The new Panasonic GH4. We have the announcement hot off the presses!
We heard about this in late 2013, and it sure seemed like a very tempting device to capture 4K footage. Priced almost half the cost of Blackmagic and Sony’s least expensive devices, it’s rumoured to be $2000.
Here are some specs
- XLR passthrough w SDi, Power and MicroHDMI
- 96FPS in Full HD
- 4K Resolution in MOV and MP4 formats
- 1080P will have AVCHD formats for those who want it
- Focus peaking
- wifi connectivity
- max bit rate of 200Mbps
- lessened rolling shutter
- In camera raw stills processing
One of the things you will need to consider is the 4K, fast framerate, and high bit rate options. You may need to purchase Panasonic’s new SDXC to ensure you don’t have dropped frames, or even are able to hit the ol’ record button. It takes the form of a P2 Micro card, and will be fairly expensive considering that the original P2 format was pricey. Costing on Amazon comes out to be around $400 USD for a 64Gb size. Yes indeed, shooting at 4K footage is going to rip through these cards like a schnauzer at a chew toy convention. Using similar 4K camera specs, we’re looking at a 64Gb card being chewed through in a little over 9 and a half minutes. SSD powered external recorders are starting to look a bit better with this baby now!
Take a look at the shot of the XLR and SDi and MicroHDMI connectivity pack. Looks like a cross between a Juicedlink, Beachtec or Tascam mixer. It’s definitely going to be unwieldy unless you rig it up for run and gun situations. On sticks, you should be no problem with this sucker though. Cost for the adaptor? Unknown at this stage.
Here’s Panasonic’s press video. And yes, in Youtube you CAN watch it in 4K!
[su_youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHKJ5eE7I1k” width=”600″]
