Upgrading to GH5s?

Eric Soto · February 5, 2018

Hey everyone, so I am currently using a 5dMrk3 and am looking to upgrade. I mainly work in low budget music videos, weddings and filming live bands. Would it be a overkill to switch to the GH5s? From the specs I've seen this camera is looking very good for video. I feel this camera will be good for present use and possibly higher end use in the future. I would like to hear people's thoughts on this camera in general and if there are other cameras I should look into in the same price range instead of the GH5s.

Thanks.

Landon D. Parks · February 5, 2018

From an owner of the GH4, at one time I'd have told you yes... However, the GH5s is pushing $2,500, which is a lot for no more than it really offers, and is starting to get into the territory of where you can purchase REAL, entry-level cinema-grade cameras like the URSA 4K.

Honestly, I'm probably done with the Panasonic line of cameras after the GH4 is either sold or retired. While they make great cameras, they also have a lot of issues that hold them back from being really great.

Unless you NEED 4K, I'd strongly suggest looking at getting a used BMCC or such. It's still a workhorse, and with a few accessories can be made into a true cinema-grade camera.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Landon D. Parks

Eric Soto · February 5, 2018

From an owner of the GH4, at one time I'd have told you yes... However, the GH5s is pushing $2,500, which is a lot for no more than it really offers, and is starting to get into the territory of where you can purchase REAL, entry-level cinema-grade cameras like the URSA 4K.

Honestly, I'm probably done with the Panasonic line of cameras after the GH4 is either sold or retired. While they make great cameras, they also have a lot of issues that hold them back from being really great.

Unless you NEED 4K, I'd strongly suggest looking at getting a used BMCC or such. It's still a workhorse, and with a few accessories can be made into a true cinema-grade camera.

Well the thing is I feel if I am upgrading, considering how things are moving forward, wouldn't having 4K as minimum be a must ? I wouldn't say I NEED it. But I do feel it would be better to have , especially if it is being offered in cameras in my price range. Opposed to cameras like the C100 which have been suggested as an option within my budget.

Landon D. Parks · February 5, 2018

Lets remember that the current most favored camera in Hollywood right now, the Alexa, is not 4K. Resolution is not the be-all-end-all (unless your making a Netflix Original series -- don't ask). So many other things, like dynamic range, color reproduction, sensor noise, and color science are all more important.

I mean, feel free to get a GH5s if you like. The GH5 is a fine camera, so is the GH4 (I still use mine). I bought a GH5 when it first came out, then sold it after I realized it really didn't do anything my GH4 + my Atomos didn't already do. The 5s should be a nice upgrade, just keep in mind that it lacks some of the key features that even the GH5 has - like intra-frame recording and image stabilization. It's also using a new sensor, so only time will tell how well it produces cinematic looking images. So far, I've only seen a few test shots from it - and to be honest, none of them struck me as looking even as good as the base GH5.

I recently made the move to the Blackmagic Pocket cameras well... Buying 2 of them. I'll still be keeping my GH4 with the vlog and atomos recorder, but the more I shoot with the Blackmagic, the more I love it over the DSLR format.

The GH5s is still going to be recording no more than 11-stops DR, to a highly compressed i-frame codec that is not yet standard... So you'll need to transcode in post. Even once the codec is ready to go in post, i-frame codecs are CPU-resource hogs and will chug along - trying to reconstruct the inter-frames - so you're probably still going to need to transcode to something like DNx or ProRes.

PERSONALLY, If I were you - I'd go with a GH4 with an Atomos Recorder. It does pretty much everything the GH5 does, only you get the advantage of ProRes and DNx Codecs, and an amazing monitor with all kinds of helpful scopes. And it'll cost you a lot less money.

Not to pitch here: But I have a B-Cam GH4 vlog w/ Ninja Flame I'll sell ya if you decide to go that route. It's in great shape.

Edited February 5, 2018 by Landon D. Parks

Adrian Sierkowski · February 5, 2018

I'm actually pretty sure the argument that alexa is not 4K doesn't really work. Generally, I'm seeing a lot of Alexa Minis, and using a lot of 'em, and they're always set to UHD. It's not as though we're generally shooting 1080 on the Alexas, generally we're at 3K or higher.

Were I in your shoes, i'd maybe go Regular GH5, and not GH5s, as I think the reg GH5 has better stabalization in it, and it's cheaper even with VLog. The Low light is better on the 5s, but to be honest, do you really need over 1600 ISO on a regular basis?

Eric Soto · February 5, 2018

I'm actually pretty sure the argument that alexa is not 4K doesn't really work. Generally, I'm seeing a lot of Alexa Minis, and using a lot of 'em, and they're always set to UHD. It's not as though we're generally shooting 1080 on the Alexas, generally we're at 3K or higher.

Were I in your shoes, i'd maybe go Regular GH5, and not GH5s, as I think the reg GH5 has better stabalization in it, and it's cheaper even with VLog. The Low light is better on the 5s, but to be honest, do you really need over 1600 ISO on a regular basis?

The thing is I film a lot of bands during live performances, so I tend to on average have to be at about 3200. 6400 in the worse case scenario. But on average when doing music videos I don't go over 1600. I do like the multi aspect ratio of the sensor on the GH5s though, as well as the HD at 120 and 240 fps.