You’ve no doubt read the news articles, but here are a few things about the Panasonic Lumix GH5 that you may have missed…
Panasonic Lumix GH5: No Low Pass Filter
With the increase from 16.05-million-pixels to 20.3-million-pixels, Panasonic has decided to do away with the anti-aliasing, or low pass, filter. These filters are designed to slightly soften an image help reduce moire patterning. As sensor resolutions have increased low-pass filters have become less common, although the increased resolutions don’t always mean that moire patterning is avoided. It will certainly be interesting to see how the GH5 copes without such a filter, but overall it is a positive move that should result in more detailed images.
Panasonic Lumix GH5 Firmware Updates are already planned
Panasonic has already announced that it is planning to add further features to the Lumix GH5 in April 2017 and in the second half of 2017. The new features these updates will add are almost exclusively for videographers who will gain the following:
April 2017
Full HD 4:2:2 10bit video recording capability
Second Half of 2017
400Mbps 4:2:2 10bit All-Intra video recording in 4K 30p/25p/24p
Full HD video recording in Anamorphic mode
Hybrid Log Gamma which enables popular 4K HDR video recording
USB tethering
Panasonic Lumix GH5: 4:4:2 10-bit internal recording is a big deal for videographers
Whilst 6K photo will take most of the headlines, it is the 4:2:2 10-bit internal recording that will be the feature videographers are most looking forward to. We won’t go into too many details here, but generally most consumer cameras will record video to 4:2:0 8-bit codecs internally, only sending 4:2:2 10-bit video through a camera’s HDMI output, and there are only a handful of cameras that can do this. As far as consumer DSLR or mirrorless cameras go, the GH5 is the first to record at this quality internally, which will set it apart from the competition.
Panasonic Lumix GH5 has a new demosaicing process
Again, we wont get too bogged down with the details, but rather than sampling a 2×2 square of 2 green photodiodes and a single red and blue photodiode, the GH5 samples a 6×6 square area. This is nine times larger and Panasonic claim that this will improve colour accuracy and definition.
It will be interesting to see how third-party software deals with the raw files from the GH5 and whether they will be able to achieve the same sort of colour and detail as photos straight out of the camera.
The GH5 has a shutter with a 200,000 actuation life
Showing that the GH5 isn’t just about video, the camera has a shutter that can be fired over 200,000 times before failure. This is in line with most other cameras at the top end of manufacturers’ consumer line-ups, but doesn’t quite meet the 400,000 count quoted by Canon and Nikon in their EOS 1D X II and D5 professional DSLR cameras.
Shutter Shock has been reduced in the GH5
Although the GH5 uses the same sprung shutter as the GH4, the way it is mounted to the camera is different. The GH5 contains the shutter mechanism in a floating frame, which reduces camera vibration to 1/6th of what it was on the GH4. The end result should be fractionally sharper images at some shutter speeds.
Some lenses will need firmware updates for five-axis stabilisation
The following lenses all have a firmware update due in 2017
Lumix G Vario 12-32mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH. Mega O.I.S.,
Lumix G Vario 35-100mm f/4.0-5.6 ASPH. Mega O.I.S.
Lumix G Macro 30mm f/2.8 ASPH. Mega O.I.S.
Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2 ASPH. Power O.I.S.
While the Leica DG Vario-Elmar 100-400mm f/4.0-6.3 ASPH. Power O.I.S. is due a firmware update in February 2017.
The GH5 uses an HDMI A output
Despite the cameras relatively small size it uses a HDMI A socket, which accepts a full size HDMI cable. This is great news for videographers, and also for photographers who want to display their images straight from the camera to a television: the mini- and micro- sized sockets have a tendency to work loose over time, especially if you’re using the port a lot, so it’s nice to see a more robust connection here.
Pricing and Availibility
UK
The Panasonic Lumix GH5 will be available from March 2017:
£1699 Body only
£1899 Body & 12-60mm Lens
£2199 Body & Leica 12-60mm Lens
