Camera gear is probably the single biggest distraction when it comes to people’s progression in photography or videography. No matter how many times a YouTuber or a photographer says that Gear doesn’t matter…. Countless newbie photographers and videographers get sucked into GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) and the infinite spec hunt.

To counteract this, I want to talk through why I still use a camera that is now 5 years old; it's really good.

Pros

Stabilization

This is the feature that brought me to the GH5 when I first purchased it. I could never see myself using a gimbal, and from my previous cameras it was clear that camera shake ruins footage. At the time, the GH5s stabilization was magic; my brain could not figure out how the stabilization was so good. 5 years later, it's still pretty hard to find a camera that beats it. Full frame cameras are getting close, but with such big sensors the stabilization is tricky and takes up more space.

Lens Size

Almost all of my b-roll for my YouTube channel is shot in harsher conditions than a studio. I’m on a beach, or on a boat, or in a swamp, wherever there is wind for kitesurfing. This means I’m lugging my gear with me, and the weight starts to add up. Every time I convince myself to switch to a full frame camera, I hold a full frame zoom lens… and immediately it feels like a bad idea. Full frame lenses are enormous, especially the zooms!

The size is a barrier for me, even when I’m staying local, but when it comes to longer trips it's a huge deal breaker. After my drone , my GoPros, and my video editing laptop, there’s not a ton of room for a big body and huge zoom lenses. Ultimately this stuff needs to all fit into a portion of a backpack or a carry-on.

No Cropping

The GH5 has all the frame rates that I need, 4K 60fps, and HD 120fps. As I shoot more and more, I use higher frame rates less and less. The thing I appreciate about the GH5 is that it doesn’t crop in when I’m changing to these different frame rates. Lots of full frame cameras today need to crop in for the higher frame rates which makes you need to reframe your shot.

Ergonomics

The GH5 is absolutely my favorite camera to shoot with because it's so comfortable in my hands. Fair warning, I have large hands, so this may not be the case for everyone. I have no problems shooting with this camera for hours at a time, and the comfort makes it easier to hold the camera in a stable way to get clean footage. I’ve tried Panasonic’s newer cameras, and they have sharper angles and aren’t quite as comfortable.

The footage looks great

Last, but certainly not least, the footage out of this camera still looks super sharp and the colors look great. I’m shooting more and more content on my iPhone because it’s more practical, but when I switch back to GH5 footage, it’s night and day. When I’m browsing through footage on my desktop with a big monitor, I’m always blown away by how much better the GH5 footage is than anything else I’m using.

Cons

Low light

This is the single biggest limiting factor on the GH5, and it was a limiter even when the camera came out. This camera needs a decent amount of light to get good results. Even if you go for a super fast lens, I’ve found it to be a constant struggle to get images that look as good as you want when the light starts to fade.

Luckily for me, I mostly shoot kitesurfing, and that’s primarily outside in good light. So I’ve been able to limp along without this capability, but it’s the shortcoming that nags me the most, and pushes me to consider another camera.

Autofocus

People make such a big deal out of the bad autofocus, but I never found it to be a huge blocker. When I’m behind the camera, I just focus manually, or use single point autofocus which is fast and reliable and works for subjects that aren’t moving super fast. When I’m in front of the camera it gets a bit more annoying, but I solved it with a $30 wireless shutter trigger that can focus the camera on half press of the shutter.

Size / Weight

While the size of the camera is great for ergonomics, it's not ideal for weight or for travel. I find myself want a mini GH5 for travel, something much smaller that I can use as a b-cam. I love how small the Micro Four Thirds lenses are; I wish there were high quality small bodies to go with the system. I may get an older Gx85 at some point to fill that gap.

Wifi connectivity

This is a bit nitpicky, but my iPhone has trouble consistently connecting to the WiFi app. When it works, it’s great, but it seems like randomly the phone just won’t connect to the camera’s WiFi. Ultimately it's just not reliable and it seems to have gotten worse over time.

This isn’t a problem if you do most of your shooting with your camera in your hands, but it becomes more of an issue when you are putting the camera on a tripod and trying to film yourself.

Conclusion

I love my GH5, and it is absolutely not the thing that is holding me back from creating more content. I don’t see myself upgrading for at least another year or 2, maybe even three. I could see myself eventually jumping to a camera with a smaller form factor and much better low light, but other than that I’ll just keep my focus on the content.