Gear News and Reviews

Just for kicks I shot the GH1 with the 7-14mm @7mm and the Canon 5D MkII with the 16-35mm L @16mm.  Obviously the Canon set up will beat the GH1 in every category, but by how much?  The GH1 was purchased to lighten my load when traveling and the vast majority of my photos are only displayed online.

I wanted to see just how much I was loosing to the 5D in terms of quality so I shot this scene very quickly.  There’s nothing scientific about it so there’s no need to go into the facts that I didn’t use mirror lock up, tripods, cable releases, etc.

The following two images were taken directly from the camera as raw images, imported to Lightroom 2 and exported.  Here’s the result.

Taken at 1/13th, f/4, ISO800

Taken at 1/13th, f/4, ISO800

My conclusion:  I won’t hesitate to reach for the GH1.  When you consider the size difference you’ll see why I’m more inclined to grab the GH1 combo.

Massive size difference between the 5D combo and the GH1 combo.

According to Mr. Macleod of Canon Australia, Canon will be releasing a firmware update to enable 24p/25p recording on the Canon 5D MkII. That music to many 5D users ears.

“We understand that EOS 5D Mark II users desire additional frame rates and we’re preparing a firmware update to allow the camera to shoot at both 24P and 25P,” said Chris Macleod, Brand Manager – EOS, Canon Australia.

Canon expects the firmware update to be available in the first half of 2010 and will release more details as they become available.

My guess is that Canon could definitely speed up the the development of this firmware update and have it ready sooner, but why bother when sales of the 7D are in such high demand.  Wait until the 7D early adopters are satisfied and then give them reason to buy the 5D MkII with a ‘new & improved’ 24p full-frame sensor.  Call it the 5D MkIIn?

Read more here.