GH4 Panasonic GH5 coming in 2017

I agree Panasonic is not playing for keeps in the large sensor PROsumer market. They seem like they are still testing the waters. The DVX200 is kind of a let down as I like the concept but an f4 lens, weaker color space codecs and compromised 4k modes are less than exciting. But along the same lines as the GH series, it is tough to complain about at the $4,000 price point. Kind of a half hearted approach - if you price it low enough it might work for a lot of people.

If the GH series offers as much as it does, I expected the double priced DVX200 to do a lot more. The 1080p120 mode is soft an you lose 5-axis stabilization in 4k. Oh well...

About DSLRs and RAW. I think a slightly compressed RAW would be great for DSLRs. I am so used to RAW for stills that I do not see RAW video as a pain. It has a time and place but it is really nice to be able to adjust your image so much in post. That said, the 5D is 1080p. 4k RAW is a lot more info...
 
Greg_E said:
I can't see them going for s35, their entire infrastructure of still based cameras is micro 4/3. Backlit sensor, faster readout, greater over sampling, greater dynamic range, and hopefully 4:2:2 internal to SD cards or Cfast cards will probably get them many more sales than s35. The only people that benefit from s35 will be all the people with adapted lenses and a change in sensor size might push a lot of people to a different brand. If you have to buy all new lenses anyway (the real expensive part of the system), then maybe it would be better to buy into a different system like Sony or Canon, or bigger Panasonic.
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I was talking about them putting the S35/APS-C sensor inside the m43 mount and making a m43 crop mode that would work flawlessly with all existing m43 lenses. That way there would be no need to change lenses or systems, but it would allow people with access to bigger lenses to use more of their potential (without a speedbooster). Then they could slowly start releasing lenses that would cover both sensor sizes, and everyone would be happy (except that the lenses might be slightly larger).

DLD said:
If Panasonic does make an s35 camera, it isn't likely to be in the GH5 body. It could be something like AF100 though.
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Good point. A S35 sensor might make more sense in an AF200, and allow it to compete on a more equal footing with FS5/7, C100/300, Ursa Mini, etc.
 
Bassman2003 said:
About DSLRs and RAW. I think a slightly compressed RAW would be great for DSLRs. I am so used to RAW for stills that I do not see RAW video as a pain. It has a time and place but it is really nice to be able to adjust your image so much in post. That said, the 5D is 1080p. 4k RAW is a lot more info...
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Baby steps. If they offered internal 10-bit 4k to go along with the V-Log-L it would already be an improvement, without being as technologically inconvenient (storage) as raw.
 
ProRes 444 - or its equivalent - is essentially a compressed Raw quality wise. IIRC, uncompressed 4K Raw is about 3 TB/hr. ProRes 444 is about 1 TB/hr or roughly 3x compression, something that can be described as mathematically losslless. And 500 GB/hr - or 6x compression - is "visually lossless".

Jumping over to the media side, lower end SSD's are already going for about $.30 per GB, with the "enterprise" models still over $1/GB. A $5,000 camera will need ~ 1 TB to record (compressed) Raw. To me, until storage gets to about $.20/GB, it'll be hard to find units capable of internal Raw recording. On the other hand, HEVC at 110 GB/hr will give you almost the same quality in much smaller size. Add some sort of a 10-bit 4:2:2 Log and this will be sufficient for even a big budget shoot.
 
Yes 4k is really throwing a wrench in the whole thing. I just like the concept of RAW adjustments like post white balance and working on the image pre-baking but the data is huge. So which would you rather use - 1080p RAW or 8bit 4k? The 4k downsample issupposed to mimic 4:4:4 but does it measure up to a 12 or 14bit RAW image?
 
I don't think the light will clear the edges of the mount if you put in a larger sensor and keep the m43 mount, the gh2 is really close to the edge now.
 
