The new improvements list expected with the GH3 firmware update
Joe Fotosiamo from SLRLounge.com spoke to a couple of high-ranking officers at Panasonic and they can confirm that there is no technological limitation to prevent focus peaking to be added and that it is one of the features that are targeting to add in the next major firmware update.
As you know the firmware update is coming in late March so let’s see if Panasonic will add this feature too!
57 Responses
Would be really cool if they added focus peaking. Professionals who got to try out pre-production GH3s were hoping for this feature and gave the according Panasonic feedback, if I remember correctly. And Panasonic was proud of collaborating with pros to design the product for their needs.
But didn’t they already state in an interview with dpreview that they weren’t able to implement focus peaking? http://www.43rumors.com/panasonic-interview-at-dpreview/
Oh, my post came out as anonymous. I thought I was logged in already.
Hopefully this focus peaking would be sensitive and responsive, so good for manual focus pulling when videoing – with having to manually hunt too far back and forth. But any focus peaking in an update would be a GH3 Christmas.
Couldn’t care less.
We have two Panny cameras coming at the end of the month and then one Oly model and we still don’t know one bit.
I suppose that people must be entertained to keep the click counts high. But I doubt that anybody here except Admin cares about the GH3.
You’ve got the priorities wrong: it called navel watching 🙂
Why wouldn’t we care about the GH3?
Yeh GH3 already old news. What’s next?
Don’t be so harsh. It’s a bit too early for reliable info on the new cameras.
As to the GH3, I’m sure a lot of the visitors here are interested in it. Specifically, peaking has been perhaps the most prevalent omission from m4/3 (and a major reason for many video-centric photo enthusiasts to choose Sony gear). While I don’t need this feature personally (don’t trust it for critical accuracy), many will be happy to have it as an option.
Focus peaking is on the OM-D if you don’t mind a little fuss.
Just make sure you select artfilter “key-line” and set up RAW+jpg et voila, instant focus peaking.
For critical focus focus peaking is of no use, better use the zoomed in view.
That doesn’t help the mentioned video shooters, though.
Yeah, movie button placement has become pretty predictable on new models. They put the movie button in the wrong place, then put it in the right place on the next model, so everyone wants to upgrade. It’s similar to planned obsolescence. It’s really amazing that they think everyone is so stupid not to notice. They really should add a little humor to the routine and tell us they are going to stick it were we will accidentally hit it all the time, but if enough people buy it, then they promise to move it out of the way on the next model.
The issue with video is much bigger. You can’t activate the OM-D “pseudo peaking” filter without trashing your video output.
WTF is wrong with people? “But I doubt that anybody here except Admin cares about the GH3.”… I’m glad to hear you speak for the people here… one problem. MANY of us care about the GH3. I own 2 of them, and visit this site every day, several times a day. It’s called 4/3 Rumors… Not “Olympus only rumors” or “Cheap consumer 4/3 Rumors”…. Nope… it includes cameras YOU personally don’t care about. Stop trying to speak for the rest of us.
Well said.
The bonehead is obviously quite selfish and only cares about himself.
Amalric is often cranky and incomprehensible. Perhaps we’re not detecting a brilliant form of sarcasm in his posts.
I think this is a good point. To each his or her own – Olympus, Panasonic, maybe both. Admin has to keep an even hand about rumours concerning the different companies, even with brand zealots or “fanboys” ranting away. Hang in there, admin.
What about the display going off so quick???
Why this speculation? They already said they would not do it.
I know speculation is your business but when it’s totally clear that it won’t happen, why speculate?
I think it’s better option to buy some field monitor. Or to adapt Asus/ Samsung tablet to display Live video (which is possible at least for Canon/ Nikon).
GH3 looks like a great camera..not my cup of tea..but the IQ speaks for itself…
Regarding cameras that I am interested in..I find it funny that sources are leaking what is “not” on the camera (VF)…but nothing about what is new on the camera??? It is also amusing tha the companies choose not to manufacture one camera in range-finder style…which is constantly asked for in all blogs…and the only trickle of info that we get is basically “we are just going to let you know that we did not make the camera that you asked for…but we will leak nothing about the features in the camera we decided to make”… Very amusing. No?
I would love to buy a GH3, if only they had IBIS 🙁
the IBIS does have a tendency to spoil you once you have owned a camera that has it. Not perfect for all situations..but damn does it allow you to lower your ISO in so many instances. Incredible asset.
Me too, lack of IBIS is the major issue with an otherwise excellent camera. Still, good to see Pany getting some good press for a change. They went through a rough patch, but the GH3 seems to be doing for them what the E-M5 did for Oly. I may be a bit of an Oly fan-boy, but I am more than happy to see the GH3 doing well and promoting M43 in general.
