GH series has always been the flagship series of Panasonic mirrorless cameras. Since GH2, many people think that its FHD video recording function is no less than that of Quan Huafu SLR at that time, and the released GH3 has not disappointed users, and it has been completely transformed as a whole. The GH series, updated every two years, ushered in a new product GH4 in 20 14, which surpassed all the mirrorless cameras at that time in video recording, and other performances were beyond doubt, reaching a relatively professional feeling and its high speed. There are not many professional cameras in the M43 mirrorless camera. Olympus E-M 1 and E-M5 are among them. With the appearance of Panasonic GH3 and GH4, more professional cameras appeared in this system.
Main upgrades of Panasonic GH4 compared with GH3:
Aluminum-magnesium alloy fuselage
4K video recording function
The LCD screen and electronic viewfinder have been upgraded.
Low sensitivity can be extended to ISO 100.
The number of focal points has increased from 23 in GH3 to 49, and the focusing ability of the dark part has been improved to -4 EV, and the focusing success rate is also very high.
The fuselage supports the RAW file editing function.
Disadvantages:
There is no popular USB charging interface.
The price of a mirrorless camera is very valuable.
The picture quality has not improved.
Edit Comment (Summary):
At present, there are not many cameras that can record 4K video. Among the mirrorless cameras, there are Sony A7S and Samsung NX 1. Unfortunately, A7S still needs an external recorder, and Samsung NX 1 is difficult to catch up with GH4 in focusing, so Panasonic GH4 is also a machine with outstanding video function in the mirrorless camera at present. Canon and Sony have some professional cameras with built-in 4K recording function, but their prices are far behind many people. In contrast, Panasonic GH4 is a 4K recording device with high cost performance, and the focusing speed can be highly affirmed. There is no delay in the shooting process, just like many SLR devices. In terms of image quality, operation, color and white balance, most of them continue the style of GH3 and make some improvements on the basis of GH3. In short, Panasonic GH4 will not disappoint.
Purchase opinion:
As mentioned earlier, Panasonic GH4 should be the cheapest camera with 4K camera function at present, and it can also achieve the top position in the industry in focusing. In addition, it can also reach a professional level in control. Compared with many professional cameras, portability is the most obvious feature and can be used as a backup machine for some professional photographers. Professional photographers will not hesitate too much about this mode. As a backup machine, it is already excellent. The current price in JD.COM is 1 1 199 yuan. Click to view. I don't recommend that ordinary photographers buy Panasonic GH4, because your demand is more about taking pictures, and Quan Huafu is the best choice for your price of 10,000 yuan.
Review the paging preview (click on the picture to go straight)
Strong grip
Compared with the previous generation, the overall appearance of Panasonic GH4 has not changed much. Some optimization processing has been done on the button to adapt to the quick operation. The top of the machine is somewhat similar to the style of Olympus E-M 1, but the key functions are different.
Panasonic GH4 follows the magnesium-aluminum alloy fuselage of the previous generation product GH3, and the seams, keys and gaps on the turntable are treated with dust prevention and drip prevention. The protection mentioned here does not mean that you can directly face dust and water. Its circumference is 132.9 x 93.4 x 83.9mm, and its weight is 470g g, which is important in a mirrorless camera, but the overall grip is very solid. If a professional cameraman uses it as a backup machine, the weight around it is not a problem.
▲ Non-slip leather handle
Panasonic GH4 can be said to be the kind that can't hold a camera very well. The protruding part of the grip is similar to that of SLR, which is not much different for people who are used to SLR cameras. There is also a non-slip leather on the handle to prevent accidental slipping when shooting by hand. This design shows that GH4 is professional.
▲ The focus assist light is set in the depth of the grip, which can be turned on or off by menu selection.
Appearance details: highlight professional configuration
▲M4/3 Live MOS photosensitive element
Panasonic GH4 is equipped with a newly-developed M4/3 Live MOS sensor with an effective pixel of16.05 million. The low-pass filter is optimized to suppress moire fringes as much as possible and keep clear photos. Its size range is enough to know its coverage area from the inside of the fuselage, and Panasonic's main model is M4/3.
