If you are debating between the Panasonic GH6 vs Sony A7 IV and what camera to buy I decided to talk about my experiences and made a comparison between those cameras.
the Sony A7 IV is just the natural progression of cameras the GH6 has a great price point it has good features.
So, the Panasonic GH6 is not really that much cheaper than the Sony A7 IV but for a camera that can shoot 5.7k at 60p 4:2:2 10 bit and also shoots prores internally. The A7 IV is a full-frame camera as opposed to the micro four-thirds of the lumix GH6.
The features that come from GH6 look crazy which makes this camera stand out, and those features usually are found on cameras twice the price, so if prores is your workflow and you want to shoot internally this camera is a great option.
GH6 has a tilt screen it tilts up, it has a lot of built-in video features it does not have a whole lot of good photo features and it also has a micro four-thirds sensor on the other hand A7 IV on the top of the camera it has a mode dials it has power switch it has quick buttons that take you to white balance iso and exposure compensation.
Table of Contents
What are the Differences Between Panasonic GH6 vs Sony A7 IV?
When it comes to differences between both cameras the Panasonic GH6 shoots at up to 14fps for mechanical shooting and 75fps for silent shooting whereas the Sony A7 IV has 10fps for both mechanical and Silent shooting.
the GH6 has a built-in cooling fan whereas the A7 IV has a heat-dissipation structure, there is a big difference in the noise the A7 IV is a little over-effective for noise reduction, the GH6 after all, the noise is a little noticeable at 6400.
Autofocus
the A7 IV also has phase and contrast detect autofocus whereas the GH6 only has contrast autofocus the camera can lock your face relatively easy but in lower light situations the GH6 struggles big time and A7 IV has made big strides in autofocus and lowlight situations.
the image that comes out of the GH6 is really nice especially if you have good lighting there is only one thing that struggling with autofocus and even single autofocus in photo mode is just not that great it is super slow in comparison to the Sony A7 IV.
Video Features
When it comes to video the GH6 is a high frame rate monster 4k 120 1080p at 300p it does soften at 300 whereas the A7 IV does shoot 4k 120p at 4:2:2 10 bit of course the GH6 does up that with the 5.7K at 60p which it can also do at 4:2 10bit and the prores internal.
Being able to shoot prores 4:2:2 hq internal on that lumix but the massive iso range that the A7 IV has is extremely beneficial for being able to shoot in a lot of different environments.
What Are the Similarities Between GH6 and A7 IV?
they are both equal in low lights and they both have great eye-face and head detection. They both have a 3-inch display screen and they do not have internal flash and both are weather sealed.
Key Differences
GH6
- Better shutter speed than A7 IV
- Focus limiter
- No build in flash
- doesn’t prevent dust or water from entering the camera
- Recording in Log Apple ProRes 5.7k/30p
- No life streaming
A7 IV
- Better resolution than GH6
- Better dynamic range than GH6
- More megapixels sensor than GH6
- Better ISO than GH6
- No focus limiter
- No build in flash
- doesn’t prevent dust or water from entering the camera
- No recording in Log
- Life streaming 4k/15p FHD 60p
- Simultaneous internal recording
Why You Should Buy GH6 Over A7 IV?
the GH6 has really beautiful cinematic colors the image that comes out of it is really nice as long as the scene is well lit if it’s not this camera struggles a little bit by virtue largely of the micro four and third sensor.
GH6 has a dynamic range boost feature which does help but from the other centric it limits certain codecs you can use and you have to go into the menu system to switch it.
the image that comes out of this camera is really beautiful it is very cinematic with great picture quality this camera’s got a fan, it also is a full-on flippy screen.
It has a ton of video features like anamorphic D squeeze, and the ability to put Luts in the camera over the flat profile so you can see that in the camera in real-time. The Sony A7 IV doesn’t have as many video-specific capture tools unlike the GH6 and it doesn’t have waveforms
Why You Should Buy A7 IV Over GH6?
the Sony A7 IV has very nice image quality you get all the benefits of a full-frame sensor it’s a little more digitally sharpened looking there are fewer codecs to work with you can’t do prores internally like you can with a GH6.
There is one point where A7 IV wins over GH6 is the autofocus whereas the GH6 autofocus is just trash the A7 IV autofocus in the video is like magic it’s just sticky it grabs onto your eye and it just stays there.
The A7 IV is doing a little bit better in low light also you can plug the camera into the USBC hit a button and then the memory cards show up as hard drives on your desktop so you never have to take memory cards in and out of the camera.
