Panasonic GH5 vs Sony a6500 - 4K Video Comparison

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

Instagram: instagram.com/mirrorlessons/ Facebook: facebook.com/mirrorlessons/ Twitter: twitter.com/MirrorLessons

[@ali_haq20]

The A6500 + 18-105 G lens is such a powerful combination!

[@pngo2017]

Comparison video done right!

[@elitefamilyparkour]

So true!

[@stevestruthers6180]

Exactly. It lets viewers get a really honest comparison between the two, without favouring one camera over the other.

[@WillProwse]

A6500 seems to give better details, but the color and depth of the gh5 looks more real. Anyone else agree?

[@croasdail]

actually no. The panasonic seemed to be bumping saturation more. And the skin tons were off too, had a greenish bias versus a red bias in the Sony. Which is funny because normally it is the other way around - at least when the sony is compared to Canons. Either way, if you shoot one of the log profiles, it really comes down to your color grading. Good work though... just wish the cameras had been shooting the same subject at the same time.... but well worth the effort...

[@pakiboyhadrou]

you can correct the colour but you can't post process sharpness

[@orange42]

Large piece of work! Bit in awe at the time that must have gone into this.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

the most annoying thing is to double check all the footage and sometimes re-shoot because you realise you had one setting wrong on one of the cameras :-)

[@drwalka10]

We appreciate your efforts ! You should setup a patron so we can assist our favorite youtube channel ! You'll be surprised how many people would help out .

[@ScottSullivanTV]

Finally! A camera test video with skin tones! So many people skip that.

[@jamestiernan3791]

Funnily enough I think the skin tones on the A6500 look much better. I did not expect that.

[@PhilippeOrlando]

@@jamestiernan3791 Me neither and I think I understand this more and more. I think Sony's sensors are simply better. Now, one of the most important thing, more than pixels, is dynamic range, even for stills, and frankly Panys don't do to well.

[@vivianvaldi7871]

@@jamestiernan3791 Really... My main conclusion is that Sony is picking the blue spike from LEDs (pink to red skin, see from 2:07), when the GH5 doesn't. Another mystery, but for indoors shooting GH5 should be better hands down if LEDs are involded. Btw , dear Mathieu, dont forget to insert LEDs used : name of brand, CRI & Duv, please. That would be awesome. His job is awsome, he doesn't speak a lot in his vids bc he's french !

[@TheGreatGandalf09]

I don´t see a big different. Perhaps a little more sharpess and less noise for the sony. But it is not really ahuge difference. Nice test at all. Thanks for that.

[@florianguigui1302]

Wow, the black and white with this scene is mindblowing

[@scottmckenna]

Great comparison video. One thing that's a huge factor that most people won't see in this video but it's well known and should be pointed out. While the a6500 seems to compete in so many ways with the GH5, there are a few HUGE factors that should be taken into account as to why the GH5 is the better camera. To give context, I have both cameras and they are great. - Overheating is a HUGE issue with the a6500 and you're lucky to shoot 30 minutes straight without an issue in 4K. After 30 minutes of shooting in 4K, you've probably lost more than 50% of battery life on the a6500 where the GH5 probably won't even drop a dot. GH5 Battery life is almost triple the a6500. If you're not looking to record longer pieces of content or planning on shooting all day with the camera, the a6500 is a great little camera to carry around (super small and portable with great image quality). If you're looking for a camera that does everything extremely well, plus has zero reliability issues (no overheating, unlimited record time, better battery life and a TON more buttons to make it even more usable), then don't even think about the a6500. If I had to bring one camera with me and wanted to make sure it performed flawlessly, I'd choose the GH5 every day hands down.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

Do you have overheating problems on the a6500 even with the Auto Power Off Temp. setting set to High?

[@mark_mark]

I've watched several a6500 overheat tests on youtube and they seem to last 2 hours +. I rarely ever record for extended periods of time, and changing the battery is a 15 second process. I do seem to enjoy the functionality of the GH5 with the buttons and LCD screen. For a 7 hundred bucks less, I think I'll be getting the a6500.

[@pablomaresca]

Hi, Scott. I've been watching carefully at a6500. I currently own a beast (D810) which ir rests at home most of the time :( just because it is a beast. LOL I mean, I absolutely love this camera but it is way heavy and large, plus lenses of course. Thats why I bought a small LX100, then a GX8 and now a new GH5. Love the camera but sometimes I doubt if I should go with a larger sensor like a6500. Looking always for best image quality. I make mostly photography but I'm making more videos nowadays also. So, I need something with the best quality both for stills and video and travel lighter and smaller. I'm selling my Nikon stuffs now and wondering if I should go with SONY system. Maybe a a9 (too pricey), a 7RII and a a6500 or just my GH5 for everything or GH5 + A6500. What do you say? You have them both. Thank you.

