There’s been a lot of excitement about Sony’s and Fujifilm’s latest two cameras. Although the a6400 and the X-T30 look different, they are quite similar. APS-C sensors, 4K recording, great autofocus and a $900 price tag (body only) to name a few. If you want to buy a camera at this price point, your mission has become a lot harder: Panasonic just announced the G90 which has exactly the same price for the body.
This being Panasonic, you’ll notice some differences from the other two Japanese camera manufacturers. The G90 (also called G95 in the US) is styled like a DSLR, has a fully articulated screen and IBIS (in-body image stabilization). It’s light, as the compatible lenses also are, and it seems to be the “perfect vlogging camera”.
The Panasonic G90 is a micro 4/3 camera. The sensor is smaller than what you find inside a Sony a6400 or a Fuji X-T30. This means you’ll have to get really fast lenses to have a meaningful shallow depth of field. Noise levels are going to rise faster (although IBIS will help with that), and the 4K crop won’t appeal to run-and-gun vloggers. The biggest challenge Panasonic has to overcome is the autofocus. The G90 sticks with a contrast-based system which is great most of the times, but in video mode, it shows its limits by hunting quite often.
Do all of these specs make the Panasonic G90 a camera you should avoid? It’s too early to tell. So far DPReview and Gordon Laing have had a first look at pre-production models, so performance could be better on release day. Choosing the Panasonic G90/G95 based just on these two videos would be hasty for anybody. Until we get the final product, at least we can find out more from Chris, Jordan
The Panasonic G90/G95 is expected in stores in June and you can preorder it with the 12-60mm kit lens, for $1197.99.
