Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 gets unboxed, takes some test shots

Wow, it's been a great day for camera nerds -- the Nikon D5000 got a ship date, the Canon Rebel T1i started arriving in stores, and now the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1's been unboxed. That's a hat trick of hotly-anticipated DSLRs* right there, and the GH1 might be the most anticipated of the bunch. Sadly for would-be importers, the Japanese version here can't be set to display English menus, but we can still gawk at the pretty pictures, including an amazing shot of the lens cap entitled "The Engadget Product Photo Effect." Hit the read link for the full set, including some test shots.

*Yes, we know GH1's not technically a DSLR -- what would you call it?

[Thanks, Guillermo]

[Barry @ Apr 24th 2009 7:02PM]

* Just call it a freaking DSLR. Anyone who knows the difference won't care, and it'll just confuse people who aren't camera fiends.

[Flunky Carter @ Apr 25th 2009 3:38AM]

I beg to argue that those who know the difference do care

[ZombieRace @ Apr 24th 2009 5:44PM]

Unless you're seeing exactly what is to be captured by the sensor or film, it ain't an SLR.

[ZombieRace @ Apr 24th 2009 5:44PM]

Regardless, if it's any where near as wonderful as the DMC-LX3, sign me up.

[G @ Apr 24th 2009 5:48PM]

Fail.

You see exactly what the sensor does, through an electronic view finder (evf).

Most SLRs these days give you around 95% coverage through the viewfinder.

This isn't slr because their is no mirror. People call them EVILs, I call it La Bomba.

[Plothole @ Apr 24th 2009 5:51PM]

You are seeing exactly what is being captured. In fact this breed of camera is more accurate than a dSLR in that sense, since it can give you white balance, shutter speed blur, and fast aperture DOF preview (in modern SLRs the focusing screen is only accurate to around f2.8). All with a 100% FOV.

[ZombieRace @ Apr 24th 2009 6:43PM]

Sorry, but I am still going to trust my own eye through a lens over a EVF. Say 'fail' all you want, but it ain't an SLR and it never will be.

[Plothole @ Apr 24th 2009 6:50PM]

Your eye is seeing light reflected by a mirror. The EVF actually *sees* through the imager itself.

That's not to say there aren't other pros and cons to each system. But your original argument doesn't work.

[Hacker @ Apr 24th 2009 7:11PM]

So you just don't understand the concept. That's ok.

[Paul @ Apr 24th 2009 8:54PM]

"Your eye is seeing light reflected by a mirror. The EVF actually *sees* through the imager itself."

Your eye also has infinitely more resolution than an EVF does.

[bdav @ Apr 24th 2009 9:04PM]

@Plothole

If its anything like the old Sx IS's, you see exactly what the sensor sees, untill you try the ol' motordrive, then you see FA - shocking for panning and sport photography, especially seeing as its always going to be that bit slower than a real DSLR.

[Plothole @ Apr 24th 2009 9:22PM]

@Paul

But the focusing screen limits that. And the EVF Panny has employs is fairly high resolution. (Plus you can magnify the view digitally.)

[Plothole @ Apr 24th 2009 9:27PM]

@bdav

FA? (I've not used that model, so I have no idea what you're talking about.)

[ZombieRace @ Apr 24th 2009 9:40PM]

Hacker-

I understand the concept of the technology. It's a viewfinder with an electronic display which outputs what is 'seen' by the sensor.

What I am saying is, I'd rather use a DSLR and I place more trust in my own eyes than an electronic viewfinder for photography.

As mentioned above by Paul, "Your eye also has infinitely more resolution than an EVF does."

It's a cool concept, but I don't see enough benefit to sink money into an EVF camera system. Lenses are expensive.

[Temple @ Apr 25th 2009 12:09AM]

This camera is a lens lovers dream...

It's not just about the EVF, these new EVIL (electronic viewfinder interchangeable lens) cameras also offer shorter flange distance. Shorter distance between the rear lens element and sensor, this allows for retrofocual lens designs for wide lenses to be less severe since there is less gap between the body due to a lack of mirror-box. This means that they offer inheritly superior lens design.

Hence, these new micro-3/4rd bodies allow for the old Leica M-mounts to be mounted on the bodies, not to mention the old Canon FD and Nikon bodies. Essentially any lens can be mounted on the these u43rds bodies due to the short FFD. Moreover, since the camera doesn't rely on the mirror-box assembly to do metering and other functions you can use these old lenses and have metering and histogram used in conjunction with these lenses.

