M43photo.blogspot.jp made this video to compare the GH3 ETC vs non-ETC video quality and his conclusion is: “The ETC mode is a very useful feature, but it is best used at low ISO. At higher ISO, the video quality will suffer.”
Ming Thein posted the full GH3 review and ends his tests by saying: “I think the problem with GH3 is that it feels far too much like a piece of consumer electronics, and not enough like a camera. It really doesn’t feel like there was any photographer input during the development process, or the photographers who were involved were of the hipstagram generation and don’t remember that plenty of very responsive cameras were produced without an on-screen menu. This permeates throughout all aspects of the camera”
Ming criticizes the GH3 from a pure photographic point of view while the GH3 has been clearly made with video in mind.
GH3 price and in Stock status check at [shopcountry 33624].
85 Responses
Mr. Thein’s impressions of the GH3 are entirely subjective. Seems as if he didn’t want to like the thing from the very beginning. I would not even call it a ‘test’.
Ming Thien takes slick photos, but he’s a total Oly fanboi. Oh well…
Yep, just like Robin Wong little more than shills
Wow. I don’t think he could’ve sounded more like a fanboy if I he tried. No matter what Panasonic made as its GH3 he was going to trash it. The Internet is actually a poorer place because of people like him.
Oh boy, one guy doesn’t like the camera and unsurprisingly some GH3 fan(boy)s immediately start to belittle and offend the author.
Guys, it’s not a scientific test! It’s a review on guy’s personal blog – it’s supposed to be subjective. Ming didn’t like the camera and that’s his right. Period.
Besides, it wasn’t a hate-fest at all, he did a pretty good job trying find what he thought to be good about GH3.
Personally, I appreciate his input, it’s yet another review. Take it or leave it.
He censored my post giving another point of view as well as pointing out some inaccuracies. Doesn’t seem like an objective reaction
My comment was directed at admin, who wrote: “Ming Thein posted the full GH3 review and ends his tests…”
I would define that post as ‘opinion’, not as a review or a test.
BTW, I own an E-M5 and wouldn’t consider a GH3. Nevertheless I feel that Mr. Thein’s post shouldn’t be referred to as a review of any sort.
My comment was directed at admin, who wrote: “Ming Thein posted the full GH3 review and ends his tests…”
I would define that post as ‘opinion’, not as a review or a test.
Ah! That’s the problem with the internet- reading the text cold as opposed to the thoughts behind it.
You are right; review would be better in the header. 🙂
so, sneye, an “opinion” is a test you don’t agree with ?
personally, and going by his evident photographic and artistic skill, I’d take Ming Thein’s opinion over a shelf-full of “tests” of brick walls and cats. But that’s just my subjective view.
How would I know whether I agree or not before trying this camera out? It’s all personal. However, I don’t think I’ll bother. I’m quite happy with what I currently use (which is an E-M5 and a few primes).
As to brick walls etc. I absolutely agree with you, but this is hardly related to ergonomics, operation and user interface.
The OMD is a fine camera, IF you can live with lousy ergonomics and a shitty interface. The GH3 is far from perfect but is far better in terms of usability. That’s purely subjective, of course, but so is Ming Thien’s opinion piece.
Superb article – especially “The obvious [size] comparison. Note significant difference in size: with the body cap lens, one is pocketable, and one isn’t”. This is a real downer for the GH3. Now I am really looking forward to some over-saturated photos of Ming with an EM5 in his jeans pocket. /sarcasm
But seriously, what did the article have to say? Honestly. Apart from the fact that some bloke on the internet does not fancy the UI of a particular camera?
“You’ll see that there aren’t a lot of images in this review: the main reason was that I really didn’t feel like shooting with the camera. This is generally rare for me, but honestly, the GH3 is one of the few cameras I’ve used in recent times that left me completely cold. I’ve never been a fan of the Panasonic UI”.
In other news, I had a go at a violin, and gave up after 5 minutes – terrible racket: I give it 0 out 10.
Seriously, if you cannot be bothered to learn to use an instrument (software, hardware, whatever) why offer any opinion?
Also, there are products out there which are simply not for everyone: I am too old to follow R&B; should I start a blog letting everyone know that Rihanna leaves me cold? And why should anyone care?
To me, he’s biased. I left a comment correcting some if his inaccuracies and also how my views differ from his. He moderated it and it wasn’t published.
I used to have high regard for his reviews, now I just think he’s an oly fanboy and hates anything to do with panasonic.
he did mention at the end that he likes the LX series 🙂
It WAS published, despite the obvious rudeness and vitriol you put out. Anybody who has never posted a comment before is automatically put into moderation by wordpress to prevent spam. I allow all comments unless they’re just hate mail – yours is pretty borderline. I don’t sit around at my computer all day waiting for comments to come in, they get dealt with when I have time to look at the pending list. Besides, why does it matter why I like a camera or not? Do you need my affirmation to feel better about your purchasing decision?
Your opinions are biased , often inaccurate and thus worthless to any fair observers , no sweat though there are a few Oly fanboys who will be happy to kiss your ass. The question is what did you get out of it
So is your “review” heavily anti-Panasonic hate mail biased as transistor in amplifier.
Starting from distorting price comparison: GH3 handles fine without any extra grips but OM-D needs expensive grip set to be even remotely on same planet as stock GH3.
