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GH4 4K Panasonic video camera, official topic
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  • Well I have one pre-ordered and since I already have a separate sound setup I bypassed buying the interface addon for $1k extra. At that price point I would rather look at the BM4k camera. At around $2k I can give this bad boy a try.

  • Any thoughts about how we can use rail systems and follow-focus rigs when we try to use that interface unit?

    (Seems like a third-party company could ma e a box that goes between the camera and the interface, and clamps onto some rails.)

  • I find good the limit of 6400 on movie mode, since over that is really of no use. I use the red epic until 3200 for black and white footage, for color never more than 1600, never.

  • Looks like you need the faster card for all modes not just the 200 Mb/sec ones. I wonder what class 10 cards will be able to do the 100Mbps reliably?

    "• Use a card with SD Speed Class with "UHS-I Speed Class 3 (U3)" when recording motion pictures in [4K/100Mbps] [C4K/100Mbps] [FHD/100Mbps] or [FHD/200Mbps]."

  • Nice in lots of ways, but the lack of 10bit 4:2:2 onboard recording is a huge letdown, considering what this body will cost. I'll probably hang back until BMD Pocket v2.

  • This isn't going to sit well with some people.

    From driftwood's link

    "(Up to ISO6400 in motion picture recording)"

    "ISO sensitivity (Standard Output Sensitivity) Auto / Intelligent ISO / 100 (Extended) / 200 / 400 / 800 / 1600 / 3200 / 6400 / 12800 / 25600 (Changeable to 1/3 EV step)/(Up to ISO6400 in motion picture recording) (ISO Auto in M mode)"

  • There are a few important things to think about with the GH4. Since it has so much resolution in video mode you can do software stabilizing and render to a lower resolution like 1440p or 1080p. A good software package could do very well with this and like VK said you can’t do on sensor stabilization with this beast because of heat issues.

    Finally you can use the Olympus lenses for handheld 1080p video without stabilization concerns. This is absolutely huge for me because that is all I shoot and I know that stabilization is the biggest problem in my videos. The GH4 should remedy that.

    This means that I will have to shoot wider to give the stabilizing routine room to crop. That is ok though. I have the 14mm F2.5 for wider stuff and the 25mm F1.4 for closer up. Then if I need more reach the mighty 35-100mm F2.8 will work great. I actually like the extra crop factor in the GH4. I feel that my 35-100mm just doesn’t quite have the reach I want. I would love to have it work like a 43.75mm-125mm lens.

    The other thing is that the improved rolling shutter should make even action shots with the electronic shutter mode possible. I do a lot of photography around horses and they really get distracted by the shutter noise. I would love to be able to shoot silent stills around them. However, they move so fast the rolling shutter is an issue with the GH3 and the electronic shutter mode.

    4K is not a requirement at the moment. However, it will open up new doors for handheld unstabilized video that we never thought was possible before.

    Here is a sample of what I shoot that I think the GH4 will help me with. This is a mixture of GoPro 2.8K footage, GH3 1080p footage, and Full Spectrum(UV and IR) GF1 720p footage all upconverted to 1440p on youtube. If I could get this to be much more stabilized and still have great resolution I would be happy.

    Make sure to watch this in 1440p resolution.

  • Well this just made my decision to soldier on with my already great GH2 for awhile longer look better. I'm getting a GH4!

  • @John_Farragut I live in Italy and we learned to live with this tax. It's the result we pay to copyright lobbies. Once, it was very common to have this and other limits removed only on the top level models where prosumer customers don't care to pay an extra fee. E.g. until some years ago only top gamma camcorder had the A/V input enabled because they were considered digital recorders and you could convert analog copyrighted material $$$. I see that 5% it's not too much but this tax goes entirely on the final seller and then the customer. Moreover every year the copyright lobby tries to rise this tax.

    More or less It's something as if when you buy a knife you go in jail for six months because you COULD kill someone one day with that knife...

  • @Riker, its more like your comparison, but i held it down a little cos body work is quiet the same on both cameras, and cars, trophy version has much body mods. Either way for me its also more like trophy version against RS taking the massive insides changes from the GH4.

