Panasonic GH6 Review

The Panasonic GH6 has been bringing Jordan joy for months, and it's time for our final review! Is this the best mirrorless camera for video shooters? We tested things!

Rental equipment provided by The Camera Store

0:00 - Intro
0:53 - Video Quality
2:51 - Focus
4:44 - Stabilization
6:23 - Battery Life and charging
7:23 - Photography
8:35 - Should you buy it?
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[PeteBreen]

Saying it's a hard choice for video for the GH6 vs. the Z9 is a testament to how good video is out of the GH6. Loved the review. Found it very fair and didn't disagree with any of it - as a GH6 owner.

[peternavanac]

Normal excellent review. Been using the GH6 with 10-25 f1.7 and have been truly stunned by the 5.7k prores HQ. The way Panasonic implemented prores on this camera is something to behold. I disagree with the unbalanced view of the photo abilities of the GH6. The noisy shadows at low ISO’s was unduly high lighted. The GH6 is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the GH5 in photos. I would rarely take photos with the GH5…it just was not able to keep pace with my old D810. The GH6 is a different world with photos and comes close to the D810. It is a true photo/video hybrid.

[BackusCreativeImaging]

1:52 - Or better, DR Boost should have 3 options: On, Off, Preferred. Preferred (or just Auto) would enable the setting when it can be used (in frame rates of 60fps or less). In photography this behavior is automatic on the GH6.

[dfotos]

I also have the Olympus EM-1 III and I must say that I am very happy with the GH6 when shooting. I have no complaints about noise in the shade. There is also Topaz DeNoise ;-)

[glen-draketoolworks]

Your drill-down review is appreciated. Finally, someone talks about the focus-limiting function. Now, what about near and far focus shifts? Maybe those are waiting for a drill-down from the other side of the aisle?

[tankerbruja]

getting into more video production this year and this is def a system i see myself buying into if they keep improving it like this.

paired with the 10-25 and 25-50 glass it is such a capable system i could keep using it for years to come.

and i think that is the best you can hope for from a hybrid video camera this affordable.

[EugeneMaynard]

That intro! How many retakes did it take for you to stop cracking up?😂 When the GH6 gets that firmware update to be able to record to the SSD, how will we be able to externally power the camera? I have tried several dummy battery solutions which work but restrict the extreme video resolutions just as if using the older batteries, is there a dummy battery model number that you know that works unrestricted? 👍🏾🙏🏾

[PathLessPedaledTV]

I bought it. Love it. REALLY miss the 4k Live Crop mode for quick b roll as a youtuber.

[DynamixWarePro]

With photography on the GH6, at first I thought the same thing, poor dynamic range and noisy in shows at lower ISOs and I was reluctant to use it for that and just used it only for video. After doing a lot of testing, I have gotten much better photography results with lower ISOs. The way I have achieved it is don't expose for the highlights and bring up the shadows in editing. That's how you can get more noise in the shadows. Instead, since the GH6 uses a 16-bit container for RAW photos, you can overexpose the image and bring down the highlights in editing and retain the highlight detail.

I have been able to shoot RAW at low ISOs like 100 and 400, then overexpose just enough not to blow out the highlights. This brightens the shadows enough to reduce the shadow noise when you boost the shadows in editing. There is still a little bit of noise in the shadows, but it isn't bad at all. I don't know if the GH6 is actually using 16-bit colour or just a 16-bit container with a lower amount of colour bits, but whatever the case, the photos I have taken are better than the photos I have taken on the GH5, both in detail and better colour and I do prefer using it instead of my GH5 for photography.

The High Res mode is hit and miss though even on a tripod. Sometimes I get very good results but other times I get artefacts in certain areas of the image and other parts look a bit soft, so I'd probably really only use it for static subjects in controlled lighting if I need a lot of detail but I have to test it in that mode to see if it works without artifacts in the image.

[sstansmf]

Continuous AF is very reliable in subject tracking mode. It's tracking not just face but any discernible pattern. You need to tap on the screen or push joystick when pattern is in the frame.

[Zimvg]

My Gh6 is great and it take great pics. The IBIS really helps.

[jorgenudvang]

Good review, thank you, and a nice camera. A GH6 or another G9, that's the question, or even a GH5 II. I find the video AF of the G9 surprisingly reliable for people, so the GH6 becomes quite the exotic option.

[mdg]

Damn I thought I was completely sold on finally upgrading from mft to full frame with the Sony A7C or Sony A73, mostly for video quality. Now I'm questioning that idea again.

[Kickboxritter]

Had a g9, was waiting for the gh6, ended up going with an S5. Couldn't be happier... Especially with the f1. 8 primes, those are sooo light, theres no weight advantage in mft anymore. Still s5 has noticeably worse build quality than my old g9

[guardianlillebi]

what lighting equipment did you use for that sky background shot at 3:44😘, was it a reflector

[Interceptor]

great review it touches all the key points. I have to be honest I was hoping the photo capabilities would be better to make the ultimate hybrid MFT but that did not happen. The video looks superb is professional level simply and the 4k120 is a unique selling point. Yet I am still hanging to my GH5M2 for photography and general video when I do not need the fancy codecs. The two work very well together but it is a shame I cannot consolidate in one camera yet

[pierrelaviolette]

Video at 8:25 looks bad, cloudy? Did you bump up iso?

[AndrewHgs]

It might be interesting to compare the G9, the GH5, and GH6 as they all hit different price points, yet are each very capable hybrid cameras...?

[glenjo]

"I'm a dirty, dirty boy", and at that point this review passes into legend...

Nice review!

[andresgonzalezcerda]

Nice review!. That makes me wait for the G9 mark ii ( or G10)