The S1H can be seen as a large-sensor GH5S, but it’s not simply the case that the bigger camera gives you better quality. There are times it can, but it’s not just about cleaner footage.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Posts Tagged ‘GH5S’
New Sony sensor specs resemble chips found inside Fujifilm X-T3, Panasonic GH5S, others
21
Oct
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Sony has updated its sensor page and shared the details of a number of new image sensors it’s made. Sure enough, a few of them bear a striking resemblance to sensors inside other manufacturers cameras.
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One sensor in particular, a 26-megapixel backside-illuminated (BSI) APS-C chip nicknamed IMX571, bears an uncanny resemblance to the sensor used inside Fujifilm’s X-T3 camera. While Fujifilm hasn’t confirmed it’s a Sony sensor inside the X-T3, General Manager of Fujifilm UK, Theo Georgiades, did say it wasn’t a Samsung sensor used inside the camera, as some believed to be the case, leaving little doubt that it was Sony who manufactured the sensor. The specs listed under this image sensor on Sony’s website all but confirm that speculation.
It’s also worth noting that there’s a good chance we’ll see Sony build something around this sensor as well. The a6300 and a6500 both use the same sensor as Fujifilm’s X-T2, so it’s not a stretch to imagine Sony will be releasing one or two A600-series cameras using the 26-megapixel BSI image sensor found inside the X-T3.
The BSI IMX461 sensor has been in the works for a long time and based on Fujifilm’s announcement that it is currently developing a 100-megapixel medium format camera, it’s likely this is the sensor that will be inside of it. The sensor has 3.76 micron pixels and features a maximum frame-rate of up to six frames per second.
The IMX299 is a bit harder to hit on the head, but based on it being 11-megapixls, having 4.63 micron pixels, and a 60 frames per second readout, it’s almost certainly the sensor found inside the Panasonic GH5S.
Last but not least is the IMX272. This 20-megapixel Four Thirds-type sensor has 3.3 micron pixels and a maximum readout of 60 frames per second. We don’t have any reason to believe this is currently in any camera, but it seems like an incredibly capable sensor that could show up in a very high-performing Four Thirds camera in the future.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Interview: How the Panasonic DC-G9 and GH5S were born
07
May
 |
| Sean Robinson is Imaging Product Manager at Panasonic Lumix Professional Services, based in New Jersey, USA. |
Panasonic’s latest cameras are flagship products aimed at very specific kinds of photographers. The Lumix DC-G9 is Panasonic’s first high-performance model intended for sports and wildlife photography, while the GH5S offers a more focused, professional-friendly 4K video feature set than the original GH5.
We sat down with Sean Robinson, Imaging Product Manager at Panasonic Lumix Professional Services recently to learn more about how the G9 and GH5S were developed. The following interview has been edited slightly for clarity and flow.
Sean – can you describe your job at Panasonic?
I’m one of four product managers for Panasonic Lumix imaging products in the United States. My job is to be a touch-point between our merchandising and product management groups, and the photo specialty retailers and media partners like DPReview.
How much contact do you have with Lumix photographers?
I have a direct line to our team of Lumix ambassadors – primarily in the United States, some of our European and Canadian photographers. Depending on where we are in a product cycle, I’d say about 40-60% of my time is taken up with collecting feedback and working with photographers.
We start by asking ‘what can we build for you?’
How does a camera like the G9 get developed?
Like all of our products, we always hold a number of brainstorming sessions with our internal teams and select external photographers and videographers. With the G9 there was a very heavy emphasis on figuring out what are missing in the lineup right now, and what can we do to create something new. Something that doesn’t necessarily have to be bound by the hybrid photography mentality that we’ve been in since the beginning of the GH line.
So we start by asking ‘what can we build for you? What do you want to see from a camera from us?’ And from that initial list of requests our engineers go back and start working on the feasibility of implementing those requests.
There’s a ton of information coming in from various different professionals
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| The Lumix DC-G9 represents something of a departure for Panasonic, being aimed squarely at sports and wildlife photographers who want ultra-fast frame-rates and tough build quality, without paying too much of a penalty in terms of size and weight. |
Who are you asking those questions of?
For the most part we’re speaking to our Lumix ambassadors. And we have ambassadors in pretty much every region where Panasonic has headquarters. Globally that’s between 40-50 photographers and videographers. There are also a number of conversations that happen internally within Panasonic, because a lot of people inside the company have backgrounds in photography. So there’s a ton of information coming in from various different professionals.
Did you reach outside of the pool of existing Lumix ambassadors and speak to photographers that use competitor products?
A lot of feedback was provided from our existing ambassador team, but a number of photographers that we work with are testing the equipment, maybe they’re interested in the Lumix brand but they have allegiances to other products that they’ve been using for years. Their feedback was also critical. Someone who’s using full-frame competitor A, for example, they might have a very different set of requirements or opinions compared to someone who’s on our team as an official brand ambassador.
