Andrew Reid

Well the 5D Mark III here is raw. No compression.   There's zero macro blocking in raw due to no compression.   The GH4 gives you 8x smaller 4K files than the Blackmagic Production Camera, something has to give. It does have macro blocking in areas of the image where space is being saved such on plain skies, very dark shadows, etc.   It does have banding too but this is reduced when you go 4K > 1080p.   Banding isn't a problem with the GH4 like the GH3. It only really appears when you push the ISO to silly levels like here, or do a really extreme grade and you have a blue sky taking up almost all the frame. With a variable bitrate, the GH4 will allocate less bitrate to the sky frames, so the less detail in the shot, the more compressed it ends up being.   When the scene is well lit and detailed the codec does a great job, almost as good as a JPEG.   If the GH4 lacks a fine grain and that's what you want, you can do noise reduction but then add back the film texture afterwards with Film Convert.

Canon 600mm F4 IS is $12,000.   How can anybody complain about consumer stuff topping out at 300mm with a straight face.   With 4K you have extra cropping ability. A 1920x1080 box from the GH4's 16MP sensor gives you same detail as 5D Mark III but has something like a 5.6x multiplication factor on the focal length. So actually 300mm = 1680mm in crop mode on the GH4. Much longer reach than a 5D Mark III video mode with that $12k lens.

  +1

Nowhere am I saying it is in the same league as the Alexa or matching it on how far you can push the grade.   I know it isn't THAT good.   But it's great and Panasonic's consumer 4K codec is clearly a step forward for grading compared the usual DSLR codec.

300mm on a 2x crop sensor not long enough for you ajay?  :wacko:   The 100-300 has stabilisation... equivalent on full frame would be 200-600, go and price that up at Amazon :)

I may upload again with a slightly more evenly matched grade. But I love the Kodak look.

NAB 2014 thread... Fire away. Hopes, expectations, news anything goes!

  It's just the grade. Settings were correct, including ISO.

So just to confirm this is 1.5x sensor on the GH4 with Speed Booster, so you are looking at Super 35mm (the cinema standard) holding up to 5D Mark III full frame, at ISO 6400. Pretty amazing really.   A7S going to have to be a complete package to beat it, but it has a good chance of being even better at high ISOs thanks to the rumoured 12MP full frame sensor.

  Most likely. Suddenly I feel very interested in finding out how well XAVC on the AX100 holds up.   Only thing that could cripple the A7S is rolling shutter, but the 12MP count and "S" for Speed is a good sign that won't be a big problem.

  Time spent on this forum has robbed me of my patience man... Obsession? How about being more thankful for the info and less insulting.

  It's really important you download the original clip on this one :) Vimeo's compression hides all the noise.

12MP is a superb choice if true.

Grade original 4K MOV files from the pre-production Panasonic GH4 here - https://www.copy.com/browse/copy/GH4 Is the GH4 a match for full frame in low light? The answer, surprisingly, is yes... Read the full article here

Something to bear in mind...   I highly doubt the A7S will use the full frame sensor area to record 4K from. If they use their 36MP A7R and take a 4096 x 2160 box from it, you will have a smaller sensor than Super 35mm. If they use their 24MP A7 sensor it will still be a big crop.   Best case senario is if they use the 16MP sensor they supplied Nikon in the D4 and D4S, which already could window out areas of the sensor at 1:1 for video. Quadrants of the same 1920x1080p area Nikon uses on the D4S would be an option for the A7S but it still wouldn't give you a full frame field of view, it would be like the 1D C with a 1.3x crop.   GH4 is 1.5x crop with Speed Booster and you gain in optical sharpness and brightness.   So let's try to avoid the hyperbole stuff and get the facts right. This thing hasn't even been announced yet!   That said I am mega excited!

  Let's get a few things straightened out regarding Joe and dafranking's thoughts here, because they don't make sense at all to me.   1D C is different price bracket and an MJPEG codec. It isn't comparable to the GH4 on features and won't be comparable to the A7S on price most likely.   It is old technology now.   The GH4 is the most obvious candidate to compare upcoming 4K cameras to, it is the current benchmark. No other camera comes in at the same price point with this many features. The Blackmagic 4K has 8x larger file sizes which are impossible to archive over a years worth of shooting unless you are Donald Trump, yet it lacks even the most basic of features like histogram. Nice image under ISO 400 and I like the concept but sorry, it is not feature complete enough or ergonomic enough to compete with Sony or Panasonic, ditto the 1D C.

Dafranking - Can we up the quality of posts please.

Grading is a subjective art and I think some people on here have quite a narrow definition of what is 'right' or 'wrong'. If you don't like it fine, but don't try and put it down to an error or camera problem! I've intentionally chosen the look I wanted here, to bring out the warm magic hour sun and pink fleshy skin tones. If you have a different style feel free to download the ungraded clips from Copy and have a go yourself, then I will point at it and say you're "wrong", how's that?

  Yes I can confirm that using AF for video is f***ing stupid

Various sources have told Sony Alpha Rumors that an A7S is coming on Sunday "in Las Vegas". It isn't hard to figure out what is starting in Las Vegas this weekend. If the rumours are true the Sony A7S will be at NAB 2014 - the largest video, broadcast and cinema trade show of the year. Is Sony about to give us a 'full frame GH4'? Read the full article here

  Already have done. Most of my tests are uploaded in ProRes LT and there's several GH4 files that I've graded and uploaded to Copy in 10bit ProRes format.

"Grade something in 4K that starts to break up". Wrong way to think of it.   The math is backed up by David Newman who is CTO at CineForm.

  Because it is shown at 720p on a 4Mbit Vimeo stream. Hell that is really letting the Alexa's wings stretch isn't it  :rolleyes:

  It's called "the sun".

In private as it's a pre-production model. Thomas can you email me? I'll respond later as it is 3am here now :)