My G6 had exipred warrenty, so I took it apart myself to get the screw out, turned out fine!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10985473_10153139928269617_6339381489964913507_n.jpg?oh=e8db3871517fd3608d3808aec3b86279&oe=554A9053&gda=1432078661_64b0b8ed0b62e7de7dcd2afa7b83fb69

https://scontent-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10646899_10153139928584617_8756675000024777571_n.jpg?oh=7f8b286bae25a7e249b46f711127e524&oe=554B55BB

The loose crew was the shiny one. My camera is working well and no more fear of shorting up something inside now!

@mcoser -- I really like the audio and the G6 looks pretty stunning under the bright lights. Just wondering though if my eyes are wonky or is there quite a lot of focus hunting?

Morning all!

I am still loving this camera..just looking for shooting advice. I currently have two lenses, the new 14-140 3.5-5.6 which gives me both great focal length options, autofocus and OIS. On the down side the image is a bit too clinical and it is pretty much useless indoors and in low light. I also have the Voigtlander 25mm 0.95 which is great in low light, gives great shallow dof and a unique look but has no autofocus, OIS and only one focal length.

Most of my videos comprise of family stuff, candid and spontaneous but I still wish to retain a certain cinematic aesthetic to my work so invariably I try and stick to the 180 degree shutter rule and also get shallow dof where and when I can.

The issue I have is the run and gun nature of my work and how easy it is to obtain the above aesthetics with this in mind? I can never hand my camera to someone to film for me when the Voigtlander is on it and I have a ND filter controlling the exposure as no newbie will know what to do and how to focus and how to maintain exposure.

In these and a lot of scenarios I find myself sticking with the 14-140 and putting it in shutter priority mode, sticking the shutter speed at 1/50 and leaving it on all auto. This allows anyone to pick up the camera and film as if it was a camcorder. The beauty of this is I can actually be in the videos, and also the camera stays at 1/50 so the film look motion blur is retained. Also everything is pretty much in focus as the aperture value to maintain the right exposure will be small around f11-f15.

The downside of this is the videos can still look video like as everything is in focus with the small aperture and at the image can become soft. I cannot get any shallow dof also unless I shoot at the long focal range.

I rarely use the voigtlander without some sort of support like a monopod or tripod as handheld is too jittery. This again means this lens is not ideal for run and gun and with the lack of auto anything it cannot be used or handled by anyone else.

I am wondering how others who must be in my shoes (family they want to film at the same time want to keep a good film like aesthetic) manage to get round these hurdles and if you have any tips or tricks?

@CBGB Be careful what you wish for. I went from a hacked GH2 to a BMPCC and now I am back with a G6. Even though I feel I know my stuff when it comes to working a camera I found the bmpcc to much of an evil mistress and it was too hard to get decent footage out of it.

I also had to spend a lot of money adding extras to the bare bones camera, like 20 batteries, 10 memory cards, IR filters, cages etc.

If you get it right you can get some great stuff from the bmpcc but beware it is no dslr...

I AM NOT SELLING MY HACKED GH2! I do have a GH4. The GH2 is still a stunning OVER ENGINEERED camera and driftwood and others unlocked the pathway to a even better camera. Friends still say to me "i want to buy a cheap DSLR that has good video for under £340" and my reply is get a decent GH2 and hack it....Job Done....UPDATE i just looked at the G6 price...WOW didnt know it was that cheap!

What do you guys think about ETC mode on the G6? What are your experiences? I read something about that the ETC mode is much better in 60fps / 1080, I imagine that means also for Europeans 50fps / 1080 ETC mode is much better? But when I shoot on 24fps when it comes to editing, ETC shot on 50fps is not a great idea? Means you should shoot 25fps and ETC on 50fps? But 25fps is not as nice as 24fps... so what? Or shoot both non ETC and ETC on 24fps?

The G6 has 1080p60 but the GH2 only has 720p60. ETC mode is great on the G6 with minimal noise at lower iso (Up to 800 iso), better than the GH2 etc mode that has bad iso perfoamance in ETC mode above ISO 320.

I just upgraded from a G6 to a GH3, I will report my thoughts here after more use, but so far :

G6 Pros : Lighweigh, small, best EVF, good controls, great IQ, super cheap Cons : no headphone monitoring, cheapo plastic body, no weatherproofing, huge play in the mount with large lenses, bad handling with larger lenses, no grip avaiable

GH3 Pros : Solid body feel, Great handling with heavy lenses, weatherproofing, very good controls once set-up well, nice screen (even if it shows "banding" sometimes), seems to render movement better than the G6 with slighely more noise performance, better photo iso performance Cons : really bad EVF, screen articulation is not built as strong as the GH4 more like the G6 despite heavier screen

@Adam_Mercier Just got my G6 a few weeks ago, I think its absolute great. Video features are great. I much prefer it to my GH3 which I will sell pretty soon. Don't need higher bitrates. Could never make "friendship" with GH3. Still keep also my GH2. What do you use the 1080/50fps for a part from slow motion?

