I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I won the 2011 16MP CMOS Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 on a $1 bet, as I had little or no knowledge at all about the camera, its target use and audience, and capability, except that it was one from the series of mirrorless Micro 4/3 digital cameras that I see often enough being listed on auction sites. My curiosity for the bet was induced by the fact that I am an overt Olympus user experienced with 35mm OM's, LT, IZN, AF, and AM autofocus cameras, E-series Four-Thirds, E-P5, and E-PM2, and a crop of lens adapters for use with legacy manual focus lenses.
The camera, an updated version of the initial DMG-GH1 launched in 2009, which already has a very flexible and high-quality video capability, is now HD capable. Still shooters, on the other hand, may look forward to the GH2 as having a sensor larger than the format's imaging circle to allow the camera to capture images in different aspect ratios while retaining the same image diagonal. The camera shoots 16MP images on an oversized 18MP sensor. The electronic viewfinder on the GH2 has been widened to 852 x 600 pixels, where 16:9 and 3:2 images are displayed without cropping.
The Lumix DMC-GH2, weighing only 385 grams without battery, has a multi-angle and swing 3-inch touch screen 460,000 dot LCD, conveniently compact and lightweight, is a joy to use and carry around, made more advantageous with the range of equally compact and lightweight Micro 4/3 lenses. The camera's handling and performance, with external controls, buttons, and switches that make it easy to change options without going deep into the menus, were hugely positive. My early trials with the camera include the light patch study, above, which was shot during one of my recent street walk sessions.
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