GH4 Trying to figure out of it's worth getting a GH4 now

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FUBARFilms

Active member
I was planning on getting a GH4 late last year, but instead opted for an LX100 since I was in need of a point and shoot and it would offer me a chance to see the MFT sensor in action first hand for video. Needless to say I was impressed in many ways and figured I would get a GH4 (or sucessor) after NAB since a new model is past due at this point.

Well, NAB has come and gone with no announcement of a GH5 and I'm really on the fence about if I should get a GH4 or not. Ultimately the price is considerably lower now, but I really don't want an outdated camera in a few months. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
With the GH4 you can shoot 4k, 1080p 60fps and other formats which have much higher image quality than what can be displayed on the web. It also holds up well on a commercial theater screen. At most the GH5 will be an incremental improvement over the GH4. You can find the GH4 at a great price now. The real money is spent on lenses.
 
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With the price as low as it is, and with it's pretty good image quality. I would still buy one today, even thou I've had one since the week of release - the image quality still exceeds my usage.
 
It is a bit of a struggle when you are on the cusp of a new release. Mirrorless Rumors is saying we should see a GH4 announcement before Photokina in September :

http://www.mirrorlessrumors.com/new-micro-four-thirds-high-end-camera-rumors-em1markii-and-gh5/


I always look at what I would accomplish in a certain time period before buying an item.

If I have important work that I need the tool for, I just calculate the likely net cost- the depreciation- by looking at the price of the previous generation. (That's a little harder with the GH3, because no 4k. With the Nikon D7200 versus D7100 or similar it is a little easier.)

Or estimating a likely price point once the model is easily available. So if you bought a used one or a Canadian one for $1,100 now, and it was worth say $600 to $750 in November, is that a reasonable cost for what you are working on?

What are the alternatives?

I have a Panasonic G7 that I bought new about 10 months ago. Those are probably selling for about $450 to $500 used I would guess.

The biggest limitation with the G7, GX8, and probably the GX85 that is coming out soon is- no HDMI out while recording, which is a big negative in some situations.For event work, I really need a monitor. On the other hand, for stills and for wildlife video I use it with the viewfinder, so there isn't a problem.

The bottom line is that it is always a cost/benefit analysis. I used to have a budget for everything for the year when I had a studio. It is a little harder when you are just shooting for yourself. But you can estimate the cost of the alternatives to see what the net cost/ difference is between the alternatives. Your current equipment also has a baseline deprecation . What is the incremental cost, and what are the benefits?

Good luck.
 
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A GH4 isn't any more outdated in a few months than it is right now or when it was first launched.

How many other cameras have 4k video at this level of quality? Nikon and Canon are just finally figuring out how to do 4k in their cameras and it isn't an option across all of their models.

I am somebody who owned a GH1, GH2, GH3 and GH4 and while each new version offered some nice upgrades none of them made the previous version of the camera garbage at all. In fact I never upgraded right away and it was something I have always done a year after the camera came out. Will there be features on the Gh5 that make it worth it and you wish you would have? sure. If there wasn't then it would be called a Canon camera. :)

Seriously we always face this sort of thing with just about anything we buy but keep in mind the GH2 is still an amazing camera as is the GH3 and GH4 and they will continue to be amazing. To be honest I don't expect Panasonic to deviate too much from what the GH4 has now. It may add 4k 60p, 200mbps 4k recording for less artifacts and to cover the 60p, a bit better 96fps mode or maybe even 120fps and a slight boost (maybe 1/3 stop) to low light performance. I doubt it will go 6k or 8k or anything like that and even if it did do you really need it?

I say buy the GH4 now and enjoy the amazing quality it delivers. Don't worry about the GH5 even when it does comes out. It will likely cost a lot more than the GH4 does right now. Wait to upgrade to the Gh5 after a year or so when the prices come down a little. Plus new cameras are sometimes hard to keep in stock so it may be hard to get your hands on one for a couple of months anyway. Also consider a slightly used GH4. I recently bought a used GH4 from B&H for a little over $1,000.00. It's really hard to beat the quality from this camera at that price point even if there is an amazing GH5 coming out. Use the $700+ you will save on some lenses.
 
All excellent points...right now I've been getting by with my C100 and my Canon L series lenses. I suppose that is my biggest hang up, I'm not desperately in need of a new camera, the GH4 is basically to have a 4K set up as part of my equipment array, I wasn't even going to get specific MFT glass, was just going to go with a metabones speedbooster.
 
