Ultimately, GH2 hacked or GH3, what is better for you and why?

lumixmaxgh3

A simple question, based on your experience.

JOFO

Used GH2s are selling for about half that price.. for me it's big cost difference but not that giant leap in quality... Headphone out is usefull feature, but I can live without it and have 2 GH2s for price of one GH3 and with additional accessories (e.g. spare batts) maybe if GH3 had better sensor with higher DR and better highISO performance I'll buy it.. but it hasn't..

debuys

I've owned a GH1 since 2009 and bought a GH3 in October 2013. I can't comment on the GH2 in any meaningful way and I've just begun to push the GH3 to it's limits. I feel confident recommending a GH3 over a hacked GH2 for one reason: the GH3 does not require a hack to produce excellent results.

Besides providing a great image without requiring a hack the GH3 also offers improved ergonomics and physical connections like a headphone output and a normal 3.5mm stereo input.

Even though the wifi connection isn't a cakewalk it's immensely useful within it's limitations.

I paid $850 for my GH3. A used GH2 isn't that much cheaper and a new GH4 won't be that much more in a year.

In other words, don't sweat it.

davjd

I have both, and both are great. Using Gh3 at a wedding, at the important moments, makes me feel safer than using the hacked gh2, wich sometimes hangs. Gh3 has long lasting batteries, but, as said, few small bugs that can turn into great problems: the 30 min limit, the info disappearing after few seconds, and great color mismatch between lcd and evf. I don't know if these problems have been discussed and solved some where in this community (unfortunately I don't have much time to read), but they give me great difficulty sometimes...

brianl

The GH3 seems a little better. I stayed with the GH2 though because the difference in quality was small and not enough to justify replacement for a relatively small improvement. GH4 looks to be a significant jump though.

bwhitz

GH3 for me. The colors look more like Alexa/Blackmagic. I have no trouble matching the GH3 to the 2.5k BMCC for slow-motion shots. GH2 looks more like the Red MX sensor... good for some shoots, but overall I prefer the former look.

rNeil

I started with PrPro Cs6, now running the CC version. I've got some of the ALL-I footage I initially shot with the GH3 (before abandoning that mode) that I started working on in CS6 but I'm currently editing directly in PrPro CC7.2.1. I've not needed any conversion to edit easily in either version of PrPro.

So ... I'm curious what you're converting for?

rezyserzycia

@switchmag looks good ! and about the gh2 vs gh3 challenge. If you have a good story in clip even gh1 will win with gh2 and gh3 ;)

ps: is anybody working in adobe premiere? i have a problem with converting ALL i 72 . what is yours best render seetings? is a topic here about that? cheers!

matt_gh2

@switchmag Real nice!

switchmag

Hi there! I'm new here and I just want to tell that I'm in love with my GH3. It's simple, it got everything just out of the box. Image quality is fabulous and it's not bad in low light. I never used a GH2, but mainly Canon DSLR like the T2i, 7D and 5DmkII. The GH3 is by far better (except low light with the 5D). You've got mic input, headphones output, nice HDMI, very good body and it's good for stills too. Of course there's some drawbacks. But it's the better camera (most complete) I've been using for both stills and video. Here is my last video, the first with my GH3 on location (with only two primes / handheld).

AdamT

Thanks for the comparison. Not a whole lot of difference in that clip, except the GH3 is better at higher ISO. Looks like more in-camera sharpening on the GH3 shot, too. Color is whacked on all of them.

thorgas

I got a brief comparison for you where I use the GH2 with Driftwood's T7 Moon and the GH3:

All Shots with Panasonic 20mm at f3.2, shutter at 1/25th, 24p, Standard 0 0 0 0, manual WB 10000K.

The GH2 is hacked with Driftwood's T7 Moon high bitrate hack. And because Nick Driftwood recommends it for 24p video, the GH2 uses i.Dynamic at LOW. G6 and GH3 have intelligent settings disabled.

I found it very hard to match the cameras via their color profiles so I decided to use STD 0000 on all of them.

Converted all shots to DNxHD and cut it in After Effects and Premiere afterwards. Sorry for the poor white balance, but I just had one LED spot that was dimmable and no proper video light. I then decided to leave it as it is and did not apply any color grading in post.

I'm going to publish a comparison at ISO 800 with some more individually optimized settings on each camera.

vicharris

@endotoxic Hit the nail on the head my friend. I'm out! ;)

svart

G6. Better than hacked GH2 in pretty much all subjective tests I've done. GH3 output looks too much like Canon stuff for me, and costs too much. The only real problem with the G6 is no Liveview on HDMI while recording.

lumixmaxgh3

Personally, from what i see on the web, the works done by gh3 are better (as general quality, especially in low light). For example:

You will find a similar level with the GH2, in general?

endotoxic

From this point, i leave it to you guys!

@Vesku is deliriant on GH3 drug, he wont accept otherwise.

Vesku

I have been wondering how it is possible that GH3 has so good chroma resolution because it is only 4:2:0. Colored edges pixelates less in GH3 than in many other 4:2:0 cameras. Horizontal chroma resolution curve is almost identical to Canon C300 4:2:2 cinema camera and better than 5D3, Sony RX10 and GH2. Graphs are from http://www.slashcam.de/

vicharris

@pundit Yeah, try shooting with the BMCC :)

pundit

I was almost on the verge of pulling the trigger on a GH3 but the moire, while not as bad as Canon, kinda burst the bubble. So I bought two more GH2 bodies during B&H's runout.

If you care enough to light sympathetically for the GH2 and nail the white balance then it can look killer.

Butterflies/silks and/or broad area bounce are your friend when it comes to preserving shadow detail!

vicharris

@Vesku Good god man. All you do is say the GH3 is the best damn camera, even over the BMPCC. Every time someone says they like anything different that the GH3 you go crazy and this has been on multiple threads. If someone likes another camera, they like another camera! Stop fighting back every time. Some of us don't like the way the GH3 resolves skin, some do. Who cares. If you like the GH3, use it and stop asking everyone to prove without a doubt why they like anything else. This needs to stop. You sound like a broken record.

endotoxic

There it is, NMOS is difrent.

GH3 is CMOS only.

Panasonic makes different sensor.

CMOS is better, for your charts.

http://ultrafastsystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/CMOS-vs-NMOS-sensor-comparison.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NMOS_logic

Vesku

@endotoxic

Lets talk about the sensor on my thread :

I find that topic mostly something like religious talk, very little facts. What is NMOS? I like GH2 multi aspect wider sensor size. It is handy with landscapes.

endotoxic

And its the sensor

NMOS vs CMOS

endotoxic

@vesku

whant techinal stuff, Lets talk about the sensor on my thread :

http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/5796/-gh1-vs-gh2-vs-gh3.-better-looking-sensor.#Item_79

Vesku

I have GH2. I just wonder if there is a real reason I should use it because many people has said it has more pleasant video than GH3. I do use it sometimes i.e. in hiking or skiing trips. I have 4 batteries for it and it is a good backup camera if GH3 brokes. I didnt start this topic. I am just curious if anyone has some technical facts about this issue.

endotoxic

@Vesku

Seems to me that you are actively protecting GH3, are you confused about the ones that prefer GH2?

What is the need to demostrate GH3 is better? really? what is the need?

You want to read one is better thatn the other... i think its not the best aproach. You want proof go search for it, and if you think GH3 is better the THATS OK WITH US.

Sound like you hate GH2 now or something like it?

Some of us like Gh2 more, its that wrong?

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