GH4 Panasonic GH5 coming in 2017

DeadEyesSmiling said:
Thanks so much for the detailed answer, those are all good things to consider. Basically, I'm thinking that if the rumors are correct, and we'll see a GH5 announcement this month but no camera until 2017, then the smart thing to do is pick up a GH4 when the announcement price-drop happens, and then get a GH5 when they're out. I'm just wondering if all of the additional accessories I'll be getting with the GH4 (AC, battery grip, batteries, speedbooster, YAGH, etc.) will still work with the GH5. Here's hoping...!

-DES
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Do you need all of those accessories? You won't need a battery grip - the battery life is equal to the strongest selling point for me. There are mixed reviews on the YAGH - any word on if it's going to keep working with the GH5?

Really strong IBIS/stabilization tech would make me buy one instantly but I'll still be using my GH4 to shoot interviews with a sound devices recorder for years to come. I'm happy about the GH5 because it means there will be dirt cheap GH4s floating around!
 
There will be plenty of used GH4 for sale by those trading up to the GH5. Used ones are currently going between $850 - $1000. At the GH5 release I am guessing $650 - $800 based on condition.
 
The GH4 price has dropped already. The rest depends on the available inventory and your location.

The online authorized stores will drop it as per their agreements (B&H does have an "instant rebate"). Small brick&mortar stores may give a better deal in person. And then there's eBay.
 
Is it me, or does it seem like Sony cams hold their value better compared to Panasonic? I see prices for the GH series drop pretty fast, whereas the Sony A7S(R) series keep the price high in relation to the original MSRP for both when new. Probably an illusion, but that's the way it looks to me - or maybe only looks that way when I'm looking to buy :)... I'm not looking to buy a GH4 and they're plenty cheap, whereas I was looking to get into the A7Sii and it seems very stingy with any price drops comparatively speaking.

Regardless, I'm curious to see what price the GH5 comes in at. The conventional wisdom was that you keep the same price within a series, or slightly cheaper, but that wasn't true of the GH series, where the price of even the GH3 was higher than the GH2 when it came out and so on. There now seems a trend to come in with higher and higher prices - which I feel there's got to be a limit to (although if you compare to the Sony prices, Panasonic still has a way to go in raising prices).
 
rob norton said:
Do you need all of those accessories? You won't need a battery grip - the battery life is equal to the strongest selling point for me. There are mixed reviews on the YAGH - any word on if it's going to keep working with the GH5?

Really strong IBIS/stabilization tech would make me buy one instantly but I'll still be using my GH4 to shoot interviews with a sound devices recorder for years to come. I'm happy about the GH5 because it means there will be dirt cheap GH4s floating around!
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Need is probably a pretty strong word, but they're pretty high on my wish list. I'm the only camera person on most of the jobs I'm on, so the less hassle I can have around managing and changing batteries/media, the better. To be honest, the battery grip is really less about the extra battery time, and more about how the battery compartment is oriented. Having to take off a quick release plate to access the battery door under the camera is a major no-no when time is of the essence. With the battery grip, everything can stay where it is (baring a cage, of course) and the battery compartment can just slide out for changes. I'm mainly looking at the YAGH for the XLR audio and SDI, but needing external power for that is kinda lame (Seeing as how mixed the reviews were on this, I'll actually be a little surprised if its compatibility carries over to the GH5). I was originally going to be getting an Odyssey 7Q+ for the 10bit external recording, but now that it's rumored to be internal with the GH5, that's on hold (unless the longshot rumor of 12bit external ends up coming true).

I'm just trying to avoid a big camera package purchase at the end of the month and having to sell the whole kit-and-caboodle when I upgrade. It'd be super nice to carry a lot of that stuff over.

-DES
 
OldCorpse said:
Is it me, or does it seem like Sony cams hold their value better compared to Panasonic...
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Most manufacturers will hold prices steady - and the retailers will often charge a premium - on the most popular and in-demand models. Sony dropped the MAP's on some pieces but A7SII/RII are their belles of the ball.

Likewise, Panasonic kept GH4 fairly close to its original MAP until recently (i.e., the release of A6300). The YAGH prices, on the other hand, took a major dive.

IMO, it'll be tough for them to get back up to $1,700, which was the GH3 and the GH4 original price point, due to the expected competition from A6300, OMD1 MKII and XT-2. Unless there's some unexpected feature and/or IQ that knocks people's socks off, $1,300 seems like a decent starting line.
 
If they can put 4K/60p into that body, I'll pay $2K+ for it. On the other hand, if it doesn't have 4K/60p, I won't even consider it.

It's a tough business!
 
DLD said:
IMO, it'll be tough for them to get back up to $1,700, which was the GH3 and the GH4 original price point, due to the expected competition from A6300, OMD1 MKII and XT-2. Unless there's some unexpected feature and/or IQ that knocks people's socks off, $1,300 seems like a decent starting line.
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I'll gladly pay the $400 to not have the sensor overheat and shut down the camera.....
 
stoneinapond said:
I'll gladly pay the $400 to not have the sensor overheat and shut down the camera.....
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Agreed. I was most turned off by the rolling shutter on the A6300. Followed by the fear of overheating. Lastly and certainly not least was the tiny consumer travel cam style body they put it in. Give me something with a GH4 or 80D body type and maybe have a little more room to deal with heat issues as a result.
 
