Very sad and worried. I think I will have to send my brand new GH3 back for a refund.

Just came back from my first real shoot, which was ruined due to focus problems. It was a symphony dress rehearsal, shot from the balcony. Luckily I had two cams, so I might be able to salvage something.

Unless someone can tell me how to enable expanded focus while recording, I can't use the GH3. (BTW, I would not mind peaking, but peaking is no substitute for expanded focus where my eyeballs can LOOK and confirm the focus is as sharp as possible)

In manual mode, the expanded focus only works when NOT recording. After the recording starts, turning the ring changes the focus, but without expanded mode, it is impossible to get it exact. Auto-focus, either continuous or touch, did not accurately lock on - I learned this to my horror after getting home.

I never dreamed that the GH3 would be crippled like this. I have NEVER encountered a video camera where the expanded focus only works when not recording! Even baby cameras like the NX70 and NX30 have this! What was Panny thinking?!?

It is really sad because when it IS in focus, the image is incredibly sharp!

I don't want to wait and wait for a mythical firmware upgrade. The clock is ticking on my return window.

I'll call Panny support on Monday, but I have sick feeling I know what they will say.

Sad, Steve

Have you thought about a monitor which takes a HDMI signal from the camera? I don't know whether the picture quality degenerates once the record button is pressed but I do know, via a friend's GH2, that you an get a very good image on a monitor.

Ron

Focus Assist or "expanded" focus only works in non-recording video mode on both the GH2 & 3 models. The auto focus, while excellent in decent lighting, will go on a hunting expedition suddenly after working fine for a while in low light conditions. Face detection really works but can go awry in low lighting if the person turns away.

There are three ways around this with the GH series; use the viewfinder (not the LCD) for live focusing, get a LCD loupe (unfortunately still missing in action for the GH3) or attach a monitor via HDMI. The GH3 HDMI is very clean and you should be able to focus in most live situations with it going to a decent LCD monitor.

The main problem you are having may be attributable to trying to use the GH3 in a situation more suited to a regular video camera. The focus is very touchy on all DSLR cameras, not counting the lack of par-focal lenses that stay in focus thru out the zoom range, and live events with unexpected things happening really need a camera with a stabile focal range. If you are planning on more live event work, perhaps returning the camera and getting a semi-pro video camera would be a good idea. Believe me, I use a GH3 for theatrical events in venues too small for my big pro video camera and it's very hard to keep in focus 100% of the time. 90% is a goal. I also have a GH2 with a LCD loupe which is easier to manual focus. Some day I will get a smaller high quality video camera.

I've been using my ipad via wifi as a monitor but unfortunately the live feed stops once you begin recording which prevents focus monitoring. An external hdmi monitor would probably work best.

Steve - expanded focus only works before the shot, not during.

That said, on the GH3, for those who don't know, tapping the Fn3 button a couple of times will expand the focus - as opposed to the GH2's method of pushing in on the control wheel twice. This was a little frustrating for me until I figured it out. Good thing I hadn't reconfigure the Fn3 button away from the default :)

If none of this works for you, I hope you're able to get your money back without any problems.

Cheers and good luck,

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution ("http://hybridcamerarevolution.blogspot.com)

Thanks to everyone for the replies!

I had considered all those options, but they really don't work for me.

What is so very frustrating and making the decision tough is that with the 35-100mm F2.8 lens and the 50 Mbps H.264 mode, I've finally found a cam with fabulous sharpness. I'm just blown away by the image quality. CA and fringing are nearly nonexistent. The ETC actually works - I get the equivalent of 400+ mm using the 35-100 zoom - tack-sharp. IQ Beats the pants off the NX70, NX30, NX5, Panny AC-160a and PMW-100. The bokeh is just right - more than 1/3" but not horrible like APS-C or full frame (Bokeh is difficult to deal with when recording live events)

But this focus thing is MADDENING. And it need not be. Panny could fix this with firmware in a couple of ways. Let me first summarize my test results from this morning - if I get anything wrong, please jump in because I'm admittedly a noob with this camera.

