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G1 HD on Norwegian site

http://www.tu.no/forbrukerteknologi/article201703.ece

For those few of you :)rolleyes: ) who don´t understand Norwegian, the text says that the G1 HD was presented by Panasonic on a press conference earlier this week in Amsterdam.

The new model will come bundled with the 14 - 140 lens. So far, nothing really new, but there are a few interesting things. First, it was said that "a 20/1.4 mm pancake will be launched together with the new HD version". If that´s correct, the pancake will be both a step faster and launched earlier than has been said.

Also, there are several images of the new model; very few external changes.

I don´t know anything about the credibility of the site; I´m just surprised that no other site has mentioned this press conference if it has indeed taken place as described.

Personally, I don´t give a d-mn about video; I´m a bit relieved if there are no more significant improvements to make me regret I didn´t wait....:p

But IF that pancake comes soon (and IF it´s indeed 1.4!!!!), I´ll be VERY happy! :salute:
 

Brian Mosley

New member
I think it's a typo... and I don't expect to see the 20mm f1.7 until the autumn.

I am excited about the G1HD though - I'm not into video, but I want to see the new technology and how it's used (electronic shutter primarily).

If this camera has a completely silent shutter mode, that will also be very good.

Kind Regards

Brian
 

Rawfa

Active member
I think this might be a bogus report. It's really bizarre that none of the big websites got hold of this. Other than the video I'd like to know what else it has to offer over the G1. Also, does anyone know the price of the 20mm? I bet it will be a fortune. that's what I don't like about four thirds. The lack of glass and it's price when compared to the big league. Maybe that will change when Oly steps up their game with that rocking rangefinder they should be working on.
 
R

Ranger 9

Guest
It does seem a bit surprising that no one else picked up on it... although I guess few photo-rumormongers read Norwegian (glad we have someone who does!)

I won't be missing the 720P video feature either, especially since it apparently uses the processor-hungry AVCHD codec (which might require buying a new computer to go with your new camera!)

And if the "1500 - 1900 dollars" text refers to US dollars, I'd say they might be in for tough sledding in the current economy.

But I'm with Per in thinking that 20/1.4 is a pretty exciting bit o' gossip... although if it turned out to be a 20/1.7 at a more affordable price point, I wouldn't be too disappointed...
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
TU, or Teknisk Ukeblad (Technical Weekly in English) is a very respected magazine in Norway, and the photos look real enough, so I guess this is the real thing.

The article also mentions that the AF on the 14-140 lens is very low noise, which will be a welcome feature for video. The price is not at all surprising, considering the high price of the PanaLeica 14-150mm zoom. The question is if the quality is equally high.
 
M

meilicke

Guest
AVCHD is a format that I like. High quality and small archive files. At least on the Mac, while AVCHD takes a while to transfer into Apple's CODEC, once it is there, it's just like any other format (processor wise).

I know a lot of people don't care about video on this camera, but it is interesting to me:
1. Thinner depth of field. My Canon HF100 often has too much depth of field for me.
2. Interchangeable lenses. At the very least this would give easy manual focus, zoom (as appropriate), and easy aperture control.

-Scott
 

Erik Five

Member
Im Norwegian and I would beleive what they say. They are respected and wouldnt make fake articles about cameras. They might have presented the news to early though. Same thing happened with the M8.2 by the Norwegian Leica dealer. Seems like you shouldnt tell Norwegians secrets :D
 
R

Ranger 9

Guest
I know a lot of people don't care about video on this camera, but it is interesting to me:
1. Thinner depth of field. My Canon HF100 often has too much depth of field for me.
2. Interchangeable lenses. At the very least this would give easy manual focus, zoom (as appropriate), and easy aperture control.
Okay, I don't care so much about HD video on a G1, but when you put it this way, I might be interested in an HD video camera that happens to work like a G1.

The big questions for me are recording time (the D90 and 5D Mk II are limited to recording in relatively short bursts; has Panasonic gotten beyond this?) and audio. Since this model is not just a rumor, but something Panasonic has acknowledged officially as in the pipeline, presumably we'll have real answers fairly soon.
 
I think it's a typo... and I don't expect to see the 20mm f1.7 until the autumn.
...
Yep, I suspect the 1.4 part is wrong. In some of the images, the pancake looks just the mockup images we´ve seen for months - and just think how huge the PanaLeica 25/1.4 is...

Brian, I´m inclined (but not happy..) to believe you about the time for a pancake first serving.....:cry:
 
M

meilicke

Guest
Ranger, good points. Ideally it would have a mic input (stereo) and storage limit by the card only. And a head phone jack to monitor audio in real time. I can dream, right? :)

Scott
 

LizaWitz

New member
I found this forum as news of the Norwegian find spread to dpreview. Here's the thoughts I posted there based on this article:

We know from the interview with panasonic that they have gone thru a lot of trouble to design lenses specifically for shooting HD video. This is a big investment and the reason the original G1 didn't shoot video.

On the other hand, Nikon and Canon just added HD as a recording mode to their still cameras. Both models suffer because of that. In the DP Review interview, the guy from panasonic said they "dont want to make the mistakes of the other DSLRS with video" (paraphrased.)

Thus there are three things that they have to do-- they have to provide a fast quiet AF system, which has been announced. And they have to shoot 1080p at 24Mbps. (I think MP4 instead of AVCHD at around 30Mbps would be better, but the AVCHD label on the back of the mockup indicates it will use AVCHD.) Finally, they have to provide manual control while shooting.

1080p is already the bar set by the canon and the other two items are areas of criticism of the competition. But if they achieve all three things, they will be producing the best camera by a mile for amateur filmmakers.

Given the announcement and the pricing-- this is not going to be a minor upgrade to the G1. Given the investment in new lenses, then it only makes sense for this camera to shoot 1080p.

And preferably at 24fps.

In fact, at this point-- if that pricing holds-- then they should include a mic jack and a headphone jack as well.

A G1HD at about the price of a G1, could shoot 720p, but then why put so much R&D into the new lens?

To make the R&D worthwhile on that lens, then this should be a serious entry in the HD market, and to recoup the costs of that R&D the camera / lens are going to have to be a bit expensive. So $1,200+.

But at $1,200 that rules out the possibility of shooting 720p. You can get an LX3 to shoot 720p. Not as well, but not $700 worse.

I could be wrong, but if I am, and especially if the camera doesn't come out until this fall, then Panasonic is kinda going to be shooting themselves in the foot. By fall there will be probably 6-9 DSLR and Point & shoot cameras that shoot 1080p, mostly in the $500-$1000 range.

PS-- Others later pointed out that Panasonic uses the term "AVCHD Lite" on their cameras that shoot 720p, so this also supports the 1080p theory.
 
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K

kiloran

Guest
Body looks identical externally to the G1 bar the silver patch in front of the hot shoe, wonder what that is?

And if the body is identical shouldn't we expect more switches and dials for a video mode?
 

Terry

New member
There is one shot where you can see what looks to be a red button just about where the thumb rest is on the back of the camera. The bad news here is if these are really new pictures, the fact that it was still behind glass and not in people's hands is not a good sign.
 
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