Greg_E said:
I don't think the light will clear the edges of the mount if you put in a larger sensor and keep the m43 mount, the gh2 is really close to the edge now.
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Well, I haven't done any measurements to see if it would be possible, but I'm going by the logic that if JVC made it work it must be possible somehow. However, I haven't followed the LS300 closely enough to know if they had to make any major compromises to get this to work.
 
I don't see them moving away from Micro Four Thirds, and I sincerely hope they don't give in to the FF hype. Release another camera model with FF if you must, but the GH line is M43 and should stay that way.

Really, the only thing I would want from a GH5 is a better HDMI connector, higher bitrate VFR, and improved ISO performance. The GH4 is great as-is and still a top competitor.
 
If they are going to stick with the DSLR form factor (bleech !), these items would lessen the pain for me:

• Internal ND's. My Fuji X100t has a version of this.
• Create an external XLR or mini XLR battery type grip accessory. Something like the current grip, but with audio goodness inside.
• Implement a VF like the GX7... but on steroids. Larger, tilts up, full view of the frame, large eye-cup and most importantly- doesn't suck.

Kind of a pipe dream, yeah.

In the end I may hold my nose, have a couple of Martini's and take the plunge on the DVX200.

Okay, make that three Martini's.
 
refocusedmedia said:
I don't see them moving away from Micro Four Thirds, and I sincerely hope they don't give in to the FF hype. Release another camera model with FF if you must, but the GH line is M43 and should stay that way.
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You may have misunderstood what I proposed: they KEEP it micro four thirds - no FF or different mount! The only thing is that they could squeeze an APS-C sensor in there and have a micro four thirds crop mode (actually make it multi-aspect ratio MFT crop mode like the GH2). This would leave all micro four thirds users and lenses unaffected, while providing additional options for people who could use the properties of a larger sensor. Granted, I don't expect Panasonic to do this especially on a GH5 like someone mentioned, but JVC did exactly this for the LS300, so Panasonic would be wise to consider the idea for a theoretical AF200. Anyway, I don't mean to keep harping on this point, it's just that many people seem to be misunderstanding what I'm saying.
 
refocusedmedia said:
Yeah, I could agree with global shutter. But wouldn't that add much more to the cost and kinda defeat its price advantage?
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Global shutter doesn't have to mean much higher price or much lower dynamic range, at least not anymore.

- Fairchild CIS1910 in old Blackmagic Pocket and new Blackmagic Micro ($995 for whole camera, about 1 stop less range with global shutter on)
- Fairchild CIS2521 in old Blackmagic Cinema likewise can do global shutter but for whatever reason it's turned off
- Sony IMX174 in various industrial cameras that I think are $1,000-$1,500, and 12 honest stops (no HDR tricks needed)
- Blackmagic 4.6K camera is still only $5,000 even with all the extras (twin built-in phantom XLR, 5" screen, S35), and it should get 13-14 stops with global shutter on

I myself would pay at least $500 more for a GH5 with global shutter, but I don't want to speak for everyone. Maybe they could do a GH5R and a GH5G ;)
 
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All nice ideas in this topic but, what exactly (if anything) has been confirmed by Panasonic? Is the GH5 officially anounced at least?
 
Stab said:
What exactly (if anything) has been confirmed by Panasonic? Is the GH5 officially announced at least?
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Panasonic won't confirm anything until the cat is ready to come out of the bag, so I'm expecting a NAB 2016 release which means we probably won't know anything until March 2016.
 
I have a suggestion for the GH5. What about an option to adjust the Iris smoothly without clicks. I hate when I need to readjust for a scene and it jumps up noticeably. Make it so we can choose click or no click for video or stills would be even nicer. Small thing maybe but would make a big difference.
 
wojdarm said:
I have a suggestion for the GH5. What about an option to adjust the Iris smoothly without clicks. I hate when I need to readjust for a scene and it jumps up noticeably. Make it so we can choose click or no click for video or stills would be even nicer. Small thing maybe but would make a big difference.
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I would think that's more of a lens thing than a camera body thing? You can find a lot of really cool "de-clicked" lenses, such as the Rokinon cinema lenses. Fairly affordable primes.
 
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