Panasonic GH2 First Look

Ever talent cinematographer Pat Darrin (PatDarrin.com) invited me over to check out his new Panasonic GH2.  By the way, Pat shot one of my favorite music videos, "Ms. Jackson" by OutKast.

GH2 with PL mount!

We were joined by Douglas Glover, cinematographer for "Dirty Jobs" and Thomas George of Soitis4u.com.  All of us have used DSLR cameras for professional gigs, so our curiosity made a lot of sense.  The GH2 is Panasonic's answer to the hugely popular Canon cameras, so what better way to check out the Pany then pit it against a 5D. 

At first glance, there are a number of differences between the cameras.  The most noticible difference is how the LCD and viewfinder work on the GH2.  Since the Pany is not a DSLR, but a camera that is fully electronic, it has both an LCD display and LCD viewfinder.  When you put your eye up to the viewfinder, it turns on while the rear display goes off. 

The Pany's HDMI output allows for an external monitor that works in conjuction with the rear display instead of turning it off.  During record, something definitely happens to the HDMI signal because the display changes slightly.

We shot tests with both the 7D and GH2.  Then Darrin popped on a nice 15.5 to 45mm zoom on the Panny so we had some fun with it.
My initial impression of the GH2 was that it has a pretty nice image that tends to be a bit green, which is different from the reddish-sepia like quality coming out of the Canon cameras.  I like the myrid options that the GH2 has to control the image including Cinema settings.  Also, the autofocus can be set to follow your subject and stay in focus.  Pretty cool stuff.

I'm going to take a closer look at the footage that came out of both cameras before deciding anything, but I can see how the GH2 can be useful.  In the end, it's the story that dictates which tool I use.  It's just nice to see yet another viable option on the market.

Stay tuned for my more info about the image in post.

Snehal Patel
Director/DP