If we see consistent themes coming through feedback, the requests move into development
We definitely don’t ignore any feedback, from anyone. It’s not always like an official interview, where we sit down and talk to someone 1:1, we’re also constantly scouring forums and Facebook groups, and when someone calls into our call center or messages us on Twitter for example, all of that information is captured. It’s collated weekly, and reported back to our team in Japan.
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| The addition of the top-plate LCD to the G9 was as a direct result of feedback from photographers during the product planning process. |
And that’s everything from pie-in-the-sky requests for features that have never been seen on any camera ever before, to more simple mundane things like dual memory card slots, or having a status LCD on the top of the camera. Both of those requests came from speaking to photographers. If we see consistent themes coming through all of that feedback, then the requests move into development.
Were there any kinds of photographers that you wanted to get feedback from specifically, when you were planning the G9?
With the G9 we were very interested in speaking to wildlife and sports photographers. The three main people that I know personally who we worked with a lot were Daniel Cox, Bence Máté and Daniel Berehulak. For those three, we already work with them, and NDAs are in place, so a lot of the process is very conversational. We sit, we listen to what they want, and our team will counter with some of the things that we could definitely do, versus some things we’d need to study more, and some things that simply can’t be done at the moment.
There’s always a consistent touch-point, of checking the work as we’ve moving forward so that if something has to change in the middle of development, there’s enough time to do that, and put out a product that’s as finished as possible.
We got a lot of feedback from videographers and production houses around where the GH5 fell short for them
Can you think of a specific example of when a feature was tweaked or changed before announcement, based on feedback from photographers?
The menu system in the GH5, when that whole change was initially conceptualized. We needed to change the menu system to the point where a working videographer or stills photographer could easily move through it. The first version of the menu system made a lot of sense from an engineering standpoint, in terms of where features were grouped, but when we started working with the photographers and videographers, they started giving us a lot of feedback about where they expected to see features, and how things should work.
All of that feedback went back to our software and UI designers and they tweaked it. They met a month or so later with a revised version. That was one a fast-paced process, since it didn’t involve complete retooling of equipment or anything like that.
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| The GH5S shares the same basic chassis as the GH5 but offers a more focused feature set, intended primarily for enthusiast and professional videographers. Feedback from existing GH5 users was critical to establishing whether there was a market for a more specialized variant. |
The GH5S is an interesting product – who did you make it for, and what kind of conversations happened in the planning process?
When the GH5S was being planned, we took a very broad look at what the industry’s needs were, as a whole. We got a lot of feedback from videographers and production houses around where the GH5 fell short for them. We have the advantage of a very large broadcast team, obviously and since we have a lot of resources in that world we were able to take a step back and look at the market and ask – ok, if there’s a specific need – in this case a high level cinema camera in a form-factor like the GH bodies -what would the real-world applications be?
So talking with cinematographers, high-level DPs and production houses we worked on finding out the viability of that market. If we figure out that there is a need for a product like that, which nobody else is making, in a lot of cases, that’s enough for us to make the decision and go ahead. In the case of the GH5S, nobody else made a product like it at that price point, and our team had the capabilities to do it, while keeping the same chassis as the GH5.
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| The entire GH family, from the original GH1 to the GH5 (on the far right). The GH5 and GH5S are larger cameras than their predecessors, but the include features that were hardly even dreamed of when the GH-series was first introduced a decade ago. |
The GH5 benefitted from a major mid-life firmware update, based on feedback from users – do you have structured check-in points in your products’ lifespan to generate that feedback?
Yes, absolutely. That process never stops. And just as importantly, we’re always looking at what our competition is doing. What’s coming down the line? What can we do in an existing model to really up the game? We have conversations with our team in Japan almost every day where we ask ‘what is the market saying?’ And our team really places a lot of importance on what our users are getting out of the products, and what they’re creating, and if we can find ways of improving the product or make it more efficient by adding new features we’ll do it.
New hardware is great, but improving an existing product is one of those areas where we can give back to the community
There’s been a major shift internally, in the years that I’ve worked at Panasonic where the concept of breathing new life into any existing product is one of our big pushes. New hardware is great, but improving an existing product is one of those areas where we can give back to the community. They helped us develop those products from day one, and if we’re able to give them more without making them buy a new camera, we’ll do it.
Click through to learn how two visual artists are using Panasonic’s latest cameras in their work
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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Buying Guides updated: Panasonic GH5S selected as best camera for video
07
Mar
 |
As part of an update to our Buying Guides, we’ve crowned a new winner in the video category: the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S. Its excellent video quality and extensive range of support features see it take top honors from its sister model, the DC-GH5, which we recognize as a better fit for run-and-gun style shooting.
