Features
Inputs and Outputs Notes
Supplied Software

Features

Overview: The Panasonic DMC-GH2 is a digital SLR camera that will accept interchangeable lenses with the Micro Four Thirds mount. The camera kit comes with a 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH lens.

Recording Media: The DMC-GH2 records images onto SD, SDHC, and SDXC Memory Cards. The camera is compatible with SD cards from 8 MB to 2 GB, SDHC cards from 4 GB to 32 GB, and SDXC cards from 48 GB to 64 GB. For recording movies, cards with a "Class 6" or higher speed class are recommended.

14-42mm Lens: This camera kit comes with a LUMIX G Vario 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 ASPH/Mega O.I.S. lens. The lens has a Micro Four Thirds mount and comes with a "flower-shaped" lens hood. Its 14-42mm focal length is equivalent to 28mm to 84mm in 35mm film photography. The focusing distance is 0.99' to infinity. The GH2 can accept other Lumix lenses with the Micro Four Thirds mount.

Extended Optical/Digital Zoom: The 14-42mm focal length of the supplied lens gives it an optical zoom of approximately 3x. The camera's extended optical zoom can increase the zoom by a maximum of 2x when taking still images and 4.8x when recording movies. The digital zoom can be set to 2x or 4x in the menu. Using the maximum digital zoom of 4x, the extended optical zoom of 2x (stills)/4.8x (movies), and the optical zoom of 3x, the total overall zoom possible is 24x for stills and 57.6x for movies.

Image Sensor: For optimal image quality, the camera uses a 4/3" (17.3mm x 13mm) Live MOS image sensor with approximately 18.31-million total pixels and 16.05-million effective pixels.

Image Recording Format: The camera records still images in JPEG and RAW formats. The camera can also record HD movies (1920 x 1080, 1280 x 720) in AVCHD and Motion JPEG, as well as Standard Definition movies (848 x 480, 640 x 480, and 320 x 240) at 30 frames per second in QuickTime Motion JPEG. These movies can be played back on your HDTV using an HDMI connection or on non-HDTVs using the composite video output.

Image Quality: You can set the image quality as follows:

• Fine: Low compression; gives priority to picture quality
• Standard: High compression; gives priority to the number of recordable pictures
• RAW: Uncompressed; must be processed on a PC
• RAW + Standard: In addition to the RAW (uncompressed) image, the camera takes a standard equivalent JPEG image simultaneously
• RAW + Fine: In addition to the RAW (uncompressed) image, the camera takes a fine equivalent JPEG image simultaneously
• MPO: 3D photo (requires use of optional 3D lens)
• MPO + Fine: In addition to the 3D image, the camera takes a fine equivalent JPEG image simultaneously
• MPO + Standard: In addition to the 3D image, the camera takes a standard equivalent JPEG image simultaneously

Image Resolution/Compression: You can change the resolution and compression settings to suit the purpose of the image you're about to shoot. You can choose from the following resolutions for still images:

3D Photos: The GH2 is capable of taking 3D photos when the optional H-FT012 3D lens (item # 133HFT012). You can record 3D photos in 4:3 (1920 x 1440), 16:9 (1920 x 1080), 3:2 (1920 x 1280), or 1:1 (1792 x 1792) aspect ratios. In addition, the camera can record a 2D JPEG image in fine or standard image quality along with the 3D image. A 3D image can only be played back on a 3D compatible TV. You can connect the camera directly to the TV via HDMI cable, or insert an SD card containing 3D images into the 3D compatible TV.

Motion Pictures: In addition, you can shoot motion pictures in AVCHD in 16:9 aspect ratio, and QuickTime Motion JPEG in 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios, at the following resolutions and frame rates:

• AVCHD
  • 24H: 1920 x 1080 (24p recording, 24 Mbps)
  • 24L: 1920 x 1080 (24p recording, 17 Mbps)
  • FSH: 1920 x 1080 (60i recording, 17 Mbps)
  • FH: 1920 x 1080 (60i recording, 13 Mbps)
  • SH: 1280 x 720 (60p recording, 17 Mbps)
  • H: 1280 x 720 (60p recording, 13 Mbps)
• Motion JPEG:
  • HD (16:9): 1280 x 720, 30 fps
  • WVGA (16:9): 848 x 480, 30 fps
  • VGA (4:3): 640 x 480, 30 fps
  • QVGA (4:3): 320 x 240, 30 fps

