White Balance (8.16)

The camera’s poor color accuracy performance naturally spills over into disappointing results for our white balance testing, where we compare images shot under different lighting conditions against the actual color values of the X-Rite ColorChecker chart. We use a Macbeth Judge II lighting box to maintain precise color temperature control, shooting under daylight, tungsten and compact fluorescent illumination. We test both the performance of the automatic white balance and custom white balance systems. More on how we test color.

Automatic White Balance (8.39)

The automatic system consistently had difficulty producing accurately colored images. In each type of illumination we tested, the GH1 photos displayed significant color shift.

Custom White Balance (7.92)

Taking a custom white balance reading effectively eliminated the orange-red cast of photos shot under tungsten lighting, but the improvement under compact white fluorescents was minimal, and the automatic white balance system did about as well as the custom reading in daylight shots. The custom results aren’t bad, but we expect very high accuracy in this test, so the GH1 score is a bit low.

The color error when shooting under daylight was modest compared to the problems we found under incandescent and fluorescent lights, but the other cameras in our test group were more successful under the same conditions, with the exception of the Canon T1i.

The toughest test in our lineup is consistently incandescent lighting, which produces problems for virtually every camera. Here, while the Panasonic still can’t claim a good result, it was distinctly less bad than the competition.

Fluorescent lighting proved another significant obstacle for the GH1, producing overly warm results and a higher color error than the other cameras tested.

As shown below, the GH1 lags the field when it comes to white balance overall, though the difference isn’t extreme.