There's a lot more to a camera than specs alone, the GH4 sounds great on paper but what I'm more curious about is the intangible, something the Blackmagic Cameras excel at. I'm quite fond of the aesthetic produced by the Blackmagic sensors, its often described as "filmic" but I prefer the term organic. Many digital cameras suffer from looking 'too' digital and while you can certainly grade that out to a large degree it's impossible to recover from it entirely. Noise pattern is a big factor in this, appealing noise can make it's existence entirely more tolerable often even desired, something the Alexa is often lauded for. When it comes to narrative work atleast I would personally rather have a 1080p image with excellent tonality, noise pattern and highlight roll-off than a 4K image with with little or none of the above.
Another point that bothers me a bit about this camera and I suppose the market in general is the lack of innovation on the lower end in regard to ergonomics. As we all know DSLR's weren't designed for video, video was just an afterthought, yet manufacturers (Canon, Sony, Panasonic) seem to have no interest in providing the product the market is obviously yearning for. Panasonic surprises me especially in this regard, they have been known for their ergonomics in the past and still are (hvx100, af100, etc...) so why couldn't they create a sub $3K camera in a proper video oriented form factor with these specs? I can't believe that a camera with ergonomics even half as good as the C series from Canon couldn't exist for under $3K with these specs or better. I don't know, I guess I just miss the days when you could just pick up your camera and go shoot, no fancy rigs and add-ons just plain old comfortable ergonomics with a decent evf at your eye.
Which 4K camera for the masses? GH4 vs Blackmagic Production Camera
In: Cameras
Posted
There's a lot more to a camera than specs alone, the GH4 sounds great on paper but what I'm more curious about is the intangible, something the Blackmagic Cameras excel at. I'm quite fond of the aesthetic produced by the Blackmagic sensors, its often described as "filmic" but I prefer the term organic. Many digital cameras suffer from looking 'too' digital and while you can certainly grade that out to a large degree it's impossible to recover from it entirely. Noise pattern is a big factor in this, appealing noise can make it's existence entirely more tolerable often even desired, something the Alexa is often lauded for. When it comes to narrative work atleast I would personally rather have a 1080p image with excellent tonality, noise pattern and highlight roll-off than a 4K image with with little or none of the above.
Another point that bothers me a bit about this camera and I suppose the market in general is the lack of innovation on the lower end in regard to ergonomics. As we all know DSLR's weren't designed for video, video was just an afterthought, yet manufacturers (Canon, Sony, Panasonic) seem to have no interest in providing the product the market is obviously yearning for. Panasonic surprises me especially in this regard, they have been known for their ergonomics in the past and still are (hvx100, af100, etc...) so why couldn't they create a sub $3K camera in a proper video oriented form factor with these specs? I can't believe that a camera with ergonomics even half as good as the C series from Canon couldn't exist for under $3K with these specs or better. I don't know, I guess I just miss the days when you could just pick up your camera and go shoot, no fancy rigs and add-ons just plain old comfortable ergonomics with a decent evf at your eye.