zephyrnoid

There is no denying that this looks like an impressive camera, but I'm going nowhere near the pre-order button until I've actually tried it on a professional shoot. I do that with all new cameras, throw them into the deep end straight away and start shooting a paid project.  The 4k, 5-axis, Slog2 etc means nothing until it's been put through it's paces. 

All this sounds great but I'll wait to hear of news from the A7S II. That and..I'm still pretty happy with what the original A7s gives me. Time to stock up on good lighting, a rig and start making some amazing films.

​I'm with you.  I'm just pointing out that for professional MOVIE filming only, which the C100 is aimed at, the "better" hybrid specifications are misleading.   

I know this is a bit of an obvious point, but there's something a little frustrating about this thread - if you're buying a camera for a run and gun project, can I suggest not getting ANY stills camera, period. The A7RII is a STILLS camera, not a video camera. When Canon started this movement it was for people like journalists who needed video no matter what and happened to be holding something with a nice sensor. If you intend on using it as a full rig, then it should be bought with external gear anyway, thus fixing the problem. 
I'd be much more worried if this overheating issue applied to still photography on the other hand....does it?

​You are blind or you did not read my link ? It is still compressed but they work and will release via firmware uncompressed RAW on A7RII. 

BTW for the last interview Andrew just posted, they say A7RII does 240fps at 1080p but it is most likely a typo. A7SII will do 240fps at 1080p. 

I'm sure the GH5 will do 1080p at 10 bit 422 in body.  I can wait 1 year no problem.  I think the GH4 could have done it.  I just don't understand why it doesn't.

Almost everything that could go wrong on a shoot DID go wrong on this one. Without going into details, I feel like the video is 60% of what it could have been. I had a MoVI that went down on the very first day of shooting, which forced me to rely on our backup brushless "FauxVI"  Alexmos based gimbal. Also had a lot of MoVI handheld shots planned, but those had to be cut obviously.  The prototype GH4's had some quirks that were challenging to deal with but I'm sure they are solved by now with firmware update. All in all I was really impressed by the image coming out of the GH4. We posted this in front of a 60-some inch 4k monitor and the shots looked stunning to me. 
And responding to someone previously, yes all 8 lenses and two bodies absolutely did fit handily in my carryon backpack, minus the ocotcopter of course! ;0)
 
BryanHarveyFilms.com

Anyone who is thinking the BMPC is a better choice than this is still forgetting about workflow and the added cost and time that will go with it. I really like what I'm seeing here, and will definitely be picking one up. 

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.

Forgot to add - Awesome review, Andrew!! ... You cut through all the bullshit and delivered the exact info I needed to know.  The other GH4 hands-on reviews are pretty pathetic by comparison.

I think the camera is a possible disaster hurriedly rushed through to compete with the BM4K giving them time to make a Panasonic af100 4k or a DSLR along the lines of the 1DC.
I didn't like the skin tones in the demo films and I thought the image looked oversaturated with high contrast and crushed blacks.Will be interesting to see what the DR is on this.

AF100 successor, now that's an interesting thought. It's no secret the AF was not a huge success and was trampled on by Sony and Canon. Maybe they see the GH4 as the successor and there won't even be an AF200?
 
On the other hand, I still think one makes sense. Built in NDs, XLRs, HD-SDI. Maybe the AG-pro division GH4 add-on is the AF200's image processing hardware in a box :)

NBC Sports is already shooting 4K, actually. They down-convert to 1080p, often using the extra resolution to 'zoom' during replays. The technology is there, but the issue is cable companies are not supporting it at the moment. It will take a while before broadcasting companies are willing to upgrade their workflow. You'd be surprised how many TV channels actually still only operate in standard definition because they don't want to shell out the money for HD. 

What filmmaking are you talking about, school project ? kiddie stuff for no money ? there is no paid job where you go with mark3  and magic lantern firmware, shooting raw on hopefully fast CF's hoping it won't drop frames.

