GH4 Samsung NX1 vs Panasonic GH4 ?

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divide

Well-known member
Looks like the Samsung NX1 is a serious competitor to Panasonic GH4: same price range, very similar features.

Quick feature comparison (GH4/NX1):
sensor: m43 / APS-C
video format: 1080p24,25,30,50,60 (both)
4K: Digital Cinema 24p and Ultra HD 24p (both)
video encoding: h264 / h265
slow-mo: 1080p96 / 1080p120
low-light: slightly better on the NX1
wifi: video streaming / full hd video streaming
screen: touch and flip (both)
video autofocus: faster and more accurate on NX1, but no cinematic inertia

No Film School preview NX1 vs GH4
EOS HD review NX1 vs GH4
video autofocus NX1 vs GH4

So they have a lot in common, and I have a hard time deciding in favor of one or the other.

Thoughts ?
 
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The post handling of the Samsung is a bear right now from what I've heard. Not many editing programs can work with it out of the box and conversion takes forever with the H.265. Also much fewer lens options. That said, I've liked the initial footage I've seen from the NX1 more than the initial GH4 footage, although now that people know how to use it I'm seeing some spectacular gh4 stuff.
 
divide said:
Looks like the Samsung NX1 is a serious competitor to Panasonic GH4: same price range, very similar features.

So they have a lot in common, and I have a hard time deciding in favor of one or the other.

Thoughts ?
Click to expand...

Hopefully you live or die based on image quality. I say go for the one that your happiest with and specifications be damned. (Well mostly since in many ways as you pointed out, they have a lot in common....)

Also it will also depend on whether you are invested in a particular glass system.
 
Yes, IQ should be the most important factor here, but not the only one. Unfortunately, there isn't quite enough *moving* (i.e. camera moving!) footage out there from the NX 1 to quite get a good idea of what it's capable of. That said, everything else - for me - points to the GH4, primarily lens choices. You can adapt almost everything to the m4/3, which also immediately ties into lowlight performance which could've been a decisive factor for me - the GH4 just does not impress me in low light (from what I've seen) in clean high ISO - but the NX1 is unfortunately only marginally better, which brings us back to making the lens faster, where the GH4 just has a massive advantage due to the existence of Speedboosters in various mounts... meanwhile, according to MetaBones the Samsung mount will *never* have a speedbooster due to technical reasons - and that means a decisive advantage to the GH4 in my mind.

Now, had NX1 had spectacularly better DR or overall IQ, I'd still consider it over the GH4, never mind the lenses. But it doesn't. If there is one thing that is a deal breaker for me in a video camera image, it's highlight handling - blown highlights are the very definition of videoish/unfilmic image that immediately throws me out of the movie. Unacceptable. Meanwhile, perhaps we should wait for better footage from the NX1, but there's some footage floating out there that shows the NX1 to handle highlights very poorly.

So bottom line, so far, I'd personally strongly lean toward the GH4 compared to the NX1.
 
The NX1 seems pretty amazing in most ways. I would probably switch over to it if I hadn't read so many reports of the rolling shutter being horrible, like D90/A7s in FF mode bad. The 1080p modes apparently have pretty heavy moire & aliasing, too.

They did just release a new firmware though, perhaps it will fix/reduce these issues? Haven't seen anything about results with it yet. I kinda doubt a firmware change could increase the sensor's readout speed, though.
 
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