Panasonic GH4 4K Production Diary - Day 2 - Test Footage

[Andrew Reid]

Above: GH4 test footage shot in 4096 x 2160 Cinema 4K DCI mode. Academy 1.85:1 aspect ratio. CineLikeD profile for best dynamic range.

Below: Cooke S4i Mini (uncoated Panchro/i version) on the GH4 with Ciecio7 PL adapter



Andrew Reid (EOSHD) and Frank Sauer (Filmmaker) are shooting with the Panasonic GH4

On Day 1 of shooting with the GH4 we did a location scout at the Spreepark abandoned theme park in Berlin. The park has granted us paid access to do a proper shoot with the free runners so I am going to save the location scouting footage for when it comes to that edit and the final piece. Frank is near Frankfurt now with the GH4 to shoot a piece with a new aerial drone and gimbal (similar to MoVi) and I have been out shooting with the GH4 around Berlin to get an idea of the image quality when it comes to 4K. I've also tried grading the 100Mbit/s 4K codec in Premiere to see how well it holds up. Here are the results in glorious 4K!

Disclaimer 1: This GH4 is a pre-production model. Firmware version is v0.5. The image quality may not represent the final camera.

Disclaimer 2: Because I don't have NDs big enough or good enough for the Cooke lenses yet, most shots were shot at higher shutter speeds than 180 degrees (1/50)

Tip: if you don't have a Vimeo Plus account to download the original file and pixel peep I've uploaded some short GH4 4K clips here in ProRes LT format. Try grading them and looking at the detail 1:1!

Read the full article here

[AndersM]

Cool!

 

Have you tested if the Ex.Tele function works with the 50p/50i modes? This worked on the GH2 but was removed from the GH3 for some reason(that Sony sensor perhaps?). 

Also is the disappearing onscreen info as quick to disappear as on the gh3(10 seconds)?

Thanks!

[jcs]

Hey Andrew- looks pretty good, perhaps Vimeo "upgrade" the video to 1080p (for folks without Plus etc. accounts; I'm downloading the 1GB 4K MP4 now).

[Andrew Reid]

Hey Andrew- looks pretty good, perhaps Vimeo "upgrade" the video to 1080p (for folks without Plus etc. accounts; I'm downloading the 1GB 4K MP4 now).

 

Yes I will do this. Consider downloading the shorter clips from Copy (around 100MB each) instead if you just wanna see what the 4K image quality looks like. https://copy.com/EoeMcoA2T9L4

[jurgen]

Looks iiiinnnncredibe. Wow. Fantastic job.

[jonpais]

@Andrew Thanks for the info about editing on a Mac. I went ahead and ordered the 27" iMac over the weekend. At least when I receive it in 8 weeks, I'll know what to expect. And thanks also for providing shorter clips in Copy, so I don't have to wait 24 hours to download the entire clip from Vimeo! Anyhow, at the moment, I'm just chugging along trying to get through the tedious 750 page Resolve manual :( 

[MaxAperture Films]

Good stuff... those Cookes are wicked!  The dynamic range is immediately evident, a good foundation for the resulting color grade.

[dbp]

Wow, great looking stuff! I downloaded the 4K file off of vimeo. I only have a 1080p monitor and the detail is insane. Unlike anything I've ever seen from a 1080p camera. I can't image how good it looks on a proper 4K display.

 

I'm more and more excited for this camera. Image quality aside, it's so nice to have the versatility. 4K, UHD, 1080p intra, PAL/NTSC, 96fps... even having plain old AVCHD is great for long events when the extra IQ isn't warranted.

 

I'm curious to see the low light performance and how it compares to the GH2 and GH3. 

[Guest]

Amazing level of resolution. As Andrew said it looks like a moving photograph. Really shows-off the quality of the lenses. The image looks promising in other ways too.

 

Are we going to see a lot of indie features shot on this camera? Is it a realistic alternative to Blackmagic for low budget cinema? Does it lend itself better to documentary/freeform work? Predictions?

