Lumix g6 experiences

[Noa Put]

I"m planning to replace my 550d and recently I saw below comparison of the lumix g6 with a hacked gh2, considering the very low price of the g6 (comparable to what I paid for my 550d) it seems to be a good performer and it improves several areas which are important to me like:

- 50p (I really want to be able to do slowmotion without the excessive judder I get now)
- No moire, that"s at least what I read about this camera, it should be a lot better then my 550d
- More resolution, this I"m not sure about but from what I have seen it's sharper then my soft 550d.
- a swivel lcd screen (so I at least can take high or low shots and see what I"m doing)
- Less noise at 3200 iso. (again, not sure about this but it looks very clean, 3200 iso on my 550d doesn't look good and needs a neatvideo treatment. I need at least 3200 iso during the first dance when using a f2.8 lens on a steadicam)

The camera will be mainly on a steadicam, my question is if there are any g6 user out here that would like to share their experience? It would be even greater if those users have a 550d, 600d type of camera so I have a good reference point when comparing.

I am specifically interested in how usable the image is at 3200 iso and how the sensitivity compares to a canon 550d.

I have a collection of samyang lenses with a canon mount that fit my 550d, I would like to re-use those lenses on the g6 with a adapter and was thinking on getting a 8 or 10mm f2.8 lens as well from samyang/rokinon because I think my 14mm won't be wide enough with the larger cropfactor on the g6 compared to the 550d. I also don't know if there will be any vignetting when using a 10mm lens on the g6.

The g6 is 600 euro body only currently, the gh3 is 1050euro body only, would a gh3 be worth the extra investment? I have read about it's advantages over a g6 where the codec is one of the more important ones but I don't really need that as all my other camera's do 50p avchd 28mbs anyway so I have a uniform codec/workflow. The only thing I"m not sure about which might be an advantage is that the gh3 footage would be easier to correct in post if I want to adjust the brightness at 3200 iso or clean the footage up with neatvideo, where the g6 footage might fall apart sooner.

Thanks for any thoughts or experiences from anyone.

Here is the video I was refering to

Panasonic G6 vs GH2 (original & graded) - YouTube

another one I found with a 3200 iso test

Panasonic Lumix G6 quick ISO 3200 Test on Vimeo

[Pete Carney]

I have a new G6. Here's a few of my test video's I also have it specifically to fly on my hand held jib pole stabilizer I'm developing. At only 505 grams with the new kit lens it is one of, if not the lightest dslr cams made and the only cam with 1080-60p and ETC.

g6 vs t3i, etc vs 3x, 3200 iso test on Vimeo

G6 vs T3i in ETC mode at iso 3200 with OM Zuiko 50mm F/1.4

Panasonic DMC-G6, Nikkor ED AIS 600mm +ETC on Vimeo

G6 + 600mm Nikkor AIS ED + ETC at 4 miles distance

Panasonic DMC-G6 on Vimeo

G6 with kit lens on stabilizer in bright sun. Original mp4 file for download

Panasonic DMC-G6 - 14-42 f/3.5-5.6 II lens on Vimeo

G6 indoors at ISO 1600. Original mp4 file for download

Surprisingly the autofocus with the new 14-42 II kit lens is pretty amazing. It just doesn't hunt around virtually ever. It will be interesting to see how it works with an Olympus 12mm F/2 or the Lumix 12-35 f/2.8 IS. I need to sell my canon 24mm L II lens before I can give those a go though.

Cheers,
Pete

[Noa Put]

Thx pete! Very helpfull. Just to be sure about the 3200 iso test, which one is the g6? Is it the flatter image or the more colorful one?

[Noa Put]

Another question about the 3200 iso thing since you have a t3i which should perform about the same as my 550d, the test you did was in a brighter area so the noise is not that obvious, it looks worse on the flatter image. have you compared in dimmer light and do you see if it is cleaner then your t3i? I"d be happy if the camera has a finer grain, the grain on the 550d looks pretty ugly above 1600 iso.

Also, what does "etc" stand for?
edit: I just heard you say extended tele cop

[Pete Carney]

The first image is the G6. The T3i is a stop brighter in low light. It also has much more color depth at higher ISO's. With enough light the G6 seems to have better dynamic range, especially in the highlights. Noise reduction is very good with the G6 and noise is much more pleasing to work with. You just can't push the 24mbps very far when the light dims.