▲ Flash synchronous connection hole
Panasonic GH4 built-in flash synchronous socket. This interface allows some old flashlights to do their duty. Although it is used less now, it is better than nothing. It feels like the traditional configuration of M4/3 system.
▲ Top of the fuselage
At first glance, the top of the machine looks like the style of E-M 1, but if you look closely, you can find great differences. For example, the mode dial on the right, Panasonic GH4 is equipped with a continuous shooting and a selfie dial, and there is a time-lapse shooting mode, which belongs to the rotating type and has strong pertinence. And E-M 1 needs more operations to adjust. The function buttons on the whole top of the machine are very complete, which is very convenient from the point of view of control.
▲ Shutter release mode dial
In continuous shooting mode, GH4 single focal point can take up to 12 still photos per second, and the continuous shooting can be increased to 40 photos per second after opening the electronic shutter, which seems a little scary? No, this is the characteristic of electronic shutter, and you can shoot more without the limitation of single focus. After continuous focusing is enabled and mechanical shutter is added, up to 7 shots can be taken per second. This seemingly normal figure is equivalent to the current APS-C mid-range model level of SLR mirrorless cameras.
Not to mention the specific mode dialing function. Most professional cameras have similar configurations. Panasonic GH4 had better keep three customized preset shooting modes, which is very convenient for many people, especially professionals. It must be said here that Panasonic GH4 is equipped with a "lock/release" button in the center of the exposure mode dial, which supports the function of full lock or full release; The pressing state of "even number" is that the turntable can rotate continuously and the turntable can be completely fixed. Obviously, this function is configured to avoid misoperation.
▲ Dual-channel recording hole and hot shoe interface
The top of the machine is also equipped with hot boots, which can be connected with flash or other external equipment, improving the professionalism of shooting. You can see the recording holes of two channels on both sides of the hot shoe, which can support stereo when shooting video.
▲ Pop-up built-in flash
▲ Built-in flash switch
This is a button with a built-in flash. Press the pop-up flash (it should be the power button when it is turned on to prevent it from popping up when not in use). The internal flash supports TTL flash function, and the flash index can reach GN 17. With a telephoto lens, this built-in flash is useless. Seeing that the height of the whole bounce is not much, it is easy to be blocked by the telephoto lens.
Electronic viewfinder and flip screen
Panasonic has a flip screen from the first GH camera to the GH4, which is a very practical function. If there is no flip screen configuration, the composition angle is less, and the flip screen can adapt to more environments. The flip screen of Panasonic GH4 can also be used for self-timer, capacitive touch and multi-point operation, and its size is 3 inches, 1.04 million pixels. The display effect of night scene touch screen can be adjusted by menu control, such as color balance, contrast and saturation, which provides support for "what you see is what you get".
The electronic viewfinder is an organic light-emitting diode with a resolution of 2.36 million pixels, which is a high-precision one in a mirrorless camera.
Peripheral interface
There is a remote jack on the upper right side of the fuselage, which can be used to connect electronic wires to release DMW-RSL 1, which is prepared for long-term exposure of door B. Of course, due to the Wi-Fi function of Panasonic GH4, installing an APP on the mobile phone and tablet can also control long-term exposure. Personally, I think both methods are good.
▲ External interface on the left side of the fuselage
The left side of the fuselage is equipped with microphone, earphone monitoring hole, AV OUT/DIGITAL, HDMI output hole, and there is no popular USB charging interface, which is also a pity.
▲SD card slot
The storage medium of Panasonic GH4 is SD card. It should be noted here that if you want to shoot 4K video, try to buy an SD card of SDHC UHS-I or above. This writing speed can ensure smooth video recording. It is not recommended to use SDXC memory card, so please pay special attention when purchasing.
▲ The production information of this machine can be seen at the bottom of the fuselage. After the rubber cover is removed, it can be used with a battery handle or a 4K recorder.
