Panasonic GH4 4K Production Diary – Day 3 – Shootout!

[jurgen]

Probably a stupid question, but - is all downscaling "created equal?" i.e., if I watch GH4 4K footage played back on my 1080 monitor, is that the "same" downscaling as if I went into Premiere and dropped in on a 1920x1080 timeline? Or is something different happening based on method of playback (for example, and this might be nonsense speak, is Premiere saving more color resolution because it has a "smarter" way of downsampling than just playing back a 4K YouTube video?)

[johnnymossville]

After looking at it again,  Notice the skin tones on the GH4 Cinelike-V.   They look like a really nice quick way to get some superb color out of the GH4 if you don't have time to grade.       

[AaronChicago]

Yes just watch the Vimeo stream at 1080p or watch the 4K file on a 1080p display.

 

Wouldn't there be a loss in quality with the Pocket cam? If it is upscaled to 4K then it's going to look pretty soft. Maybe I'm not understanding the process, but I'd like to see a native 1080 frame from the Pocket compared to a 4K downscaled to 1080 GH4 frame.

[johnnymossville]

GH4/Blackmagic/5DMIII Raw are all pretty much excellent as far as I'm concerned.   Stock 5DMIII is a letdown, even compared to the GH3, in this particular shootout video that is. 

[Oliver Daniel]

NAB 2014.... 4k external recorders for HDMI. That is the ticket!

[StuS]

For some perspective, since it's best in class for low light, I'd love to see that FS100 included in the low light test.

[Henk Willem]

Wouldn't there be a loss in quality with the Pocket cam? If it is upscaled to 4K then it's going to look pretty soft. Maybe I'm not understanding the process, but I'd like to see a native 1080 frame from the Pocket compared to a 4K downscaled to 1080 GH4 frame.

 

Exactly my thoughts sir. The idea is to deliver 1080p (in superb, near-10bit quality) so a downscaled GH4 image to compare to the other cameras is the way to go. Upscaling everything to 4K is in favour of the GH4.

The same goes for the small 1:1 crops which are 'upscaled to fit the 4K frame dictated by the GH4'.

 

I guess the nerd alert really applies here :)

[dbp]

Lowlight test has hit the web: 

[dsavage]

After looking at it again,  Notice the skin tones on the GH4 Cinelike-V.   They look like a really nice quick way to get some superb color out of the GH4 if you don't have time to grade.       

Cinelike-V looks like it should be called "Canon Mode"!  It's got a real similar saturation and warmness to what I'm used to seeing from a 5D.  It's not my favorite look, but it's nice that we'll have the option.  Especially on things that need a quick turnaround.

[johnnymossville]

Cinelike-V looks like it should be called "Canon Mode"!  It's got a real similar saturation and warmness to what I'm used to seeing from a 5D.  It's not my favorite look, but it's nice that we'll have the option.  Especially on things that need a quick turnaround.

 

Yep, I agree, if you just want to get the video in and out it looks like the mode to be in or at least an optional look to have in your pocket. 

[dsavage]

Lowlight test has hit the web: 

Looks like the 5D Mark III is still the lowlight king, but I'm impressed with how well the GH4 footage holds up to being denoised.  Curious to know if this was Neat Video or something else.

[mjfan]

I agree, would like some tests to see a downsampled gh4 image compared to 1080 instead of an upscaled 1080 to 4k

[johnnymossville]

Well that's interesting,  Good thing I spend 98% of my time shooting under ISO3200.  

[Michael1]

I am blown away by how close the 16mp still is to the 4K video frame grab crops.  That's fantastic!  I would certainly love to see more examples of this.  Great choice for subject matter, Andrew.  Text always does a good job of revealing resolution capability. 

 

Panasonic seems to have really built a camera with the GH4 that may well go down in history as an industry game changer.

 

Michael

[Caleb Rasak]

Andrew I just want to say thank you for doing all this testing for us mortals without any ties to panasonic. I would love to see some 96 fps footage in full HD. I think this camera could be a great B cam to my BMPC4K especially for slow motion uses. So PLEASE do some slow motion tests I would love that. 

[Caleb Rasak]

Looks like the 5D Mark III is still the lowlight king, but I'm impressed with how well the GH4 footage holds up to being denoised.  Curious to know if this was Neat Video or something else.

Anybody notice the white pixels in the 5D Mark III footage when shooting ML Raw? I have never had that happen on my camera. Very good test though. 5D is still the king for low light but who the hell is shooting 6400? I guess it comes in handy in documentary work when you dont have the chance to light. 

[dbp]

Anybody notice the white pixels in the 5D Mark III footage when shooting ML Raw? I have never had that happen on my camera. Very good test though. 5D is still the king for low light but who the hell is shooting 6400? I guess it comes in handy in documentary work when you dont have the chance to light. 

 

Definitely for documentaries. Weddings too, and other live events. Though I've generally been happy with the GH2 low light performance so I think I'll be fine with the GH4. 

[MattH]

I "second" the request for examples output at 1080.   I'm sure upscaling to 4k and then downscaling back to 1080 will reduce quality, as three quarters of the information you are inputting into the downscale is false.   Also putting it into the cinema 4k resolution you get pillar boxes with the 16:9 footage so it isn't even displayed at native resolution.   I think filming with the UHD 4k (which will be needed when shooting pal anyway) downscaled to 1080 might even help as it is a perfect 2:1 downscale.

[scottyd]

What software are you guys using for grading? Da Vinci Resolve Lite?

[Gzig]

NAB 2014.... 4k external recorders for HDMI. That is the ticket!

Well. It already excists. Not practical in the field but the bm hyperdeck studio pro has 4k hdmi
http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/hyperdeckstudio/models