SONY A7 III V PANASONIC GH5S
HIGH ISO
ISO of 400 for maximum dynamic range. When light levels drop, the other setting is at higher 2500 ISO aimed at minimising noise. This system gives impressively clean results at higher ISO settings. It’s very clean at up to 3200 and even useable at 25,600. At 800 ISO on a gloomy day, the footage was amazingly good with bright colours, low noise and lots of detail. Panasonic has made a sensor that performs very well at high ISO. But there is nothing that can perform as well as a modern, much larger sensor. The Sony definitely has the edge when ISO numbers get very high; noise is controlled better, the colours are more natural and there is more detail. Winner: Sony, despite Panasonic’s impressive use of technology
The larger photosites used on lower-megapixel sensors often have the upper edge when light levels drop and ISO gets cranked up. In this way, a larger sensor has traditionally been the best way to have great low-light performance. But with it smaller sensor, Panasonic has worked hard to maximise its low-light ability for filmmakers. There are a relatively modest 10.2 megapixels in its new high-sensitivity Live MOS sensor which reaches a new high for Panasonic of 51,200 ISO that can be expanded to 204,800. It also features Panasonic’s Dual Native ISO technology as used in its professional Varicam and EVA1 cinema cameras which reads the chip in two different ways, each with a different native ISO. There is one setting with a lower native
SHOOTING LOG
This is where things get really interesting, as many filmmakers shoot in the very flat Log profile to maximise dynamic range. The Sony records in S-Log 2 and even flatter S-Log 3 and has Hybrid Log Gamma for easy HDR use. But as it’s an 8-bit camera, shooting Log reduces the actual colour information in the file which has an impact. Very flat profiles like S-Log 3 aren’t recommended on an 8-bit camera. Setting the camera to Logmeans the base ISO is raised significantly to a minimumof 800; a pain, as you will tend to use it in sunny conditions and would like a lower ISO. When processing the 800 ISO 8-bit files, you’ll need to add some noise reduction which does impact sharpness and colour fidelity. The GH5S comes with V-Log video profile, if the camera is used alongside Panasonic’s VariCam cinema cameras for a consistent look. As the GH5S captures its footage as a 10-bit 4:2:2 signal, rather than the Sony’s 8-bit 4:2:0, this advantage hits home when shooting in Log as it crams as much dynamic range as possible into the file. The Panasonic retains more data than the Sony, so in post processing there is much less obvious noise. When shooting Log, there’s very little difference between the GH5S and Sony A7 III at moderately high ISOs but the Panasonic just edges it. The Pana is also capable of recording in Hybrid Log Gamma mode for instant High Dynamic Range.
BELOW When it's time to crank up the ISO, the large sensor of the Sony wins. But for shooting Log, the Panasonic has the upper hand thanks to 10-bit capture.
A7 III
Winner: Panasonic takes it as the 10-bit advantage shows
GH5S
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AUTUMN 2018 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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