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  I'm using Canon IS lenses with a Gorilla pod for stabilising the camera against both shoulders, with the EVF up to my eye as third point of contact for even more stabilisation. Even at 100mm it is as stable as a stable full of wooden horses.

The handling (with very good evf) allows a 3rd point of contact (your eyebrow). this alone is better than any electronic image stabilisation imo. If you use the battery grip it brings the camera to the perfect height to rest the base on your shoulder which gives even better stabilisation.

Really beautiful footage as usual Andrew! I don't have an A7S, but those LUTs also work really well on flat GH3 footage. The Greek guy's face is a bit splotchy but I think that's more to do with how much the data is being pushed. I have actually been looking for something to produce colours exactly like this. I couldn't find it in FilmConvert, Osiris or Impulz, but here it is for free! Very nice

Peter Buck!!! Rock On Reid!

I really don't know if the front ring of this lens moves but i've heard that's too heavy! You should check the Nikon 35-70 F3.3-4.5 MACRO AIS (52). It's incredibly small, light and with a fixed front ring! I have one and i love it!

I loved the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 when I had it. There's an AF/MF switch and when MF is enabled, the focus ring is really nice to use

At $495 let 'em come out with a new one. I'd want to let a new one simmer and season for a year to get the bugs out before I jump on that bandwagon. Also if they announce in September god knows when you'll see it. BM aren't exactly known for delivering on announced dates. I'm just hoping I get the back-ordered one I ordered from B&H.

The problem is 8-bit and noise when colors are pushed and the the contrast is accentuated, which accentuates the color of noise. If you must work with the footage, you can try noise reduction before the grade. If your noise reduction tool lets you profile the problem areas, maybe that would be better. You can re-add grain later if needed. If the subject doesn't move at all, you have Photoshop CC, you can run videos through Camera raw filter, put a feathered mask outside the subject, and get really heavy handed with noise reduction and 0 the saturation. Best to reshoot with a stronger fill light.

I did say to light your backgrounds better. :P I've seen this happen when the first time photographer (or seasoned photographer gets lazy, don't ask me how I know) uses only one or two lights and doesn't adequately light the background. This gives a shadow that when pushed in post gives ugh results, even in raw.

The problem is mostly chalked up to 8bit. You really picked a really tough shot to shoot right there didn't you?

Remember you're shooting 8bit 4:2:0 - unless you are exporting 10bit - I wouldn't shoot against this uniform, neutral background, this is the worst case scenario for noise. I would go brighter, pure white even, because you can still get macroblocks as you go darker against a uniform wall like that.

I don't see a banded transition between bit-depth levels, nor do I see any "rainbowing." If it were an actual banded transition between bit-depth levels, the trasition would appear sharper, and we wouldn't see all that gradation within the area in question -- there would just be more bands instead of gradation. It looks like a cast shadow from the subject onto the background. The "banding" that you might perceive is probably the umbra and penumbra of the cast shadow. It appears that you were using a large, softer and cooler source (possibly daylight balanced) and that there was warmer ambient light (possibly tungsten balanced) filling the cast shadow.

you are doing something wrong if that is the image you are getting out of the gh4

Indeed. I just finished a production for a client who entertained the notion that his quad flying shots were appropriate for his film. It was incredibly difficult to diplomatically try to inform him how to fly his toy. Ultimately, he just liked to fly the damn thing high to the point where the landscape basically looked nondescript/static and then he would just pan and tilt the camera around randomly. Augh. Some people would rather hang a painting of Kincaid in the house than a Wyeth. I just had to accept it. Lots of folks just don't get it. Their subjectivity skews toward tacky. With flying shots it's typically low, slow, and in a straight line. It's really that simple.