Nitpicking some controls because those were basically what they could fit in while complaining GH3 being too big&heavy: When all OM-D has is ergonomics which expired 30 years ago and menu hell from inadequate amount of controls.
Also unlike small batteries that well above “standard” big capacity battery of GH3 seems to tolerate cold very well.
Yesterday I had GH3 outside for five hours while following best auroras I’ve ever seen in -20C and below temperature.
I got some 320+ pics and camera was powered for around half of that time and only in end battery indicator started dipping into 2/3 mark.
Low capacity batteries like in typical cellphones loose almost completely their power output capability in that temperature. With half empty battery you’re lucky to have time to answer incoming call before increase of load from idle/standby kills battery.
Also operating any other P&S cramped and tiny mirrorless would have been fingers freezing masochism.
You’re in love of retro and compact, fine.
But don’t use that as excuse for disparaging camera bodies what mirrorless 4/3 needs if it ever wants to become big player in system cameras and steal market share from Canikon DSLRs which sell many times more than whole mirrorless segment.
In the end…this is a largish MFT video camera..or a dual-purpose camera. It provides great results..but…if you are strictly a still shooter (yes, I am),..then most likely…this is not the camera for you. (I do own a Pany and an Oly body.)…There are smaller better options out there for still shooters.
I personally would LOVE to see some one produce an MFT camera with as many physical mechanical controls as possible…LESS menu..MORE hands-on. ..like some of the Fuji offerings.
The GH3 is not that camera…and that is OK…it does what it was meant to do, and it does it well.
“Mr. Thein’s impressions of the GH3 are entirely subjective. ”
“But seriously, what did the article have to say? Honestly. Apart from the fact that some bloke on the internet does not fancy the UI of a particular camera?”
What’s wrong with that, and why trash his review accordingly? If he liked it, I assume all would be rosy in your world?
“I used to have high regard for his reviews, now I just think he’s an oly fanboy and hates anything to do with panasonic.”
Ad hominem attack? Really? He hates Panasonic because…..?
It’s a personal blog with a personal view of a camera he had for a short while. Like a film reviewer, find one that generally likes what you like and use that as a filter/focus when considering watching a movie.
It’s Ironic that people calling him a fan-boy are coming across as fan-boys!
In the interests of disclosure I have an OM-D after upgrading from an E-400 and previously a Canon EOS-5 film camera. If a reviewer trashed the OM-D, I’d read it with interest and see if his views/observations matched mine. I certainly wouldn’t moan about it on another blog. I buy based on my own criteria, after reading as much as I can before looking at the options.
You obviously refuse to understand my post. He has a right to feel the way he does about any equipment. But by censoring my comment (to clear up some inaccuracies in his blog) as well as to give an alternative view… doesnt that smack of being fanboyism? If he had published my comments, then I wont say what i said.
It’s his blog.
He’s biased. This is my comment. Do you agree I can have this opinion?
And you’re turning into a tautological respond-bot, endlessly repeating the same post.
Grow up.
You misunderstand me.
If someone picks up a (complex) piece of hardware for a few days; cannot be bothered to personalise it and become familiarised with; takes very few photos with it as a result; and then turns around and says that said hardware “left me cold”; and calls this a “review” = what is the point of taking their views seriously?!
I haven’t got a GH3 and I am not a Panasonic share holder. I am just a bit startled that this sort of unsubstantiated nonsense could become a source of information for prospective users.
I like such reviews of real life usage much better than pictures of test charts. It´s a good thing that more opinions (especially from real photographers) are shared than back in the day when only magazines did their “unbiased” reviews.
I´d like to add, that his opinion doesn´t make the camera bad in any way. It´s just that – another opinion out of hundreds or thousends and it really could help someone (like me).
Photography is an art, of course it’s subjective. I rather like to hear a subjective review of a photographer than those trying to impress the camera makers or their fanboys.
I also find his review useful because it reinforces my belief that GH3 is more of a video making tool than a photographic one. I’m interested in GH3 because of its video capabilities anyway. For still photos, I stick with my K5.
I think Mr Thein makes a good job and he just offer his opinion sincerely. Why he doesnt like the cam:
The most powerfull reason the cam leaves him cold. Sometimes you have to feel in love with something he clearly recognices that its not the case with him.
The cam is expensive. Yes it is. Its an hibrid cam? Yes of course but Im not going to pay a cent more for video. Good for you guys who loves video I have to recognice that I dont use it at all.
The cam is big…Yes it is
The cam was developed for an electrodomestic gigant…Yes it is
So at the end he posted some very good pictures…so whats the problem?.
He simply dont like the cam and express honestly his opinion. Good for those who like it.
Theres no inherent problem with his post. The problem I have with his fan boyism is that he censored my comment to clear up some inaccuracies as well as give another point of view. I dont care if it leaves him cold or hot or whatever, once he doesnt allow fair comments and he goes down the path of censorship, then he’s prejudiced.. And I’ll say that to his face.
Please…just st_u already. We get it.
GH3 is a good camera, but it’s got some tough competiton which is more often than not better and cheaper than GH3.
Problem with Panasonic is that it’s m43 direction is not as good as the one Olympus has taken.
