Going 4K for the serious amateur

[newpball]

Times have always been a-changin', some for the better, some for the worse (usually both). The wise man discerns between the 2.

Kid: "Grandpa, what was so great about those 'good old days'?"
Grandpa: "I was young!"

It's true that some broadcast HD channels are an abomination in terms of quality, but there are some good looking ones at low-ish bitrates - just not on systems where everything is transcoded and/or using out of date codecs.

Broadcast engineers are brilliant engineers who always know what they are doing!
You just need to buy a Trinitron to watch it with quality!

[budwzr]

I might shoot some 4K on my GoPro, but otherwise 1080p is perfectly acceptable. 1080 should be on a 20 year lifecycle, but manufacturers are greedy.

[newpball]

Looks like the little 4K buggers are shipping:



$800 smackeroonies and on Adorama it comes with a free Audio-Technica AT8024 Stereo/Mono Camera-Mount Microphone.

A steal if you ask me!

[budwzr]

Too bad Panasonic makes low-end cameras. It ain't no "steal", it's bait for suckers. Better check the specs very carefully.

[newpball]

It is indeed low end but for rock bottom prices!

[racer-x]

Review on the Panasonic G7: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/panasonic-g7/panasonic-g7A.HTM

GH4 vs G7: http://www.imaging-resource.com/cameras/panasonic/gh4/vs/panasonic/g7/

[newpball]

Indianapolis 500 in 4K



http://resourcemagonline.com/2015/06/first-impressions-of-the-new-panasonic-lumix-g7/53854/

[newpball]

Looks like the little 4K buggers are shipping:



$800 smackeroonies and on Adorama it comes with a free Audio-Technica AT8024 Stereo/Mono Camera-Mount Microphone.

A steal if you ask me!

Just ordered the little bugger, too cheap to keep at bay!

[_Al_]

Enjoy it, and do not forget while shooting birthday party of your kid to ask other parents to record something using their iPhones etc.,so you have close ups and keeping continuity, of course using separate audio recorder,as well to edit you final masterpiece

[newpball]

Enjoy it, and do not forget while shooting birthday party of your kid to ask other parents to record something using their iPhones etc.,so you have close ups and keeping continuity, of course using separate audio recorder,as well to edit you final masterpiece

Doesn't make sense, if you want continuity you definitely want to use a cameras of comparable quality. Remember you have to color correct in post to make them look similar!

iPhone videos? No thanks!

[budwzr]

Does $800 include that starter lens? Those camera-mount mics are no good, that's why free.

[_Al_]

So I would give all those parents camcorder that is at least good as I have because we are going to shoot a soccer game? Nobody has camcorder anymore. If someone makes no sense here (or in the other thread), it is not me.

[newpball]

So I would give all those parents camcorder that is at least good as I have because we are going to shoot a soccer game?

Many parents have a DSLR, at least where I live, and you can record video with them. All you need is a good setup and, of course, a tripod.

May I inquire where you are from?

Do you record a lot of videos?

[_Al_]

No, are you Siri, reveal yourself, who wrote your subroutines, it is quite sophisticated, almost human.

[newpball]

Does $800 include that starter lens? Those camera-mount mics are no good, that's why free.

It does, the starter lens is nothing to write home about either but there is a good selection of 4/3 micro lenses, also there is a great second hand market. Personally I prefer primes.

The G7 seems to be a good B camera to be used in conjunction with a GH4.

[budwzr]

The reason I'm NOT planning to shoot 4K is that 1080 already looks great. Probably no one would even notice the difference. Of course, the shooter/edit would notice the difference, but does that translate out into oohs and ahhs for the viewers? Nah.

[newpball]

The reason I'm NOT planning to shoot 4K is that 1080 already looks great. Probably no one would even notice the difference.

I regrettably suspect you will have to facepalm yourself 20 years from now.

[SameSelf]

newpball, good on you for taking the 4K plunge. You won't regret it I am sure. I have been contemplating it for quite some time. The only things holding me back: 1) wanting the technology to mature a little and 2) wanting the price to drop. Contrary to what some of the posters have been saying here, there ARE applications where HD IS NOT good enough.

I am the videographer for my kid's band. It keeps me extraordinarily busy throughout the school year, in shooting, in post, in obsessing over the audio and video, with tight deadlines for delivery to the directors and the web for the parents, and generates hours of multicam FHD footage and separate audio. I am getting ready for my third season of doing this and I am trying to prep for the problems I know I will encounter.

For example, the only way to film the entire length of a football field is to get way up in the press box with a wide angle lens, and even then I still usually only get from 10 yard to 10 yard. The resulting FHD footage is quite lacking in detail of the kids marching down on the field. Plus, the ability to do zoom ins/crops in post is very compromised. How I would LOVE a 4K camcorder that would allow me to get greater detail at wide view or crop to nice 4x FHD zooms when needed. And now, I just learned that the band will be performing in an NFL stadium this fall and I REALLY want to be able to capture that in 4K.