MEGA Optical Image Stabilizer: MEGA O.I.S. technology helps solve the problem of unintentional hand movement that can result in blurry images, particularly with telephoto shots. Gyrosensors built into the lens detect hand-shake, and the O.I.S. lens shifts to compensate, to give you clear blur-free shots. You can turn on the O.I.S. using the 2-way switch on the supplied lens, and in the shooting menu, choose from the following modes:

• Mode 1: The stabilizer operates continuously and can assist during photo composition
• Mode 2: The stabilizer function is in standby and activates at the moment the shutter captures the image. This mode offers a greater degree of stabilization.
• Mode 3: Camera shake is corrected for up/down movements. This mode ideal for panning.
• Off: When image stabilization is not desired or when using the camera with a tripod

Battery: The GH2 is powered by a rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery (DMW-BLC12PP). When used with the supplied 14-42mm lens, you get approximately 165 minutes of recording time, or about 330 images, using the 3.0" LCD monitor. When using the viewfinder only, you get approximately 170 minutes of recording time, or about 340 pictures. Playback time using the LCD monitor is approximately 250 minutes. The battery takes approximately 140 minutes to fully charge with the supplied DE-A79B battery charger. You can also operate the camera on standard household current when the optional DMW-DCC8 DC cable is used with the optional DMW-AC8PP AC adapter.

Touch Panel LCD Monitor: The DMC-GH2 has a 3" TFT color touch panel LCD monitor featuring approximately 460,000 dots. It has approximately 100% field of view. The free-angle LCD flips out and rotates 180° horizontally and 270° vertically to make it easy for you to shoot from extreme angles without getting into an awkward position.

LCD Viewfinder: In addition to the 3" LCD monitor, the GH2 has a color LCD viewfinder with approximately 1,533,600 dots. It has a field of view of approximately 100% and a -4 to +4 diopter to adjust the viewfinder focus to your eyesight. The auto eye sensor will turn on the viewfinder and turn off the LCD monitor as you raise the camera to your eye.

Microphone: The DMC-GH2 has a built-in stereo microphone on the top of the camera. It is used to record audio when shooting movies, or adding audio to still images already recording. Wind noise can be reduced when recording by using the Wind Cut feature. You can add an external microphone, such as the optional DMW-MS1 stereo microphone, which plugs into the camera's 2.5mm sub-mini jack (labeled Mic/Remote).

Pop-up Flash: The GH2 has a pop-up flash with a range of approximately 1.48' to 20.3' when the 14-42mm lens is used. An optional external flash, such as the DMW-FL220 (133FL220) or DMW-FL360 (133FL360), can be attached to the camera's hot shoe. Available flash modes include:

• Auto: The flash is automatically activated when the recording conditions make it necessary.
• Auto/Red-eye Reduction: A pre-flash is activated before the main flash to reduce the red-eye phenomenon.
• Forced Flash On: The flash is activated every time regardless of the recording conditions.
• Forced Flash On/Red-eye Reduction: The flash is activated every time with a pre-flash to reduce red-eye effect.
• Slow Sync: When taking pictures against a dark background landscape, this feature will slow the shutter speed when the flash is activated to make the background appear brighter.
• Slow Sync/Red-eye Reduction: Same as Slow Sync, but with pre-flash to reduce red-eye effect.
• Forced Flash Off: Flash is not activated regardless of the recording conditions.

