“Pepper Ring.” Shot with a Panasonic GH-1.
Last week, when I saw that Amazon had one of the elusive Panasonic GH-1 cameras in stock, I caved and bought one. After all, this camera can supposedly do something none of my other cameras can: Shoot high-quality HD video. Since one of the most common requests from distant family is “Post more video of the kids!” I could kind of justify the purchase.
Since this camera has received such interest and yet so few people seem to be able to get one (in the United States, anyway), I decided to write a series of hands-on impressions to help people understand what it’s like to use one of these cameras in person.
What’s the Panasonic GH-1 like to shoot with? In my mind, I put the Panasonic GH-1 in the same bucket as the Olympus E-520. Both are compact digital SLRs (or in the case of the GH-1, SLR-like). I have, use, and love the Olympus E-520 and the Olympus 12-60 zoom. That was an interesting standard to use for comparison with the Panasonic GH-1 and its kit 14-140 lens. Here’s how I compare the two camera/lens combinations.
It’s a Tie
- Size/Weight. The Panasonic & lens are a little lighter and a little smaller than the Olympus & lens (920 grams versus 1180 grams). To my subjective opinion, the Olympus’s larger grip feels nicer in my hand. But it’s not so much of a difference that I’d choose one over the other on the basis of size/weight.
- Camera controls. Both the Olympus and the Panasonic make it easy to change common shooting parameters like ISO and autofocus mode. There’s only one camera control where I see a clear advantage using the Olympus: Exposure compensation, noted below. Otherwise, between these two camera systems, I see no advantage for one over the other.
- Autofocus. Both camera/lens combinations have snappy autofocus. The Panasonic has the advantage of more autofocus points and modes, but it’s much easier and faster to select one of the three autofocus points in the E-520.
Advantage: Olympus
- Shutter lag. This was a surprise as I used the GH-1. Yes, it’s autofocus is as snappy as the E-520. However, once you press the shutter button all the way to make an exposure, there’s an ever so slightly longer period of time before the exposure gets made on the Panasonic. I only noticed it when I tried to take pictures of my fifteen-month-old son. For kid pictures, small fractions of a second count. I was surprised at how often I thought I took a picture during that fleeting moment when Patrick looked right at the camera, yet what I captured was the moment after when he was looking down. Frustrating.
- Lens. The Panasonic 14-140 is an impressive zoom range, but the Olympus 12-60 is wider and faster. For me, that’s a better combination.
- Exposure compensation. Much, much easier to press the dedicated exposure compensation button on the E-520. I find the push-and-turn control dial on the Panasonic awkward and confusing.
Advantage: Panasonic
- Manual focus. No doubt, the bigger viewfinder and the magnified manual focus view make it much, much easier to focus manually on the Panasonic. The E-520’s small viewfinder makes manual focus more of a guessing game; I only manual focus that camera for macro work and check focus using live view.
- Viewfinder. It’s going to take me a while to get used to the Panasonic’s electronic viewfinder. As nice as it is, I still feel like I’m looking at a computer display. It’s ever so slightly grainy compared to an optical viewfinder. That said, once I get used to it, the advantages over the Olympus E-520’s small, comparatively dim optical viewfinder are clear. The Panasonic’s view is larger, shows 100% of the frame, and can overlay useful information like a live histogram. It’s also nice seeing the white balance in the viewfinder, and the Panasonic is also brighter in dim light.
- Articulating LCD. I love this feature. Very useful.
- Multi-aspect sensor. Not every composition works best as 4:3. I love being able to compose in 16:9 or 3:2 without losing pixels to cropping.
Conclusion
From a still camera perspective, the Olympus E-520 plus the Olympus 12-60 lens are a similar package to the Panasonic GH-1 and the 14-140 lens. What would I grab for an afternoon of casual shooting? It’s a tough choice, and the answer would likely depend on whim or which battery had more charge. I prefer the GH-1 body for the viewfinder, multi-aspect shooting, and articulating LCD, but I prefer the 12-60 lens. I predict I’ll use the GH-1 more and more as my go-to “small SLR” when I can put more lenses on it.
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