As for the inane comments about other parents with their iPhone, trust me, when I am running around recording at these games, I feel like the one who is slumming compared to all the pro cameras being toted by the football team, broadcast dudes, and other parents in the pressbox and on the sidelines. We are all a bunch of amateurs that take this very seriously. Also, people on the sidelines or the press box don't have any patience for someone trying to video with their iPad. It's a pay-to-play environment. But come with a press pass and a modicum of gear and not only will you get some respect, they might even move over a little to give you some room for a better shot.

[newpball]

As for the inane comments about other parents with their iPhone, trust me, when I am running around recording at these games, I feel like the one who is slumming compared to all the pro cameras being toted by the football team, broadcast dudes, and other parents in the pressbox and on the sidelines. We are all a bunch of amateurs that take this very seriously. Also, people on the sidelines or the press box don't have any patience for someone trying to video with their iPad. It's a pay-to-play environment. But come with a press pass and a modicum of gear and not only will you get some respect, they might even move over a little to give you some room for a better shot.

Thing is all those parents "doing" videos of their kids with iPhones and the likes will have nothing to show 20 years down the road. Chances are the footage will be long gone - "oh yeah that disk crashed 2 years ago" or "that SD card got overwritten by accident or no longer works" - or if it is actually preserved shakes so much and is of such atrocious quality it is virtually unwatchable.



HANDHELD* videos are utter crap.

*HANDHELD - No not shoulder mount or with a steadycam, just the two - or worse - one hand.

[Cornucopia]

Only in the hands of the unpracticed.

[_Al_]

As for the inane comments about other parents with their iPhone

It's the truth they use their phones, and folks using cameras take pictures half of the time. Inane comments are present here a lot, but that one is not.

[newpball]

As for the inane comments about other parents with their iPhone

It's the truth they use their phones, and folks using cameras take pictures half of the time. Inane comments are present here a lot, but that one is not.

Sure that is true many use those iPhones for that, but let's look at your comment directed at me:

Enjoy it, and do not forget while shooting birthday party of your kid to ask other parents to record something using their iPhones etc.,so you have close ups and keeping continuity, of course using separate audio recorder,as well to edit you final masterpiece

[_Al_]

So what?
You know I was a bit saying that because of your reply from other thread. Not that it is not true, but normally I'd have no reason to say things like that.
BTW. Are you the only one here who could be sarcastic and supposedly funny? That is why I brought that robot remark, no sense of for the others are trying to tell you. You know AI would have a problem in this territory.

[newpball]

So what?
You know I was a bit saying that because of your reply from other thread. Not that it is not true, but normally I'd have no reason to say things like that.
BTW. Are you the only one here who could be sarcastic and supposedly funny? That is why I brought that robot remark, no sense of for the others are trying to tell you. You know AI would have a problem in this territory.

Nah!

Besides there are happy robots:

[newpball]

Looks like the little 4K buggers are shipping:



$800 smackeroonies and on Adorama it comes with a free Audio-Technica AT8024 Stereo/Mono Camera-Mount Microphone.

A steal if you ask me!

Here is some test footage for those who are interested:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLun28CN-D-Bp16UgG7cJqJ90b8kUpmfcL

[glenpinn]

Who cares about watching a 10Mbps sample video from Youtube, i wanna see the real thing, as it comes off the card inside the camera.

[newpball]

Who cares about watching a 10Mbps sample video from Youtube, i wanna see the real thing, as it comes off the card inside the camera.

Then buy the camera!

[glenpinn]

Then buy the camera!

LOL you got to be kidding, never shoot video using a camera like that, bad enough with a GH4.

I am a traditionalist, only use a video camcorder, and i will never shoot any video unless it shoots 50p, and the camera has built in image stabilization.

My son has a Sony A7S and it is awesome (killer in low light) but i would only use it while attached to a tripod, on my hand held rig it is useless.

Regarding a move to 4k camera, there are several nice cams out there, but not many do 4k at 50p without a hefty price tag.

[Jamaika]

As you noted, 400Mbps is too high for "UHD BD v2" optical disc for sure. But as an output from some camera, it's also too high for realtime writing to all current USB flash drives, all current SDcards & MM cards, all Compact Flash cards, etc. In fact it is only able to be captured by CFast, SxS or other similar expensive solid-state media.

I don't understand this statement. What is the current max. data transmission to read and write memory cards?
In my SD card support 250MBps = 2000Mbps.
http://www.sandisk.com/products/memory-cards/sd/extremepro-sdxc-sdhc-uhs-ii/

[racer-x]

Who cares about watching a 10Mbps sample video from Youtube, i wanna see the real thing, as it comes off the card inside the camera.

There is some camera source 4K footage here at the bottom of this page: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/panasonic-g7/panasonic-g7-shooters-report-part-i.htm