Panasonic G5 electronic shutter

enricosavazzi · Post by **enricosavazzi** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:07 am

On paper, the Panasonic G5 Micro 4/3 body might be the solution to shutter wear and vibration in focus stacking. This camera is said to have a completely silent electronic shutter mode, which should mean the mechanical shutter is not used at all. The camera price is not available, but should be a few hundred $$ less than the Olympus E-M5.

Some online previews state, however, that this mode has limitations. Specifically, flash cannot be used. This would seem odd, and hopefully only refers to TTL flash not being available (the problem with electronic shutters is clearing the sensor of all stored data immediately before the exposure, and the TTL pre-flashes might require a faster sensor clearing than available today). However, we cannot so far be sure that the G5 has not been crippled by making all flash triggering (including the old-fashioned, non-TTL flash that would be so useful in stacking) impossible in silent mode. Still, this would not prevent the use of continuous illumination for stacking.

We will of course need for the actual camera to become available (or at least its user manual to be leaked) before we can say something more precise.

Oskar O · Post by **Oskar O** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 2:14 pm

The preorder price is $699 or $799 with lens, in Europe convert to euros with a 1:1 conversion and add a bit on top. The tilting screen should be a nice feature, along with high res EVF.

I wouldn't be completely surprised at some sort of flash crippling, as my impression is that Panasonic doesn't fully realize more "advanced" uses. But I'm beginning to think that continuous lighting is becoming a very interesting idea with the new technology being developed.

Peter De Smidt · Post by **Peter De Smidt** » Fri Aug 03, 2012 4:15 pm

Oskar O wrote:<snip>But I'm beginning to think that continuous lighting is becoming a very interesting idea with the new technology being developed.

Which lighting technology do you think holds promise. LED?

Oskar O · Post by **Oskar O** » Sat Aug 04, 2012 12:21 pm

Peter De Smidt wrote: Which lighting technology do you think holds promise. LED?

Yes, LED is the most interesting at this point. color rendering has been improving and the latest generation can output a lot of light.

AndrewC · Post by **AndrewC** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 6:45 am

Biggest problem I've found with the Panasonic Lumix cameras is that you can't easily tether them to a host computer for image transfer and camera control. As soon as the camera sees the tether connection it goes into mass storage mode and you can't take any more images. This is a major pain compared to say Nikons with which you can use a single USB connection to remote the Live View, operate the shutter and transfer images. i'm sure you can do the same with Canon - I just happen to have Nikons