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GH2: realizing the breakthrough

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Alika

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According to GH2 specs:

"The new DMC-GH2 boasts its world’s fastest level Light Speed AF of approx. 0.1 second to capture the subject.... Not only the accuracy but also the speed excels by far than the high-end DSLRs with phase difference AF with the advanced contrast AF system in the DMC-GH2.”

When I read this the first time I just thougt it is another marketing announcement.

However, it was indirect confirmed by the first hands-on review (43rumors) by a German magazine. They quote that the AF is faster than the Canon EOS 5D Mark II autofocus!

The G2 (not GH2!) speed according to dpreview with the 20mm f1.7 pancake lens fitted is 0.5 seconds to alter focus from its nearest focusing distance ... close to infinity.

I then looked into the dpreview test of the D3s or D300 and EOS. Unfortunately, I found only quotes of the 'shot to shot´ time which is 0.2 sec. Same for the EOS 1D.

Does somebody know the comparable focus speed of the D3s?

I assume the shot to shot time will be longer with the GH2 but just looking at the AF speed for a single shot it is impressive and seems really comparable to the high end cameras. Has somebody realized that this is a new benchmark! I´m impressed !

To be fair Nikons and Canons are fantastic in low light and Panasonic, might be still noticeably worse....
 
None are better than 0.15 sec imo ;-) note the pancakes may well prove to be slower to focus, they focus differently to the other Panasonic lenses, but seems like quite a big improvement will be realised. Originally the 14-140 on the GH1 was about .3+, now its 0.1- . That's quite significant.

As for low light the GH1 has led assist lamp and is much better in low light than dslrs without one and/or use flash strobe.
 
Need to wait and see some rigorous lab reports. The numbers are not that simple however. When it comes to actual picture taking, there are several things that contribute to the time lag:

(a) AF algorithm processing time,
(b) lens movement time, and
(c) shutter lag.

It's not clear weather Panasonic quotes GH2's 0.1s (100ms) as the above a, or a+b, but I'm pretty sure it is not a+b+c.

With these three factors combined, I doubt that GH2 is anywhere close to the top dSLRs. The shutter lag of professional DSLRs is usually around 50ms, while GH2's is probably around 100ms (if not longer). That alone is going to show in the actual photo taking experience.
 
Alika said:
According to GH2 specs:

"The new DMC-GH2 boasts its world’s fastest level Light Speed AF of approx. 0.1 second to capture the subject.... Not only the accuracy but also the speed excels by far than the high-end DSLRs with phase difference AF with the advanced contrast AF system in the DMC-GH2.”

When I read this the first time I just thougt it is another marketing announcement.

However, it was indirect confirmed by the first hands-on review (43rumors) by a German magazine. They quote that the AF is faster than the Canon EOS 5D Mark II autofocus!
Click to expand...
This is pretty meaningless for a few reasons:
  • The 5D Mark II is not known for quick focus to begin with.
  • It doesn't indicate what lens/focal length is being used.
  • It doesn't mention anything regarding AF-C performance, which is probably the biggest problem with MFT's AF performance at this point.
--
Sam Bennett - http://www.swiftbennett.com
 
Picked up a 5DII body from a photographer friend of mine giving up the business and I was rather surprised at the focusing speed. I would have thought it to be much faster. I don't to any sports or action photog so not an issue for me, but just wasn't what I expected.

SF Photo Gal
Canon 1DsIII & 5DII/Panasonic GH1-GF1-LX3
 
Alika said:
According to GH2 specs:

"The new DMC-GH2 boasts its world’s fastest level Light Speed AF of approx. 0.1 second to capture the subject.... Not only the accuracy but also the speed excels by far than the high-end DSLRs with phase difference AF with the advanced contrast AF system in the DMC-GH2.”
Click to expand...
If you read the footnote, it mentions that its with the 14-140, at 14mm and focusing 2m to infinity. All slow, wide angles, will focus quickly... from 2m to infinity, everything is basically in focus. The hyperfocal distance is around 2m to begin with.
Alika said:
When I read this the first time I just thougt it is another marketing announcement.

