Panasonic GH5 Comparison Review

The Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that was revealed to the public in January 2017 and is equipped with a Four Thirds sensor. It offers a resolution of 20.2 megapixel.

Is the Panasonic GH5 a good camera? The GH5 has a Camera Elo of 3190. This very strong rating puts it among the elite group of camera grand masters. The GH5 ranks among the top 20 percent of all mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras. In terms of its sensor size category (Four Thirds cameras), the GH5 ranks among the top 10 percent.

Headline Specifications

Panasonic GH5
Mirrorless system camera
Micro Four Thirds lenses
20.2 MP, Four Thirds Sensor
4K/60p Video
ISO 200-25600
Electronic viewfinder (3680k dots)
3.2" LCD, 1620k dots
Swivel touchscreen
12 shutter flaps per second
In-body stabilization
Weathersealed body
410 shots per battery charge
139 x 98 x 87 mm, 725 g

Read on to find out more about the camera's size, sensor, features, reception by expert reviewers, and how it compares to other digital cameras.

Body comparison with a credit card

An illustration of the physical dimensions of the Panasonic GH5 vis-à-vis a credit card is provided in the side-by-side display below. Three consecutive views from the front, the top, and the rear side are shown. All width, height and depth measures are rounded to the nearest millimeter.

The table below summarizes the key physical specs of the Panasonic GH5 alongside a set of comparators. If you want to review a camera pair side-by-side, just select a right-side comparator from among the camera models in the table. Alternatively, you can also move across to the CAM-parator tool and choose from the broad selection of possible comparisons there.

Camera Body Specifications

	Camera Model	Camera Width	Camera Height	Camera Depth	Camera Weight	Battery Life (CIPA)	Weather Sealing (yes/no)	Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Panasonic GH5	139 mm	98 mm	87 mm	725 g	410	Y	Jan 2017	1,999			Panasonic GH5
	Fujifilm X-H1« »	140 mm	97 mm	86 mm	673 g	310	Y	Feb 2018	1,899			Fujifilm X-H1
	Nikon D500« »	147 mm	115 mm	81 mm	860 g	1240	Y	Jan 2016	1,999			Nikon D500
	Olympus E-M1 II« »	134 mm	91 mm	67 mm	574 g	440	Y	Sep 2016	1,999			Olympus E-M1 II
	Panasonic G9« »	137 mm	97 mm	92 mm	658 g	400	Y	Nov 2017	1,699			Panasonic G9
	Panasonic G80« »	128 mm	89 mm	74 mm	505 g	330	Y	Sep 2016	899	-		Panasonic G80
	Panasonic GX8« »	133 mm	78 mm	63 mm	487 g	330	Y	Jul 2015	1,199	-		Panasonic GX8
	Panasonic GH4« »	133 mm	93 mm	84 mm	560 g	500	Y	Feb 2014	1,499	-		Panasonic GH4
	Sony A7 III« »	127 mm	96 mm	74 mm	650 g	610	Y	Feb 2018	1,999			Sony A7 III
	Sony A9« »	127 mm	96 mm	63 mm	673 g	650	Y	Apr 2017	4,499			Sony A9
	Sony A7 II« »	127 mm	96 mm	60 mm	599 g	350	Y	Nov 2014	1,999	-		Sony A7 II
Convert to Imperial
Note: Measurements and pricing do not include easily detachable parts, such as interchangeable lenses or optional viewfinders.

The listed prices provide an indication of the market segment that the manufacturer of the cameras have been targeting. The Panasonic GH5 was launched in the US market at a price of $1,999. Usually, retail prices stay at first close to the launch price, but after several months, discounts become available. Later in the product cycle and, in particular, when the replacement model is about to appear, further discounting and stock clearance sales often push the camera price considerably down. Then, after the new model is out, very good deals can frequently be found on the pre-owned market.

Sensor comparison with a 35mm slide

The size of the imaging sensor is a crucial determinant of image quality. A large sensor will generally have larger individual pixels that offer better low-light sensitivity, provide wider dynamic range, and have richer color-depth than smaller pixels in a sensor of the same technological generation. Furthermore, a large sensor camera will give the photographer more possibilities to use shallow depth-of-field in order to isolate a subject from the background. On the downside, larger sensors tend to be associated with larger, more expensive camera bodies and lenses.

