The recently released GH4 looks the same and mostly works the same as the GH3, Panasonic's previous, and still available, top tier pro level, hybrid stills/video camera.
So, is it worth the cost to upgrade from the GH3 to the GH4 ? Let's see the differences between them.
* Top of the list is the very well advertised 4K video which comes to a consumer camera for the first time in the GH4. So heavily has this feature been promoted that the prospective buyer might be inclined to think the GH4 is for motion pictures and little else.
I think of the GH4 as two extremely sophisticated capture device in one body, one for motion picture the other for stills.
I use the GH4 exclusively for still photos. So this post compares the two cameras for still photo capture. There is a great abundance of commentary available elsewhere about motion picture capabilities.
* Next comes the electronic viewfinder. The EVF is the feature of the GH3 that drew the most criticism. The GH4 has a completely new EVF and optics which answers all the criticisms of the previous one. It is a delight to use. I posted about it recently on this blog.
* The GH4 has much improved continuous autofocus capability. With the right lens, for instance the 35-100mm, 12-35mm or 14-140mm f3.5-5.6, the GH4 delivers almost twice the frame rate, a noticeably reduced EVF blackout time and a substantially higher rate of sharply in focus frames when follow focussing on moving subjects. I have posted about it recently.
Specifications and features In no particular order here follows a list of features of the GH4, most but not all of which represent an upgrade from the GH3.
* Auto ISO in Manual Exposure Mode. At last, after many requests by users, Panasonic has finally offered this capability. I use it frequently. For instance if I am shooting with the 100-300mm lens at the long end, I want the shutter speed at 1/1600sec for sharp pix hand held (1/600sec is definitely not fast enough and even 1/1000sec gets me some unsharp frames) and f8 for best image quality. So I set those two exposure parameters and the camera adjusts ISO to ensure correct exposure.
* Peaking is now available in Manual Focus Mode. This is another feature frequently requested by users. On the GH4 it is well implemented with numerous options and it works very well.
* Extended ISO now goes down to 1/100sec, was previously 1/125sec.
* Highlight/shadow/tone curve adjustment is available in the EVF or monitor, prior to capture.
* Face detect adds eye detect and puts cross lines on the selected eye, usually the nearest.
* E-Shutter scans the sensor in 1/15 sec which is faster than the GH3's 1/10 sec. This should offer less rolling shutter effect (distortion of subjects moving in relation to the camera). In addition the highest ISO setting available with E-Shutter has increased from 1600 to 3200.
There is a possible downside to the increased scanning speed. One blogger has reported that with E Shutter the GH4 captures at 10 bits instead of the usual 12 bits available on M43 cameras and the GH4 with mechanical shutter.
* There are many improvements to the manual focus and autofocus capabilities of the GH4. I have posted about this here.
23 Area AF on the GH3 becomes 49 Area on the GH4. 1 Area AF can be set anywhere in the frame.
* There is an extra position on the Drive Mode dial for time lapse.
* Still, you cannot set AEB +Timer delay. They are occupy separate positions on the Drive Mode dial. There is no position which combines both. Furthermore there is still no facility to actuate the shutter mechanism once and have all 3 or 5 AEB frames fire automatically. So as with the GH3 you still need a wired remote shutter cable or smartphone app.
* There is an item in the Setup Menu called [Live View Mode] which is a bit confusing. It is said to refresh the "Live View Screen" but doesn't clarify if that is the EVF or monitor or both, at 30 or 60 fps. The 60fps setting is supposed to provide smoother panning at the expense of greater power use. I tried both and had difficulty convincing myself there was a difference.
* Part of the AF/MF upgrade is about being able to seamlessly integrate AF with MF. On the GH3 you can focus manually while in an Autofocus Mode. Now with the GH4 this is still available but you can also autofocus with the AFL/AEL button while in Manual Focus Mode. This is handy to get quickly to the desired focus point ready for manual fine tuning.
* AF area size can now be adjusted in large steps with the rear dial and smaller steps with the front dial. This might be considered overkill but it does allow almost any AF area size and position to be quickly set.
* Pinpoint AF has additional options for screen magnification, also using the front and rear dials.
* Zoom level in MF Assist can also be adjusted with the front and rear dials, also using the rear dial>large steps, front dial>small steps feature which operates on several functions on the GH4.
