At today's private Re:Frame Austin event, Phil Bloom snaps his fingers twice, instantly conjuring a red GH1. See attached photos.

that was quick...my god my hair is short!!

Chris Hurd has said on camera he will be giving 3 5dmk2 cameras to every attendee of ReFrame:Austin as well as an A1 and XLH1. Very generous folks Canon.

I am hoping to do some shots with it later if I can get my head around the settings...

Love the tilt-able LCD screen that switches off when your eye goes to the VF

Love manual controls and ability to press focus button whilst rolling and it focuses...

Chris Hurd has said on camera he will be giving 3 5dmk2 cameras to every attendee of ReFrame:AustinDidn't say it was *me* giving them all away... my understanding is that they're handed out in gift bags which are left in everyone's room at the Omni. If you didn't get yours, give Canon a ring straight away.

Love the tilt-able LCD screen that switches off when your eye goes to the VFGotta say, that is a pretty nifty feature, and it really works. I was able to wrestle the GH1 away from Phil momentarily, and as I brought it up to eye level, the screen did indeed switch off and the smaller LCD in the eyecup activated itself. I wasn't able to suss out any more features and details as I was threatened with physical violence if I didn't return the camera immediately (well, that and the battery needed charging).

almost charged...

Sweet! So is this a European version? With other than Japanese text? And PAL?

I guess we can expect a nice video soon, like the one the made for the 5DII;)

Lucky you... :)

Verified, his has English menus.

First post updated with rough GH1 / 5D2 size comparison photo.

Footage! Please!

Looking forward to seeing something more from the camera, maybe I will then be able to stop checking GH1 threads like a obsessed madman!

Phil, do you have a UK/EU model? If so I'm really interested in what the frame rate options really are for us PAL users. Do you intend on shooting under artificial light while your there? I'm planning on using this camera in the U.S, this summer, so really keen to see how it works for you.

Adrian

getting to grips with it!!!slowly!!

i wont get a chance to put out any proper footage straightaway...bit busy but will try

i will try and get some footage up tonight. I may be a bit drunk though as we are going to a billiards bar, Chris, welcome to join!! We have just been out on a massive camera orgy of about 50 of us filming each other with everything from my Lumix to 16mm cameras on glidecams. Been very funny.

My footage wont be the usual static beauty shots but lots of handheld actuality. Very impressed with the auto focus on it actually too. But the manual controls are killer and there is NO skew...

Need another battery really!

Phil, hope your enjoying Texas.. :-)

Have Chris take you over to Gruene... good photo ops there...

Historic Gruene Texas (http://www.touringtexas.com/gruene/)

And before you leave, have him take you over to New Braunfels Smokehouse for the
Turkey jerky and Pork jerky... its on the way to Gruene so it won't be out of your
way.... best in Texas :-)

Hickory-Smoked Meats Since 1945 | New Braunfels Smokehouse (http://www.nbsmokehouse.com/)

Hey Phil,

Just wondering - how did you get your hands on a GH1 so quickly? I'm in the UK and I'd LOVE to get my mits on a GH1 by mid-May for an upcoming shoot that would be perfect for the GH1.

Thanks loads,
Jack

Can you post the english pdf manual somewhere ? (rapidshare/megaupload..)
I guess your GH1 comes with CD which has such manual ?
So far only the japanese manual is available on panasonic website, not very informative...
Thanks !

Have Chris take you over to Gruene... good photo ops there...Due to the limited time available, the Re:Frame crowd didn't get to venture much further beyond 6th Street, which certainly kept them busy enough. Phil is in the middle of a whirlwind tour of North America and I believe he soon departs for points west, otherwise I would have been happy to show him Gruene (still just as big a draw as Wimberley but better for photos in my opinion).

And before you leave, have him take you over to New Braunfels Smokehouse ...Sadly it no longer exists as you knew it. Kelly and I had a commemorative farewell breakfast-for-dinner there not long before they permanently closed doors. The name lives on as a luncheonette in a much smaller building, and their online business continues to do well. Unfortunately not quite the same experience as it used to be though. Lots of good memories there.

got some nice footage and will be editing it when my hangover subsides...

Well I took it out for first time yesterday and shot some footage. All handheld.

It performed really well. Very nice image.

