GH6

[iiiNelson]

Thank you very much Tre for a fair and balanced assessment of the GH6 and A1.
I am sure both are great cameras.
For my particular photographic interests the Sony A1 is the best fit and worth every penny I paid for it.
Also since the first A7 and A7R (I still use mine occasionally) cameras Sony has made tremendous efforts to create better lenses by including multiple linear motors to move lens elements fast, quietly and accurately for efficient and extremely precise focusing. That’s in addition to improved optical elements. Those linear motors are used in their latest generations of GM lenses. My favorite being the FE 50/1.2 GM, an incredible performer on the A1.

Thanks again for your balanced input to this thread.

Unfortunately we live in a time where sensationalism, objectivity, individual use case, and loyalty tends to be a perspective many take. In my search for “the perfect” camera I kinda found that it just doesn’t exist in a single package. Over time I’ve transitioned to using more specialized tools because I find that all “do all” solutions still present certain limitations or compromises. I’d love a Sony A1 that wasin a size closer to my S1R… I’d buy two and sell every other photo camera I own. I’d love for Sony to incorporate many of the video tools that are present in the Panasonic cameras or have the high ISO color retention of the LUMIX S cameras… the Sony doesn’t though.

It’s a bit ridiculous to expect a $2200 to compete with a $6500 flagship in all things. It take nothing away from the GH6 but they're just different levels of cameras with different goals. The A1 was designed with the Associated Press in mind to have a small camera that can capture broad ast grade video and imagery. They’ve been on the sidelines of major sporting events the last 18 months and it’s very obvious to see when they’re being used. It’s crazy that a camera is holding eye AF at f/1.2 or f/1.4 on a live event whether it’s the FX6/9, A1, etc.

So right now I kinda find myself holding out to see what the Leica SL3 brings. Perhaps they’ll adopt a hybrid PDAF system by the time it’s released that can make it become a “do it all camera.” I’m u likely to buy another LUMIX flagship ever (personal gripe) but it has less to do with the capability of the camera than the direction of the company. Not so much even a AF based argument either. The AF is fine 90%+ of the time for weddings, events, talking head, as a B camera, etc. I added a cinema camera for my business because I’m really tired of incremental improvements of hybrid cameras. I’d love a no compromise flagship and the Z9 looks close but no mechanical shutter is a deal breaker outside the reality that I generally have never liked using Nikon cameras even when I really tried to.

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Thank you very much Tre for a fair and balanced assessment of the GH6 and A1.
I am sure both are great cameras.
For my particular photographic interests the Sony A1 is the best fit and worth every penny I paid for it.
Also since the first A7 and A7R (I still use mine occasionally) cameras Sony has made tremendous efforts to create better lenses by including multiple linear motors to move lens elements fast, quietly and accurately for efficient and extremely precise focusing. That’s in addition to improved optical elements. Those linear motors are used in their latest generations of GM lenses. My favorite being the FE 50/1.2 GM, an incredible performer on the A1.

Thanks again for your balanced input to this thread.

You’re assuming I’m listening to YouTube and aren’t going on first hand experience with Micro 4/3 cameras. I take reviews of others into account but measure them with my own use cases when I get personal hands-on time.

The A1 isn’t too expensive for what it is and the overheating is something that’s overblown. No one is shooting long form high frame rate video for one. Many people never turn on high temperature settings and run to the internet to complain about cameras overheating. You also get oversampled 8.6K with the A1 along with oversampled 4.2k to go along with all the external RAW options. The reality is that with all of these hybrid cameras an external recorder is needed to maximize video performance. This also minimizes or completely eliminates the risk to overheating.

Personally I hate fully articulating screens and vastly prefer tilting designs as I’m generally behind the camera but I understand this is a subjective choice. Cameras with fully articulating screens immediately move towards the bottom of the list for me all things considered nearly equally. The inclusion of ProRes is nice and it’s my preferred codec to edit, however, many modern computers (specifically Apple computers) have additional built in hardware decoding so shooting h.265 in near real-time is becoming less of an issue with modern computing.