*Silent Mode is available on the GH3 as a firmware update. It is built into the GH4.
* Flash shutter speed has increased from 1/160sec to 1/250sec.
* Top shutter speed is up from 1/4000sec to 1/8000sec. This could be useful in bright light if a wide lens aperture is used. Shutter longevity rating has increased from 100000 to 200000 cycles.
* The GH4 has extensive options for in camera playback of images including RAW processing and image editing.
* Wi Fi is available and compatible with NFC on the GH4. There is extensive coverage of Wi Fi features in the owners manual.
* The Owners Manual has increased to a massive 420 pages. The full version is still available only as a PDF. However it is better designed than before. In particular navigating the PDF is more coherent and streamlined than before. The GH4 owners manual is the first one from Panasonic that I feel reasonably confident of being able to use without having to print the whole thing out.
* The list of items assignable to the Q menu has increased from 24 to 35. However the maximum which can be carried on the Q Menu is 15 of which only 5 are visible without scrolling.
* The list of items assignable to a Function button has increased from 39 to 54. In addition the GH4 has more soft Fn buttons if you want to use the touch screen feature. Just for fun I worked out that if you used all the hard and soft Fn buttons the total number of possible combinations of Fn button functions would be 86839771950000000, or something like that.
I will post a series on "setting up the GH4" soon to help new and maybe some not so new owners manage the hyper configurable environment of an upper spec Panasonic camera. There is a logical approach to it, which makes the task considerably less daunting than might appear initially.
* There appears to have been a backwards step with the auto ISO upper limit setting. On the GH3 you can change ISO with one dial and auto ISO upper limit with the other dial. But on the GH4 the auto ISO upper limit can only be set in the Rec Menu. I was unable to find any other way to do it. So I just set 25800 as the upper limit and leave it at that.
* There also appears to have been a backwards step with flash exposure compensation. On the GH3 you can change exposure compensation with one dial and flash exposure compensation with the other dial, while looking at the same screen. But on the GH4 the quickest access to flash exposure compensation appears to be the Q menu, to which this can be allocated.
Summary The GH4 is the most highly specified camera I have ever encountered. Panasonic has included almost every conceivable feature, specification, option and capability in the one amazingly capable device. Other manufacturers hold features back from some models forcing buyers to change models or buy several bodies to access different capabilities. Some have touch screen some do not. Some have a fully articulated monitor, some do not. Some have high grade video some do not. The list goes on....
But the GH4 has the lot. A novice could pick up the camera, set iA Mode and use it as a point and shoot device. Yet it can function as a professional video or stills camera or both at once if desired.
The user can choose which of the camera's myriad functions he or she wishes to utilise. These choices can be altered at any time without having to invest in a different camera body.
What about image quality ? You will notice I did not mention picture quality in the list of features above. Adobe Camera Raw 8.5 final has only just become available as I write this so I have not done systematic picture quality comparisons yet. However the GH4 has a DXO Mark score only 3 points greater than the GH3 so I do not expect much difference to emerge from real world testing. My subjective impression is that the GH4 performs better at high ISO settings but we shall see.
Is the GH4 worth the upgrade cost from a GH3 ?
For still photos I would say yes if:
* You regard EVF quality as an important part of the user experience.
* You want the GH4's superior burst rate and follow focus performance with moving subjects.
Otherwise keep your GH3 or buy one new at the current discounted price or get one second hand.
Just a word about used GH3s. Mine is in the repair shop at the moment with a superficially scratched EVF eyepiece lens, resulting from normal cleaning. I have read reports by users that others have had this problem, so be alert. Presumably the eyepiece glass is soft. In addition some of them have developed looseness in the articulated monitor joint.
I do not do video, never use a touch screen, never set iA and never use Creative Control Mode. I have no interest in Wi-Fi and never want to perform image editing in camera. But I will be keeping my GH4 and selling the GH3 which is still an excellent camera, by the way. I do regard EVF quality as important and I do want the superior burst/AF-C performance.
I doubt whether many owners would care to use all the possible functions of the GH4. But they are there for those who want them and each individual will have his or her own ideas about that.
The GH4 is like Photoshop to me. I run Photoshop in preference to Lightroom. I don't use or even remotely understand many of Photoshop's more advanced features but I don't care because it has Bridge which I do want and I often use functions of Photoshop which Lightroom does not have.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar