I love my GH2 and still use them. But the unbreakable 422 color I get from my Black Magic is awesome for color correcting and it's something I've wanted for a long time. AVCHD would break up if pushed too hard. The increased dynamic range also allows for shots I couldn't get with my GH2's. I'm with you on 4k though. 2k display is good enough for Hollywood theatrical releases so it's good enough for me. Actually, quality 480p still looks great to me.

I thought the GH4 is still 420 color sampling btw? I haven't followed it too closely.

Agree with most points here. Would have loved to have seen 1080 10-bit 422 internally from this camera. For all it's shortcomings, I think the Pocket camera is my next upgrade.

Unfortunately GH4 is still 420 which is a shame as 422 is more useful than 4K

Agree with most points here. Would have loved to have seen 1080 10-bit 422 internally from this camera

Guys, please remember that GH4 HAS internal 1080p 444 recording. It is just called 4K :-) Simple convert utilities will appear after GH4 release that will make 444 lossless formats out of 4K videos.

Gh4 should be pretty hot then. Panasonic cameras are built pretty well.

@eurocameraman, I just watched the first of the videos you posted here, and it literally blew me away. I'm in the process of downloading a bunch of others so I can watch them without the dreaded Vimeo buffering! I also appreciate that you're so generous with information on your Vimeo channel, unlike many, who make viewers post countless messages to find out what settings and equipment were used. Also, your own analysis of the shorts, which is quite illuminating. I just finished watching a Danish movie by Ole Christian Madsen, Kira's Choice, panned by many critics, but which I thought was amazingly powerful (the camera movement, angles, the acting, editing). The film was shot on DV in 2001, around the time of Festen, yet another stunning picture from the early Dogme days. The actual image quality of both films is pretty terrible, but they are gripping emotionally in a way that many slick productions can't hope for. But I can't help but thinking that they would have been even more rewarding to watch (especially Festen, which practically flaunts its lack of technique), if they could have benefitted from the advances made in digital video... I live in Vietnam, and I'm just a novice, but I'm seriously considering coming to Shanghai to take one of your classes. Thanks for posting.

Hi Jonpais Thanks so much for your comment and your willingness to join the class. This is trully rewarding to read your comment, thansk so much and you write this after watching only one of my video. I like to share technical information, I think this is part of the interaction with the community. I hope you will enjoy the following one. Here is the album with all the short film I had done during the filmmaking class. There is a kind of random weirdness into every of my film, and the funny part is that my students enjoy to step into it and to share it with crazy characters. I am feeding my passion for filmmaking that way, and I can feel you get the right feeling to give it a try on your own. FYI long before GH1 existed, I shot a short film with safety B&W camera with C-mount lens on it... I did one once with a Hi8 camera, the format prior to DV. That was lots of suffering in edit! Here are some of filmmaking class final result, everything is there: MY FILM SCHOOL SHORT FILMS https://vimeo.com/album/2111565

Sweet and Sour HD (US)

WMatching Future HD (US)

12th Floor HD (US)

I think Vitaliy was right - if I may put words in his mouth - so many posters in the forum are so arrogant in attacking Panasonic for the features that the GH4 doesn't provide, or the cost of the "brick", etc., yet they really don't know how to take advantage of the tools they already own.

You are right. I am old school and back to basic user of cameras. If my client don't ask for it, I never plug a monitor on the GH or the AF. I do for the class for my students to follow the process of framing/lighting, acting and follow focussing, but trully, the greatness of the GH1/2/3 is compacteness and until the GH3, the viewfinder was always good enough for me to be able to focus, to frame and get my exposure right with the live histogram. Unfortunately, on the production market, Canon 5D became such a standart that I have to work with it (renting) more often than I would like, and then comes the burden of plugging cable, setting up a monitor, having to carry an extra battery and to find the balance of a complete rig on the shoulder. 5D is a great tool, but you need a team and enough budget to use it. GH1/2/3 are a total different story. Little budget and single man story. As soon as I get an idea, I can go instantly, start to shoot it and then a craxy stuff like "La Deuche from Hell" was born. I think that things start to get wrong when gears slow down the process of inspiration.

Hi Neokoo Sorry for the missunderstanding. I have nothing to sell, but I got some enthusiastic message on Vimeo and directly in my mailbox from people asking for more. I am posting videos which are just here to balance somehow what people are discussing in most of the forum all the time. I am reading lots of negative posts everywhere latelly and my feeling is that so many people are always complaining about the camera available on the market or the newest one, not released yet. Always the same routine: AVCHD, 4:2:0, 4K.... It seems that all those guys might be so advanced in their skills, working for huge project and feature films so that they meet the limit of their equipment all the time. Nothing is never good enough to them. Unfortunately, we NEVER see a sample of those people's work on forum, not a link, nothing to judge the guy who is criticizing camera or other people choice. In this post I am taking the opposite stand point. Ok, I am enjoying all my simple gear including the GH1, even now, and I really think that the limit of my work is coming from my own limitation, my imagination, my ability to build up a team around me or not, but it never comes from the camera. Then, I post my video to illustrate my point. If those videos are not good enough, I dont think it is because of the GH1 or GH2, AVCHD, or 4:2:0. It is just because of me. That's it. BTW, I am living in Shanghai, working there and all my client or student are based there and this forum is not the best place for me to get any extra income. I am just passionate and once in a while I want to share.

Yes, I agree it look better overall, but I don't think it will yield colour integrity as good as 4:4:4 1080p directly compressed.

I do not know that you mean here. As with good downsample it must look better than usual 1080p 444, as you can use better algorithms in software.

@eurocameraman very wice words..... if we want to progress, we will never gain anything by blaiming others or the gear, we need to learn to progress within the limits, and push our own limits with hard work, including practising, exploring, listening, develloping, inspiring... and be respectfull to those we can learn so much from.... on whichever level we are in... excuses dont bring us anywhere... action and pain will do.... and it makes no difference if we are in to business, documentation, filming, develloping, whatever.... just be a little more smart and persistant than others!!! Do we need the highlevel gear?? up to you how much you need to substitute your missing skills... ;-) have FUN!

Fair enough - we're talking tech - but in the interest of telling engaging stories - whether it's advertising, personal work, whatever. And have we exhausted all the means at our disposal? Judging by what I've seen so far, I don't think so. And it's not the tech that's holding you back.

I specialized in historical printing methods in college - cyanotype, gravure, gum bichromate printing - and it has only been two years since I started shooting digital video. People viewing my prints back then usually discussed content, not technical issues. And the same went for most of the other students, whether they were shooting with Canons or Nikons. We knew the only limitation was our own inspiration, not the hardware. I welcome technical innovation as much as anybody else, but once again, the point of the OP is not to denigrate technological innovation. He is simply pointing out that it isn't for lack of the proper tools (DR, frame rates, codecs, etc.) that digital videos aren't as good as they could be. And unlike 99 percent of posters, he is willing to back that up with evidence.