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  Well you could rewind Bloom's argument to the standard def era and say you absolutely must have 1080p but don't need it, shoot 480p.   Practical considerations over creativity.   Creativity is about discovering the new technology and applying it in interesting ways. I can see that if you turned up for a spec shoot for a client and they only needed a 480p master, it would be silly to take your 1080p camera to the job and that is really what Philip Bloom is getting at. Nothing more.   What Panasonic need to do is move way beyond the GH2 hack era. Get rid of the need for Vitaliy (he's awful!) give us reliable high performance out of the box. The GH3 didn't go far enough from the GH2 hack in terms of image quality. To have a community based around a Russian hacker rather than your own camera features is nuts.

This is shot using the D800, DSO Trump FF58 with Oval aperture, the new flare sex filter and towards the end the Iscorama 1.5X anamorphic lens mounted inside the Trump for a 2X oval bokeh.   https://vimeo.com/76912854   Some images of the trump I'll grab one with the iscorama in there too.        

And what about Global Shutter?   IMHO in order to compete against BMC 4K they would need to offer global shutter.   Simon.

Shhhhiiiit.... If you pack these specs in a Gh body I can walk around with for $3k, let's do it. This whole 8 bit thing needs to just go away Though. Seriously. The technology is there. Just, be done with it already. I hope by the end of next year i never see that spec on an announcement again, because to me, what's the sense in packing a camera with a 4k, 200+ Mbps codec and bottle necking it with 8-bit? So you can see all of that banding in pristine quality? (1-DC?).

Sounds like more opinions, man.   I remember the first time I saw the team from BBC America covering the Dr. Who premiere in NY a couple of years ago... they wanted to get footage of the event for a promo spot, it was a 2-man team. One guy had a wind-screened boom mic and hip recorder, the other had what appeared to be a 5D on a light shoulder rig. Grabbed some footage and answers to questions, in and out with the crowd, and left. Since then, I've noticed less and less full-sized cameras at similar events, even weddings. I think it safe to say that perhaps YOU DO'T KNOW WHAT SOMEONE ELSE'S DREAM CAMERA IS, so your opinions are just that- opinions.      You keep saying that, but it doesn't make it true. Are there some limitations? Sure. Are they drastic? Heck no, or else we wouldn't be using them, and looking for new ones to use as well! The workflow is different from my ENG days, that's for sure. But its not harder, just different. And I've been much happier with the picture quality, and have no intention of going back anytime soon.     Ok, we agree! That's why I'm not looking at RAW cameras! Fact of the matter is, not everyone shooting with these hybrids are strictly using them for film making. Remember the DVX100? That camera was a smash hit for both film makers and documentarians. There's often more than one camp of users for a particular product, but here one side of this group is looking down on the other and saying this equipment isn't for us. Which, quite frankly, is weird.    Good thing I don't really find myself flipping through menus, then! I don't own a GH3, but on the GH2 I have shortcuts assigned to the function buttons, and manual aperture control on the lens. Only buttons I need to press is to change ISO, which really doesn't change much once the session begins. But sure, continue to tell me what works and what doesn't for me.   :)   The GH2's preamp shared the same specs and noise floor as the HMC-150. There have been some pretty interesting tests on that. They likely just used the same chip for mass-production, which means- yes, the GH2's audio is actually quite good. But you wouldn't know that, because most people just assume it isn't and don't bother trying it. The problem is that there wasn't a way to monitor it, so even if the preamp quality and noise range is good, I wouldn't trust it for a production. That's why I generally have dual system audio. But if the GH3's is even close to the same specs, and offers a way to monitor on the body- yes, why not?    Guilty admission: One of my first DSLR gigs was recording an interview for a talkshow on network television. There was a problem with my recorder, but Magic Lantern had just come out with audio monitoring for Canon DSLRs. In a pinch, I hooked it up and went with it. I turned the camera's preamps down to zero, and fed as hot of a pre-amplified audio into the camera as I could (using sennheiser wireless lav system and adjusting the AF out level) so it was just under red-lining and peaking, that way I could avoid the camera's weak amp as much as possible. I just hoped for the best. In-camera audio from a Canon DSLR (which has admittedly the lowest quality preamps of any video-enabled camera I've ever seen). I was really nervous it would come out like garbage. But you know what? It didn't. They accepted and aired the clip.  Since that moment, I've been very skeptical about those who say what you can and can't do- what's good enough and what isn't. A lot of people like to be snobs about things they haven't actually tried doing. You just assume the audio can't be good enough because logically any small camera without XLR inputs MUST be subpar, right?? ::rolls eyes::     What I don't miss, is running the tape through a firewire deck and waiting for it to transfer in real time. Perhaps I shouldn't have referred to that as logging. My mistake. Either way, a DSLR workflow in post is FAR simpler than those days, but we didn't complain about the tedious steps back then- why start now? How spoiled are we?       Sorry- I didn't mean to start an NLE debate. Its just that I've never needed to transcode anything to anything on this job, and I've been doing it since before DV tapes were standard. That's something I regularly hear my colleagues working with FCP 7 complaining about, and it was an unfair assumption that everyone needs to transcode as part of their workflow. If people like FCPX and don't find that they need to perform extra steps, power to them! I'm a big fan of being platform agnostic- whatever works for you, go with it!  If you find that you prefer to use a different camera because the footage out of your camera doesn't play nicely with your NLE, than I might consider switching to a more friendly NLE without such limitations. Otherwise, the more the merrier!   I hear you. I don't see many people saying the 8 bit 4:2:0 is BETTER- rather, I see people saying the RAW workflow isn't worth the extra effort. I think everyone agrees that if everything else was the same, 12 bit RAW has more color information and lattitude, I mean its just simple mathematics. But like that guy on the previous page who is the producer of a Discovery TV show, sometimes it isn't worth all that effort and work in post to get something that arguably may not look any different to the audience at the end of the day.

