Photokina 2012 is well underway, and this afternoon it’s the turn of Panasonic to impress with new gear. The Japanese electrical giant hit the ground running with the GH3; its latest flagship compact system camera, or CSC.
Replacing the aging Lumix GH2, the new model brings in plenty of new features as well as a new design. The body now resembles some of Canon’s newer EOS models, with weatherproofing and a thicker, rubberised grip dominating the body front, back and sides. It also weighs a nimble 550g without a lens, which is key to the ‘compact’ nature of the camera.
Being a compact system camera, the GH3 has a removable lens system which allows you to hotswap different lenses at the push of a button and the twist of a lens. Inside the camera features a brand new 16.05-megapixel Live MOS sensor, which will give you high resolution images as well as cracking HD video quality. The camera’s ISO range is 125-25,600, and shots can be taken at 6 frames per seconds in full resolution, or if you drop the quality to 4-megapixels it will happily do 20 frames per second.
As seems to be the trend for cameras this year, Panasonic has added inbuilt Wi-Fi connectivity for cable-free transferring of images and videos to a PC or Mac. This addition will also mean that the camera can be remotely controlled using an iPhone or Android smartphone, using Panasonic’s Lumix Link app.
Connectivity to the web also means cloud storage, which is becoming a big push for camera manufacturers of late. When connected to the web, your images will be automatically stored online, using your account with Panasonic’s Lumix Club Cloud Sync Service.
Video recording has received the biggest upgrade, with options to record in 1080p 50p AVCHD (28Mbps) as well as MOV ALL-I (72Mbps).
On the back of the camera you’ll find a 3-inch OLED screen, along with an OLED viewfinder which sits below the hotshoe, plus a selection of menu and function buttons. Panasonic also revealed some accessories, including an extended grip which attaches to the bottom of the camera, and contains an extended battery to keep the camera going for those vital extra hours.
Being compatible with the existing Panasonic G series lenses means that there are currently 17 different lenses to choose from that will simply slot in and work nicely with the GH3.
On its own (body only), the GH3 will set you back roughly £1000 when it launches in the UK this November.
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