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GH4 4K Panasonic video camera, official topic
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  • For me, the best thing about the GH4 is that soon I will be able to buy a GH4.

  • I have a feeling waiting until NAB to make a purchase decision is the right move for many of us who already have a workable camera solution. That said, if Panasonic would have included a 10 bit 4:2:2 HD in camera recording mode, I would be ready to sell off my BMPCC. Coming from a 1" sensor format, I like the fact that there is a bit of a crop to the 4k mode as I will just crop a bit more in post and be able to use my collection of 1" c-mount lens at a higher than HD post crop resolution from the 4k video mode. Anyways, I don't care as much about the specs as I do about how it stands up against a RAW HD workflow when delivering HD resolution. We shall see...

  • @Riker

    About sensor improvements:

    image

    About DFD:

    image

    image

    gh4_2new1.jpg
    796 x 596 - 70K
    gh4_2new2.jpg
    771 x 578 - 76K
    gh4_2new3.jpg
    798 x 597 - 68K
  • Just noticed a headline that the Blackmagic 4K is now shipping and they lowered the price to $2995. Competition is a good thing. :)

  • Now if only Blackmagic made an active m4/3 mount 4k camera...

  • @JDN I've been asking that question since I first saw the video...I refuse to believe that vid is straight out the camera, matter of fact, I'm 100% it isn't, even if someone claims that footage is untouched.

    Your Mexico reel looks green enough for me to think it's untouched....is it? :)

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev : translation please :D

  • Will be interesting to see high bitrate files straight out of GH4.

    Most doubts I have are about 8 bit color and 4k 100mbps compression. But 0-255 color range, proper tone curve and good exposure helps in former, and the latter seems so strange, I'm inclined to think it's a technical limitation that cannot be helped.

    All things considered, I suspect it'll be good and practical for many uses.

    Here are specs from UK site by the way, not sure if this has been linked before: http://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/cameras-camcorders/lumix-g-compact-system-cameras-dslm/dmc-gh4heb.specs.html

  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev Could you please translate the sensor improvemebts slides. By separating the frequensy/fr and the rest of the svettnings tells me that they have totally reworked the codec implementation. My guess is that this will be seen in the final result.

  • @Riker, untouched for color — was shot smooth so shadows got pulled down and highlights raised in a few cases but that's about it.

    I hope we get some ungraded / properly balanced footage soon — I've been building a copter designed around the gh4 and 7-14 but I need to see something I love first!

    BTW, it's clear from the BTS video that the lens used for the demo reel drone footage was the 12-35 — its also clear the 4K crop factor, even at 12mm is too much to yield dramatic wides. (And OMG, the focus on some shots…. seriously, it kills me watching some of that.)

  • With the new aggressive pricing from the BMPC 4k, maybe we could get the GH4k with brick at an affordable pricing considering the pros and cons for each of the cameras and what set them apart.

  • Ok, so now we´ve a new connection output to send signals from the camera to the box. So can we think this signal can be used in the future to create a better interface box (with recorder) with a third party manufacturer?

  • @Tomaso http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20140207_634398.html with google traduction, dynamic range will be 25% better than GH3 … hum … video ? stills ? both ? true ? :-)

  • @JFKa

    its possible that such thing can be made, but panasonic must give the insides o its programming, and i find that improbable,

  • Going from @lolodigital link, here's the complete translated version: http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdc.watch.impress.co.jp%2Fdocs%2Fnews%2F20140207_634398.html

    In Panasonic's words:

    "It is affirmed is the number of pixels, but there as well as the effect of the low-pass filter with optimally designed, 5% limit resolution, 30 percent more than the contrast, more than 3dB improve color reproduction accuracy in comparison of the model in the "DMC-GH3" before that was. Also, has expanded 25% dynamic range."

  • So if the GH3 has 12.4 usable stops of dynamic range, that would make the GH4 have 15.5 usable stops (the same as a Canon 6D, on paper at least).

    LOL. Please read that "12.4 stops" means for starters, if I remember we must have something at http://www.personal-view.com/faqs

  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev

    from the footage ive seen in vimeo and youtube, and by knowing how this places destroy DR, i must say tha GH4 must give us in video mode some real good 11 stops. Panasonic dont want to mess arround with its pro level cameras, but recons the need of good quality image in the GH4 line, thats why i see this sensor even more advanced then most of their top level ones, and the posibility of 11 stops in video mode 10 bit 4:2:2 is at 200mpb is enough to challenge raw at certain level.

  • Talking of pro-level cameras... Panasonic is the official camera supplier for the Olympics, and claims to be shooting 4K there. I'm wondering which pro camera is being used? Surely it's not the GH4K -- but what other Panasonic camera shoots 4K right now?

    http://www.redsharknews.com/technology/item/1427-panasonic%E2%80%99s-4k-kit-ready-for-use

  • @THE_WHOLE_WORLD

    It is almost as if no one cares about what really matters anymore. All they want to know is did the spec increase or not instead of will this change actually make a difference.