I would consider a GH3 if it had IBIS but more importantly a better view finder. Somehow the view finder image does not have the clarity of the E-M5 finder, eyes are strained, and there are a lot of GH3 samples out, where the finder lacks edge to edge sharpness.
From a flagship product, I would expect more.
You would by a GH3 if only it had IBS, funny, because I would buy another OMD, if only it had the strap lug in the right place, the power switch in the right place, better buttons, non cracking LCD frame, a swiveling LCD screen, silent shutter, better movie mode, a rubber eye piece that didn’t fall off and a menu system that made sense. Also, it would help if the company wasn’t run by the mafia and didn’t charge for lens hoods and they made lenses in black.
Isn’t it unfortunate when a desirable camera feature becomes conflated with a stomach malady because of a similar acronym?
My first SLR the Minolta sr7 had IBIS. It came in lots and lots of forms. Body on brick wall, body side on to brick wall, body on top of lump of wood. Body held against lots of things and breathing NOT allowed.
Interrupted Breathing Is Stabilised. See IBIS.
I believe you had a post a while back, an interview with some guys from Panasonic (engineers?) that said no focus peaking because the Venus engine can’t do it. Apparently we’ll have to wait for the next generation Venus engine.
I really doubt that is the case, consider you can get peaking from cheap external monitor, I am sure GH3 is much more capable than a monitor who only do IO operation, do they just put quad cpu there for PR?
Remember Canon said that clean, full HDMI out on the 5D3 wasn’t possible due to hardware and yet they are releasing firmware this spring to allow it. Hardware always gets the blame when reps can’t explain why something obvious is missing.
Really hope they get the peaking done. Other thing I have wanted from day one on the GH3 is being able to assing the movie Rec button to the Fn1 on the top plate.
Yes yes, we want focus peaking. My heart is going to explode from happiness .
This just makes me want to say “Come on Olympus, get focus peaking and WiFi going in your next cameras!” – but in case of wireless capabilities we have to remember that Panasonic is a huge maker of consumer products such as smart TVs – they already have all the in-house knowledge and software needed for file sharing etc.
Olympus I think stated that the OM-D hasn’t got enough processing power to do focus peaking, but I can’t see why they couldn’t get at least AF confirm for manual lenses. It’s the same controller implementation just with the AF motors taken out of the equation. They cannot prevent the use of legacy lenses because that would also exclude manual-only MFT products, but I’m not too sure if they have any interest in focus peaking. While their video capabilities aren’t bad, I don’t think they stand a chance vs. Panasonic in the video space.
All mirrorless cameras are capable of doing focus peaking because that’s the way they all focus already. Yes, focus peaking – searching for the highest contrast area in the image – is the way they do it today. To implement focus peaking for users, manufacturers would need to render this internal focus peaking information into EVF screen and that’s it. So it’s not about processing power because the data is there. It’s already available and used by the camera itself.
GH3 perfect for rhinoceros and hippopotamus. Can camouflage with harsh, wild environments where rhino and hippo go. Rhino and hippo prefer GH3.
Post in wrong place, sorry. What meant is GH3 is good for safari. But need more telefotos lenses.
I owned a GH1, Gh2 and now a OM-D.. When focus peaking will be on GH3 I will buy it !
Focus peaking and electronic adapters are dealbreakers for me. I’d also like to see electronic first curtain shutters until a global electronic shutter has been developed (I realise this can’t be worked out with a firmware update or policy change). I’ve had to consider a NEX solution even though overall I prefer the m4/3 option. To avoid making hasty decisions I recently got a Panasonic LX7 for the portability option, and will keep my DSLRs in use for a bit longer.
As far as I can understand there is no real technological barrier to focus peaking, and most digital cameras have been capable of it for a long time. Magic lantern and other firmware hacks have been able to provide focus peaking on not so new Canon cameras, despite this feature never having been made available on Canon stills cameras. It is also available on quite cheap external LCD monitors. So the prima facie evidence is that the manufacturers could quite easily implement focus peaking, but for whatever reason they chosen not to. Exctly why isn’t clear. It isn’t clear whether they are saving it up for a future feature, or if there is some sort of licencing problem.