[@geariebowman5034]

I agree totally. I love sony but can't truly trust these lower priced cameras on paid gigs even as a B-Camera. The only reason I brought my A6500 was to use it with my Beholder Gimbal for quick and easy hand held shots but with the IBIS Jitters I have been experiencing I can't even use it for that. I figured using a gimbal along with IBIS would deliver amazing results along with Sony's amazing auto focus capabilities but boy was I wrong.

[@lonelyboyll08]

Ok, that's GH5 is definitely better camera for taking video. But from consumer's point, we (ordinary people) just want something compact but can do everything. Sony A6500 has great quality in both still and video, that's why i'm going to get A6500.

[@stevestruthers6180]

It's a good thing I watched this video, as I was considering buying a Panasonic GH5 because it happens to be on sale for a really good price. Personally - and this may just simply be my preferences coming through, I find I like the Sony image better. I know people love to rag on Sony for its allegedly bad colour science, but I find with the Sony, the colours simply pop, while the GH5 is flat and muted, even if colour grading is added. Years ago, I owned a Panasonic G7 and found the same thing - the colours were muted. Must be a Panasonic thing, then. I also find the A6500's image to be more cinematic.

[@JWS1968]

The Sony surprised me how well it did in terms of dynamic range and skin tones while the GH5 surprised me with the good continuous autofocus I reckon I could live with that performance. But as expected the GH5 absolutely rules with IBIS no surprises there and the A6500 AF is great. I have the A6300 (with 18-105 f4 G), which is the same camera as the A6500 basically without the IBIS and you can buy two for the price of one GH5 on the second hand market. I pretty chuffed about this test on that basis. 😁

[@boomboombaby9140]

The gh5 autofocus is horrible compared to the Sony lol

[@Arri.]

Alot of work has gone in to this and i applaud

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

Thanks!

[@eerolanjanne]

Great comparison! As a comment on the discussion: Can't we just agree that both are awesome cameras? :) The biggest difference comes down to the user's needs: what you'll really be using it for. Both cameras have amazing image quality, image stablization and autofocus. The difference imo isn't that big on those. GH5 wins on usability, screen, battery life and 4K60p, whereas the A6500 is a better choice if low light and portability are important. Price is also a bonus with Sony, but you should calculate the total cost with lenses, batteries, monitor, recorders, gimbals etc. that you want to add. I've spent a lot more on those than my camera bodies. I was going to upgrade my GH4 to GH5, but got the A6500 instead and have been really happy with it. My main point was the weight: I didn't enjoy carrying my GH4 with Sigma Art lenses unless I had a paying gig, so the GH5 wouldn't have helped. But the A6500 (with a 35/1.8 etc) is small enough to carry with me everyday, so it wins on the most important point: it makes me shoot more! And I've had no problems with overheating. Had to buy 4 batteries for the sony, though ;)

[@KombiLife]

Really useful - thank you. Considering both of these cameras for our next documentary.

[@amirperry3982]

Thank you for taking the time to do this!

[@vizzionmedia7276]

From what I'm observing, the GH5 image is far cleaner in any normal lighting condition, but the Sony has better auto focus and low light performance.

[@ltheelementalflowl]

At first I liked the A6500, but I love the skin tones way better on the GH5.

[@gravitymediapro]

Wow. Fantastic comparison. This obviously took a lot of time and effort, and I know for myself, and a lot of others out there: we greatly appreciate it. As a frustrated GH4 owner, I was very surprised to see more GH5 "wins" than I expected. For some reason, I had the A6500 IBIS being far more magical than it is. I'm half tempted to not sell my GH4, and pick up a used a6300 vs going all in on an a6500. Again, thank you. A like and a new subscriber here. Excellent work.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

+Gravity Media Productions thanks!

[@gruvie]

Frustrated with a GH4? So you should probably try some other hobby like advanced shoe tying? ;-) Ok, GH4 it outdated in relation to the ones tested here. But from time to time i use my GH2 also and even thats not frustrating only "other". I'm curious how frustrated would you be if you'll get a 16mm film camera to shoot some old fashioned stuff? Cameras are all just tools. Don't let them control your feelings!

[@karstenmissot]

Had a chance to shoot with the GH5 + ring light on an event 1 week ago. I did not use an external monitor, because I needed an setup as light as possible. Did notice out of focus problems while shooting, so switched to manual during the event. So back at the office: a lot of AF footage was out of focus. Did have the new firmware, so yeah.. AF is not reliable and keeps me holding back from buying the GH5. Do however like the 10 bit color and the 4K slowmo. Also only had used three batteries during 10 hours shooting. So that's great.

