GH4 4K Panasonic video camera, User reviews and opinions

heradicattor

Please, can someone compare face to face 1080p modes vs the GH3? Is the algoritm/binning changed in the GH4? Because is not, GH3/4 1080p mode resolve with sharpen all down more graceful than GH2 pseudo-default-sharpened

MikeLinn

discomandavis

@brianl there is no "best way" to shoot 1080p. DSLR's are infamous for their two major flaws, 'rolling shutter' and 'aliasing'. All modes bring something different to the table. 4k gives you a a really sharp and clear image when down sampled to 1080p very little if any aliasing, however writing 4k at 100mbs gives some pretty terrible 'rolling shutter'. Where as recording 1080p at 200mbs is pretty close to being global shutter quality, when it comes to dslrs with 'rolling shutter', but will have more 'aliasing'.

Long answer short. If I am shooting a lot of stuff on a tripod, with slow-medium pans I would shoot 4k 100mbps definitely, it produces an incredible image! If I am shooting tripod with medium-fast pans, or fast paced footage, like a fight sequence or fast paced vehicles or animals, I'd opt for the 1080p at 200mbps

fredfred27

@Azo I will be getting my GH4 from B&H Photo on Monday. I plan on doing greenscreen tests comparing my GH2 with the GH4 when it arrives. Will post results when I have them.

Azo

Has anybody tried using this camera with a green screen? The reason I am asking is because for some reason my Nikon D600 keys a lot better then the Panasonic GH2's. So if this works better with green screen this may be the justification/excuse for my boss (Wife) to purchase the GH4 ;-)

Xenocide38

@aaronchicago seems like there's some serious compression issues going on in that frame grab.

Tron

@pete Variable frame rate is conformed to the frame rate you've selected in the recording mode (24P, 25P, 30P). There is no recording limit on US versions in any frame rate.

pete

If someone has an external recorder, preferably an Atomos Ninja 2, could you check if the slomo, say 96fps on 24p is exported as an already slowed down sequence please? IE; if I recorded a 96fps/24p clip onto a Ninja & then dropped that file into an editing suite, will it play at 1/4 speed or only at full speed 24p?

Also, is there a time limit when recording in 25p? I am interested in replacing my Canon XA20 with a GH4 for filming conferences which one speaker could be talking for 2.5 hours at a time. I would be using a Ninja in this case to get the long record times required. Cheers Pete.

brianl

About gh4 , 1080p/200mbs aliasing, and chasehagen's comment, would the best way to get 1080 from a gh4 be to downsample 4k?

heradicattor

I want to know how much difference are in 1080p with the original 1080p of GH3... is the same binning?

chasehagen

@bwhitz Lol what are you talking about a BMCC is 25% different than an Alexa! Have you ever even shot Alexa in ARRIRAW because I have and let me tell you it might be one stop of DR on Paper but it a world of difference in the image you end up coloring in the DI. I'm not saying the Alexa is worth the price they charge but there is a reason why they can charge as much as they do. ProRes is not just ProRes, the DeBayer algorithm in the Blackmagic isn't even close to the Alexa's, it's soft and mushy and full of moire compared to Alexa, and ProRes 444 is quite different than 422, you really are comparing Hyundia to Mercedes. Now back to the GH4, I second that question about the 1080P aliasing?

sammy

Thanks

aaronchicago

@sammy it was shot C4K at ISO 800. F1.8. It was pretty dim in there.

bwhitz

@FilmingArt

You simply cannot compare an $80K to a sub $2k personal prosumer one.......

Why not? I think it's perfectly reasonable. The Alexa is great, but it's prices is not reflective of the technology as it lives in a manipulated/distorted marketplace... keep that in mind. There simply isn't consumer competition driving it down to a consumer price. The people producing films on the Alexa are still living and working like it's 20 years ago and the price of any 35mm camera package remotely cinematic was $800,000. There is nothing magical about the Alexa. People put it on such a bizarre pedestal when the image is only about 25% better than a BMCC. There's nothing more special about the Blackmagic'ss Prores vs the Alexa's Prores (yea, besides the obvious 4444 in the Alexa), it's all just 1's and 0's. The actual value of the Alexa, tech-wise, in a consumer market place would honestly be around $2.5k to $4.5k.

sammy

@aaronchicago was that shot at 4k or 1080p and what iso, lots of noise it seems in that grab, thanks

aaronchicago

Heres an ungraded cinelike D framegrab if anyone is interested in testing the latitude.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uoavfqa2og3xit4/GH4CinelikeDStill.jpg

AdamT

The camera was set on single focus but I'm pretty sure it automatically goes to continuous in video mode unless you have MF selected.

konjow

@AdamT thanks for test. Can you tell if was it set on "Single" or "Continues" focus?

FilmingArt

@aaronchicago

I found it, go into Movie mode and enable "Synchro Scan". This should also help when wanting to record tv screens/monitors that show all of those stripes as well.

AdamT

@bheath wrote:

Howdy, has anyone tried the continuous auto focus in movie mode? For example a panasonic 25mm @ f5.6 , people moving slow or shifting in their seat during an interview... I'm curious about the focus "hunting" that goes on and if it's improved.

Here's a quick test I did using face tracking. 12-35mm at f2.8.

aaronchicago

@izash I shot it mostly with a monopod. A couple of shots on stage were handheld though.

izash

@aaronchicago Some great shots. Low light looks very promising. How did you stabilise the 18-35?

aaronchicago

@FilmingArt I'll look into that. Thanks.

@johnnymossville thanks!

johnnymossville

@aaronchicago looks really good.

blackspot

Aaand the WINNER IS -> GH2! XD Heh. Sorry guys ;)

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