The stock lens is too slow making low light ugly as the very high ISO has some horrible banding issues. But I wlll be getting my Nikon adaptor tomorrow so will be able to use my fast Zeiss primes and I will be able to do some proper low light filming.

The mic is pretty good. Not great, but does it's job.

But mostly I LOVED the manual controls for exposure, love the ability to use auto focus and face recognition whilst filming and loved the long recording time...

Read more below and the video is almost uploaded!

Philip Bloom Blog Archive Panasonic Lumix GH1 first impressions and first footage (http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/04/30/panasonic-lumix-gh1-first-impressions-and-first-footage/)

If Chris is able to, I could post the uncompressed Apple Intermediate Codec version. It's like 1.5gb or something...

here are some frame grabs...

Hi Phil, Thanks for posting the footage quickly and for the review, I enjoyed reading it. Cant wait to see what footage you get in Hawaii later too.

Aloha!

Phil, You should consider trying more handheld with the gh1 too, seems to work well for you in that regard. If you want something unique try flumin the ditch on the big island, it is an inflatable kayak trip on the old elevated sugar irrigation flumes and hand carved tunnels or the wild horses in Waipio valley. Do not wrestle the wild boars in the next valley over reachable only by foot. I repeat, do not....
Later and great footage, thanks again, Alan

Cheers Phil, great real world example of this camera in use and very informative writing. How do you get time to write all this stuff!? Look forward to seeing your Hawaii footage, any surfing?.

Adrian

basically I don't sleep!!! it's 230 am in Austin and my taxi comes in 2 and 3 quarter hours to pick me up. Still packing...missed on on dinner with the re:frame guys to get this edit and review up...

Also most of this was shot in auto focus mode, manual exposure though...

got an adaptor. tried it out...Great! Footage to follow

If Chris is able to, I could post the uncompressed Apple Intermediate Codec version. It's like 1.5gb or something...I'd be happy to host it. Busy morning here but will provide FTP account uploads info to you a bit later in the day.

Phil:

What's your first impression on GH1 as it relates to the HDV camcorders and 35mm adapters.

I have a Canon XH A1 w/ Cinevate Flip unit, HV20 2/ Cinevate, and 5D Mark II.

I have the HV20 and 1 Cinevate up for sale.

After this week, even though I haven't touched a GH1, I'm getting the gut feeling that I may be able to sell the XH A1 w/ Cinevate. Then my 2 cams would then be the D5 mkII and GH1.

I need one camera to be able to roll for 30 minutes or longer. The other camera can be started and stopped. The XH A1 was my benchmark for image quality and DOF.

I'm liking the auto focus on the GH1, ease of use, and manual controls. Of course, optimistic on the image quality so far, just waiting to see more.

What's your opinion of image quality on GH1 vs the HDV camcorders with 35 adapters?
Think one can get buy with 2 DSLR's and no HDV camcorder?

That's what I'm starting to think - this may replace my XHA1 as a better general-use companion to my 5D.

My first slow motion footage imminently up!!

Philip Bloom Blog Archive Kauai sunset: LUMIX GH1 slow motion (http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/05/02/kauai-sunset-lumix-gh1-slow-motion/)

shot in 720p 50p mode and reconformed in cinema tools to 25p

Graded with Magic Bullet Looks...it held up just fine. Yay!

Very nice footage Phil. Thanks.
The 50p looks to be very useful. But in your GH1 model, there is 'only' choice for 50p / PAL? You can't use the NTSC's 60p?

Phil,
I was already pretty set on this camera before it was released, but didn't expect too much from it. This slow mo piece and the other that you did have been more than a pleasant surprise. They show that it could be a really versatile little tool for docs and a great b-cam at least. Cheers

Nice music choice by the way, I totally drifted off for a minute there and forgot to look for any of the geeky stuff!

Adrian

Phil:

The slow motion is a nice feature. I like it so far. If I could get my mitts on one for 24 hours, I'm guessing I'd be $1500 poorer.

Our family has been to Kauai about 10-12 time in the last 15 years. Don't recognize the beach though.

Any chance you shot the sunset around Hanapepe or maybe on a beach down by the base of Waimea Canyon somewhere.
if not there, maybe up on the north shore near the end of the road in Hanea State Park?

If your like Pizza, one of my favorite Pizza joints is a place called the Brick Oven in Kalaheo on the south part of the island. As good as I've had anywhere.

