Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1

Auto Mode

Panasonic was one of the first companies to use the camera's built-in brain to attempt scene recognition during automated shooting. Instead of a straightforward auto mode, which simply looks at lighting condtions and assigns an exposure, the company's Intelligent Auto system attempts to figure out what is the frame  — a face, a landscape, fast-moving action, close-up objects, etc. — and match the settings to an appropriate scene mode. The iteration of Intelligent Auto built into the GH1 adds face recognition that lets the user register a face in memory and have the camera prioritize settings to favor that individual. Most other available image control settings are also handled by the Intelligent Auto system, including dyanamic range enhancement and autofocus tracking.
 

Movie Mode

This is the GH1's be-all and end-all capability, and we have to say up front that given a pre-release camera with work-in-progress firmware at a trade show, we couldn't perform our own video quality assessment at this time. We do know what's offered, though, and learned a few things from the sample video Panasonic proudly displayed for us. 

The GH1 will shoot in two different high-definition modes: 1080i (1920 x 1080 resolution) at 24 frames per second, and 720p (1280 x 720) at 60 frames per second, with Dolby stereo sound, stored in compact AVCHD files. The fact that the 1080 mode is interlaced, and runs at 24 rather than 30 frames per second, indicates that even with a new sensor, the CCD system can't move data as quickly as a true consumer HD camcorder (yes, 24 frames per second does look more film-like, but many shooters prefer the smoother movement of 30 frames per second, or at least having that option). This conclusion was reinforced by watching Panasonic's sample videos. We have to say that these professionally produced outdoor scenes did look wonderfully crisp, clear and highly saturated even on a big-screen HDTV set. However, when showing off the 1080 mode, the camera showed a still outdoor scene where only a few blades of grass could be seen moving, and the camera panned slowly and gently to one side. Demonstrating the 720p mode, on the other hand, they showed us a beautiful woman with hair flying in the breeze beside moving waves at the beach, children cavorting together and a dog chasing a Frisbee. This may be a 1080-resolution camera, but most real-life video will apparently be shot in 720 mode. And low-light capability will remain a mystery until we can work with a production-model camera — not even sample footage was shown. 

On the plus side, the controls for video recording are extensive, including the ability to directly control aperture and shutter speed for artistic effects. Most importantly, this gives you control over depth of field. When shooting with a consumer camcorder, the entire scene will ordinarily be sharp and clear from front to back. When you can control aperture, though, you can control depth of field, so the subject you're shooting can be sharp while the background is blurry, focusing attention where you want it to be. 

Also important is the option to use continuous autofocus, which follows your moving subject and adjusts accordingly. Neither the Canon 5D Mark II nor the Nikon D90, the two current SLR cameras with video recording capability, offer this feature, and it's an important one if your movies actually include stuff that moves. 

Another interesting movie feature is the availability of six scene modes to allow shooters some customization options without having to comprehend the complexity of manual settings.  

And lest we forget, standard-definition video can be shot at 848 x 480 (widescreen), 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 resolutions, all at 30 frames per second.
 

Drive/Burst Mode

According to Panasonic, the GH1 will shoot at up to 3 frames per second, with no limit on the number of consecutive shots (other than memory card capacity) when shooting JPEGs.

Playback Mode

The playback mode screen can be zoomed up to 16x, which is plenty of magnification for checking image sharpness. 12- and 16-image thumbnail displays are available, along with a calendar mode that sorts the stored images by the date they were shot. 

Some minor in-camera editing capabilities are available, including resizing, trimming, aspect conversion, and rotation, but nothing very elaborate. There is also a slideshow utility.

Custom Image Presets

The scene mode selection is organized in groups, with a major category and a variety of sub-settings. For example, choose Portrait as a category and you can then specify Normal, Soft Skin, Outdoor, Indoor, or Creative. Available scene mode groups include Portrait, Scenery, Sports, Close-up, Night Portrait, and the catch-all SCN, which includes sunset, party, baby and pet modes.