Panasonic LUMIX GH5 4K Digital Camera, 20.3 Megapixel Mirrorless Camera with Digital Live MOS Sensor, 5-Axis Dual I.S. 2.0, 4K 4:2:2 10-Bit Video, Full-Size HDMI Out, 3.2-Inch LCD, DC-GH5 (Black)

I will update this review as time goes on. At this point I have only experimented with the camera for several hours, but I already have enough information to form a solid foundation for a review (I have also used the GH4 for a few years). I run a small video production company, and for years I have used the GH4 for capturing high quality video. The problem is that every video shoot also requires several high quality/professional photographs. While the GH4 excelled in capturing video as a true camera it always came up short. As a result, I was always forced to lug my Nikon D750 around with me. I would travel with two cameras, and two sets of lenses. Occasionally, I would substitute the Nikon for my Fujix100T or I would substitute the GH4 for my Osmo Pro (recently it has been more of the later). What I need... want... would love .... is camera to do all of it. I guess I could invest in the FF Sony, but the idea of investing in a 3rd set of lenses doesn't exactly excite me. At some point.... either the video on the Olympus will come up... or the photo stills on the Panasonic will improve...right? Based on my tests - I think the GH5 will become my Holy Grail of cameras. I have 0% doubt that it will perform for video (and my the couple of tests I have run look very favorable), but my worry was IQ. The new 20.3MP resolution has me hopeful that the GH5 will become my one camera for all purposes. Photos - Again - I will update this as time goes on - The upgraded sensor seems to make a large difference.In the photos I attached the 1st picture was taken at ISO 400 while the rest were at ISO 1600. Frankly, I always got nervous taking my GH4 above ISO 800 the noise and grain really started to become noticeable. The GH5 looks very usable at ISO 1600 ( I need to check ISO 3200 a little closer). For full disclosure the ISO 1600 shots were taken with the Panasonic Leica f1.2 42.5mm gem of a lens. This is a good point for a tangent,. The reason why i like the MFT format (in addition to the cameras being physically smaller) there are some very excellent lenses out there. I would stack the Olymous Zuiko lenses up against the branded Nikon lenses any day of the week. In addition, ignoring the difference in focal length my Panasonic/Leica f1.2 42.5 rivals my Otus f1.4 55mm for my Nikon (plus it has vibration reduction AND autofocus - eat your heart out Sigma). These high quality lenses are smaller and cost less than their full frame rivals to boot. Now there are some poor lenses too, but if you are willing to pay a little more I have found all of the Panny/Leica and Olympus Zuiko lenses to be very, very good. Other notes - - If you shoot in RAW and use Lightroom you will have to update to 6.9. - The autofocus really is improved. It is very fast on the point. - Has the ability to do focus stacking - I haven't tried this yet - but it is a very interesting function. - Shooting manual is a breeze - I am not sure why Nikon can't copy Panasonic's focus peaking, but if they could... they should. I mentioned I owned the Otus f1.4 55mm.... that lenses would be soooooo much more useful if Nikon offered a similar type of focus peaking. - Low light performance - others may disagree, but I do think that it is better than the GH4. I have very good stills at ISO 1600. However, this might be a counter-intuitive since Panasonic is using the same sized sensor but increasing the resolution. In order for the camera to have better low light performance and higher resolution would require either significantly better algorithms and/or improvements on the actual sensor gathers the light. - Button placement and layout are still very solid. it is easy to navigate WB and ISO settings without moving your eyes (much more difficult on my Nikon D750). - No built in flash. Honestly, I can not remember the last time I used a built in flash. - The camera is not too much larger than the GH4, but it is noticeably heavier. This camera is dense, and while it still has an advantage over my full frame it's losing ground here. Video- - My early footage is excellent. The continuous autofocus is improved (although I do need to run a lot more tests on this one). I loved shooting footage with my GH4, but I usually filmed in manual focus. I never fully trusted the GH4 autofocus - it seemed to spend too much time searching. - The ability to shoot at 180 FPS (you have first select a variable frame rate to get into this menu). - Out of the box it will allow you to record 10 bit straight to SD card (I recommend the new high transfer rate cards). - Image stability - I am very excited for the improvements - but I definitely need to do a lot of testing to see how it really performs. - In short... for video the GH5 will do everything that GH4 will do, but it adds the ability to capture 10 bit footage directly to a SD card, offers weather protection, and in-body stabilization - The screen and viewfinder are excellent. Final Verdict - Again, I will have to update this review - there is MUCH still to be covered (especially for video). However, the early results are very promising and I do believe that Panasonic has made a significant improvement in IQ over the GH4. I may be naive, but I just ASSUMED it would be great for video (minor improvements in the GH4 would have helped maintain its status). The GH5 is roughly double the price of the GH4 so you will need to understand if the photo improvements and the upgrades in video are really worth it to you. For me... it is a no-brainer.... and I am optimistic that for now on I will be carrying just one camera with me! 5 Stars