1. OIS vs IBIS – Olympus can use both, so it doesn’t matter which lens you have, you always have either one. This give owners of Olympus cameras wider choice and doesn’t limit them to Panasonic lenses if they wish to have stabilization.
2. Size – let’s be honest, m43 is all about portability vs performance and it hits the sweet spot there unlike any other system.
Panasonic shots itself in the foot with generally bigger and heavier lenses (due to OIS) and then makes GH3 which is the largest mirrorless camera out there, the size of a mid sized DSLR.
Sure, it probably fits nicely in the hand and isn’t cramped, but Olympus showed much better how to do it with OMD + HLD-6 grip and it gives both small camera or bigger one suited for bigger lenses and longer battery life depending on personal preference.
3. Video-centric orientation of GH series is nice, but then shooting yourself in the foot by not really delivering better quality than a legendary predecessor (GH2) and even offering less options like ditching multi-aspect sensor which made GH series unique and not offering nothing more interesting such as IBIS which would really make GH3 fantastic for video.
As it stands now, the only reason Olympus isn’t dominating m43 and mirroless market is because their video isn’t top quality and they don’t offer lower compression and framerate choice.
If they updated OMD’s firmware and/or offered new OMD with much improved video it would make for an ultimate mirrorless photo/video camera.
“As it stands now, the only reason Olympus isn’t dominating m43 and mirroless market is because their video isn’t top quality and they don’t offer lower compression and framerate choice.
If they updated OMD’s firmware and/or offered new OMD with much improved video it would make for an ultimate mirrorless photo/video camera”
– agree. I went with the GH3 because of the video. Oly’s video codec is bad. If they upgraded to a reasonable video codec, i might ditch my GH3 and go with the EM-5/6/7..
“As it stands now, the only reason Olympus isn’t dominating m43 and mirroless market is because their video isn’t top quality and they don’t offer lower compression and framerate choice.”
i couldnt disagree more. the gh2 was a far better camera than anything that oly has made in m43 until the em5 and that spectacular sensor came out, actually if it wasnt for the cheapish plastic body of the g3, i feel it would have been much more accepted. it still is a very capable camera, and better than all but the highest end (at the time) ep3. once the gx1 came out then the pen series was rendered obsolete.
honestly, the em5 feels like a mistake camera because it is so far above anything in the oly m43 catalog. the pens were always overpriced and not user friendly. dont try to say i am a panny fanboy because i shoot exclusively with the em5 and it is the best camera i have ever owned. but truth is truth.
“that spectacular sensor came out”
That spectacular sensor has exactly 1 stop better DR and half a stop better noise than the GH2, the hyped up BS about the E-M5 comes from the Oly fannyboys . The spectacular sensor lol doesn’t even match the previous gen best APS models let alone the current options. Face it guys a good small sensor will always be poorer than a good larger sensor
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Compare-Camera-Sensors/Compare-cameras-side-by-side/%28appareil1%29/850|0/%28brand%29/Nikon/%28appareil2%29/793|0/%28brand2%29/Olympus/%28appareil3%29/698|0/%28brand3%29/Nikon
The E-M5 is on par with a 2007 D300 wow just 5 years behind LOL
As Canon and Nikon keep having strong as ever control of system cameras lack of in body stabilization can’t be kept as end of the world for Panasonic.
Without cutting size of rear display GH3 is the smallest size offering ergonomics competitive with enthusiast DSLRs.
E-M5’s grip is expensive lipstick on that pig.
It cures neither crampedness of controls, inadequate amount of them or WW2 era unergonomic positions and neither it gives robust high capacity battery in return for increase in size.
While lack of multiaspect is minus (just like in every single Olympus!) progressive 50/60fps is major improvement over prehistoric jerky framerates and equally old interlaced crap.
Same for proper high quality bitrate.
Only real thing Olympus E-M5 has over GH3 is in body stabilization… which isn’t much compared to lacks in all other areas.
And Panasonic is the only reason 4/3 sensor retained name outside Japan while Olympus was reiterating Pens for camera joshi and badly loosing global market share.
If it had been up to Olympus Sony would no doubt dominate mirrorless markets now.
He accually concludes that the GH3 is superior to the OMD in both AF and IQ, “where it matters” (his words, not mine).
Very odd review, refusing to put the equipment to use.
I generally love his reviews, but this was a travesty.
I think Ming was looking for reasons to criticize the GH3. Virtually everyone else who has used or tested it has had nothing but praise for it’s handling. The GH3, with it’s multitude of buttons and customizable function buttons needs the menu less than any other m43 camera. Probably less than any mirrorless camera. It’s certainly far, far more responsive in the way it handles, and needs the menus far less, than the cult-favorite OM-D.
In all honesty, I think Ming has his head up his ….. Is he on Olympus’ payroll?
Exactly. He’s so biased. I’d rather he did not even do the review. Full of inaccuracies too. And censoring comments? In this day and edge? He lost my respect and is some dum a$$ oly fanboy
you’re sure about that, are you ? You’re sure you didn’t just hit the wrong button ? Rather than slander the guy non-stop, why not email him and ask him personally if he “censored” you ? Or better, why not just stop whining. I think you’ve made your point. Go outside and play.
Why? I commented. It was posted with the comments “awaiting moderation”. It’s not posted. It’s censored.
