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GH4 4K Panasonic video camera, official topic
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  • @tron Yes, you are right. It is just my feeling, about dynamics and details of GH4 compared to BMPC4k. I have downloaded GH4 4k clips from YouTube, and there is definitely more to shadows than it appears in Youtube! But those Vivid colors need huge amount of curves adjustment to match BMPC style colors. Im confident that there will be more picture profiles available later for gh4.

  • It certainly feels like rolling shutter is much improved in the GH4 on my limited testing of it. The review will be coming just as soon as Panasonic can spare one.

  • That's good news about the rolling shutter, definitely one of the improvements I'm looking forward to most. I feel like with all the talk about 4K, 4:2:2, the YAGH, what we can get out of the HDMI port, recorders, etc, people have overlooked that this will be, if nothing else, a really excellent 1080p 4:2:0 cam. I'm excited/curious about all that other stuff too of course, but really really good "regular DSLR" footage is good enough for me right now.

  • Some questions remain unanswered, well at least I haven't found good answers...

    1. If downsampling from 4k to 2k, will software stabilization like Mercalli be more effective before or after?
    2. Same for denoise, better before or after and why?
    3. The downsampling itself, does it vary from program to program or is it just simple math averaging 4 pixels to 1?
    4. On the GH3 fast lenses wide open are plenty sharp for video since pixels are binned anyway, but 4k video which simply crops the sensor a little bit, may the video not appear as sharp wide open?
  • @aldolega could not aggree more., relly exellent 1080p 4:2:0 with all the rest of the goodies coming with it. Have had it on prel order for some weeks now. It will be the prime CAM in september when I will be going to Finland to film and take photos of bears, wolfs, seaegles and "järv". Of course The GH2 will be there too. http://focusonwildlife.se/25-29-september-2014-varg-bjorn-och-jarv/

  • @Mistas based on logic alone:

    1. I would stabilize the 4K footage so you don't lose resolution when the footage is cropped. Then downsample the cropped footage to 1080p;

    2. Downsampling by itself will make any noise have a much finer grain, so I would first downsample and then denoise. You'll probably find that you need a much lighter touch on the resampled footage and thus preserve more detail;

    3. Not sure but I would bet that it's not a simple averaging. There are many algos for downsampling and some are better than others;

    4. Even at 4K it's still the equivalent of an 8 MP still image, so there's little possibility of the sensor outresolving your lenses. Also, 4K uses about a 2.25X crop, so the sharper middle part of the lens will take up more of the frame.

  • @anti12 It would have been a better test if both cameras were exposed to avoid highlight clipping and THEN see how much shadow detail could be retrieved.

  • I've had Panasonic cameras in the past. This camera FINALLY comes with a cine D like gamma curve (sort of like Cine mode on old consumer cameras except Cine D was in their pro-sumer cameras). If this was a pre-production camera then it was not activated yet. You'll see a big difference in the shadows and highlights when using it. Check out some Panasonic cameras on Vimeo using these settings and see what I mean. All I know is the GH-4 will have it and that's a good thing. So foget these silly examples posted on this thread and wait until we get our hands on the finished product. :)

  • Here is an explanation of Panasonic's terminology related to settings in cine-d, cine-v, knee, chroma level, pedestal, etc. via the scene file handbook for the HMC-150 http://www.filmrocks.com/pdf/AG_HMC150SceneFileHandbook.pdf

  • @Ian_T agree, can't wait to see this in use. I'm almost giddy with anticipation. LOL

  • IMO aside from a built in ND filter this camera has most of what we've been asking for in terms of video. Really big camera release.

  • I really hope panasonic or third party supplier will make a simplified YAGH+"batterygrip": XLR/audio features like the YAGH and slots for two panasonic batteries (or cheaper battery solution).

    I like the YAGH for what it is. But many (even more?) need a "simplified YAGH" that keeps the compact footprint of the GH4 while improving audio features and operation time.

  • http://hybridcamerarevolution.blogspot.co.at/2014/03/panasonic-posts-new-gh4-108096p-slow.html

    Some slow motion footage, as well as a demo of the Master Pedestal feature.

  • What a crappy videos, the guys must learn how to stabilize there cameras. I wander how Panasonic allows something like this.

  • I didn't notice any stability problems and this test was about something completely different from stability anyway, so calling it "crappy videos" is a bit of an overstatement. I was intrigued by what I was seeing. Still wanting more samples.

  • I'm not intrigued at all, am sick of clips filmed from hand, sorry but those are my tastes. A tripod is dirt cheep nowadays...

  • @driftwood

    "The review will be coming just as soon as Panasonic can spare one."

    Request: When you get the camera, could you check whether ETC mode runs at 50/60P? Thanks!

  • Thank you very much for the video driftwood and Ralph_B. It is very relevant, extraordinary detail and dynamic range.

  • Pampuri hooked us up nicely... Cine-D mode looks great on the 4K downloadable file. The "Lumix G" youtube vid is either a hoax or amateur hour, however I noticed that they tout 13 stops of dynamic range in the video description. I wonder if Panasonic is officially going to claim that level of DR in their marketing material or if its just a few words from an over zealous uploader.

  • All these sample videos shot on the GH4 aren't impressing me the footage is looking the same a GH2 or GH3. Panasonic needs better test shooters for these sample videos I'm pretty sure Philip Bloom or anybody of some such like that would squeeze the juice right out of this camera & we'll see what its really made of. Heck I'm pretty sure I can make better sample videos than the people that are shooting the sample videos for Panasonic. Not saying that I feel the camera is garage I feel the opposite of that, I feel like it is an incredible camera but all the people shooting these test footage aren't pushing the camera to its full potential & showing how truly incredible this camera is!

  • Panasonic needs better test shooters for these sample videos I'm pretty sure Philip Bloom or anybody of some such like that would squeeze the juice right out of this camera & we'll see what its really made of

    Rewind time to GH3 introduction and same had been said about PB. I have theory that any initial videos will be not enough, even if Panasonic will be secretly shooting all of them on Alexa.

  • @driftwood via @Ralph_B

    "Request: When you get the camera, could you check whether ETC mode runs at 50/60P? Thanks!"

    +1 here too. Thanks.