I bought it for it's ultra light weight. I weighted it at 505 grams with the new 14-42 II kit lens, card, battery, hood and lens cap. Nothing like that available anywhere with 1080-60p and in ETC mode!

In the end of the day I'm keeping my Canon lenses, as I think this new 70D might be a new level of image quality for Canon. I just don't want to have to carry all their pig lenses up to 3000+ meters where I film a lot. We'll see :)

Cheers,
Pete

[Noa Put]

The T3i is a stop brighter in low light.

Really? ugh... That was one area I was expecting some improvement, I like the flatter g6 image more, my other camera's shoot quite flat as well and I prefer to match in post. It's one of the things I don't like about my 550d as it's too contrasty and saturated and I always have issues matching it with my nex-ea50 and sony cx730.

If you find time available, would it be possible to shoot side by side in a dark, maybe in a candle lit place? With the same lens on both camera's and at 3200 iso? That's actually the only thing that keeps me from buying this camera right now, the flower test you did is not so clear that it is a stop less sensitive so I"m still looking for some darker footage to see how the grain displays and how they would compare.

[Pete Carney]

g6 vs t3i iso 3200 test on Vimeo

[Noa Put]

That's more like it! Thx a lot Pete. This time I don't even have to ask which one is the G6 :D I recognize that horrible grain from a mile.

The g6 is very clean, the grain structure seems to be much finer and I also see now what you mean with a stop difference. I also think the g6 would survive lifting the brightness in post much better as the 550d would because it's the ugly grain that gets highlighted as well, that could mean you don't need to treat the g6 footage with neatvideo where with the 550 you would have no other choice. I only wished they would have included 6400 iso because I"m sure that would be usable as well, maybe one day with a hack :).

That's a tough decisions, better low light performance was on the top of my list of "needs" and while I see now I could safely use 3200 iso the g6 would perform the same at 3200 what my Canon 550d does at 1600 iso now which I use a lot at our dark receptions, I only use 3200 iso with my 550d if I have no other choice and that's at more then 50% of the weddings I do specifically when the first dance and the dancing after that starts.

I also have been checking out the Nikon d5200 which appears to be a very good low light performer but from what I understand it is not possible to use a adapter to fit canon mount lenses, this means I have to invest in a new set of lenses and that I don't want.

I might sleep a few more days over it before I buy, I better invest in remote controlled powerfull and dimmable light that can be placed high on a lightstand next to the dj's lightset so I can add my own light at a push of a button when needed. The g6 has just to much features I need and/or want to let go. :)

Thx again Pete for your time to test.

[Noa Put]

One more question Pete, where both camera at the same distance from the flower meaning the difference in focal distance is because of the larger cropfactor of the g6?

Something I need to consider as well when using a 14mm which might not be wide enough anymore on my steadicam.

[Pete Carney]

Yes the camera's were at the same distance from the flower. I couldn't move back far enough to get the same field of view on my dining room table, so I thought I'd just show the crop factor difference as well.

If it were me and I was doing weddings, I'd still wait to see how the lowlight of the new 70D works out before I would buy the G6. The more I test it the more I like it, but low light work is not it's forte for sure.

Cheers,
Pete

[Noa Put]

I downloaded your clip and loaded it into edius, in edius there is an easy way to brighten the clip and that is to duplicate the clip, put it on top of the original one and then apply the screen filter on the top one and then you can control the brightness. If I do that on the canon clip it looks hideous and neatvideo is a absolute must, the g6 clip however does display some colored artifacts in the blacks but can be used as is. It looks much better when corrected and doesn't need neatvideo.

Can I ask if the g6 has the possibility to use other image presets like the canon can?

[Pete Carney]

There are a few different picture profiles you can set like Standard, Neutral, Monochrome.....
Don't think they have a profile editor like Canon though.

The G6 manual is here -
Pansonic Product Support - DMC-G6KK

It might have more info about the picture profiles, but I haven't had time to research it yet.

Cheers,
Pete

[Noa Put]

I don't like the standard t2i presets I can use, the blacks are crushed too much and the image is too saturated. When it gets too dark I switch to that cinestyle preset which makes quite a difference since your image is as flat as a pancake but you have much more to work with. That's why I prefer a flat image.

[Bill Bruner]

Pete - thanks so much for posting these tests. They are a real service to the community.

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[Pete Carney]

Thanks, I figured since I wanted to see some comparisons, others would like to as well. The more I film with the G6 the more I'm liking it.

Cheers,
Pete