Panasonic's new MFT video flagship, the Lumix GH-7

Panasonic only recently introduced the new Lumix S9, which was aimed more at lifestyle photographers and people without a more precise specialization. This is now different with the newly introduced Lumix GH-7. This camera is aimed at professional videographers who want to take advantage of the benefits of the MFT system without compromising on quality.

The Body of the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH7

Two new cameras were released by Panasonic last year: the Lumix GH-6 in spring and the new Lumix G9II in late summer / fall. As far as the design of the new GH-7 is concerned, Lumix remains true to the GH series. The camera retains the form factor of the GH-6 with active cooling and, unlike the Lumix G9II, does not adopt the body of the S5II.

The most important visual change is the swivel mechanism of the display. This allows it to be folded out so that USB and an HDMI cable can be connected and the display can still swivel freely.

Connections and memory card slot of the GH7

The Panasonic Lumix DC-GH7 has USB-C, full-size HDMI and a memory card slot for CFexpress cards and UHS-II SD cards. What is exciting here is that the GH7 finally also supports recording to SSDs. There is also a 3.5mm jack connection for headphones and a microphone connection.

The sensor & processor of the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH7

The new MFT camera is now equipped with a new sensor which, in combination with the powerful autofocus, now finally also features phase hybrid autofocus. The new autofocus comes with AI support and distinguishes a wide variety of objects: Whether car, motorcycle & motorcyclist as well as trains or airplanes.

As usual, the new Lumix also comes with a very good IBIS, which also has the strong electronic stabilization added via firmware (S5II/x).

Thanks to the new processor, the camera can now also record and process RAW video in the camera. It can also work with real-time LUTs and much more, which we will come to in a moment.

The video features of the Panasonic GH7

Like the S5II, the Lumix GH7 can record with Proxy and Frame.io. The camera is therefore aimed at a wider range of professional videographers who have to work with a large team and tight deadlines. However, it is also suitable for smaller creators who do not yet have the resources for a powerful computer.

We already mentioned it: this camera is able to record RAW video without an external recorder, with up to 13+ stops dynamics. The camera also offers 10-bit recording and, as usual with Lumix, Open Gate. The GH7 also has no problem with overheating, has good weather resistance and professional codecs such as Long-Gop & Allintra. Even slow motion recordings in 4K with 120p and 4:2:0 are no problem with the GH7.

In addition to Mov and MP4, the GH7 has ProRes and those who would like to continue working with an external recorder can still receive B-Raw via HDMI.

The video assistance functions

As with other Lumix cameras, the GH7 offers the following functions:

• Wave Form Monitor
• Frame Indicator - The red frame around the display to indicate that the camera is recording
• Vector Scope - Measurement of color phase and saturation to determine whether they comply with broadcast regulations
• Frame Marker - Framing aid using a frame that can be set to any format to visualize 16:9 vertically during recording.
• Luminance Spot Meter
• Safety zone marker - Shows you whether your recorded content is still within the image section
• Center marker - Is your object in the center?
• Magnified Live Display (Video) - A display magnifier that works in video mode to make focusing easier

Advantages of MFT for videographers

Micro Four Thirds (MFT) cameras offer a number of advantages for videographers:

• Compactness and portability - MFT cameras and Lens tend to be smaller and lighter than their APS-C or full-frame counterparts. This makes them ideal for videographers who travel a lot or work in confined spaces. Not for nothing was the Lumix GH5II one of the most popular 4K vlogging cameras on YouTube!
• Wide choice of lenses - Thanks to the open standard, there is a wide choice of lenses from different manufacturers. Videographers can choose from a variety of fixed focal lengths and zoom lenses that are specifically optimized for video shooting, such as cost-effective MFT anamorphic optics.
• Very good stabilization - Many MFT cameras have excellent in-body image stabilization (IBIS), which is particularly useful for handheld shooting or filming in motion. This feature is a great advantage for videographers working without a tripod. With Panasonic Lumix, you can almost say that the electronic stabilization almost reaches the level of a gimbal, which is sufficient for most situations and thus saves weight and nerves.
• Crop factor - The MFT sensor is ideal for wildlife and macro photography as well as interview situations, because the telephoto focal lengths are lighter and achieve a much longer focal length thanks to the crop.
• MFT sensor format - When filming in open gate, the 4:3 aspect ratio of the sensor means that there is slightly more image height, which is noticeable when cropping in portrait format later on.

New audio quality with 32bit float recording

The GH7 also introduces the new adapter for XLR microphones, the Panasonic DMW-XLR2. It offers 8 bits more audio quality, i.e. 32 bits, than its predecessor, which still had 24 bits. What is exciting, however, is the 32-bit floating recording. What's particularly cool is that the XLR2 adapter feeds the audio track into the camera via the cold shoe and thus synchronizes the audio & video track.

Here is a short crash course on the subject:

A 32-bit floating audio recording enables more or less a RAW recording of the sound, in which two frequency ranges are recorded, once "underdriven" and once "overdriven". This allows significantly more quality to be extracted from the audio track. It should be noted, however, that this is not supported by every microphone or that there is no real benefit from it.

LUMIX LAB support

Anyone who has already seen the hands-on of the Panasonic Lumix DC-S9 will already be familiar with the Lumix Lab app. It is possible to edit images in the app. It is also possible to create LUTs yourself or even use them from Lumix's own library, which can be supplied with your own LUTs by the community.

The settings that you need to adjust in the camera are also customized for each LUT. Speaking of LUTs: the camera can store up to 39 of them.

Conclusion

The GH7 offers everything a videographer could wish for. If you use the LUT function in the camera to color grade videos directly and only edit them in post-production, this camera is certainly very exciting. The fact that the camera now finally has phase hybrid autofocus makes it even more exciting - also in comparison to the Lumix GH6 and even more so for those who are still using a GH5 and are considering whether the upgrade would be worthwhile: Yes, the upgrade is now even more worthwhile!

More articles in the blog