Geez, how many flipping times are you going to whine here. I envision you lying with your back on the floor throwing your arms around, flailing your legs and screaming with snot running from your nose, then stopping for a moment to post another tantrum here. Don’t you have to clean the snot off that keyboard yet?
I second that!
I can only say that the GH3 came a lil bit to late to the party due to distribution issue. The image quality is almost the same with OMD (still image). One quirks that Ming and I shared is that GH3 is micro 4/3 camera in large packaging. Its not bad per se (better handling, more features to add to the camera), but kinda defeat the purpose of having micro 4/3 (lenses are small, body is big?). Maybe that’s the reason he doesnt like GH3 as much as OMD
Given the number of external controls and the high build quality, I’m having a hard time understanding why the GH3 would feel more like a piece of consumer electronics than a well thought out camera. And the fact that Ming goes out of his way to say that there’s no personal bias is a little curious…
He’s biased and prejudiced. V obvious.
Exactly what I was thinking… I mean.. he can program all the external physical buttons to do what he likes and that appeals to professionals so I don’t know what he’s talking about.
GH3 is no good.Go OM-D.
You no good. Go home
Ya… totally unprofessional to have all those programmable physical buttons on the outside. Maybe he should have watched the recent “Setting up the GH3 like a BOSS” video series so he’d know how useful the external buttons are?
So….he himself concludes its better than the omd in AF and IQ, and it runs circles around the omd in ergonomics, but its not a “photographers” camera?
Then he says cameras use to be responsive without on screen menus…you mean like the 46 pages of menu on the omd?
So a camera with good iq, good af, and good ergonomics that is not styled retro is hipster?
Not liking a camera is one thing, but masking your biased opinion as a review is another
I dont see a problem with his viewpoint. He has as much a right to share his as we all do here in comments.
In the end though I find his opinions are similar to my own experiences with both an OMD and the GH3. I dont want to like the Panasonic as it is bigger and a bit cheap feeling for the high MSRP. I hate the wimpy and non sealed card hatch almost enough to sell it. It is physically almost the same size as my old Nikon D7000 yet with a smaller sensor.
that said, I am amazed at the IQ and continue to grab it first when I leave the house because it has very, very good IQ. I also like the controls and feature set. It also feels good in hand and is light in my pack.
Back to ming though, it does not take away from my viewpoint and his obvious talent.
he can post his viewpoint all he wants, just dont call it a review
Sometimes I agree, other times not, with reviewers opinion, and it’s normal. Apart from that, what I find most useful in reviews are photos taken.
Why all the vitriol against him? The one sentence version of his review was “It takes good pictures, but I don’t like the controls and it’s too expensive.” There are other folks who prefer the Panasonic interface; this is why it’s a good thing that we have two companies making m4/3 cameras. We’re spoiled for choice; don’t whine about one guy who made a different choice than you and posted on the internet about why he made it.
Regarding “photographer’s” camera.
It’s not that simple really.
I have D800 and I don’t like it despite everyone raving how great it is. For me it’s not. Yes, it can deliver remarkable quality but I think it’s ergonomic disaster. Also, it’s viewfinder is sub par and AF is not too reliable. It can work great one moment and go haywire the next.
It’s also extremely prone to shake and mirror slap vibration which makes it very difficult to get it’s full potential unless you’re shooting at anything less than pristine light conditions or using very stable tripod.
For instance, taking a portrait.
Using 45mm with OMD vs 85mm 1.8G with D800 in available light.
First, 85mm 1.8G has awful CA and PF at wider apertures, plus unusable DoF for tight shots – so I’m using at least f2.8, more likely f4 at least.
Shutter speed needs to be at least 1/160s to guarantee sharp shot and not shake blur.
Compare this to 45mm 1.8 + OMD (which is infinitely more fun to use). I can close (or not) to f2-2.2, or shoot wide open to get very sharp CA free image. This gives me 2 stops more light and I can use 1/60s easily (that’s 1.5 stops more).
At the end, shot taken with D800 looks worse because I’m taking it at 3.5-4 stops higher ISO (say OMD at ISO400 or 800 which is basically noise free with great detail) vs 3200-6400 on D800 which is far from nice.
Thanks, Mar. Very interesting observations.
Whatever you do please do not waste time listening to the bias that comes out of his mouth , he has a long long history of lies and flawed biased “tests” that always come to the magic conclusion the the E-5 with its years old sensor is best,very best camera ever LOL. Pity reality gets in the way of his rants. God you Olympus fanboys must love the circle jerk FT forums that are left with just a handful { literally lol } of folk who pat each other on the back at having cameras years behind the loop.
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/Compare-Camera-Sensors/Compare-cameras-side-by-side/%28appareil1%29/793|0/%28brand%29/Olympus/%28appareil2%29/792|0/%28brand2%29/Nikon/%28appareil3%29/682|0/%28brand3%29/Olympus
In every major Pro review of the 85mm F1.8G including the biggest names such as , Photozone, DXO , SLRgear ,Photographyblog, ephotozine, camerlab at al all sing the lenses praises.
Even the FT favorite LensTip with their conclusion
Excellent image quality in the frame centre,
Very good image quality on the edge of the APS-C/DX sensor and full frame,
Slight lateral chromatic aberration,
Negligible distortion,
Low coma,
Imperceptible astigmatism,
Slight vignetting on the APS-C/DX,
Silent and accurate autofocus.
