Sony ZV-E1 vs Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Sony ZV-E1 and the Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S, 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.

Sony ZV-E1 was introduced in March 2023 and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S was introduced in January 2018. 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 Sony ZV-E1 over Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S over Sony ZV-E1.

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

Sony ZV-E1 has a 3.0" screen with 1,037k dot resolution and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S has a 3.2" screen with 1,620k dot resolution. Both have Fully Articulated screens. Fully articulated screen makes cameras 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.

Electronic Viewfinder on Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S has a built-in Electronic viewfinder with 3,680k dot resolution. It has a 100% coverage and 1.52x (0.76x 35mm equivalent) magnification. There is no built-in or optional viewfinder available on Sony ZV-E1.

Sony ZV-E1 features a 12.1 megapixel Full Frame BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 35.6 x 23.8 mm and a total area of 847.3 mm². Its native ISO range is 80 - 102,400 and expands to 40 - 409,600 in boosted mode. Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S features a 10.28 megapixel Micro Four Thirds CMOS sensor with dimensions of 17.3 x 13 mm and a total area of 169 mm². Its native ISO range is 160 - 51,200 and expands to 80 - 204,800 in boosted mode.

Sony ZV-E1 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

Sony ZV-E1 is equipped with BIONZ XR processor and can take pictures up to 4240 x 2832 resolution. Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S is equipped with Venus Engine 10 processor and can take pictures up to 3680 x 2760 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 3:2 (3840 x 2560), 16:9 (4016 x 2256), 1:1 (2752 x 2752) with 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Sony ZV-E1 has Sony E lens mount and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S has Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Due to Full Frame sensor in Sony ZV-E1 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. Due to Micro Four Thirds sensor in Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S 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.

No Low-Pass Filter on Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S. 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 on Sony ZV-E1

Sony ZV-E1 has a built-in 5-Axis Sensor Shift in-body image stabilization (IBIS) with 5 stops of compensation. This means that you are still getting vibration reduction when camera is 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 on Sony ZV-E1, 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz on Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S) 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

Sony ZV-E1 and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S have built-in Bluetooth (version 4.2 LE on Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S) 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.

NFC on Sony ZV-E1

Sony ZV-E1 has Near Field Communication (NFC) technology which simplifies the process of pairing it with other NFC-enabled devices like smartphones or tablets. It allows to quickly transfer photos and videos or remotely control the camera from compatible device. NFC can also be used for authentication and security purposes. It can verify your identity before accessing certain features or transferring sensitive data. It can be used with NFC-enabled accessories as well, such as lenses, flashes and GPS devices.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB Type-C inputs for data transfer and battery charging. Sony ZV-E1 has a Micro HDMI and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S has a Full Size HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Sony ZV-E1 comes with NP-FZ100 battery pack with battery life of 570 shots and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S comes with DMW-BLF19 battery pack with battery life of 440 shots.

External Storage Slots

Sony ZV-E1 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slot. Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S has Dual SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-II) card slots.

Shutter

Sony ZV-E1 and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S have Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane. shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/8000 sec on Sony ZV-E1, and up to 1/16000 sec with electronic shutter and up to 1/8000 sec with mechanical shutter on Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S. Sony ZV-E1 can shoot continuously up to 10.0 fps. Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S can shoot continuously up to 12.0 fps.

Focusing

Sony ZV-E1 has Fast Hybrid AF (Phase-detection / Contrast-detection) system with 759 focusing points and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S has 225 focusing points. Sony ZV-E1 has detection range from +6 to +20 EV and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S has detection range from -5 to +18 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Sony ZV-E1 and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S range from +3 to +20 EV and 0 to +18 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range on Sony ZV-E1 and ±5 EV range on Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S. You can also do exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Sony ZV-E1 and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S.

Flash

Cameras have no built-in flash but an external flash may be connected to both of them via Intelligent Hot Shoe to Sony ZV-E1 and via Hot Shoe or PC Terminal to Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/250 sec on Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S.

Sony ZV-E1 body has dimensions of 121 x 72 x 54 mm (4.76 x 2.83 x 2.13") and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S body has dimensions of 139 x 98 x 87 mm (5.47 x 3.86 x 3.43"). Sony ZV-E1 weighs 483 g (1.06 lb / 17.04 oz) and Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S weighs 660 g (1.46 lb / 23.28 oz).

Sony ZV-E1

Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S

121 mm

72 mm

139 mm

98 mm

72 mm

98 mm

54 mm

87 mm