▲ Panasonic GH4 battery
The battery is DMW-BLF 19E, and the capacity is 1860mAh. About 530 static photos can be taken after being fully charged (the dynamic video is untested, and the author estimates that it will not exceed 3 hours), which is less than GH3 10.
Summary of this page: The appearance is no different from that of the previous generation GH3, and some changes have been made in the key operation, which will be more humanized.
Two-wheel control
Profession is needed, and Panasonic GH4 does have this attitude. Many entry-level SLR are equipped with double impellers on Panasonic GH4, which is enough to show their professional attitude.
Panasonic GH4 is equipped with a pulsator near the top shutter key, which is generally operated by the index finger of the right hand. There is a pulsator where the thumb is placed when you hold it. These two designs are quite user-friendly. Personally, I think this operation is a bit different from the top SLR.
Top button
▲ The shortcut keys of exposure compensation, ISO and white balance bring up the adjustment page, and the last one is the shooting style setting.
The key function of the set-top box mentioned the shutter release dial (continuous shooting, timed shooting, delayed interval shooting) and exposure mode dial in the front appearance part, so I won't say much here. What is worth noting here are those shortcut keys with white balance, brightness and exposure compensation like SLR, and the only Fn custom key (Wi-Fi) at the top. It is suggested that this Fn key can be set to metering mode when shooting, which is very convenient to operate. The quota of these shortcut keys is quite professional.
Right rear button
▲Q.MENU Quickly select the menu to bring up the page.
▲ Menu adjustment page
This area is equipped with steering wheel, menu key, DISP display adjustment key and three Fn keys (Fn2 defaults to quick selection menu, Fn3 defaults to focus switch key and Fn4 defaults to delete/return key). All keys except the Fn key belong to the camera. Unfortunately, there are four buttons on the direction key, which are idle most of the time. I suggest that Panasonic can set these four buttons as Fn custom buttons when updating the firmware, so that the resource utilization is more completely reasonable.
Back top button
The main setting is the focus button, so that a separate area is the focus. It seems that GH4 is emphasizing its excellent focusing performance. And I think this configuration is familiar. Many SLR's have similar configuration (only metering), which can quickly switch between single focus, continuous shooting and manual focus. Key and auto focus/auto exposure lock button.
On the side of the focus dial is an independent recording/stop button, which can quickly switch to video shooting mode.
Left rear button
These two buttons look like they are hidden under the electronic viewfinder, and the look-back button is set here. There is also a Fn5 custom key (electronic viewfinder and LCD switch key by default).
Summary of this page: I personally think that all the controls of Panasonic GH4 are very professional, and I have made a lot of emphasis on the video function. In fact, I am quite sure that a mirrorless camera can do this. If you can do some homework on painting (China) and publicize it in the media, I am not afraid that no one will know about you.
Analysis of 4K Video Recording Function
4K video recording is the biggest highlight of Panasonic GH4. It is also the most important part of this evaluation. In addition to the quality of 4K video, we will also talk about its focusing performance. Let's put it this way: it's distressing to have good image quality without good focusing performance, and it's also distressing to have good focusing without corresponding image quality.
Panasonic GH4 is the first mirrorless camera with 4K video recording function. Its release almost caused a sensation in the whole photography circle, and people who focus on the video field seem to have heard a good news-"reducing the burden". Relatively speaking, there are not many cameras with professional camera function. Panasonic GH4 can be regarded as one of them, and then its appearance allows many photographers to shoot very good quality videos without carrying too many devices.
Panasonic GH4 supports full manual exposure during video recording, and can adjust aperture, shutter, brightness and exposure compensation. According to the needs of each country, there are also NTSC and PAL movie formats to choose from, and there are also 24fps formats for video. In both MP4 and MOV file types, 4K recording function is supported, and AVCHD can only record the movie size of FHD. In terms of video recording time limit, it varies according to different video formats, and there is no limit of 29 minutes and 59 seconds, mainly depending on the size of SD capacity.
4K video single frame screenshot
Let's take a look at its picture quality. (Due to the limitation of network video streaming format, 4K video uploading will also be compressed, and we can't see the specific effect. We use 100% screenshot to show it. )
Support 4K shooting and multiple 1080P HD video formats.
