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Ask developers of the Panasonic Lumix GH4, plus, answers about the m43 format
  • Still toying with the idea of your next camera purchase - the GH4, GH3, GM1 - or other? Are you worried about the future of micro four thirds? Want to know why Panasonic have chosen the GH4 as their next model in the GHx Lumix series? Why the YAGH? Have a concern? Have a recommendation? Want to know more about the future path of the GH series? Then this is your chance.

    We're giving all our personal-view members the opportunity to put their questions regarding m43, the new Lumix GH4 plus more to a certain Mr Koyama - the man in charge of the whole GH4 project and product concept, product planning and support.

    We will then collate all your questions and the best of them will be put to Koyama this week in which he has promised to answer as best he can. Deadline for your questions is this Friday, 4th April.

    Write them below. Please stick to questions only - no comments off-hand or discussions. Don't be shy. Ask away!

    Questions only - no stupid stuff - it will simply be ignored.

  • 130 Replies sorted by
  • Regarding features, the GH4 is so much improved over its predecessors that it sits in a whole class above them. There is, however, one area that can't be put on a spec sheet. In the past, color rendering of the GH cameras has often been regarded as inferior to its DSLR competitors. It also clearly divided the camera from more expensive large sensor video cameras such as Canon C series. Has the color science been improved in the GH4 to make the camera more competitive in this area?

    • Is the GH4 mechanically so identical to the GH3 that it is reasonable to try using the underwater housings made for the GH3 also for the GH4?

    • Are consecutive frames taken while recording video actually used for the "depth from defocus" feature to improve continous autofocus?

    • Is there a reason why no sound is recorded in "variable frame rate" mode with frame rates higher than playback frame rate?

    • What is the technical difficulty preventing cameras from offering extremely low ISO modes? Even if not less noisy - couldn't that eliminate the need for ND filters?

    • Will Panasonic consider mSATA or M.2 interfaces for large and fast Flash storage instead of SD cards in the future?

    • Will Panasonic continue to dongle camera batteries, such that older cameras cannot be equipped with equivalent ones once original spare parts are not sold anymore?

  • The GH4 looks like it will be a very nice product. My only suggestion would be to price it at $995. I think there are a lot of people who have lenses for M4/3 and would like to shoot 4K, but they can't afford $1699. $995 is a more reasonable price. I would guess you would sell 3 to 4 times as many cameras if pricing is set at $995.

  • 1- will a new version of YAGH have an internal 4k Cineform or ProRes HQ 422 10bit recorder to removable SSD or CFast or SDXC UHS3?

    2- Will the GH5 have a 12.6 megapixel sensor (4096 x 3072) to avoid sensor crop when recording 4k ?

    3- when will be available the organic sensor in GH cameras ? And will it improve dynamic range for more than 14 fstops?

  • Why is there no (5-Axis) Image Stabilization (in-body)?

  • yes, yes....when can we hope to see a "picture styles" program included with your cameras ? And will we see a higher bitrate , like the mp4 50Mbps from new 2014 camcorders, on the g-series. As well can we expect the higher bitrate mp4 on the next fz series along with the 1080/120p ?

    1. Why was a 100Mbit codec chosen for 4k and a 200Mbit codec for 1080p?
  • I echo cantsin's request about the color science. The Canon DSLR's set the standard in this area. I can't tell you how many people I've encountered who insist on using Canon DSLR's for just this reason. It would be great if Panasonic could match that color in their cameras.

    I also have a suggestion about a solution to the disappearing display in the viewfinder. The audio level meter is the item that most people would like to keep visible. Why not have it slowly move horizontally across the bottom of the frame. It would move slowly so the motion wouldn't be distracting, perhaps taking 20 seconds to move from left to right. Then it would move back. This would prevent burn-in, and keep the meter visible at all times.

  • How can you offer so much in a camera at such a competitive price?

  • Thanks for offering new professional features in GH4.

    Can you tell us about general long term plans for GH product line and micro four thirds format?

    Are there any plans for more zoom lenses that have constant aperture throughout zoom range?

    Could future cameras of GH series have internal codecs with features like 10-bit color and 4:2:2 color sampling?

  • Does the GH4 do line skipping to achieve some of the higher frame rates in slow motion mode? If so,what is the maximum frame rate for the 1080p slow motion mode where the sensor is scanned without line skipping? Thanks!

    1. Will the GH4 come with a log picture style, like the cinestyle for canon's?
  • Will the GH4 be a consumer camera like the GH3

  • Why don't you put IBIS on Panasonic cameras? Has to be the strongest question. The real answer would be: cause we have to sell OS panasonic Lenses. The answer he will give: well, we're thinking about it, it's an hard work blablabla. So the second nice comment Nick could make, could be: please, make it. And that's all. Folks.