    The GH4 is said to have 1/3 of a stop better dynamic range than the GH3. That was from the Dpreview quick summary on the link below. You all do realize that 1/3 of a stop is a 33% increase, right?

    33% difference sounds like a lot on paper. However, try going from ISO 200 to ISO 250. The difference is almost negligible.

    http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9092895041/panasonic-lumix-dmc-gh4-a-quick-summary

    Really we all get so caught up in specs and which one is infinitesimally better than another. Yes the GH4 is going to be better than the GH3. 10 Bit 4:2:2 4K @ 30 FPS could never be seen as anything but good. However, the internal 8 bit 4:2:0 4K @ 30 FPS is going to be perfect for almost everyone as well.

    If you can’t possibly live without 10 bit 4:2:2 4K now then what have you been shooting with up until this point? If you were shooting with anything less than 10 bit 4:2:2 4K before how did you ever make any money since it that is an absolute requirement now?

    I wish everyone would just see the GH4 for what it is. It is a sub $2000 camera that will allow the user to shoot with a Pro camera for stills or video or both at the same time if they want to.

    No matter how you slice it this camera is going to give everyone the results they desire and for less money than they have ever been able to do it for before. And even if the form factor doesn’t suite everyone the technology in the GH4 will quickly trickle down to the smaller cameras.

    Eventually we will have 4K compact m4/3s cameras and then I am sure that everyone will be begging for 4:4:4 8K @ 120 FPS which is just a waste of band width in my opinion.

  • For me GH4 is the first step for 4k. It has the best 1080p on the market by FAR! for the price. 1080p 10bit 4:2:2 with its DR and Mojo. They want to grab the transition by offering this high bitrates and transitioning to 4K in meantime by implementing only good 4k, not the like the grate 1080p

  • @killagram 12.4 usable stops on the GH3????? facepalm not in this or any other universe. You must be operating on a different meaning of usable than the rest of us.

  • @shian Yes my bad. I read it off of DVX user's site and it was quickly retracted. I couldn't get an actual number from dpreview. Does anyone know the true dynamic range on a GH3 then?

  • @shian

    He is talking about in RAW stills mode. DXO mark reports that the GH2 had 11.3 stops of DR and the GH3 had 12.4 stops. Interestingly the GH1 had 11.6 stops which is about 1/3 of a stop more than the GH2

    If the GH4 has 12.7 stops of DR are we really going to notice it? The difference between the GH3 and GH4 for stills dynamic range will be about the same as the difference between the GH1 and GH2. The difference between the GH2 and GH1 for DR was not significant. The difference between the GH2 and the GH3 was.

    http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GH3-versus-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GH2-versus-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GH1___842_677_630

  • Would it be a piece of pointless OT trolling to argue that 4K -- actual 4K, that is, not 4K downsampled to HD -- makes about as much sense for low-budget productions with less than stupendous production design (and less than stupendous hair, costumes, makeup, etc.), as would shooting in 60p on the grounds that 60 is 2.5 times better than 24?

    There's also the question of exactly how high resolution effects suspension of disbelief, but that's a trollery for another day.

  • Now that the dust has settled a bit, i hope to read more pro's opinions on the quality of the video/photos, although we definitely need more video samples to make a proper judgement.

    I think it was @kholi who made a good point somewhere about the video: the skin tones look plain awful. it does get a bit better when you download the file (there is a dropbox-file floating in the internet), but still... i have to agree. look at the man on the beach in an orange jacket. i assume the jacket and maybe harsh sunlight has some effect to his face but still. Awful.

    i very easily recognize this image behaviour as same type of oversaturation that has plagued my beloved Gh2 in photo mode for years. And i'm talking photos taken with a nice low contrast lens with saturation dialed all the way down. (you can deal with this btw, by shooting your stills in raw, then open the photo in adobe camera raw, decrease saturation to at least -15 and start working from there, add some vibrance to compensate...)

    Then again when i look at the Gh4 photo samples, especially the tribe people shots from Kenya, the skin tones look much, much better than previous GH-series! I mean the colors are finally realistic, unlike the oversaturated crap that is Gh2 and much better than Gh3 photo with the plastic looking sony-sensor skin tones.

    In those sample photos, i find Gh4's colors to be quite nice. I sure wish this can be replicated in the film mode!

    Based on those photos, the Gh4 looks like a really attractive update to my Gh2, although when i look at the video, all the blackmagic offerings still tempt me more. Of course waiting until NAB to make any decision, but based on the photo quality alone, i'm pretty impressed with Gh4.

    We urgently need tests on skin tones with different film modes and non-panasonic lenses.

  • I'm not clear what the "33 percent" refers to, if it is 33 percent of the total DR that is huge, and if 33 percent of one stop that is almost nothing. 10 stops plus 33 percent=13.3. I never believe the figures anyway. Remember CRT monitors where they counted the bezel?

    BTW does anyone know if you can take photos while the cam is recording video without touching the shutter, e.g., wirelessly or by remote?