Panasonic GH6 VS A7S III Why A7S III Is Better

The Panasonic GH6 and Sony A7S III are both popular mirrorless cameras, with each offering its own unique set of features and capabilities.

this review is going to be mostly about my first impressions since I had GH6 and I’m mostly going to be comparing GH6 VS A7S III because both cameras are the most popular.

the Panasonic GH6 is absolutely capable of competing with its competitors so let’s dive deeper into what makes these cameras cost what they do and if those price points are worth it to you.

What Are Similarities Between GH6 vs A7S III?

the Sony A7S III and the GH6 are actually very similar in body style they have similar weights, similar button layouts,s and just feel similar when you pick them up. So, both of these cameras can shoot in high-quality resolutions slow motion frame rates and have nice crisp images.

• Both cameras come with high-resolution sensors. The GH6 has a 24-megapixel sensor, while the A7S III has a 12-megapixel sensor.

• Both cameras are known for their high-quality video recording capabilities. The GH6 is capable of recording 8K video, while the A7S III can record 4K video at up to 120fps.

• Both cameras come with dual card slots, allowing you to record onto two memory cards simultaneously.

• Both cameras have a vari-angle touchscreen that can be flipped out and rotated to help you frame your shots from different angles.

• Both cameras have weather-sealed bodies, making them resistant to dust and moisture.

• Both cameras have fast and reliable autofocus systems that can keep up with fast-moving subjects.

• Both cameras have built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, making it easy to transfer photos and videos to your mobile devices.

• Both cameras come with a large electronic viewfinder that provides a clear and detailed view of your subject.
• Both cameras have mechanical and electronic shutters, with maximum shutter speeds of 1/8000 and 1/32000 seconds respectively.
• Both also have a silent shutter mode, which can be useful in situations where you need to remain discreet.
• Both cameras have HDMI Type-A and USB Type-C ports, 3.5mm microphone and headphone jacks, and full-size SD card slots.

What Are Differences Between GH6 vs A7S III?

• The Sony A7S III has a full-frame sensor, while the Panasonic GH6 has a Micro Four Thirds sensor, so the A7S III has a larger sensor, which can result in better low light performance and better dynamic range.

• The Panasonic GH6 has a higher resolution sensor than the Sony A7S III. The GH6 has a 20.3-megapixel sensor, while the A7S III has a 12.1-megapixel sensor, and the GH6 can capture more detail in images.

• Panasonic GH6 can shoot 4K video at up to 120fps and 10-bit 4:2:2 footage, whereas, The Sony A7S III can also shoot 4K video, but it tops out at 60fps and 10-bit 4:2:2 footage.

• The Sony A7S III has a better autofocus system than the Panasonic GH6. It has 759 phase detection autofocus points and 425 contrast detection autofocus points, which results in faster and more accurate autofocus.

• The Sony A7S III is built-in electronic viewfinder and a tilting touchscreen. The Panasonic GH6 has a more modern design, with a fully articulating touchscreen and a detachable electronic viewfinder.
• The GH6 has a 2.5mm remote jack, while the A7S III has a 3.5mm sync terminal.

One key difference between the two cameras is that the Panasonic GH6 has a rolling shutter, while the Sony A7S III has a global shutter.

Menu

When it comes to menu features, both cameras offer a variety of options and settings to customize your shooting experience.

The Panasonic GH6 features a new menu system that is designed to be more user-friendly and intuitive. The new menu system is organized into six categories:

• Photo, Video, Creative Video, Audio, Monitor/Display, and System.

GH6 offers a variety of shooting modes, including a high-resolution mode that captures 96-megapixel still images, and a multi-aspect ratio mode that lets you switch between different aspect ratios without changing lenses or adjusting the composition.

When it comes to the menu A7S III does not have a touch screen whereas GH6 does have a touch screen. The Sony A7S III features a menu system that is similar to previous Sony Alpha cameras. The menu is organized into six categories:

• Camera Settings, Custom Settings, Wireless, Playback, Application, and Network.

