Panasonic G7 and Metabones Speed Booster XL hands-on - Super 35mm 4K for cheaper

[Taranis]

​Can somebody confirm that or do you have an example ? Because I'm about to buy the NX1 and thought that a S35 sensor should be better in low light than a m4/3 one...

According to Max the NX1 is better until ISO 1600, at 3200 they are about the same and at 6400 the GH4 is better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60NLXo4-3Ks

[TheRenaissanceMan]

​Can somebody confirm that or do you have an example ? Because I'm about to buy the NX1 and thought that a S35 sensor should be better in low light than a m4/3 one...

​My understanding was that the NX1 beat it until ISO 3200, at which point they were about on par.

A larger sensor, all else being equal, will be better in low light. But all else is not equal. The GH4 is packing 16MP compared to the NX1's 28. In fact, their pixel pitch is nearly identical. A sensor with the same tech but less pixels would crush the GH4, but that incredible stills resolution comes with a noise penalty for video.

[TheRenaissanceMan]

...at 6400 the GH4 is better:

​But still not good enough for most productions, which makes it pretty irrelevant and by no means NX1-beating overall.

[RomanDesign]

So does it or doesn't it have 30min limit on video in 1080p? Different sources say different things. As far as I understand, north american models of G6 do not have limit when shooting AV-CHD bud do when shooting MP4. What about G7? Is MP4 required for 4K video? Does AVCHD support limitless recording (with power supply connected) but only in 1080p and not in 4K? Or is there a limit on everything? This is a deal-breaker for me, because the only reason I'm going to buy it is for video over my Nikon D7100 that has unusable autofocus for video and a 30min limit. So I have to know if I can shoot for say 3 hours straight (on a power supply) in 1080p AVCHD before I oder the camera in US. BTW anyone has thoughts abour how does G7 video autofocus compares to a prosumer camcorder?

Here is what Panasonic shop page says. It would seem that 1080p in AVCHD is unlimited in US mode. Can somebody confirm that?

• NOTE- Maximum time to record motion pictures continuously with [MP4] in [4K] is 29 minutes 59 seconds.
• NOTE- You can continuously record a motion picture with its size set to [4K] in [MP4] or [4K PHOTO] without a pause even if the motion picture exceeds 4GB. However, the recorded content has to be played back as multiple files.
• NOTE- Maximum time to record motion pictures continuously with [MP4] in [FHD] [HD] [VGA] is 29 minutes 59 seconds or up to 4 GB.
• NOTE- Maximum time to record motion pictures continuously with [AVCHD] is 29 minutes 59 seconds in Europe

[amanieux]

The GH4 is packing 16MP compared to the NX1's 28. In fact, their pixel pitch is nearly identical. A sensor with the same tech but less pixels would crush the GH4, but that incredible stills resolution comes with a noise penalty for video.

​yes same pixel pitch but larger total surface and from tony northrup testings there is no noise penalty when we downsample  (this is the case of the nx1) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KYvp8PrCFc  

[amanieux]

The NX1 is actually worse at high ISOs than the GH4 even without speed booster

you are correct, noise level above 3200 iso is is the Achilles heel of the nx1, they don't seem to be able to fix it with the latest firmware updates, also you loose focus peaking in video with a passive adapter, no camera is perfect.

[alanpoiuyt]

​True. The G7 is hardly crippled in terms of video compared to the GH4. There's no MOV, only MP4 (does that matter anyway?). No Master Pedestal I think? No slow motion and no 200 mbps 1080p (does anyone use that?) But everything else is there... Cine profiles, Zebras, curve adjustments, etc.

It does 1080 60p slowmo & rather nicely at that (sharp & no aliasing) and per another post has a mic input but no headphone output.

[TheRenaissanceMan]

​yes same pixel pitch but larger total surface and from tony northrup testings there is no noise penalty when we downsample  (this is the case of the nx1) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KYvp8PrCFc  

​Certainly for stills, but that's not the case for video shooting. 

[amanieux]

​Certainly for stills, but that's not the case for video shooting. 

​interesting, doesn't it at least reduce the amplitude of the noise level in video ? on the nx1, downscale ratio is 3 (24Mpix(the cropped 16/9 image in the full 28Mpix sensor that is 4/3 ratio ) /8Mpix )  so the average of 3 pixels with the same "perfect color" gives ((color+noise1) + (color+noise2)+ (color+noise3))/3 = color +(noise1+noise2+noise3)/3 . even if from one frame to another the noise changes for each pixel the maximum varaiation of noise in time is statistically smaller with downsampling it is (noise1+noise2+noise3-noise4-noise5-noise6)/3 vs (noise1-noise2)/2 when there is no downscaling

[TheRenaissanceMan]

​interesting, doesn't it at least reduce the amplitude of the noise level in video ? on the nx1, downscale ratio is 3 (24Mpix(the cropped 16/9 image in the full 28Mpix sensor that is 4/3 ratio ) /8Mpix )  so the average of 3 pixels with the same "perfect color" gives ((color+noise1) + (color+noise2)+ (color+noise3))/3 = color +(noise1+noise2+noise3)/3 . even if from one frame to another the noise changes for each pixel the maximum varaiation of noise in time is statistically smaller with downsampling it is (noise1+noise2+noise3-noise4-noise5-noise6)/3 vs (noise1-noise2)/2 when there is no downscaling

​Downscaling reduces the size and appearance of noise, but it doesn't stop it from producing more on the pixel level with smaller pixels. Also, many cameras do not read the sensor in the same way for downscaled video as they do for stills/full pixel readouts. I have no idea how it's different, but it is. My other guess is that the downscaling in camera is somehow less effective than downscaling stills in post because it has to do it so fast and with less processing power. 

