GEAR PANASONIC GH5S
redesigned with a big red record button, much better for filming. Like the standard GH5 there are separate buttons for ISO and white- balance, while the shutter speed and aperture are altered by two dials, making it intuitive to use. Unfortunately, the camera does not have any in-body image stabilisation because the larger sensor doesn’t leave enough room. The only way to curb the shakes is to fit one of Panasonic’s own image-stabilised lenses, but this does crop the view slightly. Panasonic claims many pro filmmakers use their cameras on motorised gimbals or tripods, so it’s not needed, but in-body image stabilisation does feature on just about every other mirrorless pro camera and it may be a deal- breaker for those who love to shoot handheld stills or video. It also lacks the larger EVF from the G9, and there is no Canon-style dual-pixel autofocus or Sony-esque phase-detect AF for video use. The fast readout from the new sensor is said to increase AF speed over the GH5 in low light, but the difference is minimal and means the GH5S is no rival for a Canon cinema camera or Sony mirrorless for autofocus during video. The GH5S does allow you to set up to three focus points and then selectively switch between them during recording by tapping on the rear touchscreen. As it’s only a contrast-detect system, it can often hunt around when trying to lock on to the subject. You can customise lots of AF settings for video, such as how sensitive the AF is, how fast the subject is moving around the frame and how erratic that movement might be. Good in theory, but let down by the contrast-detect system. Realistically, you have to think of this as a manual-focus video camera – used with cine lenses it’s ideal. For stills, the high-tech AF system from the GH5 remains and is even quicker thanks to the new processing speed of the camera, but it’s still not a match for more advanced systems. The GH5S has the same video codec options and tools – such as vectorscopes, waveforms and previewmodes for anamorphic, Log and Hybrid Log Gamma shooting – that the GH5 had. There is also a full-size HDMI port
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT The red ring signifies it’s the S-model. When it gets gloomy, the GH5S excels. Waveforms aid correct exposure.
“Shooting cinema 4K at 60fps in bright conditions is glorious”
for a Micro Four Thirds camera. At low ISO the footage is very sharp, with no banding between colours – a result of the impressive 400Mbps bitrate. Shooting cinema 4K at 60fps in bright conditions is glorious, with punchy results. Compared to a more conventional 8-bit, 4:2:0 capture, the 10-bit 4:2:2 of the GH5S captures each tone with 64 times more detail, and you can see the difference. When light levels drop and the ISO heads upwards, obviously quality takes a hit, but it’s still very good and certainly very useable. At 800 ISO on a gloomy day, the footage was amazingly good with bright colours, low noise and lots of detail. Team it with some very fast lenses – which are all available
and no built-in flash, and twin microphones. These are useful for some scratch audio in a pinch and one of the mics records noise from the camera itself, such as when buttons are pressed. This signal is matched to the main audio, then software removes it. However, most users will record audio via a separate mic; the DMW-XLR1 accessory unit costs £360/$399, goes on the hotshoe and has twin XLR inputs. It supports phantom power and records 96kHz/24-bit audio. The heart of the camera is its new Dual Native ISO sensor, which gives impressively clean results at higher ISO settings in video. It’s very clean at up to 3200 and even useable at 25,600, just incredible
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PRO MOVIEMAKER WINTER 2017
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