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

[Ainslie]

That tweet must have come from Andrew Reid from Pana NZ. He's the national Lumix product manager, lovely guy, who let me play with a pre-production GH3 for a while. Andrew (EOSHD) just thought you should finally know about your doppelgänger. Should have told you 5 years ago when I first started frequenting your site! 

[Jason Rae]

I think that October is way too LATE!!!  Color science on the gh4 sucks and I think alot of people are going move into the sony platform because it seems that they are not holding back anything from their cameras.  Even the pocket size camera is getting 4k and slog.  I hope Panasonic does not pull a Canon on us and start holding back to protect their higher cameras.  

[Orangenz]

That tweet must have come from Andrew Reid from Pana NZ. He's the national Lumix product manager, lovely guy, who let me play with a pre-production GH3 for a while. Andrew (EOSHD) just thought you should finally know about your doppelgänger. Should have told you 5 years ago when I first started frequenting your site! 

They've been very helpful via their facebook page. When I had a mic input question they passed it to the top person in nz who answered directly. Very cool. 

Thank you. That will be promoted to the blog front page in a moment.

Apparently no V Log until October according to Panasonic NZ

https://twitter.com/panasonicnz/status/622950184268369920

Tweet deleted?

[jonpais]

I think that October is way too LATE!!!  Color science on the gh4 sucks and I think alot of people are going move into the sony platform because it seems that they are not holding back anything from their cameras.  Even the pocket size camera is getting 4k and slog.  I hope Panasonic does not pull a Canon on us and start holding back to protect their higher cameras.  

beg to differ here... panasonic color science does not suck, or nobody would care about V-Log in the first place. I don't know which Sony pocket cameras have internal 4K and S-Log, but most pocket cameras by all manufacturers seem to be missing stuff like microphone inputs, headphone jack and swivel screen, or they don't offer Cinema 4K (as well as the lack of lens interchangeability), so they won't be replacing the GH4 just yet. I just purchased a Speedbooster XL, Sigma 18-35mm lens and gorillapod and I'm still loving the GH4. And manual focus with orange peaking is a breeze. If V-Log does indeed increase dynamic range by as much as 2 stops, it will be even more sensational. Finally, I don't see Panasonic crippling their GH line to protect their cinema line - was there any other mirrorless camera packed with so many features when Panasonic introduced the GH4? Not knocking Sony though, far from it.

[edit] just did a quick search and see that the latest Sony RX100 does indeed sport Slog.

Below is a comparison between the Red Epic and the GH4 from Dave Dugdale's review. Sucky color? I don't think so...

 

[Andrew Reid]

Shame it was deleted. Felt very helpful to finally have a date to go off.

And nice to know I have a doppelgänger!

---

Why are Panasonic handling the V-LOG situation so oddly? What is the indecision all about? Very strange.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

Panasonic color science does not suck

I can get good colours out of the GH4, Panasonic colour science is good. Behind Canon and ahead of Sony (particularly the a7s in my experience, fs7 and higher seem lovely). In the consumer space pleasing colours go like this. Nikon > Canon > Panasonic > Sony. 

Now from what I've seen with the GH4 in V-Log, the colour science has gone up markedly, I would say to Canon/Nikon levels, Jordan Drake does confirm the colour science has been changed a lot not just the gamma/DR. 

Look at the results, the skin and and skies and grass, it's very very nice colours indeed. 

It's pleasing, Nikon/Canon pleasing and smooth, over saturated and can handle it. This is not what I can get with the current GH4, not even close. If you even think about getting high rich saturation for a ''happy'' look, clipping of channels and yellow/grey skin blotches all over the place.

This one he kept almost ungraded, un-satrurated and more filmic to some, again with the current GH4 I can never get this natural skin at this flatness level, they go grey and lose all colour:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJKRgMPk1BU

This is one where he kept it in-between colourful/happy and Dull/flat. Lovely, lovely colours especially since they're shooting in Calgary!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7baCduSPCQ

 

[jonpais]

I can get good colours out of the GH4, Panasonic colour science is good. Behind Canon and ahead of Sony (particularly the a7s in my experience, fs7 and higher seem lovely). In the consumer space pleasing colours go like this. Nikon > Canon > Panasonic > Sony. 

Now from what I've seen with the GH4 in V-Log, the colour science has gone up markedly, I would say to Canon/Nikon levels, Jordan Drake does confirm the colour science has been changed a lot not just the gamma/DR. 