I think price is way off.  In 5 months time, 4K will be enabled in a lot of consumer electronics.  Sure they won't be as good as the GH4, but these consumer devices will be demonstrating to the consumer that only minor changes to the GH3 will enable it to do 4K.  Primarily the sensor, data bus, and the processor.  Some of these components would have been a given on the GH3 successor, 4K or not. Is that worth a $2,000 extra?  Definitely not in 5 months.

Well the rumour is that the GH4 (supposedly called the AG-GH4)... is an inch thicker than the GH3, hopefully for the inclusion of an ND filter system and some extra juice. 
 
I like the ergonomics of DSLR for video, but its not perfect. The C100/C300 is a lovely camera to hold, so if they get somewhere in between (yet a bit more on the smaller side) the form factor of a DSLR and the C100/C300, then that would be awesome. 
 
Like I've said before, Panasonic have a wide open field to innovate here with this next release and make a serious statement on the design of a hybrid camera. I just want them to release it now so everyone can stop crying and get on with making stuff. 

The most important spec there is the 10bit/4:2:2
 
I'd rather have raw 1080p (5DIII) than 4K.... But if it really has 10bit/4:2:2 it becomes an interesting option.

"even if the GH4 is the all singing and all dancing camera we hope it is - all of us will still want more. (Another GH camera, but instead of 4k - its got 120FPS!)"
If Panasonic nails the 'Balance' between stills quality  and mostly  Indie/enthusiast video and does it in something that is NOT a DSLR form-factor, then they will have finally broken from the 'beaten path'.

I dont think point and shoots are dead. the digital variety are just not fun to use and are a real pain. I'd love a digital one of these to carry around in my pocket, full frame and all.
 
the sony rx is a step in the right direction. in 10 years they'll be a hundred quid :-) as far as consumer dslrs are concerned, yep theyre fucked lol. The new sony mirrorless offerings show where that's going. Sony really need to get their lenses sorted out, that's really nikon/canon's only real advantage these days. Dslrs will go they way of the rangefinder and tlr.

A really great article!Spot-on all around. Thanks

Some revision and a little mantra ( attached) to chew on.
1) Resolution is not as important as Color space. I'll take 10Bit 2.5K over 8Bit 4K any day
2) Built in ND filters matter a lot since many of us need them to knock down the sensors in bright light and NO I do not like taking the time to constantly deal with filters in my mattebox every time I change shots.
3) Panasonic will be wasting time and an opportunity if they release anything 'Pro' in a M43sensor ( Please forget the Speedboosters- that's more unweildy hardware between the rear-element and the sensor than I care to deal with in a supposedly 'Pro' camera)
So have a look at my mantra and goodnight all !
 

Don't be irritated by hypes. I still soldier on with my reliable GH2. Never before in my life had I made so many videos. 
 
 
That's it. The more better graded raw videos will flood the net, the more will all those 4k-downscalers (I call them 'Pro-Dads' for the amateur dad's software Mercalli) realize how "so last century" and how desperately videoish their Son-Pan-Can-4k pixel-puddles look
 
 
Good question. The downside of ProRes is that it's not particularly state of the art in terms of efficiency, it's like carrying around a kettle of soup, though a bouillon cube would do and some hot water at home. Compression is not the devil, and Panasonic did always well with highly compressed codecs. Just think about a clever way to avoid the high data rates and big files that come with raw. 
 
Also, Panasonic always tried to be compatible. Probably they provide a solution for every big NLE. I wouldn't worry about that.

I'm not sure how I feel about this - and I'm not trying to debate - I want to like my GH3 but I would love something focused entirely on filming rather than a hybrid - at times it does feel like some features were rushed or compromised: 4:2:2? Focus peaking? The all intra seems unusable in the hint of low light, I'm also waiting for a "decent" firmware update.
 
I would also like to see improvements on the user experience - the camera UI has a lot of segregated options, both in the software, and physical; this might be me but if you're in a rush to shoot, there's a lot of precheck.  
 
The video mentions their dedication on broadcast quality so I hope that's a hint. Regardless, I'm excited to see what this news is about in a couple of weeks

Sold my GH3 yesterday.
 

I already tested the MINI's sensor in the larger S35 model and there were no white blobs or black spots, as far as I could see. Need more time with the camera to dig deeper, that time will come in 1-2 weeks.