@roly - my circumstances are dictated by the edit software we use at work. We have 12 avid suites, and the software is spectacularly bad at downscaling 4k. As all we deliver is HD for UK broadcasters and corporate clients, I'm going to use a ninja star with my G7 set to 1080p, as the downconvert from the camera when it's set to internal 4k UHD doesn't appear to offer significant advantages. I might change my mind on that one, and record UHD internally as a back up, we'll see. I'll continue to record my GH4 to my ninja blade with the camera set to 4k UHD and 10 bit downconvert to 1080p over hdmi. The two cameras cut together really well. Hope that helps!

Well - The internal recording IS NOT possible as soon as you want to record externally.
I have the same setup here - And the screen is going blank as soon as you start the internal recording.
At least it´s the case with my PAL model (latest production from 2016 / latest firmware).

Maybe "mrbill" meant his GH4 (with simultanious internal 4K + external 1080P recording) ...

Yes. It says "Now recording video". They for sure just made it to protect the GH4 sales ...
But it´s still a good camera with a nice pricture and great handling.

Thanks guys. So, just to clarify, you CAN record on an external recorder.

BUT, you see no image on it if you ALSO want to record internally (but it DOES record).

If you ONLY want to record to the external recorder, do you see an image on it? Scopes? Waveforms too?

It's all a bit confusing, frankly…

@roly Yes, you can record to an external recorder as long as you don't record internally at the same time. Any image output, scopes, waveform, etc world depend on the features of the recorder, as the camera is outputting a clean signal.

after the sony a6300, now it is time for panasonic release vlog for g7 and gx8 and increase competition.

@apefos, this is the beauty of having competition. It puts pressure on these companies to keep up and leap ahead. I LOVE my G7 and was also curious about the A6300. Sony may force Pany to really step up the G7. The only issue is software since the G7 is using the same processing as the GH4. We shall see!

Really considering upgrading from my GH3 to the G7. Would love to move up to the GH4 but kind of want to wait to see what a GH5 has in the future. I figure the G7 will be a good b cam to the Gh4/GH5 I get in the future. Once I get a G7 I will sell my GH3 to help pay for a big chunk of it.

In terms of the HDMI output how is the down converted quality vs down converting 4k in post? I am planning on using a Blackmagic Video Assist to record externally and not record in camera internally and want to make sure the quality of the down conversion is very good, it actually is 4:2:2 and if a 23.976 video actually outputs as 23.976 through the HDMI to the recorder.

Has anyone made 4K output (as opposed to 1080p) work with the G7 while in photo mode? I tried connecting it through HDMI to a 4K monitor today, and all I could get was 1080p output. However, I could get 4K output in playback mode if I changed the "TV Connection->HDMI Mode (Play)" setting to 4K. I didn't see any corresponding "HDMI Mode (Rec)" or anything.

@mrbill - Thank you. Good to know. Still trying to decide if the G7 is a good affordable option for now or if I should just get a GH4 instead. I like how much better the G7 seems in low light but the GH4 is a much more versatile camera. They never do make this decision an easy one.

FYI I tried recording at the 25p bitrate today, simultaneously recording to my ninja star - you still get the black screen 'now recording message' output to the ninja. So no simultaneous hdmi output to an external recorder in any mode if you wish to record internally.