Look at the results, the skin and and skies and grass, it's very very nice colours indeed. 

It's pleasing, Nikon/Canon pleasing and smooth, over saturated and can handle it. This is not what I can get with the current GH4, not even close. If you even think about getting high rich saturation for a ''happy'' look, clipping of channels and yellow/grey skin blotches all over the place.

This one he kept almost ungraded, un-satrurated and more filmic to some, again with the current GH4 I can never get this natural skin at this flatness level, they go grey and lose all colour:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJKRgMPk1BU

This is one where he kept it in-between colourful/happy and Dull/flat. Lovely, lovely colours especially since they're shooting in Calgary!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7baCduSPCQ

 

but... neither Nikon nor Canon offer anything comparable for video at this price point (as low as $1,300), so it's a moot point. I love what the guys at the Camera Store are doing, but I'm afraid I'm not thrilled with the colors Jordan has got in this particular video. And while I've never pushed my color grades super far, I've never seen any blotchiness going for a slightly saturated look in the timeline with the clips I've shot using the Natural profile... At the same time, I'm not a fan of the 'flat' look, it doesn't look 'filmic' (or cinematic) to me at all.

 

[Andrew Reid]

I find that compared to the 1D C 4K and Canon cameras shooting raw, most others tend to have trouble rendering warm hues on green trees and cool blues instead of grey. They all seem to have more capability to pick up greens (largest part of wavelength and important for resolution) than the more subtle reds and blues.

I don't know if it is a colour science or image processing thing or a hardware difference on the sensor as well... but for example the NX1 on Standard definitely has a GH2-like green bias and doesn't look the same as the Canon 1D C 4K on Standard, let alone in LOG.

[jonpais]

And again, we're talking here about a camera (the 1D C) that retails for around $8,000 body only and a tedious workflow if you're shooting raw.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

but... neither Nikon nor Canon offer anything comparable for video at this price point (as low as $1,300),

And again, we're talking here about a camera (the 1D C) that retails for around $8,000 body

No body is arguing that. Just discussing colour science and colour difference among different manufacturers. 

[Cfreak]

+1   October is waaaay late. If they want their flagship camera to remain slightly competitive, and us their users to maintain a slight advantage having invested in the GH4 then they need to get this V-Log carrot-on-a-stick release ASAP and NOT in October!!!

[Liam]

Is everyone here really gonna switch to the a7rii if vlog isn't here for the gh4 in 20 minutes? That price difference is pretty huge. It's weird It's taking so long and will be a huge step up, but it was considered by many to be a great camera just a little while ago. On a budget, the gh4 is great and 4k, with with multiple great, even cheaper 4k options from panasonic which can match with it really well with cine-v and d as B cameras (to a super cinematic 15 hundred dollar A camera with improvements over its brothers for photography, great build quality, anamorphic shooting and more). That's a low end, high quality package not really comparable to any other setup. Vlog could be (will be) awesome (I've been hearing better than slog2 - by the way, no slog3 on the a7rii, is it coming to the a7sii? Does this not piss us off?), but.. The nx1 isn't exactly better in terms of log profile either.. Rx10ii - no interchangeable lens, other panasonics, and then you're up into a drastically different price range. Correct me if I'm missing something. Could be worth a not so unpleasant wait

[Fritz Pierre]

I can't really speak for what others expect from their cameras, but I remember the GH2 won the most important praise any camera could earn...chosen in a blind test as the best in the Zacuto shootout by Directors responsible for films like the Godfather Etc....and that little camera did not get there overnight!...The GH4 is coming into it's own in a timely manner IMHO and the irony for me personally is,  like with most people using computers and virtually leaving the brunt of the capability untapped, the same is happening with cameras. There are suddenly more DPs than PAs in the world and cameras are just not good enough anymore:)...unless perhaps we actually bother to use them!!

[TSV]

+1   October is waaaay late. If they want their flagship camera to remain slightly competitive, and us their users to maintain a slight advantage having invested in the GH4 then they need to get this V-Log carrot-on-a-stick release ASAP and NOT in October!!!

