GH4 4K Panasonic video camera, official topic

aldolega

If the "real camera is still in full development" there's no way they'd be saying the camera is shipping in April.

LongJohnSilver

We can't really judge anything from these video/photo posted until now. YT encoder is not the best and we do not know how files were handled. Vimeo wedding video was posted at 720p and it doesn't seem to be a pro work. The printings on the desk of Kenmore video come from a Marl Toal who keeps posting photo taken with a GH4 on google+

https://plus.google.com/u/0/100277172418525107801/posts

The air fighter photo is actually a frame grab but again he posts only useless 960 x 773 pics and he doesn't reply to any question.

Mr. Advertising aka Eduardo Angel flooded the internet with his GH4 short and tons of ads but he never posted the result.

Last week Panasonic presented the GH4 on a photo/video event here in Rome. It was basically a GH3 with 4K disabled and GH4 logo on it.

IMHO I think they announced this camera for obscure marketing reasons while the real camera is still in full development. Probably Panasonic doesn't want to shaw original clips and raw stills until they get a more stable product.

igorek7

The main reason I've posted that video, is to tell that even the stores which have a direct connection to Panasonic are not sure about its final price and availability. This camera is not yet ready to be judged, particularly relying on the mixed --GH3 and pre-released GH4-- video footage downsampled to Youtube 720p.

Neither you can judge the complete resolution of the GH4 based on these photos, downscaled to 2K, taken by Wasabi Bob: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wasabi_bob/sets/72157641421886023/

He wrote:

I really like my GH3, but the GH4 has suddenly made me loose some of affection for the GH3! This sample had early firmware so I was unable to shoot in RAW. Focus peaking made a huge difference with this type of work. I used the 35-100 lens with the Kenko extension tubes. Not the best combination, but they turned out OK.

jamesgh2

We can't really judge the DR objectively from that footage as we cant base the still image quality in the samples from Africa and Japan. We just dont have raw images or direct video encode.

As it was said in the beginning it will correspond to 1/3 of a stop increase in DR which is very good considering the GH3 was pretty good.

The 1\1 sensor crop on 4k still has aliasing but so far very subdued. My guess is they are still tweaking the firmware.

flablo

So we have another video sample shot with the GH4 (at Kenmore Camera I mean). I know it's made on-the-fly and obviously not very refined, but honestly I'm not impressed with the footage EDIT: after watching it again, I change my statement: skin tones look better. I guess I expected some bigger/visible improvement in DR

Vitaliy_Kiselev

So can it be compared to what we presently get with Ex Tele, which is just that : a direct crop of the sensor ?

Yep, something like it.

Dorche

Here is my newbie question : 4K image with the GH4 is 1:1, there's no downsampling. So can it be compared to what we presently get with Ex Tele, which is just that : a direct crop of the sensor ?

igorek7

The official price of the GH4 is suppose to be announced on March,17 and available sometime between end of April and beginning of May. http://frugalfilmmakers.com/2014/02/22/hands-on-with-the-gh4/

thorn

Perhaps the newer sensor, with other advances in sensor tech, wasn't available in the old size.

endotoxic

I still don't understand why panasonic abandoned the 19x10.7mm oversize sensor from m4/3, it permitted bigger photosites and better crop factor.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@stoneinapond @Eno

I think we are going into third circle. Just wait a little.

Eno

I personally have no problem with 1699$ price for the body, the brick is of no interest to me :).

stoneinapond

I was told $1699 for the camera, $2000 for the interface, and $3100 if purchased as a kit.

But between hearing and reality...... anyone's guess at this point. We will see soon enough.