[agachart]

I'm still waiting for the Sony a7000 to drop for an affordable 4K shooter without sacrificing the crop, Iso, or using a speed booster. 

​on SAR,A7000 will delay till end 2015 or begin 2016,may will see Lumix G8 at A7000's announcement. 

[Inazuma]

I wonder if the GX8 will be the first of a series of new sensors like the GX7 was. The GX7 was dramatically better with noise than the GH3 and G6 was

[TheRenaissanceMan]

I wonder if the GX8 will be the first of a series of new sensors like the GX7 was. The GX7 was dramatically better with noise than the GH3 and G6 was

​I hope so. M4/3 really needs another jump in sensor tech if they're going to stay in the game, and they need it within the next year. Whether it be Panasonic's rumored micro-prism system replacing their standard CFAs, organic sensor tech, or even something less exciting, like returning to 12MP sensors...idk. But they need something to get them in the spotlight again, because the value proposition against APS-C is fading, as is their advantage in lens selection.

[Dan McComb]

I rented this combo over the weekend, and discovered a problem I'm hoping you can help me solve. When shooting with HDMI monitor (SmallHD DP6) with Lumix G7, the video feed is replaced with text message "Now recording video." This makes it unusable for me, since I need to monitor externally while rolling. Is there a setting I'm missing to bypass, or is this a "feature" that Panasonic has to push us upmarket to GH4? 

[AaronChicago]

I rented this combo over the weekend, and discovered a problem I'm hoping you can help me solve. When shooting with HDMI monitor (SmallHD DP6) with Lumix G7, the video feed is replaced with text message "Now recording video." This makes it unusable for me, since I need to monitor externally while rolling. Is there a setting I'm missing to bypass, or is this a "feature" that Panasonic has to push us upmarket to GH4? 

​Hey Dan, I've had problems with GH4 and SmallHD monitors as well. It's just a crap-shoot on which combo works. Both companies blame each other.

[Nick Hughes]

I rented this combo over the weekend, and discovered a problem I'm hoping you can help me solve. When shooting with HDMI monitor (SmallHD DP6) with Lumix G7, the video feed is replaced with text message "Now recording video." This makes it unusable for me, since I need to monitor externally while rolling. Is there a setting I'm missing to bypass, or is this a "feature" that Panasonic has to push us upmarket to GH4? 

​It may be something they reserve for the GH4 line. The GX7 doesn't allow for external monitoring.

[David Brunckhorst]

Bought G7, great video.  I'm now looking forward to Andrew's review of the combo (Speedbooster) as promised

[Andrew Reid]

It won't be the usual full review I'm afraid.

Limited resources means I returned the camera, can't justify keeping it.

I found it boring as a GH4 owner. It doesn't need a fancy review. It just needs a few lines of explanation really...

The battery is smaller, and 4K video eats it up quite quickly which is a shame because the GH4's strong point was run time for 4K on a single battery. Good points - image almost same as GH4, as near as makes no difference and the price is excellent. No LOG mode is coming though and there's no 10bit HDMI output so the decision is pretty simple, if you need to save money and don't care about long battery life, LOG or HDMI get the G7.

[Dan McComb]

Got it, I'll go with GH4 next time. Thanks Andrew. 

[TheRenaissanceMan]

It won't be the usual full review I'm afraid.

Limited resources means I returned the camera, can't justify keeping it.

I found it boring as a GH4 owner. It doesn't need a fancy review. It just needs a few lines of explanation really...

The battery is smaller, and 4K video eats it up quite quickly which is a shame because the GH4's strong point was run time for 4K on a single battery. Good points - image almost same as GH4, as near as makes no difference and the price is excellent. No LOG mode is coming though and there's no 10bit HDMI output so the decision is pretty simple, if you need to save money and don't care about long battery life, LOG or HDMI get the G7.

​Hey Andrew! Couple questions from your brief tests with the camera. 

1. Does the G7 offer clean 8-bit 4:2:2 HDMI output?
2. How does the 1080p quality compare to the GH4 and GX7? I like using it now and then to get a lightly different field of view when running and gunning. 
3. The G7 offers 4K photo mode, but does it have the same anamorphic support as the GH4? 
4. How long exactly IS the battery life in 4K? This is a critical question for most of us, as the main appeal of shooting Panasonic is the ergonomics. 
5. The Camera Store guys noted a difference in exposure between the GH4 and G7 on identical settings. Did you notice anything like that?
6. Are the AF and manual focus aids identical to the GH4? Hitting precise focus is critical in 4K.

Thanks!