Panasonic GH5S vs Sony A7S II – Take a look at the specification comparison between two. And actually which camera should you buy, Panasonic GH5S or Sony A7S III ?
| Feature/Models | Panasonic GH5s | Sony A7s II |
| Megapixel | 10.2 megapixels |
12 megapixels |
| Sensor size | Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) | Full frame (36 x 24 mm) |
| Image processor | Venus Engine 10 |
Bionz X |
| AF system | Contrast detect | Contrast Detect |
| AF points | 225 AF points | 169 AF Points |
| ISO | 80-208400 | 50- 409600 |
| Shutter speed | 1/16000 to 30 sec |
1/8000 to 30 sec |
| Image Stabilization | No | 5-axis |
| Continuous shooting speed | 12fps | 5fps |
| Video | Cinema 4K @60 fps | 4K Video at 30 fps |
| Display | 3.2″ 1,620k-Dot Tilting LCD Monitor |
3.0″ 1,228,800-Dot Tilting LCD Monitor |
| Hot shoe | Yes | Yes |
| Wireless | Built-in | Built-in |
| Environmentally sealed | yes | yes |
| Battery life | 440 shots | 360 shots |
| Weight | 660 g | 627g |
| Size | 138,5×98.1×87.4 | 127 x 96 x 60 mm |
1. Sensor Size Comparison
When we look at the specification sheet of the camera, the biggest difference between the two is the sensor size. The Sony A7S II camera features fullframe sensor and the Panasonic GH5S camera features M4/3 sensor. And if you look at the resolution then we have marginal difference.. only of 2MP but the difference is pixel size is large (70.55µm2 vs 22.14µm2).
We have also done the High ISO test between the two camera as well as video comparison is also done and we can clearly see that Sony is leading in the comparison.
At the end we do expect high quality images and Videos from the Sony A7S II camera with less noise compared to the Panasonic GH5S camera.
2. Sony A7S II have better AF System
We do know that Panasonic camera do carry a dedicate hardware to perform DFD AF. But, at the end as we have seen in the AF test of Panasonic cameras, the GH5s AF performance is slow compared to the Panasonic G85 or Panasonic G9 camera which is more affordable compared to Panasonic GH5S.
But, we also know that Sony A7S II carry dedicated Phase AF points inside the sensor so the AF performance of Sony A7S II camera is better compared to the Panasonic GH5S.
3. Advance Image Stabilization inside Sony A7S II
Unfortunately, Panasonic GH5S doesn’t feature built-in IS and at the same time Sony A7S II camera features DUAL I.S. So, you can carry the Sony A7S II camera with you anywhere without any extra gimble support.
4. DCI vs UHD 4K
As you can see in the image below the Panasonic GH5S camera features DCI 4K video compared to the 4K UHD video inside the Sony A7S II camera. So, if you are talking about the Video resolution then the Panasonic GH5S (4096 x 2060 vs 3840 x 2160) do have a upper hand compared to Sony A7S II camera.
5. Rear Side Screen and Size Comparison
Despite of having a large sensor the overall body size of the Sony A7S II camera is smaller compared to the Panasonic GH5S camera. On the other side the Panasonic GH5s carry bit bigger high resolution screen compared to the Sony A7S II camera.
The rear side screen of the Panasonic features touch display interface whereas the Sony A7S II haven’t.
6. Panasonic GH5S Fast Continuous shooting speed
The Continuous shooting speed of the Panasonic GH5s is more compared to the Sony A7S II camera. The Panasonic GH5S II camera shoots 14BIT RAW files at 11FPS and 12Bit RAW files at 12FPS without AF support and With AFC mode you get 7FPS with 14bit and 8FPS when you have 12bit setting.
7. Card Slots
The Panasonic GH5S features Dual Card Slots including a UHS memoory card slot inside, but the Sony A7S II is limited to single memory card slot.
8. Noise in Image and Video
If you look High ISO test between the two the Sony A7S II camera have clear advantage. In High ISO test Video samples at 12800 one graded from V-Log and one from S-Log you can feel the difference, the Sony A7S II is more with better dynamic range clear compared to Panasonic GH5S.
Verdict
Based on specification comparison I prefer Sony A7S II over Panasonic GH5S.
Get Panasonic GH5S from Amazon.com | B&H Store
Buy Sony A7S II camera from Amazon | B&H
image credit – camerasensorsize.com
You are comparing two cameras that are designed for totally different users. Make up 2 backpacks for a week of birding in Denali park. Your Panasonic GH5s backpack will, of course, include the excellent Leica Lumix 100-400mm F/4-6.3 lens. To match that, the Sony A7S-II hiker would look around for a Zeiss 200-800mm F/4-6.3 lens. Certainly he would be relieved to discover that neither Zeiss nor Sony makes one. ….But negotiating similar tool kits for both backpackers — and sticking with glass that actually DOES exist — could still put as much as 7 times more weight in the Sony backpack.
Of course, a photographer working for National Geographic is not likely to go looking for birds on the slopes of Denali with EITHER of those cameras. But somebody who is a good fit for one of them is not likely to trade it for the other. The Sony A7S-II and Panasonic GH5s are built for different buyers.
I feel the evaluation of AF should be classified in case of still image and movie. At least AF speed in case of still image, GH5s is very fast. In movie case, natural smoothness is rather important than speed. This article sticks too much that phase detection method is better.