I concur with gameb, I also prefer the g6 over the gh3. I also have the gh4, but I can't seem to part with my g6 or gh2. I have to say the g6 is my favorite camera to shoot when it comes to dslr style bodies. I do like the gh4, however I haven't fall'n in love with it like I did with the g6. I find the G6 has an incredibly beautiful image, it seems very filmic if shot right. The gh4 has about 1-stop more latitude, but again, if you pick your shots wisely and use the camera to it's strengths it really shines and can intercut with the gh2, gh3, or even the gh4. In terms of weather proofing, I had my G6 in a Gini rig gh2 cage with a 14mm lens, holding it out my car window while driving, I didn't realize it was getting soaked from the tires kicking up slushy snow/water. When I pulled the camera back in the car it was dripping wet, looked as if I submerged it under water. I popped out the battery, wiped it down, let it dry on the dashboard heater for about ten minutes and Viola, fired up, no issues, no malfunctions or burned out circuits. Good as new. I don't recommend drenching your camera, but it's more durable than it gets credit for. Granted it's not titanium alloy under the hood, but it's not as cheaply made as some suggest. Throw a small piece of gaffers tape over the top speaker holes to weatherproof extra. Also the EVF is amazing, Much better than the gh3, focus peaking is good, not as good as the gh4's, but if you don't go all the way down on contrast and sharpening it works fine for pulling focus. Also love the ability to tap the LCD for 5x or 10x punch in for critical focusing. The G6 grades excellent for the bit rate, I don't understand how they got so much info stuffed in to the data rates, but it really does grade wonderfully, I've been able to pull highlights back that I would have thought for sure would be blown out. Overall, I can't say enough about the G6, Never would I have thought it would be my go to cam even after buying the GH4. My biggest gripe is no live HDMI out while recording, but wifi to a tablet isn't all that bad, it's kind of an even trade due to the ability of operating the camera from the Ipad or tablet device which is handy for car scenes if the cam is rigged outside on the hood. In closing, I've shot the G6 on many a gigs and it's footage has been broadcast on television many times without ever hearing a single complaint. So if it's good enough for TV, it's good enough for me.

GH3 image is somehow electronic in comparison with GH2 (especially when using it with the 12-35mm zoom), EVF is a pain, the video record button drives me mad, good old GH2 was/is the one and G6 comes from the same roots, is so familiar to me, with a bit of peaking (in low light not responding perfectly, but as long as you know it, use MF help and you are fine...), and the ETC made the difference, I got one prime lens to work with, which always was my aim: a 24mm, 3.5f Takumar (the Takumars are my favorites lenses, I tried Leica, Zeiss, Minolta, Canon...), this lens becomes with a speedbooster aprox a 32mm, 2.5f, an allover lens, with tremendous filmic contrast, sharpness and colour character and then the G6 ETC mode, gives me aprox a 90mm close up lens even up to certain ISOs, which even with the GH2 was not really possible, and then for certain shots I use the Nokton 25mm 0.95f and for the "very ones" I use my favorite of all, the Takumar 85mm 1.8f, with or without speedbooster. So then with the G6 slowmotion and timelapse features, the great low light performance, the on camera sound with the excellent AT 875R microphone works brilliant, I have everything I need, even grading is good enough for me. I have no problem with the camera body of the G6, EVF is amazing, 3.5mm sound plug on the front is great, hack or no hack... we will see, I really don't care so far.

Is there any chance of getting the 29:59 recording limit removed from a G6? Is the limit enabled in all markets (eg USA, Japan) or only in the EU?

@1anentropic About removing the recording limit 29:59 from Euro PAL G6, it is impossible before @Vitaliy_Kiselev can hack the G6 and sadly the hack is not likely coming soon. If you want a PAL G6 without a recording limit, then your best chance you could get an Asian PAL G6 from this website. I myself have an Asian PAL G6 that I brought from my home country which does not have the recording limit 29:59.

If there a chance that once G6 is hacked, then I hope the hack will able to remove the recording limit, switch between PAL/NTSC, double the data rate, modify the matrix like in GH2 hack, and have an access to multi-aspect ratio like in GH1/GH2. I think that is enough.