Just like its predecessor, the GH4 wraps its sealed magnesium alloy body around a 16MP Four Thirds sensor. But that shouldn't be taken to mean that the GH4 is a minor update. The most striking difference is that the GH4 can capture 4K footage (both in the DCI 4K and UHD 4K resolutions), but the extent to which the GH4 supports a professional workflow is arguably just as significant.
The stills photographer using the GH4 benefits from a number of performance and usability improvements. Most obvious is a more capable shutter which can fire as quickly as 1/8000th seconds and syncs with flashes at up to 1/250th of a second. Continuous shooting is boosted to 12 frames per second, 7.5fps with continuous focus. Focus tracking should also improve, thanks to Panasonic's 'depth-from-defocus' (DFD) technology which attempts to assess how out-of-focus the lens is, based on profiles of how the company's lenses render out-of-focus regions.
But, as mentioned before, it's the video capabilities and the supporting features that make the GH4 such a striking camera. In addition to the 4K, the GH4 also includes focus peaking, two zebra settings (to highlight over-exposed regions) and control over Master Pedestal (black level) and luminance scale (16-255, 16-235 or 0-255). The camera can also generate color bars (for calibration) and the ability to express shutter speed and ISO in terms of shutter angle and gain. Not all of these additions will be useful to everyone (in fact I'd wager that nobody will make use of all the new features), but, whether your background is stills or video, the GH4 is likely to offer plenty of tools to support your video making.
Headline Features
- 16MP Four Thirds Sensor
- 4K recording - DCI 'Cinema 4K' (4096 x 2160) or UHD 4K (3840 x 2160)
- 2.36m dot OLED viewfinder
- 1.04m dot OLED rear screen
- 1/8000th maximum shutter speed
- 1/250th flash sync speed
- Continuous shooting 12fps, 7pfs with focus tracking
Although a host of features (such as the focus peaking, zebra and shutter angle display) have been added, the GH4's user interface is essentially identical to that of the GH3. Existing users will be able to pick up the camera and start shooting immediately. If you're in that position, we'd recommend spending a little time going through the menus to make sure you don't miss-out on what could prove to be useful features.
| Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 | Panasonic Lumix-DMC GH3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Sensor specifications | 16MP Four Thirds | 16MP Four Thirds |
| Continuous shoot rate (with C-AF) | 12fps (7.5fps) | 6fps (4fps) |
| Metering system | 1728-zone | 144-zone |
| Max video Res (Internal) | Cinema 4K (4096 x 2160) | Full HD (1920 x 1080) |
| Max video Res (with external recorder) | Cinema 4K (4096 x 2160), 4:2:2 10-bit | Full HD (1920 x 1080) 4:2:0 8bit |
| Maximum bit rate (1080p/24) | 200Mbps | 72Mbps |
| Focus Peaking | 3 colors, 2 intensities | No |
| Zebra Highlight Warnings | 2 Presents (Adjustable 105-50%) | No |
| Time Code | Yes | Yes |
| Luminance level control | 0-255, 16-235, 16-255 | No |
| 4K Photo Mode | Yes | No |
| Electronic viewfinder resolution | 2.36m dots (1024 x 768px) | 1.74m dots (1024 x 576px) |
| Rear LCD resolution | 1.04m dots (720 x 480px) | 0.61m dots (640 x 480px) |
| Battery Life (CIPA) | 500 shots | 540 shots |
| Dimensions | 133 x 93 x 84mm | 133 x 93 x 82mm |
| Weight | 560g | 550g |
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 specifications
| Body type | |
|---|---|
| Body type | SLR-style mirrorless |
| Body material | Magnesium alloy |
| Sensor | |
| Max resolution | 4608 x 3456 |
| Other resolutions | 4608 x 3072, 4608 x 2592, 3456 x 3456, 3264 x 2448, 3264 x 2176, 2448 x 2448, 2336 x 1752, 2356 x 1560, 1920 x 1080, 1744 x 1744, 1824 x 1368, 1824 x 1216, 1824 x 1024, 1712 x 1712 |
| Image ratio w:h | 1:1, 4:3, 3:2, 16:9 |
