is capable of beautiful footage, manual control is just as we want, jello is EX1/Red One level, picture controls appear to be at least Canon/Nikon level with custom settings.

Bottom line, is unlike the D90/5D Mk II (and my HV30 for that matter), you don't have to fight the camera to shoot. Barring some shocking revelation, I'm buying one for my primary camera and ditching my HV30.

Lots of tree shots with a leica lens.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPMo9LwYUug

I think people are just trying to evaluate the camera's performance (including its potential weaknesses) in order to make an informed decision about whether to place an order; at least that's true in my case.
That's fine, if the people who are doing it are truly trying to be objective, without any preconceived notions or agendas in mind.

The people who were nitpicking the "Reverie" footage, clearly seemed to me to have an agenda on their minds. It felt like they were belittling a product that was never truly intended to compete with the object of their cult-like worship (and I, as a RED fanboy, count myself as one of them). Luckily, someone else on the forum then chastised them and posted a more representative screen-grab. The point is that objective people would try to place every observation in context, rather than trying to use nitpicks to build a slanted case against something. You can't cherry pick from the worst case scenario just to say, "OMG look how bad it is!"

So what I was trying to do was put Steev's example into the proper context, which is simply that whatever artifacts he was seeing weren't as bad as those often seen in D90 and 5D Mk II footage, nor were they representative of GH1 footage in general. Aside from the screen-grab from Barry's clip, I had to look really hard before I saw what he was seeing. This indicates that the stair-stepping artifacts are practically negligible. Steev, on the other hand, has made no attempt to qualify his examples. His wording seems to suggest that he's trying to place the flaws in the GH1 footage on the same level as those from the D90 and 5D Mk II (in other words, he's making a big deal out of it), which is not borne out by the evidence.

I also happen to be a 5D Mk II owner, and I was intending on keeping my camera for at least a few months. Only in the last couple of days have I been slowly won over by the GH1. It hasn't been easy; I still love my 5D even with its limitations. I gave myself over to the GH1 after making a concerted effort to be fair to its capabilities. In my opinion, would the GH1 produce images as nice as the 5D? Probably not. But the small hit to picture quality (and, let's face it, ego) is outweighed by the massive gains everywhere else. Steev is someone who has admitted that he's in love with the 5D's images and is absolutely partial to them. Good for him. But that doesn't mean that he should present a distorted assessment of the GH1's limitations to everyone else.

Fei, I respect what you're saying. Truth be told, I posted that I ruled the GH1 out and pulled the trigger on the 5DMkII. It helped to finally make the purchase. However, I have since felt like I'll probably end up owning both!

What I was reporting was my alarm at finding this stair-case/stair-stepping in HF S100 footage, and looked for similarity in GH1 footage and saw it. However, with closer investigation I believe this artifact is coming from something other than the video being wrapped in 1080i. So my 1080i theory is flat out wrong. And that is good!

However, this GH1 file is what gave me alarm:
http://www.holyzoo.com/content/dslr/20090424_205752.m2ts
Screenshot - http://www.holyzoo.com/content/dslr/20090424_205752.jpg

The stairstepping is pretty bad. So again, I was wrong about this being a 1080i thing. It's something else going on.

To echo Josh's thoughts, yes, these cameras are subject to brutal scrutiny.

For the record, this clip finally got me pretty impressed with the GH1:

YouTube - Test: Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH1 - Pt.1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ8YVKcMEQA)

So, I'm continuing to check these threads. To Fei's point, I'll try to be objective, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to compare it to other cameras, including the 5DMkII. For instance, what none of these cameras can manage to compete with is a global shutter-based camera. If I know strobe lights and fast motion are involved (sports), I'll still be grabbing my HVX200.

-steev

However, this GH1 file is what gave me alarm:
http://www.holyzoo.com/content/dslr/20090424_205752.m2ts
Screenshot - http://www.holyzoo.com/content/dslr/20090424_205752.jpg

I'm almost certain that is not the camera native - that looks like classic interlacing errors in encoding or something. I just saw a bunch of EX1 1080 footage with the same issue when put to DVCam and projected

YouTube - LUMIX GH1 ????? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LILxnIWor-s)

I must say, this is looking sweet. They got the pulldown right and playing solid at 24p. Download the HD version off YouTube.