MOV format shooting in 4K mode
1080 shooting in MOV format in 50p mode.
Looking at the details of 100% captured in a single frame in 4K video recording, its resolution is equivalent to a still photo with about100000 pixels. Compared with HD 1080P format, it is obvious that the difference is not an order of magnitude change, and HD 1080P still photos are equivalent to about 2 million pixels.
Focusing performance
The focusing ability of Panasonic's previous generation GH3 is from EV-3 to 18, while that of GH4 is from EV-4 to 18, which is converted at a fixed value ISO. This effect is to enhance the focusing performance of the dark part, that is to say, it can focus quickly in the case of insufficient light. This is a very big technical breakthrough for GH4 with contrast focusing system, and the focusing system of most mirrorless cameras is converted to phase contrast focusing to improve the focusing performance, so the focusing of Panasonic GH4 is also a major attraction.
▲ The front is the adjustment focus, and the back is the coverage area of the focus.
Panasonic GH4 has 49 autofocus points, covering almost the whole picture area on the LCD screen. On this basis, a custom focus is added. If you customize the focus and then take pictures, you will only focus on the area you choose, which can enhance the accuracy of focusing in a certain area, which is called the secret weapon in Panasonic focusing system.
With the improvement of dark focus, Panasonic GH4 with full coverage autofocus point has achieved remarkable results whether it is used for still shooting or video recording. The official said that the focusing speed is only 0.07s, let's take a look at it through examples:
Continuous shooting test
Electronic shutter test is not turned on.
In the 100% screenshot, it is not difficult to find that its high-speed continuous shooting and excellent focusing performance capture the tracked moving object well, but the probability of defocusing is very low.
Open electronic shutter test
From the screenshots in the test, whether the electronic shutter is open or not, it can be accurately captured, and there will be some out-of-focus situations, but the chances are not many.
Abstract: 4K and focusing performance are two highlights of Panasonic GH4. In these two points, it is in a leading position in the industry, and 4K equipment is the first in the mirrorless camera, and it can also be said to be the most professional video mirrorless camera. If it's only 4K, it's a bit much to say that you are a professional. Panasonic GH4 video function has many leading functions in the industry, but I didn't try them one by one because of the ability problem. If anyone knows, you can leave me a message in the comments section. In terms of focusing on continuous shooting, Panasonic GH4 has achieved some perfection in the industry, which is basically difficult for other mirrorless cameras brands to surpass.
The picture quality is equivalent to Panasonic GH3.
GH4 is equipped with a newly-developed M4/3 Live MOS sensor with an effective pixel of16.05 million. After optimization, the low-pass filter can effectively suppress moire fringes and keep clear images. The image processor was upgraded to Venus engine IX (quad-core), which was 50% faster than in the past. Meanwhile, GH4 can directly record 4K movies, and the minimum brightness can be extended to ISO 100. The overall picture quality is no different from that of the previous generation Panasonic GH3. The following is the ISO 12233 standard resolution test card shot through the evaluation room, and the results are obtained. The best resolution is on F5.6
According to the test results, the best resolution is equivalent to some APS-C models, which belongs to the middle level. Generally, the score can be reached above 3500 pixels.
In addition to the objective running test, we also take a real shot in the evaluation room to see how its image quality is.
Judging from the real photos, the resolution of16 million pixels is also very detailed, which should be the optimized M4/3? Effect of active MOS photosensitive element. To put it bluntly, the details of the old man's head are still preserved, and the metal coins are slightly distorted, but it is good to reach this level under this pixel, which is a medium level in mirrorless cameras.
High sensitivity test, ISO800 is available.
Panasonic GH4 adopts Venus engine IX (quad-core) processor, and its sensitivity range is ISO200-25600, which can be extended down to ISO 100. Let's take a look at the photosensitivity of Panasonic GH4.
