With the GH1, Panasonic has filled the gap left by its first Micro Four Thirds camera: lack of video. The Lumix GH1 is a true hybrid, both camera and camcorder--instead of simply being a still camera with a video mode, like much of the competition.  Let's take a look.

Handling

When it comes to design and build, the Panasonic Lumix GH1 differs little from its predecessor, the G1. It has a compact casing but the handle ensures a good grip. It may be a touch short to really get hold of but let's not quibble: the GH1 is very nice to use, especially thanks to its 3 inch rotating LCD screen that displays a great resolution of 460, 000 pixels. The display is fluid in good light conditions but becomes less so in low light at the same time as retaining very low noise levels. The viewing angles are wide but the anti-reflective coating could be improved. In full sunlight, the screen loses legibility in spite of the fact you can increase brightness.

One good reason (one of the many) for taking a closer look at the GH1 is the electronic viewfinder. Now the wow the factor really kicks in! The GH1 has an SVGA of 480,000 pixels. It displays all 480,000 pixels but they are alternately red, green and blue, with retinal persistance recreating the full image. The result is that the display is much more detailed than on other electronic viewfinders. In low lighting, like with the LCD screen, brightness is amplified and this allows you to see more detail than if you were simply looking through the lens. The dynamic range is quite limited, however, and on a highly contrasted scene, dark zones quickly lose differentiation and light zones become saturated. There’s one other problem: the fluidity of moving subjects. In full sunlight, this is fine but becomes problematic in shadow. The electronic viewfinder also fixes on images for a few instants during burst mode, making it harder to follow a moving subject. Some users won't have a problem with this but others will get annoyed.


For a general consumer camera, the wide range of controls on the casing may surprise and even discourage those who are giving photography a go and don’t have much experience. Others will appreciate the numerous shortcuts to get quick control of the autofucus, burst mode or other settings by using the arrow buttons (ISO, AF zone, white balance…). There’s even a personalisable Fn button as well as the option of recording three easily accessible configurations on the mode dial. We should add that the front scroll wheel (clickable) allows you to move rapidly from setting the aperture to correcting the exposure. What’s more, for those who prefer to organise the settings like they do with a compact will also find a settings menu on the screen with rapid access to the main settings via the Q Menu button. This was already included on the Lumix compact range but is a rare luxury that should be praised.

Like the G1, the new GH1 remains impressively responsive with a very nippy autofocus in high lighting conditions and good performance even when light levels drop. Hats off to Panasonic. Nevertheless, like with the G1, the autofocus struggles in burst mode with a moving subject. Although the autofucus problem has been pretty much resolved in photo mode, it still leaves something to be desired in video mode (see inset). Sometimes you notice some latency after shooting but nothing too bad. The autofocus takes two seconds (a little slow on this point and three times as slow as the G1) and the burst mode goes up to 3.5 fps.

Image Quality

In our studio, the GH1 does pretty well and the 14-140 lens gives nice sharp results at the centre of the frame (a little less sharp on the edges) with moderate accentuation. With halogen lighting (studio), white balance is a little too violet but outside the images are nicely neutral. We were pleased to see that the Venus Engine HD chip could automatically handle chromatic aberration.


The arrival of a new sensor, which allows you to maintain a good resolution according to the aspect ratio you choose (16:9, 3:2 or 4:3), changes the way electronic noise comes through in high sensitivities. The first point of note, at 800 ISO, is that there is a colour distortion which ironically neutralises the violet tinges of the lower sensitivities.  In comparison with the Lumix G1, the management of electronic noise is better overall with a little contained billowing up to 1600 ISO and lots of detail up to 3200 ISO: a good performance for the 17.3 x 13 mm sensor. It is not all good unfortuantely and as of 800 ISO, a practiced eye will easily make out badly coloured zones that become more common as ISO increases.

Exposure is often accurate and you can model the results thanks to the rather powerful iContrast mode. The flash is not as powerful as it could be and the lens’ own shadow is too often visible on pictures. Optical stabilization is just as good as ever (a real plus with a 14-140 mm lens) with a good success rate of 1/8 s and some sharp shots at 1/4 s at 40 mm. Not bad at all.


If you had to moan, you might find fault with the GH1’s battery life (300 photos and several minutes of video), which will mean some users will have to invest in a second battery.