My first 4K video: Reporter on the Run
I’ve been shooting video with Panasonic GH2’s and GH3’s for the last three years. I love the sharpness of these Panasonic micro 4/3rds cameras over Canon DSLRs and was super excited when the new Panasonic GH4 was announced with 4K video mode.
4K video is quadruple the resolution of HD. 3840×2160 vs 1920×1080.
Sure most people can’t even watch 4K video, including myself. I don’t have a 4K monitor or TV.
But 4K is the future and there are several benefits to shooting 4K now.
The most noticeable difference is that when you scale 4K video down to HD, the video is much much sharper than if you just shot in HD.
Also, since more image and colour data is captured, you can colour grade and push the exposure and colour of your video more than if you just shoot in HD.
The final advantage which I didn’t appreciate until I started editing is the ability to crop, re-frame, zoom, and move around your video. Basically you can now do the ken burns effect on your video!
This is amazing for doing simple things like zooming into a video or panning left or right inside a video.
It’s opened a whole new world of creative possibilities.
One last little thing I love about the GH4 is that it shoots HD video at 96 frames per second which allows some awesome slow motion. The quality at 96 fps is no where close to as good as 4K video at 30fps but it comes in very handy.
Here is the first video I shot and published with my new Panasonic GH4.
It’s been uploaded into YouTube at 4K. But is probably a 50/50 mix of 4K footage and HD slow motion footage.
I used the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 lens, Canon 24mm f1.4L and Canon 50mm f1.2L lenses.
Journal reporter Otiena Ellwand is training to run in the Edmonton Marathon on August 24, 2014. She will be blogging about her progress and the tips and tricks she learns along the way at http://www.edmontonjournal.com/reporterontherun
Recording the standup with Otiena. I just used a simple reflector to fill in the shadows on her face.
Mounting the GH4 on the side of my vehicle for the running shots. I wouldn’t trust this at high speed but it was fine for driving at running speed.
