Panasonic GH4 vs Sony A7S compared - who wins the 4K battle on paper?

[demetris]

This Sony ad is very misleading then, such a shame... (about 4K on APS-C)
Thanx for opening my eyes.

[Andrew Reid]

GH4 certainly has the advantage of coming first. Sony were very unclear over availability and pricing for the A7S. I can only assume it is a few months of yet as a result, as usually companies of this size are pretty clear on such issues.

[Andrew Reid]

What that Sony ad suggests is a physical impossibility.

 

Very strange!

 

If you read out every pixel from a 12MP sensor you get approx. 4.2k horizontally. This will be either cropped or zoomed to 3840 pixels in-camera. Cropped I hope, as zoomed would be pixel binning on the image processing side, if not on the sensor.

 

If you crop out an APS-C area from the 12MP sensor there's not enough resolution in that window to create a 4K image, so how are Sony doing 4K in APS-C mode? Like I say... weird!

[johnnymossville]

That is indeed very strange.  Seems like someone was in a hurry to get something out there for NAB and the fact checkers didn't catch it.  The demo we've seen might not even have been shot on the A7S.   haha

 

maybe it does have pixel binning? 

[JESEOS CHRIST]

Thanks for taking the time to conduct this comparison.

I am still however undecided, and most likely won't get either one.

 

But if I were forced to pick one today, I'd get the Panasonic.

Mostly because of the ability to record 4K internally, and less roller shutter shenanigans.

It also appears more time and thought went into executing the overall form and functionality of the GH4, whereas the a7s seems to have been cobbled together within the last few months.

 

I'm hoping that Canon releases a full-frame camera that competes with the a7s in low light image quality, and also records 4K internally like the GH4. They would however charge more than either Sony or Panasonic for such an offering. Although, Canon could put a 12MP APS-C sensor in it instead of full-frame, and still get comparably good low light quality images from it, while recording 4K internally, and ultimately keep the costs down below $1500 because it's a 1.5x sensor. They might even be able to get the price closer to $1000. Now, that would be interesting.

 

 

[Andrew Reid]

Hopefully Canon will react to A7S and GH4 with a 5DC / 4D with 1D C sensor (and image quality) - just not the pro photography features or as high build quality. Ideally it would be more up to date on the 4K side with more space efficient 4K codec than MJPEG. 10bit via HDMI would also be useful.

 

Price no more than $3k.

[solo]

 

2:24 "the price will be announced this week"

[Simon Shasha]

Andrew, when filming in 1080P on the GH4, did you find the image looked better at 200Mbit ALL-I or 100Mbit IPB? Would love to know! :)

[xenogears]

At 1:48" it's says the HDMI output is 10bit, must be a error.

The 28-135mm sure it's looks gorgeous.

[nathanleebush]

Gaaaagh! So close. If the A7s did 4K internally like the GH4 I'd be emptying my bank account instead of writing this comment.

 

This is a tough call for us stills and video hybrid shooters. The idea of a small, full frame, low light beast like the A7s is so compelling for stills, but for video, Panasonic is yet again one step ahead of the DSLR pack with the GH4, and we have to wait a generation while everyone catches up. I'm not willing to bring a bulky recorder around with me if I can get 4K in camera on the GH4. Sony was this close to the perfect camera for the moment. Oh well..

 

Also, still waiting for everyone to catch up to Olympus on IBIS, but that's a vent for another day..

[estarkey7]

As someone who aspires to make indie films, the biggest headache (an sometimes cost) is lighting a scene. This is what makes the A7s ISO range very appealing. However, Sony is truly schizophrenic in their camera strategy (lense mounts et al), so I am not so keen to jump on their ship. Maybe not as bad as Black Magic, but bad enough for me to shy away.

 

If I move from the Canon price gouging and sputtering of features, I will land firmly in Panasonics camp. 

[nathanleebush]

Hopefully Canon will react to A7S and GH4 with a 5DC / 4D with 1D C sensor (and image quality) - just not the pro photography features or as high build quality. Ideally it would be more up to date on the 4K side with more space efficient 4K codec than MJPEG. 10bit via HDMI would also be useful.

 

Price no more than $3k.

 

Dunno. It's Canon we're talking about: the same company that used essentially the same sensor from the t2i to t5i. They have been coasting on brand recognition since the 5D Mark II.

[Simon Shasha]

Is the GH4 HDMI 1.4 or HDMI 2.0?

[AdamT]

My assumption is that the A7S is reading the whole sensor in camera and downsampling to 1080p before writing to the SD card. I don't know how else they could claim that there's no binning or line skipping. If they were just reading a smaller center portion of the sensor there would be a significant crop factor.

[Simon Shasha]

Damn, GH4 skin-tones look nice: 

[jurgen]

Damn, GH4 skin-tones look nice: 

I don't know what it is, but I prefer the flat profile on the GH4 almost more than any grades I've seen.

Nice find!

[Edry]

im pretty sure we will be seeing that a99 looking dlsr and i bet it will shoot 4k too most likely internally which will be the differentiator between it and the a7s. If you noticed Den Lenny he said that hes taking a break and then hes going to start working on another product from sony.. sony already has big cameras f5/f55 so.. the only answer is that theres going to be more from sony.. watch.

[Superka]

GH4 looks like more balanced and complete device for video.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

I don't know what it is, but I prefer the flat profile on the GH4 almost more than any grades I've seen.

Nice find!

It does look very organic and natural. Best GH4 footage I've seen is in the CineD gamma, all graded versions look video-y and electronic. Weird.

[tungah]

I think either we'll see a a99 successor that records 4k internally for double the price of this camera, or we'll see a A7S successor next year with 4k internal recording, depending on how the competition goes. Or maybe something in between? Small body, 4k internal, same HDMI options from A7S for US$2500? They can't depend on external recording forever if they wanna sell those 4k tv sets, right? Not if Canon comes out with full frame with internal recording.

I guess the best option is to get GH4 now, and see what happens next year.

For the price of a GH4 + YAGH (whatever the hell that thing is called) + recorder, or for the price of A7S + Atomos recorder, maybe it's a better option to get GH4 + A7s and cover all your needs. Something tells me that if you buy a 4k recorder now for a A7S, you're gonna be very sorry in 2015.