From the comparison of screenshots at various speeds, it can be seen that the screenshots before and after ISO800 are very clean and retain many details. ф o16000 There is a small amount of noise at the beginning, and the clarity is declining at the beginning. However, since ISO3200, the amount of noise has increased greatly, and there is obvious color shift in ISO6400. To sum up, the limit sensitivity of Panasonic GH3 camera is ISO 1600, but it is best to keep it below ISO800 in actual use.
Color development test
Let's look at the color shift of Panasonic GH3 camera. In the color test, we used Panasonic GH4 equipped with Panasonic 20mm f/ 1.7 lens, and set up the standard color card for automatic white balance shooting (the red box area in the above picture is the color test range). Finally, the test results are analyzed by using Imatest software.
The part surrounded by gray lines in the figure is the color gamut range of Panasonic GH4. The square color block in the test chart is the ideal color value, and the circular color block is the actual shooting value. As can be clearly seen from the above picture, in the case of automatic white balance, the color of Panasonic GH4 machine is blue, and the color temperature is cold, which is more suitable for taking photos with landscape themes.
Abstract: The picture quality of Panasonic GH4 is no different from that of the previous generation GH3. If the pixels are not improved, the resolution will be difficult to reach the cutting-edge level in a mirrorless camera. Looking forward to the change of image quality of the next generation Panasonic GH series products. If it is highly sensitive, Panasonic GH4 is only in the middle level, and ISO 1600 or above can only be used for emergency, and it is best to give up the big picture display. In terms of color, it is very advantageous to shoot the scenery.
Filtering function and Wi-Fi function
The biggest feature of a nonreciprocal interchangeable camera has always been the rich filter effect. Although Panasonic GH4 focuses on professional-grade mirrorless cameras, it has also made 22 effects on the filter, which can directly skip the late PS mode and take good-looking photos. When choosing a filter, you can see the effect of a filter on the camera in real time and then make a choice, which is intuitive and convenient.
Generally speaking, even though Panasonic GH4 is a professional-grade mirrorless camera, it takes the needs of ordinary users into consideration. If you show what you took through the filter and share it with the Wi-Fi function to be discussed later, the favorable rate will definitely be very high. The configuration of these functions enhances the playability of Panasonic GH4. Moreover, Panasonic GH4 can edit photos directly and simply in the machine, and adjusting curves and colors is also very practical for professionals.
Wi-Fi function
The configuration of Wi-Fi in a mirrorless camera is nothing new. In fact, most cameras have similar Wi-Fi functions, mainly focusing on photo transmission and remote shooting. In the early days, only photos were sent, and many manufacturers' apps didn't have interactive functions. Then, after adding remote control shooting, the whole experience was different, and Panasonic GH4 was one of them. Let's understand the difference between Wi-Fi of Panasonic GH4 through the following operations.
First press the Fn 1 custom key (the default is the Wi-Fi function key), then the following page pops up, and then follow the prompts to connect smart devices such as mobile phones and tablets step by step. Panasonic GH4 does not add NFC near field communication function, but uses scanning QR code to connect quickly, which is still fashionable.
▲ A page that pops up after pressing Wi-Fi on the fuselage.
▲ Remote shooting, setting and photo editing functions.
▲ Photo transmission function
Then, all operations are carried out in the APP (named Image APP), where the camera can be controlled remotely, and almost all the parameters that can be adjusted on the camera can be adjusted in the APP, such as ISO, aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, etc.
You can also edit photos directly in the APP, which is also to prepare for sharing photos.
Finally, the photo transmission function. Needless to say, everyone can know how to operate step by step. Anyway, the Wi-Fi functions of various camera manufacturers are similar, and the difference is the interactive experience.
Summary of this page: Panasonic GH4' s efforts in filter function and Wi-Fi are not top in the industry, but these practical functions can be recognized by many consumers. These should be standard in current mirrorless cameras. If not, it is not a pity that two words can be expressed. Panasonic GH4 filter has very rich functions, up to 22 kinds, which can be used in almost any scene, depending on what you like. The Wi-Fi function adds a lot of convenience to sharing and should be standard.
Real shot of test sample