Now that the Fujifilm X-T3 has launched, DPReview TV's Jordan Drake puts it up against the venerable Panasonic DC-GH5 to see how their video features and quality compare. If you don't mind the large download, a low compression version of the above video can be found here.
Have seen no posts pointing out the lack of IBIS in the XT-3. I don't understand why the XH-1 has IBIS while the newer XT-3 doesn't. Are they intended for different types of shooting? Panasonic, Olympus, Sony, and now Nikon offer IBIS. I find lens or body image stabilization normally results in sharper images, regardless of manufacturer. Only my Fuji zooms have IS, the primes I have don't, thus having IBIS could drive me to replace an XT-2.
Fuji was quite forthcoming about the fact that their particular IBIS implementation increases body size a lot.
I suspect that the decision was made to keep IBIS out of the X-T3 to keep size down, keep cost down (remember it's cheaper than the X-T2 was at launch), and to provide a bit of segmentation across the lineup.
As a fellow X-T2 owner, I'm waiting patiently for an X-H2 to see if it combines the best of these latest two models.
Well, The exstra bit of height on the X-T2 over the A6500 is used for dials. And a6500 have a bigger grip that can have stuff in it to make space for IBIS around the sensor.
All forum trolls, please be advised, IBIS is a gimmick. PERIOD, get over it! Or start shooting serious projects to understand why it's omitted in all serious bodies!
I have a far more basic question: why do you choose to use a still/video camera to shoot your videos with Chris instead of a "professional" video camera?
Whenever I see news crews out and about, they're using a dedicated video camera. Ditto for the Netflix series -- Shot in the Dark -- that shows freelancers chasing car crashes in LA at night . . . they all use dedicated video cameras . . . professional models.
Other than "proof of concept" for DP review readers, is there an inherent advantage in using the cameras that you use?
Am not Jordan - but: They are small, light, and cheaper. Big productions have the funds for really expensive equipment, and the man power to carry them around (a bigger camera requires a heavier tripod, etc.). Small youtube shows which are usually one-man bands filming and audio wise don´t have either. And for youtube type resolutions - the quality is good enough.
We shot quite a few seasons of TCSTV on dedicated cinema cameras, the Panasonic AF100 to the Sony FS700, FS7 & FS5. The Panasonic GH5 made me switch back to mirrorless. If you have the time, you can find out more in this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6BcaykMp88&t=97s
In brief, the GH5 gives us image quality on par with the $9K Sony FS7 (the GH5S is even better!), but in a much more portable body. We travel a lot, and need to shoot discreetly quite option, so a small body makes a big difference to us. The IBIS, nicer EVF, and compact XLR adapter were icing on the cake. The only thing I really miss from a dedicated cinema camera is the built in ND filters.
Those are broadcast cameras, not cinema cameras, who uses tiny 2/3” size sensors but are very flexible, uses regular memory cards and can shoot for hours. Any APS or FF hybrid will give much better image quality but their uses are completely different.
I am talking about the type of cameras reporters use for street, breaking news stuff who are not looking for any kind of "cinema look". Things like this:
Sorry to barge in, I am a keen photographer, although my enthusiasm exceeds my skill. I am from an electronics engineering background, and I would like to know if there are structured resources one could use to get to understand the latest developments in video, at a technical level, so that I can make sense of all the 4:2:2, F/V/L-log, H.264/5 stuff. Books, websites, etc.? Thanks a lot!
The Filmmakers Handbook by Ascher & Pincus is the book I always recommend, though it is certainly due for an update. It's the first thing I suggest to anyone getting into video production!
Jordans answer is superb and on the money, the only thing I would add is that many people want a hybrid camera for the stills as much as the video. A Sony FS7 whislt an amazing video camera is going to suck for street photography. The appeal is being able to have one body that is small that does it all, and to an extent prevents you from needing two sets of lenses. Having said that if you are serious I woudl augment your kit with external audio recorder, gimble and a fully manual lens like the Mk, now woudl you use that all the time, no, in fact you could rent, but its nice to know that the flexibility exists in the system to go from shooting your kids in the garden on the weekend to rigging it up and shooting high quality video in the week.
How does the auto focus in videos compare to e.g. the A7III and GH5 when not recording faces. E.g. when recording animals, moving objects like cars etc.
Agreed ozturert, just purchased a GH5 with cash back offer of £200 from Panasonic, purchased it with the Panasonic standard 12-60mm lens, it will do for now till i learn more about this fantastic camera, heck of a lot to learn!!
lot of good info in this video, presented with clean audio and no wasted blather, but since it's cameras from two different platforms, you can't ignore the lenses, so I have to ask:
1) no list of the video-centric lenses on either platform, which needs to be addressed somewhere; better to have actual parfocal video demos... you guys do know how to use a parfocal video zoom, right? 2) why post it in 1080p? lets see what 2k at least looks like. 3) artifact testing with swirling spoons simply doesn't cut it, especially at slow shutter speeds.
