Sadly This Is Why You Shouldn’t Buy A Panasonic GH5 Mark II

Today we look again at the Panasonic GH5 Mark II that's soon to be officially announced.

The problem is the leaked information from Nokashita yesterday was accurate and the full camera spec sheet leaked today confirms it while adding additional food for thought.

There is less than NOTHING to be seen here. In my short time looking at the complete spec sheet for the Panasonic GH5 Mark II I can see at least two things that instead of getting better since the release of the Panasonic GH5 in March 2017 actually got worse. Yes, that 4 years ago and the specs have not improved and may have gotten worse!

Check out the complete spec sheet for yourself and let me know where I get it right and where I got it wrong. I'm hoping I'm wrong here!

As it stands, I would recommend that people interested in the Panasonic GH lineup wait for the release of the GH5 Mark II and pick up a USED GH5 for 1/2 price.

If you don't need a Micro Four Thirds I would recommend looking at one of the budget full-frame mirrorless options by Canon, Nikon, or Sony that are even more affordable with a much larger sensor.

💎 I would love to hear your thoughts!

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[jcristina]

Today we look again at the Panasonic GH5 Mark II that's soon to be officially announced.

The problem is the leaked information from Nokashita yesterday was accurate and the full camera spec sheet leaked today confirms it while adding additional food for thought.

There is less than NOTHING to be seen here. In my short time looking at the complete spec sheet for the Panasonic GH5 Mark II I can see at least two things that instead of getting better since the release of the Panasonic GH5 in March 2017 actually got worse. Yes, that 4 years ago and the specs have not improved and may have gotten worse!

Check out the complete spec sheet for yourself and let me know where I get it right and where I got it wrong. I'm hoping I'm wrong here!

As it stands, I would recommend that people interested in the Panasonic GH lineup wait for the release of the GH5 Mark II and pick up a USED GH5 for 1/2 price.

If you don't need a Micro Four Thirds I would recommend looking at one of the budget full-frame mirrorless options by Canon, Nikon, or Sony that are even more affordable with a much larger sensor.

💎 I would love to hear your thoughts!

[ Channel Membership ]

YouTube has recently made Memberships available to this channel. The great thing about this is that I can now provide perks for becoming a channel member as a way of giving back and saying thank you! Simply click the JOIN button under any of my hundreds of videos.

If you enjoy my content and are thinking about becoming a member of the channel I would like to thank you in advance for your generosity and promise I will continue to make quality unbiased content and built this amazing community of fellow creatives.


Follow me on Instagram @josephcristina for extra behind the scenes content and if you found value in this video, please take a moment to Thumbs-Up, Subscribe, Turn-On Notifications, and most importantly Tell A Friend about the channel.




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[lupo]

To quote Frank Zappa, "It's not getting any smarter out there. You need to come to terms with stupidity and make it work for you."

[eagleeyephoto]

Rumor has it that Panasonic AF will work perfectly in 2078.

[JoesCoralReef]

I think it’s a update due to supplier availability of components. Kinda like what sony did for a7r iiiA . Stock must have been low so they updated what they had to. These aren’t made like a cars where factory is run almost every day, with these they build x amount for market forecast then sit on inventory.

[robertm]

USB has been confusingly redefined. What was 3.1 is now 3.0. The camera specs did not go backward in that spec.

[scottfineshriber]

There is live streaming and simultaneous internal and external recording, as well as a higher resolution to the LCD. The enhancements seem to be all for video shooters, but there are incremental improvements. For current GH5 owners, it may not be enough to upgrade, but for others it might be just what they need. Not a great commentary video.

[AlanCheong]

Looks like panasonic does not intend the Mark 2 as an upgrade but a mere name change just to reflect the slight change in components, probably due to unavailability of older parts from suppliers. If we look at it that way, instead of a newer model, then it makes sense. It's literally just another M50 mk 2 exercise, probably for the same reason as well. I think Sony did something similar too but it was very quiet. The current models have already passed the shelf life of older components.

[MLee-vcrr]

I couldn't help but notice something in the specs that was not mentioned. It looks as though this new GH5ii will feature a usable 6k and 4k 10bit anamorphic mode up to 30fps. Depending on the aspect ratio, this could be a cool feature for those who own the Sirui anamorphic series of lenses.

[jonbarnard]

Olympus has used on-chip phase detect focusing since the EM1-II. I kind of figured this would be the same sensor, but obviously not.

[baxtermarrison]

As has already been mentioned, this update appears to be driven by parts availability and a few changes in the manufacturing process to cut production cost without the need to upgrade tooling.

I also think it points to the demise of MFT, enough demand to justify continuing production of the GH5 but not enough to justify investment in manufacturing facilities for a substantively different model.

Perhaps if there is a GH6 I would imagine similar incremental changes, however, I can't see the benefits of MFT given how good APSC offerings from Sony and Fujifilm are in the video space, as well as the continued improvement of full-frame video capability.

[wescam]

A bit off topic - I read today that Sony is discontinuing the A6500. Last week they announced the end of their DSLR line. Now, they are working on deleting their mirrorless APS-C cameras which have been very successful and in their time ground breaking. Panasonic is trying to keep MFT alive, but Sony can see the writing on the wall and dumping all but full frame. What does that tell you about these two camera manufacturers? One is desperately hanging onto the past. While the other is going with the flow. I suppose you can see there are two 'camps' of camera manufacturers. If I were coming into photography and asking which camera system to choose, I would go with a manufacturer who has a forward looking perspective rather than a backward or desperate one. I think it is safe to say that Panasonic looks worried. Whereas Sony is fearlessly looking into the future. If I were getting into photography I'd choose to begin with Sony. Is this a marketing issue? Nope. It is all about the future of hand held camera photography.