[@TheResonating]

Funny thing, everyone says to sony, fix your skin tones! And they'd be right! But the problem is that they give sony the wrong idea of what we want. We say, we want warmer skin tones, but sony thinks that we mean change the skin hue to more magenta to give the idea of warmth (which it doesn't). Accurate skin tones like blackmagic and canon cameras have the skin tones closer to the skin tone vectorscope line. The warmth comes from more saturation in the skin color area and higher WB.

[@dddddbbb]

I thought Canon just antialiased everything - thus leading to more attractive looking skin tones?

[@Hexspa]

They’ve updated their colors with the a6400 and a7iii and I think they look good now.

[@sammadonline]

To my untrained eyes, the a6500 has more detail and certainly more DR. I preferred the a6500 skin tones as well. However rolling shutter was pretty bad. This was a very very close test.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

yes the Sony has more detail because it uses more megapixel (6k equivalent) and downscale to 4K.

[@tosvus]

Should probably clarify that the GH5 does indeed use the full width of the sensor. While 6K is a width of 5760 (so not quite 6000) the GH5 has a width of 5184, so about 500 pixels and some change less. With it's somewhat higher resolution, the A6500 does manage to have a starting point of full 6K. Should also note that the GH5 is capable of outputting the full size of the sensor to the video, so if you have anamorphic equipment, you can get a bit more resolution out of that than the a6500 in those cases.

[@croasdail]

I would agree.... but here is my issues with the so-called rolling shutter issue. In my filming, any panning that causes rolling shutter usually doesn't look good anyway. Most footage with rapid swings one way or another doesn't look good. So while it has this problem, in real life, wild movements like this aren't good cinetography anyways.... I could be wrong. Smooth pans almost always look far better.

[@AveMcree]

it doesn't matter how fast or slow you pan.. The rolling shutter stays...

[@ijepijep]

damn i'm dying to choose

[@LinilKomban]

Thank you very much for the comparison, now I can confidently buy a Sony a6500.

[@PhilippeOrlando]

I'm still playing with my Panasonic GH4 and frankly I'm waiting for some new items to come in, but I think I'm going to leave the micro four third and move to APS-C, Sony problably.

[@NeroMC]

@@PhilippeOrlando did you do it?

[@robertmendes4181]

Fernando Taborda I have a 6500 and the Stabilization is shi... (autofocus is good but canon has much better autofocus) For the 6500 you will need a Gimbal or tripod ✌️

[@nightcoder5k]

Great video. Love the stabilization on the GH5.

[@TravelingErol]

Great Video. Thanks. This is why I sold my Sony A6500 and I will be buying GH5 Very Soon. One key factor, in Sony A6500 when u swithced to 4K mode secreen brightness decreases and in daylight you can barely see the secreen, this was a deal braker for me.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

yeah, I agree that's one annoying thing about the Sony.

[@TravelingErol]

I already bought GH5 and I am very happy with it. And yesterday Panasonic has announced new firmware so the camera now is even better.

[@rembrandao]

Just buy a screen hood. It's stupid that such a small thing can be a reason to sell the camera.

[@ReinhardBiller]

If you don't have V-log L, would you recommend natural, cine-like D or like709?

[@simon_patterson]

Fantastic comparisons! Both cameras seem to be terrific.

[@grumblekin]

Other than price and lens ecosystems, there seems to be no functional difference between the two and proper cinematography and post skills can turn either camera into a video beast. I have an a6300 and I enjoy the 4k mode quite a bit, but the GH5 would be great, too. Great work!

[@winterspringstudios]

good job with this test. seemed very fair. The most noticeable drawback on the Sony was the skin tones. They just don't look right. GH5 skin tones looked great right out the box!

[@jessecohen1]

Well.. The a6500 had a more detailed image. I would go for detail in the face way before skin tone. Skin tone is changeable in post. Detail however is not.

[@leecason4582]

Jesse Cohen except since it's only 8 bit color skin tones will be harder to correct okn the a6500 than the gh5. The color depth info is miles better than a6500. And the sharpness and detail is not that noticeable compared to the total lack of color depth in 8 bit. And color depth is double for every 2 increments. 10 bit is twice as much as 8 bit, 12 bit is double than 10 etc

[@dddddbbb]

I'm confused. Doesn't 8 bit colour mean 8 bits used to represent each channel e.g. Red Green Blue - meaning that 10 bits would mean 4 times as many combinations available per channel - thus resulting in 30 total bits compared to 24 bits - meaning it theoretically has 64times the amount of colours available per pixel? (though of course if the sensor isn't good enough to differentiate between all of those then the difference is meaningless)

[@Excalibrr1]

8 vs 10 bit etc, hmm,(I am using Davinci resolve), do you realy think,that when I will do changes of colours , you know different by eyes? We did interesting test wih friends, blackmagic cinema 2.5 raw, panasonic GH4, sony A7R II, take the same scenery, after that only one of us modify colours in da vinci + beacause of only 2.5k of BMCC exported as fullhd. No other of my friends 10-20 cm eyes from display:-) could say which was it camera in which clip!!!and even I say nothing about "usually" customers, or you really know some laic, customer, who will tell you, if you are at least average colourist somethig like :" oh god,, this video has not canon or panasonic( etc) colours !...:-)

[@juancarlosgzrz]

So RAW 8 bit, is just like JPEG 8 bit?