Don't forget to get a bubba burger up north in Hanalei. They cheat tourist and lawyers and won't sell a burger for less than the cost of a can of dog food, or something along those lines.

Are you going to use the GH1 as a B cam with your EX3 Letus rig on this shoot?

Looking forward to some more GH1 footage.

Phil:

The slow motion is a nice feature. I like it so far. If I could get my mitts on one for 24 hours, I'm guessing I'd be $1500 poorer.

Our family has been to Kauai about 10-12 time in the last 15 years. Don't recognize the beach though.

Any chance you shot the sunset around Hanapepe or maybe on a beach down by the base of Waimea Canyon somewhere.
if not there, maybe up on the north shore near the end of the road in Hanea State Park?

If your like Pizza, one of my favorite Pizza joints is a place called the Brick Oven in Kalaheo on the south part of the island. As good as I've had anywhere.

Don't forget to get a bubba burger up north in Hanalei. They cheat tourist and lawyers and won't sell a burger for less than the cost of a can of dog food, or something along those lines.

Are you going to use the GH1 as a B cam with your EX3 Letus rig on this shoot?

Looking forward to some more GH1 footage.

It's on the north shore near Princeville. I will be doing some more shooting with the Lumix but mostly it's ex3/ ultimate from now on...

Phil:

After this week, even though I haven't touched a GH1, I'm getting the gut feeling that I may be able to sell the XH A1 w/ Cinevate. Then my 2 cams would then be the D5 mkII and GH1.

I need one camera to be able to roll for 30 minutes or longer. The other camera can be started and stopped. The XH A1 was my benchmark for image quality and DOF.

I'm liking the auto focus on the GH1, ease of use, and manual controls. Of course, optimistic on the image quality so far, just waiting to see more.

What's your opinion of image quality on GH1 vs the HDV camcorders with 35 adapters?
Think one can get buy with 2 DSLR's and no HDV camcorder?

i would be VERY nervous about having two DSLRs and no proper camcorder. The GH1 is a great little tool but no substitute...the codec is quite weak and the lack of audio monitoring if a problem...I would keep the HDV camcorder.

Put it this one I am shooting professionally for the next few days using the EX3/ Ultimate. I have a 5dmk2 here and a GH1 but this is a pro gig and the only camera I will use for it still is the EX3...we are getting there though!! These DSLR are great B cams for 35mm rigs as they are SO lightweight and awesome in low light. Especially the Canon.

The autofocus features on the GH1 stock lens are great (especially facial recognition with memory so you can program it to stay focused on one person and ignore the rest!) but it does do sudden reactionary changes unlike the subtle changes you can do with video cams...

Actually I think the 5DMii could very well replace any HDV camcorder had it 24/25p and manual controls. Especially the latter. If you're into narrative film making that is, with controlled lighting, separate audio recording and staged actors. The GH1 on the other hand is way too compressed it seems.

i would be VERY nervous about having two DSLRs and no proper camcorder.

Kind of depends on what you mean by "proper." At $1500 MSRP the price is not far above the current crop of AVCHD "consumer" camcorders. IMHO these camera are too tiny, too light, and either without a VF or with a tiny lo-rez VF. The GH1 has a great VF. And, many of these camcorders have no physical manual controls.

Shooting at 720p60 with the GH1 is a strong possibility for, what I would guess, may be the larger population of folks shoot "video" rather than "movies." In fact, I'd venture to guess the number of folks who today want to shoot progressive with high-temporal accuracy is greater than the number who want to shoot p24. :)

And, video shooters also have a need (e.g., interviews) for minimum DOF.

I'd be curious how you think the GH1 compares to the HM100 at 720p60. I had the HM100's earlier consumer version, the HD7, and I found the tiny "under your nose" controls very difficult to use.

PS 1: Another great demo, Phil.

PS 2: I had no problem using the AVCHD import function of iMovie 09 to import 720p60 from a prototype GH1. And, once AIC, it edited no differently than HDV.

