Panasonic launches GH6: 25.2 MP micro 4/3 camera, 5.7K 10-bit video recording and cooling fan

The Panasonic GH5 and GH5s are cameras that are very popular with movie, video, and Vlogger creators. Recently, the company has announced a successor product called Lumix GH6 with many upgrades in sensor, anti-shake capabilities and of course, video recording capabilities.

The image sensor is the first and perhaps most significant upgrade of the machine, with a micro 4/3 size of 25.2 megapixel Live CMOS resolution that is 20% higher than the GH5, in addition to a set of sensors. Venus Engine image processing also has twice the power of the previous version.

The sensor will be assisted by software features such as 2D Noise Reduction (reducing noise in images), 3D Noise Reduction (reducing video noise) and Intelligent Detail Processing (intelligent sharpening). Other parameters include ISO from 50 – 25,600, 7.5-step sensor stabilization, 100MP high-resolution shooting mode when placed on a tripod.

It is a pity that this machine still does not have the ability to focus on phase-detection (Phase-detection) but still relies on the contrast-detection Depth from Defocus (DFD) developed by Panasonic. To increase focusing speed, the company has tripled the energy spent on the focusing element and optimized the detection algorithm. Panasonic said that this machine has been developed for a long time, so it has not been able to apply phase detection focus, but in the future will definitely research to include it in its successors.

Despite the upgrades in photography, the Lumix GH6 is still a product designed for filming and video creation purposes. The camera is capable of recording 5.7K 10-bit 4:2:0, 5.8K 30p 4:2:0 10-bit anamorphic 4:3, 4K60p 10-bit 4:2:2 unlimited duration, 4K 120p 10-bit 4:2:0 for high-resolution slo-mo recording; all recorded straight to the memory card without the need for an external HDMI receiver. To meet the needs of high resolution recording, the machine uses CFexpress Type B supporting 800Mbps bit-rate and SD UHS-II supporting 600Mbps.

Other video features include Waveform graphing, Zebra (with manual focus assist), spot metering, frame markers, Anamorphic video auto-scale, and front and rear recording lights.

In terms of hardware, the device has a 3-inch touch screen with a resolution of 1,840 thousand points, an OLED viewfinder of 3,680 thousand points, a large HDMI port, a 2,200mAh battery that can be charged via a USB Type-C port, and especially a cooling system with fan to avoid overheating when filming. It has Wifi and Bluetooth 5 for file transfer and tethered photography.

The Panasonic Lumix GH6 will be available in mid-March for $ 2,200 for the body alone and $2,800 if purchased with the Leica 12-60mm f/2.8-4 lens.