GH6_4

 GH6 Development Story

Responding to creators' requests for their desired function
— Usability that stays close to the field —

DNA of monozukuri (manufacturing) spirit

Since the company's founding, our monozukuri (manufacturing) spirit has been passed down from generation to generation, and we always place an importance on being close to our users and pursuing user-friendliness. We visit numerous worksites and listen to our creators, and since each site has its own way of using the equipment, we receive many comments about how frustrating a specific task can be and how they wish they could do something like this in the workflow from shooting to post-production. We are constantly seeking new points of evolution by gathering feedback, resolving them one by one, and carefully incorporating them into our products in the form of functions and specifications. We believe that we cannot meet the usability needs of professional users unless we steadily address the problems in specific use cases and improve user-friendliness. Here, we would like to introduce some of the features that have been developed based on feedback from the field.

I just want to play this part of the video....

When we visited a site where they were shooting at high frame rate, we saw them checking the playback of scenes. They wanted to check only the exact moment they wanted to show in slow motion in detail, but they seemed to be having problems because they had to spend so much time playing back unnecessary parts of the video up to that point. Therefore, we strongly felt the need for something like a function that can specify the playback section, and we added a function that allows you to check the necessary part of the video to be played repeatedly by touching the playback bar.

The GH6 is designed for high-speed performance and is capable of variable frame rate shooting at up to 120p for 4K and 300p for FHD. In order for you to truly enjoy this performance without having to worry, we thought it was extremely important to reduce the amount of stress during the shooting process.

I want to use AF when shooting with a gimbal

Expensive telephoto and macro lenses have a “focus limiter” switch that allows you to set the range of focus during AF. What has been newly added in GH6 is a function that allows that same thing to be controlled by software on all lenses*. It is useful in a variety of use cases, such as to avoid focusing on the background when the subject moves, or on unintended subjects, like fence bars at a zoo. We received a lot of feedback from users who wanted a limiter to prevent focusing on the background in case of an accident because they wanted to use auto focus with facial and human body recognition, especially when shooting people with gimbals to follow them.

We also focused on user-friendliness, making it easy to set the limit range by simply moving the focus ring or AF to the front and back of the subject while looking at the screen, without entering a numerical value for the distance to the subject. It is effective for both video and still images and has been very well received for its ability to suppress stray focus.

* Only Micro Four Thirds standard lenses can be used with the focus limiter.

I don't want to use tape to cover up parts during camera work

The “Frame Marker” function has been available for some time to allow users to imagine the angle of view of the finished image while shooting, and a new “Custom” function has been added to it. This is another function that was born from our experience of accompanying professionals in the field. At one site, they were covering the specific part where the subtitles were to be displayed with tape and were confirming the area where the subject was to be placed. When we saw this, we knew we had to make it possible to do this on the camera without the use of tape. In the "Custom" mode, the user can set the desired aspect ratio of the frame mask by turning two dials, and the position can be easily specified using the touch panel or dials, so it can be used in place of tape, allowing the user to check the finished image while shooting, even at irregular angles of view.

©Olivier Lavielle

I don't want to waste my time with file names anymore

Movie files can now be recorded with cinema style file names, similar to EVA1 and VARICAM cinema cameras. Video shoots often involve shooting multiple angles with multiple cameras and editing the shots across multiple days.

With the cinema style file names, you can see which camera was used and when it was taken by the file name, making the work in video post-processing more efficient. It also shares the same file name rules with EVA1 and VARICAM, making it more compatible with professional cinema cameras.

This is a function that many users in the field have given feedback for, saying that editing videos is time-consuming and they do not want to spend time organizing the files.

The GH6 is the ultimate Micro Four Thirds camera, but it is not yet the completed form. We will continue to respond to the evolving changes in the photographic and video culture, always listening to the voices of those in the field and advancing research and development while staying close to creators.

GH6 Development Story