Who are we to believe an Olympus FT fanboy whose every test comes to the conclusion that that the Olympus E5 is beyond all other cameras lol Or a boatload of the most respected lens review sites on the internet?. I have the E-M5 with the 45mm and 75mm along with the D800 and 85mm F1.8g , and the reality is that in every single image quality criteria the 85mm F1.8g lens combined with the D800 will outperform either mFT lenses.
Even from wide open on FF the 85mm F1.8g delivers excellent central re4sults with very good edge and extreme edges { http://www.photozone.de/nikon_ff/717-nikkorafs8518ff?start=1 } and this with the same DOF as an F0.9 mFT lens. Vignetting takes one click to fix if it bothers you and CA is automatically corrected in every Nikon camera above the D5100.Your “test” methods and results are comical at best and if i was you I would stick to posting such nonsense in FT forums where the three or four users left will happily swallow your nonsense .Though you and the few FT boys left seem to be unable to understand the basics an image is constructed from a lens + sensor , and regardless how the lens appears in isolation when mounted on its appropriate sensor the results always favor the larger sensor.
Your posts have been laughed out of the Nikon forum resulting in a rush back to the safe have of the Olympus SLR forum , where you have a small{ very small lol} but suitably gullible bunch of readers who will nod their little heads up and down for anyone who says anything good about their darling Olympus.
For anyone who thinks I am being unfair to the fanboy , I suggest reading any of the major review sites and then tell me which of them match his nonsense claims. I have used my 85mm F1.8g wide open on numerous occasions just as I have with my 45mm and 75mm. I am very happy with my E-M5 gear and mFT lenses I however do not see the need to promote lies and nonsese
You are the biggest Oly fanboy around you couldn’t do a fair comparison if your life depended on it. The D8OO and every Nikon camera above the D5200 can automatically fix CA in camera if it is an issue to you ,the 45mm has the same effect as an F3.6 lens on FF.If you want a like for like test bring on the 45mm F0.9 mFT lens
PHOTOZONE:
“The Nikkor AF-S 85mm f/1.8 G is an excellent lens that performs on a very high level in almost any regard.” ” CAs and distortion are very well controlled ”
DXO:
“With an Overall DxOMark Lens Metric Score of 35 the Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.8G is the best 85mm lens in the DxOMark database and well exceeds the average DxOMark Overall Score of 28 for this type of lens”
CAMERALABS:
Very good image quality even wide open on DX and FX bodies.
Lovely bokeh.
Good quality build with weather sealing.
Quiet AF operation finally on an f/1.8 85mm lens from Nikon.
Excellent price/performance ratio.
LENSTIP:
“” Excellent image quality in the frame centre,
Very good image quality on the edge of the APS-C/DX sensor and full frame,
Slight lateral chromatic aberration,
Negligible distortion,
Low coma,
Imperceptible astigmatism,
Slight vignetting on the APS-C/DX,
Silent and accurate autofocus. “”
PHOTOGRAPHYBLOG:
“”The AF-S Nikkor 85mm f/1.8G lens is a great choice if you are looking for a relatively affordable telephoto prime lens with excellent optical performance””
EPHOTOZINE:
“Excellent sharpness
Lightweight
Decent build quality
Internal focusing
Low CA and distortion”
Looks like someone is a desperately deluded Oly fanboy , The 85mm F1.8g will blow away the 45mm regards image quality in every way,in fact it will do the same with the 75mm
Here on FF:
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lenses/Compare-Camera-Lenses/Compare-lenses/%28lens1%29/823/%28brand%29/Nikkor/%28camera1%29/0/%28lens2%29/898/%28brand2%29/Olympus/%28camera2%29/0/%28lens3%29/532/%28brand3%29/Olympus/%28camera3%29/0
Here on APS
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lenses/Compare-Camera-Lenses/Compare-lenses/%28lens1%29/823/%28brand%29/Nikkor/%28camera1%29/680/%28lens2%29/898/%28brand2%29/Olympus/%28camera2%29/0/%28lens3%29/532/%28brand3%29/Olympus/%28camera3%29/0
I think it is useful to remind ourselves that the GH3 is not intended to be a volume camera model. Just like the GH1 and GH2, it is intended to sell to the ones villing to pay the premium price for the best in the class. And the GH3 is more expensive, as it also packs more features that previous models.
The Olympus path, packing the high end model in a retro metal shell is probably easier to buy for most people. Personally, I prefer the Panasonic approach, in which the camera feels much more ergonomically sound. But this is subjective and a matter of personal preferences.
If Panasonic could have packed the GH3 features in a smaller body the size of the GH2 or even G5, that would have been better. On the other hand, it would probably have been less ergonomical to use. So for me, I am pretty happy with the GH3 as it came out. The UI has some smaller issues still, but all in all, the best MFT camera I have used so far. And I am sure there are plenty of people who are willing to pay the premium price for it.
I mostly share Mr. Theins opinion about the GH3. The view finder design is by my own experience as bad as he describes, and therefore this camera should be a no go.
It is sad to see, that a flagship product is equipped with such a bad finder. I thought new generation cameras would have progress over predecessors, but the GH3 does not have it, with respect to the EVF.
