The GH5 — The Hybrid Shooters Choice: A Conversation With The Beard God
This post is brought to you by Panasonic and the Lumix GH5. To learn more, visit the Panasonic Lumix website.
Recently we met up with Torin Simpson of Beard God Media House to talk about his experience shooting the Panasonic Lumix GH5. Torin considers himself a hybrid shooter, a user that requires both good photo and video capabilities. “It’s like having a weapon in your toolbox: When you need it, you can take it out.”
Torin states “From a hybrid’s point of view, that’s looking for high quality video, as well as being able to shoot really sharp solid good photos — then you can’t beat the GH5 right now.“ He continues “The 4K 10-bit alone, if it had just that, I would be happy, but having 4K 60 frames per second (fps), 180 fps in HD and [it] shoots good stills — there’s nothing out there that even comes close.”
“I’ve been creating video content for a little over 12 years now, and about two years ago I went into business myself, started a video production company. Before, I had primarily worked in sports documentary work.” Torin has worked for Oakland Raiders, San Francisco Giants, Golden State Warriors and the LA Clippers. Depending on the budget, Torin’s crew can range from just himself to a small crew. “I just finished a mini-doc, 17 minutes, I was the only person to work on it. I shot it, produced it, wrote it, voiced it and edited it. Though it’s not my preferred way to work, I can do it when the budget requires.”
When shooting either video or photos, Torin says usability is key. “When I’m taking photos, getting exposure right and quickly changing the ISO or shutter is important. The GH5 feels very natural to me.”
Prior to the release of the GH5, Torin had extensive use with the GH4. The first thing that stood out to him was “The noise on this camera in general, for both video and photos is much better than the GH4.” Another feature that stood out to him was 4K 10-bit recording: “Not needing an external recorder to get that quality of footage is pretty amazing.” He goes on, “It definitely fits my workflow, but it’s not always necessary for the project, you know, because of budgets.” For Torin, the improvement in quality comes with a deeper workflow, so it’s not always a good fit, but he feels that “It’s like having a weapon in your toolbox: When you need it, you can take it out.”
Time-lapse is where the video and photo world collide. When speaking about shooting time-lapse, Torin says “The time-lapse with the GH5 is pretty cool. You don’t need an intervalometer for it. It’s actually in the camera, so you can see your shooting interval, tell you how many images you’re going to get for how long you shoot it, so it’s ready to go”.
Torin admits that the GH5 isn’t the only camera he shoots, sometimes he uses the GH5 as a B-camera. Torin says “I shoot V-log because my other camera is a Sony FS-5 and I shoot it in S-log. I have no issues matching up the footage.” Still even Torin knows that getting correct exposure when shooting in log can be difficult. That’s why he notes, “the V-log view assist was really nice addition.”
When speaking about the overall value of the camera, Torin says “It’s a great first camera because of the price. For someone that is just starting out, you get a lot out of the camera for the cost.” Regardless of what you need to do with the GH5, it has you covered. To learn more details about the GH5, visit the Panasonic Lumix website.
To see some of Torin’s work, check out Beard God Media House on Facebook and Instagram.