Read our updated Best Cameras for Video Buying Guide
The GH5S’s sensor allows it to continue shooting excellent quality footage in a wider range of lighting conditions than the regular GH5, and the provision of 10-bit capture ensures its footage is tremendously gradable, even in high dynamic range conditions.
Meanwhile, the higher bitrate capture and in-body stabilization of the Fujifilm X-H1 see it displace the X-T2 in our ‘also consider’ list for video cameras, and the a7 III’s lower price and full-width, oversampled 4K capture see it take the a7R III’s place, pending full review.
We’ve also added the Canon EOS T7 and EOS M50, and the Panasonic ZS200/TZ200 to the appropriate Buying Guides. This way, anyone shopping for a camera is aware of these models, while we continue to work on their full reviews. Each will be considered for recommendation as soon as our testing is complete.
Read our updated Buying Guides
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Panasonic Lumix GH5S sample gallery
12
Feb
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The Panasonic GH5S is a heavily video-focused variant of the GH5, and we’ve already tested its video capabilities extensively. To complement our sample reels, we have a full sample gallery for your viewing pleasure. Take a look at the still image side of this video-centric camera.
See our Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S
sample gallery
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
It’s not the low light king, but here’s why we’re excited about the GH5S
26
Jan
 |
There’s no getting around physics. The GH5S uses an oversized Four Thirds type sensor – pretty big for a video camera – but still kinda small when compared with the 36 x 20.3mm expanse of silicon the Sony a7S II uses to shoot video. As you’d expect, the GH5S can’t simply leap this vast chasm using only some sensor improvements, better noise reduction and a little moxie. It’s good but, in spite of anything you may have read, it’s not magic.
Read our analysis of our side-by-side shooting with the Sony a7S II
And yet, the more we test and use the camera, the more excited we are by it.
For a start, our shooting suggests that GH5S can outperform the a7S II whenever you require a depth-of-field that the Panasonic can offer. That alone means the GH5S will perform better than the Sony in some circumstances and can work across a greater range of lighting conditions than its IS-enabled sibling, the GH5.
But that’s not the end of it. The ability to shoot Log footage in 10-bit means that it can retain a lot more subtle tonal information than the 8-bit output of the Sony. So although the deep shadows might be more susceptible to noise than the a7S II, the quality of the midtones in the final footage may well be better preserved and more tolerant of grading.
That’s before you consider the features such as waveforms and vectorscopes that the GH5S inherits from the GH5, features that really aid setting exposure when shooting Log. Add to this the existing ecosystem that’s grown up around the GH series and the full picture reveals itself. We’re currently shooting the GH5S with a 0.71x SpeedBooster and a Sigma 18-35mm T2.0 CINE lens and can’t wait to show the results. If only Seattle would drop out of Log mode for a moment…
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Panasonic Lumix GH5S vs GH5: What’s new?
10
Jan
Introduction
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The Panasonic GH5 is one of the the most capable video cameras available, but it’s a hybrid camera that aims to please a stills-shooting crowd too. So what kind of camera could it be if it was only focused on shooting video? The GH5S is the product of Panasonic engineers grappling with that question. Here’s a breakdown of what’s changed from the GH5 in the quest to make it an even stronger video camera.
Low light / Dual Gain
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The new sensor features dual gain design, which Panasonic refers to as ‘Dual Native ISO’ technology. The sensor uses two separate read-out circuits – one that maximizes dynamic range at lower ISOs, and one that maximizes noise performance (at the cost of dynamic range). The first is used from ISO 160-640, with the camera switching to the second at ISO 800, allowing better high ISO performance than the standard GH5.
We’ve seen this technology before but we’ve not previously seen the option, present on the GH5S, that allows the camera to be locked into one of its modes (and limiting the available ISO options). We’re not entirely sure what the benefit of this is supposed to be.
Note that, while Panasonic refers to ‘Native’ ISO settings of 400 and 2500, this is rather woolly videography terminology, which should not be confused with the concept of ‘base’ ISO.
Multi-aspect sensor
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We’ve long been a fan of Panasonic’s multi-aspect sensors for stills shooting, and it makes an appearance in the GH5S. The camera’s total resolution is 12.5MP with a sensor larger than the Micro Four Thirds image circle: it offers up to 10.2MP crops of that total area, rather than further cropping in from the 4:3 area. This makes native DCI and UHD 4K recording possible, without having to keep cropping in further and further.
This means devoting the most possible sensor area to each of its crop modes, which benefits image quality and means that your wide-angle lenses are just as wide in ~17:9 DCI 4K mode as they are for standard 4:3 stills.