Steps to becoming a fanboy/girl (or any kind of ideologue): 1. Invest time, money or effort into something 2. Ignore all evidence that might subsequently call the wisdom of that investment into question so as to maintain faith in one's own judgement   This doesn't work for people who would rather weed out the mistakes in their beliefs than cling to an illusion of infallibility.

  Where do i start!?   I started off using Sony cameras around 20years ago when I worked as a corporate shooter. Betacam, BetaSP, Digibeta....I suppose I was a Sony fanboy because they had the best cameras and formats back then. I then worked as a camera assistant (high budget) and operator (lower budget) on music videos and promos all shot on 35mm. The cameras we went for 90% of the time were Arri 435 & 535's. So I guess I was an Arri fanboy? Then the 5D came out and for my own personal use (and a lot of paid work) I used the 5DII so I guess I became a Canon fanboy? Nine months ago I used a GH3 on a shoot and was sold on one. Went out and bought one a week later. I guess that makes me a Panasonic fanboy now? Or, do I just choose the tool that I feel is right for the job regardless of brand? I am not a 'fanboy' here defending Panasonic to justify my purchase.   I good camera is more than just the end image. What if the camera you were using hindered your ability to capture that image in the first place? The BM cameras may be great for narrative where you can do retake after retake but imagine shooting something that needed to be captured first time with no second chances and then your card being full because the camera gives no indication how much remaining time or space the card has? Your end image doesn't exist, no amount of DR or bit depth will get back that shot you missed. Going back 20years I can't remember a camera that didn't give the operator any visual indication of remaining media. You could, I suppose, ask the interviewee to re-say that last response to the question but how unprofessional does that make you look in front of them and your producer?   I find it amazing how new technology makes people forget their art. VFX aside, an 8bit camera can generate fantastic images if you know what your doing. All of a sudden everyone wants RAW so that they don't have to white balance, can get sloppy on exposure etc. Yes, RAW has it's place but many of the productions I work on don't want me to hand over RAW files.   The BMPCC is almost a fantastic camera, if BM can fix a few of its querks as well as reliability then it would be a cheap camera to complement the GH3.

I stumbled on this video and it displays perfectly the biggest flaw that I had the displeasure to work with on that camera: https://vimeo.com/76824060 *** EDIT WITH WORKAROUND *** There is a clever trick to work around this issue. Thanks to Axel for digging it up. Since the bmcc records raw, and when shooting raw you keep the actual recorded footage of the sensor, and an adjustment such as iso, is only kept written alongside the file in the metadata, what you can do is lower the iso until your image becomes decent. In post you can then bring it back down to the native 800iso. Not a perfect fix, as we would need to know how much of an increment we would need to exactly counter the screen displayed over exposure, but a nice workaround. *** EDIT WITH WORKAROUND *** When you work as a dp on a film, You need the best visual feedback possible through the monitor in order to frame and work on your lighting adequately. Does not need to be perfectly accurate, but the more the better, especially when working with lighting equipment to adjust your lighting. You need proper feedback of how soft your fill light is, how strong your rim light and with what fall off etc... And you need to have the vectorscope, as the visual feedback fools you in terms of recorded data, to get the best exposure possible on your camera, and make decisions on what you want to preserve, whether highlights or shadow or a balance of both, if the situation demands it. Now with the bmcc, you have to extremely over expose your image to get best image quality. The result is a completely washed out image through the monitor, good luck properly fine tuning your different lights with that. And you have to disregard the vectorscope, because if you use it to expose properly you will actually be underexposed. You have instead to completely over expose until you see zebras, meaning no proper control over exposure. This is a major flaw, no professional camera should disregard the vectorscope and provide such inaccurate visual feedback. Now let me know if I missed something here