Recording Modes: Using the top-mounted mode dial, you can choose from the following recording modes:

• Intelligent Auto: the camera sets the most appropriate settings to match the subject and recording conditions. Recommended for beginners.
• Program AE: the camera automatically sets the shutter speed and the aperture value according to the brightness of the subject
• Aperture-priority AE: the shutter speed is automatically determined by the aperture value you set
• Shutter-priority AE: the aperture value is automatically determined by the shutter speed you set
• Manual Exposure: the exposure is adjusted by the aperture value and the shutter speed, which are manually adjusted
• Custom Modes (C1, C2, C3): allows you to take pictures with previously selected settings
• Motion Picture Mode: this mode allows you to record motion images with audio
• Scene Modes: Allows you to take pictures using a setting that matches the scene being recorded: Peripheral Defocus, Night Portrait, Night Scenery, Sunset, Party, Sports, Baby1/Baby2, and Pet
• My Color Mode: Once the Mode Dial is set to My Color Mode, you can use the rear dial to choose from the following: Expressive, Retro, Pure, Elegant, Monochrome, Dynamic Art, Silhouette, and Custom
• Portrait: You can use the rear dial to choose from the following: Normal Portrait, Soft Skin, Outdoor Portrait, Indoor Portrait, and Creative Portrait
• Scenery: You can use the rear dial to choose from the following: Normal Scenery, Nature, Architecture, and Creative Scenery
• Close-up: You can use the rear dial to choose from the following: Flower, Food, Objects, Creative Close-up

Film Mode: You can select up to 10 different color tones and contrasts for the recorded images that simulate various types of film for film cameras. You can choose from the following:

• Color: Standard, Dynamic, Smooth, Nature, Nostalgic, or Vibrant
• Black & White: Standard, Dynamic, or Smooth
• Cinema (for movies)
• My Film 1 & 2
• Multi Film

Self Timer: The self timer is useful when you want to include yourself in the picture when recording still images. The delay time for single shots can be set to 10 seconds or 2 seconds. You can also set the self timer to take 3 pictures after a 10 second delay. The second and third picture are taken in two second intervals after the first.

Exposure Compensation: If you are shooting against a bright background or strong backlight, you may need to correct the exposure so that the subject doesn't come out too dark. You can set the adjustments from -3 to +3 in 1/3-step increments.

Auto Bracket: In this mode, a maximum of 7 pictures are automatically recorded by each press of the shutter button according to the compensation range of the exposure. You can choose from the following:

• Steps: 1/3 EV or 2/3 EV
• Number of pictures: 3, 5, or 7
• Sequences: [0 / - / +] or [- / 0 / +]

Burst Mode: Pictures are taken continuously while the shutter button is pressed. You can choose a Super High Speed (40 pictures per second, High Speed (5 per second; 4.5 for RAW), a Middle Speed (3 per second), or a Low burst rate (2 per second). When no RAW files are taken, you can shoot up to the capacity of the memory card. When RAW files are used, the camera can take between 4 and 7 total pictures.

White Balance: You can choose from the following white balance modes:

• Auto: automatically adjusts the white balance
• Daylight: for recording outdoors on a bright day
• Cloudy: for recording under a cloudy or shaded area sky
• Shade: for recording outdoors in the shade on a bright day
• Incandescent: for recording under incandescent lighting
• Flash: for taking a picture with flash only
• White Set 1, 2, 3, 4: for using a stored white balance setting taken manually
• Preset Color Temperature: for using a preset color temperature
• Fine Adjustment: you can finely adjust the white balance toward Amber, Blue, Green, or Magenta
• White Balance Bracketing: The bracket setting is based on the adjustment values for the WB Fine Adjustment. Three pictures with different colors are automatically recorded when the shutter button is pressed once.

ISO Sensitivity: ISO sensitivity represents the sensitivity to light in values. If you set the ISO sensitivity higher, the camera becomes more suitable for recording in dark places. When setting to Auto, the ISO sensitivity is automatically adjusted from ISO100 to ISO12800 according to the brightness. In the intelligent ISO setting, the camera will automatically set the optimal ISO sensitivity and the shutter speed according to the movement of the subject and the surrounding brightness. In the Preset ISO mode, you can select 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200, 4000, 5000, 6400, 8000, 10000, or 12800.

Metering Modes: You can select from the following metering modes:

• Multiple: camera measures the most suitable exposure by judging the allocation of brightness on the whole screen automatically
• Center Weighted: used to focus on the subject on the center of the screen and measure the whole screen evenly
• Spot: camera measures the subject in the spot metering target

Auto Focus Mode: You can choose one of the following AF modes:

• Face Detection: Camera automatically detects a person's face, adjusting the exposure and focus to fit the face, regardless of what portion of the picture it is in. (maximum of 15 areas)
• AF Tracking (Dynamic Tracking): Focus and exposure can be adjusted to a specified subject. Focus and exposure will follow the subject, even if it moves.
• 23-area Focusing: Up to 23 points for each AF area can be focused. This is effective when the subject isn't in the center of the screen.
• 1-area Focusing: Camera focuses on the subject in AF area on the center of the screen. Position and size of AF area can be changed.

