GH4 Leeming LUT One – the best LUT for the Panasonic GH4

visceralpsyche said:
I haven't tested all the profiles, just the ones I used myself (Portrait used to be my go-to for skin tones until I built my LUT).

My aim was the V-Log L target, as everyone (myself included) was initially excited to finally have a colour correct profile, only to find out later about the chroma issues.

Cheers,

Paul :)
Click to expand...
Thanks Paul! And thanks for taking the time to make this LUT!
 
ROUND 1
Let's look at the dreaded magenta/cyan color error:

V-LOG L > VLOG709 LUT
detail_1_color_error_vlog.jpg

CINE-D > Leeming One LUT
detail_color_error_1_leeming.jpg

Much less pronounced using Cine-D. We all knew that, but just wanted to verify and make clear.

WINNER: CINE-D/Leeming
 
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ROUND 2
Color balance and uniformity:

V-LOG L > VLOG709 LUT
detail_greyscale_vlog.jpg

CINE-D > Leeming One LUT
detail_greyscale_leeming.jpg

V-LOG L/709 color balance is nearly dead on, with a .9% blue push. Uniformity from black to white is similarly tight.
Cine-D/Leeming One color balance is significantly red deficient, with a 1.1% deviation from blue. Uniformity from black to white is good.

WINNER V-LOG L/709 LUT (but this is definitely something Paul can tweak if he desires.)
 
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mash_gh4 said:
if paul leeming would really understand and respect the nature of information exchange in public forums, he would simple share his insights in a more consequent way.
it doesn't make so much difference if you describe a solution to problem by words or put it into technical form like this LUTs.
but there is big difference between sharing information within a community and just doing public relation work to sell a product.
it's a pity, that panasonic opened pandoras box by selling this stupid upgrade for the first time. but it doesn't get better, if we get used to this kind of stupid business making and just try to participate in it as good as we can.
so i think, we should really ignore this LUT from paul -- not even discous it -- maybe copping it under a differned name and share it for free :)
but, for sure, i would appreciate it, if he would document and share the few technical ingredients of this LUT with us in a more collegial manner, to use and improve it together in a more forum adequate way.
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Incredibly misinformed post. There has been an incredible amount of sharing in this thread, and it is so obvious the amount of work done and not kept for personal use. Sharing of this LUT for $15 is a bargain, however, at the very least Paul should refund the $15 Dusty paid. I for one applaud what has been done via this thread.
 
ROUND 3
Shadow noise:

V-LOG L > VLOG709 LUT (200%)
detail_shadow_vlog.jpg

CINE-D > Leeming One LUT (200%)
detail_shadow_leeming.jpg

This one is a little more subjective, because what Paul does might not be considered "accurate". Because color noise in shadows is truly an "error" (that even uneducated viewers find objectionable) my opinion is that it is reasonable to take steps to minimize its appearance, even if those steps cause pure color accuracy in shadows to suffer. In this case, shadow saturation is lowered beyond what is "true", but the net effect is much more pleasing image with noise that does indeed look more like film grain and less like sensor noise.

WINNER: Leeming One
 
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ROUND 4
Saturation:

V-LOG L > VLOG709 LUT
detail_saturation_vlog.jpg

CINE-D > Leeming One LUT
detail_saturation_leeming.jpg

The Leeming One LUT unnaturally lowers saturation from what was captured, and is less than that of the V-LOG709 profile. While I understand that some people prefer this look, for accuracy's sake, I would prefer that Paul keep the saturation at a more natural level. (It can easily be reduced during the creative grade if that is the desired "look".)

WINNER: VLOG-L/709
 
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ROUND 5
Dynamic range (highlights):

V-LOG L > VLOG709 LUT
detail_highlights_vlog.jpg

CINE-D > Leeming One LUT
detail_highlights_leeming.jpg

When we talk about extending dynamic range, most of us don't really care about reaching farther into noisy shadows...we want to be able to recover extra highlight detail rather than blowing it out. I don't see any extra range with V-LOG...the values are simply shifted lower and then they just as abruptly stop. The GH4 has about 10 "usable" stops of dynamic range in video mode. Nothing about either profile really changes that fact.

WINNER: Tie
 
Joe, just wanted to say - awesome tests! I'm taking notes and will take a look at the LUT through your test results once they are completed, as some tests may overlap in the way a fix for one fixes the others. Good work!

Cheers,

Paul :)
 
ROUND 6
Color accuracy

Raw comparison:
chart.jpg

At first glance, there appears to be meaningful differences in how the two LUTs interpret color. For example, look at G4. But...we have to take into account the different exposures (V-LOG L exposes a bit lighter.) After normalizing the images (black level, mid level and white level matched) we find that the two are a much closer match.

