Richard Payne on the GH5 - Behind the Headlines

Multipixel Luminance Generation

Panasonic’s new way of generating luminance information should improve edge detail significantly, making high resolution video without the artificial stepping which can ruin naturalistic images. Add this the new colour processing engine which ensures better colour reproduction in both highlight and shadow areas and you get a camera capable of capturing great subtlety.

Why is this important? It’s the difference between a video camera and a cinema camera.

Greater than 6K Video

There will be 6K anamorphic video modes coming on-line with firmware updates later this year, but already it might well be able to use the 30p 6K 4:3 Photo Mode with some SLR Magic 2X Anamorphic lenses to make 6K video.  Each frame will be 18MP!  This is one of the first things I want to try when I get my hands on a demo camera again later this month.

The GH5 in 4K DCI has a 1.89x crop factor. With the Metabones Speedbooster Ultra x0.71 a 35mm lens has a field of view equivalent to focal length of 47mm. and that’s basically the same as Red’s Helium at 8K HD and not too far from the Helium in full frame mode at 44mm.

Why is this important? Does the GH5 become a serious contender as a B camera on a film set.