Probably many GH2 users, like me, are really pissed of by the GH3 due to its size and the view finder, and will switch to the E-M5.
I have the GH3, and came across Ming’s review expecting to read about some of the same criticisms that I have had, and maybe his suggested workarounds to alleviate UI problems I figured he’d be bringing up. Instead, he just said he didn’t connect w/the camera, so didn’t want to shoot a lot with it…
He noted he’s not into video, and he’s posted a number of things on the other cameras he uses: Nikons, Leica M’s, OM-D, and film cameras Rich GR-v and Hassleblad. So obviously certain types of gear appeal to him for differnt uses, and he goes in already assuming m43 is for small size. He tries a friend’s loaned GH3 w/ 14-140: It’s too big. Not as stealthy as OM-D w/prime, not as good as D800, so for him it has no place in the arsenal to begin with, plus he didn’t like things about the layout, or the EVF. OK.
His tone becomes pretty critical though, almost dismissive, apparently he was expecting much better (plus he thought the price was $1600 body only, so…). But most of his compaints I had to agree with- the buttons are welcome additions, but some of their ergonomics are more than questionable for me (eg, the exp comp, like WB and ISO buttons, sure are difficult to get to from the shutter. I still find myself lowering the camera to look…), the EVF is certainly not real easy to manual focus with, etc. And for me there are enough annoyances in the UI and what and how distracting things are displayed in the EVF -when I just want to see an uncluttered view!- that I too, have wondered how many real photographers helped design the thing…
So yeah he’s right, it definitely has it’s quirks. It’s a niche product. But the results are good.
If Oly would get their video act together (BIG time) in their next flagship, I would probably switch. But I would fully expect the new one to have a few mind-bogglingly stupid choices &/or non-options to royally piss me off, too.
Very very biased …. He says you will look stupid holding the cam at arms length.
Ok, none of my clients have said I look stupid when I use the flip out LCD to compose almost all my shots, even with the OMD. Yes I have both.
Impossible to stabilize? How do u stabilized a hassleblad? Because I’m 6 foot 5 I prefer to shoot with the cam not up to my eye and have dozens of techniques to stabilize the cam.
The reason I keep both cams is because they complement each other very well.
To me, the omd takes more time to learn, while if you’re familiar with a dslr the gh3 is just easy and u never need to dive into menus. It can even be set up for a total of 5 custom settings that can be quickly switched to on the top dial.
He also fails to point out that the omd video footage that he says is very good, is only good under certain conditions. It breaks easily and the slightest movement can result in “mud”. The gh3 has on if the best codecs for dslr video, and it has unique features like touch autofocus. So instead of pulling focus via the lens, you can just tap the screen and it will focus in with the speed you set in. It’s almost like someone is helping you pull focus.
Obviously, how he tested both cams for video was just to shake them to induce rolling shutter. And that pretty much sums up how his review ….
He didn’t bother to give it a fair chance and was just looking for faults in the short time he’d had with it.
I did that too the first time I was loaned an OMD and didnt see the point of it, but a few months later I gave it a second chance and sold off my D700 and lenses.
Before I forget his price comparison is ridiculous, he inflated it to seem like it was almost the price of a d600 or 6d. Please, I bought my gh3 body on the day of release in Singapore one month ago for 50usd more than the asking price of an omd body ….
And if the gh3 was so bad, one thing it is hard to com across by on the local used market now is a second hand gh3 …. In a country where many people buy cams one day to play with then flip them to sell then next. Take a look at clubsnap forum, you can see day old rx1, fuji x100s, omd etc. and yes, there is plenty of gh3 stock now in stores.
to add on to my lengthy rant, he also doesn’t see the value of having the gh3 as part of a total m43 system.
if you have several high quality lenses and depend on the system solely for work, adding a gh3 has benefits over getting a second omd or cheaper m43 body.
with an OMD and GH3 hanging to my sides on a double black rapid strap harness, for photo i can get the best out of primes with olympus IBIS on the OMD, while with the 12-35 or 35-100 on the GH3, i get the benefits of zoom and the quick changing custom functions to deal with more types of situations. For video, i use the gh3 for its amazing codec and functions such as touch focus and headphone monitoring etc, then i’ll use the OMD for certain shots that need to be handheld but stable.
So we switch “brick walls and cats” with buildings and cassettes. Yeah, amazing.
I have no problem with his opinion, but reading through his comments it’s very obvious he is just not a fan of Panasonic and is certainly a fan of Olympus. Different strokes. While I’ve owned an OMD EM5 for almost a year now, I can say, for me, it is still the crappiest UI I’ve ever used in any camera ever. Maybe it’s the way my brain is programed, and my personal history with photography over the last 20 years, but the GH3 is very geared toward quick, concise operation, still or motion, the OMD by comparison is not.
@DomDdom – Oh come on, you cannot ignore his food photography which is absolutely not as old news as walls and cats! Surely, the internet has never seen anything like it before.
🙂
Seriously, from the comments here and his blog, you’d think he is Tarkovsky-like magician.
