More than your phone decides for you. On a phone, the camera makes most of the calls. This hands them back — you pick the aperture, the shutter, where the focus lands, how much the background blurs. Moving up from phone shots really means moving up to those decisions.
Whether you chose it or got assigned it. Curious about photography as a hobby, or freshly landed on the school paper's photo desk or the org's multimedia team — renting this lets you learn the craft before you're deep in it, with no gear to buy and none to resell if it's not your thing.
A video camera first. The GH2 built its reputation on video — full manual control while recording, a flip-out screen, a proper viewfinder. Handy if you're the one making the AVP or the event recap, not just shooting stills.
One lens, no decisions. The 12-32mm covers wide to short portrait, it's stabilized so handheld clips aren't shaky, and it collapses to pocket size. One less thing to think about while you're learning everything else.
Sample shots from the lens included in this kit.
Moving Up Kit
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 Mirrorless Camera
Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH. Lens
Click on each item for more details - opens in a new tab.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 Mirrorless Camera (opens in a new tab)
A Micro Four Thirds mirrorless camera that treated video as seriously as stills years before that was standard — it won TIPA's 2011 "Compact System Camera Expert" award, praised as "a true hybrid photo and video camera."
A favorite among early hybrid shooters for a reason: this was one of the first cameras to treat video as a real, first-class feature instead of an afterthought bolted onto a photo camera. That still holds up for a school AV club or student filmmaker who wants real manual control over exposure and focus — something a phone or basic point-and-shoot won't give them — without the price tag of newer gear.
Full HD Hybrid Video. Records Full HD 1080 video up to 60p/60i, with full manual control over aperture, shutter speed, and focus while recording — the reason this camera became a favorite for anyone shooting more than casual clips.
16MP Multi-Aspect Sensor. An 18-megapixel sensor with a multi-aspect design outputs a full 16 effective megapixels regardless of aspect ratio, so switching between 4:3, 3:2, and 16:9 doesn't cost field of view the way it does on most cameras.
Fast Contrast-Detect Autofocus. Panasonic rated this camera's autofocus at around 0.1 seconds with compatible lenses — competitive with phase-detection SLRs of the time — and it's still quick enough for casual action and street shooting today.
High-Resolution Electronic Viewfinder. A 1.53M-dot equivalent EVF with 100% field of view was considered one of the best viewfinders on any camera at launch, and still holds up well for framing in bright daylight.
Free-Angle Articulating LCD. The 3-inch screen swings out and rotates to almost any angle, useful for low shots, high shots, or filming yourself directly — well ahead of the fixed and simple-tilt screens common on cameras from this era.
Full Manual Video Control. Aperture, shutter speed, and ISO are all adjustable mid-recording, not locked to an automatic mode the way many hybrid cameras of this era treated video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyhktKmXVUA
Manual
See Real Photos Shot on This Camera (Flickr Gallery)
4K 50/60p With The Lumix GH2 | Orion Hack
Review and Setup Guide
Panasonic Lumix G Vario 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH. Lens (opens in a new tab)
A collapsible, pocket-sized standard zoom for Micro Four Thirds cameras - the only lens in this catalog with built-in image stabilization, twisting down to pancake size when not in use.
Perfect for: a day spent exploring on foot - a new part of the city, a weekend market, a trip home to the province - with no tripod in sight. The built-in stabilization steadies handheld shots and video clips that would otherwise show every footstep, and the whole thing collapses down small enough to live in a bag without anyone noticing it's there.
Built-In Optical Image Stabilization. Panasonic's Mega O.I.S. system compensates for handheld shake in both photos and video - genuinely useful walking through an event with no tripod or gimbal.
24-64mm-Equivalent Standard Zoom. Micro Four Thirds' 2x crop factor turns this 12-32mm zoom into a 24-64mm field of view, covering everything from wide group shots to a modest close-in crop in one lens.
Collapsible Pancake Design. Retracts down to pancake size for storage - just remember to twist the zoom ring past the 12mm mark to extend it before shooting, or the camera will refuse to fire and prompt to extend the lens.
Fast Stepper-Motor Autofocus. A 240fps sensor drive keeps autofocus quick and quiet, useful for both fast-moving stills and unobtrusive video work.
Exceptionally Light. At just 70g, it's barely noticeable mounted on a Micro Four Thirds body - one of the lightest zoom lenses available for the system.
7-Blade Rounded Diaphragm. Seven rounded aperture blades keep out-of-focus highlights soft and circular rather than polygonal, even at a modest maximum aperture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZxyul0Iuus
Manual
See Real Photos Shot With This Lens
Using This Lens for Video (Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Test)
Not quite what you need? These are ready to go too.
Everyday Photography
Barkada hangouts and spontaneous plans · Day trips and errands you didn't plan on documenting · Candid shots of people who tense up around big cameras
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Travel Photography
Island hopping and beach trips · Whale shark or wildlife encounters · Any weather, not just the sunny days
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Beauty Portraiture, Events Photography
Debuts and birthdays · Graduation and recognition day · Portrait sessions
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Beauty Portraiture, Events Photography
Weddings and big debuts · Professional headshots · When you can't risk a soft shot
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