Andrew Reid is gushing about the new Panasonic GX85 / GX80 on EOSHD:
http://www.eoshd.com/2016/05/an-adv...at-the-leica-nocticron-for-micro-four-thirds/
It is only a preliminary review, but the camera looks really good from what he has said. The in body 5 axis stabilization works in 4K video mode, along with the lens stabilization - "Dual IS mode uses a combination of sensor and optical stabilisation." It also has clean HDMI out while recording 4K internally, which is huge!
The biggest problem with the recent, cheaper, Panasonic G7 and GX8 is no HDMI out while recording internally, so you can't monitor while recording. The GX8 has the Dual IS mode, with in body stabilization, but I believe it only works in 1080?
+++
Here are a couple of extended quotes from his article:
"The camera ... really excites me. It’s the first time that anyone has put 5 axis in-body stabilisation in a 4K camera which exceeds the performance of the stunningly good Olympus 5 axis system. It’s not quite as effective as a gimbal for sweeping handheld movement, but that pain-in-the-ass tripod you can certainly dispense with now, along with that Olympus 1080p mush whilst we’re at it.....
But there’s more… the camera’s new processor can record 4K to the SD card internally at 100Mbit/s AS WELL AS outputting the full 4K 422 feed to an external recorder for high bitrate ProRes at the same time. The recent G7 did not do simultaneous dual-stream 4K recording (and I thought it was generous of Panasonic to put a live 4K output on that at all!) This is unheard of in a 4K camera costing £500. Not sure if it is 8bit or 10bit yet though. I suspect 8bit but it looks damn nice, just like the GH4’s 10bit.....
The Panasonic 5 axis stabilisation system performs better than the Sony equivalent, especially on sweeping handheld pans, even though the technology is essentially very similar. The smaller sensor in the GX85 has move room to move around, whereas the heavier and larger full frame sensor in the A7R II butts right up against the physical constraints of E-mount. Panasonic’s new system (forget the first effort on the GX8) is right up there with the famed Olympus cameras, like the E-M1 and E-M5 Mark II, but in glorious 4K.
What’s more with Panasonic lenses that feature the latest firmware and Power OIS, stabilisation gets even better, surpassing the performance of the Olympus system. Now you may think that now you have in-body stabilisation, that isn’t needed. But it turns out this still has a role to play on the GX85/80."
+++++++++
There are still no microphone or headphone jacks on the GX85/ GX80 though:
"..this silly segmenting the market by removing headphone and microphone jacks from lower-end models, which sadly is the case with the GX85/80"
The GX85 looks very interesting. We get HDMI out, so we can really use this camera for video. Plus it has the in-body stabilization that we were all wishing the Sony A6300 had, with none of the overheating issues of the A6300. (FWIW: I own the A6300, and will keep it for limited-length 4K use. I also still have my G7 for event use. I will probably replace it with the GX85.)
We should also see some of the same features on the GH5 this fall.
++++
ETA: Here is another review from Imaging Resource, with more details:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/panasonic-gx85/panasonic-gx85A.HTM
There are some positive and negative surprises. A couple of positives- there is no video recording limit for NTSC region cameras. And there is an in camera, programmable "pan and zoom" taht uses a smaller portion of eth sensor, in 4K mode:
"One new video trick that the GX85 offers is a new 4K Live Cropping feature. The camera is able to utilize the entire sensor area, but only capture a smaller 4K-sized frame within that area. What this allows is an all-digital, programmable and automated panning and zooming feature while recording video -- think in-camera "Ken Burns Effect." You can set start and end points for panning, or the end zoom framing, and the camera will smooth and automatically capture 4K video with these pre-programmed "movements."
The negatives? It is an UHD camera, with a higest resolution of 3840 x 2160 in MPEG4, and a pretty low bit rate in 1080 mode:
"...the Panasonic GX85 is capable of capturing 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) video at both 30p and 24p, as well as a variety of Full HD and HD frame rates.
The GX85 captures video in either MP4 or AVCHD formats, however 4K is only available in MP4 mode. Though not as robust a selection of formats and bitrates as the video heavy-hitter GH4, the GX85 still offers 4K video at a high quality 100Mbps bitrate. Bitrates for Full HD and HD videos aren't nearly as high. For MP4, 1080/60p is captured at 28Mbps, 1080/30p at 20Mbps, and 720/30p at just 10Mbps. For AVCHD videos, 1080/60 is pegged at 28Mbps, and both 30p and 24p options top-out at 24Mbps."
There are also some nice stills features, like an electromagnetic shutter to reduce shutter shock:"Say goodbye to shutter shock? Let's hope so. For improvements to sharpness and overall image quality, the Panasonic GX85 also sports a new electromagnetic shutter unit, which helps reduce internal vibrations. Shutter shock has long been a source of issues for mirrorless and DSLR cameras, especially when shooting around a slower range of shutter speeds -- and amplified further when shooting with longer and longer lenses.
The Panasonic GX85's all new electromagnetic shutter mechanism utilizes dual solenoids rather than a traditional motor and spring assembly. A spring-actuated shutter mechanism can induce noticeable vibrations upon firing, which could lead to blurry images when photographing at certain shutter speeds. With the dual solenoid design in the Panasonic GX85, the camera is able to control the acceleration and deceleration of the shutter curtains thereby reducing vibrations of the shutter's opening and closing motion. This should allow for sharper images at problematic shutter speeds. Panasonic claims around a 90 percent reduction in shutter shock vibrations compared to a traditional spring-actuated shutter mechanism. And this new shutter design has the added benefit of being much quieter than a traditional one, too, which is excellent when shooting in sound-sensitive environments."
