Max Yuryev is a popular camera reviewer on YouTube who has been putting a lot of effort into reviewing the new Panasonic GH5 as of late, analysing and comparing it against other mirrorless cameras such as the Sony a6500. His videos related to autofocus for video in particular have stirred up some controversy and debate because his results were disappointing, and have prompted other YouTubers to share their own feedback, both positive and negative.
Soon after Joseph “PhotoJoseph” Linaschke released a video where he demostrated how good the AF was and criticised the negative reviews, Max decided to call him out by inviting him to perform a joint test. Joesph accepted and the result is the 45 minutes video below where the two video makers shoot many different scenes side-by-side – some of which were suggested by commenters on other Max’s videos – and share lots of useful feedback. In short, what could have easily become a useless battle between vloggers went on to become a very interesting test.
You may wonder who was right and who was wrong. Well, in their conclusion, Max and Joseph state that they are happy to meet halfway. The GH5 is indeed capable of doing some good work in Continuous AF with the right settings (especially when shooting at 60p) but it is not perfect. Max actually states at the end of the video that he would not use the camera for gimbal work as it cannot be 100% trusted and as a wedding videomaker, he doesn’t have the luxury of re-doing a shot. Panasonic also released an official statement via PhotoJoseph (who is one of its Luminaries, a.k.a. Ambassador) in which they recommend using the single AF point. The company also said that they are aiming to improve the AF of the camera.
If you are curious to know more about the interesting tips the two vloggers have to share and see how the GH5 performs, have a look at the video below. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, there is a table of contents right at the beginning.