So all that said… there’s nothing wrong with the GH6. I’m sure it’s great for many people (maybe even myself included) but there are clearly flaws that make it more of a specialized tool which is a part of the design of the camera. The A1 is far more practical for those with larger budgets. It literally has no weaknesses that are not completely subjective… and the main one that anyone is going to point to is always going to be price or whether or not they like using Sony cameras. Both of these things are fair points but have no bearing on the pure ability of the product itself. It literally can do everything from having the highest tested DR of any hybrid camera, generally regarded as the best AF in the industry today, has excellent video options, integration into a vast ecosystem that goes from entry level system cameras to some of the highest pro level cinema cameras. In my opinion this is the most overlooked part of investing in the Sony system since they went all in on mirrorless. There’s an upgrade path for every kind of user from the teenager learning photo/video in school, to the Hollywood DP, to the AP photojournalist, to the advanced amateur/hobbyist, etc. You now see Canon and others adopting and consolidating their multitude of mounts into a unified system. There’s only a matter of time until the EOS EF-M goes away and the EF is essentially dead as far as Canon is concerned. Nikon might bounce back if/when their Z9 abilities trickle into the lower end models… assuming the supply chain issues don’t adversely affect the company.

This isn’t to say anything negative about the GH6 again. It’s a great camera but I’m not going to act like it’s on the same level as FF flagships. It’s not. The price differences reflect this and I’m sure Panasonic knows it because they still say (within their interviews) that their FF cameras have better IQ than the GH6… and they’re all based on a 5+ year old Sony IMX410 sensor or the TowerJazz 50mp sensor. The most cutting edge Micro 4/3 sensors are just now beginning to approach this level of performance which is impressive on one hand but also should be a reminder that physics can’t be fully cheated no matter what. I imagine we will see a dual gain architecture in the next S1H to maybe improve IQ and lowlight noise levels… especially if the rumors are true and they move to a higher resolution 8K sensor.

I’m interested to see what you create with the GH6 when incorporated into your kit. I considered it briefly but I honestly feel I’d be better served by a A7SIII/FX3 in this category… or maybe even the A9III when it gets released.

I think we can conclude that we all have different needs. What's important is what we get out of our cameras. One of my hopes with the GH6 is that it has IBIS that is efficient enough for me to retire the gimbal, at least partly. I often do work in tight spaces (industrial sites and yacht interiors), and the gimbal gets in the way far too often.

 

[iiiNelson]

I think we can conclude that we all have different needs. What's important is what we get out of our cameras. One of my hopes with the GH6 is that it has IBIS that is efficient enough for me to retire the gimbal, at least partly. I often do work in tight spaces (industrial sites and yacht interiors), and the gimbal gets in the way far too often.

So much of that depends on how steady your hands are. With Boost IS and E-stabilization even the IBIS on the existing modern cameras tends to be good enough to forego a gimbal IMO. One thing to take note of is warped edges on cameras with really good IBIS when using UWA lenses. Sometimes E-stabilization helps because it slightly crops the image in.

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Here's a good summary from Jordan Drake, why he wants this camera:

The Panasonic GH6: What I wanted, what I got, and what I didn't expect

DPReview's resident video expert, Jordan Drake, has been using the new Panasonic GH6 for several weeks. He tells us what improvements he was hoping to see compared to the GH5-series, and whether Panasonic delivered where it mattered.

www.dpreview.com

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Here's a French photo and videographer, Bernard Bertrand, with a lot of interesting videos about assorted Panasonic cameras, GH6 and other MFT bodies as well as L-mount. He is a Lumix ambassador, so in no way neutral, but his practical advice is still very valuable:

https://www.youtube.com/c/BernardBertrand/videos

 

[Jorgen Udvang]

Here's a video by Jordan Drake again, where he compares the GH6 to the S1H, and asks the question which one he will use the most. His conclusion is very clear: In spite of the superior image and video quality of the S1H, he will clearly use the GH6 more, simply because of the much better functionality.

 

[iiiNelson]

Here's a video by Jordan Drake again, where he compares the GH6 to the S1H, and asks the question which one he will use the most. His conclusion is very clear: In spite of the superior image and video quality of the S1H, he will clearly use the GH6 more, simply because of the much better functionality.

Yeah I think that’s all dependent on use case and investment. Coming from a GH5/S1H dual user that makes a lot of sense for things that don’t require maximum image quality. Like we could parallel it with Marques Brownlee (MKBHD YouTube channel) and the vast majority of his production is done on RED 8K VV cinema cameras.

At the end of the day shoot with the camera you enjoy using. You really have little need to justify it to others if/when it works for you. There are things where hybrids make sense and there are scenarios where I’d absolutely prefer to use my cinema camera. It’s a case by case decision for each job.

 

[KC_2020]

March 25 is the official shipping date but due to higher than expected demand it may be a while before you'll receive one.

I look at this as good news.