You people crack me up. You finally get an affordable 4K Panasonic GH model that you've been begging years for, finally has ALL the video-specific features for audio, proper codec, MFT lens, portable ergonomics... and your first reaction?   "No ND filter?!  WORTHLESS!"   Ungrateful kids...   *curmudgeon curmudgeon*

  True, but don't forget this thing has peaking built into the body. The desire for an external screen is more for director/producer monitors, and other off-camera monitoring. Also, I want to see the framing and composition on a larger screen, and the ability to tap focus with an AF lens is extraordinary!

I rate the rumor high as well. Been waiting for this to break.   What I really want to know is, will it be switchable to a 4:3 aspect ratio?   I know this request from the pro community was lodged with Panasonic. I just hope they implemented it.   Like Andrew and many other anamorphic zealots, I'd be very, very happy to finally shoot ~2.35   Keep us posted, Andrew.   Thanks

My wish list: everything as 'rumored', plus built in ND, and GLOBAL SHUTTER!

Cool Small Rig Seb :) The video has your typical touch, I like it!

I use a Dell U2711, and it's very good

Andrew,   Thanks for the review. I'm curious about Canon 50D -- I remember you took some interest in ML implementation on that camera.   Some time ago I made a brief comparison in terms of DR between BMCC and Canon 50D (it was published at ML forum), and my wild guess was that 50D is 1-1.5 stop behind BMCC in terms of DR.   So what do you think of 50D? Don't you think it would be a more appropriate choice over 7D? Thanks for your opinion in advance!   PLEASE PLEASE notice this post buried in fan-boys' nice fights ))

What are the requirements for electronic ND?   Few cameras have it but it makes a world of difference so I'm just trying to figure why there are not more cameras with that, even more the ones made for video, when you wouldn't want to increase the shutter for most situations.

Now this sounds absolutely awesome! Please be true.    I love the GH3 and its brilliant ergonomics and functionality. These are important factors that the BMD cameras severely lack. They create beautiful images but are a complete pain in the ass.    I see the AG-GH4 as the ideal camera with current technology. 4k can be down sampled to 1080p for a better image, and also offer choices in post with framing.    From my professional experience with BMD cameras (not hobbyist), I see them only as a serious film narrative tool. I think the AG-GH4 takes the best of all worlds (on paper that is).    The only thing i don't see is high frame rates...surely this will be added at lower resolutions? (120fps please?) That addition would make it one of the best cameras on the market.   So an announcement at NAB 2014 maybe? Wonder what BMD have up their sleeve? (absolutely no firmware updates but 67 new cameras hehe)

Speed Booster gives it a larger than Super 35mm sensor so I really don't think that's a problem.

  Why? AF series ergonomics are outdated. Small cameras is where it's at. Just look at the Epic. Easier to rig and easier to customise. More stealthy too. The only thing I miss from the AF100 is the built in ND filter. Exposure is important. Every camera should have it.

Very interesting, they seem to be the only Japanese manufacturer (perhaps apart from Olympus to some degree) ready to try and fill the gap that Blackmagic is currently catering to...that's very interesting. There is no doubt that the BMCC and pocket cinema camera captures beautiful footage, but it will be interesting how Panasonic does all the other stuff...(smaller file sizes that grade well, ergonomics, screen etc..). I am hoping for some high frame rates as well, perhaps in 2K? that would be awesome.. If they get all that right, this will be a winner for them...if it's true! 

I think the problem is getting the message through that an 8 bit 4.2.0 camera just cannot compete with 12 bit RAW and yet weirdly there are those who say not only that it can but that it is better. You either have to think those people are a bit thick or fanboys. The best you can say about it is that if you work with the image by exposing and lighting correctly you could end up with an end product that can look as good for the end user. But so many times now fanboy arguments muddy the water.

