Panasonic Announces the new GH5 camera

Posted by: George Hall

Pansonic’s next generation GH5 camera is set to ship by middle of 2017, and it’s interesting they announced it this early. The announcement was made yesterday at PhotoKina in Cologne.

One of the design features touted in the press release and presentation includes

“internal” 10 bit 4:2:2 recording in 4k

and up to 60fps according to whats being said. It will be interesting

to see how heat and battery life will be dealt with. Also Im guessing

the timing to ship is being linked to an (affordable) SD Card standard that can keep

up with this kind of data stream. It might be time to by that Pansonic YAGH you’ve been wanting.

There was no new discussion about chip technology in the GH5

Important is ….. as far as interchangeable lens camera’s, the only thing Panasonic

has that this competes against is their own Varicam, so they have

lots of elbow room to push the envelope wth this and not have to

encroach on that product line. SONY does not have that

luxury, so it kinda sorta boxes them in.

As an aside, Im waiting to see what Black Magic does with their pocket camera too.

My gut (for what its worth) is telling me that with HDR closing in, internal 10 bit recording at

4k is a new and significant sweet spot for cameras starting below $2,000. If

Panasonic can clean up V-log-L and squeeze in one more stop of Dynamic Range

over all and keep the price about where the GH4 was, It might represent the start

of a new wave. (even in camcorders)

Its time for this to happen, (affordable for the masses internal 10 bit 4k) and the sooner competitors

are driven to go in that direction the better. We will be standing in line next year to try the new GH5 out.

About the Author:

George Hall Founder/President of VideoSSC. He has over 30 years’ experience as a high technology engineering executive. With significant experience in high performance computing, Military electronics, IP networks and Video Broadcasting. Board member Public Television. An author and frequent guest on technology programs and panels. He holds a BA in mathematics from Hillsdale College.