Buying a GH4 toward the end of 2016 pointless?

[ThomHaig]

Hey everyone,

I was hoping to get some advice / opinions on a potential purchasing decision:

At present I own a Panasonic G7, Metabones EF / XL and a a few Canon lenses. I'm considering upgrading camera body. I love the G7, and intend to hold on to it, but for a few things I've done recently I've been wanting a headphone input - I've just been going on faith that the audio will be ok.

Now, I know someone selling a GH4 with a couple of manual lenses as bundle at what I think is a pretty good price. I know the new camera hype has recently gone crazy in the aftermath of Photokina, but regardless, is an upgrade from a G7 to a GH4 worth it? Or am I better off getting some kind of mic input (suggestions?) for the G7?

From what I can tell, aside from the headphone jack, the advantages would be better slow motion, vlog profile, nicer body design, weather sealing, at the cost of some high ISO performance.

Would really appreciate any input! Thanks.

[ozmorphasis]

Only worth it if you find a really good deal used, which is definitely possible.  Otherwise, you're not getting that much more camera than the G7.  Does your G7 have the 30 min limit?  That's a pretty big one for me.  

 

Then again, if you need a headphone jack, you need a headphone jack.  Can't argue with that.

[ThomHaig]

Thanks for getting back to me. Yeah, I'm weighing up if it's that good a deal.

Having a European model, I think my G7 does have a 30 min record limit. That said, I've not had to shoot anything longer than 30 mins so far.

[funkyou86]

1 hour ago, ThomHaig said:

Hey everyone,

I was hoping to get some advice / opinions on a potential purchasing decision:

At present I own a Panasonic G7, Metabones EF / XL and a a few Canon lenses. I'm considering upgrading camera body. I love the G7, and intend to hold on to it, but for a few things I've done recently I've been wanting a headphone input - I've just been going on faith that the audio will be ok.

Now, I know someone selling a GH4 with a couple of manual lenses as bundle at what I think is a pretty good price. I know the new camera hype has recently gone crazy in the aftermath of Photokina, but regardless, is an upgrade from a G7 to a GH4 worth it? Or am I better off getting some kind of mic input (suggestions?) for the G7?

From what I can tell, aside from the headphone jack, the advantages would be better slow motion, vlog profile, nicer body design, weather sealing, at the cost of some high ISO performance.

Would really appreciate any input! Thanks.

I switched from t3i to GH4, it was a big jump in quality, you might not feel it if you're switching from the G7. The 4K is the same on both cameras, gh4's got better 1080p and slowmo and of course the headphone jack. Do your calculations and ask yourself does the investment worth it or is it just for your own comfort. IMO go for it.

[JazzBox]

GH4 has also a nice HDMI output that works both for monitoring and recording out. You can use the G7 HDMI out only for recording. 
Having the HDMI also for monitoring is good when you want to pull focus in an external monitor.

[Richard Bugg]

Alternatively, you could possibly add an external recorder or audio interface and monitor off that while sending a signal into the G7, or simply record second sound for critical situations and sync the audio using the camera's built-in audio. Having a stand-alone audio recorder adds quite a lot of flexibility to any setup and would not be redundant if you upgrade to another camera later on.

[jagnje]

a simple zoom h1 solves the heaphone out problem. 100 bucks

[Richard Bugg]

3 hours ago, ThomHaig said:

I'm considering upgrading camera body. I love the G7, and intend to hold on to it...

From what I can tell, aside from the headphone jack, the advantages would be better slow motion, vlog profile, nicer body design, weather sealing, at the cost of some high ISO performance.

So, you are also really talking about upgrading to a two-camera system in this case. That can have quite a lot of advantages if you want to shoot two angles at once, have complimentary features and some equipment redundancy. Factor in the cost of alternatives for two-camera systems, the price of a new GH5 when it finally ships etc and you might find that the GH4 kit represents pretty good value for your intended use. Buying good used stuff is often the way to go. This year's expensive cutting-edge tool is next years bargain when the crowd moves on. It's price dependent of course.

