GH4 GH4 wedding video: wich set-up is best for 1080p recording?

K

kakokiki

Member
Hi everyone,

I just sold my loved 7d and pre-ordered the gh4. The ability of autofocus, focus peaking, audio monitoring..... was a great improvement for me!
I shoot weddign videos in my work, and at the moment we just record in 1080, and no plan for 4K at the moment.

My question is: coming from the 7d, where I just could pick up the frame rate (in my case, 25p), wich would be the best choice for record a wedding video? We usually use 4 or 5 16GB cards with the 7D for a wedding (about 3-4 hours of video). Because it is a lot of hours, we dont want to record at 200Mbps (too much data, and our clients don't ask for these amount of quality (and don't pay enough for it ;) )

Right now I have a lot of CF cards from my 7D that will not fit in my GH4, so I need to invest in SD cards.

Because I don't want to invest still in these new super-expensive UHS-II class SD cards, I thought to buy a couple sandisk extreme plus (80 MB/s, about 35$ for 32GB) or sandisk extreme pro (95 MB/s - 50$ for a 32GB) cards.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ..._sdsdxs_032g_x46_32gb_extreme_sdhc_uhs_1.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/824140-REG/SanDisk_SDSDXPA_032G_A75_Extreme_Pro_32_GB.html

Some one asked in the forum wich cards where good for an 1920 x 1080p / 25 fps (200Mbps), and every body agreeded to the new UHS-II cards. But in the specs lists of GH4, i see options like MP4 1920 x 1080p / 25 fps (20Mbps) or AVCHD 1920 x 1080p / 23.98 fps (24Mbps) or 1920 x 1080p / 50 fps (28MbpsI (i like the ability to shoot all in 50p, so I can use slow motion when i want ).

Should these cheaper sd cards work with these configs? Is probably AVCHD better for recording than MP4? (more Mbps seems better....) Would be a problem if I record all the wedding in 50p and then pass it to 25p (but with ability to do slowmo in any moment? ) Is there a problem with the audio when recording in 50p, i mean, can I use it in 25p?

I'm a little lost, with my 7d there where not so much options, so it was very easy to choose a config. Never used a GH2 or GH3 and I feel a bit lost.... Probably I get my GH4 the last week of April, and I have my first weddign on 17th May, so I wanted not to wait to much to buy all the stuff I need (sd cards, extra batterys, nd filters...) and start doing tests before the weddings arrive!

Sorry for my english also, hope somebody understand my question!
 
AVCHD is a form of MP4... it's a standard agreed to by multiple manufacturers (there are a LOT of flavors of MP4), just an FYI.

At it's highest bitrate, my Sandisk Extreme 32GB cards will get me just over 3 hours of AVCHD (24Mbps). At 28Mbps, you will get a little less. Regardless, you'll get a lot of AVCHD footage onto a 32GB card.

As far as editing the footage, that is an issue for your editing program, so you might want to ask in that section of the website.
 
I've shot hours of weddings on a 550D, 5DII and a 7D and they're using some 48Mbps h264 .mov if I recall correctly.

Don't worry, even the lowest settings of the GH4 at 1080p will be better quality in terms of codec and overall image. All those cards you listed should be good for any mode except the 200Mbps, though I don't know why you would need such high quality for a wedding.

I currently have a GX7 and access to an FS700 and GH3... they shoot 28Mbps/24Mbps/20Mbps AVCHD .mts and the codec implementation blows the 7D at 48Mbps out of the water. It's so nice that the file sizes are twice as small too! Even the 50p of my GX7 at 28Mbps looks great, and I can only expect the GH4 to be better.
 
I'm curious to see the thread where UHS-II was unanimously agreed upon, as it is absolutely not required for the GH4's 200mbps bitrate.

As a starting point, let's refer to Panasonic's own stated recommendation: U3 speed class cards. These are the cards that are guaranteed to work at the GH4's max bitrate, no guessing required.

For example, Transcend recently released a U3 card in 64GB/128GB capacities starting at around $50. This will handle everything from 200mbps and down.

As for the lower AVCHD bitrates (24/28mbps), you should be perfectly fine with inexpensive class 10 cards (possibly even class 6), but the footage will only hold up so well at that bitrate. I would recommend the GH4's 50mbps setting as it's more robust but still gives you 1.5-2 hours on a 32GB card. I've been shooting 50mbps on the GH3 using Transcend's 16GB & 32GB cards without issue since the camera was released.
 
@kakkokiki - what we do know about cards is that older sandisk extreme 95mbps cards do work - but the newer class 3 cards recommended for 4k are significantly cheaper. On Amazon in the UK, Transcend's new 128gb class 3 cards are starting to appear for just under 80gbp. These are what I'll be buying, and I wouldn't scrimp on these if you can avoid it. Good news is GH4 100 Mbps .mov footage will be a significant improvement on any of your 7D stuff, and I would avoid avchd imho. Batteries are the same as the GH3, so you might be able to pick up some 2nd hand bargains before you shoot. You'll get a million opinions about nd filters, but I'd recommend the Genustech Eclipse variable ND - I've had more expensive ones like the Tiffen, and I like this one best - cheaper too! I bought a single 77mm one, and step up rings so one filter works on a variety of lens sizes. It also has a front thread for a lenshood..

(edit) sorry, some duplicate opinion from Sol's post
 
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I have a GH3 and to be honest the 50 mbit mode already has amazing quality. If you only ever want 1080p then that may be best way to go. This mode has a great quality to bitrate balance. You are able to recorder for longer and use just about any class 10 or faster card you can get your hands on. No special cards needed. You may find shooting in any bitrate higher than that for a wedding will not have enough quality gain to justify the extra media cost and complications.
 
@Thomas - why should wedding shooters not aspire to the best footage their kit can deliver? You can bet their clients do..
 
mr bill said:
@Thomas - why should wedding shooters not aspire to the best footage their kit can deliver? You can bet their clients do..
Click to expand...

I'm willing to bet very few if any wedding clients could actually tell you the difference between 50mbit and 200mbit on the GH4. Since the 50mbit mode is IPB during normal scenes it will look just as good as 200mbit Intra only. During very fast motion of extreme detail scenes the 200mbit may have a slight edge but that would be in extreme cases. Even then it may be extremely difficult for even the most critical of us to tell the difference. HD at 50mbit with H264 recording is already a pretty insane bitrate level. The fundamental difference between IPB and I recording is not as big as one would think. If IPB is high enough then there could virtually be little to no difference.

There is also the cost factor and convenience. Shooting at 50mbps IPB gives you 4x the record time and 4x fewer card swapping moments during a wedding for virtually the same level of quality. It also means being able to shoot a long segment without fear of the card running out as frequently.

I have shot a lot of 50mbps footage on my GH3 and it really is very difficult to see macro blocking. Even during accidental whip pans it seems to hold up very well. Keep in mind 50mbps on one camera is not the same as 50mbps on another camera. Even compared to the hacked GH2 the 50mbps on the GH3 holds up much better. The GH3 is already shooting a format way beyond what anybody would ever deliver to their client.

Now if the 200mbps mode on the GH4 was 4:2:2 and wasn't also a binned output from the full sensor then perhaps it may have an advantage. In the end 50mbps IPB and 200 mbps I could very well be a wash in terms of difference. Unless you are shooting insane action sports or something with a lot of random movement.
 
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