Imagine using a Canon 50mm F0.95 Dreamlensor Leica lens with this camera. The Canon Dreamlens modified to a PL-mount was used by Stanley Kubrick on several films, using that huge aperture to capture low-light scenes.

Example of the lenses that can be used with this camera:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=1600796&postcount=533

[Wwhat @ Apr 25th 2009 7:16AM]

SLR means single lens reflex, without reflex it's not an SLR, seems as clear as crystal.
Just think up a new name, we can drop the single lens name too since that's obvious and all cameras have that now, so it's the sensor size and the lens interchangeability and size, so maybe ILFFS interchangeable lens full frame sensor? Or condense fullframe to F to become ILFS.

[AdamBender @ Apr 24th 2009 5:56PM]

the GH1 is an EVIL camera,

Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens

[Porkchop Flavored Cupcake @ Apr 24th 2009 5:57PM]

Panasonic has referred to it as an ILC (interchangeable lens camera).

[Plothole @ Apr 24th 2009 6:04PM]

However that term can easily describe any number of different camera systems. From rangefinders to cinema cameras.

[Wwhat @ Apr 25th 2009 7:23AM]

As I suggested above, it should include the sensor size in the description I think, to avoid getting confused with cheap cams with removable lenses ILFS for Intrechangable Lens Fullframe Sensor sort of describes it, the camera part you can add optionally just as with SLR's,
Not that I control these things, but judge it on its merits if you would.

[Plothole @ Apr 24th 2009 6:11PM]

My personal preference is towards LIVE. It's basically just EVIL in reverse (eg Lens Interchangeable, Viewfinder Electronic). But it does help tie in to the "Live View". And frankly "EVIL" sounds a bit too ... well...

Another one I've heard is ELVIS (Electronic Live View Interchangeable System).

[Wwhat @ Apr 25th 2009 5:12PM]

Not a fan of such common words for this purpose really, but it's a clever acronym though, but seeing engadget articles mentioning 'canon's new LIVE' and 'nikon's new LIVE' would only make stuff more confusing IMHO

[bandigolo @ Apr 24th 2009 6:12PM]

Well considering all micro four-thirds cameras are destined to have interchangeable lenses, why not just refer to is as a micro four-thirds camera - or "u4/3" for short?

[Plothole @ Apr 24th 2009 6:26PM]

The issue is that the upcoming NX camera from Samsung has the same concept. And it's likely only a matter of time before the big three (Nikon, Canon, and Sony) follow suit.

[bebop @ Apr 24th 2009 6:13PM]

Price for the GH1 with 14-140 lens is 134,800 yen. It's justifiable what with the better lens and all, but I'll come out and speak my mind: There are more sensible ways to spend that amount of money on a digital camera. Do a mental shopping experiment at Canon or Nikon or Pentax and you'll see what I'm talking about.

[Jakjak9210 @ Apr 26th 2009 9:15PM]

Not necessarily true, if it takes video as good as a canon 5DmkII, then its a bargain.

[bebop @ Apr 24th 2009 6:19PM]

EVIL is probably the term that is going to stick in the near term, since ILC doesn't distinguish between dSLR and non-dSLR. It's never going to get official acceptance though.

"micro 4/3 camera" is probably the best option for now until Pentax/Samsung come out with the APS-C equivalent.

[Dummy00001 @ Apr 24th 2009 7:53PM]

I'd say pretty much everybody already refers to them simply as "EVF".

[Prenexus @ Apr 24th 2009 6:27PM]

The appeal of the GH1 (and the G1 for that matter) is in the size. You basically get a fully functioning SLR in the size of a prosumer camera.

Im looking at one for traveling with. I currently have the Panasonic FZ7 - and my next upgrade is to a DSLR. Im scared of having to lug a huge machine all around Europe.

The GH1 is mighty appealing in that it is basically the same size as my existing camera (a little bigger), but gives you many more features.

Thats something worth paying for. Are there any other equivalently sized DSLRs I should be looking at?

[Dummy00001 @ Apr 24th 2009 7:38PM]

Olympus E-450 body 400€ or Oly E-620 - 650€. (If I were buying new camera, E-620 would be what I'd get.) There are very few compact alternatives. Taking into account optics size and quality - Oly is probably only option.

Initial reviews of GH1 were very positive. New Panay lens is very good. But I personally would wait a bit for GH1's prices to go down - and also some decent review of its EVF to appear. Some owners of G1 (which has same/similar EVF) were complaining that EVF strains eyes during long shooting sessions.