  • 1) Is there a lens coming out for the GH4 that doesn't adjust aperture for exposure in steps? I shoot sports and use Shutter Priority to blur the background when panning. I'm currently using the first version of the 14-140 lens.

    2) Will there be any lenses with stabilization that handles panning similar dedicated video cameras. I get allot of jumping around with close up panning when stabilization is on so I'm constantly turning it off then on again.

    3) When I stop recording video with my un-hacked GH2 a small amount of the recorded video is trimmed off the end. It is less than a second but I often shoot clip to clip in quick succession. It is difficult to hold record a little longer each clip. Is this the case with the GH4 ?

    4) Will the three year professional warranty be available with the GH4?

  • Will Panasonic start pushing the GH4 (and top end of the Lumix line, again) in Latin America?

    Will the GH4 mean a bit more filmmaker oriented marketing and spotlights on productions with GH4s and the like as other brands often do on dedicated pages or in magazines?

  • 2, Are you as sick of hearing about canon color as I am?

  • I would buy the GH4, but it's missing 4 necessary things and features even some cell phones have now for 4K video recording, namely:

    1. H.265 encoding
    2. Image Stabilization in-body
    3. HDMI 2.0 connector
    4. 60fps at 4K with 10 bit 4:2:2 in-body recording, plus simultaneous output over HDMI 2.0

    Will the GH4 be firmware upgradeable for H.265, or will there be another release soon of GH-5 with these features and HDMI 2.0, hopefully this fall?

    Also, when will these bodies get 4K at 60fps? Really necessary today, for cinema use...

    Thanks Nick!

  • Is Panasonic planning any multi aspect sensors in the future? Or is that idea dead?

    Any plans for a servo powered zoom, like on an ENG camera?

    1. Why does Panasonic have a minimum shutter speed setting for the Auto ISO mode in Program Priority for the LX7 but this has never been implemented for any Panasonic Micro Four Thirds cameras?

    2. Why does Panasonic not do an Auto ISO mode for the manual controls mode?

    3. Why is the "Bulb" stills mode limited(2 minutes 8 seconds(GH2), 4 minutes 16 seconds(GF1)....etc) on some Micro Four Thirds cameras and not others(GH3/GH4)?

    4. Is it technically possible to have auto aligning with the RAW stills combining mode like the JPG HDR mode has?

    5. Has Panasonic considered Astro Photography at all when adding features to its Micro Four Thirds cameras?

    6. Why is the LCD display refresh rate limited to 8 seconds max in the constant preview mode. Can this be raised to 16 seconds or more?

    7. Why is the electronic stills shutter mode limited with respect to ISO?

    8. Why has Panasonic not done a 120 FPS video mode on an M4/3s camera when their FZ200 has it?

    9. Why is there no All-I option for 4K video with the GH4?

    10. Is a continuous zoom ETC mode possible? Could you provide a 2x-10x continuous zoom mode that is then upscaled to 4K?

    11. Is the 35-100mm F2.8 lens parfocal?

    12. Why was internal image stabilization not included in the GH4?

  • Fuji and Panasonic are working in an organic sensor that promises to be very revolutionary. When we see the first cameras with this technology and what it said were carrying or technology will extend to all M4/3's Panasonic?

  • Would they consider officially open sourcing or publishing an official api for the firmware in the future.

  • Fortunately the codec frame rates are rising to 72mb, 100mb, 200mb. But why is it not possible in this category to add 422 color sampling?

    Will there be a small form factor video camera with good handling and sound, but with the GH4 specs?

    Will Panasonic ever add in body stabilization?

  • Is really m4/3 ending? So, in this case, what I have to do with my 3 câmeras (GH1, GH2)? And about my (18 yes 18) m4/3 lenses? Finally, why would I consider to buy the GH4 if m4/3 system is ending? Please, note that I like my GH cameras and lenses and I would not like to merge to Canon or Sony products.

  • Some questions are really ..... never mind. But some are quite good ( @Umii ):

    How about the idea that Panasonic releases an API for the GH4 firmware or - even better - implements something like Magiclantern as Cannon did. This way many of the needs postet here can be fullfilled by customised software.

    If the man in charge of the GH4 project is listening to us, than we should tell him that we like to have more controll over our toys and that there are some talented people here that can help improve his product and make it the "must have" video-DSLR by reprograming it to specific needs.

    PS: IBIS is bullshit for video work.

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