Which Camera Is Better GH6 Or A7 IV?
the GH6 has way more film Centric features including anamorphic D squeeze waveforms and a special audio monitoring tool. It’s really great for filmmaking if you’re a hybrid shooter, on the other hand, the A7 IV is really just about the autofocus if you’re going to film yourself for YouTube videos, the focus is so much better.
Release Date
the Sony A7 IV was released on 21 October 2021 while the Panasonic GH6 was released on 22 February 2022 they are both professional when it comes to taking photos and videos.
Release date | 22 February 2022 | 21 October 2021 |
Body Type | SLTR Style Mirrorless | SLTR Style Mirrorless |
Lens mount | MFT Mount | Sony E |
Sensor type | Micro four-thirds MOS | Back-illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor |
Sensor size | 17.3 x 13.0mm | 35.9 x 23.9mm |
Sensor resolution | 5776 x 4336 | 7008 x 4672 |
Sensor pixels | 25.21 | 33 |
Processor | Venus Engine | Bionz XR |
Image stabilization | 5 axis 7.5 stops | 5 axis 5.5 stops |
Viewfinder type | Oled Electronic | Oled Electronic |
Viewfinder resolution | 3.68 million dots | 3.68 million dots |
Magnification | 0.76x | 0.78x |
Screen type | fully Articulated tilting touch | Fully Articulated touch |
Screen size | 3.0″ | 3.0″ |
Screen resolution | 1.84 milion dots | 1.03 milion dots |
Focus type | Contrast AF system DFD technology | Fast Hybrid AF |
Focus points | 315 | 759 |
Manual focus | Yes | Yes |
Continuous shooting | Mechanical 14 fps Electronic 14 fps | Mechanical 10 fps Electronic 10 fps |
Shutter type | Mechanical Electronic | Mechanical Electronic |
Shutter speed | Mechanical 60-1/8000sec Electronic 60-1/32000 | Mechanical 30 Electronic 1/8000 |
Sync Speed | 1/250 | 1/250 |
Exposure compensation | +/- 5 EV 1/3 EV | +/- 5 EV 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV |
ISO | 100-25600 Extended 50-25600 | 100-51200 Extended 50-204800 |
Dynamic range | 13 + stops | 15 + stops |
Log Profile | V Log | S Log3 |
Log Gamma | Hybrid & V Log 10 bit | S Lopg2, S Lopg3 HLG, HLG1-3 10 bit |
Video Format | MOV, MP4, Apple ProRes | XAVC S, XAVC HS |
Video compression | H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, H.265/HEVC, APPLE ProRess | MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, MPEG-H HEVC/H.265 |
Video resolution | 5.8K-30p anamorphic 5.7K 60p 4K C4K & UHD up to 120p FHD up to 300p 4:2:2 10bit | 4K-60p crop 4K UHD up to 60p FHD up to 120p 4:2:2 10bit USB streaming 4K-15p FHD-up to 60p |
Audio Format | LPCM 2ch 48 kHz 24 bit AAC | LPCM 4ch 48 kHz 24 bit AAC |
Ports | Microphone Headphone Type C USB | Microphone Headphone Type C USB |
Build in WI-FI | Yes | Yes |
Build in Bluetooth | Yes | Yes |
Crop factor | 2x | 1x |
Battery type | H-FS 12060/DMW-BLK 22 | NP-FZ100 |
Battery life CIPA | 360 shots | 580 shiots |
Card Slots | Dual medis slots 1 CFexpresstype B UHS II 2 UHS II | Dual medis slots 1 CFexpresstype A & UHS II 2 UHS II |
Tracking | Human, Animal, Eyes, Subject, | Human, Eyes, Bird Eye, Subject, |
Image format | JPEG, Raw | JPEG, HEIF, Raw |
Image Bitrate | 14 | 14 |
Build in Flash | NO | NO |
Silent shooting | Yes | Yes |
Self timer | 10sec | 10sec |
Weight | 739g | 658g |
Dimensions | 138.4 x 100.3 x 99.6 mm | 131.3 x 96.4 x 79.8 mm |
Is A7 IV Better than GH6?
So the A7 IV looks like a better camera for hybrid shooters that want to shoot photos and videos the Lumix GH6 is a slouch when it comes to these things but you are going to need a lot more patience and time with the GH6. It simply just does not work as fast as the A7 IV does, it does have a screen that also tilts.
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