Panasonic GH1 Released Mid June 2009 in Japan http://news.panasonic.com/press/news/official.data/data.dir/jn090518-1/jn090518-1.html 
Panasonic GH2 Released End of October 2010 http://news.panasonic.com/press/news/official.data/data.dir/jn100921-1/jn100921-1.html 
Panasonic GH3 Released End of December 2012 http://news.panasonic.com/press/news/official.data/data.dir/2012/10/jn121025-3/jn121025-3.html 
Panasonic GH4 Released End of April 2014 http://news.panasonic.com/press/news/official.data/data.dir/2014/03/jn140325-3/jn140325-3.html 

Releasing V-Log in October could only mean that we will not see an upgrade of the GH Series before 2016 and releasing V-Log around this this period is another way to artificially extend the life of the camera and stay relevant. Personally I will most probably have moved to the 7R II or a 7S II (if they ever make one). I really doubt the a GH5 will come with a better Low Light support (A la Sony) that have plagued the GH series since the GH1. (Note that I loved the GH1 and GH4, but better low light support would be terrific) 

[RobertoSF]

I can't really speak for what others expect from their cameras, but I remember the GH2 won the most important praise any camera could earn...chosen in a blind test as the best in the Zacuto shootout by Directors responsible for films like the Godfather Etc....and that little camera did not get there overnight!...The GH4 is coming into it's own in a timely manner IMHO and the irony for me personally is,  like with most people using computers and virtually leaving the brunt of the capability untapped, the same is happening with cameras. There are suddenly more DPs than PAs in the world and cameras are just not good enough anymore:)...unless perhaps we actually bother to use them!!

Agreed. In 2011 when I said I was going to shoot my feature on a GH2 I got a lot of sideways looks and comments from a good number of pro film and video guys (Illya Friedman and Andrew Reid noted exceptions, also very encouraging and knowledgeable) . Pro attitudes changed dramatically with the Zacuto shootout, where, if I recall correctly, the GH2 placed 3rd, behind the Alexa (clear winner) and shockingly close to Red. The grading for our feature went very well because we shot it the way we wanted it. Post has taken a while (1 man, 1 computer) but I am very pleased with the finished result. When V-Log comes out I look forward to doing some anamorphic 10-bit test shooting on my GH4.

feature trailer, fyi: https://vimeo.com/132865030

[Jason Rae]

beg to differ here... panasonic color science does not suck, or nobody would care about V-Log in the first place. I don't know which Sony pocket cameras have internal 4K and S-Log, but most pocket cameras by all manufacturers seem to be missing stuff like microphone inputs, headphone jack and swivel screen, or they don't offer Cinema 4K (as well as the lack of lens interchangeability), so they won't be replacing the GH4 just yet. I just purchased a Speedbooster XL, Sigma 18-35mm lens and gorillapod and I'm still loving the GH4. And manual focus with orange peaking is a breeze. If V-Log does indeed increase dynamic range by as much as 2 stops, it will be even more sensational. Finally, I don't see Panasonic crippling their GH line to protect their cinema line - was there any other mirrorless camera packed with so many features when Panasonic introduced the GH4? Not knocking Sony though, far from it.

[edit] just did a quick search and see that the latest Sony RX100 does indeed sport Slog.

Below is a comparison between the Red Epic and the GH4 from Dave Dugdale's review. Sucky color? I don't think so...

 

Maybe saying the color sucks and more like I am personally having trouble using profiles to get a nice flat image without looking like a orange umpa lumpa...  I am a newbie and would love to know if anyone has a profile that gives us a flat profile with better skin tones than cine D that we can apply luts too and not crush the image.   This might be a 8 bit thing and not so much profile again I am not a expert by any means.  I do not like the supertone profile because we shoot mainly outside in bright light and that is no where near a flat gradable image.   

 

Also... there is no doubt Panasonic has totally messed up the release of this!  if your not going to release it to the GH4 there are going to be lot of made customers.  Quit being slow, just come out give us a date and be done with it or tell us its not coming to the GH4 so we can move on.  But yet nothing from there end but leaked images and downloadable files from Nick Driftwood!  If they don't release until October when the other expensive camera comes out ( i forgot the name)  then yes thats protecting their higher end line.  Nothing wrong with that I guess but its the truth.  But all of this is going to be silly if they release it only with the GH5, which I would still buy   

[Mattias Burling]

Jordan Drake tweeted,

"Just got word from Panasonic, they will officially announce the GH4 V-Log L delivery date on Sept. 1! Stay tuned... #TCSTV "