Interesting find. iMovie 09 refuses to import the "24p" AVCHD. According to the Pana press release the 24p is NOT carried by 60i.

"Both lenses are compatible with the newly announced LUMIX DMC-GH1 digital camera, which can record High Definition (HD) AVCHD 1080/24p video, and its award-winning sister camera, the LUMIX DMC-G1 digital camera."

Also interesting -- note that FCP reports the video is 24.0fps and not 23.976fps.

So it's possible iMovie is rejecting the video because it's not 23.98fps as it should be for video.

Attached is a readout from an XDCAM EX 23.976 clip.

OK -- I'm sorry I've been confusing on the frame rates.

The fancy brochure says 24p using 2-3 pulldown to 60i (59.94i).

One press release says 1080/24p which I would expect to be 23.976fps.

And, the camera's video clips actually are 1080p24.0.

Here's the deal -- if pulldown is used to 59.94i then the capture must be 23.976. If no pulldown is used, the rate can be either 24.0 or 23.976.

So how is Pana clocking the chip?

Looking at the 720p photo-jpeg clip, it is 30.0fps. Looking at the 720p AVCHD clip it is 59.94. This would say it can be clocked at either 24.0 or 23.98.

My guess would be Pana has decided to skip the needless use of pulldown. Which is good. But, if they choose 24.0 rather than 23.98 while they'll get cheers from some -- it will break editing for far more.

Acording to this: ProLost: Panasonic GH1 the micro 4/3 sensor used in the GH1 has the same height as the sensor in a RED One (remember that sensor was a little smaller than a real s35mm negative). So yes, it'll have something quite close to real cinema DOF.

Valeriu is right. Shallow DOF is not the magic key to real filmmaking, but hey, this is actually the FIRST really low cost camera (I mean, I supose it will be below $2,000) shooting 1080p24 with a sensor really close to s35mm. I bet that shooting in the right conditions and the right way, the clips from this camera will look much more like standard film than many other pro cameras costing 10 or 20 times more. From that point on it's up to the user to shoot real movies or family vacations and birthdays.

Skew test and sample video...
 

GH1 Live MOS Skew on Vimeo

Here's a little skew (rolling shutter) test on the GH1. You can find the original clip here: http://vms.slashgear.tv/video/183.mp4

Judge yourselves having in mind that this is a pre-production camera.

I was inspired to do the same thing with Steve's 1080p/24fps clip, it's a bit more telling:
GH1 Rolling Shutter on Vimeo

Hope you don't mind, Steve.