Panasonic Lumix GH7 High ISO Video quality Test

I did some quick image quality test as a response to Ken Slyder ‪@kenslyder‬ 's video. • GH7 vs G9ii Sensor, IM...
Ken wants to know if the image quality from the GH7 is the same as the G9II.
I'll leave it to you guys to decide
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[@TheRealRichardWong]

I believe Panasonic Lumix GH7's 25MP sensor is the same as the Lumix G9II. Since I've previously tested G9II's sensor, so I didn't do too many GH7 image quality test this time. But Ken Slider @kenslyder is not sure if it is really true or not, so I did some quick tests for you Ken, hopefully it can help you to decide! Originally I was going to do this test in V-LOG picture profile, but since I want to include a few other cameras like the Fujifilm XH2 and my old Lumix G85 so I did the test in standard picture profile in the end. Sorry Ken I know it doesn't really test out the dynamic range. But I need to return the GH7 tomorrow and got a few other things need to do so this is the best I can do right now.

[@JacopoDiGiuli]

Thanks a lot for these deep dive tests... as always, amazing work! One of the best reviewers here one youtube for mirrorless cameras!!!

[@angeloplayforone]

Richard, Thanks I also saw Ken video where he doubt that the sensor of the GH7 is the same as G9Ii. I never questioned that they are the same. Making a shorter wire on the circuit in the sensor for the marketing guys makes it a new sensor but it isn’t.

[@kenslyder]

@@angeloplayforone Yeah after I saw the test of Richard Wong it's confirmed! And he helped me make my decision! Richard is a genius and so kind of him that he made this test even in last minute. Other camera reviewers wouldn't even care. He is the best. I'm going to preorder the GH7!

[@sutv6754]

Richard, I was thinking. It the GH7 sensor was different, wouldn't Panasonic be using it as a marketing plus? Like they always do. Or perhaps they don't want to make the G9ii people upset the same way the GH6 people where.

[@contentm3893]

@@angeloplayforone Yeah no one want a repurposed sensor in 2024. You are paying for the sensor and that should be the investment. Now Lumix fixed issues the Gh6 had and added more features and Pro Res Raw which should have been in the Gh6. I get it but don't trust Lumix until they upgrade the S1H. Where does this put Lumix FF owners?

[@kenslyder]

Thanks! Yeah after I saw the test of Richard Wong it's confirmed! And he helped me make my decision! Richard is a genius and so kind of him that he made this test even in last minute. Other camera reviewers wouldn't even care. He is the best.

[@TheRealRichardWong]

Thank you so much Ken! Enjoy your GH7

[@OCAIOF]

I'm impressed with how clean S5ii looks at high ISO.

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

It's amazing. And original S5/S1 are as good. Everyone overlooking these (very affordable!) cameras shows camera youtubers have lost direction.

[@bamcameback]

for real

[@coin777]

You should see the original s5. It's even better.

[@rendezvous009]

I'm equally impressed with the Nikon Z6ii, the new Nikon Z6iii will definitely do better.

[@Studiotek]

OG S5 is even better because it doesn't have the PDAF points on the sensor

[@masterofcamera]

Love the classical music. Thanks for the comparison Richard!

[@TheRealRichardWong]

Thank you Piotr!! 😊

[@stilllight5286]

Very good comparisons, as always. Thank you Richard!

[@TheRealRichardWong]

Thanks again Alex!

[@JeffBourke]

It's identical to the S9ii. No secret here. Same brother-sister thing as sony FX30-6700. One video and one stills. The difference is that the GH series are actual hybrids but the FX30 can't shoot stills without spending 2 minutes playing with menus and settings first. You wouldn't bother.

[@sutv6754]

Great Richard, Love it. Comparing my 3 cameras. I was so hoping you would speak about you thoughts as you often do. Looking forward.

[@TheRealRichardWong]

Thanks! Yeah sorry I'm working on the Arri Log video + a few other reviews, so try not to spend too much time on this video.

[@wanderlust0120]

Hey Richard, which is that classical piece being played? Also very thoughtful of you to add the G85 to the comparison!

[@sbeckmesser]

It's from the main body of the first movement of Mozart's "Dissonance" Quartet. The nickname comes from the harmonies in the movement's introduction section. Dunno which recording is being used. Lots available, like 50mm lenses, or 25mm MFT equivalents.

[@TheRealRichardWong]

Mozart: no. 19 in C major KV 465, K Allegro, it's from Epidemic Sound which is the paid service I use for all my music on KZbin. Yeah thought it would be interesting to add the G85 as a comparison for people looking at upgrading from a camera running that sensor.

