One thought on “Panasonic DMC-GH4-YAGH Lumix DMC-GH4 4K Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera & DMW-YAGH 4K Video Interface Compact System (Black)”

1. 21 of 24 people found the following review helpful

   
   With the right peripherals, this unit shines… except for the rolling shutter flicker…, October 9, 2014

   By 

   hiscifi (CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US) –

   This review is from: Panasonic DMC-GH4-YAGH Lumix DMC-GH4 4K Micro Four Thirds Digital Camera & DMW-YAGH 4K Video Interface Compact System (Black) (Electronics)

   !!!The YAGH interface does not ship with a 12v power cord that it needs to operate!!!!! That is an extra accessory!!!???

   Initial Review 10/8/14 after 1 week of shooting and learning this camera.
   The number of stars reflects an AVERAGE when combining the rating for camera and YAHG interface bundled together.
   Updated review as usage progresses.

   Camera body: 5 stars
   Yagh interface: 2 stars… no, 1… for now…

   My foray into digital shooting was with the very first 4/3 system in 2005, the Olympus E1. Before that I was a career photographer working with the Contax 35mm and 2×2 system with Zeiss glass. I really liked the olympus digital glass, but felt limited with the 4/3 format. It was really… digital looking at 400 ISO. Then, I grabbed the first generation 5D and my mind was blown with what digital could do. I was a Canon convert ever since, and when I transitioned to motion pictures, the 5DmkII and 7D were in my bag. They are great cameras that I invested heavily in with cages and peripherals.
   But something happened when I began to realize that the commercial digital pipeline was far more demanding than a fragile, low megabit H.264 codec prone to pixel binning, moire and 4:2:0 ungradeable color space. I needed more and was beginning to assume that clean HDMI out (let alone SDI), along with other pro features were in the $6-$13,000 range…

   Then came the GH4 with all of its promised features and, after ALOT of thought, invested in this new system with a (finally introduced to the market 8/14) Metabones EOS-M4/3 Speedbooster along with my older Zeiss primes and new Tokina 11-16 f2.8 and Sigma 18-35 f1.8 zoom. I couldn’t be happier with the camera and its array of features that every website on the planet will list off, so you don’t need to hear them here again.

   I will STRONGLY recommend spending $20 and buying the EOSHD Panasonic GH4 Shooter’s Guide by Andrew Reid because the learning curve for this camera is astounding. This ain’t a camera you’re going to buy and shoot with the next day, especially if you’re new to Panasonic, and ESPECIALLY if you’re a Canon shooter. The equivalent example is being raised in a Chevy with a radio and then thrown into a Saab or Volkswagen and asked to quickly play a song off your ipod via bluetooth. The Panasonic manual will tell you where all the options are in the menus, but the shooter’s guide will explain them all… and there are an incredible amount of settings that will shape your footage to be deliverable right from camera, or graded in post with a 10 stop latitude.

   The options alone have democratized industrial 1080 and 4k footage for the masses. The footage looks great…
   !!!EXCEPT FOR THE PANNING FLICKER THAT ROLLING SHUTTER CREATES!!!!!!
   If you shoot exclusively in 4K with this thing like I do, you’ll notice incredible detail and a pretty solid baked-in filmic look on all of your ;lock-downs. Then, when you eventually pan the camera, you’ll notice a slight flicker of all detail lines within your frame composition. It’s very slight in the vast scheme of things, but the more you shoot, the more you’ll notice it. It’s at the point now where we all know exactly which camera footage was shot with based on the flicker. YES, rolling shutter is much cheaper to incorporate in a a camera than a global shutter which captures smooth, organic motion, and YES, all r-shutter cameras have this, but for a m4/3 sensor, the flicker shouldn’t be as pronounced as cameras with larger sensors, and the Canon 5D’s r-shutter has FAR LESS flicker than the GH4. This camera is bursting at the seems with options – I’d have sacrificed a few just to get motion capture right…

   The YAGH interface, which needs a 12v power cord to operate… doesn’t come with one. To use this product, you have to buy a power cord separately, thus the infuriatingly low score, which brings down the overall rating of this bundle.
   At this point, I’m going to invest in an Anton Bauer battery so I can run-and-gun this thing like the dream I’ve always had. Once that’s done, I will re-rate the interface .

   UPDATED REVIEW FOR YAGH: 11/15/14 YAGH 4 STARS so far.

   After my initial fit over the YAGH not shipping with power I researched available power options for run-and-gun. Here’s the best and surprisingly cheapest option on the market: INDIPRO makes a compact battery module that will take a variety of batteries including Canon LP-E6 type for the 5D/7D camera. 2 batteries snap into the module which has a clamp specifically for 15mm rails (follow focus, etc) to attach to your rig and run power to the DC-IN 4 pin on the YAGH. This setup, which essentially gives your camera the same footprint as a Canon C-Series camera is a dream come true. We tested the unit at a constant record ON for an hour and the battery indicator didn’t flinch. Cost of battery power – well under…

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