The first reliable rumours are coming in about the GH5. According to 43Rumors it will not be ready for Photokina, instead we might be looking at an early 2017 release date. They also appear to be confident about two other aspects – no extra crop of the sensor when shooting 4K and the codec has been bumped up to 10bit 4:2:2 internally!
Here’s a summary of what I think we can realistically expect –
- Panasonic GH5 is likely to stay at around the 16MP mark
- Codec 10bit 4:2:2 internal – likely H.264
- 5 axis in-body sensor stabilisation (more effective than the Sony A7 series)
- 2x crop sensor, in both 4K and stills modes
- When used with full frame lenses and Speed Booster – 1.5x crop Super 35mm field of view with standard Speed Booster and 1.3x crop with Speed Booster XL
- Prototype / development announcement in September 2016 (Photokina)
Beyond that the speculation gets a little more unfounded.
I wonder for instance if the GH5 will maintain the same ergonomic design and exact same body as the GH4 and GH3. I hope not. Sure, there are a lot of accessories and cages designed for the old cameras but it is time for a change. I’d like to see a new design. Especially of the YAGH interface box, which should have been a battery grip style accessory all along.
My next bit of speculation is that I find it interesting the AF100 did not get a successor to compete in the $6-10k video market, so that gives Panasonic a lot of room to bump up the GH5’s specs with a 10bit codec (for instance) and other nice stuff. The Varicam LT and S35 sit much higher up the price scale than the AF100 did.
So the signs are good.
By the way if Panasonic are reading this I’d love to get involved in giving feedback for the pre-release camera, as I did with the Panasonic GH4 (article here). Hopefully we can meet at Photokina again and have a chat.