[@martinlang2988]

Thanks for your work! A clean comparesing between GH6 & GH7 in V-Log when it comes two noise and dynamic range would be super interesting since the GH6 have a very high noise floor.

[@vesku2676]

GH6 should look better than GH7 because it has no phase pixels mixed with image pixels. Panasonic told us that reason not to use phase detect so many years.

[@cameralabs]

Nice extra test Richard! I'm not sure if I'll have time to make a proper ISO test

[@TheRealRichardWong]

haha i didnt have time too for my review! But now I got all my big reviews done, I have a bit of spare time before I send the camera back to Andrew!

[@cameralabs]

@@TheRealRichardWong I have a couple of extra days, but so many other things to work on right now! I'd like to do more tests, but I suspect they'll just sit on a drive forever.

[@TheRealRichardWong]

@@cameralabs hahah I understand what you mean. At least I think you are much faster and efficient at creating videos than me. There were a few videos I created that supposedly a one or two day job took me a whole month in the end 😅

[@thepaperboy9009]

Great comparison test. Thanks for posting. You don't get copyright claim from the classical music label?

[@TheRealRichardWong]

I pay music subscription (i use epidemicsound ) so that's ok

[@thepaperboy9009]

@@TheRealRichardWong thanks , I didn't know they had classical, most KZbinrs don't choose classical.

[@JanSur]

Hi, do you know if AF works with speedbooster? I use sigma 18-35 in 4k50p 90% of my shoots on my S5ii. I guess GH7 would be better in every way than S5ii in crop mode. What do you think?

[@TheRealRichardWong]

Sorry no idea about speedbooster, i don't have one myself to test.

[@chcomes]

I tried a couple of EF lenses with the Speedbooster on the G9ii and results were not great. nothing like the Sigma EF to L adapter.

[@jaimebenito620]

Great job, Richard. I'll watch it on a big screen some other time, because i can't see any noise on my mobile.

[@TheRealRichardWong]

yes even though I already done 200% zoom, it's still too hard to see on a small phone or even tablet screen

[@mipmipmipmipmip]

M43 has useable DoF at lower iso, but high iso performance of Lumix S5ii(S5/S1) compensates, giving S5ii more wiggle room overall.

[@raredreamfootage]

I thought the GH6 is limited to a minimum ISO of 2000 in DR Boost? How were you able to shoot at below ISO 2000?

[@rendezvous009]

Amazing low light performance for a micro 4/3 camera. Nikon D750 can only go ISO1600 without noise, beyond that pretty hopeless, plus it produces very soft video at only 1080p, GH7 is miles better.

[@generalcontrol]

So basically GH7=GH6=G9II in terms of noise. I guess I'll wait until Panasonic cares to release something like GH7S. Thanks for the tests!

[@TheRealRichardWong]

Thanks for watching

[@christophesouchon3397]

Hi and thank you for tour review ! How long it take to write all the 75fps when you shoot raw to complete the save to the cf express B ? i can't find this in your review And can you shoot again when the files is in write like sony system or you need to wait until the end of the writing on the cf express B ? Thank you for your answer

[@TheRealRichardWong]

I just tested it for you. Shooting in RAW only, it takes approx 41sec after i finished shooting all the 190 photos when use my Pergear CFE card . And it takes approx 52 seconds with Sandisk v90 Extreme Pro card. You can start shooting again as soon as the camera has cleared some photos to the card. But you do need to re-press the shutter again when shooting in SH75/50/20 mode . With normal burst mode you can just hold the shutter button down and it will shoot whenever the camera buffer has space. The difference i believe is purely a design decision

[@christophesouchon3397]

@@TheRealRichardWong I love your channel,thank you so much for your answer ! It's clear. I do prefer sony approach for this.

[@JoZhWorld]

Looking for this comparison between S52 vs GH7. Looks like to achieve the same look, GH7 MFT sensor is better than S52 FF sensor...

[@nickalot]

thanks! i needed this!!! i had a memory confirmation bias that the GH^ had a better noise pattern, but here I can see that it's... marginally worse on the gh6 hahahahaha. if anything your damn video is making me want to get teh s5ii or the s9

[@TheRealRichardWong]

haha why not get them all! :D

[@fredio54]

You're up late for a Sunday night, mate! :-)

[@TheRealRichardWong]

Always late night!

[@108u9]

Comment poll: For those viewing on mobile, if you saw a photo/video with image quality of GH7 at ISO 12,800 on social (E.g. Instagram, KZbin, TikTok), what would you think? Would you find it to be “normal” or acceptable quality? Comment below what you might think as a viewer. Thank you! And thank you Richard for this test!