Continuous auto-focus hunts like crazy in most situations. Ok, fine turn it off. But in movie mode with it off, the Live Preview still has continuous AF! This almost made me lose my mind until I turned on the recording and the continuous AF stopped. Not a big deal, but surely this was a goof on Panny's part. So, with continuous AF off, I'm shooting. Half-presses on the shutter button cause it to try to lock on, works pretty good most of the time, but fails about 1 in 20 tries. Also, the touch screen AF works more or less, even dragging the little square around *usually* results in the camera focusing on what is in the square. It also fails often enough to cause frustration. It's not as reliable as the spot focus on Sony touch screens, and there seems to be no spot meter, but this is kind of useable.

Then I tried different positions of the lever around the AF hold button. It has 3 positions: AFS/AFF, AFC, and Manual. In Manual, it turns off the ability to use half-press shutter AF, and then the dial on the lens can be used for sloppy imprecise focus (because there is no peaking or expanded focus). Next I try AFC - it would be really cool if that would turn on continuous AF, but it does not. In fact, there seems to be no change in operation when the lever is in AFC or AFS/AFF mode. (Perhaps this only works for stills - which seems crazy, for stills, I can't fathom messing with a bunch of complex focus modes when what you want is a picture that is in focus when you snap the shutter)

OK, so the lever can't be used to turn on AFC. A quick way to enable AFC would be nice, seeing as sometimes AFC would help. I think, "no problem, I'll assign that to a function button". WRONGO - it can't be assigned, and too add insult to injury, AFC off/on seems to be unavailable via the menus while recording.

Stinging from those defeats, I then turn my attention to the AFS/AFF/AE hold button. I think, "wow, perhaps I could turn continuous AF on before I hit the record button, and then when I see that my subject is in focus, lock that focus setting via the button". WRONG again, (and this is in the manual), the button has no effect after recording has started.

grrrr

I'f wishes were fishes, I'd have Panny extract the guts of the GH3, insert them in a body similar to the PMW-100. Grow the fabulous capacitive touch screen to 3.5" . Fix all this silly stuff with focus. Leave the photo modes, but emphasize the video features. Give it 2 SD slots and XLR, but also keep the 3.5mm mic input. (In other words, sort of the Panny equivalent of the Sony EA50 in m43 format, but with an ENG shape).

I'd pay $2.5K for the body without lenses!

Steve

Steve
That said, on the GH3, for those who don't know, tapping the Fn3 button a couple of times will expand the focus - as opposed to the GH2's method of pushing in on the control wheel twice. This was a little frustrating for me until I figured it out. Good thing I hadn't reconfigure the Fn3 button away from the default :)

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution ("http://hybridcamerarevolution.blogspot.com)

Fn3 will only do that when in MF mode, and NOT recording. This is the problem, and is why I started this forum topic. We need to have expanded focus while recording video.

Steve

Stinging from those defeats, I then turn my attention to the AFS/AFF/AE hold button. I think, "wow, perhaps I could turn continuous AF on before I hit the record button, and then when I see that my subject is in focus, lock that focus setting via the button". WRONG again, (and this is in the manual), the button has no effect after recording has started.

grrrr

I'f wishes were fishes, I'd have Panny extract the guts of the GH3, insert them in a body similar to the PMW-100. Grow the fabulous capacitive touch screen to 3.5" . Fix all this silly stuff with focus. Leave the photo modes, but emphasize the video features. Give it 2 SD slots and XLR, but also keep the 3.5mm mic input. (In other words, sort of the Panny equivalent of the Sony EA50 in m43 format, but with an ENG shape).

I'd pay $2.5K for the body without lenses!

Steve

Yes, I would like to stay in manual focus and have the option while recording to briefly enable the auto-focus and once the button is released the camera goes back to manual focus.

