@peaceonearth - Yeah, that was damn good.

I currently have a GH4, I'm trying to decide if I should spend more for the S or not...

@bwhitz - I was so glad to ditch my GH3. It made me miss my gh2s.

@peaceonearth Yes, that was very impressive! Best thing I've seen shot on the GH5s!

@Isaac_B

You should try the GH5's 6K mode. That detail you describe as being missing, once you shoot in 6k all that fine detail that is resolved out in the 4K mode reappears. There's more detail and tonality to the image that you don't get in the 4K modes.

hmmm, very interesting. I'll have to check that out when I end up renting the camera. Good thing to investigate.

From the 4k footage I've seen from the GH5S, there's a significant absence of detail due to the smaller sensor size.

yea I don't think the sensor size is really the problem. I see more detail in Blackmagic 2.5k footage than allot of GH5 videos (that's a smaller sensor as well)... at least more "texture" anyways. Not sure what they each actually measure on a resolution chart. I think the problem is the processing going on in the camera. Noise reduction doesn't seem like it goes down far enough to stop it from stripping texture out of everything. It gives the image that "highly-detailed-plastic" look. It needs a "full-off" setting. I don't care if they even make it paid-firmware.

Oh also, there was a still comparison somewhere and the RAW photos had GOBS of detail. Then, with the JPEG mode stills, you could see all the processing and artificial sharpening ruining the image. I'll have to find that blog again...

@sgttom

Could it simply be that some users are not turning noise reduction and sharpening down to -5? Another thing I heard is that Panasonic lenses automatically correct for distortion, which softens the image. So someone decided they would add sharpening to make up for it. Neither of these features can be disabled unless you use manual lenses.

I think that definitely helps. But I'm afraid that even -5 isn't far enough. Processing seems VERY heavy in the GH series. But, yea, I still have a GH3 now (also had GH2) and I always used manual lenses.

shot with a GH5s. Impressive

@bwhitz

You should try the GH5's 6K mode. That detail you describe as being missing, once you shoot in 6k all that fine detail that is resolved out in the 4K mode reappears. There's more detail and tonality to the image that you don't get in the 4K modes.

From the 4k footage I've seen from the GH5S, there's a significant absence of detail due to the smaller sensor size. Few folks are discussing that big trade-off in losing detail for better lowlight performance.

I use a GH4 (with it's much criticised 8 bit 4:2:0 4k H264 format) in multi-camera setups with Sony FS7, RED & BMD cameras and have never had a client notice. I'm sure you can see the difference, but my paying clients are extremely happy and love the finished, graded product.

@bwhitz - why not buy a Sony alpha series camera instead? It’s a big ask for a significantly sub 2k camera to produce anything like the footage that a red, an arri, a varicam or even an fs7 produces

@bwhitz

The Varicam is certainly not as detailed-rich as the GH5s when it comes to the video you show. That being said, the Cinematographer clearly has a clue of what he's doing compared to a lot of GH5/s stuff which are done by VLogers on their vacation trip or approximate testing. You're comparing Panasonic commercial who hired a director/dp/colorist/.../ with the next kid buying this camera to do unboxing videos and travel reviews.

Lastly, if you purely compare the two, here are things have noticed in the Varicam commercial and are absent in most GH5/s videos (and which are clearly known to create sharpness): 1) Chromatic Aberration, such a "mistake" in optic create sharpness, especially when it's thin. The reason is simple, it underline every lines and create micro-contrast. Compared to the overused Panasonic / Leica everyone use which are surgically soul-less (small distortion, vignetting, invisible chromatic aberration) 2) Colors, the color Grading in that video you posted is Great (because a colorist went through to make it look great), in many GH5/s stuff, people just apply a LUT and think "ok it's good now" while these camera can be used for VLoging, they usually need deep care in post-production workflow to be dealt with (and it's even worse with people shooting nowadays in Logarithm for every movie and start color grading straight without using Color Management making all their effort to waste) This is IMO the biggest killer that makes a lot of footage non-cinematic (or not-Red not-Arri like footage if you prefer). Chances are if you buy / rent a red or Arri, you don't use it for snapchat and have knowledge of the beast while if you do for the GH5, there's no guarantee the majority doesn't buy this product to shoot pictures of their dogs 3) Framing which orientates the eye to make things pop up and others to disappear. 4) Lighting, sounds about right since light deposit and shades create contrast, underline some parts of the frame.

Then yes, there are things that comes to the realm of taste. I still love the texture / color my GH2 produce anytime compared to the GH4/GH5/GH5s. It's certainely not natural but it's to my taste (to be fair if you take a look at it, nature sucks most of the time. It's grey, averagely saturated and chances are in your city the lights are cheap not of quality).

It's easy to find bad examples:

Just test a camera to see if it fits your needs, don't judge over the internet.

Dpreview sample images:

https://www.dpreview.com/samples/0852933368/panasonic-lumix-gh5s-sample-gallery

[VK - added photo]

@DrDave Yep, I was just gonna say that was probably it...

@ bwhitz

At 0:35 for example, the red bus on the bridge going left, or the woman at 0:46 walking to right. The movement stops for a tiny fraction of second then there is a very little jump forward.