[Brellivids]

Andrew you will want to try out one of these if you allready havent. It's not perfect but it's very nice tool of it's own.

 

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5574929666&toolid=10001&campid=5336727214&customid=&icep_item=270947685870&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg

[Andrew Reid]

Andrew you will want to try out one of these if you allready havent. It's not perfect but it's very nice tool of it's own.

 

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=2&pub=5574929666&toolid=10001&campid=5336727214&customid=&icep_item=270947685870&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg

 

Hmm, might do. But it is Speed Booster for Canon I really want, even a passive one would be better than nothing! To see more of the glass, closer to the full frame look.

[jcs]

The 4K footage looks great on a 30" 2560x1600 monitor (guess it's time to look for a 4K monitor).

 

Running on Windows 7 (MacPro with Quadro 5000), the 4K mov's aren't real-time (QuickTime decoding, looks like). The MP4, which is much more CPU/GPU hungry, plays back in real-time (looks like native/GPU decoding). I'd guess on the Mac side the 4K mov's will play faster.

 

Here's a quick 1080p grade on the 196x Porsche 911 using only RGB curves (including using my top-secret Panasonic to 5D custom curves preset ;) ):

Original

 

Graded

 

Really dig the quality- looks like a shot from a nice stills camera.

[Inazuma]

Very nice :) I'll be in Berlin from Thursday to Sunday with my GX7. Going to see if I can get to that park; looks like a great spot!

[McKajVah]

Running on Windows 7 (MacPro with Quadro 5000), the 4K mov's aren't real-time (QuickTime decoding, looks like). The MP4, which is much more CPU/GPU hungry, plays back in real-time (looks like native/GPU decoding). I'd guess on the Mac side the 4K mov's will play faster.

Try it with the VLC-player. Should be running smooth with it.

[Andrew Reid]

jcs, a few comments...

 

Windows 7 running on a Mac? Virtualised or bootcamp? If virtualised you will have lower performance. Also the MOV ProRes from Copy are much larger, higher bitrate files than the 4K MP4 (H.264) from my Vimeo account so you will be putting more demands on the drive read speed and the player.

 

Your grade is ok but could benefit from losing the yellow tint as the bonnet and cobbles no longer look brown.

 

Cheers

[Germy1979]

A-MEN!

This is the footage I've been waiting to see from this cam & it's about time. Awesome shots Andrew

[Andrew Reid]

A-MEN!

This is the footage I've been waiting to see from this cam & it's about time. Awesome shots Andrew

 

Cheers. This is just a very quick test.

 

The proper project is the Spreepark with Frank. I can't wait to get started!! More to come.

[TinSoldier]

Thanks for the great reviewing so far.  

I can't say I'm entirely sold.. just to me the way the highlights fall off still has that limited latitude DSLR look.  I also don't love the way its handling the warmer tones when it starts getting hot (I notice this a lot with the Canon DLSRs).. seems to kind of loose proper colour graduation (pink building at .26 or the boat at .24).  I notice all this mainly in the first 30 seconds of footage.. albeit very challenging high contrast shots, but I still feel like the black magic footage I've seen so far (I don't own one) would give these shots a more filmic look. 

 

What are your thoughts? 

[Andrew Reid]

Like I said in the blog, the sunny shots and highlights are not optimal because I exposed too far to the right. Very little is blown out but they could have benefitted from coming to the left a bit.

 

Believe me the roll off is smooth and the dynamic range is very wide on this cam.

 

The pink comes from my grade. If I wasn't in such a rush to show it to you, I'd have spent another 6 hours on it and put it through Resolve or something  :)

 

Furthermore, still experimenting with what picture profiles to use, though I love what CineLike D is giving me so far, despite having a name like a vitamin supplement.

[Andrew Reid]

Best footage so far from the GH4, but that's to be expected with an almost $8000 lens...Looking forward to footage from the Sigma 18-35.  

 

You're making it sound only about the lens. What about the nut behind the camera!?

 

The 18-35 is very nice, almost as sharp as the Cookes.