GH4

Went to an exhibition yesterday and got to have a play with the mirrorless GH4 This is quite a box of tricks.

Must say I'm pretty impressed and thinking of ditching the 5DIII. The new 14-140 HD lens might make this a great small 4K kit. Plenty of features I really like - such as 4K direct to an (upgraded) SD card, all the codecs, frame rates (will be good for slow motion in HD), image stabilisation, auto focus, zebras, peaking etc one could want. Also choice of using the screen or viewfinder - save having to use a loupe on my 5D.

Will still be 8 bit 4:2:0 though as to get 10bit 4:2:2 one needs a great big "brick" attached to the camera plus an atemos or similar plus electricity - so only a studio possibility. I think there might be a 4:2:2 8bit mode without the "brick" and just an external recorder but that was a little fuzzy and I couldn't get a definitive answer.

Looks as though it'll be out in 3 or 4 weeks and I got an inkling of the price which I think is OK.

Will be interesting to see if a 5D IV will match it but I would be surprised if it did - but I love surprises!

I am waiting for specifications of the coming(?) Canon 7D II. If it is not on par with the GH4, I will probably get the GH4 (along with an EF lens converter for my Canon glass)! The GH4 really have all the things I miss from my 7D.

I do not know if the new 14-140 HD has the quality for 4k in the Lumix. What I have heard is that for best results you need Zeiss primes. Panasonic lenses are producing banding, CA, etc. The comment was that you need lenses equivalent to Canon's L series or better. I hope my 20mm 1.7 works.

Lots of media attention last week at the BVE show. The Panasonic rep had no idea when it would be available in the UK. In fact they only had the camera on one day out of the three day event. Looks very nice.

Espiders: I have a 7D matched with the 70-200 and have a love-hate relationship with it - hate the noise (on stills) and moire - love everything else.

CinecameraTV: You may well be right and it would be a deal breaker if the 14-140 wasn't up to the job. I'd really like this outfit to work - it's ideal - light, cheap and unprofessional looking; so unobtrusive. I wonder if it would be unbalanced to have a large Canon L lens stuck on it? Would all the tricks work with L lenses (auto focus etc?)

MWHunt: In Birmingham yesterday they'd only had it for a day (although they did have plenty of bodies to play with) and were arguing between themselves over the finer points of what you need to shoot 4:2:2. 10 and 8 bit.

They had a very large Panasonic 4K TV display showing breathtaking wildlife footage taken with the camera. I do take that with a pinch of salt as I don't know what lenses were used or how much PP and whether the photographer took power to the bird hide to get 4:2:2

Videostock50, are you tempted after seeing it up close? I bet the UK price will be at least 35% more than in America.

Price in Finland is 1499.90€ - arrival in 2-4 weeks

@Videostock50 I agree with you I bought a Canon 7D for the 60p and sold it for the noise on stills, I'm still looking for that all in one stock video/photo machine and yes 4K now. Will be looking closely at the GH4 but GH2, GH3 didn't have the all in one covered am doubtful about noise on the GH4 for photos.

MWHunt: yes, am tempted but would need to see real footage from the 14-140 combo before I'd buy. Also would need to make sure my computers are up for speedy 4K processing.

Normstock: I'm in the same boat as you as I still need quality stills but, as my focus is starting to lean towards footage - as stills income drops - I think I would overlook any shortcomings in the stills department for a compact, knockout video solution. The 5DIII has everything but 4K and will stick with canon if the GH4 falls short on quality.

GH4 with new Panasonic Leica DG Nocticron 42.5mm F1.2 ASPH lense.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6F08n9BjPU

The lense: http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/panasonic_leica_dg_nocticron_42_5mm_f1_2_asph_review/

Ahhh yes that's what I am talking about.