[Cinegain]

You could get the G80/85/81 that in a couple of ways sets it apart from the G7 and GH4. You still feel you need more productive features... wait for the GH5. It's a few months away. Or... by then the GH4 will also have dropped price a bit more and people replacing theirs, so grab a GH4 then...

[JazzBox]

G7 would be perfect (I own it one that I use next to GH4), the only thing I don't like is the 28 mbps 1080, the focus peaking (the one one GH4 is far better, at least on the camera I have), the HDMI out... for the rest is an awesome 4K camera, the 4K codec is indistinguishable from the GH4's one. 

[ThomHaig]

Thanks for all your input.

Yeah, I see what you're saying about getting a zoom (or similar) recorder and holding off for a GH5 once it's out. I guess an external recorder will always have it's uses regardless of what camera you have.

None of my canon lenses are stabilised, so I'm pretty sure I'd benefit from the sensor stabilisation of the newer cams, though I'm tempted to hold out for the GH5 because of the headphone jack. What makes buying this GH4 tempting is the seller is selling with loads of bits - a cage, camera bag, memory cards, - all stuff that doesn't cost much individually, but are probably worth having and together add a lot of value to it. But then maybe I'm getting blinded by gear-lust.

2 hours ago, JazzBox said:

, the focus peaking (the one one GH4 is far better, at least on the camera I have),

That's interesting that you find the GH4's peaking to be better. I have trouble with it sometimes on the G7, though there's a chance that's just my poor focusing skills!

 

2 hours ago, Richard Bugg said:

So, you are also really talking about upgrading to a two-camera system in this case.

Yeah, having the two would be nice, but to fair at my level it'll be a while before I'm doing a multi-can shoot. But then, never say never!

[Cinegain]

They're selling pretty crazy BMCC 2.5K packages 2nd hand as well. That's a cool idea too if you're struck by gear-lust and loads of bits.

[IronFilm]

If you're recording in camera the audio then the audio can't be THAT important?! 
But if you must, then get a Shure VP83F LensHopper, Sony UWP-D11, Saramonic UwMic9, Zoom H1, Tascam DR22WL, Zoom F4, Tascam DR60Dmk2, or Tascam DR70D. (which one of these listed to get will entirely depend on your needs and budget as to which is best for you specifically)

All of them are very affordable, will hold long term usage/value beyond what a GH4 would stay relevant for, will provide an effective way to easily monitor audio, and provide better audio than a GH4 could do alone. 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/966010-REG/shure_vp83f_condenser_shotgun_mic.html

 

[ThomHaig]

10 hours ago, IronFilm said:

If you're recording in camera the audio then the audio can't be THAT important?! 
But if you must, then get a Shure VP83F LensHopper, Sony UWP-D11, Saramonic UwMic9, Zoom H1, Tascam DR22WL, Zoom F4, Tascam DR60Dmk2, or Tascam DR70D. (which one of these listed to get will entirely depend on your needs and budget as to which is best for you specifically)

All of them are very affordable, will hold long term usage/value beyond what a GH4 would stay relevant for, will provide an effective way to easily monitor audio, and provide better audio than a GH4 could do alone. 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/966010-REG/shure_vp83f_condenser_shotgun_mic.html

 

Thanks! That's a handy list of alternatives to look into! Might make for a better way to go for me

[IronFilm]

No problem I'm a bit of a location sound recordist nerd, so have a good handle on all the various low budget sound recording options ;-) 

The key point is all the ones I listed have headphone jacks (even the Shure on camera mic, and those wireless receivers) so while you can't monitor what is actually being recorded inside the camera (thus whenever you can and have a spare moment, you should still check playback for issues), you can at least easily monitor the audio feed (which is the next best thing!). Plus all of those listed (except for the Saramonic & Sony wireless kits) are recorders as well, which gives you a back up recording as well as an emergency fail safe you can resort to if need be.

If all you need is an on camera mic for scratch audio / extreme run & gun, then go for the Shure VP83F.

