jonpais

@Julian You can certainly get more bang for the buck with a desktop than with a laptop! Resolve is one hungry little beast... Even in their user manual, many of the sections begin with something like, "if your computer isn't powerful enough...", or something to that effect. And just to clarify, I can edit in Resolve, but not at peak performance.

@sunyata: say jnorman cancelled his GH4 order and got a BMPCC instead: wouldn't the workflow place even greater demands on his computer? (I'm assuming RAW here). I don't think he could even edit in Resolve unless he made some pretty serious upgrades (graphics card, RAM, etc.). I know that my 2013 MacBook Retina 15" with 8GB RAM is insufficient. And even with FCPX, if you plan to use plug-ins like Neat Video or LUTs, 16GB should be considered a minimum. I'm just asking... I suppose, just like >Bartek Beben's post asking for camera advice, it would be useful to know what kind of shooting and editing the OP does or plans to do in order to make a meaningful recommendation. We also got to hear some great guitar playing as a result :)

I'm not familiar with think pads... Could you add at least 4GB RAM and replace the hard drive with a 256GB SSD? It shouldn't cost more than $350 or so and would improve your performance dramatically.

There really are so many variables: different codecs, NLEs, how long your projects will be, etc. I know several filmmakers have successfully edited 4K on underspecced machines by lowering screen resolution and creating proxies. Here is a link that may prove helpful for both laptop and desktop requirements for editing 4K. http://www.videomaker.com/article/17135-editing-in-4k-minimum-system-requirements I guess whether you choose to work with media on the computer's drive or an external solution really comes down to personal preference. So if your external drive has low read and write speeds, it would make sense to use the computer's drive. As for shooting in 1080p or 4K, the latter is going to require enormous amounts of storage space - I think that's something all of us are going to struggle with soon enough.

@Ivan @Andy I've been obsessing over what seems to be veiling flare whenever I shoot with the 12-35mm. The 35-100mm images don't seem to suffer from this, but of course, I usually crop so tight with it that there isn't any strong backlighting to deal with. I guess I've been worrying about nothing.

Can I ask what storage you are using?

Here's a screen grab from a shoot I did this afternoon. Settings: 24p, MOV, Natural, -4, -4, -3, -5. Is this normal, or does my lens suffer from too much flare? It was shot somewhere between f/2.8 and f/4. If necessary, I can upload the actual video file. Thanks in advance! https://copy.com/PCfBtM4kn73B

@shotbyshaun I don't believe anyone definitively answered your initial question regarding an external drive. At least, I know I didn't! I've been doing some research myself since placing an order for the 27" iMac and realized that for editing, you should ALWAYS store your original media on an external, not the boot drive. I looked at lots of RAID devices out there and realized that even some of the better known brands have their unhappy customers, often because of poor after sales service. I also realized that with many of them, the transfer speeds weren't anywhere near what I expected from a RAID system. I don't think you said whether you planned to edit 4K or not in the future (and it's not really important, since it's always better to plan for the unexpected), but you've got to have some pretty quick storage for editing anything other than SD or HD in real time. For that reason, I've decided to pick up the soon to be released LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2, which houses two Samsung SSDs. With Thunderbolt 2, read and write speeds are off the map. Of course, since the 2013 iMacs only have Thunderbolt, speeds will be a touch slower. I don't intend to use the drive for my main storage, just for speedy editing. Since you're not getting a Mac, and the LaCie alone would kill your budget, you'll have to find another solution, but remember that a good external drive is crucial (no pun intended) to good performance. Edit: I see HurtinMinorKey did offer some excellent advice concerning drives if you just plan to stick with the G6. In fact, since watching >this video, I'm wondering if I'm crazy for wanting to purchase the GH4.

Seriously good work. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the welcome. As for what is and isn't acceptable, maybe an exchange I just had with Vitaliy from p.v. could be instructive. I PM'd him to say that a member had referred to Andrew Dean, who'd posted an admittedly frustrating test of the GH4 on YouTube as a dumbass. Vitaliy's response? Vitaliy_Kiselev 12:30PM "dumb is just English word, it is dumb to do something sometimes? yes. and he did not call Andrew dumbass, in fact he wrote exactly opposite. [Either the poster or V had quickly edited the comment - JP] btw, to your shock - we even allow such words as fuck, cunt and motherfucker here. go figure." I wished him a happy birthday and told him I wouldn't be contributing to his site any longer.

@Axel what does the exclamation mark mean? That it's surprisingly expensive? Or inexpensive?

Don't the Big Balance gimbals look suspiciously like the Gazer products at Kickstarter? Which looked suspiciously like the Mastor Tech gimbals that never saw the light of day... Anyhow, aside from their plastic appearance, the Big Balance might be good value. We still know very little about these stabilizers, they're not put in the hands of reviewers every day like cameras. Emm over at Cheesy Cam seems to like the Came stabilizers from China. They are also reasonably inexpensive. I'm still waiting for a gimbal to fly my GM1 since Mastor Tech's vanished into thin air.

I'll have to see if I can't get my hands on one, though I've already settled on the GH4. Sony is pretty well represented here, Panasonic is impossible to find, it looks like they're not interested in the Vietnamese market. In fact, I'll have to fly to Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur next month to buy the GH4.

I just watched the Camera Store review of the AX100. Apparently, the hotshoe will only work with proprietary microphones, etc. It is almost flush with the body, so impossible to use a Rode mic without some sort of adaptor. I guess the focus assist is also awkwardly placed for something all of us would probably be using on a regular basis. Still, quite nice image quality.

I'd like to know who this guy is too. Am I the only one who finds the word 'dude' offensive?

Yeah, I've seen the derogatory posts over at POV. But they never seem to tire of referring to your blog. Interesting...

I looked for your posts - were they deleted? Anyhow, I wouldn't sweat it, Andrew. With that and another forum dominated by the likes of pricks like Vic Harris (one of many poster/posers these days who begin every comment with 'dude', then proceed to berate other contributors), I wouldn't pay it any mind.

Between the GH4 and the iMac I just ordered, I guess I won't be retiring any time soon!

Anyhow, why would anyone buy a camera, knowing full well it doesn't have certain features - focus peaking, zebras, etc. - then complain about the lack of those very features? I really don't get it at all! And if you have a specific problem with the camera, you should get in touch with Panasonic and I'm sure they'll make it right - unless you had a bad experience with customer service, I don't think the forums are the place to bring up an isolated incident like that. But that's just me!

Sounds great. I'm sure I'll have questions for you once I actually have the camera in my hands. Any idea about the processing power required to handle 10 bit 4:4:4? Same as 4K?

Re: newsshooter video Anyone out there read lips?

@dafreaking Just what other benchmark do you propose we use for 4K at the moment?

@Julian too much time between announcement and shipment? this doesn't make any sense at all. It seems to me that a two or three month window is perfect. It gives a chance for pros to handle the camera and give their input to Panasonic. To the best of my knowledge, Panasonic's release of the GH4 is some of the best marketing in the camera sector I've ever seen. It also appears that Panasonic has really been listening to what videographers have had to say about the camera. And regardless of what Sony turns out, there's no way it will have the wealth of features the GH4 can boast.

What's with the 'dude'? it's pretty disrespectful, Will

ProRes LT is going to be very easy on your system. Beats spending $3,000 for an upgrade. :)