Panasonic 4K GH4 possibly coming next Spring...

I predicted this thing months ago! lol Only people told me the name would likely be GH5....since 4 is bad luck in Japan. (Nikon doesn't seem to care....D4 anyone?)
 
An AVC-Ultra 10-bit, 4:2:2 codec, 4K, 2K, 16mg sensor full pixel readout, timecode, HD/SDI, all for under $4,000? Hmmm....
It sounds a little too good to be true, but I hope it is.

It would sure be a heck of a follow-up to the AF100.
 
I can see this working for $4,000 because the XLR/SDI box is separate. Also, I foresee a requirement for P2/MicroP2 in order to get 4k (or even AVC-Intra).
 
The mixing of the GH line and "pro" features just does not sound right to me. The Gh series are primarily still cameras. Those specs are from an AF-100 on steriods. If Panasonic wants to compete with the Canon "C" series they need a dedicated video camera, not s stills hybrid imho.
 
Bassman2003 said:
The mixing of the GH line and "pro" features just does not sound right to me. The Gh series are primarily still cameras.
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I'm afraid I have to agree - like vanvideo, it all just sounds too good to be true. That said, if it is - it will certainly put cats amongst pigeons! :)

But let's look at the supposed specs in detail. 16 Mpixel 4/3 sensor? That sounds very like the stills sensor of the GH3 to me. To get 4K from that, they'll have to read the whole thing at video frame rate, do a full debayer and rescale to 4K, before even thinking about coding for video. The pixel skipping tricks for 1080 just won't cut it for 4K. It will need to have improved on the sensor tech by a large factor to meet the criteria.

200Mbs I-frame recording? What is that going to be recorded onto? We're talking about serious data rates here.

Yet all for well under $3,000? And why put it in the GH line, previously used for stills cameras with a video function? This sounds much more like a camera optimised for video - so shouldn't it be an AFxxx? I'll believe it when it's officially announced.
 
atarijedi said:
I hope they use XQD or CFast.
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Extremely unlikely. XQD is fundamentally a Sony technology (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XQD_card ) which the Compact Flash association have picked up on. I'm not aware of Panasonic ever using Compact Flash in any of their products in the past, and XQD seems even more unlikely.

If the rumour was true, it would almost certainly be SDXC or micro-P2 (latter more likely for 200Mbs) - and I just cannot see a P2 product, with a consumer designation and retailing for less than $3,000.
 
Interesting but a hybrid DSLR body would be disappointing, and if you're a C300 user going back to add-on boxes for audio and crap ergo doesn't sound very appealing.
 
Bassman2003 said:
The mixing of the GH line and "pro" features just does not sound right to me. The Gh series are primarily still cameras. Those specs are from an AF-100 on steriods. If Panasonic wants to compete with the Canon "C" series they need a dedicated video camera, not s stills hybrid imho.
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This may just be the model to have it's own niche, like the GH3 enjoys now...and another body may cater to potential C series buyers. Months ago, one of our members, Cowpunk.. says he had heard on very good authority that Panasonic had some very exciting things brewing for future GH models. He couldn't say any more...but it looks as though what he learned is going to come to fruition.
 
harddrive said:
200Mbs I-frame recording? What is that going to be recorded onto? We're talking about serious data rates here.
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I think you are confusing megabits and megabytes. 200Mb = 25MB. A number of SDXC cards are rated much higher than that.
 
Erik Naso said:
Interesting but a hybrid DSLR body would be disappointing, and if you're a C300 user going back to add-on boxes for audio and crap ergo doesn't sound very appealing.
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It all depends how the add on box is designed. Really the C300 XLR/LCD pod is just an add on box connected by wires attached to a shoe mount. The difference is it is designed to look integrated.
 
RatLabProductions said:
It all depends how the add on box is designed. Really the C300 XLR/LCD pod is just an add on box connected by wires attached to a shoe mount. The difference is it is designed to look integrated.
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Very true. However the Cinema EOS cameras are not shaped like a GH3 or 5D. Thats my point. I'm all about innovation but it has to be designed for video first to replace a video camera at least for me. I like my GH3 a lot but it's not my "A" camera. I sure hope Panasonic pulls out something cool.
 
