Better late than never! We finally have the GH4 tested at Dpreview (Click here). The camera earned the Gold Award with a very high 85% score:
Despite the increased competition, the GH4 remains the king of accessible stills/movie hybrids. The enhanced movie capabilities are well integrated such that both types of shooting work well, without impeding the other. The result is a remarkably capable all-in-one package that lets you capture good quality footage and excellent stills from a sensibly-sized standalone camera.
The Gh4 does almost everything right. It will be hard for Panasonic to make a much better GH5 next time!
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GH4 North American store links:
GH4 camera at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto, Ritz Camera and Panasonic. Price: $1,698. In Canada at Vistek.
GH4 camera with interface unit at Adorama and BHphoto. Price: $3,298
Interface unit only at Amazon, Adorama, BHphoto and Panasonic. Price: $1,998
GH4 Europen store links:
Germany: Wexcameras, Marcotec-shop.de.
UK at Wexphotographic, CameraWorld, UKdigital, CVP, TipTop.
Holland at Fotohanskeuzekamp.
Belgium at Fotokonijnenberg.
Norway at Fotovideo.
Sweden at Cyberphoto, Skandinavianphoto.
Finland at Telefoto, Topshot, Verkkoauppa.
France at Photocineshop.
Spain: Fotoboom.
Asian store links:
Digitalrev and Digidirect Australia.
4K cards
Kingston 16-32-64 GB SDHC UHS-I Speed Class 3 at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Sandisk 16-32-64 GB Extreme PRO SDXC UHS-II Memory Card at Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Transcend 64-128 GB High Speed 10 UHS-3 at Amazon (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
Panasonic 16-32-64 GB SDHC-UHS-I U3 Card (90MB/s) at Adorama (Click here) and BHphoto (Click here).
96 Responses
Agree with Dpreview!
because you are an accomplished photographer?
Get out of here troll! Your words stink!
Because you can?
Are you an advanced photographer?
The question is: are you a cave troll or a bridge troll?
So, I guess the GH5 will be released soon now…
> It will be hard for Panasonic to make a much better GH5 next time!
I’m not even a GH4 owner but, few things very easily come to mind:
– Dual SD card slot.
– 4K full sensor readout.
– In-camera ability to create DFD profiles for non-Pana lenses. Zooms might be a challenge, but primes should be doable.
– Auto-ISO in ‘M’anual mode.
– Articulated screen attached to the camera not on the side, but at the bottom. (See Sony A77 mk2.)
The GH4 has auto ISO i M mode… I was just using it.
A77II’s screen is terribly placed. Keep it the way it is.
There’s plenty Panasonic can do that’s in the software as well. How about making every button save the Menu customisable?
So happy I went and bought this camera. I was holding out for a G7 but since it’s either never coming, or postponed for a year more, I had no choice really. My G2 was showing its age. I needed everything this camera has except 4K video, but now I have to learn video in a big way, to justify the money I spent.
Meh, just use the 4K photo mode that’s coming soon in a firmware upgrade. That, combined with the better C-AF and slight edge in IQ should justify the money you spent.
Nice pick .
Don’t forget to show me .
As I have zero knowledge in videography as well .
No even shoot video since my GF era .
Learn video if you want to. Be prepared…
It’s an amazing stills camera for sure, but I’, quite new to video. It’s a big chunk of knowledge to digest. I did a 720p music video a couple of years back using my G2 and a borrowed PEN camera – it was “okay” but plenty of beginner mistakes too. As soon as my friends heard I had bought a GH4 I started getting calls to do more. Small country, most rock and rap musicians seem to know each other.
Maybe the queen, not the king…
A queer queen wih tiny boobies 😉
It’s a great camera, Good size, good ergonomics, great image quality in video and stills. I carry mine everywhere I go. back in DSLR days it was a hassle to bring those beasts along with me, so many times I didn’t bother.
Hmm don’t know about the size its bigger then my DSLR (D7000).
It’s about the same size.
Hrmm really? Guess it depends on the lenses you use. My D7000 with the Sigma 17-55mm f2.8 would be significantly larger than a GH4 with the 12-35 or the Oly 12-40.
how large is it with your 70-200mm FF equivalent F/2.8 lens? I agree with you though your D7000 is a good size as well, with a pancake.
I like your style , carrying wherever you go .
