Some interesting new info from the GH4 design team

[Andrew Reid]

- "GH4 has a quad core image processor"

 

- "GH4 has sold better than expected and reviews have been overwhelmingly positive"

 

- "AFF mode auto-focus has spatial awareness - knows the direction of travel of objects in a scene and can track a train at 200kmph" EOSHD notes: In the future, I can see this replacing manual focus in filmmaking. The degree of programmability will be high enough to be user assisted but it will take the tracking away from the focus wheel and do it perfectly.

 

- "25% more usable dynamic range over GH3". EOSHD notes: The new sensor has 1/3 stop more in the highlights and cleaner lows, so the net result is that 25% more of the total 12 stops from the sensor is usable in the image

 

- "30% increase in colour accuracy". EOSHD notes: red channel is important for skin tones but if you boost saturation in the red channel like Sony do, you get blotchy unflattering skin. Skin needs reds that are treated differently, with less saturation. The GH4 image processor knows how to improve skin tones with 3D colour control.

 

- "Sensor samples AF at 240fps". EOSHD notes: stills and AF on the GH4 do not get enough praise. AF locks on far faster in low light than my 5D Mark III. In fact AF performance overall in low light beats the Nikon D4.

 

- "4K was natural step based on user feedback".

 

EOSHD notes...

 

What next for Panasonic?

 

Clearly the GH4 is a unique camera, the product planners are very clever with the Hybrid emphasis. Live view implementation, video and AF are now way ahead of Canon on many different levels.

 

However to compete in the stills market, Panasonic need a premium FX Lumix. Full frame. Nikon has it, Sony has it, Canon has it and all have it alongside existing crop sensor product lines. Micro Four Thirds will never be 'replaced' by a full frame Panasonic system, it will be complimentary like EF-S is to EF, like DX is to FX.

 

Panasonic sensors will likely have a boost now their joint venture with TowerJazz is up and running. TowerJazz I believe manufacture RED's and Arri's sensors.

 

But I love what Sony have done with the 12MP full frame chip in the A7S. Panasonic have already made use of Sony manufactured sensors (like in the GH3). Imagine the A7S sensor in a Panasonic GH body. Dream come true. Over to you Panasonic :)

 

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ja&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdc.watch.impress.co.jp%2Fdocs%2Fnews%2Finterview%2F20140530_649605.html&edit-text=

 

Via 43 rumors: http://www.43rumors.com/panasonic-gh4-engineers-interviewed-at-dc-watch/

[Nikkor]

 

- "30% increase in colour accuracy". EOSHD notes: red channel is important for skin tones but if you boost saturation in the red channel like Sony do, you get blotchy unflattering skin. Skin needs reds that are treated differently, with less saturation. The GH4 image processor knows how to improve skin tones with 3D colour control.

 

That's a terrible thing with the d800, seems like sony sensors need it for some reason.

[JohnBarlow]

. Imagine the A7S sensor in a Panasonic GH body. 

 

Or imagine the Panny scaling algorithm in a Sony body - that 2mm shorter flange depth comes in handy with some lenses.

[Inazuma]

Do they clarify what they mean by "it can track a train at 200 km/h"? Not that I have any use for that, but it sounds interesting. If they just mean it can track the train moving horizontally across the screen though, it's not that impressive.

[Andrew Reid]

I believe it refers to AFF mode. That has the spatial awareness to detect the direction an object is travelling in and whether the focus point should move forwards or backwards.

 

Of course if the train is coming towards the camera at 200kph I wouldn't like to be the one to find out if it tracks or not :)

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

 

Of course if the train is coming towards the camera at 200kph I wouldn't like to be the one to find out if it tracks or not :)

HA HA HA! :D

[Brellivids]

If only we could transmit a message to Panasonic design team that panasonic should allso make wildlife glass (birding glass)

 

I mean they have this marvelous focusing on the GH4 but neither Olympus nor panasonic have yet to announce pro level native longer focal lenght lenses for MFT. 

 

something like  250mm f 3.5 -or  f 4 IS

400mm 5.6 IS 

100-400 5.6 IS 

I bet panasonic could brake new ground with those and go after sports ppl as well. 

 

 

the up and coming 150 2.8 is only so and so.  if it were 200 2.8 IS  then it would be interesting. 

[jurgen]

However to compete in the stills market, Panasonic need a premium FX Lumix. Full frame. Nikon has it, Sony has it, Canon has it and all have it alongside existing crop sensor product lines. Micro Four Thirds will never be 'replaced' by a full frame Panasonic system, it will be complimentary like EF-S is to EF, like DX is to FX.

It's an interesting notion. My impression - and I could be (and probably am) quite wrong - has always been that full frame is actually sort of a niche product when viewed in the context of "all cameras on the market," and that you really aren't sacrificing that much IQ wise by shooting with a crop body (I own a D600, and that is certainly my experience v. my GH4). I suppose a FF Lumix body would open it up to certain pro applications (high end commercial photography, large fine art prints, sports, etc.), but then, isn't a big reason why people like Getty pros shoot Nikon/Canon because of the Pro service? I think, with a camera as capable as the GH4, that that should be Panasonic's next endeavor - a Lumix version of Nikon/Canon pro services, with dedicated customer service people and a fast, reliable turnaround time. It is a "professional" level camera in every other sense of the word, why not this as well?

I also guess that, from a practical sense, I don't see what most (even very serious, professional level) photographers stand to gain from a FF body vs. a smaller crop body like the GH4, EM1, XT1, etc. For certain very specific applications and certain performance heavy situations it makes sense, but otherwise, why burden yourself with all that gear for a practically insignificant bump in IQ? Many of the World Press Photo winners from last year were shot on crop bodies; many of the current Magnum shooters use M43 almost exclusively (Peter Van Agtmael, Moises Saman, Alex Majoli). They're way, way better than sufficient, so, aside from very specific circumstances, why bother with bigger bodies and bigger lenses?

[jgharding]

Panasonic love M4/3, if they make an APSC or full frame, they admit that anything smaller is less good, I just don't think they'll do it.

 

What professional photographers gain is a nice look and feel, as well as great light sensitivity. That video about full frame being a myth is just nonsense, it's practically trolling. All that needs to change is standardised sensor gain in DB for different ISO settings, to stop ISO cheating. The rest works fine.

 

Physics is physics, a larger area captures more light. If you want to match the noise performance you either speedboost or use really fast lenses or both (within the transmission limits of the speed booster). 

 

But why bother when you can buy a second hand 5D MKii and an L lens and take amazing photos at night in the rain? That's what pros get out of it, something that just works well and looks great.

 

I never go below APSC for stills, simply cos all that lost light has to come from somewhere. Unless that's a very very fast lens, you need ISO gain, which means noise. So I'd use a M4/3 camera with a speed booster happily, but then why not just use and APSC camera in the first place?

 

I'm sure a speed-booster to make M4/3 into full-frame isn't far off. I think that's an interesting prospect.

[jurgen]

But then aren't we propping up different sized sensors as sort of monolithic, uniform entities? Despite both of them being full frame, a D700 surely has worse high ISO performance than a D610, right?