Panasonic DMC-GH1

	Color Summary
• Poor color accuracy test results • Standard mode oversaturated • Blues, greens and orange hues off even in most accurate mode, though flesh tones look OK • Good selection of film modes in both color and black and white • Long exposure test produces high color error • Long exposure noise reduction surprisingly effective
	Product Tour	Page 3 of 21	Noise

Color Accuracy (10.78)

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The GH1 fared poorly in our color accuracy tests, trailing the other tested cameras by a substantial margin. Of course, what we're testing here is color accuracy, not how pretty the colors look, but somewhere in the variety of color modes provided, we expect at least one to produce colors that match what we're seeing. The best result we found with the GH1 was the Smooth film mode, which was nearly identical to the Standard mode but with much more accurate saturation (the Standard mode was nearly 10% oversaturated).

We test color accuracy by shooting a standard X-Rite ColorChecker chart under controlled studio illumination, testing each available color mode to find the most accurate one and basing our scoring on that result. Images are analyzed using Imatest software. Click here for more on how we test color.

Even in Smooth mode, the blue, green and orange hues were off substantially, though the flesh tones looked about right. Standard mode was about as inaccurate overall, but the color shifts were more prominent in the reds and oranges. The more specialized film modes performed as expected, with Vibrant pumping up the blues and reds in particular, with a whopping 124% saturation. Dynamic was strategically similar but a bit more restrained, with 110% saturation and shifts in the red and blue hues. The Nature mode boosted reds and oranges (though surprisingly did little to the greens), with nearly 110% saturation. As for the Nostalgic mode, it achieves an old-time faded photo feel by undersaturating to 90%.

The following table shows same-size crops from the ColorChecker chart from the Panasonic GH1 and four recently reviewed SLRs we've chosen for comparison purposes, each in the camera's most accurate color mode. The patches in the Ideal column reflect the actual values from the original chart.

	Camera Color Comparisons
	Ideal	Panasonic GH1	Canon Rebel T1i	Nikon D5000	Nikon D90	Olympus E-30
Dark Skin
Light Skin
Blue Sky
	Ideal	Panasonic GH1	Canon Rebel T1i	Nikon D5000	Nikon D90	Olympus E-30
Foliage
Blue Flower
Bluish Green
	Ideal	Panasonic GH1	Canon Rebel T1i	Nikon D5000	Nikon D90	Olympus E-30
Orange
Purplish Blue
Moderate Red
	Ideal	Panasonic GH1	Canon Rebel T1i	Nikon D5000	Nikon D90	Olympus E-30
Purple
Yellow Green
Orange Yellow
	Ideal	Panasonic GH1	Canon Rebel T1i	Nikon D5000	Nikon D90	Olympus E-30
Blue
Green
Red
	Ideal	Panasonic GH1	Canon Rebel T1i	Nikon D5000	Nikon D90	Olympus E-30
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors.

Color Score Comparison

As shown in the chart above, the GH1 trails our group of comparison cameras in color accuracy.

NOTE: We updated our testing and scoring procedures in January 2009. For comparison purposes, we re-tested several cameras we'd reviewed in 2008, producing the score shown in the chart above for the Nikon D90. However, the scores in the original reviews for these re-tested cameras remain unchanged, for consistency's sake.

Color Modes (5.00)

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The GH1 supports a variety of "film modes," each of which includes adjustments for color, saturation and contrast. These include six settings in color (Standard, Dynamic, Nature, Smooth, Nostalgic and Vibrant) plus three in black and white (Standard, Dynamic and Smooth), plus the option to create and store two of your own settings combinations. There's even a bracketing option called Multifilm that will take a shot in three different modes sequentially with three separate shutter presses (it would be more useful if the camera simply adjusted the settings for a single shot, the way it does with white balance bracketing).

Example still life shots of each of these modes are included in the Picture Effects section. Here we have taken same-size crops from our shots of the X-Rite ColorChecker chart, shot in five of the available color mode (excluding black and white and custom settings). The names along the left side are the official color patch titles X-Rite uses.

	Color Mode Comparisons
	Ideal	Standard	Dynamic	Nature	Smooth	Vibrant
Dark Skin
Light Skin
Blue Sky
	Ideal	Standard	Dynamic	Nature	Smooth	Vibrant
Foliage
Blue Flower
Bluish Green
	Ideal	Standard	Dynamic	Nature	Smooth	Vibrant
Orange
Purplish Blue
Moderate Red
	Ideal	Standard	Dynamic	Nature	Smooth	Vibrant
Purple
Yellow Green
Orange Yellow
	Ideal	Standard	Dynamic	Nature	Smooth	Vibrant
Blue
Green
Red
	Ideal	Standard	Dynamic	Nature	Smooth	Vibrant
Yellow
Magenta
Cyan

NOTE: Because of the way computer monitors reproduce colors, the images above do not exactly match the originals found on the chart or in the captured images. The chart should be used to judge the relative color shift, not the absolute captured colors.

Long Exposure (5.31)

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Our long exposure test combines color accuracy and image noise, neither of which is a strength of this camera even under normal shooting conditions, producing a result here that trails the competition by a substantial margin. We shoot the ColorChecker chart under low lighting (20 lux and below) with exposure times of 1, 5, 10, 15 and 30 seconds, with long exposure noise reduction turned off and turned on. The good news here is that, unlike most cameras we test, the long exposure noise reduction system did prove highly effective. However, since it takes a toll on timing (doubling the time it takes to shoot a photo) and image quality, our testing combines the scores under both shooting conditions. Click here for more on how we test long exposure.

Panasonic GH1 Long Exposure Color Error

As shown above, the color error was at least consistent across shutter speeds, but it was very high throughout -- roughly double what we found with the Nikon D5000, for example. 

Panasonic GH1 Long Exposure Noise

Even at one second the noise level is above 1% and, without long exposure noise reduction, reaches nearly 10% at 30 seconds. The moral of the story is simple: by all means make sure you have NR set to On when taking night shots.

Long Exposure Score Comparison

NOTE: We updated our testing and scoring procedures in January 2009. For comparison purposes, we re-tested several cameras we'd reviewed in 2008, producing the score shown in the chart above for the Nikon D90. However, the scores in the original reviews for these re-tested cameras remain unchanged, for consistency's sake.
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