Closed to make it one single topic, plus announcement this week anyway

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/9542/gh4-aka-gh5-4k-video-camera

So, no need for an external recorder for 422 color?

120fps very smart

That is, until 4k takes hold and you can get a 2160p palm-camcorder for $200 at Walmart.

You kinda already can, as there is already cellphones which do "4K". Makes we wonder how long until we see this in a stand alone device for only a few hundred.

@IronFilm

With Panasonic stating they want the GH4k in the $2,000 and under range, and given the price-point/features of competing "4k" prosumer gear, I believe that this could still be considered well within the "consumer-grade" sphere of products. That is, until 4k takes hold and you can get a 2160p palm-camcorder for $200 at Walmart.

The most base level 4k camera with 10 bit 4:2:2 video capture is currently from Sony and it streets for $5,500. Sony considers that model a semi-pro ENG cam.

Unless Panasonic intends to shock the electronics world with an interchangeable 4k camera that meets or beats the features/quality of the BlackMagic Designs 4k Cinema Camera at half the price, I would imagine the GH4k will be severely gimped in some fashion so it doesn't compete with Panasonic's professional 4k gear. Canon does this all the time.

@IronFilm

Whatever but not a pro camera. It comes from their consumer department. GH3 was introduced as semipro but build quality is so weak that I dont agree. Mine is broken in many ways :)

"...unless you must have interchangeable lenses."

I must.

@Vesku Actually, the reps were stressing that the newer high speed cards were a >requirement< for 2160p recording. These super-speedy cards are also necessary on the various consumer 4k models from Sony, JVC, and others if you wish to record at that resolution. It may be the type of file structure or formatting of the card rather than the speed that might makes these types necessary.

That makes sense since you are quadrupling the pixel density of 1080 and even the Sandisk Extreme Pros could sometimes choke on the All-Intra 1080p hacks found right here.

The cards never reach their theoretical limits anyway and are always over spec'd.

Do not count on ProRes or any other intermediate friendly wrapper or anything close to a visually transparent compression codec. It will probably be AVCHD 2.0 like Sony's consumer 4k camcorders and be a bitch to edit on anything but a supercharged computer. At CES the Panasonic reps were talking about a ~200 Mbps @ 2160p long GOP mode (that will more than likely equate to a ~100 Mbps 1080 All-Intra setting). 24 and 30 fps, but not 60 fps (except for 720 and 1080 modes). Possibly a 120 fps mode at 1080.

Mixed info. on whether it will be 8 bit or 10 bit optimized video with 4:2:2 sampling (Sony's $5,500 portable, bare-bones ENG broadcast camera has 10 bit, but the GH4k is supposed to street at $2,000 or under). Probably clean 1080p via HDMI 2.0 out, but not clean 2160p while recording.

You'll also need a new breed of ultra-fast SD cards being introduced at the same time. Uber expensive, as in the hundreds of dollars, in order to record 2160p and quite possibly for higher frame rate 1080.

The big questions are whether Panasonic's newer in-house sensors will lessen the appearance of moire and aliasing and if the jell-o cam effect is less pronounced. Again, a global shutter at this price point probably won't show up for a few years. Gotta have something for the pro models.

This will not meet the new ITU broadcast standards for UHD because that requires the much wider Rec. 2020 color spacing and other high end features that were just recently unveiled. There was only one expensive UHD TV at CES that met about 80% of the new standards, and that was from Vizio of all brands.

If 4k is your thing, you may want to save your pennies and see if a pure-video cam with more edit friendly codec and higher specs. would be a better choice. There are a number of other prosumer 4k models being introduced in 2014.

GH4k is approaching, but is it gonna be any good. The GH3 wasn't really that big a step up over a hacked GH2 especially using Moon T7 which is awesome and you can really push the image in the grade.

What should (but won't) be the minimum spec would include; Apple Prores (like the Black Magic as H264 is old and redundant now), no color shift in the LCD (still can't believe they released the GH2 like that, thought that wouldn't have made it pass the QC checks), 4:2:2 10bit uncompressed HDMI and/or SDI, log color profiles, RAW would be nice but not necessary, oh and lets not forget peaking. Global shutter would be nice, but lets be realistic, they are not gonna give us that. Also slow mo at 120fps at minimum 1080p or even 240fps. Most people that use DSLRs are already used to recording audio externally, so lets hope Panasonic put everything into a good picture, if not I can just see the GH4K failing miserably and people spending their money on the Blackmagic or whatever is next in Canons lineup.

Larger Monitor that actually shows what is being recorded.

Larger buttons (especially the record button) with each one programmable to all functions including Aperture, ISO, Magnify, Shutter speed, Zoom etc.

Info (display) button that shows a cycle with ISO, Shutter speed, Aperture, recorded and time left, mic and headset level, etc. at the same time.

Ability to easily change all settings while recording in Manual Movie Mode.

Unlimited recording in MP4.

Double the usable High ISO capability.

Change front wheel from vertical to horizontal so I can change settings with one hand while holding- adjusting lens with other.

At least one custom setting for each Photo Style in addition to "default".

I am waiting for years for a good viewfinder! Should have 3Mio dots resolution minimum, should be tiltable, and should have a certain size. Someone talked about 21mm. That would be reasonable. If it is located on the left side of the camera: all the better.

@inqb8tr man, those are great ideas, don't forget tetris ,-)
Maybe you could kill by putting a "nail-focus" on them, ja ja ja. A sticky something, perhaps next to insect repellant ultrafreq wavinator and before aura/chakra tracking mode menu. A leader board sound soooo fracking good, hey do you want to kickstart those concepts?!! :P • Cheers mate

I love my Panasonic 12-35 2.8 lens, but I'm in the process of rigging the crap out of my GH3 just so I can add follow focus. I won't be able to accurately focus with that lens because of the variable response feature of the focus by wire lens, so I will also be buying new lenses, oh yes and a 5" external monitor with peaking. If I could just gracefully shift focal plane with the 12-35 I wouldn't need any of this, but here I am spending at least what the original camera and lens cost to get that one feature. So here is my wish item for the GH4(which really could be possibly implemented on the GH3 too). Add a menu item which allows a speed to be set for the external LCD touch focus feature, and then code in one touch for focusing on object closer in field, and two quick touches for focusing on object farther in the field. Now I can have a more cinematic transition from one plane to another with no searching. Does anybody else see value in something like this?