So, Canon 60d or Panasonic GH2?

[James Palanza]

Reviews seem to be pretty darn close on these cameras. Just wondering if anyone has some person advice on this one? It would compliment my canon xl h1a. Editing on adobe premier. I have a black magic intensity card for capturing. This is primarily for video.

Any pros or cons when picking either? It seems they are worth it over the price of the 5D.

[Ger Griffin]

From what Ive seen online the IQ from the GH2 is very good. Sharp etc.
Its geared a bit better towards video too.

There is firmware hack now for canon and it works great.

BTW the t3i is even better value for money than the 60d.

You need to ask which sensor do I want?
Full frame, crop 1.6x or crop 2x
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Se..._-_updated.svg
Thats what I based my decision on. Full is very dear (but so so good) so I found 1.6x (canon crop) to be a happy medium.
I do buy FF lenses mainly though for the option to upgrade the bodies down the road.

At the end of the day only you can decide. Like any format wars there are loyalists on both sides.
I personally dont care much for that.
The one that does the job for me is the one I use (my master is whoever feeds me).
I shoot some stills so that made up my mind for me (canon).

Its an important decision though because its a pain selling lenses etc. to switch down the road.
Also some of us tend to forget Nikon are at the races these days too.
Beautiful look to their footage and its not just down to their lenses either.

[John Wiley]

60D Pros:

Build quality/ergonomics
Lot's of native lenses
Larger user support base/more accessories
Magic Lantern hack (better audio features, exposure & focus aids + heaps more)


GH2 pros:

Sharper/cleaner video, less aliasing
Can use almost any lens (though there are very few decent native lenses for AF/AE)
Usable AF in video mode (only if you use native lenses which limits your choice a lot)
Vitaliy hack (higher bitrate recording)
Unlimited recording length


A couple of other things worth mentioning: The 60D crop factor is a little higher than 1.6x in video mode because of the crop from from the 3:2 sensor to a 16:9 video image. The GH2 has an oversized sensor and actually adds more width to the image in video mode in order to maintain the same angle of view. So the crop factor difference is actually more like 1.8x vs 2x.

Also, the GH2 can use a variety of old manual lenses but many of the common ones (Nikon, Pentax, Olympus OM, M42) can also be used on the 60D. The only common lenses that can be used on the GH2 but not the 60d are Canon FD lenses. There are many other types of lenses that the GH2 can use too though, like 16mm film lenses, seurity camera lenses, cinema lenses etc.

[James Palanza]

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate the help w this decision.

[Bill Bruner]

James,

You have gotten some good information from Ger and John above, but I wanted to add my subjective experience with the two systems. I had a Canon T2i (without the Magic Lantern [ML] hack) and now own an unhacked GH2 - so here are my hands-on reasons for switching from the T2i (same sensor and processor as the 60D) to the GH2:

First -- the lack of video autofocus on the Canons was a problem for me. I am not a big fan of trying to follow focus a moving subject as a solo cameraman. Video autofocus on the GH2 is not perfect, but it works fine for most applications.

Second was the bulk of the Canon. Some people like it, some people don't. I didn't Because the GH2 is smaller & lighter (can someone please remind me why I was carrying around the weight of that mirror box?), I actually take it with me everywhere I go, so I get a lot more use out of it. That said, I have seen several reports from shooters with larger hands who really dislike the small size of the GH2.

Next was the 12 minute shot duration limit on the Canon. The ML hack "fixes" this by stringing files together, but the GH2 shoots continuous clips that last as long as the memory card has space on it. I have shot hour long speeches with the GH2 - no overheating, no interruptions.

Finally, and decisively, I couldn't stand the "crawling colors" or moire produced by Canons on patterned objects like shingled roofs, brickwork and patterned fabrics. The Panasonic is clearly better here. See these examples:

Shingled roof

60D vs GH2 Moire Test on Vimeo

Patterned fabric

Canon 60D vs Panasonic GH2 evil moiré test on Vimeo

The 60D is the better still camera, hands down. But, in my opinion, the GH2 will produce better video for you, with fewer workarounds and compromises.

Hope this is helpful,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[Kin Lau]

I have the GH1 (with hack), GH2, T3i and 7D. My focus is mainly wildlife, and I"m more a photographer than videographer.