[@videofocus2010]

Best test that i've ever seen! Thank u very much!

[@channelCKOONY]

great comparison thank you for making this video this really helped did you use the speed booster on GH5 when you tested auto focus by any chance?

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

No I didn’t have the speed booster.

[@mozinoz_digital]

We live in an awesome time, when we have to 'split hairs' to make a camera purchase decision! Thx for sharing! 🤠🎥👍

[@JWS1968]

The A6300 is the same camera as the A6500 but without the IBIS and you can get two for the price of one GH5. Just a thought.

[@rep10101]

many thanks, considering the GH5 is quite a bit more expensive, I lean towards the A6500. But yes, not much in it

[@yan4171]

every comment here are from sony users, please be honest guys and stop promote your sony, GH5 is way better, more details in shadows, better quality image, more features, accurate skin tones and more... The A6500 skin tones look like trash

[@TheBronzorN]

@ant billionz what are you talking about, the 4k on gh5 is not upscaled 1080p. its 4k (oversampled from 5.1K footage)

[@Flohpange]

In the image stabilization part, the green post shot. The sony has the very irritating what I would call 'micro jitter' whereas GH5 seems completely smooth. I wonder if that varies with lenses.

[@IgorSunz]

as owner of gh5 + their lense with IOS 2 I can tell you that there is no camera with such stabilization. I compared shots with hand held and walking with gopro karma gymbal and gh5. Almost the same quality. This is a big advantage of GH5, because you can make travel and other POV video even without gymbals with GH5. But also, I want to add, only lenses with IOS2 have such great stabilization. I tested lenses without IOS (but with camera stabilization) and quality not so best

[@geariebowman5034]

In reference to Sony A6500 that Jitter gets worst in many cases. The IBIS is junk. I will be returning mine in a matter of days. Sony has yet to address this issue. Search Sony A6500 IBIS Jitters on youtube before buying.

[@fingerhorn4]

Actually there are plenty of cameras with comparable, and very good stabilization to the GH5, though not as good overall image quality of the GH5. They include all of Sony's HXV series, the RX100, Panasonic GX80/85, Canon G7X and G9X mark IIs, some of the Lumix FZ and ZS/TZ series (but not the LX10 or LX100) and nearly all contemporary Olympus cameras. All of the above have full 5 axis stabilization, usually 3x in body plus 2x in lens. From the clips shown in this video the A6500 STILL does not have proper stabilization, unless it is disabled in 4k mode. Look at the brief walking clip. It was all over the place! Clearly Sony have still not achieved what they claim and if I didn't know this and purchased the A6500 I would send it straight back and demand a refund. It is nowhere near adequate.

[@uncoy]

Not sure I'd use any of this "handheld" fake gimbal footage, even the GH5 or G80 footage, in production. The Sony image stabilization is worse but it's all pretty bad. When you pan with a Panasonic camera usually the image stabilization resists the beginning of the movement creating jaggy movement. The real Sony issue is with micro-jitters. If there are micro-jitters on simple handheld movement that's a problem. Image stabilization should stop all micro-jittering when handholding. That's IBIS primary role, not gimbal replacement.

[@poman911]

a6500 confirms how Sony is keeping the best for itself. That 6K sensor provides details that really make the a6500 images stand out in video. The IBIS of the a6500 is garbage so you are basically paying extra over the 6300 for the buffer size, faster processing and reduced overheating.

[@linusd3551]

And better autofocus?

[@Thunderbird1337]

Having a not-so-good IBIS with an unstabilized lens is still much better than no IBIS at all. Using my unstabilized Sigma 30mm f/1.4 the IBIS of the A6500 makes a huge difference. This lens (for example) was just not usable handheld for videos on my A6000, but on my A6500 it is.

[@linusd3551]

it is? ok, think im going with a6300

[@Thunderbird1337]

linus dalerstedt The IBIS is ok and working fine. Maybe not the best in the world, but if you use unstabilized lenses, the IBIS makes a huge difference.