    I want to see the sensor itself, must be special from it sides and back, the cooling system that also is the soket must be special design or massive. It was on GH3, but was sony sensor. This camera should be heavier that GH3 also, since NMOS circuit draws more power than typical CMOS, more circuit design for special purpose and final tweeks for video, draws power.

    How much will this battery take on 4k 16:9 ??

  • @endotoxic wow the Clio comparison is funny :) if we're comparing Panasonic GH to Renault (blasphemous lol) we should say...GH3 is Megane RS, and GH4 is the racing Megane Trophy version :)

    Sensor crop is that big? So Roki 7.5mm fisheye becomes 16mm?

  • @vesku, is time for you to buy a speed booster, and live a happy life with good old manual focus

  • Sensor crop is a pity. We get 34mm FF FOV with our 14-xx lenses when shooting 3840 4k.

    I wonder if the crop is normal 2x with fullHD video?

    Is there any crop mode with fullHD?

  • @hetherington007

    For 102-nd time. Video oriented bodies must NOT have sensor based stabilizers due to sensor cooling issues arising.

  • Ok people.

    I saw 3 times Yucatan video.

    I don't have a measure tool, but if those images are out of camera no grading, then we are talking about 12,5 stops.

    highlight rolloff from tooth of alligator, sky, clouds, and glows on water are very good already. Blacks are well managed also, on the aerial shots you can see the inside of the pyramids, on the water cliff that circular one, you can see shadows quiet well, and on black rocks you can see detail.

    Remember my words, good post on 4k reduced to 2K or 1080p in 10 bit , would match Alexa and other high end cinema sensors EASY only when post is applied. Panasonic has come back with this sensor again by manufacturing it.

    I see GH3 camera like a Renault Clio, and GH4k a Renault Clio Cup V6.

    They are almost the same outside, but the insides are mayor change!!! Expect grate things from this new GH4!!

    Congratulations Panasonic, you fuck us some times, but also give as god value for our equipment.

  • Pity it doesn't have (the Olympus 5-axis) IS in the body

  • @johnnym i dont like the yucatan video full stop.

  • The GH4 10 bit will not be able to give you exposure control in the highlights like BMPCC Raw, will it? Wouldn't it be closer to BMPCC Prores flexibility-meaning if it's blown, it's blown?

  • I'll have one in my hands early next week or the week after (most defo by 17th) so a full report and interview will be coming here on p-v. I would say UK wise the forthcoming NEC Photography Show 1st to 4th March will be the first chance in the main when Panasonic UK customers will be able to take their own personal look at it.

  • It's a slight letdown that 4:2:2 and 10 bit are only available externally, but then I fully expect Blackmagic to unveil a low cost 4K HyperDeck at NAB this year. The rest of the specs look pretty darn good to me, especially the 96 FPS... the remaining question for me is what will the dynamic range look like. They claim to record better highlight range than the E-M1, but is that for video or stills? I've become accustomed to being able to tune highlights exactly to my taste with the BMPCC Raw files, it would be nice if we approached a similar 'look' with the GH4 10 bit. Also interested in seeing the low light improvements. The frame rate for stills is pretty darn impressive, I wonder how big the buffer is.

  • Humm. Guess the BMPCC will have to wait a bit

  • Am i the only one who doesn't like the colors in the Yucatan video? I hope it's just YouTube.

  • @Fitzy Hate to disappoint, but the 4:3 mode on all GH models and the GM1 has always been limited to 640x480.

  • @dtr Thanks. So if 5% extra tax it means 75 euro on a 1500 euro camera. Okay, where do I sign up? I mean, seriously, they should do a trial with two versions, one with limit and one without limit that is 75 Euro more. Nah, it will seriously complicate distribution for Panasonic, I bet. Still I would pay 75 Euro extra for buying a camera without limit to just be able to buy at my local stores. Do Panasonic think if I am buying a higher segment camera, which this is, that I wouldn't want to pay that extra 75 Euro?