My experience of using focus peaking on a Canon 600D via magic lantern, is that it works for what I want. Personally I want it for macro photography. This is because one of the most difficult tasks is imagining where the focus plane lies. The accurate placement of the plane of focus, the so called magic angle, is what separates also ran macro photography from the best. You can get the DOF to appear to be much greater than it is, if the focus plane is careully placed. One of the difficult tasks to master with macro photography, especially handheld, is simultaneously focusing, framing, and placement of the plane of focus at the same time. It is a difficult thing to pull off. If you concentrate on one too much, the others tend to be out i.e. you get perfect focus, but bad framing where you inadvertently chop off some of the subject. Whereas if you concentrate too much on framing, the focus or plane of focus alignment is a bit out. I think the potential of focus peaking hasn’t yet been properly understand. That it could make photographs possible, which weren’t before. I also think it has potential with tilt lenses and a adapters. This could allow much wider apertures to be used for macro photography.
I think that Olympus and Panasonic need to re-work their strategy for m4/3. Currently they appear to be using a very commercial strategy, which sort of says unless a feature or concerns appeals to the majority, it can be left off. IMHO I believe this is mistaken. Capable photographers are used to work arounds, that is what a lot of creating orignal work is about, finding new approaches with work arounds. However, there also comes a point when having to work around obstacles that are easily solved, and which other manufacturers cater for, is irksome. So if you say there’s no need for focus peaking, electronic adapters, no shutter shock problems etc, because these are only minority concerns, you are missing the elephant standing in the room. Many capable photographers will simply look elsewhere at systems which do offer these solutions. This group of photographers may be less in number, but they are very influential, as they tend to produce more original work. This is what m4/3 is currently lacking in. More still photographers using m4/3 cameras for outstanding work, would greatly strengthen the format. I’m not suggesting that there aren’t people producing outstanding work with m4/3 cameras, it is just there would be much more if Panasonic and Olympus understood the importance of catering for these needs.
I think you put too much confidence in peak focusing. I can see its usefulness in videography and as an alternative for zone-focusing in still photography (street & candid). Peaking does show its weakness with “light giants” like the Nokton lenses; if you peak at a setting like f/1.1 (my standard working aperture on the nokton 50 f/1.1 with the Ricoh GRX & M-mount module), the “peak moment” does not change if you turn the focusring back or forth very subtle, while in magnified mode checking focus bye eyesight you will see dramatic changes in focused area while doing the same turn of the ring.
Well, Sony Nex cameras’ implementation of peaking could use a finer controlled line, but when done well, peaking is a great focus aid in a variety of situations, and can also work within a very small DOF, too. Sony will likely improve theirs as the higher res EVFs are introduced on their next round of Nex’es.
Lack of peaking is the reason why I don’t have a GH3 yet.
Lack of money is the reason why I don’t have a GH3 yet.
Lots of money is the reason why I have a GH3 🙂
If this is the type of thing that makes you smile I pity your sorry a$$
HA. Get a job mofo. Cheap-ass-chips for the video quality it gives.
I am very interested in knowing if Panasonic will introduce an update to Lumix Link which will allow the user to monitor the video on your device while recording on the camera. The current version of Lumix link allows the user to set a countdown timer but you lose the video image (it freezes) when the camera is recording. JVC Everio camcorders have the ability to monitor and record while viewing the video on a PC or device. I am very interested in knowing if the GH3 will ever have this capability?
Focus peaking should be looked at as more than just for video, people! And more than just a nice bonus for GH3 buyers. It is really needed on the GH3 in the first place because its eyepiece and electrnic viewfinder combo make for less certain manual focusing than the previous GH2. This is crucial for video, but also can be quite often important for shooting stills in many situations, especially when handheld. The macro scenario noted above is just one instance when the expanded 5x focus assist needs another option to be usable. And focus peaking can usually be chosen to use with expanded focus at the same time. Having both simultaneously helps get accurate focus much quicker.
Also the feature can just as well be helpful if added to OTHER future model Panasonic cameras. Don’t be so short sighted, just because you plan to buy a different or less expensive coming model. If it isn’t on the flagship camera, chances go down for it to be put on a GF5, GX2, whatever.
Even if you don’t want to shoot video, face it- these are all to some degree video cameras with video viewfinders. To use them to their fullest, the most advanced video focus features need to be employed, and for now that is peaking in the display, like every pro video camera offers.
Another thing, the 4x insert focus assist needs fixing. Viewed in the EFV, the focus square is soft and indistinct, pretty much unusable. It should make focusing clear, like the 5X assist does, but it does not. Too bad, it would otherwise make the best expanded focus available for stills on the market right now. If it worked like it should.
For those who haven’t seen this feature, its an option in expanded focus assist that puts a smaller patch of an expanded focus area in the central portion of the viewing image (or moved wherever you like), still allowing you to see the entire framed image to its edges While focusing (like nearly all cameras have worked post-WWII…). Closest thing to a real rangefinder patch you’ll see in an EVF in 2013.
I’m fairly certain this could be remedied in firmware, but if Panasonic doesn’t hear enough complaint about it, you can be equally sure nothing will be done.