The camera offers a variety of shooting modes, including a high-resolution mode that captures 240-megapixel still images, and a full-frame 4K mode that uses the entire sensor width for improved image quality.

Screen

The Panasonic GH6 comes with a vari-angle touchscreen LCD. The screen has a resolution of 1.8 million dots and measures 3.2 inches diagonally. It also has a 3:2 aspect ratio, making it ideal for shooting both stills and video.

The touchscreen is highly responsive and can be used for touch-to-focus, touch-to-track, and even touch-to-zoom in video mode. Additionally, the screen is fully articulating, which makes it easy to shoot from different angles.

Whereas, The Sony A7S III comes with a tiltable touchscreen LCD. The screen has a resolution of 1.44 million dots and measures 3 inches diagonally.

It also has a 3:2 aspect ratio, similar to the GH6. The touchscreen is also highly responsive and can be used for touch-to-focus and touch-to-track.

However, it doesn’t have touch-to-zoom functionality like the GH6. Additionally, the screen can only tilt up and down, making it less versatile than the GH6’s fully articulating screen.

The GH6 has the advantage of a fully articulating screen, making it more versatile for shooting from different angles. However, the A7S III has a slightly higher resolution screen and is also highly responsive to touch. Ultimately, your choice will come down to your personal preferences and shooting needs.

Image Quality

the color science of each camera is just what the colors look like straight out of the camera without grading anything they look exactly accurate so the camera’s natural colors were shown without any tweakings or color correcting in post-first sony in my opinion had the best looking blue sky with a very clean light blue shade.

the GH6 has the most saturated rich blue color another thing to notice is the building on the right side of the image the colors of it look pretty similar for both cameras.

In terms of the skin tones, sony has more of a yellowish tint in all of their skin tones all these colors can easily be fixed in post with some slight tweaking but straight out of the box this is how both of these cameras handle skin tones.

the Panasonic actually looks the best here and is a nice middle ground between the reddish pinks and the yellowish skin tones the color science can easily be fixed with some slight tweaking to get all of these cameras to look exactly the same.

Sensor

When it comes to sensor features, both cameras have some distinct advantages, GH6 is expected to feature a 20.3-megapixel Micro Four Thirds sensor.

While the sensor resolution is not particularly high, the GH6 is expected to have some impressive video capabilities.

According to Panasonic, the GH6 will be capable of recording 10-bit 4:2:2 video at up to 4K 120fps, which is a significant improvement over its predecessor, the GH5.

The GH6 is also expected to have improved low-light performance, thanks to a dual native ISO system that can switch between ISO 160 and ISO 800.

Additionally, the GH6 is expected to have a high-speed readout and a new Venus processing engine, which should result in better overall image quality.

On the other hand, the Sony A7S III features a 12.1-megapixel full-frame sensor. While the resolution is lower than many other full-frame cameras, the A7S III’s sensor is designed with video in mind.

The A7S III is capable of recording 4K video at up to 120fps, and it also supports 10-bit 4:2:2 color depth. The A7S III has a native ISO range of 80-102,400, which can be expanded to 40-409,600.

This wide ISO range allows the camera to capture high-quality footage in extremely low light conditions. Additionally, the A7S III features Sony’s BIONZ XR processing engine, which helps to reduce noise and improve overall image quality.

The GH6 is expected to have better resolution, improved low-light performance, and a high-speed readout, while the A7S III has a larger full-frame sensor, a wider ISO range, and Sony’s advanced BIONZ XR processing engine.

The Panasonic GH6 uses a Micro Four Thirds sensor, while the Sony A7S III uses a full-frame sensor. Full-frame sensors tend to have better low-light performance than smaller sensors, but they also tend to be more expensive.

Video Features

the Sony A7S III maxes out at 4K it can shoot that all in 24 fps all the way to 120 fps and the A7S III also can shoot at 240 fps it’s at 1080p with a slight crop however the Sony is focusing more on the video than the photography.

In comparison GH6 can shoot 5.7K pro res 10 bit up to 30 fps and 60 fps without prores, it can also do 4K 120 with no crop and up to 300 fps at 1080p with a slight crop.

