Panasonic GH4 firmware update brings 24p Anamorphic, V-LOG coming in later update / watch footage

[Andrew Reid]

 

Here's the first footage, from Hot Rod Cameras (follow on Facebook here) shot with a beta-firmware GH4 in V-LOG. The update is coming out later, but first we have V2.2 to look forward to almost immediately.

This brings anamorphic support in 24p and more.

Read the full article

[studiodc]

I'm honestly tired of hearing "V-LOG is coming...". It's starting to sound about the same as "winter is coming".

[Jonesy Jones]

That video has that classic GH4 sharpness that I'm just not super thrilled with. But definitely seems like better DR.

[johnnymossville]

The video looks fantastic. Alright, I was beginning to think we were going to have to wait for GH5 for V-Log. 

[Andrew Reid]

Worth noting - The video was graded for the absolute maximum dynamic range, the roll off to the sun can be a lot smoother if you apply a different curve.

All shots are V-LOG apart from '14 and '28 secs.

Firmware was a beta version. "V-LOG-L" profile.

[Ben Corwin]

Lots and lots of upset people on 43rumors, but you're pretty confident V-LOG will eventually come?

[Jimmy]

under 15 stops DR... so passé

[Don Kotlos]

Worth noting - The video was graded for the absolute maximum dynamic range, the roll off to the sun can be a lot smoother if you apply a different curve.

​Was curious about that cause I was not impressed by that pastel roll off. 

[John Palmer]

I imagine they just dont want to release it unless it will perform well. otherwise people will just be pissed that the update sucks and theyd have to re-do it anyway

[AaronChicago]

At least they're acknowledging that V Log is coming. Hasn't it just been hearsay till now?

[John Palmer]

that video was graded too right? it didnt look like anything close to LOG to me. maybe they just didnt have a good colorist

I dont really think its fair to judge a cameras real image quality from internet videos anyway, there are too many variables that can result in unpleasant video from user to user

[Chrad]

 

 

The film starts out ungraded as shot in a new V-Log L gamma file color space, which is being evaluated for market release in 2015, then transitions to fully graded scenes.

Come the fuck on, Panasonic.

[mos]

Anything new on cinemascope cropmarks? They are implementing all these great anamorphic functions, but non-anamorph-shooters still need to duct-tape the display to get a sense of 2:35-framing. Need various aspect ratio cropmarks cropmarks or at least a 2nd horizontal guide line.

[Julian]

Dynamic range does look impressive on that video, shadows don't look very noisy either. Come one Panasonic, give it to us!

Anamorphic mode is cool, but will it de-squeeze the image on the screen and viewfinder? I hope so, but I'm afraid not... it kinda sounds like it's just the 4K Photo mode copied to video mode with 24 fps.

Also more aspect ratio's would be welcome... 4:3 gives a nice 2,66:1 image with 2x anamorphics, but what about 1,33x and 1,5x anamorphics? Sure you can use them in the normal 16:9 mode, but would be cool to have the image de-squeezed on the camera screen.

 

[Julian]

Just noticed there's a 10 minute test of the new firmware and V-Log. Maybe that answers some questions - *watching*

 

[Julian]

That video is helpful:

No de-squeeze on camera
V-Log looks much much better than Cine D!

 

[shanebrutal]

Looks like only anamorphic 4:3 mode is what's coming in the firmware update later this month: http://lumixlounge.com/2015/04/gh4anamorphic/

[Andrew Reid]

No de-squeeze on camera

​It's a great effort by Panasonic USA met by a half hearted 'meh' response by the Japanese firmware team

[studiodc]

So far, I haven't read a single thing that says Panasonic has officially acknowledged a V-LOG update for this camera, and I haven't read anything that suggests V-LOG is actually going to be any better on an 8-bit codec than shooting the way you want it in-camera. I think what we're getting from this camera is pretty close to the best it has to offer already, and throwing software at it won't fix any of it's shortcomings or make it significantly better, as much as we'd all like to think so. It's still a noisy, low-DR camera at heart, but it's got a decent enough image and has a lot of positive attributes that make it useful, especially at it's price point. Pretty much, we're (myself included) hoping, wishing, and waiting for something that isn't actually likely to happen in a realistic timeframe and even if it did, it won't magically make this camera better than an NX1 or A7S or BMPCC RAW image for certain people's opinions of "better". If the camera isn't already better for you, it's not likely to be better after this much-fabled V-LOG.

These test shots are great and all, but I've seen better footage from a GH4 before (some examples posted to this site, for instance). 

Colour me tired of waiting. At least Blackmagic is giving us options (and meaningful firmware updates), even if they seem married to a Super-16 sized sensor for anything less than unwieldy bodies (or the URSA mini, which seems at least usable if not by any standard diminutive). 

I should note: I'm sure for you anamorphic shooters this is a nice firmware. There's just absolutely nothing in it for anybody who shoots spherical, it seems.

[Chrad]

I'm getting suspicious too. This profile was first demonstrated four months ago. How long does it really take to develop? What's the hold-up?

V-Log feels like empty hype right now. If it turns out that it's not coming to GH4, Panasonic have lost me as a customer.