Second, like a lot of people, I would like to have some sort of focus peaking available. In the GH3 focus peaking has been first rumored as impossible given the limitations of an already crammed full of features camera and then recently as a possibility by firmware upgrade. The GH2's LCD has an inadvertent form of focus peaking due to an LCD quirk that's only visible with a magnifier loupe. The GH3's LCD might have it, I have yet to check.

Some of the problems you described have not been my experience but I will up the ISO to get a more workable DOF in uncertain circumstances.

Stephen, you should be able get focus unless you're having problems with your monior, lcd or eyepiece. Unless you're shooting very low f stops your critical DOF should be OK and have no trouble focussing within the range.. Maybe open up to 5.6 or so so you have a bit more latitude. I never rely on AF unless I'm trying to get a quick reference before I go to manual. But yes, peaking would solve all our problems.

Thanks again to everyone for all the feedback, ideas and sympathy ...

If the GH3 with the 35-100mm lens I bought was just not so darn sharp it would be easy to reject it. But, I'm blown away again and again by the image quality.

Last night I was playing around with some night time lapse from my back yard. The attached still is one of about 200 I shot at 3 sec intervals. F 2.8, 1 sec exposure, indoor white balance, electronic shutter. The atmosphere was not stable, so the most distant lights (10+ miles away) are not pinpoints because during the 1 sec exposure the twinkle effect blurred them. When you view it, be sure to turn off any jpeg smoothing (I use the great freeware FastStone viewer, highly recommended.)

Notice the nice, controlled flare on the bright blue light in the lower left corner. This is soooo much better than all the other cams I have tested over the last year. The results in Movie mode at 50 Mpbs IDO 320 pretty much look the same, given that the resolution is only 1920x1080,

I used manual to get the focus just right.

BTW, has anyone else noticed that the live preview image is not nearly as sharp as when the recording starts? I'm using 2.5x reading glasses to scope out the screen, and I was worried about the blurriness until I hit the record button and watched it snap into sharp clarity.

So ... I'm leaning toward keeping the GH3, hoping against hope for firmware upgrades that fix some of the annoyances ... like the 10-sec auto-shutoff of the details on the screen, focus stuff, and more. (I wonder if the eventual hack would incorporate these kind of fixes?)

Steve

The GH2's LCD has an inadvertent form of focus peaking due to an LCD quirk that's only visible with a magnifier loupe. The GH3's LCD might have it, I have yet to check.

.

Funny you mention this, I noticed it last night when focusing on books in my bookcase. With the 2.5x reading glasses ,when in focus, there is sort of a moire thing that happens. It seems to only occur when pointed at scenes with high-contrast lines.

I would hate to rely on it, though. I'd also like to avoid shelling out $500.00 for an external monitor with expanded focus ... I really don't want to have to mount the GH3 in a cage with all kinds of stuff hanging off, but I might end up doing that anyway to use an external battery.

Steve

The main problem you are having may be attributable to trying to use the GH3 in a situation more suited to a regular video camera. The focus is very touchy on all DSLR cameras, not counting the lack of par-focal lenses that stay in focus thru out the zoom range, and live events with unexpected things happening really need a camera with a stabile focal range.


True, I already have one pretty good ENG video camera, I'm using the GH3 as a second cam.

Since Oct. 2011 I have been searching for my second camera. I have bought, tested, rejected and sent back: three Sony NX70s, a Sony NX5, a Sony VG20 and a Panny AC-160a. All had various combinations of unacceptable problems; most related to image quality (CA/fringing, vignetting, poor corner focus, excessive coma and flare, or lack of true 1920x1080 resolution.) Most recently I was waiting for the JVC HY-GM600, but it does not have 1080 60p and JVC finally admitted that they could not fix that with firmware. I was looking at the Sony EA50, which as a lot of great features, but the DoF on APS-C sensors is even shallower than m43, and I had already been frustrated by that with the Sony VG20.