[@geariebowman5034]

The IBIS in the A6500 is junk. I have experienced what many call jitters in my camera caused by the IBIS. The only fix I have seen is in knocking it around to unstick it. I refuse to do that so I am returning my A6500 and will be purchasing a GH5 for sure. Plus that 8bit truly sucks compare to 422 10bit. In a perfect world Black Magic Design would have made their Mirco Cinema Camera in 4k but Panny seems to have created 1 hell of a content creator's work horse with the GH5. I'm sold!

[@mokhtarchahine]

Thanks for the Effort. Wonderful comparison.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

Thanks!

[@fabbrifabbri1225]

Surely GH5 is better, for battery life, unlimited recording time, 4K 50p, 10 bit color dept, image stabilization, etc. But when I made weddings I need low noise even at 2000 ISO. and a very fast af. For weddings, I preferr the a6500. In Italy we have Amazing churches but they miss illumination, so high ISO sensitivity is needed.

[@toddmoore2132]

nice honest comparison...both cameras imo are good,,the gh5 did pretty well for a micro 4/3rd camera

[@RunNGunPhoto]

Thanks for taking the time to put all of this footage together. Question - Do you find that V-Log is worth the price?

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

I wish V-Log could be included with the camera, to have to pay $99 extra is silly. It is worth if you like colour grading and keep as much control on your image as possible, the dynamic range is certainly vaster with that profile. But you can get excellent results without it.

[@mikefowler3514]

thank you for putting the work in on this. hugely appreciated

[@faisholizzudin243]

That music background is so cute. At first, I thought I was watching cooking tutorial, but I actually watching a good comparison of 2 cameras, nice! :)

[@nikhilchandra9258]

Excellent comparison. The 6500 surely wins in DR, details and iso above 3200, but GH5 has better colours and skin tones (In my opinion), and thats a huge factor. On top of that, GH5 has no overheating issues, less rolling shutter, excellent slo mo, and much much better battery life. It really is a workhorse camera if you can sacrifice just a tad bit of dynamic range.

[@indago1]

GH5 definatelly looks better, especially in highlights, where a6500 losses detail, gh5 still has information, and 10 - bit beats 8-bit like crazy

[@xsgianni]

gh5 seems amazing! but that micro four thirds stuff, really get on my nerves!

[@MikeWestt]

Love the GH5 WARM Looks...

[@ChrisOlfers]

Wow - very comprehensive review, thank you for the work you put into this! a6500 holds up better than I thought!!

[@DynamicLearning4u]

The best video I have seen! Answered all the questions I have!

[@richardrivera2233]

Excellent comparison. Thank you for posting. Great work!

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

Thanks!

[@angleofattak]

These comparisons really aren't accurate for professional shooters who take the time to adjust settings properly. I have owned both cameras, and can say without a doubt the GH5 is a better camera in every way except autofocus. Use color profile CineD with -5 for contrast, sharpness, noise reduction, and saturation and you will have almost as much dynamic range as SLOG2/3, but with much better color accuracy when grading and the added benefit of not only 422 10bit but also 400mbps codec.

[@eicarshiva]

Great comparison video i am following you from now on. please do more videos, thank you

[@leejongjin]

I was impressed by this video. Nice comparison! Thanks.

[@unickolay]

Tell me please, how do the cameras gh5 and a6500 write to the memory card a file with a long and continuous record of 40 minutes, 1 hour or more? The file is divided into several files (for example, 30 minutes or 4 GB each) or written in one large file as a whole?

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

With the GH5 there is no limitation but it's possible that the files get trimmed into two or more after a certain time. With the a6500 the recording limit is 30 minutes per clip.

[@jeffreybourgeois6616]

you can fix the 30 minutes limit with open memories

[@jonestv2007]

a lot of great information in this video thank you GH5 all the way

[@EdanC1]

Perfect comparison! Thank you very much

[@Milanka989]

Great comparison, thank you for the time and effort!

[@aweemediaboutique]

Awesome and thorough comparison!!! Thx!

[@thomvarey]

What lenses did you use?

[@DanOhPhotography]

when is GH5 still photo review coming? :)

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

+Dan Oh almost ready ;-)

[@DanOhPhotography]

Mathieu Gasquet I'm keeping too many photos after GH5 / 100-400 - too many sharp pictures are coming out.

[@fulviosturniolo3741]

It depends about what you usually use. I mean I am an post-production expert so I don't care about different about skin tone or tiny things like that. For me top spec are export quality, AE (if needed), stabilization quality (without gimbal or other), non tons of battery or heat trouble to shot a video. I am just probably decided to take a GH5, pity couse I love sony a lot.

[@IgorSunz]

did you try autofocus on GH5 with 1 point area? Support of Panasonic answered that it must be much better

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

Yes the single area is the best setting for C-AF in video mode.