(US prices)

Eno

If you select GH4 and compare it to GH3 on dxomark, at specifications, you can see that they say the estimated price for GH4 is 1700 dollars: http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Compare/Side-by-side/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GH4-versus-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GX7-versus-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GH3___943_901_842

endotoxic

@chauncy said this > In Sweden cyberphoto has body at 14999 kr and box add on at 19999 kr. That's 35k for the twö. That's $5387 or 3916 euros for both. Take away VAT and you're maybe 20% less. They "expect" it in end of April.

if that is the true price then we are talking about 5K < And you will have to buy cables on this new baby Lol

thorn

@endotoxic

Right now seems that the system with the YAGH is about $5.2k Putt on the SDI cables, XLR mics and all that shit, add a recorder made from Panasonic FOR GH4 easy $7K on a DSLR system.

That's not really a fair comparison to anything else; it's not really that accurate, either. We haven't see a release price on the GH4+brick, but the estimates I've seen (*however potentially high/low/speculative) put it closer to $3800, not $5200. I wouldn't buy a panasonic recorder if a Ninja/7Q/etc offered the same solution for less money. Heck, with some of those, you also get an external monitor built-in.

As to "SDI cables, XLR mics, and all that shit" - what camera system DOESNT require you to buy these things? If you're using BMD, or Red, or Alexa - i'm guessing you have to buy cables and mics. When I did broadcast, we had three $25K studio cameras... but we still had to buy the cables and the mics.

thorn

@JohnTollwannabe

Does time code synch data get encoded into the recorded stream as well on SD recordings and at the HDMI video out?

I'm not aware that HDMI (as a standard) supports timecode transfer/output to begin with... so, although some cameras can send it (Sony, in some cases), I don't know that every other HDMI-compatible device is ready to receive it. If Pana does, of course, I'd welcome it... though I tend to think you wouldn't be able to jam it with other cameras.

endotoxic

@igorek7 @thebmillz

As i previously said, Panasonic will offer such solutions, the hard disk and the recorder, just like in P2 world.

I think it will not cost that much, but the overall price of a complete GH4k system could be easily $7K.

Right now seems that the system with the YAGH is about $5.2k Putt on the SDI cables, XLR mics and all that shit, add a recorder made from Panasonic FOR GH4 easy $7K on a DSLR system. Even if you dont buy Panasonic gear it will be expensive.

For me GH4 is a transitional camera. It has master quality 1080p on full sensor readout. When trans-coding from 4K to 1080p 10bit 4:2:2 you wont need any DMC-YAGH brick madafaka. Ending up with excellent quality 1080p footage, if 4K needed can be worked on 8bit, less strain to computer anyway, and from here to 4K culture explodes i can see 3 more years.

So best choice is just shoot 4K choose a proper speed booster if crop is a problem, and get use to it, cos GH5 and all the sons coming from GH2 and GH13 experiment will be a strong video oriented machines.

endotoxic

@thebmillz completely shure about compression.

AVCHD is harder on any computer than MPEG-2.

igorek7

@Tron @JohnTollwannabe I've just copied what G. Sciorio said.

IMHO, 4k 10 bit 4:2:2 recorders are not going to be cheap no matter what is the input port.

@Ralph_B The manual is not yet available.

DrDave

I don't care one "bit" what the bit output is is, I just would like the image to look good--what good is bits if the shadows are chunky and there is moiree and stair stepping?

Ralph_B

@igorek7

Where is the GH4 manual available?

Thanks.

thebmillz

@endotoxic Is that true? I have heard conflicting reports. I'm assuming 4K is out of the question on that 13 inch Maxed out Retina...but was sure hoping I could at least do the max 1080 mode.

JohnTollwannabe

@igorek7:

Thank God! So, who'll be the first to have a somewhat affordable 4k 10 bit 4:2:2 recorder on the market?

Does time code synch data get encoded into the recorded stream as well on SD recordings and at the HDMI video out? Does the HDMI port output the frame rate selected in the menu? Let's say you choose 96 fps, will it output that, or is it limited to one frame rate?

Can you choose RAW output or are video picture profiles baked in?

Any answers to those issues?

Thanks!

endotoxic

the more the bit rate the less strain to your processor. So its better less compression. Run smoother

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