If only the Sony PMW-100 took SD cards and also had 1080 60p! Ditto the Canon XF100. Those cams have the exact size I'm looking for. I have to lug two cams up into the mountains sometimes, so anything bigger is not good - the NX5 was too big.

Sick of waiting nearly two years, I decided I would get a DSLR and do some night time lapse. I almost bought the Nikon D7000, but in the nick of time I realized that the GH3 was out. For years I had, with some amusement, noticed the legions of GH2 owners, always quick to jump in and tout the abilities of their cameras. So, I decided to chance it.

My big fear right now ... as soon as the GH3 is outside of my return window, someone will announce a new cam with all the features I have been waiting for! Then it will be eBay for the GH3 ... hopefully it will hold its value.

It is frustrating to have these DSLRs fall short on features, but they are still cameras!

Stephen, are these gigs for pay or for free?

I would never film a live event without an external monitor for each camera. So work with the features the GH3 does have and get external monitors! Problem solved. :)

I have a HM600 on order specifically for my live event work. 1080p is not a requirement for me, usually I prefer to shoot 720p at live events. I will use my GH3 as a wide shot at 1080p if that's needed. This way when I edit in 720p I can zoom in on the GH3 footage with no resolution loss.

Many of the live events I cover an external monitor would not work as I sometimes get placed in audience seating areas.

Stephen, are these gigs for pay or for free?

I would never film a live event without an external monitor for each camera. So work with the features the GH3 does have and get external monitors! Problem solved. :)

Nothing I do with video is paid. I'm not good enough; even if I were, not sure I would want to have the specter of clients hanging over me ...

I refuse to buy extra gear to overcome design flaws in anything. Also, I can't lug extra monitors (and the power sources for them) to the tops of mountains. My gear has to be light and self-contained. Event videography is just one of many passions.

All, I have posted my aforementioned two-cam shoot to Youtube, unlisted. So, you can have a look.

Surprisingly, even with the focus failure (and other thumb-fingered problems (my fault, not the cam) with exposure and color balance that were so egregious I gave up trying to fix in post), the image quality is about as good as my standard of comparison, my old CX550V. So, I'm cautiously optimistic. Next time I think I'll shoot at F 3.5 and pay careful attention to focus, using the touch-screen; I'm getting better at it.

Read the video description for a full description of my goofs.

The video opens with a shot from the GH3, fully zoomed. The CX550V shots all have a slightly bluer tinge.

EPSYOs 2013 Side-by-Side: G. Holst, The Planets, Op. 32, 2. Venus - YouTube

Steve

I think you're being a bit hard on yourself. This doen't look too bad at all. Large concerts with mixed lighting are always diffcult to get right - especialy using two different cams. For youtube this looks fine to me.
Did you use auto WB ??
My other tip is that you're better off using a video camera for this type of work with zoom rockers,a good 18X or 20X lens, and XLR's lined out from the audio desk. GH's give a high quality pic that lends itself to a cinematic look. I would lock off the wide and go in close with a GH, shallow DOF and pick up creative shots to intercut.
Good luck.

>>Chris>>I think you're being a bit hard on yourself.
Perhaps. But I can't stand the thought of being stuck with a camera I don't like - went through that with the NX70, it was a huge effort to get sony & B&H to take it back after the time limit.

>> Chris>> Did you use auto WB ??<<

Yes, I was late getting set up, barely plugged in the mic and powered up the cams before hitting record. I usually take them to the stage with my white card and set the WB.

>> Chris>>My other tip is that you're better off using a video camera for this type of work with zoom rockers,a good 18X or 20X lens, and XLR's lined out from the audio desk. <<

I agree, that is why I have been looking for one for the last 18 months. NX5 was too fuzzy (it is actually not a true 1920x1080 cam), and does not have 1080 60p. It was solid and had beautiful build quality, though. AC-160a had bad vignetting and the zoom servos were crazy loud, not to mention rattly buttons & cheap-feeling switches (compared to the NX5) and no vari-zoom on the handle, along with no touch screen. Had high hopes for the JVC GY-HM600, but no 1080 60p. There seems to be no cam on the market right now, regardless of cost, that meets my specs. The high-end cams are all too big and heavy for my purposes; the NX5, AC-160a and GY-HM600 are already slightly too large. I need something no larger than the PMW-100 or XF100.