I’ve been using the Panasonic LUMIX GH5 since 2019, and it’s easily one of the best investments I’ve ever made for video production. I’ve traveled all over the Caribbean with it and filmed hundreds of projects, from documentaries to church services and events, and it’s never once let me down. The image quality is outstanding — sharp 4K footage, great color science, and the ability to shoot 4:2:2 10-bit video makes it perfect for professional work. The in-body stabilization (5-axis Dual I.S. 2.0) is a lifesaver for handheld shots, and the full-size HDMI output is great for external monitors and recording setups. What stands out most is its durability. It’s been through heat, humidity, travel, and long shoot days, and it still performs like new. The battery life is solid, the menu system is intuitive, and the autofocus, while not perfect, gets the job done once you know how to work with it. Even in 2025, this camera continues to deliver cinematic results that hold up against much newer models. The GH5 is truly a legendary camera — dependable, rugged, and capable of producing beautiful images year after year.

This camera is a powerhouse for the price. Full disclosure, my first camera was a Panasonic SD camcorder back in 2005, then switched to a Canon Pro camcorder in 2009, then jumped on the Panasonic train again with the GH3 and was using them until I picked up the GH5. The image is amazing, but that's not news. What is news - and hopefully will not be overlooked - is how much this camera is amazing to use. Custom buttons. Focus peaking (so amazing when shooting at f1.4 to f0.95 when you're changing focus during a shot). Image stabilization (I shot my last wedding 90% handheld with non IS lenses and the footage is gorgeous.) This camera fixes all the frustrations I had with the GH3 (which really were lack of stabilization and lack of focus peaking) and upgrades the image amazingly. With weddings I typically don't even mess with 400mbps, I usually go 150mbps 60p or 24p depending on if I want to slow it down or not, and it's phenomenal. Coming from the GH3 and Camcorders - the GH5's low light makes me so happy. It isn't legendary compared to other cameras - so I've heard. But I briefly owned an A6500 and used it in low light situations and it fell apart worse than the GH5 does in similar circumstances. (wedding receptions I'm lookin' at you). For commercial work I'll crank up the bit rate and color depth and it's awesome. This is such a fun camera to use. I love the freedom I had with camcorders to hand-hold and not be tethered to a tripod or monopod for long periods. I still use those tools as I need to, but not always needing them allows me to be much faster and much less conspicuous at weddings (people think I'm a photographer and don't worry about what they're doing as much). The stabilization is better than the A6500's as well. I took that to comic-con last year and didn't love the IBIS. All to say, as a professional in the wedding and web commercial industries, this is a powerhouse of a camera. Pair it with either a speedbooster and fast glass, or voigtlander 0.95 primes and you're set to create beautiful imagery without the camera getting in the way. (No overheating or other issues that competitors deal with).

Rather than discuss how this camera compares to other similar cameras, I'll focus on my experiences moving up from a smaller camera. My previous choices were all about small size and high built in zoom: if you don't have a camera with you because it's a big nuisance, it's useless. I'm currently using this camera with a Panasonic H-H020A LUMIX G Ultra-Portable Pancake Lens, 20mm/F1.7 ASPH F1.7. The zoom is very close to what the eye sees. Instead of lugging a big expensive zoom lens around on this camera, my wife now carries our small zoom camera. I haven't missed the zoom: just move closer. The camera pouch I bought (DURAGADGET Lightweight & Ultra-Portable Carry Case) still permits carrying this camera with pancake lens on a belt loop. I am now carrying this camera either in a backpack with tripod, directly on the tripod, or by the handle of the pouch when I'm not wearing a belt. I'm a smallest aperture, low ISO (400 appears to be the camera's native sensitivity), long shutter time kind of guy. I cycle my photographs on a large screen TV (on when we're home) at 30 second intervals using the Kodi program fed from a dedicated home theater computer that is running 24/7. Blurry backgrounds in portrait photos on the large screen annoy me and I set up to prevent them. This means using a tripod with the 10 second delay and manually focusing on the person while also viewing a sharp background. In manual focus mode this camera shows a lot of sparkly blue dots for the areas that are in focus and has an option for a digital zoom in on the important area to help with sharp focusing. The 2 second delay for stills without a tripod works very well and is my default. When shooting with manual aperture and manual shutter, these options are easily operated by the top and rear rotation wheels. I just leave the aperture at 16. There is a simple bar graph that shows the optimal shutter speed required. If it gets down to 1/60 second, then I know a tripod is required. If the light is low and I don't have a tripod, then I switch the camera to automatic and just have to accept the resulting graininess and reduced depth of field of the image. I use the built in digital viewfinder with the very helpful horizontal level as the flip out panel acts like a wind sail. The 4K (actually UHD) video recording at 60 frames per second is the main reason I selected this camera. It works great as long as the camera is situated on a heavy tripod that prevents wind vibration. The videos do have some trouble with high ISO graininess early in the sunrises and late in the sunsets. I keep a circular polarizing filter on the camera except when the light is low, or the shots are indoors. Daylight UHD videos are stunningly beautiful and clearly exceed UHD broadcast quality. I tried the 400 Mbps video mode, but it steps down to 30 frames per second and I couldn't see any difference in the color quality on my new TV. The difference between 60 fps and 30 fps is very noticeable and I always use the 60 fps selection. A fabulous camera that I would buy again and doesn't need a big nuisance lens.