V-LOG L > VLOG709 LUT
chart_vlog.jpg


CINE-D > Leeming One LUT
chart_leeming.jpg

To help visualize the difference, let's look at the "difference":

chart_difference.jpg

No difference would yield a totally black image. The brighter the color, the more the difference.

What we can see is that while there are some minor differences in hue, the major difference between the two is Leeming One LUT's lack of saturation.

WINNER: VLOG-L/709 (again, difference is small and something Paul could change if desired.)
 
ROUND 7
Skin tones

V-LOG L > VLOG709 LUT
detail_skin_vlog.jpg

CINE-D > Leeming One LUT
detail_skin_leeming.jpg

I gotta admit, I fully expected V-LOG the win this one hands down. V-LOG L color reproduction is so much better than the other "out-of-the-box" profiles that I couldn't see how it could not win. And if it was close, well, this is a very subjective test. What truly is "best" when talking about skin tones?

Nope, Leeming One is CLEARLY better, even after normalizing the exposures. V-LOG L's low saturation magenta/cyan color error rears its ugly head again.

As it is, Leeming One is leaning just a tiny off in hue, but my expectation is that if the previously noted color deviations were corrected for, the hue would fall right in line. Cine-D has a problem with "posterizing" or "solarizing" as skin tones shift in value. The problem isn't erased, but the combination of Paul's suggestion to not alter the shadow/highlight curve along with his LUT does manage the issue as well as I've seen in managed.

WINNER: Leeming One (Against the odds!)
 
Preliminary conclusion:

Is Leeming One the best GH4 LUT? I'd say version 1.5 is at least tied for that title.

If V-LOG L did not exaggerate so clearly the GH4's magenta/cyan color encoding error, I'd give it a very slight nod. If it actually increased usable dynamic range, I'd give it an even stronger endorsement. The reality is, though, V-LOG L does have a serious problem, and it doesn't yield an appreciable increase in DR. It's also much more finicky to expose in camera. I thought I was getting a $99 present, and instead B&H delivered a bag of hurt to my doorstep.

This version of Leeming One isn't perfect, but I think with a bit more nudging it could get as close as we can expect from this camera. Exposing Cine-D with the histogram and easy to understand ETTR technique is a damn site better than trying to guesstimate exposure for V-LOG L.

Someday I'll be able to afford a Black Magic Ursa Mini 4.5K...until then, I'll most likely shoot for the Leeming One LUT. Something tells me Paul is more likely to listen to feedback and make improvements than Panasonic.
 
After playing around a bit more this morning I'm wondering if Paul is shipping all versions 1-5 to people.

Here is why. V-One (the original) is still really nice. Greens are more inline with the Varicam LUT. V5 is a version that backs off the hyper of the green. This is a personal taste thing.

Paul, you should include all the versions to the potential buyers.
 
dustylense said:
Paul, you should include all the versions to the potential buyers.
Click to expand...

Obviously, it's not my place to tell Paul what to do, but as I understand the goal, Leeming One is an "input LUT", and as such the goal should be to get the most accurate response. "There can be only one."

Personal taste, stylistic choices, etc. can then easily be added with a second "output LUT" tailored for REC709 input (of which there are a bazillion.)

Again, that's just me, but I think a two-step color workflow is incredibly common. First you correct, then you grade.
 
joe12south said:
Obviously, it's not my place to tell Paul what to do, but as I understand the goal, Leeming One is an "input LUT", and as such the goal should be to get the most accurate response. "There can be only one."

Personal taste, stylistic choices, etc. can then easily be added with a second "output LUT" tailored for REC709 input (of which there are a bazillion.)

Again, that's just me, but I think a two-step color workflow is incredibly common. First you correct, then you grade.
Click to expand...

Well, you want that input LUT to be suitable for your desired output LUT. If yellow isn't yellow but more reddish and blue is not blue, but more purple or cyan....
 
Like the yellow of the cup and blue of the sky.

Leeming
PL copy.jpg

Neumann VLOG "Nothing Crazy"
LN copy.jpg

Neumann VLOG "Basic Clean"
LN Basic copy.jpg

Now, if you are shooting a "hotdog on a stick" commercial, you better have the primaries pretty darn close on the input.
 
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visceralpsyche said:
The forum mods made me remove direct links to order it (their house, their rules), but you can visit my website to find the droids you are looking for ;)

Cheers,

Paul :)
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This thread has been one of the biggest, fastest, and most useful flurries of information and development I've ever seen on a forum. WOWZAA!

To see Dusty, Joe, and Paul kick this thing back and forth over the past 2 days has been...dare I say "exciting"?

There have also been some of the worst complainers on this one too. Some people....

I'll probably buy this LUT and I don't even have a GH4. Just because this is fun.
(I suppose I may at some time be tasked with shooting on one...who knows.)

Cheers to you Gentlemen!
You've added a little more life to a camera that could be well served by a little pick-me-up.
 
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