Erik Naso said:
Very true. However the Cinema EOS cameras are not shaped like a GH3 or 5D. Thats my point. I'm all about innovation but it has to be designed for video first to replace a video camera at least for me. I like my GH3 a lot but it's not my "A" camera. I sure hope Panasonic pulls out something cool.
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I completely concur. With all its shortcomings, the AF100 is just better to shoot video with than any GH camera, IMHO. Form factor matters and gives clients a visual (even if superficial) comfort level. I would think the Panasonic folks would recognize that and come up with a more user-friendly video-camera design than a GH on steroids. We shall see soon, apparently.
 
harddrive said:
Extremely unlikely. XQD is fundamentally a Sony technology (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XQD_card ) which the Compact Flash association have picked up on. I'm not aware of Panasonic ever using Compact Flash in any of their products in the past, and XQD seems even more unlikely.

If the rumour was true, it would almost certainly be SDXC or micro-P2 (latter more likely for 200Mbs) - and I just cannot see a P2 product, with a consumer designation and retailing for less than $3,000.
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It seems that Panasonic isn't a part of the CFA, which I wasn't aware of. I don't know if they will go micro-P2 or not. It would be nice if they joined the CFA, I'm not a fan of proprietary media.
 
atarijedi said:
It seems that Panasonic isn't a part of the CFA, which I wasn't aware of. I don't know if they will go micro-P2 or not. It would be nice if they joined the CFA, I'm not a fan of proprietary media.
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If this camera is aimed at broadcast (and if it ends up using some flavor of AVC-Intra, then it surely will be to one degree or another), then count on it using some form of P2. Panasonic has no real incentive to use anything else. P2 is a well established media format, and they sell enough P2 cameras that suddenly switching to compact flash doesn't make a lot of sense. If nothing else, I would think they would go with SDHC/SDXC like their other non-P2 cameras before they go with compact flash.

Maybe (hopefully) it will use micro-P2, and allow you to then record AVCHD or even AVC-LongG to normal SDHC/SDXC cards.
 
Mike Harvey said:
If this camera is aimed at broadcast (and if it ends up using some flavor of AVC-Intra, then it surely will be to one degree or another), then count on it using some form of P2. Panasonic has no real incentive to use anything else. P2 is a well established media format, and they sell enough P2 cameras that suddenly switching to compact flash doesn't make a lot of sense. If nothing else, I would think they would go with SDHC/SDXC like their other non-P2 cameras before they go with compact flash.

Maybe (hopefully) it will use micro-P2, and allow you to then record AVCHD or even AVC-LongG to normal SDHC/SDXC cards.
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With a DSLR format, I cannot seem them using P2, the card would be too large. MicroP2 cards is what they would probably use, and forgo the need for the adapter. Compact Flash wouldn't be fast enough, they would need to go to CFast. I don't think current SDXC cards would be fast enough either, not for 4k30p.

Only time will tell!
 
CF01 said:
I think you are confusing megabits and megabytes. 200Mb = 25MB. A number of SDXC cards are rated much higher than that.
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No, I'm not confusing the two.

Beware of the headline ratings. What do they apply to? Read or write? Sustained, or as a short burst?

In general, a continuous long write seems to be most taxing - and it's unlikely to be the headline figure manufacturers use.

Micro-P2 cards are guaranteed for sustained 200Mbs writes, but NOT for 400Mbs working. I really wouldn't like to guarantee reliable 200Mbs recording with any current SD card at the moment, if it worked at all. (When Panasonic say SDHC cards can be used in P2 cameras via an adapter, they say it's only for AVC-Intra 50 - NOT 100.)

It's technically possible this rumour could use micro-P2......... but at that price? In a camera in the GH- (consumer) range? I just don't see it, and tend to agree with dcloud - most likely a hoax. Sorry.
 
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