Instant upgrades

PANASONIC GH5 MkII

FIRST ADD THESE…

ONE VODAFONE 5G MIFI

In case you fancy nippy mobile data to smoothen out livestreaming from your GH5 MkII, Vodafone has just launched its 5G MiFi. This brings unlimited data on a range of price plans, including £30 a month with a £100 up-front cost. Connecting 32 devices, it’ll also keep your on-the-go studio online, lasting up to 8.5hrs on a single charge. from £10/m / vodafone.co.uk TWO MOZA SLYPOD PRO MASTER KIT

Teaming up with the GH5 MkII’s new and improved in-body stabilisation, the Moza Slypod is a multi-function carbon fibre monopod/mini-tripod that can steady shots and capture slider/dolly-style clips. Controlled by an app, this space-saving stick is a great combination photo and video tool. £599 / parkcameras.com THREE ATOMOS NINJA V

The GH5 MkII only has a 3in screen – and while it looks great, if you want a clear view of whatever you’re shooting you’ll be much better off gazing into an Atomos Ninja V. Both a monitor and a recorder, it also adds RAW video capture to the mix, while upping your preview screen to an ample 5.2in with HDR and Full HD resolution. £539 / wexphotovideo.com

NOW TRY THIS… THEN GET THESE…

1 FIRM THINGS UP

To unleash the latest features such as USB livestreaming, visit panasonic.com/global/support and select ‘Digital AV’ , then ‘Digital Camera’ , and then ‘Downloads’ . Find your camera (DMC-GH5M2), download the update file and unzip it to a freshly formatted SD card. On your camera, navigate to the wrench icon and find ‘Firmware Version’ . Now insert the SD card and select ‘Firmware Update’ . 2 HARNESS THE POWER

If you don’t want to buy a bunch of spare batteries, power up and run your camera off external electricity via its USB-C port. Note that to shoot indefinitely you’ll need to use a 9V/3A power supply (we tested it with the Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD 45W powerbank and it worked great). If you use a lower-voltage power source, then your battery might charge slowly when the camera’s off. 3 PHONE IT IN

The Lumix Connect phone app is a treasure-trove of tools for the GH5 MkII. Making wireless image transfers a doddle, it lets you easily fire your camera’s photos directly onto Instagram. Support for remote shooting turns your phone into a wireless viewfinder with control over the camera, and the app also makes livestreaming a breeze with quick access to Facebook and YouTube.

4 GET PERSONAL

With so many tricks packed into this camera, personalising your workflow will help speed up access to your most-used features. A quick way to do this is to customise the function button next to the lens mount: just long-press it, select what you want to shortcut to, and it will be saved. We use it to flip between image stabilisation boost mode (for video) and focus peaking (for stills). 5 HIT IT FOR 6

While this is a 4K camera, it can shoot video at 6K – which is handy for anyone who wants to crop into videos when editing them. The only catch is that 6K footage is captured in a tall 4:3 aspect ratio (4992x3744), so it can’t shoot 6K in cinematic 16:9. Nevertheless, to activate 6K, open video settings in the menu and change the recording file format to ‘MOV’ , then select ‘Rec Quality’ and pick ‘6K’ . 6 DON’T GO BLANK

Hooray, you can stop the screen switching off whenever your hand strays near the eyepiece by locking the viewfinder – and Panasonic makes this a breeze, with the button next to the eyepiece with ‘LVF’ on it used to toggle viewfinder modes. Keep pressing it and you’ll cycle through settings, locking the viewfinder to the camera’s screen or the eyepiece, or switching automatically.

LUMAFUSION

If you want to edit your GH5 MkII’s videos on the go, LumaFusion on iPad and iPhone is a powerful editing suite that supports up to six audio and video tracks. £25.99 / iOS

AMAZON PHOTOS

Prime customers ahoy: your sub includes unlimited full-res backups on Amazon Photos. Simply sync your phone and camera’s snaps and upload. £free / Android, iOS

LALALAB

If you want to print photos taken on your GH5, try this. Download the app, fill a photo box with snaps, add messages, or make wall art or a book – it’s easy to use and the prices are reasonable. £free / Android, iOS