Is it true the gh5 sexy beauties are full of moire and bad auto focus issues? I hope not as with all the hype i was looking to upgrade my canon c100 and 80ds..Someone tell me its all wrong...

Yes lots of problems with the camera, main one being the camera has boring un bokeh camcorder look.

Ah never mind will get one and test it against the 80d, as i may buy it just for my son to use at his soccer practice ! They need a camera just to keep the mothers happy for casual feedbak on a sunday after the match. I just hope the focus system keeps up with the players. should do as my g7 does sometimes but never gets it right, i always end up getting the 80d out.

If you need to know more about autofocus then check Max Yuryevs videos on youtube and especially the last one he did together with photojoseph. Your comment about moire I have not heard anything about, even if there is any, it can't be nearly as bad as on a canon 6d/70d.

Ah never mind will get one and test it against the 80d, as i may buy it just for my son to use at his soccer practice ! They need a camera just to keep the mothers happy for casual feedbak on a sunday after the match. I just hope the focus system keeps up with the players. should do as my g7 does sometimes but never gets it right, i always end up getting the 80d out.

If you want something to track sports with the Sony AX53 camcorder I think is a better choice. I have both the GH5 and the AX53 and the AX53 has a better stabilizer, smaller sensor so depth of field is wider and 20x zoom. Auto focus of both is not too different if you switch OFF the Custom settings on the GH5. Of course it costs half as much as the GH5 without lens too. AX53 shooting XAVC-S 50/60P gives a nice image.

If you want something to track sports with the Sony AX53 camcorder I think is a better choice. I have both the GH5 and the AX53 and the AX53 has a better stabilizer, smaller sensor so depth of field is wider and 20x zoom. Auto focus of both is not too different if you switch OFF the Custom settings on the GH5. Of course it costs half as much as the GH5 without lens too. AX53 shooting XAVC-S 50/60P gives a nice image.

Good advice, but i think Steve was actually being facetious in his comments. :) He's not really looking at the GH5, just drawing attention to some scuttlebutt.

You have to give him the benefit of the doubt, as much as he has shown how much he dislikes anything Panasonic the GH5 might change his opinion. But with good autofocus being his highest priority I have to agree with Ron where a handycam with a smaller sensor and deeper dof would be a much better choice to shoot his soccer games with.

You have to give him the benefit of the doubt, as much as he has shown how much he dislikes anything Panasonic the GH5 might change his opinion. But with good autofocus being his highest priority I have to agree with Ron where a handycam with a smaller sensor and deeper dof would be a much better choice to shoot his soccer games with.

This is a long thread; have you forgotten the earlier discussions. Didn't you bring up Mums using the 80d to film football and not liking the results. I'm just assuming Steve is following on with the same... well let's call it banter. :)

Have you forgotten that your being "sort of detrimental to him" started this discussion? :) I just joined in for the fun of it.

Also, I ordered the GH5 and should be here next week so I can help answering any more questions Steve might have about the camera, even if he never plans on getting one.

Have you forgotten that your being "sort of detrimental to him" started this discussion? :) I just joined in for the fun of it.

Hardly given what happened. I just quoted your previous football comment as I was reminded of it when Steve suggested the GH5 be also used to film football for their Mum's. Still, it could be a coincidence. Perhaps the World is full of people buying cameras to film football for their Mummy's pleasure. :)

So you finally caved in and ordered a GH5. I knew it wouldn't take long. :) Despite a few niggles, some blown way out of proportion, often to act as clickbait by vloggers; it's a camera with a lot to offer. I'll be interested in your thoughts on it when you have had a chance to work with it.

Incidentally I saw the video that supposedly highlights a moire problem. I'm trying to decide if it was a deliberate spoof of a bad vlog video. If it was meant to be serious, it's hard to take any of its conclusions seriously. Comments were disabled on the video too, hardly a good sign. Filming in 4K, I've not seen any moire in excess of say the G80 or GX80. The lack of low pass filter does make it more likely than say the GH4, but again, nothing that I've noticed. I've certainly not felt I've seen more moire since using it and only in extreme cases.

Wasn't planning to get the gh5 until end of this year and to use my g80 as main camera until then but after using it at the last wedding I"m only moderately enthusiastic about it, I don't know what it is but it has a softer image in HD and 4k then my gh4, on big screen it's not really noticeable but when I place them side by side it's more clear.

The biggest issue I have with it is that a few shots I made looked kind of soft, I could not see if the focus had shifted to the front or back of the subject, the footage was just a bit blurry which was something I didn't see in my viewfinder. I always prefocus by half pressing the shutterbutton which then locks the focus so no additional autofocussing is going on. Have not experienced this on my gx80 which still remains my favorite camera to use.

