The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2: The Unofficial Quintessential Guide

This is one of the best supplemental how-to books introducing the features of a camera that I have ordered in over 30 years of film and digital shooting. Re the quality of the book design and printing first. It is printed on heavy acid free paper with fonts that are easy to read and a design and organization that makes sense. What do you get over the GH2 manual from Panasonic? Well, first the writers offer recommendations, without being pushy. The menus are illustrated in color which is key to their use and helps a lot. For the price I consider this an essential buy. I am glad I ordered it. Wonderful camera which takes some time to absorb. But the book writers are clearly serious photographers and do their best to help the user get the most out of the many fascinating and FUN capabilities on offer in the GH2 computer brain. Just buy this book. A steal at the price on Amazon.

From what I found, there are just no inviting books on this version of the Panasonic Lumix out there, and as popular as the GH2 and the 4/3 format have become, this is surprising. This "Unofficial Guide" reads pretty much like it was written by engineers rather than photographers, and if you read the credits you will find that is indeed the case. For me, it is just too tedious and spends far too little time on the merits of the camera for artistic production. There is just no fun in it.While I bought the camera primarily for its outstanding HD video output, I am still interested in exploring its still capability, and unfortunately while there is lots of information on the Internet related to achieving superior HD "movie" output, there is practically nothing on its use as a still camera. Also unfortunately, the menus and back screens of the camera are very complex and could use a well organized explanation beyond the very poorly written manual that ships with the camera.I love the camera, but what we really need is another book of the "missing manual" caliber. However, if one hasn't been written by this date, there probably won't be any. Perhaps for the GH3?

Reading the Panasonic manual for the GH2 is like studying Talmud, the Bhagavad Gita, or the Tao Te Ching: After 40 years of practice you may begin to understand the true meaning.For those of us who are less contemplative, it's great to have a clearly-written replacement manual written by people who have actually used the camera, and who have useful opinions about it. There are literally millions of permutations resulting from the dozens of settings this camera offers, and this guide provides some nice pathways through that jungle.I do agree that the video discussion is a once-over-lightly. Nevertheless, the book is well worth reading for the still photography sections that make up 95% of it.The one thing I had hoped to understand and still can't: How does the 2X tele extension provide twice the zoom with no loss of quality? After reading what they had to say about it, this "free lunch" still doesn't make sense to me. Anybody?

Like many, I bought my Panasonic GH2 primarily for shooting professional video with its still capabilities fairly low on my priority last as I shoot most of my stills with my Nikon 35mm film SLRs. I had hoped this Kindle book would be useful but am disappointed. Of 11 chapters in the book, only one --- chapter 10 --- is about shooting video with the GH2 and it's clearly not aimed at the advanced or professional shooter. For example, the authors recommend against shooting AVCHD and recommend shooting M-JPEG instead because it's easier to edit on a steam-powered computer. They also recommend using iMovie because it doesn't require transcoding AVCHD files before you can edit them. No mention is made of Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 which also handles AVCHD files natively and is several orders of magnitude more powerful than iMovie. The authors also fail to mention the many hacks available online for the GH2 that can, among other things, raise the AVCHD bitrate from 24mb/s to up to 155mb/s for increased image quality. The truth is I've learned a lot more about the GH2's capabilities from websites like 43rumors.com and eoshd.com than from the book.If you're a complete newbie to digital cameras, it's worth a look, but if you're seeking solid information about the video capabilities of the GH2, it's pretty much a waste.

I purchased the Kindle version. It is a very well thought out and designed book for developing familiarity with the GH2. As other reviewers have pointed out, there are a few details they got wrong, but having read the reviews informing me of their few but significant mistakes, I found their book essential in understanding the camera. I read the GH2 manual from cover to cover, and it really isn't that helpful. It's video section is a bit weak, but by reading up on the manual settings for photos, it actually does help make for better video shooting decisions.It saved me from hours of frustration and fumbling with buttons trying to figure out how they work together. Best accessory for the camera, so far!!

This is a well written, colorful and well illustrated addition or even replacement for the GH2 manual. It is what Panasonic should have produced for a camera of this level. However, there are three areas that disappointed me and that is why I gave it four stars. The three weak areas are the discussion of the video features, barely mentioning an external flash, and I just can't figure out why they did not include the 31 pages of detailed command descriptions that are offered on their web site but not in the manual.

This book has been a blessing in disguise. I was relying on the GH2 manual, but the documentation there is so lacking. Kind of felt that you have to know the camera really well to use the manual. This book has definitely helped me get up to speed with the camera. I really enjoy shooting with the GH2. The write up is very clear and concise and it is very easy to follow. I bought the print copy .. just wish that the author offered the digital copy (Kindle copy) for free when one purchases the print copy .. wishful thinking :-)

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2: The Unofficial Quintessential Guide Looking to use your GH2 and struggling to make head or tails of the instruction book? Order the Panasonic Lumix GH2 Unofficial Quintessential Guide, and find everything you will need to know within it's 200 or so pages. It is printed on first class paper with exceptional coloured images to guide you through the myriad programs of this distinguished camera. Keep the official handbook for its handy size for reference only, and get your brain up to speed in no time with this essential guide. As far as I know its the only one. If you have used this camera on intelligent auto only, take heart and open up its powerful possibilities easily by reading through first and referring back. Highly recommended. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2: The Unofficial Quintessential Guide

I own a Panasonic GF1 and have been delighted with the performance of the camera. However, the same can not be said about the Manual provided by Panasonic, which is hard to follow and not "user friendly".I saw a reference to the "Quintessential Guide" on the web and although there was not a Guide to the GF1 decided to buy the Guide to the GH2 believing that the operating systems on both cameras would be similar.I have not been disappointed. This is an excellent book, being very "readable" and presented in clear language that enables the reader to work through the camera controls in a logical sequence. I have no hesitation in recommending the book to users of Panasonic G cameras.

I bought a Lumix GH2 in February and found the instructions that came with it rather hard to follow. To be fair I was a novice user having last used an SLR back in the 80's! This book gave me the instruction I needed in a very well ordered and well written manner. I had confidence to use the manual modes(very very successfully!) and understood (almost) all the settings I needed to within a few days. It explains a lot of the "Why's" about using settings too, and gives recommendations. It is easy to revisit the book as a reference guide too! I would highly recommend this book to anyone with a GH2 who wants an excellent tutorial.

This book is a fantastic instruction manual as well as giving you recommendations on how best to set the camera in certain situations. Also looks at what kind of legacy lenses could be used and with what consequences. Lots of tips and ideas. A must have!

Comprehensive, so much easier to read than the manual, either dipping in or reading through.O o o o o