Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 Black SLR Digital Camera Kit w 14-140mm Lens 12 1MP SD SDHC Card Slot - Review Gist

In summary, the Panasonic GH1 is better able to compete with the best from Nikon and Canon, and bests other Four Thirds players like the Olympus E-30 and even the Panasonic G1. Printed output finalizes the impression that the Panasonic GH1 is an excellent digital camera, as it easily outputs 13x19-inch prints from JPEGs and 20x30-inch prints from RAW files. The Panasonic GH1 is an improvement on the already excellent Lumix G1, and a five-star Dave's Pick . Taking the Panasonic GH1 out for a stroll really made me appreciate its small size and versatility. *

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 is easy to use, and you get the hang of it quickly. *

In the PC World Test Center's jury-based imaging evaluations, the GH1 produced sharp but dark images. If shooting HD video is a priority, the beginner-friendly GH1 is a great option. But it's pricey, and it's not quite a DSLR. The DMC-GH1 did an impressive job adjusting to different light conditions during a single video sequence; I panned from bright sunlight to a shadowy scene to an interior shot in one take, and the camera made accurate adjustments within a second of the lighting conditions changing. The GH1's design plays into its video-friendliness, too, thanks to a dedicated video button. In my hands-on tests, 1080p video recorded in AVCHD was stunning: It looked smooth and sharp, with bright colors. Both its ability to let you swap lenses and its support for 1080p video at 24 frames per second (as well as 720p video at 60 fps) make this camera compelling to high-definition videographers. *

The bottom line here is that the $1500 GH1 is a near perfect choice for shooters graduating from a prosumer/long zoom digicam to their first dSLR. For more serious photographers who eschew video in favor of still photography, the GH1 might not be their best option. *

This may be the ultimate bridge camera, delivering both amazing ease of use and impressive creative functionality with no intolerable compromises. *

It will take super-crisp photos with vibrant colours and its video mode is very useful. Its relatively compact size makes it a suitable for anyone who wants similar capabilities to a digital SLR but not the bulky size. Photos look almost clinically clean and too well rendered. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 takes very crisp shots as long as you focus accurately. Colours looked good for the most part and weren't overdone; you can quickly change the contrast and saturation of the colours to suit your taste. *

Panasonicâ??s Lumix DMC-GH1 is one of the most complete cameras weâ??ve tested, and one that achieves a number of ambitious goals. Both the stills and movie capabilities are very well thought-out and implemented, with few compromises to mention. Its easy to use with great automatic modes, yet has enough control and sophistication to keep enthusiasts happy. Still images could do with a boost in sharpening, but thereâ??s plenty of detail and similar noise levels to industry leaders up to 1600 ISO. The video capabilities of the GH1 may over-shadow the stills, but theyre certainly very respectable. *

For those who love gadgets and the folks looking to buy a video camera that also captures still images, the Panasonic Lumix GH1 was designed for you. The GH1's native color interpolation is bright, bold, and slightly over-saturated with harder contrast - like Point and Shoot colors (what veteran photographers call consumer color). The GH1's auto white balance mode, intelligent multiple metering, and iA auto exposure system work nicely together to produce consistently very good to excellent photos even for beginning photographers. Shadow detail is decent, but there is a slight tendency to clip highlights and some very minor chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is visible in high contrast color transition areas. Image quality is dependably very good to excellent (outdoors in good light) and images are sharp. Images shot at ISO 100 show reasonably low noise levels, vibrant color, sharp resolution, acceptable highlight detail, and decent shadow detail. ISO 800 images are soft, colors are flat, and detail loss is evident. ISO 1600 images are noisy enough to look a little mushy with flat pastel-like colors. At the ISO 200 setting noise levels begin to rise a bit, but image quality is still very good. ISO 400 images are noticeably noisy and some detail is lost, but they are still usable. *

The Contrast AF system adopted by the LUMIX GH1 is accurate, easy-to-use and fast. *

The GH1 reigned supreme in our low light noise test, besting each of the comparison models we used in our review. It also had a slightly darker-than-average image in bright light, but this gave its colors more contrast and pop. The camera specifically had trouble with the green and yellow color patches. The Panasonic GH1 rendered accurate colors in our bright light testing, but the camera didn't blow us away with its results. This excellent low light noise score rounded out a fairly good video performance overall for the GH1. *

The Lumix DMC-GH1 proves that there's fight and fury in the Micro Four Thirds format, with brilliant HD video quality and great still images.

Its size, friendly menus, and simplified interface boost its appeal to not-quite-novice photographers who want more than a point-and-shoot but are still intimidated by a true digital SLR. If shooting HD video is a priority, the beginner-friendly GH1 is a great option. But it's pricey, and it's not quite a DSLR. Expensive, with proprietary lenses. Both its ability to let you swap lenses and its support for 1080p video at 24 frames per second (as well as 720p video at 60 fps) make this camera compelling to high-definition videographers. In my hands-on tests, 1080p video recorded in AVCHD was stunning: It looked smooth and sharp, with bright colors. Smooth, vibrant HD video. *

This camera feels good in the hand. *