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GH4 firmware update 2.0 talk
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  • karlkarl

    @Adamt: I think you got me wrong. I don't ask for "super fast AF when shooting video", just for a focusing that does not "hunt into the wrong direction first".

  • AdamTAdamT

    I'm not sure why you'd want super fast AF when shooting video. It would look like ass. Only time that would be useful would be when shooting video for the purpose extracting stills.

  • karlkarl

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev: I understand that the continous AF has to use the read out from the sensor, which will only arrive with the same FPS rate used to shoot video. And I could sure use a continous AF that is slower than the single AF for pictures. But the distinguishing feature of DFD would be to not "hunt" into the wrong direction, which causes these awful sequences where the picture becomes very blurry before it gets sharper again. And I am sure that even if it took let's say 1.0s instead of 0.2s to fix focus, this would still be ok if the picture would only get sharper during that period. But without DFD, the camera is changing focus into the wrong direction half of the time, and that is causing sequences you really cannot expect people to tolerate in a final cut.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    The "AF Tests with the GH4 with Firmware 2.0" video Vitaliy posted above clearly shows that the GH4 is not making use of a fast "Depth From Defocus" AF in video mode - what a pity!

    Any fast AF happens only in special AF mode (240fps) as I understand. For video it is the fps you use for shooting.

  • karlkarl

    The "AF Tests with the GH4 with Firmware 2.0" video Vitaliy posted above clearly shows that the GH4 is not making use of a fast "Depth From Defocus" AF in video mode - what a pity! I think it would have been the most obvious and useful application of DFD to realize a continous AF in video mode, but for some reason Panasonic never told, that wasn't implemented. As it is as of today, continous AF in video mode stays unuseable for basically any practical purpose.

  • mpgxsvcdmpgxsvcd

    Loop mode is Useless!

    The loop mode for the new photo/video function is poorly implemented. You can’t set markers during loop mode so you can skip ahead to the point you want very easily.

    Also it automatically records at least 5 different video files in loop mode. They are stored in 5 separate folders and show up as 5 separate videos in the camera. You can’t search through them at all to find what you want.

    Basically the loop function is utterly useless. It never should have been released like this. A total waste of effort.

    It should record up to 5 separate 2 minute clips and place them all in one folder. If you continue to record past 10 minutes then it should overwrite the first clip with the most recent clip. At the end it should join the clips together even if that means that it freezes the camera functions for a certain duration.

    It should also allow you to place markers. The loop mode should be designed for those times when you place a camera on a tripod. You roll video waiting for something to happen. You may be near by doing something else but still checking the camera every few minutes.

    Once you see something happen you can go out and place a marker on the camera to quickly skip to the point you want.

    I could see this being used for things like lightning or waiting for a Hummingbird, Deer, or other animal to come into the camera’s field of view. As it stands right now. It would be too tedious to wade through all of the different files to find what you are looking for. I foresee another firmware update to fix this.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

  • nobbystylusnobbystylus

    Nice work Seb. Great atmosphere as usual! This '4k photo' mode definitely opens up some interesting options for anamorphic users on the GH4.

  • driftwooddriftwood

    @sebfarges Thanks for this Seb. So what's your opinion of the new photo 4K modes with your lenses?

  • sebfargessebfarges

    GH4 new photo 4K mode firmware in anamorphic 1.75x quick test Here is a quick test with the new firmware V2 "photo mode" 4K in 16:9, 3:2 and 4:3 Sorry I forget the 1:1, anyway for my 1.75x anamorphic... :p GH4 4K photo mode baby Berthiot Hypergonar 1.75x lens Qioptiq LINOS MeVis-C C-mount 35mm f1.6 @ f1.6 with the diopters and f4 for the others shot SLR Magic 1.3x + 0.33x diopters Vcine mode with EOSHD setting Premiere Lumetri 60's color correction + levels adjustments

  • RKMRKM

    @nobbystylus

    Nice crop image. Too bad these new formats increase the already big crop factor by a lot. It demands so much of the center resolution of the lens. I wonder if old full frame glass can still produce anything decent wide open. I see very little reason to be happy with the 1:1 resolution for anamorphic. With such a crop factor even a 0.7 speedbooster doesn't help much.

    A 4k resolution doesn't mean anything if the lens can't deliver this resolution on the required part of the sensor. It might end up between 1080p and 4k and gives you more detailed 1080p images but all the crop options are gone. I like the 4k for it's ability to shoot a mid and closeup in one shot, to switch in post between both of them and preserve continuous motion.

    I have a very sharp 400mm 3.5 Nikon AIS and it worked great on GH2 with normal 1.86 cropfactor and extele. And I thought the GH4 would give me normal and extele in one take. But the lens is not that sharp in the center that it can deliver full 4k resolution any more. And the post crop options are not as great as I would expect.

