Shutter readout speed

The Panasonic GH3 has four different ways of starting and stopping an exposure. In this article, I will look at the properties of these shutter methods:

1. Mechanical shutter
2. Electronic shutter
3. High speed electronic shutter
4. Video frame readout

GH4: The game changer

The big news this week is of course the announcement of the Lumix GH4, the new Micro Four Thirds flagship camera from Panasonic.

While the Lumix GH3 was more about competing with pro DSLR cameras, the upcoming GH4 has the most breaking news in the video area. More about that further down.

Loss of contrast with macro rings?

I previously tested some cheap auto macro rings, and found them very useful for creating macro images and videos with ordinary lenses. Since this time, some concern has arisen that the macro rings can cause a loss of contrast in the images, due to a design flaw: The insides of the extension rings are glossy, which can cause unwanted reflections.

To test the side effects of the glossy insides, I tried to take images before and after sanding down the insides. Here is the ring inside before and after the sanding treatment:

Without treatment	After sanding the inside

Comparison @ 45mm

Many M4/3 lenses cover the 42-45mm focal length. And there is a good reason for that. This corresponds to 85-90mm in traditional 135 film format, which is the well known portrait focal length.

Here is a collection of M4/3 lenses covering 45mm, both primes and zoom lenses:

From left to right: Lumix X PZ 45-175mm f/4-5.6, Olympus 45mm f/1.8, Lumix X 35-100mm f/2.8, Panasonic-Leica 45mm f/2.8 1:1 macro (custom hood solution)