Andrew Reid

  The main reason I shot raw was to learn DaVinci Resolve and make full use of the Blackmagic cameras and make use of a 5D Mark III liberated from the hum-ho stock video mode. Raw gave me lovely ProRes and much better resolution and colour on the 5D Mark III so I am very grateful for it and the efforts of Magic Lantern.   But given the choice I will always choose a compressed codec over raw, as long as the image quality is in the ballpark, I don't have an overwhelming desire to spend hours in Resolve doing heavy grading work on everything I shoot. There's also space considerations and it does creep up on you after a while with the Cinema DNG files.   Raw is still a GREAT solution for the 5D Mark III and unshackling that beautiful full frame sensor.   In future though, I'd rather just have a good compressed codec.

  To be exact I think it's 2.17x in 4096 and 2.33x in 3840.   In order words the 4096 x 2160 DCI 4K mode is 17% smaller than the sensor area used in 16:9 1080p mode.

  So what's new? Anything at all? Just better in low light?   Oh dear. Not good news for future Blackmagic cameras is it...

This thread continues here: '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>>

Not a fan of technological progress are we Quirky? :)

Just to be clear (as if it wasn't already) Blackmagic haven't announced anything, this sensor is from Fairchild Imaging.

A parrot could be the new gold standard for testing moire!   How bad is it on a scale of 1-10 Bryan, is the moire level on tricky shots similar to any other cameras like the Blackmagic? Better than GH3?   I think it could be a 4-2-0 artefact rather than a moire pattern?   I have one remaining question mark on the GH4 - whats the 4K mini-HDMI output like? 10bit or 8bit? Playback mode only, or is it live and uncompressed? That could be great with the Odyssey.

  Indeed, and nail the focus as well. Quite important for 4K. Time to stop down a bit!

No, two 11 bit ones.   Now the question is - how are they used?

It's an open secret that the Blackmagic Cinema Camera was based around a sCMOS sensor from Fairchild Imaging. Now the company has announced it's successor, the sCMOS 2.0 Read the full article here

  Shame MoVi gave up the ghost, I feel the GH4 and MoVi could have a good marriage if only they'd get on better ;)   GH4 is going to be popular for aerial multicopter shots I feel. The detail on the ground just pops out at you. Currently other 4K solutions are either not as good or much larger. Even the Blackmagic Production Camera is much heavier.   I can't wait to see what it looks like with my Cooke PL lenses on, try as I might PL to 5D Mark III just won't go ;)   Did the 4K internal codec stand up well in post Bryan?

Are you the shooter Bryan? Fantastic job.   What lenses?

Even with all the muddy youtube compression it's lovely to see that much detail on my humble 2.5K iMac display.   Wait until you see it over HDMI to a 4K TV, then it looks mind-blowing.

  Can't wait to see Canon's response!   What are they going to do on strategy now?   Their 4K cameras are mainly aimed at Hollywood. C500 is not really aimed at the C300 crowd. They don't have a 4K camera for the masses yet.   The GH4 is a consumer camera which has appeal to pros. Smashes a price barrier.   Suddenly upgrading from a GH3 to C100 with external recorder lost a lot of appeal.

I think the GH4 is just the start of a big wave of lovely 4K shooting DSLRs and cinema cameras to come before NAB in April, so great for us, who have finite budgets :)   This spec and price is going to be hard to beat.   As for the industry, well, people are not going to swap out their F55 for one. But there's going to be very good commercial reasons to shoot 4K soon and it's VERY important Canon bring out better 4K solutions. The C500 isn't aimed at C300 users and the C300 doesn't shoot 4K. The 1D C is aimed at Hollywood and has no videographer features at all.   If Canon don't have a 4K version of the C300 at NAB, I think the GH4 could gain a lot of ground in that market, even though it's marketed as a consumer camera.

I'm confused why you keep insisting it's an 8bit camera when it does 10bit over the HDMI port.

People talk about 8bit as if they have no choice.   If you want raw, shoot 5D Mark III with Magic Lantern or go Blackmagic. If you want 10bit use an external recorder with the GH4 or shoot ProRes on a Blackmagic. Chill!

  If it's their intention to sell it as purely an 8bit camera, then the engineers clearly didn't get the memo when they enabled a 10bit debayer, 4:2:2 colour sampling on the sensor, 10bit HDMI output and even a 10bit external box with 4 HD-SDI ports on it :)   The sensor in the BM Production Camera doesn't have the pixel design and light sensitivity of the GH4's sensor. The global shutter has a large trade off in image quality. Needless to say, neither camera is done. Neither camera is out there yet. You have looked at 10bit ProRes 4K on the Production Camera and automatically assumed it will be nicer than uncompressed 10bit 4K from the GH4's external box haven't you? Why exactly?

  Ladies and gentleman and not so gentleman we have a Mr Angry on the forum. Calm down Mr Angry. It's only a camera!   Contribute without the nastiness from now on, or lose your login privileges. Your choice.   I choose not to shoot with the AX100 because I prefer interchangeable lenses on the GH4. My choice.

  Well, you have the choice. The GH4's add-on box gives you 4K in 10bit 4:2:2, same as 4K ProRes on the Blackmagic Production Camera but with a sensor that does clean ISO 3200. Dynamic range will likely be similar, if not actually a bit better on the GH4 due to cleaner shadows, but I'm speculating because neither camera is actually even finished yet.   8bit is fine if you're only doing light grading or leaving the footage on the picture profile it was shot with.   The source signal is 10bit 4:2:2 from the sensor and the encoder does a good job of compressing it into 8bit 4:2:0. The images really did look lovely. Will they fall apart with heaving grading? Yes, like a JPEG does. So choose the external recorder route, problem solved. Do I need the headache of raw file sizes and transcoding any more? After looking at my stack of hard drives after a year shooting Cinema DNG, I'm really not sure raw is viable long term.

  Haha! Stay tuned.

  Let's wait and see what 4K over HDMI does. If it is uncompressed 10bit like the 1080p, then I will have my eyes peeled at NAB for an affordable 4K external recorder for sure. Atomos are you listening? Hint hint!

  Ah come on now. Canon charges $25,000 for their uncompressed 10bit 4K and $12,000 for their 4K DSLR and you won't pay 2000 euros for the Panasonic, which has more features by far than the 1D C?

  I braced myself for The Mark Response. Truth is I've been treading this moment. I'll try not to be too harsh on you, and try to keep it short.   You're wrong.

  For me it isn't a huge issue as we now have it via HDMI, with the advantage of SSD media capacities, prices, much better focussing and monitoring if you choose a recorder like the Atomos Ninja!   ProRes 10bit 4:2:2 is very processor intensive, maybe Panasonic didn't want to give us 40 minute battery run times like Blackmagic ;)