Panasonic GH3 now officially announced

[Bernd Eller]

Panasonic has officially announced the DMC-GH3 and here is the press release:

DMC-GH3, H-HS35100 | Press Release | LUMIX | Digital Camera | Panasonic Global

Lot of information on the website, too:
DMC-GH3 | PRODUCTS | LUMIX | Digital Camera | Panasonic Global

[Kris Zimbelman]

Price = $1,299 < $2,000 predicted!!

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/892456-REG/Panasonic_Lumix_DMC_GH3_Mirrorless_Digital.html

[Thomas Smet]

That is for the body only. One of the kit lenses is the 12 to 35mm f2.8 which brings the price point above $2000.00.

The other kit lens is the 14 to 140mm.

Interesting that the cheap 14 to 42 is no longer an affordable option. I have two of those sitting here so no big deal to me but kind of a bummer for new users.


Overall a very nice looking camera. Some stuff may not scream out upgrade now at first but neither did the GH2 at first. It was the stuff under the hood and just overall workflow that eventually made most GH1 users want to upgrade to the GH2.

Features of note for me:

1. 3.5mm audio in (no more dinky annoying adapters.)
2. 3.5mm out (finally headphones! huge, huge, huge! You never realized how important this is until you ned it)
3. higher bitrates out of the box (only so so important since most GH2 users I know are already shooting 100mbit + with hacking. The key here however is 100% stability and spanning)
4. Slightly larger LCD screen (not only helps in focusing but a lot of LCD loupe accessories are designed for slightly larger screens. Maybe they will fit better now)
4. 1080p 60p (great if you need it for slow motion without having to use 720p 60p.)
5. Faster autofocus (we need to see exactly what this means but the GH2 already had an amazing autofocus system for shooting video. I know some people who switched from the GH1 to the GH2 just for the better autofocus speed alone.)
6. WIFI features (could be interesting. Especially the instant preview on a tablet which could be a way to use an iPad to check focus with it's larger screen. If this gets good enough we mat not even need HDMI to a monitor anymore. Wishing thinking of course but interesting what this could open up. I use Airplay all the time from my mobile devices to an Apple TV to stream full HD video through WIFI. The technology is there and I can see the day where my iPad will act as an external 10" larger then HD resolution monitor mounted to my rig.)

[Dylan Tobias]

Official Panasonic Pages

LUMIX GH3 SPECIAL SITE

DMC-GH3 | PRODUCTS | LUMIX | Digital Camera | Panasonic Global

Press Conference Footage

panasonic persconferentie - YouTube

[Steve Nunez]

The DMC-GH3 is capable of recording ultra high bitrate video recorded at 72 Mbps (ALL-Intra) or 50 Mbps (IPB). What's the difference between the 2?

I'd like to edit natively using FCP.

[Matt Bigwood]

There were rumours prior to the official release of a handgrip with XLR sockets, but unfortunately I haven't seen any official confirmation of this.

[Todd Clark]

Unfortunately I read the GH3 does not have Zebra Stripes! So close...I almost pre-ordered.

[Mark Williams]

Yes, zebras are also very important to me. I guess I would have to learn a different way with the GH3. Is there any info out there about GH3 exposure control?

[Bill Koehler]

Given the rear lcd screen is not even SD resolution, you are probably going to be adding an external monitor - with zebras, among other things - whenever possible.

[Jack Zhang]

The 60p at 50mbps is actually really attractive. It doesn't look like it's 4:2:2 so it's just standard H.264 as opposed to a AVCHD standard for the MOV format files.

One thing to note is that they say the PAL version has a record time limit of half an hour.

[Emmanuel Plakiotis]

Originally Posted by Steve Nunez

The DMC-GH3 is capable of recording ultra high bitrate video recorded at 72 Mbps (ALL-Intra) or 50 Mbps (IPB). What's the difference between the 2?

I'd like to edit natively using FCP.

These are the mov framerates:
1920x1080 (60p/50p): 50Mbps
1920x1080 (30p/25p): 50Mbps (IPB), 72Mbps (All-I)
1920x1080 (24p): 50Mbps (IPB), 72Mbps (All-I)
1280x720 (60p/50p): 50Mbps (IPB), 72Mbps (All-I)
640x480 (24p): 10Mbps

These bitrates are for MOV container which is an Apple file format. My guess is that they will work seamlessly within FCP.

Bear in mind that since 50Mbps is IPB and 72Mbps is All-I, there will not be much visual difference between them, only the latter will be more editing friendly. This happens because the the All-I is intraframe and needs more space than IPB which is interframe.

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Todd Clark

Unfortunately I read the GH3 does not have Zebra Stripes! So close...I almost pre-ordered.

The GH2 has rudimentary zebras I would be surprised of they dropped this feature for the GH3. Not real good zebras but really just a white highlight clip feature where anything that's actually 100 IRE will flash black and white on the screen. You can't adjust them like real zebras but at least it'll let you know if anything's actually overexposed.

[Todd Clark]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

The GH2 has rudimentary zebras I would be surprised of they dropped this feature for the GH3. Not real good zebras but really just a white highlight clip feature where anything that's actually 100 IRE will flash black and white on the screen. You can't adjust them like real zebras but at least it'll let you know if anything's actually overexposed.

If that's the case I could live with that but I don't see this mentioned anywhere in the GH3 info.
Have you seen it printed?

[Dylan Tobias]

Panasonic Lumix GH3 Prototype first Shots on Vimeo

[Zach Love]

Originally Posted by Emmanuel Plakiotis

These bitrates are for MOV container which is an Apple file format. My guess is that they will work seamlessly within FCP.

My guess is these will work natively w/ FCPX, but with FCP7 (or earlier) you'll probably need to transcode to something else (ProRes). Files off a Canon 7D are .mov & while you can drop them into FCP, it isn't a fun experience until you transcode to something else.

Originally Posted by Bill Koehler

Given the rear lcd screen is not even SD resolution, you are probably going to be adding an external monitor - with zebras, among other things - whenever possible.

The question really is, how well will the HDMI work. You don't need 4:2:2 for a monitor, but it would be nice to have it for an off board recorder. I've read the GH2 doesn't send a live video feed through HDMI when you're in 720p60 or using the ETC (electronic tele converter). So I hope at least, very much at least, the HDMI feed works no matter what mode you're in.