Again, this is potentially a really great and unique feature that could Should end up on Every Panasonic, and if done right, would be valued by most every poster in this forum once they tried it.
Hi mighty Zeus!
Focus peaking is most definitely a useful feature for some, and people who object to it being added to a camera are just being silly, don’t use it if you don’t like it.
However, by claiming it is an absolutely needed feature, you are being just as silly. Many people, including those using manual focus lenses on m4/3 cameras, seem to do quite well without it, which already proves the absolute need that you are talking about simply doesn’t exist.
Focus peaking has the simple issue of depending on contrast passing a threshold, and there are many conceivable and real situations in which that either doesn’t work at all or gives very unreliable results. If that is a concern for you depends a lot on the circumstances and subjects you are ‘shooting’.
Hi Bart, the reason peaking is needed is primarily for when shooting video (Focus assist isn’t available during video), but sure would be handy for still, too, for times when handheld focus assist is too slow or too tricky to handle the situation as well as the quicker/dirtier method allowed by peaking –or focus assist Plus peaking.
I would love to be able to control and rely on AF 100% of the time for every shot, but I find myself going to the 5x magnification a Lot, even w/an AF lens mounted. In some conditions, even that involves too much guesswork for my taste, so the more options available to help w/ critical focus, the better. And the key word in my point is Critical focus.
The pinpoint AF seems like a good addition too, but I’m still trying to figure out how to really utilize it. Is it just supposed to give me a quick magni preview of exactly what is focused, or am I supposed to be able to finely shift the point around during the short/med/long interval? The magni’d view during that pinpoint interval never really looks sharp at all in the EVF, and I can’t tell if or when it refocuses if I move the point during the long-selected pinpoint interval.
All this say EVFs are great tools, but until they are better, we need all the help possible at our disposal to use them well, as regards focus.
Panasonic Never stated or even implied that they were not going to add focus peaking, only that it presented resource challenges to do so, and that they were well aware of the desire for it by the vast majority (some 90%) of feedback they had received. The subtlety of their remarks could be taken a number of different ways…
So of course ignorant web posters proclaimed, Pana says No peaking for GH3! and that gets repeated 10000 times.
Write the company and continue to let them know what needs fixing.
Its no different from ‘ignorant web posters’ just repeating 1000000000 times that everyone needs focus peaking.
Most people do not use manual focus lenses, and don’t want to use manual focus at all.
For that simple reason alone, focus peaking is totally irrelevant to most users.
Well, things are moving along. As I wait patiently for Panasonic to send us a review unit, I launched GH3 page on Facebook.
https://m.facebook.com/?refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F&_rdr#!/profile.php?id=1659426734195964&__user=1843888073
Firmware fixes and hints of a hack from Nick Driftwood, portend a vibrant future for the GH3.
Then again, the year is barely 1/4 done.
I can’t share too much just now but 2013 will prove to be very interesting.
Then again, I hear an echo of my siren song here….
“FourThirds has also been a commercial failure due, basically, to a lack of acceptance by the DSLR buying masses”
I’m my case ( a 70s penf adopter),I see a similar predicament facing MFT.
ONE issue is glaring and can only m be resolved up to a point. Bokeh/ DOF.
This has been a deal killer for me. Having suffered the consequences of small sensor super deep DOF, the MFT are only a slight advantage over 2/3 sensors, for example.
The entre of Nikon into the hybrid fray, not with a MFT, but rather DX sensors, bodes well for me but poorly for MFT momentum, with pro shooters.
If Panasonic and Olympus upped the sensor crop to 1.5x, the big game would really change for the best.
I did love my Penf though. Just couldn’t couldn’t compete with ff 35mm and BC back then, no labs would deal with the oddball format.
that’s just plain silly.
There isn’t so much difference in DOF between m43 and aps-c… With 24*36 maybe, but not aps-c!get the right lens, and that will be it. pana will give you a 42.5 f1.2, that’s just shallow enough
That PEN F is a half-frame camera, and in modern terms is a crop format. It is exactly halfway inbetween 4/3″ and 135 format when it comes to DOF control, and compares very well to modern APS-C formats.
Bokeh has nothing whatsoever to do with this, it is the SUBJECTIVE quality of the background blur, and has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with how much background blur you get at what distance, but ONLY with how that background blur looks, is it ‘soft’, ‘smooth’, ‘busy’ or such. It is highly related to the shape of the aperture, but not at all to its size.
“High-ranking officers” from where? Most probably not Japan so it’s pretty meaningless…
Hi Dad;
Very sad and worried. I think I will have to send my 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!
Any suggestions most welcome …
Steve