[@dablet]

can someone pls confirm the 6500 will let you have full manual control for video? does it let you change iso, shutter speed, and aperture?

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

Yes, you have full manual control.

[@nine958]

I noticed some green hue on Gh5🤔

[@esrasalcan2360]

Mic Jam c

[@martingreen436]

no link to your sites in the description? interesting info so want to check it out.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

mirrorlessons.com and mirrorlesscomparison.com

[@martingreen436]

yep thanks, I just was suggesting put your links in the description.

[@ratadeldesierto760]

Thank you very much for your work, amazing! I've bought the Gh5 but I don't know which lenses should I buy for video. I film weeding videos, I would like to buy great DOF and luminous primes. Which do your recomend me? for AF work, is it possible? (24, 35, 50 & 85mm) thanks!

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

There are lots of nice primes for the GH5: the leica summilux 12mm 1.4 and 25mm 1.4 and the Nocticron 42.5mm 1.2 for example.

[@PostColorGear]

wow. it looks like the GH5 holds its own when it comes to ISO performance despite the smaller sensor. Right around 6400 is when it appears the 6500 takes over and seems to do better, but before that, even on the low ISOs.....to my eyes....the GH5 wins

[@LeonMTan]

for casual video maker,i would go for sony 6500, to me the good autofocus saves A LOT of time and effort also easier on a gimbal. also from my eye,6500 has better color.

[@jonencarnacion4763]

Thank you for making this comparison!

[@ratadeldesierto760]

amazing work! I've seen your video and now I have a doubt about my Gh5... I bought it one week ago and I can't get clean footage over 800 ISO. I don't know if there is a problem in my Gh5 or I don't know how to set up... any advise about picture style ( cine D, saturation noise reduction Sharpness etc) thank you a lot

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

Some picture style can give you more noise like Cine-Like D or 709. I found Cine-Live V to be the best. You can also play with the Noise Reduction setting at +2, +3. +5 works but can soften details.

[@EugenBrinzoiu]

Great,detailed review.Thanks for your time.I don't know if I'm crazy but ALL the footage that I saw from the GH5 is soft.Nobody's saying anything about that.Maybe they added some NR reduction or something to make the camera noiseless compared to other cams?Who knows.But it's still soft,dreamy for me.

[@commercialand]

Thank you so much for this, finally someone shows great comparisons! Im looking to do some short films and i am a run and gun guy, and not very good with messing with settings...I can pull focus ok but i don't have the intuitiveness for quickly making changes in the camera. Maybe some basic things like iso and F stops, but that's really it. I was thinking about the a6300, with a gimbal and a monitor to move with. I can pull focus ok, but would like to have the auto just in case to fall back on. I'm mainly an audio guy so i wanted to get the Tascam 4 ch interface to hook up to a tripod but now i will need the gimbal. What would you recommend i get in 4k that will allow me to be creative for around 1,500? rather than messing all the time with settings.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

If you're looking for a good autofocus performance, the a6500 is definitely faster and there is a few settings to control the responsiveness. The GH5 is not bad as you can see in the video and the camera is definitely more user friendly. I think it also depends on what kind of situations you would use the AF: fast subject, v-log, more static scene?

[@JeanManuelVignau]

Thanks for this very interesting side by side. To my humble point of view, the Sony has a tiny advantage on the IQ and on the AF.... really tiny and the GH5 a huge advantage on almost everything else ! Something that is not mentioned in this test : the Sony screen is useless outside, not bright enough by far !!!

[@uncoy]

If you put the Sony screen on sunlight regime, the monitor works just fine in sunlight. "Monitor Brightness" in the Suitcase menu, list one.

[@JWS1968]

I always use a super bright 2200 nit monitor no issues.

[@DuncanDimanche-sreview]

The rolling shutter varies depending on the frame rate and the resolution. It was a great review but a bit too fast and their are a few points that I would have liked to see more like color grading skin tones ;)

[@nyambe]

Thanks a lot. I had been debating about these two cameras for a long time ... and the came the a7iii. It is hard to choose camera these days. Hard to justify buying a new one since you current one is probably fine.

[@brad-zf9oh]

Such a hard decision picking between the two.. Not sure if I should pick up a a6500 or the gh5...

[@gigxr]

wait for maybe half a year and they will release a newer version of a6400 which is probably a6600 or a6700 with IBIS

[@jbx907]

the part where you graded the 10bit flat profile and zoomed both, sony is way sharper with only 8bits @1:41, ithink you 10bit will be useful if it had a larger sensor, sony ate it with only 8bits, how can you have mo flexibility of 10bit if the image suffers because of a small sensor

[@kidzrevil]

James Balagtas yup...sensor noise chews up the 10 bits of data.