It's in 4K now. You need to realize YouTube can take quite a long time to process videos, and it does so in lowest-resolution first order, unless the creator marks it to only show when all resolutions are available (at least, I *think* that's an option).
To reiterate what Thematic said, Veydra makes M43 Cine lenses that are really awesome. You can get some Rokinons too but they're not as good as the veydras.
The Veydras are great, and more numerous than the Fuji MKX zooms. Veydra only makes primes, and Fuji MKX are only zooms - and only two of them. The Fuji zooms are of better quality than the Veydras, but it hardly matters because of all of these differences. The Fuji MKX zooms also transmit lens data (though the E-mount versions, the MK zooms) do not. The Fuji MKX/MK zooms are also way more expensive.
Like others have said, now that Fuji is in the top tier of video hybrids, I expect more third party lensmakers to come to the platform. I also really hope Fuji starts making more cine lenses for the X-mount, as they have a VERY long history of cine and video lenses. I'd especially like a UWA zoom to be added to the MKX line (like a 10-24), plus AF versions.
the high ISO fuji looks more blurry than the gh5 high ISO. the reviewer says they are effectively the same but doesn't quite look that way to me, even with the matched DOF.
at 1080p, it's hard to tell anything about p.q., and there are so many ways to go wrong, with things like re-compression for youtube uploads, and such.
perhaps. the reviewer claimed the quality should be the same but the man's beard was much more blurred in general on the x-t3, in that kind of x-trans-y way. Yes there was less noise than the gh5, but seemed like less detail as well
I think it means the amount of grading that has to be done after applying LUT for F-log and V-log, respectively. Even standard looks like 709 don't always look natural.
Ah ok, so the video the camera will be recording won't be effected by the sensor? When they said the F-LOG of the X-T3 was harder to grade than the GH5 I assumed the worst.
When shooting in F-Log , it would be good to be able to use LUTS as this saves A LOT of time. Are there any great LUTS available for F-LOG?
What I meant is that when graded by hand (no LUTs) it took much longer than usual to get a usable look from the X-T3 in an extremely high contrast shot. Using the Eterna LUT immediately got me a useable image I only had to tweak slightly. With Panasonic files, I rarely need to use a LUT, as the files are very easy to hand-grade.
I guess that's the benefit of dedicating decades of research towards creating pleasing colour. The Eterna LUT for F-Log is wonderful.
XT2 suffered from hard stops when using Auto ISO when recording video, unlike the smooth, gradual changes to Auto ISO changes like the Sony's do.. Very anxious to find out if Fuji corrected this in the XT3. Did you guys test Auto ISO changes during recorded video? Thanks,
Definitely not similar picture on GH5 ISO3200 vs X-T3 ISO6400. I could not see the collar on the t-shirt anymore on X-T3. Overall I preferred X-T3 color output in every case on my VA 4k Samsung.
IMO, for videos more important than frame-rates is video optimised lenses. If Fuji got any plans of making some? For instance, am considering getting a A7-iii not for its sensor performance, but for 28-135 PZ lens and am stick to GH series as many pany lenses are optimised
As far as I know this is the first time on youtube someone does a video comparison between two different sized sensor cameras the right way. And for all those with a distinct math intolerance even without mentioning the e-word! Great, thanks!
Fujifilm looks too contrasty to my eyes...In high ISO test, Panasonic looks cleaner and crispier too (even at the same ISO value). It would be awesome if you showed real color of his t-shirt with a still image.
Fuji made a long way to reach at this point, GH5/S are of more pro character except the lagging of CAF, which somehow their users manage to minimize though... I am not implying Drake's is somehow biased but it seems to me that are compared products made for different orientation/use.
Good review but I still saw some bias sneaking in especially around the 1:29 mark where the GH5 is clearly better with DR, color and noise yet the commentary is for favoring the X-T3. Nope. But it's true Fuji has come a long way in making their video competitive.
Well I don't see a "wrong" here. It's expected that some bias would like creep in in favor of the "new kid on the block". It happens a lot. But the imagery just doesn't show the advantages claimed. If it does feel free to point them out with timecode markers. BTW does it help if I too self-like my own post for a "1" to equal things out ;)?
Fantastic piece. Information packed, even-handed. NBC should hire him to run the 6 pm news. I’m very confused why people say their computers will choke on 4K high-bit rate footage, that is what proxy workflows are for. You edit with lower-resolution files and then conform to the originals when it’s time to render. Trying to edit full-res footage is suicide.
How do people define 'choking', anyway? My MBP will take a couple of minutes to stabilize a 30-second 4K clip, but that's about the slowest operation I ever encounter.
@estarkey, thank you! Unfortunately I don't use Premiere pro anymore.