Regarding XLR, and fancy audio, I'm happy with the cheapo Rode SteroVideo MIC for now. Audio is the least of my worries.

The GH3, when in focus, has fabulous sharpness (at least with the 35-100mm lens). With me, image quality is the ultimate deal breaker. I'm leaning toward keeping it, just hoping against hope for peaking or expanded focus.

>> Chris>>GH's give a high quality pic that lends itself to a cinematic look. I would lock off the wide and go in close with a GH, shallow DOF and pick up creative shots to intercut.<<

Yeah, I'm thinking that too. At least until Sony gets it's act together and builds that dream cam I described a few posts back. I'm so sick of P2 or SxS or CF cards! SDXC is the wave of the future, plenty fast and reliable for all bit rates. I also hate to be forced into shallow DoF by larger sensors. I'm not a big fan of Bokeh, my eyes have deep DoF and overly blurry backgrounds bug me.

Four Thirds is still a bit too big for my tastes. Better noise reduction would allow me to shoot at f8, but indoors with the GH3, that would mean ISO 800 or higher, and I find the noise objectionable at anything higher than ISO 640. IMHO, Sony noise reduction seems better than Panny.

Stephen, there's a great tutorial around on audio and I remember one main thing from it. Average pictures and good audio are much better than good pictures and bad audio. For concerts I would be lining out of the desk, number one. Audio is very much under-rated. People are always talking about great new gear they've bought, but then use an onboard microphone to shoot their stories - which are basically crap more than a metre from the subject.
As for cameras, its a huge subjective area based on your specific needs. Years ago I bought a Sony Z5 cause it had XLR's and 20x zoom and recorded to a external compact flash card - still love it and use it all the time even though the quality of the pics has beed surpassed many times. Perfect for wides and for the web.

>>
Audio is the least of my worries..

You're filming a symphony for gods sake, if audio isn't the top priority what is? And tell me you're not capturing sound with the camera's 16 bit recorder.

I don't trust PA board feeds at all. They are usually mixed for the room not a stand-alone recording. Entire sections of instruments can be missing, drums for example. If I take a PA board feed, I always have a room recording at the same time. Sometimes they mix together well. Plus the outputs of PA boards are all over the place, some are hot line feeds, others are low microphone feeds.

Symphony orchestras usually record well with a room microphone (unless the room has really bad acoustics). A ZOOM recorder would do an excellent job for an event like this. Not for sale, of course, but for a better than average document of the event.

William, totally disagree about line feeds and room microphones. I use a location audio person for every symphony shoot, and have never seen them set up a room microphone. Using a room microphone is not the same as what you're hearing - nowhere near. A proper line feed has usually been rehearsed and levels and instruments balanced. I've never had a problem with a line feed, but have had plenty when one is not available. I would also not use a zoom recorder for a room record except in a perfect small acoustic environment, and if you're stopping and starting, synching is a giant pain.

Sorry I am going to be hard on you - I suggest you get back to basics and learn how to shoot - from the beginning. Then you may hesitate before you complain about not being able to focus and like the old cliche says... blame the tools.

It has never been easier to focus with todays cameras - GH3 included. With ISO's that go up to 3200 and beyond and still useable, focusing is a non-issue. Get behind tha maths of DOF and you will have focused shots all the time. It's basic shooting.

Blaming all the cameras - and you seem to have tried many is not the answer. Any pro can pick up a 20 year old camera and shoot great images today. Nothing's changed except shooting got much easier.

