I am very keen to upgrade from my GH2 cameras but the only reason stopping me from pre-ordering 2x GH4s is the 29min 59s restriction in EU PAL countries. I need to be able to record live events continuously and often cannot access the cameras to keep stopping/starting.

Is there any possibility of offering an official unrestricted GH4 for users in PAL countries who are willing to pay the EU "camcorder" tax? Perhaps through a purchased firmware update?

Nick already shared his brief observations on this, still I'd appreciate an official confirmation:

Will it be possible to record 96fps externally over HDMI (provided that the capture device supports 1080p24/25/30)? If yes, will it then require recording internally at the same time?

Thanks.

-Will we see a multi- aspect-ratio sensor again? With the GH1 and GH2 the crop factor for video was very close to APS-C cams, and I feel it went a long way towards countering the perpetual sensor-size argument. I would love to see a pixel-to-pixel 4k readout, like the GH4's, but that reaches the edge of the m4/3 image circle (the same diagonal width as the photo mode). I understand that this would entail lowering the megapixel count, but it seems m4/3 has stabilized at 16MP, so a drop to, say, 12MP would not be hard for consumers to accept if the gains in other aspects of IQ (less noise from larger pixels, etc) are made clear. Which brings me to my next question:

-Are there any changes planned for the marketing of m4/3? I feel that the system has never really had an effective marketing push, thus its poor penetration into the US market. I also feel that cheeseball shills like Giulio Sciorio and Will Crockett do nothing but hurt the brand- people see through them immediately.

-Any chance of a taller, squarer video mode being enabled, for anamorphic shooting?

-When will we see a global shutter? I personally am slightly more enthused about its possibilities with high-speed flash photography than for video, but it will be nothing but positive for both. I bet David Hobby (Strobist) would be real excited about a compact, affordable system with a super-fast flash sync. I and a lot of other people hung on to the Nikon D70 for a lot longer than we should have just because of this one thing. There are a lot of video guys shooting sports and action that would be excited for a global shutter, too.

-How about a tilting, telescoping EVF for the GH line? Like a cross between the GX7's EVF and a compact camcorder's? This could eliminate the need for LCD loupes when shooting video, making your rig even smaller and less fiddly.

-Would it be possible to offer an alternative/upgrade firmware for the Lumix lenses that would give a linear response to the focus ring? Where a certain position of the ring always corresponds to a certain focus distance, and the speed of the ring input does not affect the amount of change made in the focal distance? I'm picturing this as just a software thing, but maybe it's not so simple. A simple pair of clamps on the focus ring (with lens gear integrated, to mate with a follow focus) and lens body with interlocking ears could provide hard stops, which you could program into the camera... thus repeatable focus pulls would be possible. You could even make the clamps' throw distance adjustable, which would let you dial the system in for your particular lens and FF combo.

Thanks for hearing my input!

1) As someone who has just purchased a GH3, I would still really like to see focus peaking implementing in a future software update. I don't really need many of the features of the GH4, and I understand the GH3 will continue to be sold along side the GH4.

Considering less powerful cameras have had the feature implemented with software updates, I really hope Panasonic makes it a priority to include this feature if it is at all possible. Don't forget about us GH2 and GH3 owners just because a new shiny product came out, we are still active customers saving money for some nice Panasonic lenses ;)

2) This is a photography related question, but in A mode, there should be a way to set the minimum tolerable SS to balance out with low ISO. For example, set min SS to 100, so if camera needs higher EV, it will raise ISO in ISO Auto mode to compensate. Also would be nice to have auto ISO selectable in M mode as an option, you never know.

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions!

Is it possible to make a m4/3 lens that would work with stepless aperture, or at least in far more smaller steps than they now do?

Is this camera or lens related problem? And could the GH4 be made to be able to use even the existing m4/3 lenses with stepless aperture control in video modes?

With the advent of RAW filming can we see at least 1 minute of RAW shooting capability on this camera in a future firmware release? You will win over a ton of new users.

Another question: Why was ETC mode not activated in 1080p60(50) on the GH3, but was for lower frame rates? Is there an ETC mode on the GH4? Is there a similar limitation on the GH4?

Please please please ask him about opening up the software/interface side of their cameras! Be it opening up as much of their source code as possible (I understand there are legal issues why they can not do this for all of it, but they could at least release most of it) and/or providing an API.

Give the power to the people to let their imaginations go wild and you'll be surprised what is created and needs are filled!

Just look at what Magic Lantern has done without any support from Canon (don't underestimate what a huge selling point this has been for many newbies. They might know next to nothing about which camera to get, but they do know Canon has Magic Lantern which "nobody else has". They're wrong in their assessment of course.... don't even pick Canon! :-P But I see this happen time after time after time, as to the reason why a newcomer buys and sticks with Canon. Because of all the news about Magic Lantern).

The first company which actually encourages this community development will get a huge edge over the competition!

Oh, and additionally... could you please add a mic input to all your future cameras (is a great pity my G3 doesn't have one). Even the GF and GM series would benefit from it, surely it wouldn't cost much more at all or add any more size of note? Yet would mean a huge benefit for many video users.

And while on this point, could you make sure live clean HDMI is on all future cameras too? (again, I really really wish my one of my GH1/G3/GF3/GX1 had this! I've got a lot of Panasonic cameras, yet sadly none of them have this! Many directors want to have a live feed to a monitor for them to watch while I'm operating the camera. But I can't. I'd have to get a GH2 or GH3, when in terms of features/price I'd rather get a G6 instead. But that doesn't have it either.... this is unfortunately making me have to seriously consider between the G6 or the Nikon D5200 or even the Sony A6000 instead, as my upgrade this year from the GH1/G3 that I use now)

Some firmware suggestions:

-More options to FN-buttons: Video Autofocus, Audio meters, Wind cut filter, Picture controls etc. It would be nice to have FN-button options for menus you actually use during shooting.

-Exposure values independant for video mode. So camera could camera remember that video must shoot with lower shutter speed than photos. (Maybe that shutter degree option could solve this problem).

-AE/AF button on-off-on-off possibility like in other cameras

-More C-memory slots or menu item to save different whole camera setups. I.e. you could configure whole camera for indoor or outdoor shooting. Then you will have all 5 C-memories for current setup.

-Possibility to change useless EV-button to FN-button.

Another couple of questions: would it be possible to implement a pre-rec function? Like, the buffer storing 5 seconds of video? Maybe in future versions?

Would it be possible to implement RGB histograms for video?

Is there a specific codec we need to download to work with GH4 .movs in Avid?

1. Can you add the ability for the GH4 (GH3+) to detect panning and tell the lenses to not try to correct for horizontal pan movement?

2. Or is this something that would have to be fixed in a lens firmware update?

I have a 12-35mm f2.8 lens and at times it can be problematic when performing even moderate speed pans (only VERY slow pans have no problems). I record sports frequently with my kids and I'll be on a tripod one moment and then take it off another and having to remember to switch off/on the OIS in the "heat of the moment" (run and gun) doesn't happen very frequently... ;-)