Perhaps I’m just remembering Ming for his absolute hissy fits when people have accidentally incorrectly linked to his articles by using his images as a header. His toddler-like kicking and screaming smear campaign left a bad taste in my mouth and I just can’t respect him no matter how good the pictures of his lunch may be. Sure, he had a point regarding his images being used, but it was quickly remedied, apologies abounded and he still shouted his diatribe from his little soapbox. Bad form, and the internet doesn’t forget. There are a lot of great photographers, many that are also review bloggers, so I personally choose to ignore this guy as best I can. Like I said, I respect his opinion as his opinion, and choose to leave it at that. I’ve already wasted more of my time on him than I feel comfortable with. Next.
Throwing a tantrum or holding a grudge..
I know which one is worse in the end, do you?
Who said anything about a grudge? 😉 I just don’t like the guy from how he handles himself. That’s no grudge, that’s just the results of his poor personality.
Not liking the guy is totally fine. Going back to extolling a now long gone incident that the actual people involved clearly put behind them does sound like holding a grudge however.
Sorry, hiccup in the response, see my actual continuance of this silliness below 🙂
[Admin, where are my earlier posts I made to this topic more than 8 hours ago?]
While I can’t disagree with most of the specific knocks Ming has against the GH3, here are a few qualities about it I’m really enjoying:
You can really grab hold of the thing and wield it in any way. You could sprint holding it and feel comfortable doing so. The feel is light but very strong. The grip for me is about perfect, and is something that on first picking it up, bonds me to the camera.
The EVF, for all it’s deficiencies, is -especially in 16:9, still big and engaging to view through for video use. If Pana sees fit to add usable peaking, it would be that much better to work with. I’d also suggest they offer an optional larger rubber eyecup, it would both seal out light, and hold your eye a little further back -which I think helps it’s clarity, at least for me- and also help avoid accidental touchscreen inputs when you have that feature activated. Too bad the eyepiece optic isn’t user replaceable, it could be a lot better.
Changing the focus point on the touchscreen while viewing in the EVF is a real advance, and very useful. The AF is generally quite good, and it’s “controllability” is starting to break ground on the GH3. —Now if they would just tweak/Fix the things! Like make the 4x (inset box) magnified focus assist sharp enough to actually focus with, and also make the pinpoint AF feedback sharp enough to tell what it’s doing…
As a Playback device, it’s the best camera on the market. Pinch in/out to zoom on the LCD (continuously variable; displ info will show 1.2X, 3.3X, 6.7X, etc), move around the zoomed portion anywhere by dragging, double tap back to the full frame, swipe L/R to prev/next image. Very addictive (and battery consuming). It might be a good thing that you can’t do all that w/the LCD while viewing in the EVF, or I’d need to get a dozen more batteries and chargers.
And with the wifi link, your iPad or smartphone becomes part of the act, which is a bonus.
Yesterday I did some video tests with manual M42 lenses Pentacon 50/1.8 and Helios 58/2, together with an automatic 14-140mm. I tried to shoot my wife when sewing doll clothes 🙂
Sometimes there is moire, but otherwise I am very satisfied. What am I missing on GH3 is more information on the display during recording (gold A65!) And focus peaking. Yet …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAb2VvFppWA
Yeah, sometimes I “fight” with the pulsing of brightness in priority exposure modes, when the rapid brightness change in composition … Does it affect the priority mode, record type, method of measuring exposure.
I love the ergonomics of the GH3, it feels very comfortable and solid in my hands. The size is perfect for me, much better than the GH2. Fortunately my EVF looks perfect as well, but the moiré bothers me a lot. This is the only thing that tempers my delight.
The moiré…
Yes, ergonomics is perfect… When I tried to D5100 – it was torture!! D5100 is a ergonomic crime!!!
About GH3 and SOny A65 – for example, when I have on A65 “S” priority mode, I can see on display in real time actual counted aperture. Or shutter on “A”, or both on “P”… On GH3 no…!
Or I canť see remaining complete space/time for video on memory card (on A65 yes). And again… Focus peaking… 🙁
But quality of video (compared to A65) is absolutely somewhere else …
Except for focus peaking, all of that is completely false.
Sorry, you have probably a GH3 with different FW… 🙂
But my GH3 don ‘t show what I wrote. GH3 show you aperture for example (in “S”) BEFORE recording a movie, not DURING recording a movie. And when light condition is changed, I don’t know new actual aperture value. Again – DURING video recording, not BEFORE or AFTER…! A65 show it DURING video recording including all changes…
And about space/time on memory card – GH3 show you how many time remain from actual clip to maximum clip lenght (about 1/2 hour in EU version) – if is for this one half hour on memory card enough space. But I can’t see how many minutes of video (with current setup) I can record on memory card completely (3hours 40minutes for example)…
This is fact, not false…
I had an OMD and sold it after using a GH3 for a couple of weeks. For me the GH3 is so much better a stills camera.
From a stills perspective:
Battery life is superb easily lasting a full day on one battery. WIth the OMD I always needed a charged spare.
Touchpad focusing is a revelation. While looking through the viewfinder you can move the focus point to wherever you want.
Number of buttons and dials means I rarely need to go into the menu system. I can set the camera just the way I like it. With the OMD the buttons feel really cramped and there are not enough of them.
The Viewfinder is very natural to look through and keeps up brilliantly even when moving the camera around quickly. The OMD can only do this when you set the refresh rate to fast but then you lose so much detail. Whilst I was happy with the OMD viewfinder before owning a GH3 I found it less so once I had experienced the GH3. Yes you need to get your eye position right to get a perfect view. This becomes second nature very quickly.