| Effective pixels | 16 megapixels |
| Sensor photo detectors | 17 megapixels |
| Sensor size | Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) |
| Sensor type | CMOS |
| Processor | Venus Engine IX |
| Color space | sRGB, AdobeRGB |
| Color filter array | Primary color filter |
| Image | |
| ISO | Auto, 200-25600 |
| Boosted ISO (minimum) | 100 |
| White balance presets | 5 |
| Custom white balance | Yes (4 spots) |
| Image stabilization | No |
| Uncompressed format | RAW |
| JPEG quality levels | Fine, standard |
| File format |
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| Optics & Focus | |
| Autofocus |
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| Autofocus assist lamp | Yes |
| Digital zoom | Yes (2x, 4x) |
| Manual focus | Yes |
| Number of focus points | 49 |
| Lens mount | Micro Four Thirds |
| Focal length multiplier | 2× |
| Screen / viewfinder | |
| Articulated LCD | Fully articulated |
| Screen size | 3″ |
| Screen dots | 1,036,000 |
| Touch screen | Yes |
| Screen type | OLED |
| Live view | Yes |
| Viewfinder type | Electronic |
| Viewfinder coverage | 100% |
| Viewfinder magnification | 0.67× |
| Viewfinder resolution | 2,359,000 |
| Photography features | |
| Minimum shutter speed | 60 sec |
| Maximum shutter speed | 1/8000 sec |
| Exposure modes |
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| Built-in flash | Yes |
| Flash range | 17.00 m (at ISO 200) |
| External flash | Yes (via hotshoe or PC sync) |
| Flash modes | Auto, auto/redeye reduction, forced on, forced on/redeye reduction, slow sync, slow sync/redeye reduction, forced off |
| Flash X sync speed | 1/250 sec |
| Drive modes |
|
| Continuous drive | 12.0 fps |
| Self-timer | Yes (2 or 10 secs (single or three-shot)) |
| Metering modes |
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| Exposure compensation | ±5 (at 1/3 EV steps) |
| AE Bracketing | ±3 (3, 5, 7 frames at 1/3 EV, 2/3 EV, 1 EV steps) |
| WB Bracketing | Yes (3 exposures in blue/amber or magenta/green axis) |
| Videography features | |
| Resolutions | 4096 x 2160 (24p), 3840 x 2160 (24p, 25p, 30p), 1920 x 1080 (24p, 25p, 30p, 50p, 60p), 1280 x 720 (24p, 25p, 30p), 640 x 480 (25p, 30p) |
| Format | MPEG-4, AVCHD |
| Videography notes | Supports IBP and ALL-Intra codecs; 1080p data rates up to 200 Mbps |
| Microphone | Stereo |
| Speaker | Mono |
| Storage | |
| Storage types | SD/SDHC/SDXC |
| Connectivity | |
| USB | USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) |
| HDMI | Yes (micro-HDMI) |
| Microphone port | Yes |
| Headphone port | Yes |
| Wireless | Built-In |
| Wireless notes | 802.11b/g/n, WPA/WPA2, WPS, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Remote control | Yes (via DMW-RSL1 wired remote) |
| Physical | |
| Environmentally sealed | Yes |
| Battery | Battery Pack |
| Battery description | DMW-BLF19 lithium-ion battery and charger |
| Battery Life (CIPA) | 500 |
| Weight (inc. batteries) | 560 g (1.23 lb / 19.75 oz) |
| Dimensions | 133 x 93 x 84 mm (5.24 x 3.66 x 3.31″) |
| Other features | |
| Orientation sensor | Yes |
| Timelapse recording | Yes |
| GPS | None |
Image Quality: Panasonic GH4
Dynamic range
The GH4's sensor is capable of an impressive amount of dynamic range, especially at low ISO settings. This means it's not uncommon to find plenty of additional tonal information in the shadow region of the image, if you wish to pull it back into the picture. We wouldn't recommend using ISO 100, since it appears to clip the maximum Raw values it can record (reducing dynamic range).Here you can see an ISO 200 shot exposed until the brightest tones are nearly clipped. We've then lifted the shadows and brightened the image to show how much additional information is available. Although this is probably more of a push than you'd want to include in this particular image, it does give an idea of how much processing latitude the GH4's files have.