DCI 4K at 60/50p
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The GH5 is capable of UHD 4K 60p/50p capture, but DCI capture tops out at 24p. Not so on the GH5S: it’s capable of 60p, 50p, 30p and 25p DCI as well as 24p. Thanks to that multi-aspect sensor, the GH5S’ angle of view when capturing DCI footage should also be noticeably wider.
14-bit Raw but slower shooting
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The GH5S adds a 14-bit Raw option, which as we all know, means greater potential for dynamic range capture. The GH5 was already bumping up against the limits of how much DR could be fitted into a 12-bit file, and the GH5S’s larger pixels mean that it should benefit from a little more room. That said, the real-world differences will only become apparent if you use those really deep shadows in your images.
It can be used in burst shooting, though at a cost to speed: 7 fps with autofocus and auto exposure, versus 9 fps at 12-bit in the GH5. The GH5S can be switched to 12-bit mode, at which point it’ll reach 8fps with continuous AF.
No Stabilization
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The camera’s sensor-based stabilization is gone, which may on the surface sound like an odd decision, but makes a lot of sense for pro video shooters who are often working with their own stabilized rigs and gimbals. The floating sensor design used by the GH5’s stabilization system can interact with gimbals even when it’s turned off, so removing it entirely solves the problem. It’s another clear appeal to pro video shooters, rather than a stills shooter looking for an occasional ‘run and gun’ video solution.
We’ve seen a degree of scepticism about Panasonic’s reasoning but, if you assume there’s some heat dissipation benefit for bonding the sensor to a solid object and you recognize that the camera is already shooting out to the edges of the Micro Four Thirds image circle, there may be no way of doing what the GH5S does and providing stabilization.
More VFR options
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Variable framerate options have been expanded. The GH5S can capture a maximum of 240 fps in full HD and 60 fps for both DCI and UHD 4K, for slowdown to between 24 and 60p. The GH5 only offers up to 180 fps in FHD and its 60 fps 4K is limited to UHD mode. This makes it possible to create up to 10x slow-motion footage in FHD with the GH5S, though we’re told there’s an additional crop and loss of quality if you exceed 200 fps capture.
Timecode in/out synchronization
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Timecode in/out synchronization is supported via the camera’s flash sync terminal. This makes it easier to incorporate the GH5S into a multi-camera setup; when files are brought into an editor like Final Cut Pro, the timecodes are automatically detected and synchronized.
A flash sync socket to BNC adaptor lead is included in the box.
Mic options
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While the GH5 offers a standard microphone plug-in, the GH5S offers a more robust option that supports line in and phantom power, allowing its use with a wider range of audio sources.
120fps viewfinder
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The GH5S uses the same 3680k-dot OLED panel used by the GH5 with one key difference – and improved 120 fps refresh rate. We’d wager a guess that this possible because less pixels need to be read out from the sensor. Whether or not that’s true, 120 fps will give a more natural view of the world that anyone looking at it can appreciate.
VLogL as standard
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V-LogL came to the GH5 after launch as an optional firmware upgrade. In the GH5S, it’s a standard feature. An LUT (look up table) can be uploaded to the camera via SD card, making it possible to preview grading corrections that will eventually be applied to the flat-looking V-LogL footage.
Whereas a Log-upgraded GH5 can apply this correction LUT to its live preview, the GH5S can also apply it when playing back the footage.
Different AF performance
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Panasonic claims the GH5S can autofocus down to -5EV, or roughly as dark as a moonlit night with no other light source. This appears to come at a slight cost of speed, however. The GH5 claims a maximum AF acquisition speed of 0.05 seconds; the GH5S claims 0.07 seconds.
Cost of lower resolution
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The most easily identifiable difference between the two cameras’ spec sheets is sensor resolution: the GH5S offers 10.2MP resolution compared to the GH5’s 20.3MP. It provides the 4K resolution that video shooters require, but allows Panasonic to use larger pixels. Coupled with 14-bit Raw mode, this presents a dynamic range benefit, but it also means there are fewer pixels to read out. This should result in less rolling shutter.
So the move to a 10MP sensor seems like a no-brainer: do away with resolution that video shooters don’t really need. It also means the GH5S can have an anti-aliasing filter tuned to reduce the risk of moiré when video shooting. But in addition to this benefit, there are some drawbacks.
The sensor’s lower resolution means it can’t offer the GH5’s ‘6K’ high resolution anamorphic modes, but it can still show a de-squeezed preview with framing guides. The GH5’s ‘6K Photo’ modes are also absent from the GH5S.
Conclusion
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With the GH5S, Panasonic’s engineers have taken on a challenge to convert a hybrid camera into an even more movie-centric shooter. While the two cameras are identical on the outside, Panasonic has made some interesting moves to optimize the camera for video pros’ needs.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)