By technical editor Matt Allard:
Panasonic today announced V2.2 firmware for the GH4. Features include the ability to use a 2x Anamorphic lens to create a cinemascope aspect such as 2.39:1 or 2.35:1. Panasonic have said that many cinematographers had been experimenting with the 4K PHOTO mode (which has a 4:3 aspect ratio) and this has lead them to include the anamorphic options in the new firmware, expected to be available later this month.
Interestingly enough there is no mention of the V-log profile being included in V2.2. Newsshooter showed the V-log running on a GH4 at Interbee in Japan last December.
Newsshooter InterBee 2014- GH4 Beta Firmware Sneek Peak from Matthew Allard ACS on Vimeo.
Features include:
4×3 aspect ratio capturing function, but capturing at @ 3328×2496
With a 2x anamorphic lens you get a 2.66:1 aspect ratio with shallow DOF
10-bit mode disables internal recording but outputs 2880×2160 4:3 image to a monitor in 10-bit 422
Releasing late April
This from Panasonic:
Las Vegas, NV (April 13, 2015) – Panasonic announced the release of a much anticipated firmware update Ver.2.2 for the award winning LUMIX GH4. This new firmware enables two new features, most notably the ability to record anamorphic video content.
Anamorphic lenses are used to create a cinemascope aspect such as 2.39:1 or 2.35:1. Panasonic discovered that cinematographers had been experimenting with the 4K PHOTO mode 4:3 aspect ratio in the LUMIX GH4 and vintage anamorphic cine lenses to achieve the classic Hollywood look of anamorphic film capture. Unlike complex digital post processing needed to achieve the look, many of the background distortion and light flare effects that became so popular with anamorphic film capture can now be achieved optically in the LUMIX GH4.
Thanks in part to its Micro Four Thirds format and 4K recording ability, firmware Ver.2.2 for the LUMIX GH4 enables an Anamorphic (4:3) Mode capable of recording video in 3328 x 2496 pixel (equivalent to approx. 8.3-megapixel) resolution at a frame rate of either 23.98, 24, 25 or 29.97 fps. With an anamorphic lens such as 2x*1 you can capture and un-squeeze a 3356×2496 image in post-production. In addition, 4:2:2 / 10 bit HDMI output is also available*2.
A further enhancement of the new firmware is the addition of a very high shutter speed of 1/16,000 sec. when using its electronic shutter mode.