Next week I am in India for a solo 4-week shoot in the Himalaya and Ganges valley. I am taking only a GH3 kit due to weight. It includes Gitzo mountaineer legs, sound recorders and yes I take a field monitor. All this fits into one camera bag. I own other bigger and better cameras (FS-700, Scarlet) but I am really looking forward to this shoot because it is how I used to shoot 20 yrs ago. We have all got a bit soft with todays tech. I am old now but if I can take a field monitor to the himalayas you can take one to a concert I think.

LaForet's lastest blog discusses this....Vincent Laforet's Blog (http://blog.vincentlaforet.com)

I don't trust PA board feeds at all. They are usually mixed for the room not a stand-alone recording.

Not to mention there usually isn't a PA at the symphony. Symphony recordings usually consist of a dedicated system with at least one mic for each section and a well matched, well placed pair of stereo mics all running to a 24 bit recorded or an analog multi track.

William, totally disagree about line feeds and room microphones. I use a location audio person for every symphony shoot, and have never seen them set up a room microphone. Using a room microphone is not the same as what you're hearing - nowhere near. A proper line feed has usually been rehearsed and levels and instruments balanced. I've never had a problem with a line feed, but have had plenty when one is not available. I would also not use a zoom recorder for a room record except in a perfect small acoustic environment, and if you're stopping and starting, synching is a giant pain.

I was being very specific when I mentioned "PA" as in public address systems. This is a house feed that is balanced for the room audience not for recording. These are highly unreliable for any sort of permanent record of an event. You are speaking of a professional recording set-up and yes I happily take those feeds. Frequently we do not have the luxury of a dedicated audio person and we have make do with what we have. I once did a concert at Jazz at Lincoln center and the line feed was horrendous, nothing was balanced for me but the audience was very happy with what they heard live. Fortunately I had a room mike on and the sound was salvageable for publicity but nothing else. Recently I did another one there and they had updated their system to provide two separately mixed feeds, one specifically for recording, and that was much better. They still had impedance issues coming to my cameras and the Zoom recorder but we were able to work it out. A Zoom recorder is much better than the average on-camera mike, however I wouldn't recommend one for run and gun. If you have a camera that can take a good ($300+) directional mike, then yes, that is better.
If you can afford a pro sound person or the venue has one, then yes, that's much, much better.

By the way, symphony orchestras are designed to sound good acoustically, if you are a single cameraperson in a good position in the house, have a decent stereo microphone and the house is a concert hall (not a gymnasium) then the recording, while not Deutsche Grammophon quality, should be very good.

DSLRs or many HD cameras in general are difficult to focus. That is just the nature of the best when trying to focus a 1920x1080 image on a 800x480 3" screen or whatever res it is.

DDLRs are very different from video cameras and you have to remember they are also designed for killer still images. They are amazing for video but they do have limitations. Some of these limitations can be overcome by adding extra gear. You want to shoot with a DSLR and get the quality from a DSLR then you will have to buy more gear.

I use a loupe with my GH2 to help expand the size of my LCD screen. Yeah it is still low res but it helps tremendously. I think I paid $40.00 for mine or something like that. It is a bit too big for the smaller screen on the GH2 so you may have to get clever to get it to attach. I use Velcro that I formed into a tight loup so it can just slide over the end on the LCD screen. Attaches and detaches in seconds and takes up the space of a small lens. With that said I will be buying a small monitor soon since it is even better. There are some great and affordable 7" monitors with 1280x720 or 1024x600 res that have built in focus peaking and a 1:1 mode while shooting. These things start at $250.00 with focus peaking which is a killer deal and will revolutionize the way you focus with a DSLR.

Sorry I have been neglecting this thread.

I'm keeping the GH3, despite annoyances. The image is just so freaky sharp I will grit my teeth and put up with the flaws.

