Panasonic has been busily designing and bringing to market an increasingly powerful set of cameras and lenses, at competitive prices and delivering the highest quality of results. The latest to tempt stills photographers and videographers alike is the very video-aware Lumix GH6. This is an absolute powerhouse of video technology that looks set to make even further inroads into the filming market, where even feature films have sometimes been shot using DSLR cameras.

For the purposes of this review, we have the Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm f/2.8-4 ASPH, with a "35mm equivalent" field of view of 24-120mm. The sun shone, we ventured out into the field and put the new camera and lens through its paces. Let's see how it handled in use and how it performed in the technical tests.

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Panasonic Lumix GH6 Features

The first impression is one of bulk, as it is no different in size nor in weight to the DSLR used to shoot the product shots for this review. Despite weighing in at a substantial 818g (with battery and SD card), the camera body balances well with the lens provided.

The core of the camera is the MFT format LiveMOS sensor with 25.2MP. This has to have sufficiently fast data transfer to cater for the extensive video requirements, and this is aided by the use of the CFExpress card. SD cards are also catered for with a second card slot. The camera caters for:

• MP4 format (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, H.265/HEVC)
• MOV (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, H.265/HEVC, Apple ProRes, Apple ProRes RAW)

The 100% 0.5 inch OLED viewfinder offers 3.68M dots and the 100% 3-inch monitor 1.84M dots. Both offer crisp and fatigue-free viewing.

The TTL contrast AF has a metering range of EV 0 to EV 18. There is a mechanical focal plane shutter as well as an electronic shutter and front curtain electronic shutter. IS (Image Stabilisation) is provided and is claimed to offer 7.5 stops advantage, working with or without OIS in the lenses. With the usual caveat that this can vary from photographer to photographer and even from day to day, today this reviewer managed an advantage of 5.5 stops. This may not be as good as the claimed amount, but it is still immensely valuable.

Various interfaces are provided: Superspeed USB Type-C 10Gbps, HDMI Type A, 2.5mm jack remote, 3.5mm mini-jack for the microphone, 3.5mm mini-jack for the headphones and TC IN/OUT via the flash synch socket, using the provided BNC conversion cable.

There is WiFi compliance using 2.4 MHz and 5 MHz bands. There is also Bluetooth v5.0 and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).

There are plenty of buttons to access various functions directly. The top plate has a red video button, which is duplicated on the lower front. In common with many cameras, placement of the buttons needs to be assimilated and possibly the way the camera is held for carrying adjusted to avoid pressing something accidentally. The drive buttons have a control dial of their own, as does the mode selection. Buttons for WB, ISO and exposure compensation are conveniently grouped by the front dial.

The back of the camera is dominated by the 3” monitor. The display is crisp and clean and makes finding things in the menus easy. The monitor tilts up slightly as a unit but the main movement is the tilt, twist-action of the screen itself. Under the monitor assembly, a fan inlet draws in air to help cool the electronics during long video shoots in particular. If the temperature is exceeded then the camera will shut down until it cools down. There was no sign of this happening during the review period.

Key Features

• MFT Format
• LiveMOS sensor, 25.2MP
• Media: CFExpress (Type B), SD/SDHC/SDXC, UHS-I/UHS-II/UHS-II Video Speed Class 3
• Shutter speeds 60s to 1/8000s (Mechanical Focal Plane Shutter)
• Shutter speeds 60s to 1/32000s (Electronic shutter)
• ISO 50-51200
• Metering range: 0EV to +18EV
• Image Stabilisation works with or without OIS in lenses
• Contrast AF
• Eye Detection AF for People, Animals and Birds
• 818g incl battery and SD card
• 8 Preset white balance choices, plus 4 custom settings and 4 K settings
• 15 Photo Style settings – Standard, Vivid, Natural, L.Classic Neo, Flat, Landscape, Portrait, Monochrome, L.Monochrome, L.Monochrome D, L.Monochrome S, Cinelike D2, Cinelike V2, Like 709, V-Log plus 4 My Photo Style.

Panasonic Lumix GH6 Handling

Mirrorless cameras have grown up and grown out as well, being larger, chunkier and heavier as more and more features have been added. The GH6 is no exception, but the added size and weight do make some of the pitfalls less likely. Cameras that are too small inevitably end up with relatively fiddly controls. In this respect, the GH6 is much better, with a wider placement of buttons. This gives the photographer a fighting chance to be able to carry the camera without unexpectedly pressing a setting and then wondering why the camera is not behaving as expected.

The dial for drive options is very useful, especially if the self-timer is used routinely. It saves delving into the menus. The WB, ISO and exposure compensation buttons are also very well placed for ease of access to these often changed parameters. The shutter button is excellent, being soft but very precise and causing barely a hint of a tremor when it is pressed. It is a shame that the on/off switch is not around the collar of the shutter release as this aids one-handed carrying and switching on/off, whereas a separate switch needs two-handed operation.

The grip is fantastic, and this is where the chunky form factor really pays off. The camera is utterly stable and balances beautifully with the 12-60mm lens provided. Larger lenses should also be fine. The weight also makes stability during handheld video shooting much easier to achieve. Add the impressive image stabilisation and shaky images and video should be easily avoided.

The viewfinder is very usable, crisp and clear. Likewise the monitor. The monitor movement is sufficiently versatile, and although not something this reviewer uses all the time, nonetheless very useful for low vantage points and studio shooting of small objects.

In summary, most if not all of the handling quirks soon iron out as the photographer becomes used to the placement of buttons and dials, and the use of the camera starts to gel. The GH6 is well designed, ergonomically sound and without vices.