Panasonic GH4 User Review Part 1 Exterior and first impressions

GH4, Panasonic 100-300mm lens, hand held

 

The GH4  is the latest iteration of Panasonic's top of the line GH series combining a high level of stills and video capability in one compact unit.

My GH4 has finally landed in the household. It will be my main camera, replacing the GH3. I will be reporting my owner/user experience with the GH4 over the next few months.  Most reviews of the GH4 have concentrated on it's amazing video capability. But I don't do video so I will be reporting on it purely as a stills camera.

First impressions  It looks like a GH3, it works like a GH3.  That's a good thing. The camera has good ergonomics and is a pleasure to use. It uses the same battery and other accessories as the GH3. So users stepping up from the GH3 will feel right at home. 

It is, at 920 grams one of the  largest and heaviest mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (MILC) with standard 12-35mm f2.8 kit lens fitted.  Even the full frame Sony Alpha 7/7R/7S MILC's with the 24-70mm mounted are about the same weight although the lens is larger and only f4.

The GH4 is also, at AUD2500-2700  retail in Australia for the single lens kit one of the higher priced MILCs, although the Sony Alpha 7 cameras and lenses are considerably more costly as are the Leicas.

Some people might think that buying a camera like this purely for stills use is a poor allocation of financial resources and they might be right.  On the other hand in all the excitement about the GH4's remarkable motion picture performance I think the message about it's stills performance is not getting much of a hearing.  So you can read about it here over the coming months.

Exterior appearance and feel  Differences between the GH3 and GH4 are minor.

* There is a little  lip running down the inside of the handle on the GH4, providing a slightly better grip for the finger tips, not that there was any problem with the GH3 grip.

* There are two little nipples on the ISO button, so it is easier to locate by feel.

* The rubber eyecup is wider. I am not enthused by this. I think that if they wanted to improve the eyecup it should have gone deeper, with a thicker, softer feel to the rubber and a more ergonomic shape to better fit the orbital curve in both landscape and portrait orientation. I tried the GH3 eyecup  (it fits) but decided I didn't much care for either of them.

* The Drive Mode dial has an extra position for direct access to the interval timer.

* The Main Mode dial is taller, presumably to make it easier to operate, not that I ever had any difficulty with the one on the GH3, and is fitted with a push/push locking button. This can be set so the dial is locked or unlocked. I never had a problem with the dial moving unintentionally on the GH3 so I will leave it unlocked. The dial itself is a bit stiffer than that on the GH3 and clunks into each setting in a slightly more positive fashion.

* The memory card cover feels a bit tighter, requiring a bit more force to open. Several users had complained about this cover opening inadvertently on the GH3 and I also had this happen occasionally.

* A minor irritation, there is no plastic cover or even a little ziplok bag for the battery, GH3 style. I will look for a small ziplok bag at the supermarket tomorrow.

The really significant upgrades are all inside the camera. Most improvements relate to the EVF, the imaging sensor, autofocus performance and especially continuous AF and of course the video about which you can read elsewhere.