  • ShadowmindShadowmind

    New feature to shoot 23.98 at 59.94 HZ. Would this be a better way to go vs the 24Hz original setting for UHD? Is there even a real difference?

  • AdamTAdamT

    Not sure how much use I'll get out of it, but I dig the 4K looping feature, plus the ability to shoot in 4:3 or 3:2.

    I'm also very happy that they've put back the GH3's second wheel control over Max ISO and flash compensation.

    Didn't do any scientific testing, but it does seem like single-area AF is considerably faster shooting 4K.

  • Rivo_KikkulRivo_Kikkul

    This tethering seems also bullshit...pretty much cant do anything. I was hoping smth like 720p stream over usb and got "PC laptop shutter release".

  • SangyeSangye

    Just installed 2.0 on my GH4, and was disappointed to see that the changelog was misleading: they did not add true 4K at 23.976 in MP4 mode.... they added UHD in MP4 mode, just to catch it up with MOV mode. Disappointing.

  • driftwooddriftwood

    GH4 tethered to Microsoft Surface Pro 3 using 'USB Tether for Lumix' from Promote Systems.

    Link: https://www.promotesystems.com/products/USB-Tether-for-LUMIX.html

    Download link to a fully-functional 14-day trial version here: https://www.promotesystems.com/downloads/software/usb_tether/usb_tether_lumix.exe

    gh4_tethering_to_pc.jpg
    2048 x 1365 - 273K
  • SangyeSangye

    Nothing too earth shattering here for video. Best new feature in my opinion is true 4K (not UHD) at 23.976. That simplifies how I use my GH4 considerably.

  • fosterchenfosterchen

    Testing 2/3" lenses now!

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @mpgxsvcd

    Thanks, very interesting.

  • mpgxsvcdmpgxsvcd

    Panasonic finally released the GH4 2.0 firmware. The major advancement in this release is the ability to easily take still images from 4K @ 30 FPS video for any aspect ratio and still retain the movie file with uninterrupted sound and video.

    I have installed the firmware on my GH4 and it works perfectly. Panasonic must have seen the video below that I made about the shutter speed issues with Program Priority mode because they resolved that issue as well.

    They didn’t implement the min shutter speed setting but they did the next best thing. They raised the minimum shutter speed to 1/100 even with wide angle lenses from what I could tell in my limited testing. It also appears that it will try to use 1/120 as the shutter speed if it can in low light in NTSC countries. That is the ideal shutter speed to eliminate flicker from fluorescent lighting.

    Please note that the Program Priority stills only mode is unchanged. It will still use entirely too slow of a shutter speed with Auto ISO and wide angle lenses. I have replaced that mode in my custom settings with the new photo/video mode.

    Basically this firmware update is solely geared towards novice users that aren’t looking for nth degree quality and control. It is setup so that anyone can take a very good JPG image of anything and never miss that critical moment.

    Basically I can set my GH4 to the photo video mode and hand it to anyone with a pulse and I will get exactly the image I want. They don’t have to worry about pressing buttons at the right time or adjusting settings. I just hit record and hand them the camera. Say point it at us and hold it there for a few seconds.

    Then I get to choose the high quality still frame that I think looks best. Basically this allows me to transfer my experience about photo and video settings to someone else without them taking a semester long photography class from me.

    When this new feature is combined with the excellent built-in wireless capabilities of the Panasonic cameras we finally have the ability to shoot and share near real-time photographs. I believe this new feature will revolutionize amateur photography. It should be simply perfect on the LX100. I can’t imagine recommending any other camera to people right now other than the FZ1000 if they really need that much zoom.

    I will do a full video review of how this feature works tonight. That is the only good way to explain why it is so revolutionary.

  • driftwooddriftwood

    Image App updated to reflect new firmware:

    iOS/iphone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/panasonic-image-app/id590212732?mt=8

    Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.panasonic.avc.cng.imageapp&hl=en_GB

  • Manu4VendettaManu4Vendetta

    Interview with Panasonic – raw HDMI output may be coming to future GH4 firmware plus anamorphic aspect ratios in firmware V2.0

    http://www.eoshd.com/2014/10/interview-panasonic-raw-hdmi-output-may-coming-future-gh4-firmware-plus-anamorphic-aspect-ratios-firmware-v2-0/

  • dracoredracore

    What is the difference (or benefits) of storing as MP4 rather than MOV? As MOV is just a wrapper for the streams

  • x_worpig_xx_worpig_x

    I have full battery, reformatted SD card (twice) and it still won't accept the update. Strange, I'll try another Sd card. I'm using the 32g Sandisk 95MB/s

    Edit: I downloaded the first file from here:

    http://eww.pass.panasonic.co.jp/pro-av/support/content/download/EN/ep2main/soft/upggh4_e.htm

    This one worked:

    http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/download/fts/dl/gh4.html

  • oscillianoscillian

    New aspect ratios should make anamorphic shooters happy!

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