THE WINNERS
EDITOR’S CHOICE: FUJIFILM X-H2S
The Fujifilm X-H2S brings all the latest features found on flagship full-frame rivals and puts them in a more affordable APS-C camera. It’s like a scaled-down Canon EOS R3, Nikon Z 9 or Sony A1 at half the price – or less. And none of these can match its 40fps stills performance with full AE and AF, which is why it’s our editor’s choice. Of course, it does use a smaller sensor than full-frame. This brings some advantages, but also limitations, such as when creating a shallow depth-of-field at wide apertures. But in terms of image quality, you would be very hard pushed to notice any shortcomings at all – even at high ISO settings. High-quality, high-bit-rate internal 10-bit 4:2:2 All-Intra codecs – at a massive range of frame rates – more than make up for any theoretical drawbacks, and the colours are very natural. The X-H2S is one of the best-value and most capable mirrorless cameras for shooting high-quality video.
“The Panasonic Lumix GH6 sets new benchmarks in terms of audio, as it can record four channels at once”
including Cinelike D2 and V2 – the base ISO is 100, but Boost moves that up to 800. An all-new processor speeds up the readout; this keeps rolling shutter issues to a minimum. It’s not a superfast stacked sensor, but it is quick. This speed improves AF, too. Panasonic sticks with its contrast detect AF system, rather than going to on-sensor phase detection. The ‘depth from defocus’ AF mechanism is usable for a majority of subjects, excluding fast-moving sport and wildlife targets. For some filmmakers it won’t be an issue, as manual focusing is excellent – helped by focus peaking. One area that is class-leading is the improved, five-axis in-body image stabilisation. When combined with a compatible Panasonic Dual IS 2 image-stabilised lens, it offers up to 7.5 stops of anti-shake. The GH6 sets new benchmarks in terms of audio, as it can record four channels at once. Two are from the standard 3.5mm input jack, which could be stereo or a mono channel
the 5.7K and 4K footage is highly detailed. Side-by-side with similar- resolution footage from full-frame cameras it is not as far behind as you might expect. The 10-bit files are full of natural, pleasing colours. Skin tones seem to have less red than previous Panasonic GH cameras, which were absolutely fine anyway. The GH6 has even better skin tone reproduction, and 4:2:2 10-bit files are packed full of colour information – a boon for grading. If you weren’t told this came from a Micro Four Thirds sensor, you wouldn’t know. It’s that good.
and safety track. Another two are from the optional XLR audio input module, which affords use of XLR mics. This gives a ‘broadcast safe’ setting of two levels of input gain. A nice touch is the BNC socket, allowing a timecode device to be plugged in for easy multicamera edits. There are tally lights at the front and rear, plus video control via tethering to a computer using Panasonic’s free software. And you can now upload Cube LUTs. A small sensor always has a tough time controlling noise, but the GH6 holds its own up to around 6400 ISO. In terms of resolution,
IN CONTROL A big red Rec button and full-size HDMI port show this is a camera for filmmakers
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