Me too , my GX always with me whenever I go for any crucial shoot I meet .
Well…what exactly does this mean: “the king of accessible stills/movie hybrids”????
Is there a camera that has inaccessible stills or movies? Am I missing something here?
It sounds like such a dumb title?
they probably mean it plays well above it’s price.
oh..I see…that was plain as mud! I think you may be right! LOL! Thanks for the help!…I guess they mean financially accessible for the video capabilities? So the way that title is written makes no sense.
… the GH4 looks like a great camera, regardless.
I am not a video guy…so I will take my E-M1 with its retro look and the 5-axis IS. I just picked one up from South Korea for $1028 so that was a whole lot more “accessible”, too!…but for video it is not the choice to make, obviously.
How did I guess an Olympus product would be mentioned in your complaining?
The GH4 may be the best M43 camera right now, but that doesn’t mean your camera doesn’t work anymore.
Shoo Fly….
LOL the dearest con in the photography world.
Actually, these improved pocket cams will destroy m43, which is the real con in the ph world. So no, I don’t agree.
Oh Harrydicktom, I can always tell when I’ve made you mad. You start name calling and steal my name. I apologize.
Anyway, I thought you were going to destroy M43 with your amazing FF portfolio.
Why are you waiting?
The two main companies continue to deliver superb value for their lens owners. While there is still a bit too much overlap in the lens suite the range of modern designed for digital lenses and body styles re-enforces my decision in moving to this format for my work.
In fact the support from new companies such as Black Magic, and a host of lens makers is just icing on the cake.
Are you accomplished?
Wow, you like me, you really like me 🙂 AND you think about me in sexual ways 😀 well, to be honest, I like you too!!
Would be great if Panasonic adds the following features in the next firmware update to improve the GH4 even further:
– Bug fix: Manual white balance in video mode always uses the mechanical shutter, even if the electronic shutter is turned on in photo mode.
– enable 1/3 ISO steps in video mode. At the moment you have to adjust this setting in photo mode to get it for video.
– improved autofocus
Sadgasm, 1/3 ISO steps are available on the GH4. Go to a photo mode menu screen and set the ISO increments to 1/3, they will also show up under creative movie mode. Here is a link for reference – http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/179869#Comment_179869
I know. Have a closer look at what I wrote: ” (…) At the moment you have to adjust this setting in photo mode to get it for video. (…)”
Do it ONCE and you’re done.
Yeah, it’s a real strain.
why do great products always get lots of replies with wishlists for improvements.
Doesn’t help that the article wonders how the GH5 can be better. 😛
That is common considering human’s will for better stuff always have no end .
What I don’t understand is the GX from the DP verdicts never score a Gold award no matter how big improvement Pana have done to it ( GX1 to GX7 ) .
In other reviewers , GX7 easily scored as editor’s pick .
The EP5 is another example with no Gold award no matter how innovative PENs did .
I think this DP guy need to remove cause he don’t like RF cameras .
The king? The gay king, maybe.
Jesus Harrydicktom, five names on one article already? Did Dpreview make you that angry?
And now you think cameras are ‘gay’.
You cannot make this up.
I’m starting to believe that Harrydicktom is you. You wouldn’t be the only ‘normal’ poster here who also do some trolling on the side.
Are you speaking for yourself?
Possibly…
At least you’re honest enough to admit it although I have no idea why you’d waste your time trolling.
Harrydicktom’s posts are hardly a side thing. The sheer quantity of posts and screen names borders on obsession. Someone was saying he trolls the Sony site too. If we knew the total time he spends trolling every day it would probably be pretty depressing.
In any case sorry to ruin your Scooby Doo moment but I have no idea who he is.
Unless of course it’s you.
Lonely weekend approaching Gaykon?
It wouldn’t be the weekend without you trotting that out now would it?
You incorporated name calling but forgot to accuse me of being unemployed. Are you feeling okay?
The only king it is is the king of compromise. The largest is its size in relation to its tiny sensor. I can dig an em-5. I can even dig an em-5. But for the size of the GH1, an m43 sensor?
Nope.
Easy to find one area to improve: Lack of built in stabilization.
Most native lenses lack it, and all other lenses possible with adapters basically never have it.
STOP. LYING.
ALL of Panasonic zoom lenses have built in image stabilization. All Zooms, All Native.