I agree with many of the comments above, so no need to repeat them, I'll just add a few other points.

The EVF on the GH2 is a huge advantage. I mostly shoot with the LCD on a tripod, but there are many occasions where shooting with the EVF is preferred.

Size-wise, there isn't much difference btwn a T3i and GH2, but the biggest difference is the lenses. The Lumix 100-300 is so much smaller than any for the Canon and the new Lumix X lenses with servo zoom will be unique.

i got the T3i (when the GH2 was very hard to find) mainly for it's 3x telecrop feature. The GH2's tele-crop just blows the T3i out of the water in most circumstances.

[James Palanza]

Wow I've gotten so many helpful responses. I hope this thread can help out others with this decision as well. I've settled on the GH2, but I've been told we may be getting a decent bonus at work this year and with the prices possibly coming down on the 5Dmk2's, I'm tempted to just hold out for the much larger sensor.

Oh if we were just all rich eh? =P

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

For video I would choose the GH2 over the 5D Mark II.

[Walter Brokx]

Originally Posted by Sareesh Sudhakaran

For video I would choose the GH2 over the 5D Mark II.

But how about low-light (high ISO) performance?
Has anyone compared that already?

[Bill Bruner]

Walter -yes, there have been several side-by-sides between the 5DMkII and the unhacked GH2.

See this comparison at ISO 1600:

Panasonic GH2 vs Canon 5D MKII (Extreme Low light test) on Vimeo

To my eyes, the 5DMkII's low light performance is not significantly better than the GH2's - even with the larger sensor. The bigger issue is the 5D's moire problem. There are lots of examples, but here is one showing color banding on brickwork:

SAMPLE - MOIRE EFFECTS CANON 5D DSLR - YouTube

You can buy a new $385 VAF-5D2 Mosaic Engineering Optical Anti-Aliasing Filter on top of the

$2400 you'd have to pay for a 5DMkII

 

$2400 you'd have to pay for a 5DMkII

to fix this, or you can just buy a moire-free

GH2 for less than $1000

 

GH2 for less than $1000

.

Cheers,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[Walter Brokx]

@Bill:

thanks!
This difference shows how Canon added the HD-function as a gimmick and Panasonic watched and learnt what they could improve.

Now I just have to search for examples about processed (low-light) images.
To the eye things may look good, but what is the differences with some (heavy) colorgrading?

Aliasing and moire is one of the reasons I don't shoot with DSLR's, unless when I need to shoot at night.
(And the fact that a 5D has about 700 horizontal lines fitted in 1080p)

[Peter Burke]

I own 60D and about a dozen lenses.

What I like:
I have shot bands in very low light @ ISO6400 and can clean the noise up reasonably. ISO3200 cleans up better. Without noise processing, ISO1600 starts to show noise.

I use a SAMYANG 35mm F1.4 (a must have..), a CANON 50mm F1.4 and a CANON 85mm F1.2 for when the lights get really low.

Even without Magic Lantern installed, in manual mode, I can adjust ISO, aperture (electronic lens) and shutter speed - on the fly !! 'can't tell you just how useful this is ! In auto movie, can adjust EV on the fly - also has it's uses. ML doesnt' work for me (yet), but it makes a 800 buck DSLR into a pro camera.

60D Niggles:
- Cannot view VU when rolling... need ML for this
- 12min clips... minor issue really as I often record audio separately on a Zoom H1
- Cannot adjust EV in manual movie mode
- mode dial has movie mode the opposite end to P, T, A, M - should be next door
- Manual focus? - am completely used to mf now.
- occasional moire. In 1TB of footage, I have only seen it bad a dozen times.

Over all, the 60D is the best video camera I have used.

Remember, when a new body comes out (- moire ?) I can use all my existing lenses. The body is the cheap part.

[Ger Griffin]

Thats not a proper low light test.
Its only a proper low light test when the light is low.
Candle light is lots of light for these cameras.
I know iso 1600 on a crop canon is about as high as you can go to keep the quality.
But with FF you can go much higher while keeping the image clean.
It must be tested under poor lighting conditions where iso must be pushed on both cameras, and then the noise levels examined.

[Thomas E. Smith]

Personally I could never live with a recording limit, since I have to use an unmanned camera for much of my work. But for someone with a videographer partner, it might not be an issue.