Viewfinder

The Panasonic GH6 features a 0.76x 3.68m-dot OLED electronic viewfinder (EVF) with a 120 fps refresh rate. It also has a 3.2-inch 2.33m-dot vari-angle touchscreen LCD, which can be tilted up and down, as well as flipped out to the side.

The EVF is large and bright, making it easy to compose shots and review images even in bright sunlight. Additionally, the GH6’s EVF has a high refresh rate, which helps reduce motion blur and ensures a smoother viewing experience.

On the other hand, the Sony A7S III has a 0.64-inch 9.44m-dot OLED electronic viewfinder, which is even larger than the GH6’s viewfinder.

It has a refresh rate of up to 240 fps, which provides an incredibly smooth and responsive viewing experience. The A7S III also has a 3.0-inch 1.44m-dot tilting touchscreen LCD that can be tilted up and down.

The A7S III’s viewfinder has a higher resolution and refresh rate than the GH6, making it a great choice for photographers and videographers who need the best possible image quality and responsiveness.

Both cameras offer excellent viewfinder features, but the Sony A7S III’s higher resolution and refresh rate make it a better choice for photographers and videographers who demand the highest level of performance.

However, the GH6’s EVF is still an excellent option with a large size and fast refresh rate, and its vari-angle touchscreen LCD provides added flexibility for framing and shooting from different angles. Ultimately, the choice between these two cameras will come down to individual needs and preferences.

EVF

The Panasonic GH6 is expected to feature a 5.76 million-dot OLED viewfinder. This will provide high-resolution and clear image quality, with the ability to magnify images up to 0.83x.

It is also expected to feature a high refresh rate of up to 120fps, which will provide a smooth and natural image display with minimal lag.

The EVF is also said to be designed with a double-element structure to reduce distortion and ghosting, which will further enhance the image quality.

The Sony A7S III, on the other hand, comes with a 9.44 million-dot OLED electronic viewfinder. This provides an even higher resolution and clearer image quality, with the ability to magnify images up to 0.9x.

It also features a high refresh rate of up to 120fps, which will provide a smooth and natural image display. The EVF of the A7S III is designed with an advanced optical system that incorporates a Zeiss coating to reduce reflections and provide a clearer view.

It also has an automatic brightness control that adjusts the EVF brightness based on the lighting conditions.

Both cameras come with advanced EVF features that are ideal for professional photographers and videographers. The Sony A7S III has a slight edge in terms of resolution, but the difference may not be noticeable in practical usage.

ISO

When it comes to ISO performance GH6 has a native ISO range of 100-51200, which can be expanded up to 204800 whereas the Sony A7S III has a native ISO range of 80-102400, which can be expanded up to 409600.

This means that the A7S III has a higher maximum ISO, which may make it better suited for shooting in extremely low light conditions.

In general, the A7S III’s higher maximum ISO comes at the cost of increased noise in the image. The GH6, on the other hand, has a reputation for producing cleaner images at higher ISO values.

Both cameras have strong ISO performance, with the A7S III having a higher maximum ISO range, the GH6 is known for producing cleaner images at higher ISO values.

Shutter

The Panasonic GH6 features a mechanical focal-plane shutter with a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 second. It also has an electronic shutter option that can be used to achieve even faster shutter speeds up to 1/32000 second.

The GH6 also has a silent shutter mode that allows you to capture images without making any noise, which can be particularly useful in situations where you need to remain discreet.

On the other hand, the Sony A7S III features both a mechanical and an electronic shutter, with a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 second for the mechanical shutter and 1/32000 second for the electronic shutter.

The A7S III also has a silent shutter mode that allows you to capture images without making any noise, which can be very useful in situations where you need to remain discreet.

However, the Sony A7S III has a global shutter, which can be beneficial when shooting video, while the Panasonic GH6 has a rolling shutter.

What is Rolling Shutter?

A rolling shutter means that the image is captured by scanning the image sensor from top to bottom, which can result in distortion of moving objects. A global shutter captures the entire image at once, which can eliminate this distortion. This can be particularly important if you plan to shoot video, as rolling shutter can be particularly noticeable in fast-moving scenes.

