Panasonic Lumix GH5: First impressions
After hours of reading, researching and reviewing, we bought the GH4 a week before leaving for a trip to Japan. It was a crazy idea to go there, with the expectation of bringing back beautiful images even though we had never tried this new camera. We wanted to break away from our old habits that we had with DSLR. We loved the grip, functionalities, navigation in the GH4 menu and it was one of the best investments that we have made.
Why? Because the GH4 enabled us to create the images that we had in mind for a long time, to increase our production quality and broadcast our videos: Fracture (Japan), Expedition (Gaspésie) and Contrastes (Hawaii).
Since then, some doors have opened, especially at Panasonic! We are now Ambassadors for the brand in North America. This is a huge reward for us, as we are passionate about images, and about the work we produce. This collaboration consists of creating content but also sharing our impressions, tips and tricks. It’s been several weeks since we traded our GH4 for the GH5, the brand new Panasonic Lumix camera. We made our first tests in the heart of the city that doesn’t sleep: New York!
First impressions
Our first impressions are very good – the GH5 is slightly heavier than the GH4 (569 g against 725 g), more imposing, more serious and more robust. We already had a stable workflow with the GH4 so we were able to pick up the new GH5 functions very quickly. But why does the GH5 attract us so much?
- The internal stabilization of the camera
- Recording in 4K 10bit (more possibilities in terms of colorization)
- Filming in “slow motion” 4K thanks to the 60 fps
- Filming in super “slow motion” Full HD thanks to the 180 fps
- Weather sealing of the camera (reassuring in case of extreme rain/weather)
Of course, there are a lot of other exciting new features like the dual SD slot, the bigger screen, the new faster autofocus… and of course the anamorphic mode (which we will use really soon).
The second big surprise is the photo quality on this model, the shutter is very nice (ultra silent) and the result is surprising. Rather than go into technical explanations, here are some of our first pictures.
In terms of lenses, we did not want to lose ourselves that is why we kept our Lumix 20mm f1.7 and opted for the Lumix Leica 42.5mm f1.2 but we will definitely evolve and try new combinations during the coming months.
Preview Photos – Before/After
Comparative
GH4 vs GH5? Here is a test to see the difference in the management of white balance (auto mode), 96 fps image quality and the internal stabilization of the camera (IBIS)