Manual Focus: You can focus manually by rotating the focus ring on the lens. This is useful when you want to fix the focus, or when the distance between the lens and the subject is determined and you do not want to activate auto focus.

Still Image Playback: You can manually display images one at a time, 12 at a time, or 30 images at a time.

Slide Show: Images can be played back in slide show fashion. You can set the duration between images at 1 sec, 2 sec, 3 sec, or 5 sec. You can also set on or off the repeat mode, music, and audio.

Calendar Playback: You can display pictures by recording date using the calendar playback function. If there are multiple pictures with the same recording date, the first picture recorded on that date is displayed.

Playback Zoom: You can view the picture at the original size, or enlarge the picture to 2x, 4x, 8x, or 16x. Using the arrow buttons, you can move the position of the zoomed picture in the monitor.

Auto Review: After an image is recorded, it will appear in the LCD screen for a preset number of seconds for reviewing. Auto Review lets you choose one of the following settings: Off, 1 second, 3 seconds, 5 seconds, or Hold. You can also view pictures at 4x zoom for 1, 3, or 5 seconds, if desired.

Resizing Pictures: This function is useful if you want to reduce the file size of the picture in cases when it needs to be attached to an e-mail or uploaded to a website. Once an image is resized, you can choose to keep the original image. You can set up to 50 pictures to be resized at one time.

Cropping Pictures: This function lets you crop unnecessary parts of the recorded picture. Motion pictures, pictures with audio, pictures with text stamps, and RAW images (include RAW + Standard and RAW + Fine) cannot be cropped.

PictBridge Printing Capability: Using the supplied USB cable, you can connect this camera directly to a PictBridge compliant printer. PictBridge is the standard that allows you to connect a PictBridge compliant camera directly to a PictBridge compliant printer and make prints, regardless of brand.

Lens Hood: In bright sunlight or backlight, the lens hood will minimize lens flare and ghosting. The lens hood cuts off excess lighting and improves the picture quality.

Inputs and Outputs Notes

HDMI: The GH2 has a mini-HDMI (Type C) for connecting the camera to an HDMI-compatible TV. A mini-HDMI to full-size HDMI cable is necessary to connect the camera to an HDMI-compatible TV. If connected to a VIERA Link-compatible Panasonic TV, you can control the camera using the TV's remote control. The unit is compatible with VIERA Link Ver. 5.

Digital/AV Out: This proprietary jack allows you to connect the camera to your computer with the supplied USB cable. You can also connect the camera to a TV or other A/V device using the supplied audio/video cable.

Remote/Mic: A 2.5mm sub-mini jack is provided for use with an optional remote control or external microphone. With the optional DMW-RSL1 remote shutter release you can avoid camera shake when using a tripod, and allows you to to keep the shutter pressed fully when taking pictures in the Bulb or Burst mode. An external microphone, such as the DMW-MS1 stereo microphone, can be mounted to the accessory shoe and plugged into the sub-mini jack.

Supplied Software

PHOTOfunSTUDIO 6.0 BD Edition (Windows XP/Vista/7 only): This software allows you to acquire pictures to the PC, and categorize the acquired pictures by their recording date or the model name of the camera used. You can also resize pictures, add effects, and load AVCHD Lite movies to burn to DVD. Compatible with:

SILKYPIX Developer Studio 3.1 SE: This is software to edit RAW format images. Using RAW files recorded on this camera allows images to be edited with a higher quality and saved in a format (JPEG, TIFF) that can be displayed on a PC. Compatible with: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP; Mac OS X v10.4, v10.5, or v10.6

Super LoiLoScope 30 Day Full Trial Version: Super LoiLoScope is a video editing software that draws out the full power of your PC. You can incorporate your music, picture, and video files to create videos to share with friends and family by burning it to a DVD, uploading it to websites, or simply share your videos via email.