Tracking

When it comes to tracking features, both cameras come with advanced tracking features designed to help photographers and videographers capture fast-moving subjects with ease, by automatically maintaining focus and exposure on the subject as it moves within the frame.

the Sony A7S III offers some of the most advanced options on the market. It comes equipped with a Real-time Eye AF feature that tracks the eyes of human and animal subjects, ensuring that they remain in sharp focus even as they move around the frame.

It also offers Real-time Tracking, which allows the camera to track a moving subject across the frame, adjusting focus and exposure as needed to ensure that the subject remains clear and well-exposed.

The Panasonic GH6, include eye-tracking features similar to those found in the A7S III, both cameras are expected to offer some of the most advanced tracking capabilities on the market.

Image Stabilization

When it comes to image stabilization, there are some notable differences between these cameras, GH6 features in-body image stabilization (IBIS) that offers up to 6.5 stops of stabilization.

This means that the camera is capable of reducing camera shake and producing smoother, sharper images, even when shooting handheld or in low light conditions.

Additionally, the GH6 also features a Dual IS system that combines the in-body stabilization with lens stabilization to provide even more stabilization. This can be especially useful when using non-stabilized lenses or when shooting in more challenging conditions.

On the other hand, the Sony A7S III also features in-body image stabilization, but it offers up to 5.5 stops of stabilization. While this is slightly less than the GH6, it is still very effective and can produce sharp, stable images in most shooting situations.

Additionally, the A7S III also has a gyro sensor that works in combination with the IBIS to provide improved stabilization for video recording.

The GH6 offers slightly better stabilization with its 6.5 stops, but the A7S III is also very effective with its 5.5 stops and gyro sensor.

Weight and Size

When it comes to weight and size, the two cameras have some differences that may be important to consider, in terms of weight, the Panasonic GH6 is expected to be slightly lighter than the Sony A7S III.

While the exact weight of the GH6 has not yet been confirmed, the GH5, which is the GH6’s predecessor, weighs in at approximately 725 grams without a lens.

Whereas, The A7S III, on the other hand, weighs about 699 grams without a lens. So, if weight is a primary concern, the GH6 may be the better choice.

In terms of size, the two cameras are relatively similar. The Panasonic GH6 is expected to have a body size of approximately 138.5 x 98.1 x 87.4 mm (5.45 x 3.86 x 3.44 in), which is slightly larger than the GH5.

The Sony A7S III, on the other hand, has a body size of approximately 128.9 x 96.9 x 80.8 mm (5.07 x 3.81 x 3.18 in). While the Sony camera is smaller in all dimensions, the difference may not be significant enough to be a deciding factor for most users.

Storage SD Cards

Both cameras use SDXC UHS-II memory cards, which have a faster write speed than regular SD cards. This is important for shooting high-quality video and burst photography.

The Panasonic GH6 has dual SD card slots that support UHS-II SDXC cards. According to Panasonic, the GH6 can record 4K 10-bit 60p video at 400Mbps, which requires a high write speed to the memory card. Panasonic recommends using V90 SD cards for optimal performance with the GH6.

In comparison the A7S III also has dual SD card slots that support UHS-II SDXC cards. Sony recommends using V60 SD cards for the A7S III, which can handle the camera’s high bit-rate video recording capabilities.

The A7S III can record 4K 10-bit 60p video at up to 280Mbps, so a high write speed is also important for this camera.

In terms of specific SD card models, some popular options for the Panasonic GH6 include the SanDisk Extreme PRO, Sony TOUGH series, and ProGrade Digital V90 cards. For the Sony A7S III, some recommended options include the Sony TOUGH series, SanDisk Extreme PRO, and ProGrade Digital V60 cards.

Ports

When it comes to ports, both cameras offer a wide range of connectivity options that allow for flexibility in shooting and editing.

The Panasonic GH6 is expected to have a comprehensive set of ports, including, HDMI Type-A, USB Type-C, a 3.5mm, microphone jack, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a 2.5mm remote jack, and a Full-size SD card slot.