Part of my work is wildlife filming particularly underwater. I got the GH5 together with a Nauticam housing and have used it many times on professional broadcast shoots ands well as for stock footage production. The micro 4/3 makes it easy to travel with, compared to some large broadcast dedicated systems. As I use it together with the Ninja V recorder it meets many tier 2 camera requirements of broadcasters and I have shot entire broadcast productions on it. I will not review the entirety of the camera options but here is a overview of what I like and what could be improved What I like: Great stabilization with the Leica 12-60 lens (even better on the mark 2 version) Full HMDI out allowing 10 bit raw footage to an external recorder Double card slot allowing either long recording sessions or a backup recording on one of the cards in case of card failure Small but sturdy body What can be improved: The on/off button is THE weak point of the camera and I have had it break (after many many uses). should be made or better materials Vlog should be included (is on the Mark 2 version) Autofocus can be slower in low light / contrast situation I bought the camera specifically for underwater and wildlife filming and it has served me very well. I recently bought the mark 2 version and still use the GH5 for my work.

The design and construction of the body are excellent, the build quality is superb, and everything feels like it's in the right place. With the exception of the placement of the DISP button, I love so much about this camera. From numerous video options, to decent still performance, to customizability of the controls - it's a great choice for hobbyists or pros. There are plenty of complaints or negatives about the autofocus, but since the v2.4 firmware, it's greatly improved. While it can't compete with dual-pixel focussing, it can still hold its own and has many other merits over similarly priced bodies. 2020 Update: It's been a year since my review and my rating stands. I've found some things I'd wish this camera did, but doesn't (eg. charge or self-power over the USB-C connector, or the function to use it as a webcam - a vital tool for COVID-times), and many things that this camera DOES but the competition still has troubles doing in their latest and greatest models (such as not overheating when filming in 4K!) This is still a video powerhouse in 2020 and the still-photo capabilities are solid for the price.

I have six Lumix cameras in my studio setup for my YouTube channel. This is by far my favorite. Excellent features and works seamlessly with my gimble. The price is one of the lowest I could find anywhere. Highly recommend this item.

I am a professional photographer who got into videography fairly recently (within the last year or so) and while the camera I shoot photos with records in 4K, I really wanted a camera that would shoot in 4K/60FPS based on the types of things I shoot. In the end my decision came down to either the GH5 or GH5s, both of which can shoot 4K60 - but the primary differences between them (for me) were that the GH5 had spectacular in-body axis stabilization which the GH5s lacks, while the GH5s performs extremely well in low-light which is an area where the original GH5 struggles a bit. Eventually I went with the GH5 over the GH5s - for me, the stabilization was (and has been) much more important than the low-light performance and so I'm really glad I chose the GH5. The articulating rear LCD screen is great (it's also nice that it's a touchscreen) and has so many useful applications for shooting video. The battery life for this camera seems good to me - with a fully-charged Panasonic battery I can probably get about 2-3 hours of on-and-off shooting. The biggest issue with this camera in my opinion is its autofocus. The GH5 uses contrast-based AF rather than phase-detection AF, which is simply not as good. It works, and in a lot of situations it works well. But there have also been a number of situations I've found myself in where I've seen and felt firsthand how the camera can struggle to determine and achieve focus, as well as reviewing my recordings in post and coming across footage that I thought was in proper focus when filming but wasn't. There are a number of different autofocus modes, many of which are good and I think their inclusion of these modes helps to offset some of the drawbacks of their contrast-based AF. Still, don't expect this camera to autofocus as well as a Canon or Sony, because in my experience their AF technology is far superior. But the autofocus in the GH5 is totally usable, especially if you're around the prosumer level in the video realm. If you're a professional, to be completely honest you'll probably need the more advanced AF that you'd find on a Canon or Sony body.