However, it was indirect confirmed by the first hands-on review (43rumors) by a German magazine. They quote that the AF is faster than the Canon EOS 5D Mark II autofocus!
Click to expand...
Really? Under what conditions, what lenses, what aperture?
Alika said:
The G2 (not GH2!) speed according to dpreview with the 20mm f1.7 pancake lens fitted is 0.5 seconds to alter focus from its nearest focusing distance ... close to infinity.

I then looked into the dpreview test of the D3s or D300 and EOS. Unfortunately, I found only quotes of the 'shot to shot´ time which is 0.2 sec. Same for the EOS 1D.

Does somebody know the comparable focus speed of the D3s?

I assume the shot to shot time will be longer with the GH2 but just looking at the AF speed for a single shot it is impressive and seems really comparable to the high end cameras. Has somebody realized that this is a new benchmark! I´m impressed !

To be fair Nikons and Canons are fantastic in low light and Panasonic, might be still noticeably worse....
Click to expand...
Your initial skeptacism is probably right.
 
There are some other threads on this, but there is video on youtube showing how fast it focuses. First at 14mm which is no big deal, but then at 140mm. It is lightning fast.

Now it will NOT do this with every lens. Only the ones made for CDAF.
 
I have a GF1 and the 14-140 lens. In good light, focusing on static subjects the 14-140 is already super quick. The problems crop up in trying to focus on moving subjects, where its iffy at best. Moving subjects are of course the whole point of fast AF. I don't need .1 second response time to take a picture of a rock.

So lets see first how the GH2 does in real world testing before proclaiming it the champ.
 
Alika said:
According to GH2 specs:

"The new DMC-GH2 boasts its world’s fastest level Light Speed AF of approx. 0.1 second to capture the subject.... Not only the accuracy but also the speed excels by far than the high-end DSLRs with phase difference AF with the advanced contrast AF system in the DMC-GH2.”

When I read this the first time I just thougt it is another marketing announcement.

However, it was indirect confirmed by the first hands-on review (43rumors) by a German magazine. They quote that the AF is faster than the Canon EOS 5D Mark II autofocus!

The G2 (not GH2!) speed according to dpreview with the 20mm f1.7 pancake lens fitted is 0.5 seconds to alter focus from its nearest focusing distance ... close to infinity.

I then looked into the dpreview test of the D3s or D300 and EOS. Unfortunately, I found only quotes of the 'shot to shot´ time which is 0.2 sec. Same for the EOS 1D.

Does somebody know the comparable focus speed of the D3s?

I assume the shot to shot time will be longer with the GH2 but just looking at the AF speed for a single shot it is impressive and seems really comparable to the high end cameras. Has somebody realized that this is a new benchmark! I´m impressed !

To be fair Nikons and Canons are fantastic in low light and Panasonic, might be still noticeably worse....
Click to expand...
It seems you are not being fair, comparing to the top and pro cameras from nikon or canon it is no fair, did you compare the prices too ?

:)

--
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

God is the tangential point between zero and infinity.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

God always take the simplest way.
* http://zen.aleo-photo.org
 
I think the only one not made for CDAF is the 20mm pancake. Even the new 14mm F2.5 can do CAF.
Everdog said:
There are some other threads on this, but there is video on youtube showing how fast it focuses. First at 14mm which is no big deal, but then at 140mm. It is lightning fast.

Now it will NOT do this with every lens. Only the ones made for CDAF.
Click to expand...
--
GF1 & ZS3 Sample movies
http://www.youtube.com/user/mpgxsvcd#play/uploads
http://vimeo.com/user442745
GF1 Pictures
http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/4222674355/albums
 
Brigcam said:
I have a GF1 and the 14-140 lens. In good light, focusing on static subjects the 14-140 is already super quick. The problems crop up in trying to focus on moving subjects, where its iffy at best. Moving subjects are of course the whole point of fast AF.
Click to expand...
That's what I'd like to see too. For some reason all the posts and videos about the GH2 AF only focus (pun not intended) on static subjects. I hope it doesn't mean that there's nothing to get excited about with the way the camera handles moving subjects....

Prog.
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oren_b
 
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