Don’t write BS. The P 7-14mm has no OIS. And many primes do not as well. It is time for Panasonic to get serious with IBIS and drop their OIS strategy. Most stills photographers would be thankful for such a move.
Don’t confuse BS with a simple omission.
If you want to talk about BS, its when anyone pop up on such thread, asserting on how he meets all the conditions to absolutely need IS on such lenses as the 7-14. Like suffering parkingson while having a specialty in shooting still object without flash nor tripod in low light, at base ISO, F8 and ETTR.
Panasonic have stated several times that there is a heat problem when creating in-camera image stabilization, so it’s unlikely this will ever happen.
Right now the Panasonic GHx cameras are the ONLY large sensor still-photo cameras that do not have a time limitation when shooting video, so you can shoot videos the whole day with no problems.
Last year I shot a 2.5 hour music concert with my GH3 using one battery, with plenty of juice to keep going. This is something that could not be done with any Canon or Nikon DSLR without having to use an external video recorder.
DPR has no credibility left after this. Gold award to such a minuscule sensor? Horrifying noise at base ISO, let’s give it 85%!
There are billions of people in the world who choose not to buy m43 cameras. They can’t all be wrong.
DPR should retract the review and publish an apology. That’s the least they can do.
…Sorry to break it to you, but yes they are all wrong. ;-b
Thank-you Mr. Genius Camera Market Researcher for showing us how uber smart you are. You are obviously far too smart for all of us m4/3 simpletons.
Obvious troll is obvious
gee
12 year old idiot.
Are you an advanced photographer?
It sounds even dumber when you say it Harrydicktom.
Very droll. I get it.
I see what you did there.
Well, I don’t think it will be hard for Pana to up the ante with the GH5. Just give the camera a proper JPEG engine that works as reliably as the one of all my Oly cameras (from the E-30 to the E-M1) and a WB that doesn’t tend to lose it’s way if animals with red fur enter the frame.
The AF system is second to none, but these flaws force you to shoot RAWs and pp, afterwards. I, however, want to shoot pictures, not sit at the computer pping them. And I think a 1500-Euro camera should come with these features.
Just my 2 cents.
The GH4 is probably overkill for the JPEG shooting crowd. Have you looked at the LX100?
Well, if you believe that loving to shoot good, high-quality pictures means that you also have to spend hours with pp-ing them and that those who are not interested in doing so should shoot with a compact camera anyway, I’ve got some news for you: there is anotrher manufacturer, called Olympus, that has been producing – for about a decade, now – cameras with JPEG enines that are that good that only the real pp pros can produce better pictures with their pp programmes. And in a €1500-camera, such a JPEG engine should be a matter of course. And the same applies to a reliable WB. The one of the GH4 tends to frak out, every now and then, even when adjusted manually. That’s really poor for a camera on this level.
Well, if you think you can’t spend few second for post processing your photos are they really worth seeing?
GH5 might have a better sensor with wider dynamic-range ( Panasonic/Fuji Organic Sensor with 14+ stops of DR ), and hopefully 10-bit 4:2:2 internal recording.
I am pretty spoiled with the GH4 right now, so I’m in no rush for a GH5 camera.
I would not buy a first generation cameras using new “organic sensor” tech. As there easily happens what 90% change happens, the first generation is pure crap. Like OLED display technology, in two years you have about 30% of the original screen brightness left. Or like with Plasma display technology, after a year you had images burn on the display and ghosting.
When ever new technology comes, you need to wait unless you are so rich that you can toss the device out of the window when new model comes out.
Panasonic are currently using this tech for their $60,000 Varicam Super35 camera, so I am pretty confident they will have worked out the bugs by the time it makes it to a GH5 camera.
If you want to use 14 stops dynamic range, you need 14 bit output.
do you believe that their is a 1:1 linear relationship between bit depth and dynamic range? 😀 because that would be really funny. anyway, its obviously not true what youre saying…
The distance between two points, and the number of discrete units you divide that distance into, are two different things.
Don’t forget H.265! 10-bit 4:2:2 internal is a tall order comparatively.
the fact that they spend a lot of time comparing it to the A6000 a $600 APC camera that kind of threw in video as an extra is a bit questionable. Months later and I’m still trying to figure out whether or not to get the GH4 or A7s..( I really want the Sony for the big sensor)
The A7s is better because in photography and videography, sensor size is all that matters. The price, the lenses, the size, the performance, the features are all meaningless. Just get the A7s with manual lenses and external recorder and be a National Geographic or Hollywood star today.
