The Panasonic GH2 Micro Four-Thirds camera - recently released by Panasonic (and notoriously difficult to get hold of) is perhaps the most technologically advanced camera on the market today. It possesses; within its sleek black chassis, enough electronic wizardry to put the Apollo moon missions to shame. The GH2 is sitting next to me as I write this - and I turn my head now and again to look at it affectionately like one does with a good pet. It has an 18 mega pixel sensor, a high resolution touch-swivel screen, electronic viewfinder (not optical), LiveView (a feature that allows you to view the exposure/white balance/noise/iso/depth-of-field on screen before you've even taken the picture). I'm not going to go into the technical aspects - this is not a full review of the Panasonic GH2 - for that you can visit: www.dpreview.com OR Luminous-landscape.com
I love this camera because it's a case-in-point of possessing both beauty and brains in equal measure. It's small enough to fit inside my bag (though not small enough to fit inside my trouser pocket). Paired with the Voigtlander 25mm 0.95 lens, this baby becomes the ultimate low-light travel camera. With a maximum aperture of 0.95 you can take hand-held shots in almost total darkness (without flash) and get excellent results to boot. Perfect for those dodgy dark and dingy alleyways I love frequenting in stinking cesspool places. The other major feature is its ability to take full HD Movies with staggering professional results (just check out 'Youtube' if you don't believe me). I will be shooting some video in the near future - so watch this space.
I'd be more then happy to take this baby with me on my travels and leave the Canon 5D with its heavy clique of lenses at home. The Panasonic GH2 weighs approximately 1/4 the Canon gear, and there is little if any compromise in image quality or functionality. It's shutter and focus speeds are super responsive - it won't miss a shot - you will still get the decisive moment. The significant gains in weight and size really do add up when you're back-packing up steep mountain tops and high passes. On my previous travels I took along my Canon 5D, 2 lenses and a laptop - and it can be back-breaking!
More pictures to follow...
