Lumix GH5 Announced at Photokina and Other Great News

Lumix GH5 Announced

Photokina is the largest photographic show in the world and it only happens every two years. And today it kicked off in Cologne, Germany with some great news from my favorite camera company Panasonic Lumix. For one they announced the Lumix GH5.

Photo courtesy of ePhotozine. Thank you ePhotozine for being at the show. Click on the image to be taken to the ePhotozine site for more Lumix info. Notice the three buttons just behind the front dial which is behind the shutter button. These are the three best buttons placed on ANY camera being produced today. WB, ISO, and +/- Exposure Compensation. They are right there, in your face, easy to find, easy to use, and dedicated so this camera will be easy to operate right out of the box. No trying to recall which buttons you “Customized” like other MFT cameras. Kudos to Panasonic for not changing the layout, this is the same as the GH4, just for change sake.

For over two years now I’ve been shooting the Lumix GH4 which is my all around favorite Lumix body. Myself and many others, who have either made the move or are wanting to make the move to MFT, have been waiting for information on the coming GH5. I’m thrilled to say that today the GH5 was officially announced. That’s the good news. The not good news is it won’t be available until mid-2017. But that’s OK as long as we get a truly spectacular product. Actually my GH4’s are still so capable that I’m fine with a little longer wait for Lumix engineers to really get it right.

Lumix G80, FZ2500 and LX10 announced

Along with the GH5 Lumix also announced a new body called the Lumix G85. The G85 seems to be a bit of an updated G7 with some new features. They include:

• Dual IS 2 with 5-axis in-camera IS with lens IS to give us even more impressive hand holdable possibilities
• 16-megapixel sensor with no low pass filter for even sharper images
• Weather sealing, dust, and moisture resistant

Press release: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lumix-g85—a-splashdust-proof-field-shooting-camera—featuring-new-5-axis-dual-is-2-and-4k-technologies-300329817.html

YouTube video: https://youtu.be/bfkEbOKjgLg.  There are several more videos with content created by Canadian and European photographers on the PanasonicLumixVideo YouTube Channel.

The G85 will be available this fall, before the holidays, with a 12-60mm weather sealed lens for $999. Below is a video of the new G85. This may be the ultimate stills photography camera in the Lumix line.

Even more exciting than the camera announcements were three new Leica lenses. Lumix is really upping their game when it comes to lenses with the introduction of an 8-18mm, 12-60mm and a fabulous 50-200mm, all of them super fast at F/2.8-F/4

Photo courtesy of ePhotozine. Thank you for being at the show. Click on the image to be take to the ePhotozine site for more Lumix info.

apertures. As a natural history documentary shooter I’m most excited about the 50-200mm (100-400mm equivalent) but I’m sad to say that Panasonic hasn’t yet announced when it will be available to ship. Hope it’s sooner rather than later. Can’t  wait for this lens but all good things take time. Why am I so excited about more and faster lenses? Exceptional, fast glass negates the need for larger sensors and below is just one example of that. This image of the Auroras borealis was shot on my recent trip to Iceland with the Lumix Gh4 and the new 12mm F/1.4 lens. 24mm F/1.4 equivalent! Could not have shot this image without it.

Other exciting news includes a new all-in-one, so-called bridge camera, the FZ2500. This camera does not have interchangeable lenses and many of our Explorers love this camera’s original predecessor, the FZ1000, due to its ease of use and all-in-one mega lens. The new FZ2500 brings many more features to the game. Based on its specs it will be a fabulous stills

The new all-in-one, compact bridge camera, the FZ2500. It has a built-in 24-480mm F/2.8-4 zoom.

camera with a 20x optical zoom (35mm camera equivalent: 24-480mm) and high-speed F2.8-4.5. It will also include 4K Photo Mode, Focus Stacking, wireless image transfer, built-in ND filters, and many new features, many for video but equally impressive for stills. It’s going to be a great camera for those wanting to go light and small with lots of power.

Finally, Lumix announced the pocketable, easy to carry Lumix LX10. This is a point and shoot powerhouse with a 20-megapixel one-inch sensor and a F1.4-2.8 aperture (35mm camera equivalent: 24-72mm) lens. I’ve been using a variation of this camera, the ZS100, for several months now and the image quality is absolutely stunning.

The Lumix LX10 with a F1.4-2.8 aperture (35mm camera equivalent: 24-72mm) lens.

Press release: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-ultimate-compact-camera-for-creative-photographers-lumix-lx10-with-20-megapixel-1-inch-sensor-and-f14-leica-dc-vario-summilux-lens-300329806.html

YouTube videos featuring Luminary Team member Rick Gerrity: https://youtu.be/NakP9eN-oJI  and https://youtu.be/XzFh61pSGq4

Pocket Wizard FlexTT5 TTL Radio System Announced

Finally, one other announcement from Photokina is another tremendous bit of news regarding wireless flash. It came with a bolt from on high that Pocket Wizard has announced their new Panasonic Lumix version of the their world-class

The glorious new FlexTT5 TTL radio system that allows us to shoot TTL without the flash being in line of site. Photo courtesy of DPReview. You can read more at DPReview

and industry leading FlexTT5 TTL radio system. The photography world is awash in wireless flash systems, most of them for Canon, Nikon, and a few for Sony. Panasonic has pretty much been left out of the party. I’ve been amazed at the lack of interest from the industry but Pocket Wizard is about to change that. I can’t wait to get my hands on three or four of these babies and connect them to my series of FL360 and FL580 Lumix strobes. This first iteration of the FlexTT5 TTL radio system will only work with the GH4 but firmware updates for other Lumix cameras are in the works. This is really great news for those of us who have found the Lumix wireless system to be even more advanced than what I had with my Nikons. Now we have the same capabilities with radio signals. Exciting times coming out of Photokina!