Panasonic DMC-GH4
Friday, February 7, 2014 at 4:36PM 
Panasonic has announced the DMC-GH4, their latest flagship Micro Four Thirds camera. Many video shooters loved its predecessor, the GH3—which explains why the folks are flipping out about the so-called “GH4K.” From dpreview:
The real story here is the GH4’s video recording capabilities, which include 4K and 1080p, with support for the IPB and ALL-Intra codecs. Shooting aids include focus peaking, zebra pattern, luminance level adjustment, and cinema gamma presets. An optional ‘interface unit’ adds five SDI and two XLR terminals, and permits 10-bit 4:2:2 output with time code.
High bit-rate 4K and HD cine-gamma video at a variety of frame rates, with a flip-out LCD and built-in focus assist. For the scrappy action filmmaker, funky frame rates, such as the always-useful 22fps, are an option, as is slow motion up to 96 fps (at 1080p). The MFT sensor size is not inspiring, but presumably this would work with a speedbooster.
Personally, I’d skip the terribly-named YAGH breakout box and record separate audio, syncing with PluralEyes. What excites me about this camera is how few add-ons it requires.
Best to let the pictures do the talking though. Here’s some sample footage, shot entirely with Panasonic glass. Go full-screen and choose the highest resolution that makes sense for your display.
Price and availability have not been announced, but Amazon and B&H already have their product pages up. 43rumors.com says the price will be less than $2,000 USD.
I expect this to be a popular camera.
Reader Comments (5)
can you tell your acolytes how and when 22fps might be "always useful"?
Sure, "redzep," I went into detail back when the GH2 was announced.
Yes, redzep, it's commonly used to undercrank footage. When played back at 24fps, it slightly speeds up the footage. The technique is used often in action footage.
And "acolyte"? Really?
I'm glad you gave this camera some blog service. What chance is there that Red Giant will be supporting the GH3 and GH4 codecs in BulletProof?
HI Stu and anyone interested in Panasonic. I actually switched from Canon to Pana a few years ago after my LX-3 bested my 40D on a trip to India. I was blown away by the quality of RAW file my little Lumix was capable of. It's video was pretty stunning apart from the heavy compression and not liking bright spotlights. It still answered my needs better than anything I'd used to that point. I became interested in the hacking community when GH1 and 2 were on the scene and I actually shot second camera on a feature using a GH1 and old Nikon glass with the 100mB codec hack. My footage often bested the canon 7D being used for principal photography. It was stable and produced gorgeous video provided the light was right. So good that my footage constitutes about 30 percent of the film.
The GH3 completely validated the hacking movement by giving us a camera as good or better than the hacked offerings and now the GH4 looks to steal my heart. The compact size of the lens diameter of M4/3 gives us smaller, lighter glass and bodies. The new pro build means you can bump them and soak them like a canon or a nikon and the sensor size gives rise to one of the widest ranges of different adapted lenses either old or new.
I think it will be a popular camera, Stu...a potentially game changing one for a lot of people and I add my voice to the call for Red Giant to fully support Panasonic codecs in all of their workflows, especially involving great tools like Grinder and Bulletproof.
That little picture you posted just made my day, and when I saw the frame rates and resolutions it can capture you made my year.