Panasonic DC-GH5M2ME

Author: Robert66

Rating: 5

Review: I've used the original GH5 still going strong since 2017 and thought it was time to update. I considered the GH6 but decided to go with GH5ii. This is a superb camera for hybrid content creating and the features and performance you get for the price make this the best value camera you can buy IMO. You get professional video quality and features and the stills photograph quality is excellent. Main improvements over the GH5 - Colours are improved, you now get the latest Lumix colour science. IBIS is much better, it was good before but now it's really excellent for handheld video and longer exposure stills. AF is much snappier and the overall operation of the camera is faster. You get 10bit up to 4K60p now. Low light video is improved, I haven't thoroughly tested it yet but ISO3200 is very clean. USB-C charging and power delivery. Accuracy and brightness of the screen and EVF is improved. You can use camera as a USB webcam/streaming. You get the latest Lumix menu and UI. I'm sure there's more but those are the points that occurred to me. Now let's talk sensor size, this is a m43 sensor so you aren't going to get the crazy low light of a full frame sensor but with a f1.8 prime you can shoot in low light and get excellent results. I've worked professionally with GH cameras for 5 years and never needed better image quality. The stills quality is excellent and much underrated. I also have full frame cameras and I don't feel I'm missing anything with GH5ii image quality. Of course the full frame camera will give cleaner ultra high ISO but other factors like depth of field and image stabilisation must be considered in comparison. When it gets dark I use a f1.8 or f1.4 prime and I've always got excellent results and you can drop the shutter speed very low because of the excellent GH5ii IBIS. But if you're looking for the ultimate low light indoor sports camera you'd be better with full frame. Autofocus is very good and Single-AF is instantaneous but the Continuous-AF is not the best, it's useable within its limitations but it doesn't have the foolproof C-AF of the latest Sony cameras. But if you know what you're doing and use a mixture of C-AF and S-AF and MF you can get excellent results. And let's not forget this camera is a fraction of the price of the Sony A74 which is the next Sony camera with comparable video quality IMO. Compact and high quality lenses is the selling point of the m43 system. My full GH5ii kit and lenses fits into a small sling bag and you can't do that with any other system, I've tried. With all cameras you need to know what you're doing and know your gear to get the best out of the tools you use. I haven't even scratched the surface of what the GH5ii is capable of, but just to say GH5ii offers excellent image quality and professional features in a small and affordable camera. For what the GH5ii does it does it very well indeed and I'm extremely happy with it.

Author: Sara Borrington

Rating: 1

Review: The media could not be loaded. Had to send the camera back because there was dust inside the lens. Wasted sooo much time now. Should of bought it from somewhere else, will be getting a refund and then buying it from somewhere else again.