WOW! If the sensor is all that matters, you must take really bad photos because your sensor is so tiny compared to MF. I would never waste my time on FF if I was interested in better IQ than M4/3’s.
You didn’t see the sarcasm switch did you?
I guess not. My bad. 😉
I almost bit, I was actually composing a long winded answer 😉
Hilarious … “be a National Geographic or Hollywood star today” …
More than a couple of people recently did “Why this Professional left ????? for Sony” Videos, (when you check their Credentials it seems they were self-taught “Professionals”). What is up with that ????
I guess that is why after several years, with their first chosen Camera System, they decided to toss it all out and go Sony (but not necessarily the A7s).
I am a “Fan” of larger Sensors and the upcoming MFT 35mm Video Cameras (JVC has some, as does AJA). The 35mm Sensor, recording 4K Video, should be great for low light, noise, and shallow DOF effects.
https://www.youtube.com/user/LowLightVideos
None of the world most expensive and iconic photographs has been taken with a Small Format camera (35mm is SMALL FORMAT, a CROP FORMAT) but all have been taken with Medium Format or Large Format.
And they were taken with FILM.
That is what many small format fan just forgets.
No, actually you have NO CLUE.
The sensor size *A*N*D* the lens combo is what does really matter.
And the A7s doesn’t really shine regarding of good bright lenses because of the f*ucked FE mount (the mount diameter should have been much bigger!).
Yeah, move to Sony. And learn to shoot with just 4 lenses. “They are all you need.”(TM) ;P
“The GH4 does almost everything right. It will be hard for Panasonic to make a much better GH5 next time!”
Then the GH5 will get bad reviews. Remember how everyone wanted to knock the GH4 for being ‘no more than a GH3 with 4K video”.
A real breakthrough in sensor tech will do .
A new sensor that could give 2 stops lower noise with current range would do it.
Or new sensor that could give 2 ISO stops more (not software ISO) would do it as well.
Or Panasonic should just make the new line for videographers and by re-designing the body to be slimmer, new controls and dials like E-M1 for photographers. Videographers would enjoy more of the “box” like design on that would be easy to attach different kind supports, mics, displays, covers and would be easier to mount different places etc. The DSLR like design Panasonic has in GH-line isn’t smart anymore if wanted to be serious about video.
The DSLR design came up because someone wanted to make a modernized looking camera body that had a lot of buttons and switches and was easy to build to be weather proof (hence round shapes, rubber etc) and easy to handle with thick glows (Arctic weather) and look “cool”. DSLR design is different from functional and fitting shape like what Olympus OM-1 body design was.
…On GH5:
– dual slot for memory cards, with a functions “A+B” “A to B”
– much better AF in video mode (I make a movies with RC models of airplanes – still many problems, actually same like on GH3) – AF on a6000 is MUCH better
– video recorded by full chip and in-camera dawnsampled to 1080p or 4K
Which lens have you used for RC models and airplanes movie?
I think it will be easy to find improvements for a GH5.
It’s mostly about speed and amount of data. Improvements which can’t be done on the existing hardware.
In the next step, video can get more fps in FHD for slow motion, up to 60 fps in 4K and higher data rates for quality. Build in electronic anti shake would be nice. Anti shake could be done with crop to 2.5K or based on a higher resolution to 4K.
For stills, I would like to see an improved electronic shutter with high fps and prerecording. Imporvements in sensor quality are always welcome.
“It will be hard for Panasonic to make a much better GH5 next time!”
Inner stabilisation is a huge point.
Better dynamic range another.
Better low light performance.
Better slow motion !
🙂
many ways to improve
One way to improve the gh4 is to reduce its size to that of an m43 camera, like the GH2 was. Not like a bloomin’ Canon APSC camera.
Except for a large amount of video folks, that’s a downgrade. And no, Panasonic is not going to decrease the size just because it’s in a stills form factor and not a camcorder form factor, in case you were going to bring that up.
I agree.
Me too. My GH2 is a little bit too small in my hands. And i haven’t huge ones.
GM1 better @ 3200, go figure.