Panasonic LUMIX GH6 Firmware Ver.2.0 Announced – ProRes RAW with NINJA V/V+ and Internal ProRes in C4K and FHD

Firmware Update

by Francesco AndreolaJune 7^th, 2022

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The new firmware Ver.2.0 for the Panasonic LUMIX GH6 will enable external ProRes RAW recording over HDMI with the Atomos Ninja V/V+ in 5.8K 4:3 at up to 29.97fps, 5.7K 17:9 at up to 59.94fps, and C4K at up to 119.88fps. The camera also gains internal ProRes 422 and 422 HQ recording in C4K and FullHD. The update will be available for download in July.

Introduced at the beginning of the year, the highly-anticipated Panasonic LUMIX GH6 brings on the legacy of the legendary GH series and is proof of the company’s commitment to the Micro Four Thirds format. By the way, in case you missed them, make sure to check out our Lab Test, review, and Q&A with Panasonic about the camera.

Upon release, the company had already declared their intention to enhance the camera’s capabilities via a series of sequential firmware updates. Apparently, the first one is right around the corner and mainly focuses on recording formats. Let’s take a closer look.

Panasonic LUMIX GH6 firmware Ver.2.0: ProRes RAW

The Panasonic LUMIX GH6 already packs several professional features into its portable body. These include the ability to record ProRes 422 and 422 HQ internally in 5.7K at up to 29.97fps. With this new firmware update, Panasonic focused on expanding the camera’s recording capabilities even further.

First off, they partnered up with ATOMOS to include the LUMIX GH6 in the long list of cameras supported by the Australian company’s ProRes RAW ecosystem. Indeed, users will now be able to send RAW data over the full-size HDMI to a NINJA V/V+ recorder.

Data will then be encoded as 12-bit ProRes RAW files and the following resolution/frame rate combinations are supported, depending on the sensor area:

Sensor area: Micro Four Thirds Anamorphic (4:3)

• 5.8K (5760×4320) at 23.98, 25, 29.97fps
• 4.4K (4352 x 3264) at 50, 59.94fps

Sensor area: Micro Four Thirds (17:9)

• 5.7K (5728×3204) at 23.98, 25, 29.97, 50, 59.94fps
• C4K (4096×2160) at 23.98, 25, 29.97, 50, 59.94, 100, 119.88fps – with pixel-to-pixel sampling

While the NINJA V+ will support all these combinations, some limitations will occur on the NINJA V. In fact, with this device 4.4K anamorphic is not supported, while 5.8K anamorphic, 5.7K 17:9, and C4K 17:9 are limited to 25, 29.97, and 59.94fps respectively.

Internal ProRes: now in DCI 4K and FullHD

Although the camera can already record 5.7K ProRes internally, firmware Ver.2.0 further extends support for this codec to the DCI 4K (4096×2160) and FullHD (1920×1080) formats.

For both resolutions, users can choose between two different ProRes flavours (422 or 422 HQ) and can pick any of the following frame rates: 23.98, 24, 25, 29.97, 50, and 59.94fps. The maximum bitrates are 1.9Gbps for C4K at 59.94fps and 454Mbps for FullHD at 59.94fps.

Good news is that there are no limitations concerning recording time. However, internal 4K DCI ProRes recording requires CFexpress Type B media, while FullHD files can be stored on a cheaper SD memory card.

Price and availability

The new firmware Ver.2.0 for the Panasonic LUMIX GH6 will be available to download on the LUMIX Global Customer Support page starting July 5th, 2022 at 1:00AM UTC. The NINJA V/V+ will also require an update, so make sure to keep an eye on ATOMOS’ website. Also, a specifically-designed LUT for RAW recording on the NINJA V/V+ will become available for download here.

Finally, Panasonic had also announced that direct recording to SSD drives over USB-C and 4K 120fps HDMI video output during live view would also come in future firmware updates. Apparently, these features are still under development.

Have you shot on the Panasonic LUMIX GH6 yet? How was your experience with the camera so far? Are you looking forward to this firmware update? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!