All-in-all, it is a bit of a mixed bag. Hopefully once Panasonic release the GH5 they will finally give us firmware features on the lower level cameras that surpass the GH4.
http://www.eoshd.com/2016/05/an-adv...at-the-leica-nocticron-for-micro-four-thirds/
It is only a preliminary review, but the camera looks really good from what he has said. The in body 5 axis stabilization works in 4K video mode, along with the lens stabilization - "Dual IS mode uses a combination of sensor and optical stabilisation." It also has clean HDMI out while recording 4K internally, which is huge!
The biggest problem with the recent, cheaper, Panasonic G7 and GX8 is no HDMI out while recording internally, so you can't monitor while recording. The GX8 has the Dual IS mode, with in body stabilization, but I believe it only works in 1080?
+++
Here are a couple of extended quotes from his article:
"The camera ... really excites me. It’s the first time that anyone has put 5 axis in-body stabilisation in a 4K camera which exceeds the performance of the stunningly good Olympus 5 axis system. It’s not quite as effective as a gimbal for sweeping handheld movement, but that pain-in-the-ass tripod you can certainly dispense with now, along with that Olympus 1080p mush whilst we’re at it.....
But there’s more… the camera’s new processor can record 4K to the SD card internally at 100Mbit/s AS WELL AS outputting the full 4K 422 feed to an external recorder for high bitrate ProRes at the same time. The recent G7 did not do simultaneous dual-stream 4K recording (and I thought it was generous of Panasonic to put a live 4K output on that at all!) This is unheard of in a 4K camera costing £500. Not sure if it is 8bit or 10bit yet though. I suspect 8bit but it looks damn nice, just like the GH4’s 10bit.....
The Panasonic 5 axis stabilisation system performs better than the Sony equivalent, especially on sweeping handheld pans, even though the technology is essentially very similar. The smaller sensor in the GX85 has move room to move around, whereas the heavier and larger full frame sensor in the A7R II butts right up against the physical constraints of E-mount. Panasonic’s new system (forget the first effort on the GX8) is right up there with the famed Olympus cameras, like the E-M1 and E-M5 Mark II, but in glorious 4K.
What’s more with Panasonic lenses that feature the latest firmware and Power OIS, stabilisation gets even better, surpassing the performance of the Olympus system. Now you may think that now you have in-body stabilisation, that isn’t needed. But it turns out this still has a role to play on the GX85/80."
+++++++++
There are still no microphone or headphone jacks on the GX85/ GX80 though:
"..this silly segmenting the market by removing headphone and microphone jacks from lower-end models, which sadly is the case with the GX85/80"
The GX85 looks very interesting. We get HDMI out, so we can really use this camera for video. Plus it has the in-body stabilization that we were all wishing the Sony A6300 had, with none of the overheating issues of the A6300. (FWIW: I own the A6300, and will keep it for limited-length 4K use. I also still have my G7 for event use. I will probably replace it with the GX85.)
We should also see some of the same features on the GH5 this fall.
++++
ETA: Here is another review from Imaging Resource, with more details:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/panasonic-gx85/panasonic-gx85A.HTM
There are some positive and negative surprises. A couple of positives- there is no video recording limit for NTSC region cameras. And there is an in camera, programmable "pan and zoom" taht uses a smaller portion of eth sensor, in 4K mode:
"One new video trick that the GX85 offers is a new 4K Live Cropping feature. The camera is able to utilize the entire sensor area, but only capture a smaller 4K-sized frame within that area. What this allows is an all-digital, programmable and automated panning and zooming feature while recording video -- think in-camera "Ken Burns Effect." You can set start and end points for panning, or the end zoom framing, and the camera will smooth and automatically capture 4K video with these pre-programmed "movements."
The negatives? It is an UHD camera, with a higest resolution of 3840 x 2160 in MPEG4, and a pretty low bit rate in 1080 mode:
"...the Panasonic GX85 is capable of capturing 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) video at both 30p and 24p, as well as a variety of Full HD and HD frame rates.
The GX85 captures video in either MP4 or AVCHD formats, however 4K is only available in MP4 mode. Though not as robust a selection of formats and bitrates as the video heavy-hitter GH4, the GX85 still offers 4K video at a high quality 100Mbps bitrate. Bitrates for Full HD and HD videos aren't nearly as high. For MP4, 1080/60p is captured at 28Mbps, 1080/30p at 20Mbps, and 720/30p at just 10Mbps. For AVCHD videos, 1080/60 is pegged at 28Mbps, and both 30p and 24p options top-out at 24Mbps."
There are also some nice stills features, like an electromagnetic shutter to reduce shutter shock:"Say goodbye to shutter shock? Let's hope so. For improvements to sharpness and overall image quality, the Panasonic GX85 also sports a new electromagnetic shutter unit, which helps reduce internal vibrations. Shutter shock has long been a source of issues for mirrorless and DSLR cameras, especially when shooting around a slower range of shutter speeds -- and amplified further when shooting with longer and longer lenses.
The Panasonic GX85's all new electromagnetic shutter mechanism utilizes dual solenoids rather than a traditional motor and spring assembly. A spring-actuated shutter mechanism can induce noticeable vibrations upon firing, which could lead to blurry images when photographing at certain shutter speeds. With the dual solenoid design in the Panasonic GX85, the camera is able to control the acceleration and deceleration of the shutter curtains thereby reducing vibrations of the shutter's opening and closing motion. This should allow for sharper images at problematic shutter speeds. Panasonic claims around a 90 percent reduction in shutter shock vibrations compared to a traditional spring-actuated shutter mechanism. And this new shutter design has the added benefit of being much quieter than a traditional one, too, which is excellent when shooting in sound-sensitive environments."
All-in-all, it is a bit of a mixed bag. Hopefully once Panasonic release the GH5 they will finally give us firmware features on the lower level cameras that surpass the GH4.
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