GH2 $175 worth getting?

M_digicapt wrote:

I was offered a GH2 with 38** shutter actuations, but heavily used for video.

I have an E-PM2 which for the most part I'm really happy with. But I started using several heavy manual lenses and a good grip is a necessity...

Originally, I was thinking of getting a G2 or something cheaper, because I don't want to spend a lot of money now, plan to get a better body in a not to distant future, and it would not be my main body and I'm OK with 12mp...

I don't shoot video or use/need a lot of dials. Plus no Ibis... Is the GH2 worth getting?

Having owned both the GH2 (which was one of my all-time favorite M43 cameras), and subsequently the EPM2 (which was my favorite Oly camera of all the ones I have used), I have to say that, while the GH2 was great for its time, you would be far better served by getting a later model;  even the G5, which should be about the same price, for a few reasons:

First, the one major problem the GH2 has was just awful color rendition.  I was able to compensate for some of it in PP, but it was a beast to deal with some of the time, even in RAW.  If you are coming from the EPM2, which has spectacularly good color rendition, you will hate the output of the GH2.

Second, the low light performance of the GH2 is terrible.  The sensor in the EPM2 was a big advance over the high ISO output of the GH2.

For these two reasons, I would not get it, and this is from someone who dearly loved the GH2 and used it as my primary M43 for almost 2 years.

Any of the Panasonic bodies from the G5 and up would be the way to go. (The G5 uses the same sensor as the GH2, but they fixed the color rendition problems and they significantly improved its higher ISO performance).  If you can find a GX7 or a G7,  in your price range, you would be even better served, but those are going to be most likely more pricey.

-J