[spookyghost @ Apr 24th 2009 8:24PM]

The "appeal" is that it shoots 24p video with interchangeable lenses in a decent format. There are going to be a lot of videographers who will buy this simply because this is the only camera that can do this at such a cheap price. Canon and Nikon need step up their game in the dslr video market. A lot of videographers have been buying D90s and 5D mIIs for the video feature alone because it will outperform an HVX200 or EX-1 based on lens selection alone.

[CJ @ Apr 24th 2009 11:28PM]

Well, it's certainly not the price

2 thousand dollars, TWO THOUSAND - cocking - Dollars! I can get an EOS 450D for that, or a Nikon D60, or a decent Sony Alpha, or an E-500.

[Truth Seeker @ Apr 24th 2009 6:48PM]

The GH1 interests me as well, but the size doesn't seem much smaller than a standard DSLR. Just look at the size of the lens... it's huge.

If this camera had a smaller lens, and was able to fit in a purse or large coat pocket, it would be more appealing to me. Supposedly there are some tiny pancake lenses that are supposed to be released for this camera. That would make it much more compact.

[Plothole @ Apr 24th 2009 6:57PM]

The standard kit lenses are pretty small. The reason this lens is so big is because it's a 10x zoom. So you have to compare it to other "superzoom" lenses.

The 20mm f.17 pancake is said to be released sometime later this year. Also Olympus is rumored to be launching at least one pancake with its own (much smaller) µ4:3 system in a few months.

[Dummy00001 @ Apr 24th 2009 7:51PM]

"The GH1 interests me as well, but the size doesn't seem much smaller than a standard DSLR. Just look at the size of the lens... it's huge."

The GH1 is very small compared to normal dSLRs. You can google for G1 hands-on sessions as GH1 is about the same size.

Also you can check that out: http://www.four-thirds.org/en/products/matching/index.html

G1/GH1 are not there (since they are not 4/3 - but u4/3), but you can take Oly's E-420 for comparison as it is slightly bigger than GH1. Pick E-420 and pick say Olympus' "standard zoom" 14-42 lens. Then check body of E-520 with same lens. Then body of E-3 with same lens.

Look at how lens (which is quite small) becomes from largish (on E-420) to literally tiny on E-3. And E-3 is about the size of Canon 50D or Nikon 200D.

[Nasty McFilthy @ Apr 24th 2009 7:05PM]

Ultra high-end compact digital. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Stephen Lang @ Apr 24th 2009 7:39PM]

So, UHECD-EVIL?

[videonevin @ Apr 24th 2009 7:48PM]

DSLE- Digital Single Lens Eflex

[Mike Hayes @ Apr 24th 2009 8:49PM]

well in any case it does have a "MEGA Over-powered Image Stabilizer" lens, that has to amount to something

[archer823 @ Apr 24th 2009 9:39PM]

Why not call it what it is. Micro Four Thirds. Seems easy enough to make the distinction between a DSLR and a micro four thirds camera.

[Plothole @ Apr 24th 2009 9:46PM]

Micro four thirds refers to the standard used by Olympus and Panasonic. The problem is that another company, Samsung, has already announced a similar concept, except with a different mount and sensor size. And there is no doubt in my mind that others will follow.

[Graeme Smith @ Apr 25th 2009 12:02AM]

SFIL

Small Format Interchangeable Lens

[Sam Posten @ Apr 25th 2009 12:38AM]

The D5000 did more than get a ship date, it shipped. I put unboxing pics in the ship date thread.

[jd @ Apr 25th 2009 1:22AM]

Could someone please comment on the autofocus demonstrated in the test shots. Is this the kind of performace one would expect from a dedicated HD video camera?

[LondonConsultant @ Apr 25th 2009 8:10AM]

It's a netcamera.

[substance90 @ Apr 27th 2009 4:30AM]

Camera nerds don`t really care for low-to-mid-cost SLRs.

[chanmanplanet @ Apr 27th 2009 12:42PM]

it's somewhat a wife-friendly sized camera, it shoots 1080p vid, fine photos, good brand, lots function, not terribly expensive. I, for one, welcomes our 4/3rd, lens-less, EVIL overlords.

[Ken Hoffman @ Jun 14th 2009 8:34PM]

I call it an EVF camera. No other camera offers this combination of state of the art features. Features I like best are:
the variable monitor, the bright EVF, optical stabiization, shadow/highligh control, almost artifact less ISO 400, HD videoing
with stereo sound while zooming and the really sharp 10x zoom. As for the comment that the EVF doesn't show the exact
moment of image capture, true professionals generally eyeball the moving subject directly and shoot prefocussed. Computer cropping is always done in post production. And Panasonic does all this in a compact package that I can easily take anywhere. The only other
lens I would want is the 7-14 super wide zoom.