The Panasonic GH4 shook up the DSLR video market earlier this year with incredible features packing an impressively good on-board 4K video at an attractive sub-$2,000 price point.
It has taken the filmmaking community by storm and is easily the most popular camera at the moment, with most retailers struggling to keep it in stock. Reviews of the camera have been popping up everywhere, so we thought we’d share some in-depth reviews this week with you.
The first one is Philip Bloom’s Panasonic Lumix GH4 review. He finally released his own in-depth video version review, almost a month after he has posted the “evolving” review of the camera on his site philipbloom.net.
As usual, he covers the pros and cons of the camera from his perspective and own point of view. He mentions being really impressed by the efficient codec of the camera, especially in 4K recording mode.
According to him it is 4 times more efficient than the 4K recording mode of the Canon 1DC in terms of file size and usability.
See Philip Bloom’s in-depth video below.
The ability to output 10-bit 4:2:2 signal puts GH4 in a very unique position. There are no other DSLRs on the market currently that can do that. In contrast, the upcoming 4K capable Sony A7s has an 8bit on board 1080p codec (4:2:2 50mbps XAVC-S), and even the 4K out of the HDMI output of the A7s is still in an 8-bit colour space.
The 10-bit 4:2:2 output is usually a feature featured in the higher models of the professional cameras such as the Sony PMW-F5/F55, which are in a completely different and upper price range.
He also shares his 4K movie he has shot in Thailand on his GH4 that is quite impressive. Check it out below.
He also confirms that the life of the battery in GH4 is very efficient as well, especially compared to those in the Blackmagic cameras.
However, one of the big downsides of GH4 is not the battery life, but the small-sized sensor which in 4K mode has 2.3 crop factor compared to 1.3x in the same mode on the Canon 1DC.
All GH4 users should keep in mind that the low-light sensitivity of the micro-four thirds sensor GH4 has produces a lot of noise while shooting low-light scenes, especially in 4K mode.
It is a very special camera! It brings 4K to the masses in a very affordable way.
That is one of the conclusions Philip Bloom makes near the end of his video review.
Last week another great video review of GH4 made a lot of buzz on the web and became viral in a way. It easily grows to more than 50,000 views thanks to the in-depth view and hard work of Dave Dougdale of LearningDSLRVideo.com, whose work and website, we’re big fans of.
Here’s Dave Dougdale’s in-depth perspective review of the GH4:
In Summary, here are some of the main topics he covers:
- 1:26 — No Zacuto Viewfinder Required
- 2:39 — Skin tones
- 3:05 — Slow Motion
- 3:45 — 4K Detail
- 6:09 – GH4 vs Red Epic
- 7:33 — Everything not in focus at f/16?
- 8:19 — Sensor Size
- 16:43 — ISO Tests
- 18:42 – CineLikeD
- 19:48 — Dynamic Range
- 20:40 — Pushing the Grade
- 22:05 — Motion Blur
- 22:50 — Aliasing
- 23:41 — Rolling Shutter
- 25:09 — Focus
- 26:22 — Time Lapse
- 26:37 — Construction
- 27:18 — 4K Pan/Scan
- 28:06 — Stills
- 30:14 — 4K Advantages
- 31:59 — Things I Don’t Like
- 36:14 — Magic Lantern Raw?
- 36:51 — Sony A7S?
- 38:07 – C100?
- 39:19 — Conclusion: Why I am leaving Canon?
Dave also did a tutorial video on downsampling from 4K to 1080p on the GH4, which is really useful as well. Check it out:
After all, GH4 is a very special and unique camera indeed.
It is really affordable and produces unbeatable 4K video images (in-camera) in term of quality and resolution. Will see how it is going to sell through the year. It is clear though, the GH4 is a milestone for the video DSLR market and is certainly the best “price-to-performance” DSLR (DMC) out there at the moment.
We’d be sure to share with you more of great review for not only the GH4 but other exciting DSLR’s and 4K cameras in the coming weeks.
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