The Olympus E-30 is priced at nearly $1300 without a lens or a video recording function. It offers an articulated screen and some advanced features, including two control dials to speed manual exposure settings and extensive customization options. We also like some of the fun features for shooting and in-camera image editing. Both cameras have issues with image noise (they have the same size sensor). Superior resolution, color accuracy and burst rate results give the Olympus some crediblity, but overall the Panasonic, with its exceptional Live View performance and first-rate video, is a better buy.

While the Nikon D5000 didn’t fare as poorly as the Canon Rebel T1i in our resolution testing, sharpness was still a problem when shooting stills with the camera, where the Panasonic GH1 performed well. Both cameras offer articulated displays that pivot for shooting at an angle, but the Nikon’s folds down rather than out to the side, which is less practical, especially since we found the extended screen on the GH1 made it easier to shoot steady video. And speaking of video, the Nikon can’t shoot at 1080p the way the Panasonic can and lacks the manual controls and continuous autofocus that make the GH1 a video star, albeit an expensive one.

One of the two sub-$1000 video-enabled SLRs available today, the Canon Rebel T1i does a decent job shooting video, with video color and noise performance roughly equal to the GH1, but at 1080p the Canon only captures 20 frames per second, which doesn’t look smooth. The Panasonic offers far more control over video shooting plus an external mic jack, both major advantages. For shooting stills, the GH1 is far superior when it comes to sharpness, though the Canon reproduces color far more accurately.

The first SLR to offer video recording capability, the Nikon D90 version of this feature suffers in comparison to the Panasonic GH1 in many ways, including lower resolution, a maximum clip size of 5 minutes, a distinct wobble effect when the camera is moved quickly, limited recording controls and the lack of autofocus while shooting..On the still photo front, though, the D90 is a superior choice, with better results in nearly every image quality lab test a more sophisticated system for manual control and a body built to take more punishment in rugged shooting situations.

If you’ve been tantalized by the idea of an interchangeable-lens camera that shoots high-def video, though, Panasonic delivers the goods. While video quality results aren’t radically better than the video-enabled SLRs we’ve tested, they are superior overall. More important, though, are two key factors. Unlike the SLRs, the Lumix GH1 offers an extraordinary level of control over your video shooting settings, including aperture, shutter speed and even ISO settings, plus fine adjustment of white balance, color and more.

A gallery of full-resolution sample images is also provided.

Judging it solely on its video capability, the Panasonic GH1 ($1499.95 MSRP) is a strong camera. It is the first video-capable DSLR that truly offers the gamut of manual controls that we expect to see from such a device. This isn’t all that surprising coming from Panasonic, which usually offers an extensive amount of manual controls on its consumer camcorders.

We were pleasantly surprised with the GH1’s autofocus system as well. You don’t have to push the shutter button halfway to engage it, and the camera doesn’t make any loud noises when it attempts to focus—both of which were problems on the Canon T1i and Nikon D5000. The GH1’s autofocus wasn’t quite as good as a regular camcorder’s, but it was pretty darn close.

Yes, on the GH1 you have manual control over shutter and aperature while in video mode. On the E-P1 you cannot.

The GH1 is an exceptional camera, but more than anything it is an exceptional video camera. In terms of still imaging it has some improvements on the previous G1 model, though these are not significant enough on their own to justify the huge price difference.

There’s also a gallery of full-resolution sample images with a nice variety of shots for you to assess the image quality of the Lumix GH1 with.