Panasonic GH5 Real- world Comprehensive Review and Comparisons with the Sony a. S IIDisclosure: Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. Please help support wolfcrow and buy from B& H and Amazon. It won’t cost you anything extra. Disclaimer: Unless specified explicitly, no sponsored or free gear was used in this review, and nor was the reviewer paid or compensated for in any manner, monetary or otherwise. Mistakes, errors of omission and biases will clearly creep into this review, and any generalizations made is personal opinion derived from the review of the specific gear(s) and model(s) used. Manufacturer tolerances are poor, even for well- known brands, and your mileage may vary. Do not make any decisions or purchases based on this review. You are responsible for your own actions. For a detailed understanding of the wolfcrow review framework, ratings, etc., click here. Review rating: ***List of sponsored/free gear: None. Did I get paid for this review? No. This is the complete and comprehensive real- world review of the Panasonic GH5 (B& H, Amazon) camera for video production. The Canon EOS C100 Mark II Cinema EOS Camera with Dual Pixel CMOS AF is Canon's updated version of the C100 designed for event videographers, documentarians, and.We will also compare it to the Sony a. S II (B& H, Amazon) to see which one’s the best option for video work. Let’s get started. Free Videos and Cheat Sheets: Watch the Videos and Download my free cheatsheets on exposing V- Log for the Panasonic GH5, grading V- log, reducing noise and banding, and my favorite photo styles and camera settings. This camera is a landmark camera because it offers features never before seen in this price range: 1. K @ 6. 0 fps. 4: 3 anamorphic mode, and probably a 6.
K version as well in the future. Mbps internal intraframe codec (coming in a firmware update)Before reading and watching the review, it is important to first understand the major goals for this review: Is the GH5 a good upgrade for those coming from another platform? If you currently own a GH4, should you upgrade to the GH5? If you’re shooting video, is the a. S II better than the GH5 for the higher price? For video shooters, I’ll try to assess and give my thoughts on what projects the a. S II is suited for: Features films. Short films. Corporate videos. Documentaries – feature length. Documentaries – short length. Wedding videos. Music videos. Commercials. Sports. Wildlife. ENG/EFPLive events. We will also look into whether or not it’s wise to invest in a Panasonic system at all, what lenses to pick, ergonomics, ISO performance, rolling shutter, and finally, which setting works best – V- Log or another Photo Style. Why did I buy the Panasonic GH5? A month ago I decided to put this piece on the ideal way to set up your Canon 5D MKII for video. I had an inclination that the release of the 5D MKIII was imminent. I bought the Panasonic GH5 (B& H, Amazon) for the following specific scenarios and conditions: Pure video shooting camera with continuous recording. Adaptability to anamorphic lenses. Personal documentary and video projects in 4. KA . Here’s my comprehensive real- world review of the Panasonic GH5: Summary and Notes. The following is a summary of whatever I’ve covered above: About log shooting. I hate to break it to you, but log is not easy. In fact, there are three ways to shoot video: RAW, log and baked- in (Rec. Currently if you record log internally you’ll find a lot of macro blocking and artifacts when you apply LUTs. Stay tuned for my V- Log guide, coming in a few days. About using LUTs. LUTs have their place, but it’s not a magic bullet. In fact, it’s like the drug that cures one thing, but with devastating side effects. I’m not a big fan of LUTs, but if you’re interested in it here’s a comparison I’d made earlier of Film Emulation LUTs – Filmconvert vs Magic Bullet Film vs Juan Malera’s free LUTs: Audio quality. Really good and clean. Reference audio from the internal microphone is useful. Rolling shutter. It is noticeably better than the a. S II. No issues here. Resolution – UHD vs 4. K, which to pick? Both are equally good. I’ve tested both and here’s a blind test for you. One is C4. K and the other is UHD uprezzed to match. Can you tell which is which (right- click for full- rez version)? Bottom line? It doesn’t matter. Nobody can tell. VFR (Variable Frame Rate)VFR mode allows you to shoot up to 1. As you can see from the video, it works beautifully. HDMI quality and options. Clean HDMI, full resolution, and you can dual record 4. K to both external recorder and internally at the same time. However, if you’re recording 4. K 6. 