Panasonic GH6 overview: A vlogging workhorse, with some caveats

Panasonic launched the GH5 over five years within the past, serving to spark off a mini vlogging converse and confirming the ability of mirrorless cameras for video. Its substitute has at ideal come in within the web of the $2,200 GH6 with an all-unusual sensor and perfect aspects be pleased ProRes, 5.7K 60p video and an all-unusual stabilization system.

Panasonic had the video creator market largely to itself in 2018, however issues are diversified now. It’s crowded with models from Canon, Sony and Nikon, all offering a similar aspects to the GH6 for a a similar rate. About a of these, be pleased Sony’s A7 IV and the Canon EOS R6, like paunchy-frame sensors and superior piece-detect autofocus systems.

Panasonic has its web paunchy-frame lineup too, so it’s effectively competing with its web Lumix S5 model. Is there aloof a series for a video-centric Micro Four Thirds camera with distinction-detect autofocus? I took a ideal production version of the GH6 out within the French nation-affirm to web out.

Body and handling

Rather then the a similar control structure, the GH6 doesn’t stare much be pleased the GH5 anymore. The first sizable alternate is the whisk on the aid. It contains each and every a multi-attitude articulating teach and an active cooling system with a fan and vents for continuous video taking pictures at high video resolutions.

It’s bought a peculiar grip too, which would possibly maybe well maybe be the supreme I’ve ever viewed on any camera, mirrorless or in some other case. It uses a tackier rubber field cloth and has a much bigger ridge for your fingers, giving a web employ on the camera the least bit instances.

Your entire buttons and dials are in roughly the identical spots, save a few exceptions. Essentially the most noticeable alternate is the addition of a spark off the tip left nook that ability that you just can lock out any controls you’re going to like to like. The diversified is a dedicated autofocus button for changing AF areas, models, perceive detection and more.

One other tremendous alternate is the addition of a second video document button on the entrance, ideally positioned for vloggers. There’s also an excellent dedicated audio control button that ability that you just can like a flash web entry to phases, quality and more without diving into menus. Eventually, there’s a second button up entrance that can even be space to create regardless of you’re going to like to like.

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The GH6 uses the unusual form of Panasonic menu discovered on the GH5 II and S5. Or not it is among the many very top to make employ of of any mirrorless camera, with logical categories and never an excessive amount of scrolling the considerable. Plus, it will also be operated by touch or the employ of the buttons and dials.

As talked about, the GH6 has a fully articulating 1.84-million dot rear touchscreen, as you’d ask, however it completely borrowed a characteristic from the paunchy-frame S1H as properly: It tilts up by about 45 degrees, letting you retain it sure of the microphone and HDMI ports for vlogging or exterior pick.

The 3.68 million dot OLED electronic viewfinder is as interesting as opponents, however the refresh price is restricted to 60Hz. Since the GH6 is basically designed for video that’s not too tremendous a deal, as elevated EVF frequencies largely aid circulate photographers.

With the introduction of ProRes and ProRes HQ, interior data rates can hit as much as 1.9Gbps (237.5 MB/s). To that stop, the GH6 now has a high-tempo CFexpress slot, along with a UHS II slot. The problem of getting one very fast card and one very late card is that that you just can well maybe’t backup ProRes (or 800Mbps All-I H.264 video) to the SD card. That can even be an plan back for videographers that fully require a backup when taking pictures video for weddings and diversified are dwelling events.

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As for ports, it has a paunchy-sized HDMI port as you’d hope on this kind of camera, along with a USB-C port that helps vitality offer so that that you just can well maybe price or vitality the camera whereas taking pictures. Naturally, it has headphone and microphone jacks, and likewise that you just can well maybe enhance that to four-channel XLR inputs the employ of Panasonic’s $400 DMW-XLR1 hotshoe adapter.

Overall, the GH6 is a properly designed and colossal-handling camera, in particular for video. Key settings be pleased audio phases, video resolution and autofocus are easy to alternate and video display.

There are a few drawbacks, even supposing. Or not it is heavy for a Micro Four Thirds camera at 823g, and the battery lifestyles isn’t colossal either. It’s rated for appropriate 350 aloof photos on a price, when compared to 400 on the GH5 with the identical settings, and about an hour of constant 4K taking pictures. On one in all our shoots, alternatively, it didn’t address more than about 45 minutes of finish-originate taking pictures, so that you just’ll desire to like interplay and lift a number of additional cells.

Video

Precise be pleased the GH5, the GH6 is a video creator’s camera above all. For that, it’s better than its predecessor in almost every manner, from resolution to stabilization to dynamic fluctuate.

The GH6 can shoot 5.7K your entire manner as much as 60 fps, DCI 4K as much as 120 fps and 1080p at 240 fps. As with diversified Panasonic cameras, it helps anamorphic stoning as much as five.7K. That lets in you to make employ of lenses from Vazen, Sirui and others and web these dramatic JJ Abrams horizontal lens flares. 10-bit video with billions of colors is accessible for all these codecs, with an Intraframe I mode for more uncomplicated editing and LongGop L mode, (each and every with H.264 and H.265 codecs), to preserve set apart.

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It also helps 12-bit ProRes and ProRes HQ, codecs that gobble card set apart however are more uncomplicated to edit than MP4. That you just would be in a position to well maybe easiest shoot 5.7K 25p ProRes video for now, however ProRes DCI 4K and paunchy HD are coming later by blueprint of a firmware update. RAW output at as much as C4K (4,096 x 2,160) 120p to an exterior Atomos Ninja V+ recorder can even be introduced down the road.

The 5.7K ProRes photographs enables for crisp downsampled 4K photographs or cropping the set apart the considerable, whereas handing over the best imaginable quality with minimal compression and 12 bits of color. It’ll also play in right time on a tight editing laptop, however you’ll want a entire bunch storage set apart – the file sizes are big.

In the intervening time, 4K at 120 fps is an excellent plus for dramatic late-mo. In inequity to with opponents, there’s no cropping or drop in sharpness at these elevated frame rates, and 10-bit video is accessible. The supreme plan back to 120p is that a characteristic known as Dynamic Differ Boost isn’t supported.

So what’s that? Slightly than Dual Native ISO be pleased the GH5, the GH6 has Dynamic Differ Boost. It combines high and low-invent readouts to ship additional dynamic fluctuate at ISO settings over 800. With the characteristic turned off, dynamic fluctuate is a bit below the GH5 and when enabled, it’s a paunchy finish elevated.

The GH6 can also be Panasonic’s first non-professional camera with paunchy V-Log, not hobbled V-Log L. With all that, video quality is prominent, in particular in tense, contrasty scenes. It’s interesting, colors are lovely on point and the additional finish of dynamic fluctuate over the GH5 offers editors extra space to dial down like a flash-witted scenes and amp up shadows in post-production.