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| ISO 200, 1/200th seconds, F6.3 Processed in Adobe Camera Raw Exposure: +1.3EV, Highlights -100, Shadows +100, Blacks +62 |
100% crop. This region has experienced around a +4EV push and still shows usable detail (though with luminance noise beginning to appear). |
|---|
This is a very good performance and within around 1/3EV of APS-C rivals. It can't match the a7S (which itself is a little behind the best in class), but it's a considerable step above what was possible just a few years ago. It means, for instance, that you can shoot images such as the one below, where the foreground shadow regions have been lifted and the highlights softened, to give an 'as-remembered' representation of a high-contrast scene (compare with the original JPEG and you'll see the sky hasn't been exaggerated).
Low light image quality
Here we look at the GH4's image quality in extreme low light. Here we compare it to the only other high-end, 4K-capable stills/video hybrid on the market - the Sony ILCE a7S - but it can also be used to assess the camera's IQ in its own right.When it comes to low light, the GH4 simply can't compete with the a7S, but then nor can most other cameras currently on the market. Both cameras have sensors close enough to the state-of-the-art that there's no way the GH4 can make up for the difference in sensor size, which should give the Sony a 2EV advantage, in low light.
The GH4 does pretty well in this situation, producing pretty clean images up to around ISO 3200. Sensitivity setting above this can still be used with application of a touch of noise reduction (not applied in this comparison).
If matched for depth-of-field and shutter speed, you would generally expect the GH4 to be able to match the a7S (since it means stopping the Sony down by 2EV and increasing the ISO by the same amount). However, the a7S's sensor is one of the best low light performers on the market, so you can see it actually out-performs the GH4 by around one stop more than you would generally expect, meaning that the GH4's performance is comparable to the a7S using a sensitivity setting three stops higher.
Overall image quality
At default settings sharpening is a little aggressive, which can present hard-edged detail as jagged edges. Thankfully the range of sharpening offered by the JPEG engine is quite subtle, so you can dial it down just a little, in an attempt to render the detail better and without everything becoming too soft.
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| Default Sharpening | Sharpening -2 |
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The other issue, in shadow regions of low ISO images in particular, is noise reduction. Here we have a comparison between one of the camera's JPEGs (shot in Raw, then processed in-camera to lift the shadow, using iDynamic level 1). As you can see, a lot of the fine detail is lost, but is clearly visible in Adobe Camera Raw conversion (that has also had its shadows lifted, along with a tone-curve adjustment to boost contrast.
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| Raw images re-processed in camera: iDynamic Level 1 | Adobe Camera Raw conversion, Highlights -25, Shadows +67, small tone-curve adjustments. |
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The pleasant JPEGs also mean that the ability to re-process Raw files in-camera is rather useful. Combined with Wi-Fi it allows you to tweak the brightness, contrast and a variety of other settings of your favorite images, if you want to fine-tune them before uploading them to a social network or e-mail them to friends.
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 Samples Gallery
There are 45 images in the preview samples gallery. Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter / magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review), we do so in good faith, please don't abuse it.Unless otherwise noted images taken with no particular settings at full resolution. Because our review images are now hosted on the 'galleries' section of dpreview.com, you can enjoy all of the new galleries functionality when browsing these samples.
Panasonic GH4 samples
