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Panasonic GH4 Production Diary - Day 4 - Low light


Andrew Reid
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Andrew, I really have no words to thank you about all the test and the energy you invested on this reviews, with all the info you give us have made my choice easier, but now the ambient became dark again with the rumored Sony launch of the a7s, just when i have been decided to get the GH4 the shadow of Sony appears ;)

Great times ahead.

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Andrew, appreciate the time/effort you are putting into all this. Really looking forward to getting a GH4 - as you say a super cheap upgrade!

 

I haven't used a GH4, but to me the difference between the GH4/GH3 (ISO) isn't the jump I was expecting. From the vimeo clip, viewed full screen they are very similar - similar enough I think to not be a easy pick in a blind test.

 

Look forward to, tomorrows results!

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I haven't used a GH4, but to me the difference between the GH4/GH3 (ISO) isn't the jump I was expecting. From the vimeo clip, viewed full screen they are very similar - similar enough I think to not be a easy pick in a blind test.

 

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

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Thank you so much Andrew! I've been super interested in this camera and you have done the best job covering every aspect of it. The only thing i was weary about with this camera was the ISO sensitivity, and I must say I'm pretty impressed with how it held up to the 5d Mk III.  Seeing your videos has made me feel a lot better about preordering it, so again thanks for all your hard work!

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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.

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Just downloaded the .mov from Vimeo. The GH4 is still displaying macroblocking, mud and posterisation in gradients. The 5DIII on the other hand has wonderful tight noise pattern, even stretched to 2.5k on my monitor. There's a hint of vertical FPN on the 5DIII, but it's really marginal. I was expecting more from the GH4 truth be told, although I appreciate this is just a single test. My hacked GH2 shows better control of the noise pattern than the GH4, all be it more cranked.

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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.

 

You actually don't need this disclaimer as the physical aperture of the sigma was 1.8.  you would only need to say this if the lens on the 5d was at 1.8 as well.    But the exposure was equivalent to f1.2 so it was the same exposure as if you had used a 1.2 lens on the GH4 without a speedbooster.   

 

Cool test by the way.

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Even thought I have not seen the original images, it looks out to me, as if the highlights of the GH4 were blown (see the reflections on the car windows, that are completely white) at same time, as the blacks lost info (being completely black). In that sense the camera did not compare to 5D at all. I would say there is at least 2 f-stops less info in the files. And this is exactly the point that the camera makers are loosing. No-one needs the extra resolution which remains unnoticed when the image looks out unrealistic.

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Even thought I have not seen the original images, it looks out to me, as if the highlights of the GH4 were blown (see the reflections on the car windows, that are completely white) at same time, as the blacks lost info (being completely black). In that sense the camera did not compare to 5D at all. I would say there is at least 2 f-stops less info in the files. And this is exactly the point that the camera makers are loosing. No-one needs the extra resolution which remains unnoticed when the image looks out unrealistic.

Nah, can't agree. It's a slightly different angle and the car window on the GH4 is reflecting a much bigger surface. What I would say though, if you look at the finer highlights that are clipping, like door ways, street lights (the ones at the back that are in focus on the 5D video at least), the highlight rolloff of the GH4 is very very good....like super duper good.

 

However, all things being equal, the exposures aren't the same so that's one thing to consider, but even then, the roll off wouldn't change 'that' much. I have high hopes for the GH4's highlight rendering - Blackmagic high hopes!

 

Add an external recorder to reduce the shitty 8-bit 420 compression and this thing should sing. As is though, it's a bit meh...but still a nice improvement.

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So we could get an extra half stop with a 1.4 lens on the speedbooster! Interesting indeed. The 5D3 does look marginally better. I think NEAT video could do a good job with the GH4 footage. 

 

Any chance you'll be putting up a couple of the GH4 in copy clips so we could try and 'grade' them?

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

 

What do you think to the macroblocking and posterisation Andrew. I know it's pixel peeping a bit and I think it held up well, but it doesn't look to pretty in some areas. The 5DIII has immense noise structure like the BlackMagics.

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