GH4 GH5 Autofocus Test

Ron Evans said:
Picked my GH5 up last Friday and like Ken7 find the best response is with Custom Off. It then responds very much like all my Sony camcorders auto focus. I also tried all the custom settings and couldn't really get a very bad response like Max. It sort of performed as expected with Locked on actually hanging on to the initial focus subject as expected etc. With Custom Off the response takes about 5 secs just like my Sony camcorders to change focus from close up to mid distance and seems to get there without much hunting, at least no worse than my camcorders. I will only use touch focus in manual ( not continuous focus ) anyway for my application so not a problem. More interesting is the fact that audio starts about 7 frames behind the video. It is in sync just doesn't start at the same time.
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Ron, it's a pity the reputation the GH5 is getting for lousy AF. Used correctly it's simply not true. I did my best to post my tests on several sites to try to get the word out. Turn off custom AF and simply use 1-area AF. Done. Finito. Over. It's just that simple.

Now granted, the custom settings may work better in certain situations, but I'm guessing the simple AF procedure of 1-area will work reliably in most settings. The use of AF lock is something that more shooters should consider and is something I've used with most of my cameras, Sony or Panasonic.
 
I guess something that doesn't work is a lot more newsworthy. Sad in deed. However people seem to forget what it can do that others cannot do at all, not even badly !!! Dual card slots, 10bit in camera, UHD60P , USB C connector, full size HDMI etc, etc. Hardly mentioned and for me far more important as I will not use continuous AF at all. They are knocking the camera for something I will not use not emphasizing the things it can do that others cannot do at all. Honestly if it was perfect in these reviewers eyes, Panasonic should price similar to the Sony FS7 ( most reviews of that I saw says AF was slow, really slow or didn't work at all )
 
Ken7 said:
Ron, it's a pity the reputation the GH5 is getting for lousy AF. Used correctly it's simply not true. I did my best to post my tests on several sites to try to get the word out. Turn off custom AF and simply use 1-area AF. Done. Finito. Over. It's just that simple.

Now granted, the custom settings may work better in certain situations, but I'm guessing the simple AF procedure of 1-area will work reliably in most settings. The use of AF lock is something that more shooters should consider and is something I've used with most of my cameras, Sony or Panasonic.
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Thanks for this tip! I can confirm that at least when shooting 4K 60 if I set Custom AF to Off the AF is reasonable. Not as good as my previous Sony, but quite usable and better than any Custom setting I tried...
 
A point I didn't mention in my earlier post comparing to my Sony camcorders is that with the GH5 I can specify the AF area not possible on the Sony camcorder. That is where the 1 area comes in rather than have the 225 area . However even with the full area it is as good as my camcorders just a little slower to lock. 5 sec rather than 4 sec refocusing from 18" to 15 feet !!! For me this is all a non issue. I understand for bloggers this is an issue but maybe, just maybe this is the wrong camera for bloggers who want to walk around with the camera pointing at their face. Clearly doing this they have no need for full size HDMI to wire to an external recorder or 7" monitor and have no other hand to manipulate touch focus etc. Frankly I am not sure why they need such an elaborate camera to blog with . A cell phone on a stick may be more useful and then they can post straight away. My cell phone has really good face tracking!!!!
 
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