Good advice, but i think Steve was actually being facetious in his comments. :) He's not really looking at the GH5, just drawing attention to some scuttlebutt.

I think you may have a serious self conscious issue Steve that needs sorting out with a psychologist. If you read it correctly it was a serious comment in regard to all reports on you tube, Now you seem to look at any comments i make as facetious so scuttlebutt out mate...

Wasn't planning to get the gh5 until end of this year and to use my g80 as main camera until then but after using it at the last wedding I"m only moderately enthusiastic about it, I don't know what it is but it has a softer image in HD and 4k then my gh4, on big screen it's not really noticeable but when I place them side by side it's more clear.

The biggest issue I have with it is that a few shots I made looked kind of soft, I could not see if the focus had shifted to the front or back of the subject, the footage was just a bit blurry which was something I didn't see in my viewfinder. I always prefocus by half pressing the shutterbutton which then locks the focus so no additional autofocussing is going on. Have not experienced this on my gx80 which still remains my favorite camera to use.

To be honest, I wasn't too sold on the G80. I often preferred to stick with the GX80. I'm keeping with the camera as the colour matches well with my GX80 and GH5. I can't say the footage is softer though, but there is something about it that doesn't quite work with me.

I plan to get another GH5 towards the end of the year, and then I'll sell the G80.

The G80 I mainly got because I had a very good deal on it, ordered it in the UK and got a free batterygrip and free 64gb sandisc card, if I counted the pricedifference as well on the body only between the UK and Belgium I made a 500 euro profit. Going to continue to use it though, mainly because of it's better audio and as b-cam for guest reactions etc.

I think you may have a serious self conscious issue Steve that needs sorting out with a psychologist. If you read it correctly it was a serious comment in regard to all reports on you tube, Now you seem to look at any comments i make as facetious so scuttlebutt out mate...

Steve and I will behave from now on, as a sign of our good will we have answered your question, I told you where to find good info about the autofocus and Steve has mentioned something about the so called moire issue. If you need to know more just ask!

Perfect now thats a serious reply not a baby one cheers Noa

Steve and I will behave from now on, as a sign of our good will we have answered your question, I told you where to find good info about the autofocus and Steve has mentioned something about the so called moire issue. If you need to know more just ask!

Yeah the free battery grip I got makes it a good camera to have around, but also a good one to sell. What perhaps ticks it in the sell category is the 29 min clip limit. I have two GX80s and they serve me well alongside my 2 GH4Rs and if I have 2 GH5s, the G80 becomes superfluous.

Steve and I will behave from now on, as a sign of our good will we have answered your question, I told you where to find good info about the autofocus and Steve has mentioned something about the so called moire issue. If you need to know more just ask!

Maybe I did jump to hasty conclusions. I'm biased perhaps after our last exchange. Still the GH5 is hardly news anymore and this is an old thread. Steve would do better to start a new one in the GH forum or the Events one if seeking genuine advice from others.

As to my own behaviour, I've added Steve to my ignore list now, so this will prevent further unpleasant run ins. For the best I think.

Thats better Steve sarcasm just does not suit fellow professionals especially when you refer me to another forum member (Ron) who was helping with advice. Just hope Ron does not take notice of Chinese whispers that make a person look bad or sides one against the other... Cheers

Thats better Steve

Just that you know, being added to a ignore list means he cannot read your reactions anymore while logged in so responding to him is kinda pointless.

Human nature will seek to see what i say lastly...End of story i am a big boy its now gone

Been checking out the moire problem you mention and it was below video you where referring to?

I think there are 2 things going on here; he is shooting regular frame rates and then high frame rates, maybe up to 180fps in camera as he mentions it almost at the end of the video, every time he is shooting a normal frame rate I don't see any moire but everytime he mentions "vfr" in his image my guess is he is shooting at 180fps which is known for it's lesser resolution which most likely is causing more artifacts like moire and aliasing.

There is probably a reason why he disabled comments because by now many would have asked for more specifications about his vfr footage and they probably would have start calling him an idiot because he has no clue what he is talking about.

https://youtu.be/c7XOncPsq1w

About autofocusing, have you seen the video I referred to? Below one shows the best info so far

https://youtu.be/YlvFQM1GHW4

I just naturally batch ignore all Steve's on the internet... :D

Anyway, back to the GH5 or the penalty box. Seriously...

I got ours last week and have to say...


This sucker is really well built! If it wasn't in a DLSR form factor and had some proper audio inputs, it would be a serious contender in the pro video cam world as opposed to a weird niche that they have with the MFT sensor size.

And when I say it's really well built, I mean... it's the first Panasonic I've ever owned that's felt equally or better built that Canon, Nikon and Sony. I'm impressed! It feels quite a bit more chunky than the GH4 as well, which is a bonus. The GH4 was decent but this thing is a small tank!

