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GH4 Firmware 2.3, V-log for $99, Epic Panasonic marketing fail
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  • @driftwood

    Thanks ... and yes, there are limitations. Say for Nikon, when they built "custom profiles" into the D200, D3 & so on ... those profiles were NOT lockable. So ... you work through two menus carefully to set a profile. Now "invoke" it ... and while shooting, change ANY of the variables of that profile.

    You now have a changed profile.

    It made setting & using profiles essentially useless to a pro. Thom Hogan, Nikon blogger, tried to suggest while meeting with Nikon engineers one time that it would be useful to simply have a "lock" setting for these. We wouldn't think this is something too revolutionary, right?

    Wow. That discussion went south very fast, apparently including raised voices ... THEY (the engineers) knew what photographers needed ... he was a piece of ... um ... unmentionable ... and after that, he was no longer welcome to meet with Nikon engineers.

    Still wish my D3 had a lock on those custom profiles like a Panny GH-X does. Haven't even tried to use them on the D3 since the first month. Waste of time creating them if they weren't going to implement properly.

    And the cultural differences between engineers & "normal" folk, as an additive layer on top of the cultural differences between Japan and western Europe or USA, creates quite a difficult place to communicate at times.

    Thanks for your efforts ... we'll see what we actually get.

  • I'm going all in with V Log L. I just love it so much with 10 bit external. Probably going to get an Assassin. I would dare to say the skintones look better than my C100ii.

  • This is exciting news. It would be awesome if you could post a few more samples, even some raw ones would be great. I am trying to decide between getting an Assassin, or the Video Assist. I am really curious in comparing the 4k into a 1080 recorder.

  • @aaronchicago +1

    I agree Vlog gives the best skin tones yet from the GH4.

  • here are some quick test shots, anamorphic and 10 bit (odyssey 7q+):

    pass: test

    no re-posting, please. I'll keep it open for a little while.

  • Much appreciated Nick :) I can imagine its all quite tricky..

    V Log has such a nice image, it would be a shame not to get everything available, out of the 8bit, thanks.

  • V log is fine but they can use trick I proposed long time ago.

    I mean here recording each 1080p frame as two frames using (48p and 50p instead of 24p and 25p) and original linear space. Something like raw for poor (as it retains all raw information). :-) Camera certainly can do it, it is just software mod.

  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev

    That's way, way too obvious & simple. Engineers would KNOW we users would never want something like that! We need their complicated, computed modification of visible capture & back to "real" image process.

    Neil

  • That's way, way too obvious & simple.

    It can be obvious. but as no one is doing it, Japanese have trouble to do it.

    Now everyone (and especially Sony) are doing tons of different LOG modes, so each and every manufacturer makes their own.

    It is Peter principle with added japan specifics. You can't be fired for offering something that already worked. But for new stuff, this one is risky.

  • @PierreB, I don't use FCPX, but I'm told my LUTs work with the 3rd-party "FCPX LUT Loader" and with Magic Bullet Looks. My first version was not compatible, so be sure to grab the latest version, which has a fix.

  • @Vitaliy_Kiselev

    Yea, I understand. I've run into this quite a number of times ... see how something is done within an organization that is choosing to spend a LOT of time every year or two re-working some process. I watch and realize that with a different, and definitely simpler approach, not only is the thing or process "fixed" but takes a LOT less work to do and to maintain in the future.

    When mentioning this, a very predictable response: Oh no, I don't understand, it's FAR more complicated than that and couldn't possibly work that way.

    One needs then to decide ... do you want to maintain good personal relations (and perhaps your job) ... or show that it can be done by one person vastly simpler AND better.

    It is occasionally possible to really please people with such a demonstration. It is more likely to please maybe one or two but ROYALLY PISS OFF the "people who count". Even if your idea gets adopted.

    Humans being humans ...

    Neil

  • GH4 V-Log L Anamorphic 4K some evident and written cyan macroblocking….sell yr Gh4 b4 is 2 L8...

  • I guess I don't know what cyan macroblocking is, because I don't see anything that fits that description, no matter how hard I look at that bit of footage @chef. Are you joking and I just didn't get the joke?

    What I did notice was a bit of strange waviness that comes over the entire picture early in that clip. Still an amazing looking shot!

    Is anyone noticing significantly better dynamic range than with Cinilike D? I'm tired of blown out skies all of the time... Too bad that the main gripe about Vlog seems to be the banding in skies I guess.

  • @Tjabo you can see cyan macro all around, and under the plant in the background on the upper left side there is a tile completely cyan .The waviness is the light strobing a lil bit...

  • Above is 8 bit. I think it's safe to say that it's a bad idea using V Log and 8 bit internal.

  • @chef, has a nice quality to the image aside from the obvious issues. is it just me or is that wider than 2:40:1 ?

  • Thanks @chef, I will go back and pixel peep a bit more! ;-)

    Overall though, don't you think clients would be quite satisfied with this unless it's the sort of a project where Red Dragons and Alexas are expected?

  • @Tjabo I think for web delivery you're right. You have to do some serious pixel peeping to see the defects. The thing i'm loving about it so much is that it's extremely easy to grade, and skintones are so nice. This is a shot I literally just added the Varicam LUT with Filmconvert FujiSuperX400. (Right) is just a vignette and spot exposure on the face.

    NinjaStar3.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 794K
    NinjaStar4.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 760K
  • @aaronchicago, thanks, that is a beautiful image! I think I will pay my $99 quite soon. :-)

  • @Robin it's defo nice quality for sure...used Resolve lite in post and it's free….

  • now comes a stupid question: I am using VLOG L and just got my Ninja Assassin and the first test shots I recorded have the exposure meter on the video files, what am I missing?

  • @Tjabo it depends ….u have rich clients? lol

  • @olli66 In your HDMI rec output make sure to turn off info display.

  • @Soupertrooper thanks! I figured it out myself. never been in that menu, also set it to 10bit now ;-)

  • Hi V-log l users.

    I wanted to keep this thread alive by adding a comment about this new profile.

    I like it very much. It has a natural "grain" structure and the colours are as natural as I've been able to pull out of Red footage. Maybe not as great as Arri camera, but close.

    It would be great if there was a setting for the evf (like a lut) to help with focusing and framing.

    I haven't used the new varicam camera, but after using this profile on my little gh4 to play with, I'm excited to try out the new like of varicam.

    I've been rating the vlog setting at around iso 200 and it feels right.

    That's it for now.

    Cheers to all who have spent their time testing and posting the results.