[richardewlliams]

"BORED" as hell, of 4 minutes of bull shit, I went on to something else..

[rayymlai]

Thanks for sharing your perspective. It's sad to hear the GH5ii has no functional change. I would seriously consider either Olympus OM 8K or jump ship to Sony or BMPCC6K Pro.

[BlackWarriorLures]

There's a reason I left Panasonic. Every camera they make same one else is making the same camera for cheaper, or they're sell a superior camera for the same price.

[PhotoBlue]

I think both in the case of the Canon M50 MkII and the GH5 MkII they put out new version numbers only to help delineate there was a change. If you look at a camera like the Sony RX100 that is up to MkVII, the mark numbers actually help you pick out which model has what key features like EVF, or Neutral Density Filter, etc. So you can actually tell if you are buying a used version or buying a new version that is still being sold if it is one they added the neutral density filter to, or one they removed the neutral density filter from. Obviously the RX100 actually has some major or significant differences between each version, but by creating a new version you can kind of manage expectations. The M50 MkII could have been a firmware update, and people could have just checked the firmware version in their camera to bring it up to date. Really, a camera version update should include some sort of hardware that has been updated, not just software. With the GH5 MkII, from the changes you read, I would say they needed to change the LCD screen and some other parts for some reason. It might be a supply problem, or a change from one of their suppliers, or it might have been they discovered a few changes they could make to save some money. If they kept the same version number and made these changes, it would have caused some complaints, because if you had a GH5 and it needed to be replaced for some reason and you buy a new one and discover the screen is smaller, you may be upset. Also, I would not be surprised if there is some regulation which required them to make a delineation between screen size changes or their attorneys might have required it. Considering years ago there was a big class action suit over how some manufacturers measured screen sizes of monitors called a screen that was 14.8 inches a 15 inch screen.

[ChrisWilliams-nfkl]

I'm also a bit dumbfounded by this announcement - it's very discouraging. I don't have a GH5, but I do have a G9, being a bit more stills-oriented [I also have a Sony A7rii, but let's leave that to one side]. The only thing I can't see in the spec [I might have missed it, but I'm so disheartened I can't bring myself to go through it again] is the image processor.

I would still hope they've at least upgraded that and that could potentially deliver a lot more than the specs suggest. I can only imagine Panasonic are stubbornly sticking with DfD, because one day, with a processor powerful enough, it may actually exceed the performance of phase detect; which is reliant on a more purely mechanical process. It could of course also improve lots of other things, such as subject recognition, noise processing, rolling shutter and the host of benefits that computational photography will eventually bring into the mix on 'grown up' cameras.

It's the hope of a slightly desperate man. I like the ergonomics of my Panasonics, I like the innovation and features they've brought in the past and I love the flexibility of having a really tiny camera [like the GM5 or G100] that can be teamed with very compact zooms like their 14-140. IQ is naturally compromised, but in decent light it's still pretty good and allows a photographer to travel really light and still get good shots over a lot of range. Like you I also believe the more successful and innovative manufactures there are out there, the better it is for the consumer - better cameras, keener prices.

I'm really hoping that the whole of MfT is not in the business of rationalising costs in the face of a shrinking market, because I don't want the system to die - there is a niche there. Is it getting just too small?

[erichramone]

Ok the secret for the gh5II is in the video specs. DCI 4K 60 (200mb) 10 BIT 4.2.0 and the “exact same” in 6K Anamorphic. That’s pretty darn huge from what I understand. AND it’s now rated at 6.5 stops of SENSOR STABILIZATION FROM 5.0 stops on the first GH5. That’s pretty big too.

[melgross]

Despite Panasonic’s protestations, I believe that this is a rearguard action for them. Meaning that I’m pretty sure that they intend to discontinue 4:3. Their sales are minuscule. Maybe they’ll gain some sales from would be Olympus users who understandably don’t trust what OM Digital will do in the future. But sales are estimated to be about 150, 000 last year. That not sustainable unless the company is treating is as a hobby, as Pentax is.

Panasonic may consider their position the way Samsung did, and just drop out altogether. The “L” mount is doing slightly better than expected, but still not doing well.

I doubt that anyone is looking to Panasonic for innovation in the photo market, and that includes that “L” mount, which isn’t innovative, being basically just a Leica mount, with also just minuscule sales.

It seems to me that yes indeed, Canon, Sony, and even Nikon are innovating. But you can’t have constant innovation. You get innovation, then iteration, and after some fair amount of time, innovation again, etc.

[Ulrich.Bierwisch]

You missed 4k60p with 10bit 4:2:0 in h265 (200mBit). It used to be 8bit 4:2:0 h264.

But actually it is not an iteration and not an innovation. It is an continuation. It looks like they still sell a lot of them and the are sure they need to produce a lot of them in the next years. Most likely they had to change a number of parts because of price or availability and used this to make a new version. The USB is for external power. This is important because the GH5 needed a dummy battery for this. There is no reason to upgrade but if someone thinks the GH5 is what he needs, he can get the new one and the small improvements.

The fact, that Panasonic prepares to produce the GH5 for several more years shows one thing: There is no new camera coming that makes the GH5 obsolete. If a GH6 will be announced, it will be so different that they can coexist. I expect something with 8k or very fast 6k and a price above $2.000 while the GH5-II will drop closer to $1.000 over time.

[johnherzel]

How does it stack up against the Olympus OMD EM-1 MK2?
My M50 wants to know!