You are right, and it's *scrubbing*, not *scratching*, I think Adobe calls it 'hover scrub' (well, it's not exactly the same and somewhat limited yet). I like Adobe for many reasons, and I think everybody has a reason to stay loyal to his choice. Like to my reliable GH2  :wub:       On the long run. Meanwhile, all owners of AVCHD junk must not feel inferior, that was the point I was trying to make.

  Yes indeed, they all copy each other. Premiere CC now has thumbnails in Bridge or browser that scrub spontaneously exactly as you describe, it just gives you other options as well. Media Composer is pretty limiting however because of the plug-in structure, but it has benefits for those working in broadcast and similar.    It is a bit silly as you say for there to be snobbery lines drawn between footage formats. Soon I have two shoots, one is using Red Epics in Redcode Raw, the other using Canon 550Ds! It's all about what's right for the job! I enjoy using both.   AVCHD 28/24mbps does need to die though. No one needs footage that small these days, it's a bit rate from another age, in Moore's Law terms.

I think the problem is so many people think that if you remind folks that you can get a great image out of a 8-bit camera, that means we are saying one is better than the other. Not the case. For me, I just wanted to remind people that in the end - a camera is a tool - and while the BMPCC has more DR and a better codec - the camera doesnt make the filmmaker. (And I'm speaking from as a filmmaker).   Personally, I feel like we can't get wrapped up in the gear envy consumerism that has increased expotentially over the last few years. I've worked with alot of gear and equipment that might have provided great features but at the sacrifice of other key options. For me, I'll wait and see what comes out of the Pocket Cam over the next year.   Everyone has their opinion. From my experience, Magic Lantern RAW is awesome. Produces beautiful clean image, but to really take advantage of it, you need to get the 5D Mark III. And the files are very large. Even for narrative short films like I do on a small scale - this would be highly expensive: hard-drives, CF cards, and the time to process such data on a massive scale. I'm an Executive Producer for a Discovery TV Show and to shoot in RAW at the amount of footage we capture during an 10 hour day would be rediculous. We'd have to have to expand our building to just accommodate the harddrive-farm.   Pocket Cam has a beautiful film-like image. And I'll probably end up purchasing one if it can stand the test of time. While it has a wider dynamic range and in a 10bit ProRes file - it comes at the cost of a lack of audio meters, a lack of a hot-shoe mount, a lack of anykind of weather resistant design, the lack of a full white-balance control, equipped with a viewscreen that reflects everything, equipped with a firmware that doesn't allow you to control your iris (without a ND filter), and riddled with SD card compatibility issues. Definitely not something I would want to buy on a run and gun shooting like I do for a living or even for narrative when every minute you are spending money on cast and crew. I'd like to know the tool that I use is going to work. Not randomly drop frames or not even read a card.   Additionally, I would hate to spend that 'easy' $1k and then Blackmagic devalue the product next year at NAB like they did with it's big-brother.   I'd also like to just say that everything you watch on the internet, either Vimeo, Netflix, Youtube, DVD, and most HDTV's are in 8-Bit.   

  Short film 'Choices'. The hopeful junior filmmaker imagines a battle of the top low budget camera toys, filmed in stop-motion-like animation, using AAEs puppet tool. Dialogs from Rocky? Boxring represented by Andrews table? The Pocket beats the GH3 and the 7D to pieces. The 5D says: 'We won, it's over.' The Pocket answers: 'It ain't over til it's over' - and kicks the 5D over the edge. It falls with the Wilhelms scream, hits the ground and falls apart. The filmmaker takes the Pocket and smiles, the Pocket smiles back. They leave, iris fade-out, THE END. Must find a better ending. 

That Sofoly clip is lovely, well executed and graded.   It's also flooded with light, we are talking a bout a very very low contrast scene, which does play to a compressed camera's strengths.   It's when you work with higher contrast ratios then the raw cameras wipe the floor with 8-bit squishy cams, it's just a fact   As far as the test was concerned I liked the 5D MKiii, The shadows appear much cleaner than pocket cams for high-contrast scenes, though I agree 100% with Andrew that the 5D colour needs taming, it's extremely rich.