[@poman911]

I stopped buying Nikon cameras 10 years ago. When the GH4 came out in 2014, I was blown away and bought it with three lens. The problem with the GH4 is that the DOF is like that of a camcorder. So I bought the Sigma 18-35 with the Metabone for the shallow DOF. Since I do mostly video, the GH4 with 18-35 and Metabones was useless mounted on anything other than a Ronin-M (which I sold). And the AF-c was sh*tty. I bought the FZ1000 as I needed the reach for my kids sports. I didn't bother with the a7s or a7sii because of the entry price. The a6300 came out and I was again blown away with the quality, AF-c, low light capability and the close to cinematic look that you can get using f1.8 or f2.8 lens. I was hoping the GH5 would blow me away but guess not. I'm waiting for the a6700. BTW, due to the 4K bitrate, I had to upgrade my computer. iMac 5K with 12TB RAID with 8TB SSD RAID0 as boot up drive and 2x1TB SSD RAID0 as a scratch drive. Ended up spending close to $16000 in 3 years in all. Nikon or Canon could have earned my money but they decided to play Microsoft's sh*t-for-brain business model: keep everyone locked into your sh*tty products as customers have too much invested in lens to move away. Good bye Nikon and Canon ... enjoy your stay with Kodak and Polaroid ...

[@jangarcia1338]

Sony lens line-up is a big problem for me as a hobbyist. It is too expensive and also less to choose

[@ericknorpp8238]

Nice test, appreciate it. I am not sure many are going to notice the difference with 10 bit vs 8 bit on most websites or social sites. Both look great. The ISO obviously looks better on the Sony. I was actually surprised with the AFC focus testing. The GH5 actually did better than most people are complaining about. If Sony does not come out with a competitive camera I might get a GH5 as I would really like 4k 60p. Honestly would like to have a camera that does both photography and Video as good as the A7rII but with decent ports like USB 3.0 and 60p 4K. I guess we'll see what Sony comes out with here in the future. Thanks for your test, I am sure it was a lot of work.. I have been wanting to switch over from canon to Sony but until they release a USB 3.0 port for tethering I am holding off. Otherwise it is Canon Photography and Sony for Video. I sure hope the A7rIII or A9r has some decent upgrades.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

Thanks. I am curious to see the upgrades on the next Sony cameras for video. They (surprisingly) downgraded the A9 (no picture profiles) but I am sure there will be some new cool stuff on the next models. I guess they have to catch up with 4K/50p and 10-bit now. :-)

[@perrys9872]

Who can help me? I want to make a choice between the GH5 and A7S + Atomos Ninja Flame I film in the agriculture world and yep a lot of dust. I gonna use also a DJI Ronin Gimbal for movements on the field. Some questions about the GH5 and A7s A7S What is the Battery life of one accu with 4K with atomos? Do you know a good allround lens for filming in barn and dark sunset with a wide angle? GH5 Sensor size this is something i dont understand a small m4/3 how hi really preform in dark situation Making photos on this kind of cameras? Autofocus is resolved.

[@Alexgtoful]

Hi, how many minutes allows you to record the sony A6500

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

30min per clip.

[@jeffreybourgeois6616]

unlimited with open memories

[@awalseidu1866]

Nice work for the comparison video

[@djteknovibe93]

Overall between the two cameras the differences seem to be that the GH5 has way better image stabilisation, excellent low light ability (when Neat noise reduction in post is used), better flat profile and better results after grading and it records in 4K 60 fps so has better image quality than the A6500 which only records in 4K 24fps. It's bad points seem to be if you don't use the correct autofocus settings for the right scenario the autofocus can appear to be awful, plus dynamic range isn't awesome but it's good enough especially with V-Log. The Sony has excellent sharpness even in low light and better sharpness in low light than the GH5, overall it's low light image quality beats the GH5. The auto white balance is better and warmer a little bit on the A6500 but that's something that is amazingly easy to sort in video editing software. Everytime I record with my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge (which is what I use until I get the GH5 i'm saving for) I press record, hold up a grey card in front of the camera for a few seconds and then continue to record what I intend on recording. Then In Sony Vegas I use that grey card for a white balance reference and then after it's done just before I render the video I snip the part of me holding up the grey card out of the videos and delete it. The Sony A6500 suffers badly from rolling shutter, there have been a LOT of reports of cameras overheating when recording in 4K and also the battery life is said by many owners to be utterly dreadful. So all in all both cameras have their good and bad points.

[@RobbyNowell]

Mathieu, by your eyes, which camera had the closest skin tones? Most of the Sony's I have seen make faces a bit redder than reality. I am just wondering if this is the case here. Thanks for the great videos (and web articles)!

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

I think the GH5 did a little bit better, as you can see in the video the Sony tends make the face redder as you said.

