First impressions
Panasonic has finally updated its flagship interchangeable lens camera. The new model succeeds the GH2, which was adopted by amateur and independent film-makers, primarily for its excellent rendition of skin tones and its ability to be hacked to unlock additional functionalities.
This time around, the GH3 gets a flip-out 3-inch OLED screen with touch capabilities, on top of a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000 second. There's also a high-resolution 1.77-million dot electronic viewfinder.
Those who shoot a lot of video will appreciate the ability to shoot in All-I rather than AVCHD, which was on the GH2. There's also 1080p/50fps recording available at 72Mbps, as well as a heat-dispersing design to make sure it can withstand some heavy video use. Timecoding, a headphone jack, focus peaking and clean HDMI out will also please video users.
Apart from the video differences, the physical design of the camera is somewhat different to the GH2. It's bigger, for starters, and has a more pronounced or curved body grip. The GH3 comes with built-in Wi-Fi, as well as a GPS logger. For stills photographers, an intervalometer and multiple exposure settings will prove useful, plus tweaks to the white balance, which promises more accurate results.
You can check out one of the first videos shot on the GH3 below, courtesy of Philip Bloom, who was the director of photography on this piece.
Genesis from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.
Panasonic also announced a new 35-100mm f/2.8 lens that has an inner-focusing mechanism, meaning that the lens does not extend when zooming. It's dust- and splash-proof, to match the GH3. This lens is available from November 2012 for AU$1699.
The GH3 itself will be available in three kit configurations from January 2013: as body only for AU$1599; as a single lens kit with the 12-35mm f/2.8 lens for AU$2999; and as a twin lens kit with the 12-35mm f/2.8 and 35-100mm f/2.8 lenses for AU$4999.
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