Panasonic LX100 - 4K Video M43 Compact

[Jack Zhang]

When Sony supports UHS-III, that's when they'll support bitrates of 150mbps for 60p. They're grossly underestimating the write speeds of SDXC just to be safe, and considering the huge variance of write speed between brands, you can see why they made a lower write speed.

I'm actually surprised the X70 doesn't support XQD. The X70 is either getting a UHS-III upgrade or a XQD upgrade for it's 4K upgrade later on.

[Lawrence Bansbach]

Originally Posted by Jack Zhang

I'm actually surprised the X70 doesn't support XQD. The X70 is either getting a UHS-III upgrade or a XQD upgrade for it's 4K upgrade later on.

I'm not sure I agree with this. As far as I know, Sony hasn't published the specs for 4K XAVC-L (or whether the 4K upgrade will even be XAVC-L and not XAVC-S), so it's unknown what the data rate will be. It may require an UHS-III or XQD upgrade, but I'm thinking the 4K upgrade will be a paid firmware upgrade -- essentially a profitable, no-cost upgrade for Sony.

[Mark Rosenzweig]

My take: It's a pocketable (jacket pocket) GH4 at less than a third of the cost (comparison: GH4 with Leica f2.8 12-35mm (24-70mm) lens).

And you gain: better low-light performance (f1.7 versus f2.8 at the wide end), an amazing macro mode (focus to 2cm), a power zoom, and, I think based on preliminary tests by me, better OIS.

What you lose: no mic input, no touch screen, no CINE-D, bulk.

Here is a test video I made, to check if there was no dust on the sensor, that cheap third-part batteries worked, and the OIS. These are worst-case scenarios for OIS - close-ups at full telephoto. Shot in Standard picture style with NR at -1 and an .8 ND filter:

Panasonic LX100 4K Test Video: Late Fall Close-Up Foliage in Miserable Weather on Vimeo

[Aldo Erdic]

Are these are handheld shots? They look pretty good for a small camera like that.

I'm also wondering about the 15 minute recording limit. When the limit is reached, can you simply press the record button again and continue going on, missing only a few seconds between the two shots?

[Mark Rosenzweig]

Originally Posted by Aldo Erdic

Are these are handheld shots? They look pretty good for a small camera like that.

I'm also wondering about the 15 minute recording limit. When the limit is reached, can you simply press the record button again and continue going on, missing only a few seconds between the two shots?

Yes, handheld. Yes, just press again.

[Noa Put]

Mark, I believe you are the only person here that has more camera's then I do :D I have seen that you have some gh4 videos on vimeo as well, how would you compare the low light performance of this camera at it's highest iso to the gh4, if I understood right the highest iso for video is 6400, is it's noise at that iso comparable with the gh4?

[Mark Rosenzweig]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

Mark, I believe you are the only person here that has more camera's then I do :D I have seen that you have some gh4 videos on vimeo as well, how would you compare the low light performance of this camera at it's highest iso to the gh4, if I understood right the highest iso for video is 6400, is it's noise at that iso comparable with the gh4?

Unfortunately, no more videos for at least a week as I am traveling.

[Peer Landa]

Originally Posted by Andy Wilkinson

Reminds me of the pain it was shooting interviews with my Canon 7D a few years ago...needing to restart the recording every 12 (or so) minutes really disrupts the flow of interviews. [...] Wonder if the more upmarket Leica badged variant of this cam, the Leica-D-Lux (which will come with different firmware) will also have this limit?

Yep, seems like the Leica version will record "up to 29 minutes."

-- peer

[Tim Polster]

So we are back to record time limitations? I know this is an issue for EU cameras but for the US market some cameras have the limitation and some do not. Why not just stick all being able to record continuously? My LX7 can record continuously in 720p60 mode. This is the previous generation camera.

And about the extra tax, why not let the consumers decide if they want to pay the extra tax and offer continuous recording as an option? Video on these cameras is no longer an extra gimmick.

I need to be able to set these cameras recording in a fixed position until the card fills up to justify buying them for work. With the time limitation, no purchase from me.

[Fran Guidry]

Some discussions have suggested that the short shot length in 4K is related to sensor heat and the cooling limitations inherent in the compact body.

Fran

[Tim Polster]

BTW Mark, that is a sick level of detail for a $900 pocket camera. Very nice images! This industry is just upside down right now.

[Mark Rosenzweig]

Panasonic LX100 4K Video: Bonn in Miserable Weather on Vimeo

[Noa Put]

You are shooting this about 1,5 hour drive from my place :)

How do you like you lx100? Is it "pocketable" enough? The images coming out of it look very impressive.

[Ken Ross]

This really is some very nice imagery. Based on what I've seen thus far, I actually like it better than the GH4.

[Noa Put]

It should look the same as both share the same sensor, the same profiles and use the same codec, mainly the lens is different. Also Marc's video was shot on a cloudy day, everything looks better when it's cloudy since the camera doesn't have to deal with high contrasts.