FUBARFilms said:
All excellent points...right now I've been getting by with my C100 and my Canon L series lenses. I suppose that is my biggest hang up, I'm not desperately in need of a new camera, the GH4 is basically to have a 4K set up as part of my equipment array, I wasn't even going to get specific MFT glass, was just going to go with a metabones speedbooster.
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The question is, will 4K functionality now, or within the next 6 months, give you more paid work? If yes, then get the GH4. If not, then I would wait to see what the GH4 successor has to offer and decide then if such a purchase is worth it. At that point the GH4 will be cheaper anyway which should make the decision easier.
 
There is no other camera out there with DCI 4K, 10bit 4:2:2 HDMI output, high speed up to 96fps at 1080p at anywhere near the price of the GH4. Buy a Metabones Speed Booster with it and you will truly have one of the best cameras of the last year and a half, which will be equally relevant years from now because it was such a forward thinking camera.


Almost half my reel is GH4 - the other half is Red Epic. The fact that they intercut so seamlessly should tell you all that you need to know, for the foreseeable future :)

Buy with confidence!

Cheers,

Paul :)
 
The NAB'16 was never going to be right for the GH5 and Mirrorless Rumors can be iffy (where's that Sony full frame that was promised at SAR?).

Additionally, Panasonic can go "conservative" and offer only marginal improvements on GH5 (vs. GH4). In which case, an external recorder might help a lot.
 
The Gh4 holds it's weight today as the day it was released. In fact, it's even better. With VLOG out to recorder or using the Leeming LUT. A fantastic camera that rivals all of todays cameras when you consider it's cost.
 
visceralpsyche said:
Buy a Metabones Speed Booster with it and you will truly have one of the best cameras of the last year and a half, which will be equally relevant years from now because it was such a forward thinking camera.
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Truthfully a super solid move in my book. The Gh4 has the color science man there it provides beautiful images which compares with some of the finest cameras out. If i were you i would buy the gh4 now and sell it when the gh5 comes out and is proven not to have issues. Your rig wouldn't even need to really change when the new one arrives. Learn and love the format and if you see the need to move up when it arrives then do that. It might cost you a hundred bucks in loss from buying and seling now but that's totally worth it in my book at such a low cost.
 
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FUBARFilms said:
All excellent points...right now I've been getting by with my C100 and my Canon L series lenses. I suppose that is my biggest hang up, I'm not desperately in need of a new camera, the GH4 is basically to have a 4K set up as part of my equipment array, I wasn't even going to get specific MFT glass, was just going to go with a metabones speedbooster.
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Do not buy a GH4 just to have 4K as part of your equipment array. Buy the GH4 after 4K is requested or even demanded. I'd spend the money elsewhere or not at all.

Of course it's a great camera and you could find a solid used price. I'd probably only upgrade to a GH5 if it had some insane in-camera stabilization though.
 
I am in Nicaragua right now shooting with GH4 SB and 18-35 on a MoVI. Shooting Natural PP. I never gave this camera a chance. I have fallen in love with the camera and want to buy a used one as soon as I get home! I'm borrowing this camera for this trip. Amazing camera. Panasonic really listens to users and gave us what we wanted when this camera came out. An efficient 4K codec. Really great 1080p. Slow motion and a battery that lasts forever! Weather sealed too! This camera is a boss and I'm totally sold.
 
rob norton said:
Do not buy a GH4 just to have 4K as part of your equipment array. Buy the GH4 after 4K is requested or even demanded. I'd spend the money elsewhere or not at all.
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One very big fault with this line of reasoning: 4K footage, edited in 4k, then rendered down to 1080p results in a very noticeably improved look in 1080p.
 
Adorama is giving away a $200 instant rebate on it now. (so, it's back down to $1,300 there)

Plus, if one scours eBay, one can find a brand new gray market for as little as $1,000.

I figure that, with A6300 donitating the low ILC 4K market, Panasonic needs to clear out some inventory before GH5 is announced and they have a lot of units currently sitting on the shelves.
 
New grey market were on ebay yesterday for $899, from Electronic Valley in NY:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-L...470350?hash=item5d6439d58e:g:y~IAAOSwxcRW9US-


QuickNDone has Canadian version available on eBay for $1,080:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-L...160572?hash=item2a6111757c:g:ES4AAOSwfcVUHGcq

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AFAIK, the grey market defaults to PAL, but can be changed to NTSC. Apparently it still gives you a warning every time that it is shooting in NTSC.

It also **may** be limited to 30 minutes, because of the European Market tax situation.

If you spend$1,000, I would think your depreciation would be a maximum of, say, $500 if they were really discounted after the GH5. Most likely less.

Good luck!
 
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