Panasonic

While for many use cases the Blackmagic Pocket 4K is the preferred the camera, the GH5 still has its place, especially for the solo shooter who needs to go small and who needs IBIS.

This video covers the slow video options for the Panasonic GH5:

The G95 doens’t make sense to us. Get a new or used G85 for significantly less, or get a GH5 for a bit more. If Panasonic had price the G95 the same as they did the G85 then we wouldn’t be so harsh, as the G95 is a capable camera if you can live in 8-bit land with a higher crop and without 4K at 60FPS.

We are fans of Panasonic. They have often created the best value 4K cameras. The G85 was a good value because it gave you excellent image quality (better than the GH4 in several ways) as long as you could live without the 4K slow motion or V-Log.

But with the Panasonic G95 (also known as the G90 and G99 depending on your region) we still lack 4K slow motion, 10-bit or V-Log, and the price has gone up. There are some improvements for sure, but we fill Panasonic missed their target on this one. Just wait for a sale on a GH5 or a G85 to get the best value. The G95 is too close the GH5 to make sense for a lot of people.

Key features of the Panasonic G95:

• 4K at 30FPS
• 1080P at 120FPS
• V-Log L (but 8 bit codec)
• Better autofocus than the G85
• $1200
• IBIS
• More of a crop than the G85 on account of the 20MP sensor

We are fans of Panasonic entering the full-frame camera arena. Unfortunately they’re going for more of the premium market unlike their approach in m43 where they have offered some of the best value.

Here are some examples of what this camera can do:

These are interesting cameras but Panasonic’s targeting the higher end market is a departure from its approach with M43 where it released very affordable products for the features they offered. Premium is where the camera makers believe the money is at I guess.

Regardless, we wish Panasonic success because they have shown more innovation the Nikon and Canon and we’d be happy to have them survive as a competitor.

Here’s Lok’s first Look:

We’ve really appreciated Panasonic’s video contributions via their m43 cameras. It appears that they are going a premium product route with their new full frame cameras. However, given the competence they’ve displayed in the past we’re hopeful that their new full frame bodies might bring something different to the table.

I think most of us have forgotten about the Panasonic LX100 Mark II after it was a let down of a release. Not that it’s a bad camera. But basically Panasonic did not innovate and other cameras in the market improved in the meantime.

The G85 was (and still may be) the king of affordable 8-bit 4K hybrid cameras. However, any camera with IBIS can be vulnerable to vibrations causing jitter in the image. This is part of why pros sometimes shy away from IBIS and go with good old fashioned fixed sensor cameras.