However, now I remember setting up proxies in 2009 when it was very difficult to find a video editor that would even open AVCHD (1080) video files... IIRC, Premiere could not do it, but Blender could.
You should lower your resolution when you lower your bitrate. It doesn't make much sense to keep the resolution high. Your bitrate it pumping more info in the resolution than it needs to. I usually set the resolution to 720 with a bitrate of 3.3 mbps. Those seem to be these best settings for my editors and I.
i would think that AF performance of the lens is not really an issue on video. You don't want too fast focus transitions anyway. If the camera is doing the tracking correct, and it uses phase detection (without wobble on focus acquisition) probably all lenses perform ok, on this regard.
That would indeed be very usefull. Have not found one. Here a quick overview:
18/23/35/56/60; F2/1.4/1.4/1.2/2.4 -slow and loud 16mm 1.4 -fast and loud 23/35 F2 -fast and silent 16-55 -fast and silent
That said none of them are really made for video. The aperture clicks in visible steps, making aperture changes visually jaring (because exposure jumps), most have focus breathing, and none are stabilized. Maybe Fuji will fix that with their next gen lenses
I'd really like it if you could include a text summary of your conclusions. Maybe I'm old school, but I prefer reading 2 lines of text to watching 2 minutes of video.
If it's possible to automatically generate a transcript, even if it's just the one that YouTube spits out of the closed captions, that would always be my preference.
Video is just such a low information density medium...
To those complainers, easy, just click the close-caption icon on the youtube video, don't look up and concentrate on the letters. There you have your transcript.
That's still slowly delivering the words to you in real time, with no way to identify relevant sections, skim through blank time, quickly refer back to previous points, or look closely at reference images.
There are some things that video does well. Delivering information through the spoken word is not one of them.
There's a reason that books replaced oral histories...
"There are some things that video does well. Delivering information through the spoken word is not one of them."
Of course it is. It all depends on who is delivering the information and how the videos are produced. There is just as much crap writing as there are videos.
Maybe AlexisH likes the erotic novel-type review, with a digital camera twist...something like:
"'God, Jordan.' I arched the camera against him when he moved to my other wide aperture lens. His two fingers worked inside my camera bag, a little uncomfortable but nothing I couldn’t handle. Not so long as the sensor mouth was pointing towards me, lavishing my XT3 with attention his thumb rubbed around the joystick and my eyes rolled back onto the viewfinder. So close. The strength of what Fuji had built was staggering. Mind-blowing. My body was going to be blown to dust, atoms, when suddenly...Premier Pro log grading was complete..."
Quick breakdown of opinions from the video: - The Fuji has about one-stop better high-ISO performance - The Fuji has better colors under normal use with normal picture profiles - The Panasonic's colors are easier to edit when using LOG modes - The Fuji has much better auto-focus, especially with face-detection; the Fuji lacks general object detection, however, which the Panasonic has - The Panasonic has more pro-level video features, better slow motion, articulating screen, customization, etc. that help a lot
"I'd really like it if you could include a text summary of your conclusions. Maybe I'm old school, but I prefer reading 2 lines of text to watching 2 minutes of video." -- I also very much prefer text (and fully acknowledge that here - it's about video tech - the video is short and - presumably not awkward like some other sources of video. And still, I'd prefer text). But it's not at all a complaint. There is enough great text content on DPR.
That's a great intro video. I'd love to see more about the motion tracking autofocus during video. For people with certain usage patterns, that's a very important questions (and one where Panasonic G85 and GH5 have fallen down, in my experience).
I am surprised the shutter angle hack/setting was not mentioned about the GH5. The GH5 focus tracking has a big, but changing one setting in most cases greatly improves it. Seems unfair to imply focus tracking is always not good, when it can compete with the best.
@NikonZ, there are many videos on YouTube showing small to no improvement with that hack. I'm sure some of the Panasonic sponsored shooters would love to post video supporting your claim, or maybe you can post one.
Not sure if Chris and Jordan are reading comments here. I'd like to see a series of videos where you dedicate each video to one brand only (Canon / Nikon / Sony / Fuji / etc. etc. A quick overview about system / available cameras and mostly lenses to get people familiar with system. Recommendations for lets say 3 categories of budget / mid / and high end lenses, pros vs cons.
It's all about Canikon / Sony now, other brands are overlooked, ignored. It would be nice to show people more options. Throwing Amazon links on the end would also make DPreview bosses very happy i bet.
(Don't forget Pentax, I like the compactness of the FA Limited lens line up!) It would be also interesting to include medium format systems also! I really don't know anything about them as a system.
I cant think of single reason why anyone would be jnterested in brand silo marketing clips. Why suggestions what to buy within one brand? Do you wznt to buh best low end or bsst sony low end?
