Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1

Motion (7.45)

The Panasonic GF1 records with two different frame rates depending on what compression system you use. Using the MJPEG compression the camcorder records 30p footage. With AVCHD Lite the camcorder records at 60p, although the sensor output is still 30 frames per second. When we imported the GF1’s AVCHD Lite footage using Final Cut Express and iMovie we found the program having difficulty dealing with the 60p frame rate. The footage played back at double speed and looked sped-up. We attributed this problem to an incompatibility with the AVCHD Lite codec. When we viewed the footage on a television, however, it played perfectly fine (at the correct speed). Panasonic recommends using the MJPEG option when you plan on importing the video onto a computer, and using the AVCHD Lite when you plan on viewing your clips on an HDTV. More on how CamcorderInfo tests motion.

With the GF1, we noticed some artifacting and pixelation on the RGB pinwheel in our test footage, although it wasn’t that bad. It was similar to what we saw on the Nikon D5000’s test footage. The GF1 rendered choppy motion at times, but objects moved fluidly in most of our test footage.

The Olympus E-P1’s motion test video had slightly less artifacting than the Panasonic GF1, but it also rendered a smoother image. Like the GF1, the E-P1 also tops out with a 1280 × 720 resolution and it uses the MJPEG codec to capture video. The Olympus does not have an AVCHD or AVCHD Lite recording option and all its videos record at a 30p frame rate.

The Panasonic GH1 is probably the best video-capable DSLR we’ve seen when it comes to motion. It can capture Full HD video (1920 × 1080) with a 24p frame rate, or you can record 1280 × 720 video at 30p and 60p. The GH1’s Full HD mode did render some choppy motion, but the lower-resolution options captured smoother videos with less blur. The camera has a lot of options when it comes to frame rates, which makes it one of the most versatile video-DSLRs on the market.

The Nikon D5000 had a lot of problems capturing motion videos. First of all, the camera produced a terrible rolling shutter effect, which is something we’ve seen from all video-DSLRs that don’t use the Micro Four Thirds format. This rolling shutter added a significant amount of wobble whenever we panned or quickly moved the camera. Secondly, the Nikon D5000 had a lot of artifacting in our test video, and it rendered jagged lines on our black and white rotating pinwheel. The Nikon D5000 records 24p video at 1280 × 720 using the MJPEG compression.

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Video Sharpness (8.89)

The Panasonic GF1 did alright in our sharpness test, but its numbers weren’t as high as other cameras that record 720p video. The GF1 managed a horizontal and vertical sharpness of 575 lw/ph in our testing. These are slightly lower numbers than what the Olympus E-P1 and Nikon D5000 were capable of (both record 720p video). The Panasonic GH1 was obviously the leader here because it can capture video at a 1920 × 1080 resolution. When testing the GF1 we did not notice any difference in sharpness whether we used the camera’s MJPEG or AVCHD Lite shooting mode. More on how CamcorderInfo tests video sharpness.

Low Light Sensitivity (0.66)

Low light sensitivity is not one of the Panasonic GF1’s strengths. The camera needed 25 lux of light to reach 50 IRE on our waveform monitor when we shot using its 30p frame rate (MJPEG compression), and it required 29 lux of light to reach the same levels when shooting at 60p (AVCHD Lite compression). These numbers aren’t that much worse than what we’ve seen from other video-DSLRs, but they are worse nonetheless.

A lot of factors go into determining low light sensitivity—ISO settings, lens specs, sensor size, and pixel count just to name a few. The GF1 has a fairly fast, f/1.7 lens, which is why we’re surprised to see it have such a poor low light sensitivity in video mode. In video mode the camera sets ISO and shutter speed automatically, so you cannot use a slow shutter to boost performance in low light.