GH4 4K and Slow Motion Samples
Monday, April 28, 2014 at 12:33PM 
My buddy Gordon Laing of Camerlabs came to town, with one of the few pre-production Panasonic GH4 bodies in hand.
Naturally, we dranks some beers and ate some Chairman Bao.
We also grabbed a few test shots. Nothing too special, but I thought I’d share them here.
First things first: Having held and operated the GH4, I’m more enthusiastic about owning one than anyone should be based on this hastily-shot footage alone. The camera is capable of much better.
We played with 96fps (1080p) at the Ferry Building. The 96fps mode is a bit soft, with some color moiré. It seems (speculating here) that the camera sub-samples the sensor a bit to achieve this frame rate. Still, 96fps is fun as heck. If we’d had more time, I would have played with the synchro-scan menu to try to reduce the flicker.
At Off The Grid, we shot some ISO 800 4K. Or rather, we shot UHD (3840x2160), because it seems that 4K (4096 x 2160) is only avaiable at 24.0 fps mode, not at 23.976—which is a bummer of a (seemingly artificial) limitation. There are plenty of reasons to shoot true 4K at 23.976.
Other observations:
- Even after choosing CINE-LIKE D, I was still able to adjust custom picture settings. Of course I turned the contrast all the way down, and sharpness too. But I didn’t have time to test these settings.
- Off The Grid shut us down right away when they saw my Redrock Micro Eyespye Deluxe rig. So we packed it up and kept shooting video, using the GH4’s viewfinder. This worked surprsingly well. Holding the little GH4 with the tiny Panasonic 25mm f1.4 lens up to your eye provides great stability, and the viewfinder is plenty sharp for focusing, especially with the handy peaking feature. It’s a lot different than holding an SLR out from your body so you can see the rear LCD.
B&H charged my card this morning for my GH4 pre-order, so here’s hoping I’ll be able to shoot some better footage very soon.
You can order the GH4 from B&H or Amazon. Read the full Cameralabs review.
Reader Comments (11)
isn't it amazing how much difference ergonomically simply having a working EVF makes to the ergonomics of using a DSLR again. you will believe DSLR's aren't dead.
Ok so its a DSLM
I never used to shoot without peaking on traditional camcorders, for instance the Sony EX-1, and have really missed it with Canon DSLR's. How would you say the feature compares on the GH4? Is it pretty solid at locking in focus?
Jason: Yes.
Nick: The peaking is very similar to what I've seen on Panasonic's prosumer camcorders. It's good.
I'm still very curious about 10 bit 4:2:2 coming off of the camera. Not that I can afford a 4k recorder, but you probably have a ninja lying around. I would love to see the difference for grading and noise. There are just so many positives with this tool. Each panasonic upgrade to the GH line has added many features this one seems to be the culmination of all of them. They got it right and I can actually afford it. I'm clearing off a shelf for my beloved GH2
Can't wait to see your results Stu.
The one thing I would care most about this camera: since you seem to be reasonably happy with it, and these samples look fine, I guess the cinelike gamma works well and the footage doesn't have the digital look of the GH2, right?
(slog2 is the reason for which I want an a7s; a GH4+speedbooster could be an alternative if the a7s price ends up too high)
Samuel, I think that's a reasonable concern. The dynamic range is not super great. I'm very curious about the A7S as well.
Hi Stu
Can you tell which Follow Focus is that with this two red knobs and the blue one ?
Regards
Funny I was watching Gordon's videos and then yours, I then realized they were taken in the same place, however your color grade makes it look so different.
That's the Redrock Micro microFollow Focus.
"because it seems that 4K (4096 x 2160) is only avaiable at 24.0 fps mode, not at 23.976—which is a bummer of a (seemingly artificial) limitation. There are plenty of reasons to shoot true 4K at 23.976."
-Stu isn't it possible to take the DCI 4k at 24.00 fps and conform it in Premiere to 23.976? Do you foresee any problems doing it that way?
Yes, audio sync, and sanity.