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GH4 4K Panasonic video camera, User reviews and opinions
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  • @h2otara premiere pro has no problems with any of them if they are both at 24 fps, be careful with the new firmware update you can select 23,976 fps and that is not compatible to the other 24 fps mov or mp4.

  • @Eno Good to know about mixing .mp4 and .mov, and not mixing frame rates. I was in my photo blind today and switched from NTSC 4K .mov to .mp4 and all of my total bitrates are in the 73,000 - 79,500 range, same as I was getting with .mov. Any ideas??

  • @Eno I think the more interesting question is not the bitrate but the IQ, look forward to seeingsome samples to see which mode is better.

    @h2otara if it is VBR, then it depends on the light, scene complexity.

  • @h2otara I have no idea why you got such low bit rate in mp4, I never encountered less than 97 Mb/sec, and this with shallow dept of field shots. To be honest I didn't properly test the mp4 format before the firmware 2.

    The camera has tones of options, I had to focus on the essentials, to get what I wanted. Now I'm using natural profile, with NR dialed to minimum always, a little bit of - contrast (from -1 to -3) and sometimes - sharpness (from 0 to -3). All of those depending on the job. Curves, iDinamic, master pedestal, are all a wast of time and all of the produce unrecoverable results. I also prefer the color rendering in neutral profile much more than Cine D or anything else. For stills, the standard profile rules!

    @DrDave, yes a test wold be interesting to see, maybe I will do it later, now I have a lot of editing to do :).

  • 2.0 Firmware gives a better bitrate (78mo/s average before, 98mo/s average now) for both MP4 and MOV. Mp4 is not better.

  • @yaz72 you may be right. Can other GH4 users confirm this fact?

  • No need to confirm. Makes a video with the new firmware in MOV and you will see the bit rate gain =).

  • Thanks @yaz72, I will.

  • @yaz72 and @Eno - Thanks for the info - I'm updating the firmware today - and going back to .mov so I can trim my clips with MPGEG Streamclip.

  • I just updated the firmware, and before I even shot a test to check the bitrate (which is now 96 mb/s in 4K .mov), I noticed that the record time on my 64GB card had dropped from 1:22 to 1:14.
    I really appreciate this discussion as I don't see anywhere in the update notes that they improved the recording bitrate, and I may not have updated it for some time.

  • That last info on the remaining recording time was wrong, there were files on the card, and after formatting it says 1:24, which is actually more confusing since the mb/s is ~25% higher now...

  • @h2otara yes the bit rate gain is for me a better improvement than the new "photo mode", it's odd that the patch doesn't mention it.

  • NEW 4k photo mode still only records sRGB

  • and why the limited functions while in 4k photo mode I personally would like more options in settings.

  • and why the limited functions while in 4k photo mode I personally would like more options in settings.

    What options exactly?

  • Higher bitrate does not necessarily mean better quality. It depends on the"flavor" of .mov and mp4 being used. All I can say for certain is that for static macro shots .mov shot in 4K and downsized to 1080p looks better to my eyes than .mov shot at 1080p and 200Mb/s. On the other hand fast action shots in 4K .mov downsized to 1080p look inferior to 1080p at 200Mb/s.

  • @natureflixs you are confusing things, it's sure that 4K reduced to FHD will look better than any FHD, regardless of the FHD bit rate. The increase in bit rate with the new firmware is about 25% in 4K so I expect less degrading wen grading files.

  • @Astro

    That link you posted to regarding A7S has a lot of misinformation...... You can set custom white balance plus use shutter button, all can be enabled in menu + quick keys. I seriously have no idea how people can post links to things without even verifying if they are correct...........

    The problem A7s does have is in Blue Channel clipping, hopefully we get a fix soon. I owned and sold a GH4, image too sharp out of the camera requiring a lot of post to make it look nice. O may revisit though as I like the MFT system especially with speed booster

  • I finally got the opportunity to shoot some test footage using a loaner GH4 over the weekend. Took a lot longer that I anticipated to get all the settings dialed into where I liked them. But I'm officially sold. With the proper tweaking in cam, I found the footage cut really well with my GH2. Way easier to match over my GH3. Especially when shooting people. Interview footage was always super challenging to match up in post between A and B cam setups when using GH2 and GH3. But this weekend round of testing proved that a GH2 and GH4 combo will work very well for most of work I do. GH3 is now sold off. So if anyone is selling a GH4, I'm interested.

  • care to share your setting for matching the GH4 & GH2??

  • @FilmingArt I think you never knew the sharpness can be dialed to -5 (minimum) for a very soft look. Anyway, GH4 is a 3K camera regarding resolution, for me is definitely not detailed enough. :)

  • @Eno > GH4 is a 3K camera regarding resolution

    Could you please kindly elaborate on that?

  • Could you please kindly elaborate on that?

    Better not. Check title of topic. It is not flame topic and this is flame already.