Jump to content

GH5 Concerns - Is It Reliable?


DBounce
 Share

Recommended Posts

So I have had my GH5 for a couple of months now, and I have had a couple of incidents with it. 

1. Whilst hanging out on a friends yacht I ran into an embarrassing situation when a few of the party goers wanted a group picture. I had the GH5 on hand, so was happy to snap the picture, however for no reason I can think of, the GH5 out of the blue started to fire it's shutter uncontrollably. It was firing at a rate faster than I have every witnessed, and would not stop until the battery was pulled. I removed the lens and reconnected it. Then reinstalled the battery and powered on the camera... reframed my shot and attempted to retake the shot. To my surprise the camera repeated the locked shutter behavior and again would not stop firing until a full hard reset. No actual pictures were captured. 

I have had one card read error on this camera also.

Another thing I have noticed is that I will occasionally get a message displayed on the screen that warns the lens is disconnected. This happen with both of my Leica lenses. 

While the first problem only happened on the one occasion, the latter problem pops up from time to time. In all instances the lens in indeed attached and locked in place.  These gremlins are not issues I have ever had with any of my other cameras. Sony ran well (a couple software freezes), Samsung ran well, Canon rock solid (bullet proof). 

I am sending the GH5 in to Panasonic so they can take a look at it. But my concern is one of reliability. Is this a camera that can be trusted to deliver reliable performance, or is it a feature filled camera with questionable reliability?

This might well affect my potential decision on the EVA1 also, as I do not really want a camera that is temperamental. I'm hoping mine is just a lemon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

EOSHD Pro Color 5 for Sony cameras EOSHD Z LOG for Nikon CamerasEOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs
  • Super Members
21 minutes ago, DBounce said:

So I have had my GH5 for a couple of months now, and I have had a couple of incidents with it. 

1. Whilst hanging out on a friends yacht I ran into an embarrassing situation when a few of the party goers wanted a group picture. I had the GH5 on hand, so was happy to snap the picture, however for no reason I can think of, the GH5 out of the blue started to fire it's shutter uncontrollably. It was firing at a rate faster than I have every witnessed, and would not stop until the battery was pulled. I removed the lens and reconnected it. Then reinstalled the battery and powered on the camera... reframed my shot and attempted to retake the shot. To my surprise the camera repeated the locked shutter behavior and again would not stop firing until a full hard reset. No actual pictures were captured. 

 

Similar sounding problem here that was caused by a 3rd party battery 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Similar sounding problem here that was caused by a 3rd party battery 

 

Holy $h!t... That's exactly what my camera did! I never thought the battery could cause such behavior. Now I have to take note if the other issues are also tied to third party batteries. Well that's really good to know. I really want to believe in the Panasonic system. So far I have not had anything other than good experiences for video. Regardless of battery used. And yesterday shooting with the Leica 100-400mm I was able to nail focus as reliably as my Canon 1DXMk2 or near enough as makes no difference. Still faster glass would be nice, but it can get the shot. Video with that lens proved impressive... even in low light. I think I might not send it in and instead order some Panasonic batteries. I will also pass this link onto my contact at Panasonic. They need to be aware of this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Super Members

There's a bit more detailed follow up to it here from the guy who did the video.

Not sure of the veracity of the poster replying that the original battery being chipped is a probable cause of it as I think the world would be awash with similar tales but probably something other people with GH5s could chime in on regarding specific brands they're using.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, DBounce said:

Whilst hanging out on a friends yacht I ran into an embarrassing situation...

I know it is a bit early but I'm going to go ahead and put in my nomination for 2017 post of the year in the "First World Problem" category. :joy:

 

Anyway hope you figure it out and it is just the brand of battery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@DBounce I've also experienced an issue with the GH4.. it was just a shutter angle display that was missing, but the camera required a reset....that's why the GH5 settings saved to a memory card is such a great feature....lastly, I only stick to Sandisk Extreme Pros and only use Panesonic batteries, except when hooked up to a Shogun on a rig....I then power off Vmount with an Indypro adapter to Dtap and the GH5 thinks it's running on AC power....The GH series is bombproof...of course it's not impossible to get a lemon, but your's sounds like a 3rd party battery issue...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just finished a 3w project in Northern Norway with the GH5 as my primary camera. It took some saltwater splashes, forgot it out in the rain one day, a few hard knocks in kayaks and on rocks. Worked like a charm throughout the filming period, so the GH5 now has my full trust! Only thing before fw 2.0 comes out are the almost unplayable 10bit Long-GOP files

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everyone says the 10 bit Long GOP files are unplayable, but once they're transcoded to Pro Res, they play smoothly. I don't get what the fuss is all about. 

8 hours ago, darrellcraig said:

Try cleaning the contacts on your body and lens. I've had a few lens not detected problems on Sony A7x bodies and other cameras due to dirty contacts, solved by cleaning. Sometimes there was no visible dirt yet still worked post cleaning. 

it's a brand new camera, it shouldn't require any cleaning. i'm almost certain it's just the cheap batteries he's using.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, jonpais said:

Everyone says the 10 bit Long GOP files are unplayable, but once they're transcoded to Pro Res, they play smoothly. I don't get what the fuss is all about. 

 

don't have a GH5 but my guess would be that in order to transcode them, you need an app that can open them in the first place. and thus, the fuss.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Zak Forsman said:

don't have a GH5 but my guess would be that in order to transcode them, you need an app that can open them in the first place. and thus, the fuss.

Premier and Resolve studio both play them. I'd caution against transcoding as there is data loss and thus potential image degradation involved in the process. Premier and Resolve both have proxies and optimised media options to work in the timeline which then use the original files for the final render. At present Resolve Studio on my laptop is just about usable but Premier bogs down significantly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Zak Forsman said:

don't have a GH5 but my guess would be that in order to transcode them, you need an app that can open them in the first place. and thus, the fuss.

The files can be imported into FCP X and transcoded; using an external recorder, you can view the Pro Res files immediately without additional transcoding; or use Edit Ready. To the best of my knowledge, most working professionals transcode their clips before editing, so I don't see what the problem is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Shirozina said:

Premier and Resolve studio both play them. I'd caution against transcoding as there is data loss and thus potential image degradation involved in the process. Premier and Resolve both have proxies and optimised media options to work in the timeline which then use the original files for the final render. At present Resolve Studio on my laptop is just about usable but Premier bogs down significantly.

Out of curiosity, why would there be data loss transcoding a smaller GH5 file to a larger ProRes file? If I have to guess, it's due to compression... but doesn't EditReady, or a similar program, decompress the files before the conversion?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, mercer said:

Out of curiosity, why would there be data loss transcoding a smaller GH5 file to a larger ProRes file? If I have to guess, it's due to compression... but doesn't EditReady, or a similar program, decompress the files before the conversion?

ProRes is still lossy compression and you have to factor in what each app is doing in the process of transcoding in addition to to the compression. There are some non lossy formats that are pretty good but the data bloat is huge.  Additionally my concern with the new 400mps codec is that if it's compressing every frame individually then overall the compression is going to be more severe than the existing 150mbs codec so it may not be quite the miracle everyone is expecting????

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • EOSHD Pro Color 5 for All Sony cameras
    EOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs
    EOSHD Dynamic Range Enhancer for H.264/H.265
×
×
  • Create New...