@arbux Typing on mobile after a few pints can really be sometimes very painful indeed. :))) The main reason to make videos about each major photo brand would be to get people familiar with the system. I for example am only familiar with Canikon/Sony. I'd like to know what Fuji / Oly /Pana etc have to offer to me. Maybe there is camera system I would also get but i don't because I don't know what cameras/lenses/accessories they offer. I'd like it to be some sort of educational videos where DPreview staff will tell us everything we need to know about let's say Fuji etc. All cons / pros.
DPR must be in seventh heaven these days, with all of these new cameras and lenses coming out. I will say that DPR is great; I don't always agree but I always respect.
And like many others here, I echo the opinion that Chris and Jordan are a great addition to the staff.
Yeah, but I wish Chris wouldn't wave his hands all over the place while he's talking, he flaps about like he's trying to fly! Content is good, but intros a bit padded out.
The XT-3 can do 10bit at 4K/60p, right? That might be a pretty significant advantage over the GH5 for some people and should have been mentioned, I guess.
The GH5 does that too. GH5: 10bit 4K/60p 4:2:2 internal. XT-3: 10bit 4K/60 4:2:0 internal or 4:2:2 external via HDMI. So the GH5 is still slightly ahead on that point.
Yep, it's coming up on 2 years from the GH5's release, so it should come as no surprise that competitors will be catching up or surpassing it. Presumably we'll be seeing something soon from Panasonic with specs to knock the video crowd's socks off...
I felt this way 3 years ago. There has been nothing I looked forward at being delivered in new cameras. I even managed to not buy more than a couple of lenses since then! No wonder the market is shrinking without my support. ;)
One of the best things dp did was to bring in Chris and Jordan for the videos. Nice job and keep up the good work. While dp is at it, why not take over dxo. It looks as if they are in troubles.
I was a huge fan of DxOMark, however the skyrocketing scores for certain late cameraphones made me suspicious, to say the least, in particular because of sweeping discrepancies to other independent tests. So, DPR better develop their own, objective and unbiased sensor score metrics, would trust them more than DxOMark.
They have - it's their studio test (and DR test) with downloadable RAWs to analyze further yourself. If you can't see a difference, a strange 97.3 vs 98.1 score doesn't mean anything.
Great video Jordan. Would you please know: is it possible to assign video capture to custom button again (as possible on T1/T10 and not possible on T2/T20)?
Nice run down...my only comment is the bothersome colors of skin which were all over the place, some clips so red that I thought heat stroke was imminent.
Pretty much any modern sensor can produce good color rendition if the image is handled properly in post.
For video work there are LUTs like this one ( http://www.emotivecolor.com ) that can transform one camera's color space to simulate the color space of another camera.
I don't think Jordan's "orange skin-tones" had anything to do with the color the X-T3 camera produces.
"Nice run down...my only comment is the bothersome colors of skin which were all over the place, some clips so red that I thought heat stroke was imminent."
I've seen Jordan often bias his footage too red, leading to weird skin tones. And while some people, especially after a day out in the sun, can look like it, it's obvious by now that that's *not* Chris' natural skin color.
I noticed in the X-T3 specifications that video files are still spanned at 4GB (which is a holdover, I think, from the Fat32 file system.) Is that correct? Can it not use ExFat?
One thing for certain, Fuji has come a long way in a very short time. It is really impressive that Fuji is this close to the Panasonic GH5 in some areas, and surpassed it in others.
@RED i And the X-T3, the Fuji midrange entry for at least the next two years (2019 and 2020) lacks IBIS, an absolutely serious omission and competitive disadvantage on both the stills and video sides of a touted "hybrid" camera....oh the irony.
The Canon R was just beat down for not having IBIS when Sony and now Nikon have it, but it's no big deal when missing on the X-T3...like I said earlier...how ironic.
Sorry, what short time? Is fuji a newcomer or what?
They still have grave gaps. No ibis, no srabiluzed primes or bright zooms, no weathersealing on most lenses. Small battery. AF that is always asvertised as best ever, but way behind competition in reality. So fuji beats panasonic on video af - the only category that is panasonic weskness.
Panasonic virtually invented the MILC camera in 2008. Fujifilm joined the fray in 2012, so yes.... Fuji is a relative newcomer to MILC cameras.
And Panasonic's outstanding feature has been video, going all the way back to their GH1 in 2009. In this video, Jordan tells us that the Fuji X-T3 performs about as well, and sometimes better in some areas, than Panasonic's best cameras do.
So I think it is fair to say that Fujifilm "has come a long way in a short time." At least in terms of video performance, which was the entire point of the video.
@Marty4650 there is a difference in your narration now, between "relative newcomer" and "newcomer" . Fuji is present on the MILC market by almost 7 years now. I don't think fuji deserves extraordinary praise for not offering reasonable video capability (therefore this catching up in short time is actually a bad thing).
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