[@thebrothersthre3987]

The only thing the Sony really has going for it is the autofocus, which is really outstanding. I have the A6300 and have been considering the A6500 for autofocus alone. I love my GH5. If you turn down in camera sharpening I don't really see a real difference between the two in that department. The ISO performance is slightly better, though if you use the GH5 with a speedbooster its not very noticeable IMHO. Now if you put a speedbooster on the A6300, that takes it to another level. The GH5 with Sony autofocus would be my perfect camera. Still waiting on the firmware updates tho. The colors on the GH5 are really awesome.

[@НаильУмаров-ы2и]

Gh5 has great human colours... That's very important

[@GDBOYFilms]

So noise reduction is a good idea with higher ISO on GH5?

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

It can help but I wouldn't go all the way up to +5.

[@matafilms]

Sony and their purple skies. Nice work Mathieu.

[@realitytunnel]

This is a great, comprehensive, comparison, thank you! I'll be shooting a short film which will be shown projected on big screens, so the colour noise in the shadows on the Sony slog2 graded footage would be noticeable. However, the actual cameras I'd be comparing for that shoot would be A7rii (s35 mode vs GH5). I do wonder how much of that colour noise is bit-rate and 4:2:0 related, rather than purely 8/10-bit related, though? I've seen tests with Sony internal 8-bit 4:2:0 100mbps compared to external 8-bit 4:2:2 approx 500mbps where the external looks better when graded. Have you tried this comparison, at all, Mathieu? Of course, it would be interesting to compare also when the new 400mbps internal for GH5 comes out shortly.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

I didn't have the chance to compare with an external recorder. As for the new 400mbps, it will be interesting to compare as well also because it will be an All-Intra codec.

[@realitytunnel]

Mathieu Gasquet thanks, hope you get a chance to do a test when the 400mbps is available.

[@artursrudavs373]

very nice man, interesting to see the effectiveness of the noise reduction on the gh5

[@milesroyalfilms8018]

great, solid comparison. what were your export settings for this video?

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

H264, 2 passes, 60mbps, Profile High, Level 5.2

[@mrblackalchemist]

Very good comparison Mathieu. May I ask you something? When the GH5 is able to shoot at 400mbps will this only be at 4K 10 bit or will it be at 4K 8 bit? Thanks

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

It should be 4K 10bit only.

[@mrblackalchemist]

Mathieu how do you get these 4K 10 bit files to play on a regular computer I don't have adobe

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

+mrblackalchemist I had to convert them into apple prores files. VLC plays them but it's buggy.

[@tptrsn]

Wow, AMAZING comparison!! What is your conclusion?

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

Personally I prefer the GH5 for many reasons, the most important being the better design, ergonomics and ease of use. Then we have the great video quality, nice slow motion capabilities, 4:2:2 10bit etc... The a6500 footage is sharper, you get less noise at high ISOs (although the GH5 defends itself quite well), slightly faster AF (with the gap increasing in low light) and is less expensive. But if I were to choose one for serious/pro work, I would go with the GH5 I think also considering the two SD card slots (with backup recording) and unlimited recording time. Plus it's a great still camera too! ;-)

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

Great! Lots of multicam shooting I suppose?

[@robertshawstaff452]

Very informative comparison, efforts are appreciated. What I liked about the GH5 was for some objects I saw more colour detail. However the skin tones of the GH5 were weak/washed out? which puzIzles me? How with 10 bits is it less appealing than 8 bit A6500? I did not like the slow AF of the GH5, and would not consider it a good fast focus AF camera (Canon 80D/70D does that best). The Sony was better with fast AF. Love to see a slo-mo test, as 4k 60p with 10bits, should best the Sony a6500. Until I see better skin tones, for my work, the GH5 is not the one.

[@danamiller1192]

Really want the gh5 love both

[@cineuavadvancesystem5433]

Sony cameras always capture video look images rather than film look. Never betrayed any Panasonic gear to a Sony one. Panasonic's soft and warm image is what you need in this price range.

[@puddytat62]

So I am guessing you prefer the Sony A6500. Color space is mediocre but if it is easy to edit then I am good with it.

[@Yasin_Er_]

The review is spectacular. What is the name of backround music?

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/a5yngGuegdpsn6s

[@swigre]

I think you messed up with the skintone comparison. To me it looks like you set the highlights on the GH5 down? This results in less detail and wrong colors in the skin.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

I haven't touched the highlight setting for the skin tone comparison.

[@igobyandrew]

Overall a great comparison video! However, I think when you compare the natural colors its not really that fair since the time of day is obviously different.

[@MathieuGasquetMirrorLessons]

same day, same time of day, maybe separated by a couple of minutes.

[@stephenberry6755]

Thanks guys. Great job.