Been checking out the moire problem you mention and it was below video you where referring to?



Yeah that's the one doing the rounds. Click bait for a vlogger. I could post a similar video about any camera; doesn't make me right, just cos it's online. Take any camera and balloon small issues out of proportion is alas one of the many things the internet excels at.

I got ours last week and have to say...This sucker is really well built!

Got mine this afternoon, also positively surprised by the build quality, the joystick is a very nice addition.
Eventhough I just took a few testshots I find that 1080p is looking very good, almost looks as detailed as 4k.

There was some discussion on DpReview how the GH5 being larger than the GH4 negated the small size advantage of the Micro 4/3's systems. Now most of those comments were by those who probably had no intention on owning the GH5. However I think the larger size works in its favour. It does feel a more professional camera in your hands. Nicely balanced and fits comfortably in my hands.

About autofocusing, have you seen the video I referred to? Below one shows the best info so far

https://youtu.be/YlvFQM1GHW4

Correct and that is good and i hope it sorts itself out but then i look at this video
Panasonic GH5 — The Review - Why I Returned It [4K 60] - YouTube in particular the flower situation at 11 minutes on wards. Auto focus really is not a major problem to be fair as i am mainly manual but it sure does help in the wedding day as for general running and gunning throughout the day for 12 hours and as we all know how stressful the day is without having extra issues.
There are some fantastic attributes to this camera and i hope the little problems sort themselves out and i for one may look at it again.
This was a good test also and a fair one, GH5 Autofocus sucks? In-Depth Autofocus Testing - YouTube
Moire problems seem to be just the one guy so i think thats not major at the moment, hey but all cameras have faults thats why the manufacturers keep bringing them out for us to keep updating unfortunately...I am sure all will be well soon with the few teething problems, everyone will use the good attributes of this camera to their best ability because thats what its all about, the story the framing the lighting the end product.

Moire problems seem to be just the one guy so i think thats not major at the moment
The moire problem is because of the very high frame rate, I don't know the technical reasons behind it but every camera that I have seen with a HFR capability looses on image quality once the frames/sec goes up and that also goes together with other artifacts. Just look at the Sony rx10II high framerates and see how bad the image starts to deteriorate when moving up to 960fps

I don't even see a reason to complain about this feature actually because it's just another great feature added that you can take advantage from, from what I have seen up to 120fps looks very good and if you shoot at higher frame rates just watch out for very fine detail like bricks and walls in the background.

This was a good test also and a fair one,

Not exactly, that's why I pointed you to the best one yet that was made later because other users where getting better results, at the end of that second test both Max and Jospeh admitted that they met eachother halfway so meaning that Max got better results but still not on par with what Sony and Canon are offering. The panasonic is not a set it and forget it camera, personally I feel they have made it too complicated but when set up right you can get usable results, even Casey Neystat has been spotted shooting himself with the gh5 in a few of his episodes (and probably paid by Panasonic to do so) and those ones looked ok to me but latest I heard the a7rII and a6500 have become his main camera's while he was using canon 70d and 80d before.

One feature not many talk about and which I love is the 3 preset focus points you can make, so you can prefocus on 3 different objects and save those settings and then switch between those points by tapping a corresponding number on screen, in that way you can nail focus transitions time after time, you can even let the camera refocus on another object outside the frame while panning and have it in focus when you have it in frame and all of that with a super smooth transition at a speed you can select. I plan on using this during the weddings I shoot for some of the more creative parts.

One feature not many talk about and which I love is the 3 preset focus points you can make, so you can prefocus on 3 different objects and save those settings and then switch between those points by tapping a corresponding number on screen, in that way you can nail focus transitions time after time, you can even let the camera refocus on another object outside the frame while panning and have it in focus when you have it in frame and all of that with a super smooth transition at a speed you can select. I plan on using this during the weddings I shoot for some of the more creative parts.

I really need to look into this and see how to set this up. Being a bloke and British, I have naturally not looked at the manual once, despite owning the camera for almost a month.

Just remember you can't zoom the lenses while they are set or you will loose the positions. The lenses are not parfocal. Get the advanced manual off the internet as it is more comprehensive than the paper one that came with the camera.

Do you have a link to that manual?

The link is on page 124 of the paper manual that comes with the camera. Digital Camera LUMIX?User Support | Panasonic (http://panasonic.jp/support/dsc/oi/index.html?model=DC-GH5&dest=PP) Mine is a PP designation yours in Europe may be different.