However, despite Pana claiming the 24p is in 60i -- iMovie saw it as 24p and said it could not be imported. It would import into FCP, but it was clearly pure 1080p24. Looks like, unfortunately, the production version is using pulldown.

agreed...am thinking more along the lines of the people wanting to see their Canon A1s...the lack of proper audio at the moment and the still wobbly sensors still makes me see these DSLRs as B cams...but i WANT them to be A cams!!

i am sorry if this is stupid Q

but can you zoom when shooting using the camera servo zoom?

probably yes but i want to make sure


2- is there a way to see live view at external monitor(sd or hd)
when shooting? (for the director to have reference)

thanks

i am sorry if this is stupid Q

but can you zoom when shooting using the camera servo zoom?

probably yes but i want to make sure

The camera has no zoom buttons. Zooming is manual like a SLR.


2- is there a way to see live view at external monitor(sd or hd)
when shooting? (for the director to have reference)

thanks

Don't think so, but not sure...

i have an english pdf of the manual if interested...please email me at philip@philipbloom.co.uk and i will send it to you...

here is the gh1 with a mattebox on it!

Philip Bloom Blog Archive Using a Matte Box on the GH1 (http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/05/05/using-a-matte-box-on-the-gh1/)

Thanks Phil for all the footage and info... very excited to get me mitts on this cam.

john

I just have one question:

Was the first clip (the one at RE:Frame) shot at 1/50? Because it doesn't look too smooth compared to say a HV20 in progressive 25fps at 1/50. I know it's different but I wasn't expecting it to be so different in terms of motion feeling. Other than that, the camera looks like a dream come true.

I've seen other 1080p24/25 test shots looking smoother. Maybe it's because of the 60i pulldown removal process?

I believe Phil has a PAL model.

Yep, it is a PAL model that he has and those clips were converted at least twice. I’m not sure if he found a host for his higher quality version.

Sorry, I meant conversion from 50i to 25p.

agreed...am thinking more along the lines of the people wanting to see their Canon A1s...the lack of proper audio at the moment and the still wobbly sensors still makes me see these DSLRs as B cams...but i WANT them to be A cams!!


I would also like them to be A Cams.

I've been started to using a Zoom H4 for capturing my audio, which is an extra work in editing and not as convenient as on camera XLR's.

If I willing to use the H4, then that manly leaves 'wobbly sensors"

I guess careful planning will overcome some of that, but it's going to "getcha" one too many times.

It's temping to sell the 35mm / XHa1 rig while it still has a little value and go with the D5 mkII and possibly the GH1.

My gut tells me to hang on to the XHA1, but he pocket book would sure like to unload the whole rig.

Phil, I am curious as to what you mean by saying the codec is weak compared to HDV. If this is the same codec used in the HMC 150 it blows HDV out of the water.



i would be VERY nervous about having two DSLRs and no proper camcorder. The GH1 is a great little tool but no substitute...the codec is quite weak and the lack of audio monitoring if a problem...I would keep the HDV camcorder.

Put it this one I am shooting professionally for the next few days using the EX3/ Ultimate. I have a 5dmk2 here and a GH1 but this is a pro gig and the only camera I will use for it still is the EX3...we are getting there though!! These DSLR are great B cams for 35mm rigs as they are SO lightweight and awesome in low light. Especially the Canon.

The autofocus features on the GH1 stock lens are great (especially facial recognition with memory so you can program it to stay focused on one person and ignore the rest!) but it does do sudden reactionary changes unlike the subtle changes you can do with video cams...

Phil, I am curious as to what you mean by saying the codec is weak compared to HDV. If this is the same codec used in the HMC 150 it blows HDV out of the water.

Yes, but no. Because the actual implementation of the AVCHD codec appears to be limited on the 1080/24p mode. AVCHD is better than HDV, unquestionably, no doubt. But I think you'll find pretty much universal agreement that Canon's HDV is better than Sony's HDV as featured on the FX1, right? And so it is with the GH1, the HMC150's AVCHD is better than the GH1's. There's a quote somewhere from a Panasonic guy who said that the camcorders have better processors and that they can take advantage of "B" frames, which the Lumix doesn't.

Shooting in 720p mode does seem to be better for the codec

anyway here is my latest blog about shooting in Joshua Tree using the stock lens, and get this, Zeiss ULTRA Prime PL Lenses costing over $10,000 each!

Philip Bloom Blog Archive Panasonic Lumix GH1 in Joshua Tree and PL lenses! (http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/05/12/panasonic-lumix-gh1-in-joshua-tree-and-pl-lenses/)

two of the shots below were done on the stock lens...

Hey Philip - those stills look great, were those taken from video? And were you shooting 720 or 1080?