This article as many shoot out reviews do, has evoked many fan boy comments, it's almost like a comment section from IGN on the Xbox One vs PS4 debate.  it's clear that a lot of people on here aren't really being objective. The GH3 users are here to convince everyone and themselves that GH3 is king, even though it isn't. The GH3 produces a nice image and it's easy to use = best camera. I don't think so. 5DM3 is a fantastic camera and RAW makes it a beast, but again, is it the best RAW cinema camera? possibly but you also have to remember Magic lantern is not canon, if Magic lantern were to stop doing what they're doing, it would all be over. Which leads me onto my next point, it's a hack, so paid Jobs are something you most likely would never use it on. And before people start saying you would never use RAW on a paid job anyway? says who, you? a lot of people here seem to speak in absolutes. I work on paid Jobs and use RAW, but I do it with a BMCC. The workflow is a lot easier than converting the RAW files from canon DSLRs. Also it's not hacked, the software works with the hardware and it was intended to from the get go. I   I've been a DSLR shooter for years, Before that if I wanted the cinematic look, I had to set up a rail system with a 35mm adaptor from Redrock Micro with the Sony EX3 . What we can do now, it's mind blowing.   Again A lot of users here seem to be speaking in absolutes, like my way is the only way and what i'm saying is true because i've used X Y and Z camera therefore I know better. GH3 users saying the GH3 is the best because it's just as cinematic and it's so easy to set up and use with minimal accessories. What has ease of use have to do with the final image?    I'm a narrative and advertisement film maker, we use blackmagic because despite their flaws, they work well and the final image is great, for people saying the 5DM3 blows it away in low light, I work in a stuido and we have lights, I thinnk huge sensors have made people lazy, not using lights because the sensor can cope in low light. I never shoot anything that doesn't have a proper lighting. We also have 5DM3 on set but we don't use them for filming in raw because it's paid. Why use RAW, you don't need it you say? we do because we do a lot of green screen work, I'm also a visual effects artist, anyone who is will know that working with 8 bit 4:2:0 DSLR footage will know it's terrible for keying, and before people say, I can key DSLR footage and it looks great, let me tell you, there is a big difference between, it looks ok, and something that looks professional.   I think people are downplaying a lot of what blackmagic does, Take the pocket cinema camera which I own (FAN BOY TALKING), It's under $1000 and shoots Prores 422 and will soon Shoot 12bit RAW CinemaDNG. No other camera does that, The GH3 is a lot easier to use and it produces fanastic images, it's also got a great view finder and it's files are smaller and easier to manage, guess what, I don't care about any of that stuff, I and my clients care about the end image, not how I got there, just what it is. The GH3 does not produce better images, I don't care what you say, it just doesn't. For me colour grading matters a lot, and RAW enables me to push it much further than any non hacked DSLR, the GH3 crumbles if you push it too much in the grading department. Even the pocket cams prores grades beautifully without RAW.   I thought I would just give a different perspective, I wasn't going to comment but I seen too many GH3 users saying why the GH3 is good enough and overall a better camera when you factor in it's easy of use. Like that's all that matters. I read someone saying in regards to Dynamic range, there was only a little difference between the 5D and the BMPCC, i'm sorry but I can tell a huge difference.    I know i'll probably get shot down but i'm sorry I think a lot of people are missing the point, which is the end image. For run and gunners, yeah the GH3 is the way to go. For me, at the moment Blackmagic is my brand, expecting good things from the 4K version.

Absolutely, and I hate wisenheimers as well, must be my shadow.   The poor threadstarter has given up long ago.   That was my first experience with greenscreen: I read a book about Final Cut 2 in 2001 and chroma keying was mentioned. It looked easy. I had a bright green folder on my desk which I taped on the door. I put my VX1000 (DV PAL) on the tripod. I painted red color over my wrist, focussed on my hand and made a strangling gesture. Then I filmed myself, mimicking being strangled. Of course I had 'the hand of horror' in mind. Compositing was a matter of trial and error. I had to deinterlace before I scaled the hand, I had to get rid of the arm, I had to add the cut area with the bone (Photoshop) and animate it. It was far from perfect, but it was big fun. It was diffuse daylight, and though my hand was close to the folder, I only had a few frames with spill. I simply cut them out, that looked even more creepy (funny, actually).   I recommend a playful, respectless start. If you haven't done it and only read about all things that let it go wrong, you'll be discouraged.

They want to sell what they can develop relatively easily, CODECs and chips, instead of what really diminishes the quality of most video, from production to display--low dynamic range and as NTSC used to be mocked as, "Never The Same Color" twice.  That said, I doubt consumer video will change much, in that regard.  Data requirements just too high.  What Panasonic could do is allow Vitaliy to hack the GH line into producing RAW video.  Doubt that would ever be a press release though!

Hello everyone, I worked as a dp on this short by Remo Pini.   It was with the bmcc 2k version, my first time using this camera.   If you have any questions let me know   http://vimeo.com/72492685