Panasonic Lumix GH5S review

Panasonic’s new mirrorless camera is designed for video first and stills second, so what does this mean for photographers?

Digital Camera World Verdict

As a 4K video camera, the GH5S is extremely powerful and extremely good value. Our real-world tests indicate its high ISO performance still lags slightly behind its bigger-sensor rivals, but professionals will love its high frame rates, 10-bit 4:2:2 recording and high bitrates. It’s not all good, though; the lack of sensor-based stabilisation will put many people off, and the 10MP resolution is just too low for it to be a convincing stills camera.

Pros

  • +

    High-end 4K video

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    Dual Native ISO

  • +

    Twin UHS-II card slots

Cons

  • -

    10.2MP stills

  • -

    No sensor-based stabilisation

  • -

    Controls not optimised for video

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UPDATED 21/11/2018: As you would expect top-end cameras tend to get powerful video features, but this is a case of Panasonic putting video first. You can shoot perfectly good still images with the Lumix GH5S, but its 10.2MP sensor is designed with its full focus on video. In other words, it’s aimed squarely at videographers who might also need to shoot stills, instead of the other way around.

If the GH5S was solely a video camera, we wouldn’t be reviewing it. In fact, it’s a fascinating crossover camera of a type that could become increasingly common as the boundaries between the stills and video markets continue to blur, though its video-first approach at the expense of stills makes it hard to recommend as one of the best cameras for filmmaking.

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