Here's how to get clean low light footage from the Panasonic GH4

I have heard from several video shooters who are concerned about buying or renting the Panasonic GH4 because they have heard that it has less than stellar performance above ISO 800.

To address this concern, Sohail over at Borrowlenses (one of our terrific sponsors) has posted a great blog entry on shooting with the GH4 at night.

He makes the interesting point that low light and high ISO are not necessarily the same thing - and that with fast enough lenses, shooters can produce great footage with the GH4 for night exteriors.

As an example, here's some 4K footage he shot with the GH4 at San Francisco's Fishermans' Wharf using the Voigtlander 17.5mm f0.95 and a Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 (with Speed Booster). Cleanest shots are between ISO 200 and 400 :




As Sohail says - shooting with superfast lenses doesn't give the GH4 the incredible light-gathering capability of the A7s - but it does give shooters the ability to deliver clean low-light footage at reasonable ISOs.

And for budget-conscious shooters, the additional benefit is that a $1698 Panasonic GH4 with a $799 Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 Nikon mount lens is about the same price as a $2498 body-only Sony A7s.

Yes, you'll need a $429 Nikon G to MFT Speed Booster, but that's less than the cost of a decent lens for the Sony.

If you need a camera that can essentially see in the dark, the A7s is the better choice - but if you want internal 4K recording and you occasionally shoot in low light, the GH4 will do a terrific job.

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Finally - Metabones releases the Canon EF to micro 4/3 Speed Booster - Andrew Reid at EOSHD has one!

The adapter that so many Canon shooters have longed for has finally arrived. A powered Speed Booster from Metabones that adapts Canon EF (but not EF-S) lenses to micro 4/3 cameras such as the Panasonic GH4 - with full aperture control and image stabilization. I can't wait to get my hands on one - but until then, I'll have to live vicariously through Andrew's hands on experience with it.

That said, everyone is happy about this except Canon. My theory was that they were paying Metabones to delay the release of this adapter to keep Canon shooters from switching to the GH4 (that's a joke, for all of my literally minded readers). Seriously, though, I'll bet a lot of used Canon DSLRs go up on eBay in the next few days.

Cinoflex turns the Sony A7s into a cinema camera for a Chevy commercial test

On August 12th, Cinoflex introduced the new type-SA7s Camera System on their Facebook page. Priced at $2495, and designed for a $2498 camera, this rig plugs the Sony's amazing full-frame low light sensor into a standard cinema camera form factor for under $5000.  Straight from Cinoflex, here's the design philosophy behind the type-A7s (from the Sony Alpha Rumors comments section):

"...a camera needs to be balanced well-fore to aft, needs to have a mass with low center of gravity, needs to have mounting options for the camera department, needs to have one central power source for all items, needs to adhere to the Panavision and Arriflex standard of spacing and heights, and...very important, needs to adhere to the tradition and fashion that camera operators, camera assistants, and camera technicians have been accustom[ed] to in the last 40 or so years. The Cinoflex was designed from the ground up, to emulate and respect the traditional form of the best film cameras, form [sic] the ARRI 435 to the PANAVISION Millennium XL."

Even adding in the $1995 price of the upcoming Atomos Shogun for 4K recording, the total price of this setup would be less than the price of the $8995 Aja Cion.  And, of course, it would be a lot less than a RED Epic or Arri Alexa.

For commercial or indie shoots where light and budget are at a premium, this might be a good solution.

That said, it's still about $1000 more than the upcoming $5995 Blackmagic URSA EF, with its global shutter and built-in HD-SDI outputs.

Now - if they'd only build one for the GH4....(are you listening, Cinoflex?)

Choices, choices - it's a great time to be a filmmaker!

Sony Builds Anticipation for A7s with "Detailed Hands On" Video!

In the video below, Sony builds anticipation for the world's first full-frame camera with UHD ("4K") output. This camera records internally at up to 1080/60p and 720/120p compressed to 50mbps - a relatively low bit rate by modern standards. What really sets it apart, however, is the ability to record video at up to ISO 409600 (!). With this kind of light-gathering capability and external UHD recording, this camera should be the low-light/high resolution king. Here's the video:



I went to NAB very excited to see this camera - especially since I wasn't able to be there until Day 2 of the show. I watched the big Sony press event online on Day 1 and couldn't wait to get over to the Sony booth and get my hands on the camera. When I arrived, I was fortunate enough to get a chance to handle it and talk to a couple of Sony reps who had flown in from Japan. The high ISO sensitivity is real - and it produced great output on the show floor - but we'll have to see what the footage looks like once it's in the hands of shooters who don't work for Sony.

For those who need extreme low light sensitivity and the full-frame "look", but don't mind buying or renting an external recorder for UHD and don't need: 4096x2160 4K; 1080p slow motion; or 1080p bit rates beyond 50mbps, this may be the camera you've been waiting for. If it is, you can pre-order it for $2498 at Amazon or Adorama.

On the other hand, if you don't make movies in the dark, want to record 4K internally, and want 1080/96p slow motion and 1080p bit rates at up to 200mbps, you might be better off saving yoursefl $800 and ordering a $1698 Panasonic GH4.

And you'll probably have your camera sooner.

Panasonic GH4 Low Light Footage

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

Another clip from the preproduction Panasonic GH4 from Sittipong - this time beautiful 800ASA low light footage on the streets of Bangkok. Please watch at the highest resolution possible on your monitor:



There are a couple of rough spots with focus and exposure, but this was unplanned shooting and I don't know what his settings were, so I'm not that worried about that. In my view, the dynamic range and resolution look pretty good in this example, although I continue to take everything I see on YouTube with a grain of salt.

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.