You can see the GH-4 is more detailed than the Nikon. But the Nikon showed a bit more DR (slightly). I think though when using Cine-D you will see an improvement in the GH.

He who must not be named weighs in: http://www.eoshd.com/content/12319/andrew-reid-frank-sauer-shoot-panasonic-gh4-production-diary-day-1

Yeah Nikon is known for their high dynamic range. I'm hoping the GH-4 can go really flat like that. As a 1080p camera the Nikon image looks good when compared to the 4K down conversion.

@Ian_T,

I am thinking of selling my d7100 for the gh4, but I will have get a metabones adapter to compensate for the 2X crop factor. I'm just waiting to see what problem/s the "early adapters" will have with the camera when their pre-orders get filled.

@bleach551 exactly what kinds of problems are you expecting? The camera has been in the hands of dozens of professionals around the world, and none has reported any hiccups. And the GH3 isn't known for having any serious manufacturng defects. It's not a beta camera or anything.

I read alot about the GH3 hotshoe problem. I am planning on attaching an Atomos recorder on the GH4 and although I like to keep everything light I will probably get the Honu cage. Not going to take a chance on the hotshoe failing.

There's nothing wrong with the GH3 hotshoe and no reason to worry about it. This is the only forum where someone has had an issue with it, as far as I know. Believe it or not, the eyepiece hasn't self-destructed, the hinges on my monitor haven't broken, the SD door doesn't ever open unless I intend to open it, the lens mount hasn't been ripped off the body. The camera is well-constructed. But I would also be wary of putting a monitor on the hotshoe. Makes more sense to have it mounted via the tripod screw and off to the side of the camera.

As far as reliability goes Panasonic is as good as any other company. However, they still can have their issues.

I always buy the newest GH camera the day it comes out and every single one I have purchased on day one has had a fatal issue. My GH2 had an issue with not recognizing the factory certified batteries that it came with and the certified spares that I bought for a ridiculous amount.

I sent that GH2 back and it was replaced without any hesitation.

The first GH3 that I bought had an issue where the sensor that detects whether the flash is open or not would not work properly. I didn’t detect this issue right away so I wasn’t able to return it to the store. I went through the Panasonic repair service and it was a hassle but it got sorted out in the end and they replaced the camera entirely.

If you plan on buying the camera on day one it is entirely possible that something could be wrong with it. Make sure you buy it from a store with a good return policy. It is much easier to return a defective camera to a store than to go through the repair process.

That being said the Panasonic repair service is not as bad as it sounds. Just be patient with it and ask for help here. There are plenty of people here with contacts at Panasonic that can help if you are not getting the proper response in a timely manner.

The biggest thing to remember if something does break is to stay calm and let the people in charge of the repairs work with you. If you get irate with them they won’t want to help you as much.

I really believe that Panasonic’s quality control is as good as anyone else’s. I am buying the GH4 on day one even though I have had issues with doing that in the past.

Glad you mentioned Graphics card. I've been having problems in Sony Vegas 12 using Open GL (i5/4 Gigs Ram) and rendering 4K video. It would crash on rendering and I couldn't figure out why. Then something told me to disable Open GL and wala...it now works with 4K. I agree with you about if folks have a somewhat modern computer then a good graphics card is the real investment (which is on my list).

BTW...what's good? Anyone? Or is that another thread? :)

@driftwood

Thanks for the info. That all makes sense.

I understand that most people use Macs for this. However, I am a PC guy. I just can't see spending twice as much for a computer with a smaller screen even if it has more resolution.

I bought the computer below last week. It should be plenty for the GH4 with the 4th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-4800MQ processor, 8GB DDR3L memory, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M graphics card with 3GB dedicated video memory.

It is probably overkill but it also was only $1399 for the brand new 17.3" laptop with a 1 gig hard drive. That is a reasonable price I think. It is huge and heavy with terrible battery life but I am ok with those things. Now I have a few extra dollars for some extra memory cards.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/gt70-dominator-895-17-3-laptop-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive/5142092.p?id=1219111591490&skuId=5142092&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=6

14 days till your pre-order is dispatched they say........I'll believe it when I see it at my door =) would be a nice surprise

@Mrfanny where is that preorder that claims two weeks?