The camera feels allot faster to focus and I have also found it to be much better at focusing in low light.
The single focus point can be set to be small enough to be accurate. With the OMD the single focus point is much too large. Yes I know you can change it to be smaller with the magnify button but that is hardly intuitive and does not stay set.
The magnified picture in picture to assist manual focusing is really useful and much better for me than magnifying the whole screen.
The camera’s size is perfect. The GH2 was always too small for my hands feeling cramped and dinky. The grip size makes using larger lenses much more comfortable. Yes you can put the grip on the OMD, but I really didn’t like having two shutter buttons and changing the battery quickly is hopelessly clumsy as you have to remove it.
I don’t use flash very often, but having it built in is much better than a separate unit that you have to remove a weather seal on to fit. On the rare times I need a flash it’s there to use instantly.
The silent shutter is also really nice option to have. Your subjects have no idea how many photos you are taking – I like that.
Camera styling is personal. But the OMD always looked to me like it was trying too hard. It also draws attention and comments as it is cute to look at. I like that the GH3 looks at a glance like a regular consumer DSLR. Just a functional tool.
So I am not trying to knock the OMD. I really enjoyed my time with it, but for me I am much happier shooting stills with the GH3
@ nodyah- if only that 4x PIP magnified image ever looked even half focused, I,d love it, the feature was one I pleaded for years ago, at the time when the G1 first came out. Note I’m talking about in the EVF, not on the LCD screen.
You said >> “The magnified picture in picture to assist manual focusing is really useful and much better for me than magnifying the whole screen.”>> Really? I also like the concept of seeing the entire image framing while focusing on just the inset 4x rectangle, but please take another good look at it in the VF and how it displays coming into focus compared to that at 5X.
-At 4x, mine loses All the fine details, and when looking at hard contrasting edges, focus can only be determined by guessing when you see the maximum of odd false color aliasing. There’s never anything decisively in focus in the 4x rectangle, even when the rest of the finder surrounding it looks sharp. For comparison, at 5x (10x too, if held steady) I can see the same subjects snap in and out of focus definitively, If your GH3 is any different, I would really like to know.
@ nodyah- if only that 4x PIP magnified image ever looked even half focused, I,d love it, the feature was one I pleaded for years ago, at the time when the G1 first came out. Note I’m talking about in the EVF, not on the LCD screen.
You said >> “The magnified picture in picture to assist manual focusing is really useful and much better for me than magnifying the whole screen.”>> Really? I also like the concept of seeing the entire image framing while focusing on just the inset 4x rectangle, but please take another good look at it in the VF and how it displays coming into focus compared to that at 5X.
-At 4x, mine loses All the fine details, and when looking at hard contrasting edges, focus can only be determined by guessing when you see the maximum of odd false color aliasing. There’s never anything decisively in focus in the 4x rectangle, even when the rest of the finder surrounding it looks sharp.
For comparison, at 5x (10x too, if held steady) I can see the same subjects snap in and out of focus definitively, If your GH3 is any different, I would really like to know.
I’ve brought this up in this forum a few times before, because it Should be a killer feature for stills, and would blow away MF convenience of all other makes if Pana would fix it, to make the 4x inset as sharp as the 5x (or even Close!). I’ve written them about the issue; others need to follow suit. -that’s the only chance they will fix or change problems. Let them know, now. Especially the stuff that seems possible to deal with via firmware.
So I have noticed that the resolution of the magnified section was not as high a resolution as I guess it should be, but I still find it useful. I guess this will be sorted in a firmware update.
A classic example of reaping what one sows, in a new, modern internet-y type way. If someone acts like a d*ck, those of us without cat like memories may not forget that when they try to view monger with a fanboi opinion piece. Also, those of us that remember may merely point out that taking someone like this seriously might be silly based on their illogical rants from the past. You want to call that a grudge, that’s fine with me. To me it’s not at all, but a remembrance, perhaps reminder, and from your “I know which is worse” comment I feel you may be the one taking this more seriously, but if you wan’t to continue to throw gasoline on this dumpster fire, feel free. I’ll indulge ya 🙂
“A classic example of reaping what one sows, in a new, modern internet-y type way. If someone acts like a d*ck, those of us without cat like memories may not forget that when they try to view monger with a fanboi opinion piece. ”
In other words, holding a grudge, not to mention, a case of shooting the messenger 🙂
Sorry but there is simply enough about the ‘message’ itself to comment on, and misbehaving because someone else misbehaved in the past is just silly.
Lets start with the ‘message’ being an opinion piece motivated by initial dislike, and not anything like a review without a foregone conclusion.
Misbehaving? You’re hilarious. This might be the most civil debate of inconsequential information the web has yet seen. How is pointing out someone’s past misgivings to further clarify character misbehaving? I’m not the one who threw the hissy fit because someone was trying to promote my website. Ohhhh do tell. What other big words and abstract analogies might you have to further this amazing conversation? Seriously Bart, if I were a grudge holding, suspicious person, I’d think you were the author of this divisive article… Curious as to why you feel the need to try and paint me as the villain when all I’ve done is remind the community of who this person is. This is fun. What else do you have?