GH3 rolling shutter examples

The Panasonic GH3 has a very useful feature, the electronic shutter. One disadvantage of the function is that it suffers from quite severe rolling shutter artefacts. Read more about it here.

Here are some example images, taken with the electronic shutter, the mechanical shutter, and a still image from the video output:

Electronic shutter (f/1.7, 1/250s, ISO 200):

Mechanical shutter (f/1.7, 1/250s, ISO 200):

Video still image:

We see that the electronic shutter has a slower sequential readout than the video mode. This is unlike the Panasonic GH2, which used the video output for the electronic shutter mode, and they shared the same rolling shutter properties. But then again, you only got a 4MP image with the GH2 electronic shutter mode, and it was quite unsharp, probably scaled up from 1080 lines or thereabouts.

This will be my last Panasonic GH3 related article for a while, and the review I am writing will be delayed. The reason is that I have delivered the camera for a warranty repair: The automatic switching between the LCD and EVF suddenly stopped working.

My GH1 and GH2 have operated flawlessly for years. It is perhaps ironic that the GH3 was my first Panasonic camera to require a repair, since it is marketed as being extra solid and weather proof.

The last time I had a Panasonic item for repair, due to uneven aperture diaphragm blades, they kept the lens for three months. And when I did hear from them, they just gave me a brand new lens, which turned out to exhibit exactly the same problem.

I'm hoping they don't keep my GH3 for as long.