Ordered a GH2 today...

[addieleman]

Pre-ordered a GH2 at a Dutch store. I went for a black one combined with the 14-140mm, thinking I'll want one to do video as video comes free with this camera. The price is € 1339 which isn't too bad considering that Amazon France offers the same combo for € 1499. And now I'll have to wait, wait, wait and see...

 

[Herman]

Hi Ad, congrats ! Great combo, GH2 plus 14-140 lens.
When do you expect the new gear ?

 

[addieleman]

They didn't quote a delivery date. I hope 43rumors.com is right in stating that it'll be available by Nov. 14, but it'll be more like the end of November I'm afraid.

 

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Congrats as well!

Could I ask why you went for the GH2? From your signature I see you are pretty heavily invested in Panasonic - is that why?

I'm interested as I am looking at what I am going to buy in the next few months as well. Right now it is looking like GH2 or A55V despite it's potential heating problems. The difference in price for the body only is right at $200 in favor of the Sony. Not huge but certainly worth thinking about. In terms of pure photography options I think the Panny wins - hands down. In terms of here's cool stuff you can do (some of which might be useful) coupled with more apparently disabled options the Sony wins. At the end of the day it'll come down to image quality and high ISO performance for two different size sensors (Sony APSC and Panny Micro4/3rds) each with right at the same number of megapixels (16). Both bodies are basically the same size - different ergonomically but the same size (the Panny is better feeling).

As I understand it in terms of lenses in which you can maintain autofocusing well for Sony there is Sony, Zeiss, Sigma, Tameron - for the Panny there is Panny and I assume Oly and that's basically it. I sure wish some of the 3rd party lens manufacturers would start doing micro4/3rds lenses.

It is a quandry and I do look forward to your reports on your Panny.

-Ed-

 

[Rider]

The one head scratcher about the GH2 is that they upped the megapixels. Given that micro four thirds is already smaler than Nikon and Canon non-full frame, I would have thought Panny would keep the megapixels and make them clean ala Nikon D3s. I guess we'll see when the tests come out.

 

[Hards80]

Congrats Ad. that is a great camera. I am looking forward to seeing some examples when you get it!

@Rider - despite a nominal increase in MP early reports show that the new Panny sensor does better than the older sensor. it handles noise just as good or better, but the big news is the dynamic range is suppose to be better. will have to wait and see, but that is the early reports.

 

[addieleman]

Could I ask why you went for the GH2? From your signature I see you are pretty heavily invested in Panasonic - is that why?

That's one reason, the other one is I'm quite happy with the G1 and its lenses. My D300s gets rarely used these days and with a GH2 I hope to get about the same high ISO performance as the D300s, so the only reason to keep the D300s is its better performance in action shooting. Video is not a priority for me, but since I'll get it for free with the GH2 I might as well buy the 14-140mm with it to get better use of it.

Lens options for Panasonic MFT are indeed fairly limited if you want to have automatic diaphragm, AF en IS; the Olympus lenses don't offer IS because the Olympus bodies take care of it. OTOH, Panasonic has quite a good line-up by itself and optical quality is mostly excellent; most notable exception is the 45-200mm which is OK but not great. If you're willing to go all manual you can use virtually any lens on an MFT body by buying a suitable adapter.

So in short: buying a GH2 was a no-brainer. I was only deliberating a bit longer about which kit to buy. As the body-only option doesn't seem to be offered here in Europe anytime soon, I decided to buy it with a lens that offers something extra above the ones I already have.

 

[panystac]

I tried a GH2 in a shop here in Japan. Seems nice, and the AF was very quick!!!!

The 3D lens is intriguing.... no AF from what I can tell, and no focus beep or focus lock. The camera recognises it as a 3D lens though.