Blackmagic 4k

 

It looks like BlackMagic is dropping the price of it’s 4k production camera to $2995, coming down $1000 from earlier pricing. There has been a lot of speculation about the possible price of the new Panasonic GH4 (which will also be 4k capable) settling in at around the $2000 price point. While the BlackMagic 4k production camera offers up a raw video workflow alongside Blackmagic’s colorista color grading software, the SSD recording method, poor low light performance, form factor, and design make the BlackMagic 4k production camera a bit cumbersome to use.

Panasonic GH4k

 

On the other hand the very sexy Panasonic GH4 fits into a DSLR form factor while offering up a massive amount of features. It’s as though Panasonic actually listened to it’s customers, then built a camera that checks off almost everything on the list.

  • 4k recording at both Cinema 4K: 4096×2160 / 24 fps, and QFHD 4K: 3840×2160 / 30 fps
  • Wi-Fi remote photo and video monitoring and camera controls
  • Focus peaking
  • 40 FPS RAW burst mode
  • Multiple video codecs MOV, MP4, and AVCHD
  • 200 Mbps data rates
  • Improved low light performance
  • In camera 4k playback
  • 8 bit or 10 bit Clean 4:2:2 hdmi output

The list of features is actually much longer than that and you can find a whole run down on Amazon’s pre-order page. Although the GH4 doesn’t record raw, it still looks to be a much more attractive option than the BlackMagic 4k production camera. If the speculated $2000 price tag is correct, the GH4 is going to be a very popular camera.

I’ve looked at other Micro 4/3 cameras in the past, but the GH4 is the first one I would consider buying. For the price this camera looks amazing. Hopefully Panasonic will have a demo model out on the floor at NAB, i would love to get my hands on this thing.

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