Panasonic GH4 - "C" Cam for Alexas?

Panasonic DMC-GH4 with DMW-YAGH Pro Audio Video Interface Unit - $3298

Another video from Thai cinematographer Sittipong Kongtong - scouting locations for his next picture with the Panasonic GH4 . Interestingly, the movie will be shot with two Arri Alexas, and, if he can get production firmware for the GH4, he'll use it as his "C" camera.



Once they get their hands on this camera, my guess is that a lot of professional cinematographers will use the GH4 to complement their REDs and Alexas.

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Panasonic GH4 versus Arri Alexa Round 2 - 1080/96p Slow Motion!

Another side-by-side of the Panasonic GH4 and the Arri Alexa from Sittipong Kongtong in Bangkok. This time at 1080/96p conformed to 24p for 4X slow motion. Once again, the Arri is shooting a flat LOG 12-bit ProRes 4444, while the GH4 is shooting a normal color profile and h.264 8 bit 4:2:0.

But this time, the originating resolution and the delivery resolution is the same (even though compressed for YouTube). As in the previous GH4 96fps examples from Sittipong and from Jordan at The Camera Store, the GH4's 96fps looks to be very smooth and detailed. Freeze frames show no, or very little, motion blur (e.g., as is seen in Twixtor interpolation). Please watch at your monitor's highest resolution:



Again, at least for YouTube delivery, the $1700 GH4 stands up very well to the $44,000 Alexa.

For filmmakers on micro-budgets, this is very good news. For about the same price as a two day daily Alexa rental, filmmakers can buy a 4K GH4 with the YAGH audio video interface.

I am certainly grateful to Sittipong for posting these comparisons, but it would be nice to see a comparison between Panasonic's CineLook D color profile and Arri LOG. Perhaps next time.

As usual, if anything here has helped you to make a buying decision, please order through the links above or the display ads below. It won;t cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep these blog posts coming. Thanks so much for your support.

Panasonic Posts New GH4 1080/96p Slow Motion Video!

EDIT: I'm leaving this post up - although Panasonic seems to have pulled the video. I will re-post if I find a new link. A little frustrating that they would put this out there and then pull it down.

Although we have seen some 1080/96p slow motion from the camera, it is always nice to see more.

Panasonic's real point in posting this video, however, is to showcase the new CineLike flat color profiles and the Master Pedestal feature. With Master Pedestal, shooters will be able to set the "black level" in-camera - either raising the blacks to bring out detail, or "crushing them" to make them blacker. There's a better explanation on page 20 of the HMC150 handbook here.

 Here is what Panasonic says in the "About" section of the video:

"The new Panasonic GH4 is a great tool for Indie Filmmakers.
With its new CineLike D and V features you will be able to record videos with up to 13 stops of Dynamic Range with a cinematic roll off.
It also features the Master Pedestal option, which will lift your shadow areas, giving you an even better Dynamic Range.
That means that you wont have to worry about your Highlights or your Shadows, because the new GH4 will deliver a beautiful, cinematic image.
Use it in 96fps 1080p, to create a wonderful slowmotion, or even in 4k, to deliver a high-end, powerful image!"

Even without 4K, this is going to be a powerful camera for filmmakers.  I've already pre-ordered mine - if this post has helped you to make a buying decision, you can reserve yours by clicking on the display ad below.  It won't cost you anything extra, and it will help to keep blog posts like this coming. Thanks!

Panasonic GH4 Pre-Order Link Up at Adorama and Amazon!

Adorama has their Panasonic DMC-GH4 4K camera pre-order link up, as does Amazon.

If you want to get one of the first few cameras when they start shipping, you may want to click on the one of the links above or the display ad below right now and get in line.

Good luck!

Panasonic GH4 "Hands On" Videos

I don't usually post these, but there have been so few people with test cameras in their hands that we are reduced to noisy camera show (and camera store) "hands on" videos in order to see images of the camera outside of a display case.

From John Arnold of Photo Walkthough at the Photography Show 2014 in Birmingham, UK:



From Matt Granger at Photography News and Reviews:



In addition to the dearth of real hands-on videos, I have been a little surprised by the types of sample videos that Panasonic is using to promote the GH4.  For the GH3, they hired Bruce Logan A.S.C. and Philip Bloom to shoot Genesis, a terrific little narrative with near-Hollywood level production values.  This time, the only official sample videos I can find are travel and nature pieces.

Although these subjects are great opportunities to showcase the camera's amazing resolution, a sample film with actors and motion and a variety of day/night/outdoor/indoor shooting conditions is going to sell more cameras, in my view.

Panasonic - if you're listening - please lend a camera to Bruce Logan or Shane Hurlbut or Philip Bloom - or someone else with "ASC", "BSC" and/or "DGA" after their name - and pay them to shoot a Genesis-style short with the GH4 in full 4K.

If you can't afford to do that, or the timing isn't right, at least get a few more pre-production cameras into the hands of shooters and bloggers.  Eduardo Angel has posted some great 1080p samples - but with 4K footage from Sony and Blackmagic already on the street, potential GH4 shooters need more full-resolution examples of what this camera can do.

Even though it looks like pricing and pre-ordering is already available in Europe, we here in the States are still anxiously awaiting official pricing and the opportunity to pull the trigger on this camera.

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