If you use wireless a lot and you want a very minimalist set up without an extra bulk, then go for Saramonic UwMic9 (or the Sony UWP-D11 if you want the fancy-ish "brand name" of Sony rather than Saramonic, of if you need a different frequency range for your region other than what Saramonic can supply at the moment).  

if you want an actual proper recorder go with Tascam DR60D mk2 (I've seen it for as low as US$135 on special!! Insanely cheap for such a good little recorder), get the Tascam DR70D only if you need the extra XLR inputs.

Get the Zoom F4 (or even F8) if you have aspirations in the near future of taking location sound recording seriously to a semi pro level or higher and specialising in this as a sound recordist. (like I am doing myself: http://ironfilm.co.nz/sound/)

Get Zoom H1 (or Tascam DR22WL, which is kinda similar ish... but has WiFi!) if you have very low audio requirements (don't even want XLR) and just want something nice but is ultra small and compact with built in mics.

[Richard Bugg]

Also worth considering are either the Sony PCM-D50 or the updated D100 for a high quality hand-held audio option. They are bit more expensive than other recorders and lack XLR inputs, but they have a 3.5mm input that can be used in conjunction with wireless (e.g. Rodelink) and battery powered condenser microphones (e.g. NT4+ etc). Both have exceptional quality preamps and inbuilt stereo microphones and can be mounted atop the camera.

[jonpais]

I just recorded the introduction to a review of the Zhiyun Crane using the GH4 and Rode Videomic Pro. It is definitely nice being able to monitor the recording, even if you're just using it for scratch audio. But... Since I'm starting to vlog, when I want to tilt the screen so I can watch myself as I'm shooting, I have to unplug the headphone jack, because it prevents you from flipping the LCD screen over. It would be nice if this is fixed in the GH5.

[Cinegain]

It's a mystery to me how they solved that issue on the G7 but re-introduced it with the G85...

[jonpais]

  Crazy beans! At least the Panasonic engineers and designers were clever enough to put a headphone jack somewhere on their flagship model, unlike Fuji, who want you to shell out over $300 USD for their VPB-XT2.

[jonpais]

On 10/10/2016 at 11:32 PM, ThomHaig said:

Hey everyone,

I was hoping to get some advice / opinions on a potential purchasing decision:

At present I own a Panasonic G7, Metabones EF / XL and a a few Canon lenses. I'm considering upgrading camera body. I love the G7, and intend to hold on to it, but for a few things I've done recently I've been wanting a headphone input - I've just been going on faith that the audio will be ok.

Now, I know someone selling a GH4 with a couple of manual lenses as bundle at what I think is a pretty good price. I know the new camera hype has recently gone crazy in the aftermath of Photokina, but regardless, is an upgrade from a G7 to a GH4 worth it? Or am I better off getting some kind of mic input (suggestions?) for the G7?

From what I can tell, aside from the headphone jack, the advantages would be better slow motion, vlog profile, nicer body design, weather sealing, at the cost of some high ISO performance.

Would really appreciate any input! Thanks.

Honestly, if you're concerned about audio, an external recorder is the way to go. A couple hundred dollars should buy you a nice digital audio recorder. No need to splurge on another camera and lenses. I wouldn't buy the GH4 now, especially with the GH5 coming out soon with 5 axis IBIS and other goodies. I'm curious just how much your buddy's asking for the GH4 and what lenses he's including in the mix anyway. Also, do you actually shoot a lot in inclement weather? And do you have or are you prepared to invest in an external recorder to take advantage of Vlog? I like weather sealed bodies too, since it pours here in Vietnam 6 months out of the year, but even if my body and lenses are weather sealed, my 1) Edelkrone slider; 2) Shark S1 slider; 3) Zhiyun Crane gimbal stabilizer; 4) Metabones Speed Booster XL; and 5) Sony PCM M10 digital audio recorder are not, and as I seldom leave the house without one of these, it's almost a moot point as far as my shooting goes. And furthermore - the GH4 and lenses are really just splash proof, they're not built to withstand the kind of storms we get in these parts.