Here's a sample of the good and the bad:

Panasonic GH3 test ASARCO demolition + more; H-HS35100 35-100mm F2.8 lens - YouTube

Steve

You're filming a symphony for gods sake, if audio isn't the top priority what is? And tell me you're not capturing sound with the camera's 16 bit recorder.

Sorry, I should have elaborated.

What I meant was that I am not worried about sound, because the sound I get, using my external Rode SV mic (and yes, into the HDR-CX550V's internal 16-bit recorder), is plenty good for these symphony rehearsals. After I equalize it and burn to Bluray and then play back on my Yamaha / Bang & Olufsen system, I hear excellent dynamic range, low noise and low distortion. One reason I choose the 550V is it has impressive audio spec graphs, particularly SNR. It is also true that at age 56, my ears' high-F response is starting to degrade.

Interestingly, I use that cam as the "conductor cam" when I assist Ozzie with his paid, professional recordings of the local symphony. On several occasions, the concert hall hanging mikes, feed into the big audio board, and sent via XLR to his deck, have yielded inferior sound than my little old Rode/Sony combo. Of course , when everything is working correctly, 24-bit PCM from the board is better.

Thanks for your comment,

Steve

Sorry I am going to be hard on you - I suggest you get back to basics and learn how to shoot - from the beginning. Then you may hesitate before you complain about not being able to focus and like the old cliche says... blame the tools.

Don't worry about being harsh, no offense taken.

I'm not expecting ENG run-n-gun focus out of the GH3. I just want expanded focus while recording, many other cameras have this - does not the FS700 also have that? I know the NX5 and NX70 had it. Push the expanded focus and presto - expanded, twist the focus dial and get it sharp. All while rolling.

Not sure how going back to the basics would help when the camera is lacking a feature that is included in much of the competition.

Steve

[QUOTE=Thomas Smet; There are some great and affordable 7" monitors with 1280x720 or 1024x600 res that have built in focus peaking and a 1:1 mode while shooting. These things start at $250.00 with focus peaking which is a killer deal and will revolutionize the way you focus with a DSLR.[/QUOTE]

Although tempting at that price, I still can't lug that into the mountains, and I have been spoiled by the functional expanded focus on the NX70 and NX5. I'm a bit puzzled that the DSLR-style world seems content to live without expanded focus while recording. It is a super-common feature in the Pro Vid world.

I did buy some 3x reading glasses, sort of a loupe!

Steve

Hi All;

I stumbled across this on another forum while hunting for info on the GH3's actual dynamic range in video mode. It seems I am not alone in disappointment when it comes to critical focus with the GH3:


---------
Tim Naylor on 04.14.13 @ 6:52PM

Took the camera for a spin today for the first time. Shooting a food market in Brooklyn. Used Lumix 12-35 and 35-100 2.8. Attached Tiffen Variable ND with a hot mirror filter on top of that. Then used a Hema 3 stage rubber Lens shade. The Tiffen Variable ND being 67mm on the outside thread allows for a bigger diameter than the lenses 58mm for additional filter (hot mirror) and lens shade. This avoids vignetting on the 12-35.

The viewfinder is much better for focus than the LCD. That said, they both suck – but not in the way a 5D’s viewing system does. They tend to show images far more contrasty than you get back on your computer. The lack of detail makes critical focus a pain in the ass. I was hoping not to have to buy a small monitor (DP4) for this rig but aside from hobbyist work, anything for a client or your own more serious project, critical focus with this camera is not convenient while rolling. It NEEDS FOCUS PEAKING already !

If a focus peaking hack or firmware update doesn’t happen, my Gh3 is for sale. I bought it mainly for the size, portability and picture, But if I have to slap a monitor on it, that really compromises what makes it special.

So here’s my list for hacks or firmware requests:

- Make it so the rear dial can control iris. The top dial clicks which picks up on the mic.
- Focus Peaking in Red
- Make Tele Conversion activated by a user button while shooting. Having to stop camera and go into menu for this is beyond stupid. If there’s a way please tell me.
- Log Setting in the Color Choices.