Jacob Nielsen

Waiting for my A7s ii and a Shogun to arrive... This thread mentions several cameras. But does anyone know if this HDMI issue still includes the A7S ii after the latest FW update? One of my main purposes for getting the Shogun is to be able to shoot long interviews and concerts with the A7s ii just streaming the HDMI in "idle" mode to the Shogun. I hope I don't need to bother with internal recording - in order just to prevent this "waxy skin" issue. Jacob

Yes - 10 bit output disables internal recording - so that's certainly an issue to be aware of.

Ahh - I see the confusion now because wasn't clear in my description. Camera menu says: HDMI Rec Outpu t> 4K Down Convert > Auto/1080p/off It was set to 1080. If set to OFF, it doesn't receive a signal, so Ninja Blade is not compatible with an HDMI 4K signal. Be aware that the 4K > 1080p scaling on GH4 introduces a pronounced delay - I would guess around 1/2 a second or 12-14 frames. So for action related shots, I would guess it could be an issue. I'm using it for static concert filming, so I guess I will be getting used to this delay. Focusing feels a little sluggish though.

Just got a hint that my GH4/NinjaBlade tests were discussed! Yes - it's NOT the Ninja Blade downscaling. The scaling appears on the HDMI output side of the GH4, and I think the GH4 does this scaling extremely well. I wanted a quicker workflow than internally 4k/8bit>downscaling in Premiere and more edit friendly files from start. If you watch my moiré test, you would perhaps still want to record 4k internally and downscaling in post if you want the most moiré-free result, but those tests were setup to absolutely worst-case-scenario. So I think the choice to record 4K internally or to use an external recorder to get those lovely 10 bit ProRes files from start depends on either dealing with a more heavy and not-so-discrete rig setup in recording or dealing with the more heavy post workflow downscaling those 4K H264 clips. They don't run very smooth on my timeline, where as we all now those prores files just play like a joy! One issue however: It seems that you will only be able to record a true progressive signal if recording mode is set to 24 Hz. I hope this will be fixed in upcoming firmware updates from Atomos. If recording from especially 50 Hz in PAL mode, GH4 always will send an interlaced signal, (and only in AVCHD mode), and no matter how I interpret those files in Premiere, they don't look as nice as 24p. Perhaps others have tested this and got better results? Best, Jacob.

The first two were CineD, Contrast -5, Sharpen -3, Curve: Shadow +2/Highlights -2, Two girls/Tamron I think was at 70mm non-speedboosted at f 2.8 The last was CineV, Contrast -5, Sharpen -5, Noise Reduction -5, Pedestal +15

Some ungraded tests for you to examine. UHD/HDMI 10 bit > Ninja Blade ProRes HQ. https://www.dropbox.com/s/9mt8hkrfk6hepj0/GH4%20UHD-Ninja%20Blade%2010bit%20test%20footage.mov

Yes a tiny little bit more moiré, but its' so subtle I guess it will NEVER be an issue. I posted the most ugly moiré generating scene - I know ;-) Will post some "real" UHD>Blade footage in a minute. It's really beautiful for sure!!

Hi Gzig - here is a small test I made to test the aliasing in various scenarios. Internal 1080p / 1080p to Ninja Blade / Internal 4K / 4K to Ninja Blade. I used 24p, since there is issues with 50Hz and 60Hz to get a real progressive feed. Passw: aliasing

There is one workaround to avoid the transcoding process to ProRes - however you will not be able to record the original 4K files this way. Record in UltraHD directly to an external recorder like Atomos Ninja Blade. Set HDMI output to 10bit, you will not be able to record internally, but it will stream a very beautiful 10 bit 1080 24p stream directly to your recorder, far sharper and with less aliasing than the internal 1080p mode. However there is an issue with especially 50Hz (and some 60Hz modes), since Ninja Blade will only record a 1080i stream in AVCHD mode. To take advantage of full progressive you need to go into 24Hz.