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Panasonic made you wait almost a year for V-Log on the GH4. Want it now? Here’s how.

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Spreading like a virus across the interwebs (e.g., here and here), evidently Panasonic is letting you activate V-Log on your GH4 now, following these extremely simple steps:

  • Download firmware version 2.3, unpack the .bin file onto an SD card’s root, and press play on your GH4 to start the update (careful: more detail here)
  • Get Panasonic’s Image App from the Google Play store or iTunes Store
  • With your GH4 in Movie mode, open the tablet/smartphone app and connect to your GH4 via Wi-Fi/NFC
  • Go to “Remote operation” where you can select “Q.MENU”
  • Under the “Photo Style” option you can select “V-Log L,” which updates in the camera
  • Now on the GH4 itself, save this configuration as a custom profile
  • (You won’t need to go back to the Image App anymore. Your new profile is available whenever you turn on the camera, in Movie mode, going forward.)

Thanks to Mishel Plaku, who sent this information and the associated pictures to me via the GH4 User Group. If Panasonic didn’t intend for this to happen, you can expect an app update and/or associated firmware update soon. So, it would be prudent for you to double-check your Android or iOS settings, which can disable automatic updates. Also, keep a copy of that version 2.3 firmware you downloaded, dated September 10, just in case Panasonic changes their mind.

It’s been almost a year since V-Log was shown working on the GH4. Panasonic hasn’t given any explanation why they locked it away all this time, even while the rest of the industry flew past them, respecting widespread customer demand to shoot in film color space. (Even the Sony RX100 IV purse-cam has got log.) At first there were rumors of V-Log having a licensing problem vis-à-vis Panasonic’s VariCam division, but mum’s the word. Panasonic also never clarified whether there were any changes to the profile since then, resulting in just a name change to V-Log L. At most, there has been the suggestion that it took a very long time for Panasonic to figure out how to circulate the upgrade, as a securely paid feature, shipping environmentally un-friendly retail boxes with a code on paper that could have been delivered over the Internet like countless other hardware licenses. And here we are today, with an incredibly ironic conclusion.

Personally, I’m still buying it, but I’m glad that I get to try it out “early.” (UPDATE: Here is Panasonic’s official response with firmware update version 2.4.)

Note that for a quick conversion from film V-Log L to video Rec. 709 color, Panasonic has all along offered this free downloadable pack of LUTs for you to use, in DaVinci Resolve (.cube) and other formats. For example, you could load it into Premiere using Lumetri, or load it onto an Atomos Shogun for accurate monitoring/recording. For now, I plan to use FilmConvert‘s ARRI Log profile (coupon code FOCUSPULLING for 10% off) until they release their official free V-Log L profile, which will take a very long time as always.

For updates and community sharing, JOIN the Vimeo User Group, WATCH this video on how to add your clips, LIKE the Facebook page and/or FOLLOW the Twitter feed @GH4users. Looking forward to seeing your work with V-Log L!

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Rigging the Panasonic GH3/GH4: D|Cage, G-Cup, Atomos Power Station, Tascam DR-70D, RØDE Mics, Zacuto Handle, Lenses, Mounts & more

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Over a year ago, when the Panasonic Lumix GH4 arrived, I broke it in by filming and editing the first professionally shot independent short film, in its first week. Not the newest thing now, the GH4 still is the only meaningful option for capturing 4K video internally without a big rig, costing under a couple grand. But it’s always needed a bit of rigging, and while filmmakers keep using it to make amazing films, there’s still a lot to talk about, in terms of rigging it up right. Following up the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera rigging guide I made last year that went sort of viral, here’s a similar chat: because sometimes, showing stuff and talking over it works better than writing an article. For a streaming clip (embedded above for playback, or on YouTube), it does run long, but it covers lots of ground — and I’m looking forward to reading your comments below.

Don’t forget, the world’s biggest GH4 User Group is spanned across Vimeo, Facebook and Twitter, all connected together here at FocusPulling.com. Thanks for continuing to share your work with the community.

Camera User Groups, FocusPulling Original, FocusPulling Original Video, Panasonic GH3, Panasonic GH4 Leave a Comment

Sony Teases New FS-Series Professional Camcorder

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MissingPiece

Sony Professional USA and Europe have begun teasing the launch of a new FS-series camcorder, creating the hashtag #MissingPiece to suggest that something’s coming to their line-up between the NEX-FS700 and PXW-FS7, as seen in their meme above. It wasn’t a sure clue, but leading up to that, their big price break on the FS700 was timed to match. The continued value of that workhorse raises some interesting issues about what this missing piece should be after all. (I leave it to that Dutch panhandling rumor site, which shall remain nameless, to speculate…and then beg for clicks to pay for dinner as always.)

Click here to register directly with Sony for an update on the launchSerious filmmakers are still making use of the NEX-FS700 with great results. It added the in-body ND filters that Sony had claimed were impossible on the NEX-FS100, and its purpose-built Super 35mm sensor has big photosites for low-light sensitivity rivaled only by their a7S that’s arguably not a viable option for many professional applications (basically, the a7’s have the form factor of a point-and-shoot purse cam). My line in the sand, for example, is balanced XLR audio inputs: anything without that is in B-camera territory! The AVCHD internal codec’s not great, though, recording 8-bit 4:2:0 color at a low bitrate that grades poorly. It’s basically the same as the FS100, which remains my sentimental favorite, still a central part of my kit. So the first thing we could expect from the #MissingPiece is XAVC.

But we’ve got that in the PXW-FS7, upgraded to 4K internal recording at 10-bit 4:2:2 color, with a better form factor for shoulder-mounted shooting. At $8,000 USD, though, it’s pretty cost-prohibitive to a certain kind of shooter who’s not writing off expenses, or renting, or sending their bill up to deeper pockets. And it’s getting “old” in this light-speed tech niche.

It also doesn’t have a full-frame sensor. And that’s where I’m going with this: there’s no disputing by now that the a7R II is a full-frame 4K wonder (despite its form factor), but it has a massive product defect: it overheats. (More on that soon here, as I’ve been shooting with it for a few weeks.) All eyes are on the dream of a video-focused a7S II, but the chip fabrication evolution that’s necessary for heat reduction, within the original a7S form factor, is probably a product cycle or two away (kind of like the tick-tock of Intel microprocessor development). Bottom line, the only way to get that ideal real-world combination of shooting features without overheating — in-body image stabilization while actually moving around (not just shooting a locked-down static shot of a potted cactus), plus heavy number crunching for XAVC 4K compression on actual kinetic footage — Sony needs a bigger form factor with proper heat management for full-frame 4K. Their CineAlta line doesn’t have it yet, but will the FS line get it first? If Sony plays things right, that’s the #MissingPiece. We’ll find out in exactly one week.

FocusPulling Original, Sony NEX-FS100, Sony NEX-FS700, Sony PXW-FS7 , , Leave a Comment
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