Thanks, the manual that came with my camera only has numbered pages up to 123 and I don't see any link in there, also not sure what pp means because my manual says it's for DV-GH5L or DC GH5M and none of those is in that dropdown list, I just took "pp" which was standard.

edit: found the model number in camera, it was under "online manual", "url display" and there it said dc-gh5 eg

Good points Noa however today's wedding I needed auto focus badly, the bride walked down the isle so quickly it was unreal and the Auto focus footage followed her brilliantly on the 80d. I would have struggled manually as the safety net little hfg30 camcorder switched off for some reason! So my only footage was spot on from 80d. Anyways all to our own I have no doubt all will be good with gh5 it does look awesome and a few niggles will be sorted. I may get the gh5 anyways as waiting for canon 6dii will be ages and I need another camera and that's the best around at moment and another c100 is to expensive ! Gh5 at that price great guns.

The GH5 auto focus is fine if you turn OFF the Custom AF settings, set the area size for AF on the target and you can also move this while its recording with the joystick using your thumb. In this mode it performs as good or better than any of my Sony camcorders ( which occasional like to decide for themselves what to focus on !!!) There are also examples of this approach on the WEB but I guess problems are more newsworthy. I normal shoot in the theatre so will be in manual focus but playing with the GH5 in the last week outside I have used this approach of setting the auto focus size to a small box, Custom AF OFF and in this mode it works great.

The GH5 auto focus is fine if you turn OFF the Custom AF settings, set the area size for AF on the target and you can also move this while its recording with the joystick using your thumb. In this mode it performs as good or better than any of my Sony camcorders ( which occasional like to decide for themselves what to focus on !!!) There are also examples of this approach on the WEB but I guess problems are more newsworthy. I normal shoot in the theatre so will be in manual focus but playing with the GH5 in the last week outside I have used this approach of setting the auto focus size to a small box, Custom AF OFF and in this mode it works great.

Certainly Panasonics auto focus isn't as good as Canon or even some Sony cameras. It's a week link in an otherwise excellent camera and perhaps the biggest issue to be addressed for future upgrades. That said, I think it's been blown way out of proportion. It's not as if Panasonic touted huge developments in that area; they didn't make any promises and I didn't expect to be relying on AF for key moments.

Whilst good AF is useful, I feel some rely on it too much. Canon's AF may not hunt as much as much for focus, but it doesn't always lock on the right subject. I've seen plenty of videos made with Canon DSLR where focus wasn't accurate. Still, with a lack of focus peaking, I can't fault Canon DSLR users from relying on AF.

No camera is perfect, but I can forgive a poor AF when I have 4K 50p, dual card slot, focus peaking, 5 axis IS, 10 bit 4:2:2 4K and a tonne of useful video features, all for a price below £2000. Is there room for improvement, Yes, but then I could say that about any camera.

It's not as if Panasonic touted huge developments in that area; they didn't make any promises and I didn't expect to be relying on AF for key moments.

Actually they did and that is what caused all the commotion, check out below videos:

This one starting at min 33
https://youtu.be/QXVBMBP3mis

And this one starting min 6 (reporter says at a certain point - around the 8 min mark ("how is the autofocusing compared to that from canon" and the guy answers "it's going to be one of the best out there")
https://youtu.be/rUnpEXaI1S8

Okay never saw that - I really only went by the press release, which didn't make much of the AF to be honest. So the AF backlash is largely their fault. Or at least the fault of some of their marketing people. Thankfully I hadn't got my hopes raised prior to getting the camera to be too bothered by AF not being that great. Though if someone tells me something is going to be the best there is out there, I tend to think of it as sales pitch than tech talk anyway.

I didn't know about these either until someone send me these videos, it doesn't look like a simple salespitch to me as they made it sound like it was failsafe, when you tell a reporter that the camera doesn't get confused at all in autofocus then you can expect that info to be picked up by a lot of vloggers who will trash the camera afterwards which eventually happened. I"m guessing they had instructions to make it sound a lot better then it actually is not realizing what consequences that would have. One good thing came out of it though and that is Panasonics promised to improve the autofocus probably with future firmware upgrades.

I think including the Custom AF for video was likely a mistake as it is far too easy to get poor results with playing around with those custom settings. With 225 point continuous AF, and Custom AF OFF , the GH5 is about like my Sony camcorders if about 10% slower to lock. ( gauged by looking at the peaking ) It has the advantage over the camcorders in that the areas used by the AF can be set and also moved around realtime too on the touch screen or with joystick. The smaller the area selected of course the more consistent the result. AF continuous is not something I will use in my application and touch focus either on the LCD screen or the WiFi app work great.

I think it is always important to choose a camera for the features you need at the price your prepared to pay. For me it was UHD60P, dual cards slots, full size HDMI, remote app with touch focus and exposure controls and the ability to get a choice of lenses. The GH5 meets all of these.