My Panasonic GH5 feature wish-list:
- 5axis stable, no steadicam required for perfect handheld
- super fast and reliable auto-focus modes in 4K (my GH3 auto-focus is terrible)
- h265 4k 30fps@50mbitps 60fps@100mbitps (with higher bitrates and h264 also available), the h265 4k should be compatible with direct YouTube upload
- in camera edit, quick/auto adding intro/outro, join/split, transparent watermark overlay edit
- multi wireless mic support built-in, I dunno if BT/WiFi or other RF or all supported
- gigabit ethernet dongle, fast wifi direct upload to youtube
- USB Type-C, multiple docks (gig ethernet, multi USB3 HDD auto backup...) supported over 10gbit/s USB Type C
- multi-camera easy setup, somehow sync each camera over WiFi or cabled, and easily split/join real-time and post edit in camera of multi-camera setup, possibly real-time and post edit on tablet/phone using app and render all in-camera, if sync multi-camera I guess over fast WiFi or gigabit ethernet or something else. Live stream compressed 720p/1080p/4K and record for later upload at higher bitrate.
- easy use external hard drive for storage, on top of dual fast speed SD cards for secure recording and easy safe backup to external HDD directly from camera, easy backup to second external HDD before auto clearing space on SD cards
 
Charbax said:
My Panasonic GH5 feature wish-list:
- 5axis stable, no steadicam required for perfect handheld
- super fast and reliable auto-focus modes in 4K (my GH3 auto-focus is terrible)
- h265 4k 30fps@50mbitps 60fps@100mbitps (with higher bitrates and h264 also available), the h265 4k should be compatible with direct YouTube upload
- in camera edit, quick/auto adding intro/outro, join/split, transparent watermark overlay edit
- multi wireless mic support built-in, I dunno if BT/WiFi or other RF or all supported
- gigabit ethernet dongle, fast wifi direct upload to youtube
- USB Type-C, multiple docks (gig ethernet, multi USB3 HDD auto backup...) supported over 10gbit/s USB Type C
- multi-camera easy setup, somehow sync each camera over WiFi or cabled, and easily split/join real-time and post edit in camera of multi-camera setup, possibly real-time and post edit on tablet/phone using app and render all in-camera, if sync multi-camera I guess over fast WiFi or gigabit ethernet or something else. Live stream compressed 720p/1080p/4K and record for later upload at higher bitrate.
- easy use external hard drive for storage, on top of dual fast speed SD cards for secure recording and easy safe backup to external HDD directly from camera, easy backup to second external HDD before auto clearing space on SD cards
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Wow. I can pretty much predict that with the exception of the 5-axis stabilization ( which I see as a maybe depending on overheating issues ), the rest of your GH5 list will never come true. ( maybe when the GH8 ships )

All I really want is 4K 10-bit 4:2:2 internal recording that works well with Panasonic's V-log profile. Everything else is "gravy" for me.
 
TheDingo said:
Wow. the rest of your GH5 list will never come true. Everything is "gravy" for me.
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I know, I have been asking for these features since my Sanyo HD2000 never got updated after Panasonic acquired the Sanyo camera team 8 years ago.

It's sad, it seems I am the only one who wants to use the camera for video-blogging.

Somehow I believe the USB Type-C dockings (gig ethernet, usb3 auto HDD backups, multi-LTE dongle aggregation for streaming among other), built-in multi wireless mics (with realtime or post sync) by bt/wifi/rf, in-camera basic edits (split/join/overlays..), multi-camera sync (realtime and post sync), youtube-compatible 4k h265 encoding, reserve power for continuous filming during battery swap, live streaming (incl to easily use for 4K video-conferencing and for 4K live streaming shows), I dunno somehow I think all these features make sense.

Some day I'll acquire a camera company and I'll force them to implement all of it.
 
The sad (or interesting, depending on your point of view) thing about these feature wish-lists for DSLRs is that they really should not be so unrealistic as to cause eye-rolling. Because think about it - phone cameras are evolving leaps and bounds... obviously, they will always be at a handicap just due to sheers size compared to DSLRs, but by the same token, DSLRs should be that much better. And the gap between the phone cams and top DSLRs is way too small - with phone cam engineers way ahead of the stodgy DSLR design teams. The phone cam folks are moving much, much faster, especially on the software side, but even on the hardware side. DLSR makers must step up, or there will be less and less reason to splash big $ for big DSLRs that don't have much advantage over mere cell phone cams.
 
"The phone cam folks are moving much, much faster"
Probably worth considering the amount of engineering resources allotted to each market segment..
 
OldCorpse said:
... think about it - phone cameras are evolving leaps and bounds... obviously, they will always be at a handicap just due to sheers size compared to DSLRs, but by the same token, DSLRs should be that much better. And the gap between the phone cams and top DSLRs is way too small - with phone cam engineers way ahead of the stodgy DSLR design teams. The phone cam folks are moving much, much faster, especially on the software side, but even on the hardware side. DLSR makers must step up, or there will be less and less reason to splash big $ for big DSLRs that don't have much advantage over mere cell phone cams.
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Tony Northrup just did a long episode on the "why are there are no more consumer cameras". The gist of it was that, with Instagram and Snapchat, you click on your smart phone cam to take a photo, then click on the corresponding icon and it's all uploaded to the relevant site and you're done in a flash (which are also present on smart phones). And that's basically what the consumer wants - expediency and convenience. He doesn't want to adjust the curves in Photoshop.

BTW, it was one of his highest rated shows if one looks at the likes/dislikes ratios.
 
Gweilo66 said:
Probably worth considering the amount of engineering resources allotted to each market segment..
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And the profits to be made in the hybrid-camera market versus the cell-phone market. I suspect that there's more money to be made in the phone business.
 
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