Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II vs Leica SL2-S

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II and the Leica SL2-S, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II was introduced in July 2021 and Leica SL2-S was introduced in December 2020. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II over Leica SL2-S.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Leica SL2-S over Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II has a 3.0" Fully Articulated screen with 1,840k dot resolution and Leica SL2-S has a 3.2" Fixed screen with 2,100k dot resolution. Fully articulated screen makes Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II has a built-in Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 3,680k dot resolution and Leica SL2-S has a built-in Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 5,760k dot resolution. They both have 100% coverage.

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II features a 20.33 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 224.9 mm². Its native ISO range is 200 - 25,600 and expands to 100 - 25,600 in boosted mode. Leica SL2-S features a 24.6 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 36 x 24 mm and a total area of 576 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 50,000 and expands to 50 - 50,000 in boosted mode.

Leica SL2-S has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II is equipped with Venus Engine processor and can take pictures up to 5184 x 3888 resolution. Leica SL2-S is equipped with Maestro III processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution.

Lens Mount

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II has Micro Four Thirds lens mount and Leica SL2-S has Leica L lens mount. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II its crop factor is equal to 2x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 2. Due to Full Frame sensor in Leica SL2-S its crop factor is equal to 1x, this means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length.

No Low-Pass Filter

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on either of the cameras. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

In-Body Image Stabilization

The cameras have a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) (6.5 stops of compensation in Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II and 5.5 stops of compensation in Leica SL2-S). This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when cameras are paired with non-image stabilizied lenses. It also works with lenses with optical image stabilization and in combination can achieve even better compensation.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5, 802.11ac/b/g/n, 2.4/5 GHz) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II and Leica SL2-S have built-in Bluetooth (version 4.2 LE) which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5 GBit/sec) Type-C inputs for data transfer and battery charging. Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II has a Full Size HDMI and Leica SL2-S has a Full Size HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II comes with DMW-BLK22 battery pack with battery life of 400 shots and Leica SL2-S comes with BP-SCL4 battery pack with battery life of 510 shots.

External Storage Slots

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) [V90 or Faster Recommended] card slots. Leica SL2-S has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slots.

Shutter

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II and Leica SL2-S have Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane. shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on both models. Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II can shoot continuously up to 12.0 fps. Leica SL2-S can shoot continuously up to 25.0 fps with electronic shutter and up to 9.0 fps with mechanical shutter.

Focusing

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II has 225 focusing points and Leica SL2-S has 225 focusing points. Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II has detection range from -4 to +18 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II ranges from 0 to +18 EV and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II and ±3 EV range on Leica SL2-S. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II and exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Leica SL2-S.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal to Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II and via Hot Shoe to Leica SL2-S. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on both cameras.

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II body has dimensions of 139 x 98 x 87 mm (5.47 x 3.86 x 3.43") and Leica SL2-S body has dimensions of 146 x 107 x 83 mm (5.75 x 4.21 x 3.27"). Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II weighs 727 g (1.60 lb / 25.64 oz) and Leica SL2-S weighs 931 g (2.05 lb / 32.84 oz).

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5 II

Leica SL2-S

139 mm

98 mm

146 mm

107 mm

98 mm

107 mm

87 mm

83 mm