[@TheRealRichardWong]

Thank you! And if I watch the image on a small screen I would say gh7's iso 12800 is still acceptable. Not great, but won't annoy me at all

[@RandumbTech]

Wow - neat comparison! What strikes me is just how much better FF is in low light situations. If shooting during the day or well lit areas, M43 is fine, but indoors or at night, it really falls apart. Of all of them, APS-C might be the best compromise - for video at least. Well done Richard!

[@TheRealRichardWong]

Thank you! One thing we need to consider is, with the larger sensor, quite often we need to stop down the lens to get enough depth of field, which does minimise or get rid of its low light advantage

[@jockslifeatliftvideoproduc8528]

@@TheRealRichardWong Also if you're using a speedbooster on a M43 camera it can make it more capable than an APSC camera due to the extra stop of light gained

[@solarion33]

Looks pretty clean but I would like to see more real world tests in low light , also it wasn’t in vlog

[@DarkTrapStudio]

You can't make assumption of a sensor and compare it outside, or it will need the 3 camera to film at the same time, with the same lens, same settings, with a large area, because of the angle you can't be sure of the values of the color picker, great for comparing camera though but it will need this setup to be objective.

[@solarion33]

@@DarkTrapStudio I'm not looking for comparison, just the GH7

[@DarkTrapStudio]

@@solarion33 I understand, I was saying that because it was a video to test the sensor if Im not mistaken ! Best :)

[@JacopoDiGiuli]

I believe the truth in this story lies somewhere in the ‘middle’: it could be that the GH7's sensor is the sensor also used for the G9II but with the addition of “BSI” technology, but in the end this, in practice, does not make the GH7 a better low light camera than the G9II (downloading the video and re-checking the comparison between the two cameras at ISO 12800, I may perceive a little less grain on the GH7 than on the G9II, but they are really identical in final performance)... Given that in B&H's interview with Brad Cohn, he specifically says that it is an improved sensor over the G9II due to the fact that it is ‘BSI’ and therefore has a better dynamic range, it would be interesting if you could do a test later on, dedicated to the difference in dynamic range between these two cameras!

[@dopravnivideacz]

It is the same sensor and it is "BSI" since GH6 or maybe even longer. Little tweaks in software (denoise, sharpening ...) doesn't make it a new sensor. "BSI" cannot be "added", it's entirely different design of the sensor and AFAIK all manufacturers do that right now. If I undestand correctly, BSI is some kind of trademark, so if it is not a Sony sensor, they cannot call it BSI for legal reasons. But the design is "BSI".

[@kenslyder]

This got me confused. Because when Brad Cohn was asked if the sensor in the GH7 is the same as in the G9ii, he Clearly said NO.... But now thanks to the test from Richard Wong, I can make a decision :)

[@contentm3893]

You mean "the G9II sensor is used in the new GH7"?

[@contentm3893]

@@dopravnivideacz The Gh7 should have more dynamic range with Pro Res Raw and companies cn get more dynamic range from the same sensor. But I believe it's just marketing hype to say the Gh7 has more dynamic range.

[@Democratiser]

LUMIX intimated the G9II’s sensor was. BSI at the time of its release.

[@DarkTrapStudio]

The colors are not the same, but is is because of the camera ? I don't know, It could be software, could be temperature ? could be angle ? could be non controlled environnement ? I don't know if temperature and humidity change the velocity of the light color wavelenghts. The difference are small, I can see it a sight just a little, and confirm with a color picker, but also it could be the youtube compression being not the same in all pixels area ? I don't have the required skills to make a fact but I can for fact say there is a difference in the youtube video, both with my eyes and with a color picker.

[@DarkTrapStudio]

SRGB % Values at 400 Iso 1:14 G9 II : Red : 100 Blue : 100 Green : 82 White : 100 100 100 GH7 : Red : 95 Blue : 99 Green : 77 White : 97 96 98 This is not nit picking I can see it on a 100% sRGB monitor and Im not a pro.

[@TheRealRichardWong]

I tried to control everything. I shot this after dark, and only using my studio light at fixed position and brightness. Tripod same position and controlled camera settings. The only thing is a few shot turned out slightly out of focus (tiny bit)so I reshot them. That is the iso 100/200 for g9ii and I think the whole sequence for g85. So the tripod is slightly different position but everything else was still 100% same

[@TheRealRichardWong]

White balance also same. Daylight. And all cameras use standard picture profile. But each cameras picture profile probably slightly different even all cameras from Panasonic

[@DarkTrapStudio]

@@TheRealRichardWong Thanks Richard, and thanks for your amazing work !

[@Studiotek]

Wow, I never realized how bad the IQ of the Fuji was until this video comparing it to the Lumix cameras... Was it a crappy lens, or is the Fuji just really that bad of a camera?

[@takagoody410]

It looks the noise of GH7 is less than of G9II.