The GH6’s HDMI port is expected to support 4K 60p/50p 10-bit output, making it an ideal camera for professional video production. Additionally, the USB Type-C port allows for high-speed data transfer and charging of the camera battery.

The Sony A7S III also features a broad range of connectivity options, including, HDMI Type-A, USB Type-C, a 3.5mm microphone jack, a 3.5mm headphone jack 3.5mm sync terminal, and Dual full-size SD card slots.

So, The A7S III’s HDMI port supports 4K 60p/50p 10-bit output, making it ideal for professional video production. Additionally, the dual full-size SD card slots allow for simultaneous recording of both RAW and JPEG images, and the USB Type-C port allows for high-speed data transfer and charging of the camera battery.

Battery

Both cameras have different battery features that may affect your choice between them, according to some rumors, the GH6 may use a new DMW-BLK22 battery that will have a higher capacity than the current DMW-BLF19 battery used by the Panasonic GH5. This should translate into longer battery life and better endurance for extended shooting sessions.

On the other hand, the Sony A7S III uses the NP-FZ100 battery, which has a higher capacity than the previous NP-FW50 battery used in earlier Sony mirrorless cameras.

The NP-FZ100 battery has a capacity of 2280mAh, which should last for several hours of continuous shooting or recording.

It is also compatible with USB Power Delivery (PD) technology, which allows you to charge the battery using a USB-C cable and a PD-compatible charger or power bank.

One advantage of the Sony A7S III battery is that it has an estimated battery life of up to 600 shots per charge, which is relatively high for a mirrorless camera.

Additionally, the A7S III has a power-saving mode that can extend battery life by up to 10% by disabling certain features when they are not in use.

Why Sony A7S III Is Better Than Panasonic GH6?

the A7S III shoots an S-log-2 and S-log-3 also can produce 15 stops of dynamic range whereas the GH6 can shoot in prores and V-log at 13 stops of dynamic range.

So, both look really good and the cameras do a great job at preserving that detail but the A7S III does preserve those shadows and highlights just a little bit better with the extra stops of dynamic range.

sony cameras have been known to be the best in low light situations and have super clean images in dark environments with high iso there’s noise in each shot which is to be expected at 10000 ISO.

And while they both have noise the A7S III it looks more monochrome in the image and the specs and the capability to use a lower ISO it would make theA7S III image look a lot better than the GH6 and would make fora cleaner looking image at a lower ISO.

When it comes to maximum iso up to a crazy 400 000 sony wins again so both cameras do well in lower ISO but of course sony wins with anything higher than 10 000.

Both cameras have 5-axis in-body stabilization when you switch the advanced mode on for both cameras overall if we compare both from multiple angles the A7S III has great stabilization and the GH6 has a lot of warping happening in the size of the frame.

Price

The Sony A7S III is significantly more expensive than the Panasonic GH6. The A7S III has a retail price of around $3,500, while the GH6 is expected to retail for around $2,500.

Which Camera is Better in Stills Photography?

When it comes to still photography, the Sony A7S III has a clear advantage, thanks to its full-frame sensor, which allows for better low-light performance and greater dynamic range. However, the Panasonic GH6 offers more flexibility for videographers, with its ability to shoot at higher frame rates and in higher resolutions.

Overall, the Panasonic GH6 and the Sony A7S III are both high-end cameras that offer exceptional image and video quality, as well as a wide range of advanced features that make them ideal for professional photographers and videographers.

Which Camera is Better for Images?

Overall, both cameras are capable of producing high-quality images and video, but they have some key differences in terms of their sensor size, resolution, video capabilities, autofocus system, design, and price. The choice between the two will depend on the specific needs and preferences of the photographer or videographer.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both the Panasonic GH6 and Sony A7S III are excellent cameras that offer top-of-the-line video capabilities, but they are each better suited to different types of content creators. If you’re primarily a videographer who needs the ability to shoot at higher frame rates and resolutions, the Panasonic GH6 might be the better choice. If you’re a photographer who occasionally shoots video, or if you need the best low-light performance and dynamic range for stills, the Sony A7S III may be the better option.