Random GH4 4K Footage ISO 1600 – ISO 3200 Monterey Bay Aquarium

• • 39 Comments

My first time taking the GH4 out for a 4K test drive. I decided to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium again, and shoot everything under low lighting conditions. The thick glass made it hard to focus and images are not at it's sharpest. Don't take this as a good example of GH4 4K video samples. Now I know what not to do, I think i'll get better footage the next time out.


[Note Vimeo player only supports up to 1080p. There may be some compression artifacts so you can download the original file here: https://vimeo.com/93559386]

The 4K coming out of the GH4 is nice, but it doesn't hold up as well in post compared to shooting 1080p with this camera. Let me rephrase that. The 4K footage saved to the SDXC card is still 8bit 4:2:0 and may not grade very well, but we still have the option of 4K HDMI Out 10bit 4:2:2: which should grade very very well. You can adjust curves in the camera, and I tried to shoot with flat settings. Forcing highlights down and shadows up probably caused issues with banding in this footage.

BTW, no tripods allowed in the Aquarium, but I was able to get steady footage using a Joby Gorillapod over a baby stroller. Whatever works right?

Modified Baby Stroller Tripod GH4 4K Video Stand

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39 thoughts on “Random GH4 4K Footage ISO 1600 – ISO 3200 Monterey Bay Aquarium”

  1. Martin

    Emm, I still remember when you went to the aquarium with the GH3. I never tire of watching your aquarium footage ...nice job! Still shooting with my GH2. Looks like I might get a GH4 in a few months. Again, nice job with an honest review/feedback.

  2. Emm

     Post author

    @Tai-Stik - I don't know about the aftermarket GH3 battery grips, I have an OEM version that seems to be working fine so far.

    For SDXC cards, I suggest downloading the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test application and make sure your cards can support a 'sustained' write speed of at least 30-35MB/s. Many cards will list a high rating which is the max speed it can reach in one burst, but that is not the correct speed rating for 'sustained' operation of the card.

  3. Tai-Stik

    @Emm, I just received my GH4 today and it's not working with my aftermarket GH3 battery grip. The camera powers on but crashes when you attempt to shoot a photo even when using genuine batteries. Also it shows a freshly formatted transcend class 10 sdxc card that works fine in my GH2 and recorded 4k just fine on a pre-release GH4 at NAB, as "Card Full" even after multiple formatting on a mac and formatting on the camera. Have you run into any issues? So far the camera only shoots on a slow old Sandisk I happen to have.

  4. Emm

     Post author

    @Joseph - Visit the Vimeo page, and click the download button (around the description area).

  6. Joseph

    TY for the link. $30 bucks vs. about 10 times that for a Metabones, but I have heard very good things about them, mostly, GAINING a stop. Your aquarium footage was EXCELLENT and really has this ole' Nikon guy thinkin' about the GH4. Any chance to get MORE footage / People / Hair / studio location lighting?

  9. Ron Baselice

    This is great footage, Emm. Aquariums are hard to shoot in, real world footage. The GH4 will be a great tool, but each tool has is strengths and weeknesses...

  10.

    Emm,

    I have a GH3 and use the 12-35 lens as well, curious to see if you post footage shot in 4-2-2 color space and your thoughts comaped to 4-2-0.

    Good to see some real world footage as apposed to stuff released from Panasonic.

    Thanks

  11. Emm

     Post author

    @Scott - httpss://cheesycam.com/aputure-dec-canon-ef-lens-adapter-adjust-iris-wireless-follow-focus/

  12. Scott

    Hi Emm.

    Can you expound on what might be coming to allow EF lenses on the GH4? Will IS and aperture work?

  13. Tai-Stik

    If you're into grading 1080p, I've heard promising results can be had by converting the internal 4k 8 bit 4.2.0 into 1080p 10 bit 4.4.4 using a conversion tool here: https://www.eoshd.com/content/12594/exclusive-first-app-resample-panasonic-gh4-4k-8bit-10bit-444

    I haven't gotten my gh4 yet but I'm curious if there's a sizeable bump in supersampled resolution and color information from what originally is a 100Mbps file vs the internal 1080 all-I at 200Mbps. Thus far I think 5D3 raw is sharper at 1080 than the gh4's all-I via samples downloaded from the nets.

  15. Emm

     Post author

    @jay - Yes the GH3 battery grip works on the GH4, so aftermarket ones should work the same. Keep in mind that it will relocate the tripod mount, so this article may be of interest. httpss://cheesycam.com/correct-tripod-mount-alignment-with-gh3-gh4-battery-grip/

  17.

    Oh, damn, a kid! That's what I always forget! Let me call the kid rental agency to see what a kid runs for a couple of hours these days.

  18. jay

    Does the GH3 aftermarket battery grip work on the GH4? I heard that it didn't. If yours does, whats the link?

  19. Emm

     Post author

    @Efex - I think it will mesh well with the GH3 at 1080, but not with the GH2. I couldn't even get my GH3 and GH2 to match up very well. Honestly though after finding so many features on the GH4 it's hard to go backwards. Even something as simple as outputting proper framerates through HDMI is a big deal for me.

  20. Emm

     Post author

    @Apostolos - Here's some advice. If you plan on bringing a stroller (like me) make sure you actually bring a kid. It will look sort of suspicious if you show up with an empty stroller, as if you were looking to pick up a kid.....LOL.

  21.

    BTW, kudos on the gorillapod/stroller solution! I wondered how you managed to sneak the tripod in there. I'm sure you thought that it's about time the kid starts paying back some of the money it's costing you. Like the other time you used her as a model when you where chasing her with the movi knockoff.

  22. Efex

    @emm
    I'm thinking about keeping my gh3 or gh2 for more coverage.
    Do you think they will mesh well with gh4?

  23. Emm

     Post author

    @Efex - So far it has been working for me and the sustained speeds meet the requirements.

  24. Efex

    Will the samsung sdhc cards you posted a few days ago work at the 1080p 200mbs option?

  25. Emm

     Post author

    @Dock - Thanks for sharing. I have yet to really embrace RAW on the Canon.

  32. Zach

    How does the video autofocus compare to the dual-pixel technology in the 70D? Comparable?

  33. decryption

    If you could do a couple of 1080p ISO tests, on the G4 vs the C100 or D800 I'd be interested 🙂

  34.

    Soft footage, huh. You mean the fish weren't hitting their marks, huh... I think this type of situation would be ideal for the A7s. Low light and fairly static.

  35.

    Nice footage!

    I've found that in shooting situations like this, a big fat rubber lens hood does wonders in cutting out excess reflections in the glass (it'll allow you to squish your lens right up against the glass without scratching your gear.)

  36. Emm

     Post author

    @jayhas - Keep your Canon lenses. There will be new adapters soon that will make it easier to use with the GH4.

  37. Emm

     Post author

    @decryption - This is not a fair example. At 4K I feel there may be more noise than at 1080p with this camera. I will have to do more tests comparing noise at 4K vs 1080, but it still may not be as good as the C100.

  38.

    Still impressive even viewing at 720p. I have been eyeing the GH4 for some time now, any tips on what should I do with my Canon lenses:)

  39. decryption

    How would you rate the low light quality vs say, a Nikon D800 or Canon C100?

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