As suspected in a previous article from HSC the Panasonic G9 bitrate for VFR or high frame rate mode is much lower than on the GH5. The Manual has been released for the G9 showing this lower spec.  It is of note that the codec used on both cameras is very efficient which lends itself to good quality even at 20mbps.  However, for those that want to prioritize fine detail and the utmost sharpness, the GH5 will, in the end, be the better option for slow motion.

There is also the upcoming announcement rumor of the GH5s Lumix camera now with leaked images here with 240fps at full HD using a completely new sensor which may be able to improve of the GH5 slow-motion quality which in our analysis was lacking when using 150fps and 180fps on the regular GH5. Aliasing and moire were evident in footage which is not present in the 120fps mode.  Considering the GH5s might be recycling the same image processing engine but with a new sensor, we may still see some artifacts.

Lumix GH5 vs G9 High Speed VFR From PDF Manuals:

Lumix GH5 Manual Page Showing High Frame Rate Bit Rates up to 100Mbps depending on Codec / Low of 24Mbps:

Lumix G9 Manual Page Showing High Frame Rate Bit Rates Max 20mbps at 1080p:

You can download the Panasonic G9 and GH5 Manuals here for comparison:  http://www.panasonic.eu/downloads/en_GB/popup.html

Is this a big deal?

For the majority of users, the 20mbps on the G9 vs 24 -100mbps on the GH5 for the slow motion VFR mode will be of no consequence. Detail will be lost and color correction/grading will be less forgiving but for anything broadcasted over the web at 1080p, you may see almost no difference.  Still, we think the GH5 is the superior video product as the camera is more geared to the footage acquisition camp since the start.  G9 is a photographers camera that does excellent video as a side effect of Lumix GH pedigree, probably the best stills performance from a Lumix camera yet.

Panasonic Lumix G9 Slow Mo test FHD- 180FPS by ЗВЕРЬЕ live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwlbIH2pugQ&t=10s

We are eager to see next Monday, January 8th, 2018 the rumored announcement of the Panasonic GH5s which should be important going forward as 240fps continuous shooting might be possible for the first time in a camera of this kind.  -HSC