After a little bit of a delay, Panasonic has lastly revealed the 25.2-megapixel GH6, the highest-resolution Micro Four Thirds mirrorless digicam to this point. One can consider it as a mini model of its S1H “Netflix camera,” because it’s loaded with professional video options like 5.7K ProRes V-Log video, a tilt-swivel show and CFexpress seize. However, it is nonetheless caught with distinction detect quite than section detect autofocus like most fashionable cameras. Luckily, I used to be in a position to get my fingers on a preproduction unit to take a look at the brand new options and get an early really feel for it. 

First, let’s speak about probably the most attention-grabbing adjustments. As talked about, the GH6 has a 25.2-megapixel sensor with a high-speed readout, although it is not stacked like its Micro Four Thirds rival, the OM-1. That clearly offers a much-needed picture decision enhance, although photograph burst efficiency is definitely down a contact from the GH5 II (8 fps with steady AF in comparison with 9 fps). 

The GH6 nonetheless makes use of a distinction detect autofocus system (what it calls “depth from defocus” or DFD) quite than section detect like almost all its rivals. As with the GH5 II, it additionally contains face/eye/head/physique/animal AI recognition. While Panasonic has just about perfected its DFD system, it is nonetheless not as quick or dependable as section detect programs. 

When taking pictures folks photos in comparatively low gentle, it typically didn’t get focus shortly sufficient to nail the shot, as an example. By comparability, Sony and Canon’s newest cameras (the A7 IV and EOS R6) don’t have any such problem, even in low gentle. And I nonetheless noticed some wobble or searching with video AF. 

In phrases of video, issues are extra optimistic. The GH6 can now shoot 5.7K video with V-Log at as much as 30 fps with inner seize to both ProRes or ProRes HQ, or 5.7K as much as 60 fps to MP4 10-bit H.264/H.265 recording (all-intra or longGOP). You may shoot 10-bit 4:2:0 4K at as much as 120 fps utilizing the longGOP codec. All of those modes use the total sensor width with super-sampled video, although the 4K 120p setting introduces some pixel binning. 

It may even be capable to report ProRes RAW to an exterior Atomos recorder through a future firmware replace. More apparently, the GH6 is among the first mirrorless cameras with HDMI 2.1 output, so it will finally allow you to report 4K RAW externally at as much as 120 fps through a future replace. When it first ships, it will help 4K at as much as 60 fps, with simultaneous exterior and inner recording. 

In phrases of video high quality, Panasonic is promising 13+ stops of dynamic vary utilizing ProRes and V-Log recording. It additionally claims you may see much less noise at greater ISO settings (ISO 6400 and up). For each video and stills, it wasn’t fairly pretty much as good in low gentle because the GH5s (which has lower than half the decision) nevertheless it wasn’t far off. 

Capturing 5.7K video at as much as 30 fps in ProRes HQ makes use of inner knowledge charges of 1,903 Mbps, far past SD UHS II functionality. As such, the GH6 is the primary Micro Four Thirds mirrorless digicam with a CFexpress Type B card slot. That’s required for ProRes recording and most of the MP4 high-frame-rate codecs. 

The downside proper now could be that there is just one CFexpress slot, so you will not be capable to get a backup for sure video resolutions until you utilize an exterior recorder. However, the GH6 will finally help recording to an exterior SSD recorder through the USB-C 3.2 port, which additionally permits you to energy the digicam whereas taking pictures.

If you are involved about rolling shutter with the additional decision, the high-speed sensor readout is meant to cut back that greater than ever. I confirmed that rolling shutter was very manageable, even on the highest 5.7K and 60p decision. However, it’s current if the digicam or topic transfer too shortly.

As with previous GH fashions, video high quality is excellent, with the 5.7K video significantly sharp and helpful for enhancing. The ProRes possibility has additionally saved me an additional step in comparison with the GH5s, as I not must transcode video. The downside is that the video recordsdata are 4-5 occasions the scale — so you may need to put money into excessive capability CFexpress Type B playing cards, which might get very expensive.

The GH6 has five-axis in-body stabilization like the opposite fashions, however now affords as much as 7.5 stops of shake discount with supported lenses, simply behind the 8 stops on Canon’s EOS R6. With boosted IS and E-stabilization, it actually smooths out video effectively even for conditions like strolling, higher than most mirrorless cameras I’ve used. 

The GH6 type of appears to be like just like the GH5 II, nevertheless it’s fairly a bit heavier (823 grams in comparison with 727 grams with a battery and reminiscence card), and the physique has modified in a number of notable methods. It’s a lot thicker, to begin with, thanks partly to an lively cooling fan that ensures the GH6 does not endure overheating points like Canon’s EOS R5 and R6. To that finish, Panasonic is promising limitless recording in all video modes, together with 5.7K 60p and 4K 120p.

The different main change is with the grip that is significantly deeper than on the GH5 II (or GH5 and GH5s. With that, the GH6 is significantly extra comfy to make use of than any Micro Four Thirds digicam I’ve tried, significantly with massive lenses. Panasonic has made quite a few different adjustments to the button and dial structure as effectively, most notably with the addition of a devoted audio button that allow you to change issues like achieve ranges and high quality. It additionally has an additional report button on the entrance of the digicam that is extraordinarily useful for vlogging .

The GH6 now has a tilt-swivel show just like the SH1, with the identical 1,840K dot decision because the one on the GH5 II. That makes the digicam thicker, however extra sensible for low angle and different kinds of taking pictures, and the lean possibility retains the display screen from being blocked by cables if you happen to use an exterior recorder. It’s additionally Panasonic’s brightest show but, and was extremely seen even in daylight.

The 3.68 million dot OLED digital viewfinder (EVF) is sadly unchanged from the GH5 lineup. While it is true that the GH6 is extra of a video than a stills digicam, a variety of shooters want to make use of an EVF in brilliant daylight, so a sharper picture would have been good. Also unchanged is the BLK-22 battery that delivers fewer pictures than the GH5 II (380 in comparison with 410) and barely much less taking pictures time — possible as a result of fan and further decision.

The GH6 has a few different severe downsides in comparison with rivals. One of them is the comparatively small sensor dimension in comparison with a full-frame digicam. That affords fewer inventive prospects, although it is also extra forgiving by way of focus and makes for cheaper, lighter lenses. 

The largest flaw, nevertheless, is the contrast-detect autofocus. The excellent news is that Panasonic appears to have lastly realized that patrons need section detect and hinted that it is not out of the query for future fashions. 

The GH6 was rumored to be priced at $2,500, however there’s some excellent news on that entrance. It will go on sale in March for $2,200 (physique solely), making it comparatively low-cost to fashions that may match its video specs. It appears to be like a strong selection for that, with video high quality on par with any rivals. We’ll take a better have a look at all the things in our upcoming evaluation.