The Panasonic GH5 features a Four Thirds sensor and has a format factor (sometimes also referred to as "crop factor") of 2.0. Within the spectrum of camera sensors, this places the Panasonic GH5 among the medium-sized sensor cameras that aim to strike a balance between image quality and portability.

Consistent information on actual sensor performance is available from DXO Mark for most cameras. This service determines an overall sensor rating, as well as sub-scores for low-light sensitivity ("DXO Sports"), dynamic range ("DXO Landscape"), and color depth ("DXO Portrait"). The adjacent table reports on the physical sensor characteristics and the outcomes of the DXO sensor quality tests for a sample of comparator-cameras.

Many modern cameras cannot only take still pictures, but also record videos. The GH5 indeed provides movie recording capabilities. The highest resolution format that the GH5 can use is 4K/60p.

Feature comparison

Apart from body and sensor, cameras can and do differ across a range of features. For example, the GH5 has an electronic viewfinder with a resolution of 3680k dots. The viewfinder offers a field of view of 100% and a magnification of 0.76x. The tables below summarize some of the other core capabilities of the Panasonic GH5 in connection with corresponding information for a sample of similar cameras.

One feature that differentiates the GH5 from many other cameras is in-body image stabilization (IBIS). The GH5 reduces the risk of handshake-induced blur with all attached lenses, while cameras without IBIS have to rely on optical image stabilization in OIS-equipped lenses to achieve the same effect.

Connection comparison

For some imaging applications, the extent to which a camera can communicate with its environment can be an important aspect in the camera decision process. The table below provides an overview of the connectivity of the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 and, in particular, the interfaces the cameras (and selected comparators) provide for accessory control and data transfer.

It is notable that the GH5 has a microphone port. Such an external microphone input can help to substantially improve the quality of audio recordings when a good external microphone is used.

Expert reviews

While the specs-based evaluation of cameras is instructive in revealing their potential as photographic tools, it remains partial and cannot reveal, for example, the handling experience and imaging performance when actually working with the GH5. User reviews that are available, for instance, at amazon can sometimes shed light on these issues, but such feedback is all too often partial, inconsistent, and inaccurate. This is why hands-on reviews by experts are important. The following table reports the overall rankings of the cameras as published by some of the major camera review sites (cameralabs, dpreview, ephotozine, imaging-resource, photographyblog).

Review Scores

	Camera Model						Camera Launch (announced)	Launch Price (USD)	Street Price (USD)	Used Price (USD)	Camera Model
	Panasonic GH5	+ +	85/100	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	Jan 2017	1,999			Panasonic GH5
	Fujifilm X-H1« »	+	86/100	4.5/5	-	4.5/5	Feb 2018	1,899			Fujifilm X-H1
	Nikon D500« »	+ +	91/100	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	Jan 2016	1,999			Nikon D500
	Olympus E-M1 II« »	+ +	85/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Sep 2016	1,999			Olympus E-M1 II
	Panasonic G9« »	+ +	85/100	5/5	5/5	5/5	Nov 2017	1,699			Panasonic G9
	Panasonic G80« »	+ +	84/100	5/5	4.5/5	4.5/5	Sep 2016	899	-		Panasonic G80
	Panasonic GX8« »	+	82/100	4.5/5	5/5	4.5/5	Jul 2015	1,199	-		Panasonic GX8
	Panasonic GH4« »	+ +	85/100	5/5	5/5	5/5	Feb 2014	1,499	-		Panasonic GH4
	Sony A7 III« »	+ +	89/100	5/5	5/5	5/5	Feb 2018	1,999			Sony A7 III
	Sony A9« »	+ +	89/100	5/5	5/5	5/5	Apr 2017	4,499			Sony A9
	Sony A7 II« »	+	82/100	4.5/5	5/5	5/5	Nov 2014	1,999	-		Sony A7 II
Notes: (+ +) highly recommended; (+) recommended; (o) reviewed; (-) not available.

Care should be taken when interpreting the review scores above, though. The ratings were established in reference to similarly priced cameras that were available in the market at the time of the review. Thus, a score needs to be put into the context of the launch date and the launch price of the camera, and comparing ratings of very distinct cameras or ones that are far apart in terms of their release date have little meaning. Also, kindly note that some of the listed sites have over time developped their review approaches and their reporting style.

Camera to camera comparisons

In case you are interested in seeing how this camera compares to another one, just use the search menu below. There is also a set of direct links to comparison reviews that other users of the CAM-parator app explored.

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