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Panasonic G7 topic, 4K castrate monster or GH4 for poor
  • 719 Replies sorted by
  • Some thoughts after using two G7s on a long day:

    First of all, there's lot's to like. No going back to the GH2 (exception, see below). Color is decent, sharpness is decent, and the large number of dials and buttons is what you need. After a whole day of filming, no issues with heat--it got warm, warmer, and fairly warm, but not hot. Of course, this was indoors, not the Sahara.

    Next, assigning the dual zebras to a function button meant that I could check for overs, then check for skin exposure quickly and easily. Built in leveler very handy for 12mm and 14mm primes.

    I'm always surprised by the image when I get home and check it on a calibrated monitor--it 's sharp, neutral, and the grain is not a pain.

    Slight bummers: although the AC adapters worked OK (one official, one clone) there's no battery backup. I would prefer a backup.

    Also, Panasonic color is always a bit weird. Each cam is better than the previous ones in this respect, but the color is just a bit off.

    Crop factor: better than the GH4, but, for example if I put my 12mm on the GH2, well, that's just a totally different look.

    RAW photo lens correction: not working perfect yet, I expect to get this done one way or the other.

    And, lastly, working side by side with several FDR-ax100 Sony camcorders, the Sony's just pull a but more detail. and the color is slightly better. At twice the price, of course.

  • @DrDave, what do you mean about the color being off and that the Sony FDR-AX100 color was better? What specific aspects stood out to you?

  • It's a small difference, when you lay them out, side by side, the skin tones are slightly better on the Sony to my eye, and the jewel tones look a bit more jewel like. But the difference is pretty small. Of course, you can't put a Panasonic 20mm on the Sony, it's a camcorder. It's also subjective, on the scopes it looks fine.

  • @DrDave, what color profile are you using?

  • I'm using the color profiles suggested by Andrew Reid at EOSHD the GH4 guide. Only difference is the G7 doesn't have hue settings, so I'm trying to match them as best as possible

  • @DrDave the look gh2 vs g7, you mean the crop factor and DOF? I was about to buy it but thinkng of holding my gh2. can you specify a bit more on the major steps you feel on g7 over the gh2? I care about color, easyness to color in post (downsampling to 1080) and and good looking grain (and for stills RAW IQ only).

  • @ttranredi if you put a 12mm on the GH2, you get a real nice wide angle owing to the multi-angle sensor. It "feels" like less than 11mm in 43 world. You can take the same lens and put it on a GH3 or a GM1 or whatever, and it's just not as wide because Panasonic stopped making the sensor with the extra pixels on the sides. For everything else, color, resolution, post, grain etc the G7 is a step up and it's a cheap camera (or, shall we say, a good value). The G7 has a slightly better IQ that the GH4, but it isn't quite as good as the Sony ax100, by a teeny weeny bit, although at certain ISOs I slightly prefer the grain of the G7 and of course it has interchangeable lenses. Sony has manual ND filter, cheap battery options, etc, etc.

    Don't overthink it, 4K rocks and it's a lot of cam for the money. Something else will arrive in 6 months.

  • LOVE the G7 already. Still got a lot to learn but it's a fun camera coming from GH1 and G5. As my only 4K camera I have no other frame of reference so this is glorious image quality to me and I'm sure my clients are gonna love the look. I say take the plunge!

  • Like @Aria, I too love the Panasonic G7 as my starter 4K camera. I love the features in the PAL version that I got on sale, and I also like the fact that I can downscale the 4K into HD quality with lots of room to play with. I had a heck of a time trying to edit/render from new NLEs, with the exception of Resolve. However, I manage to provide a video to show just in time for the New Years. Just a test in color correction. Hope you like.

  • Tested the Sigma 19mm/2.8 with the G7. This camera is absolutely stunning in terms of what you get for the price!

  • Not trying to bother our friend Vitaly. The camera is great as is for its price. But i would donate for a hacked firmware with improvements like on the gh2.

  • Dear G7 owners, seems like there is clean 8bit, 422 4K out over hdmi. Is there an option to downconvert this to 1080p in-camera?

    Thanks!

  • The camera automatically down converts 4K to 1080 when connected live output to 1080 recorder like ninja 2, or 1080 monitor. A message on lcd screen confirms this.

  • Took the plunge with a pal model from P-V's deals after selling a GH2 outfit. Rather excited...

  • Kind all day! I got the G7 chamber, the NTSC version though in the description of the seller was PAL the version is specified. Whether it is possible to correct it by a reinsertion with NTSC on PAL? Can do it do in services? Prompt who knows, please!

  • @Fora72

    Well, contact the seller.

  • The seller doesn't have others, only with NTSC. It likely is technically unrealizable? Only another should be bought? With exchange rate, in Russia it is difficult ((( Yes, and the Rostov service told that it is impossible. Not to change an insertion.

  • Shot on G7 and Red Dragon

  • Couple of clips of my graphics dept, encoded at 720p. 4k downconverted in camera to ninja blade (cine D, all flat except -3 sharpness). 1080p clips - ninja blade, cine D, all flat. Exposed for 70% zebras on skin.

    password : g7test

  • @mrbill what do you mean by "all flat". Nothing changed except Sharpness -3?

  • Firmware update v2.1 is available

    The frame of AF area is displayed in 4K Burst mode.
    (Except when the auto focus mode is set to [49-Area] or [Custom Multi])

    http://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/global/cs/dsc/download/fts/index2.html