0p externally in 4: 2: 2, then you can only record 8- bit internally. Weather protection and toughness. It is weather- proof and tough. I’ve put it under the shower, literally. Manual Focusing. Excellent in both video and stills mode. Focus peaking works great. When you punch in too much the image loses sharpness, and it’s impossible to tell if something is in focus. The same applies for low light situations as well. The EVF isn’t very useful here. Aliasing and moire. None. This is a true 1: 1 sensor readout, it doesn’t get any better than this. Lenses. In my preliminary guide I’ve gone through the options. Check it out . Filmic and organic, but you must know how to shoot and expose correctly. Otherwise you’re going to see ugly noise. Battery life. Great battery life. I consistently get about 4 hours of normal usage (which includes on- off, doing other stuff, etc.). However, depending on what you’re doing your results might be lower. I think if you have four batteries you are set. Since Panasonic India couldn’t ship me batteries I ordered Wasabi batteries, and they work great. It is useful for You. Tubers like myself but other than that I really can’t rely on it. Dynamic Range. I get a good usable 1. I want. Here’s a comparison of the dynamic range between the GH5 and the a. S II, first under normal exposure (exposed for 4. IRE middle grey, right- click for full resolution): The one on the bottom is the GH5. Don’t worry about the warp or the vignette in the top left corner, that’s the lens I’m using. To my eye the GH5 has better colors overall. However, the a. 7S II has slightly more dynamic range in the highlights. Now here’s the second test underexposed by four stops (not changed the ISO, only shutter speed): In this case the GH5 is on top and you can clearly see it has better colors, even though the a. S II holds better in the shadows. This is a special feature of S- Log. If I had to make a call, I’d say the a. S II has a hair more DR, maybe half a stop more. However, the poor compression on the a. S II will probably make that worthless when the 4. Mbps firmware update arrives. And the colors on the GH5 are better, so we’re about even all said and done. Low- light and ISO performance. Not bad at 1. 60. ISO. 3. 20. 0 ISO is pushing it, and I wouldn’t dare going beyond that. Overheating. None whatsoever, even at 4. Celsius under continuous operation. However, you might see overheating when continuously recording for long. Image stabilization. The camera has internal 5- axis image stabilization that works best with Panasonic lenses. When you mount third- party lenses, you have to manually input the focal length so the camera can shift accordingly. Both work equally well, and if you’re standing still and just panning, tilting or trying to keep the shot steady, it’s great. However, if you’re walking, or are moving, it will not replace a gimbal or steadicam. It’s better than nothing, but don’t expect miracles. Panasonic GH5 or Sony a. S II? This is probably the most important comparison of this review. Here’s what the a. S II adds: Low light performance. The king. The full- frame look. Slightly more dynamic range. Frame markers for 1. Here’s where the a. S II screws up: Native ISO of 1. S- Log. 3Poor exposure tools, the Gamut Assist Feature is crap and inaccurate. Heavy compression reduces potential of the camera to a great degree. Poor battery life. Here’s what the GH5 adds: Better grip and handling. Tougher weather- sealed body. Better EVF experience. Varicam LUTs (accurate!) for V- Log. Better HFR mode, with 1. KBoth C4. K (4. 09. UHDFuture 4. 00 Mbps Intraframe codec! Full HDMI Type- A connector. Dual SD Cards. Better Internal image stabilization. A minimum ISO of 4. Better rolling shutter. Much better battery life. Continuous recording without overheating. LCD can swivel and tilt. Easier menu! Waveform and vectorscope internally. Verdict: Do I need to spell it out? The Panasonic GH5 (B& H, Amazon) wins by a mile. What kind of productions can the Panasonic GH5 be used for? Here are my suggestions for video, based on my personal knowledge, history and usage of this camera: Type of production. Recommended? Alternative*Better option?^Feature films. Yesa. 7S IIArri Alexa, Red Dragon. Short films. Yesa. S IIArri Alexa, Red Dragon. Corporate Videos. Yesa. 7S IIFS7 Mark II, C3. Mark II, Amira. Documentaries. Yes. None! FS7 Mark II, C3. Mark II, Amira. Wedding videos. Yes. Canon 5. D Mark IV, a. S IIFS7, C3. 00 Mark IIMusic Videos. Yesa. 7S IIArri Alexa, Red Dragon. Commercials. No. FS7, C3. Mark IIArri Alexa, Red Dragon. Sports. No. N/ABroadcast Cameras. Wildlife. Yes (Day)a. S II (Night!)FS7, C3. Mark II, Amira. ENG/EFP/Run n’ gun. Yes. None! FS7, C3. Mark II, Amira. Live Events. Yes. None! Broadcast Cameras*At a similar price point^Price no bar. The bottom line. Why the Panasonic GH5 (B& H, Amazon) stands out from everyone else: There is no other camera in this price range that gives you the video tools you need in such a great package. It’s really a joy to shoot, with excellent color and image quality. Let’s answer our questions: Is the GH5 a good upgrade for those coming from another platform? Yes, as long as you can utilize these new features, are willing to learn to get better image quality, and get paid for it. If you currently own the GH4, should you upgrade to the GH5? Yes, as long as the price difference will put food and an extra bottle of your favorite beverage on your table. I hate to break it to you, if you couldn’t do much with the GH4, you’ll most likely get the same results with the GH5. GH5 or a. 7S II? Except for extremely low light work, like wildlife, the GH5 wins in just about every other category.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2017
Categories |