Panasonic Unveils the Long-Rumored GH4, a 4K-Capable Micro Four Thirds Beast

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After months of rumors, spec and image leaks — including a full press text leak… yikes — Panasonic has is finally launching the much-talked-about GH4: a Micro Four Thirds shooter with 4K video capability that the company is calling the “ultimate photo/video hybrid Digital Single Lens Mirrorless(DSLM) camera.”

Teased last month at CES, the GH4 is Panasonic’s followup to the video-centric GH3 (which, incidentally, will stay on the market). But where the GH3 can only shoot 1080p video, the new GH4 makes headlines for its 4K capability — both 3,840 x 2,160 “Quad HD” and a 4,096 x 2,160 “cinema 4K” at 24 frames per second with a 100 Mbps bit rate.

Plus, announced alongside the GH4 is a behemoth of a companion pro audio/video interface that screams “amateurs need not apply.”

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Of course, that doesn’t mean this isn’t a powerful stills camera (or else, we wouldn’t be writing about it). Inside is an all new 16-megapixel CMOS Micro Four Thirds sensor, a quad-core CPU, a 2.36M-dot OLED EVF, 3-inch 1.04M-dot OLED tiltable display, an ISO range of 200-25,600 and SDXC UHS Class 3 compatibility.

Panasonic is also keen to mention that this camera can focus in just 0.07 seconds, shoot continuously at 12 fps (or 7 fps with AF tracking) and boasts a shutter rated for some 200,000 actuations.

On the video front, there is a lot of incredibly technical bit-rate and chroma subsampling talk and, honestly, we’re photo people so we’ll let you check that out for yourself here. Suffice it to say professional videographers will find this camera to be quite capable.

For now, the only details Panasonic is keeping to itself is pricing and availability. But while we have no idea when the camera will hit stores, we do know that the company promised a price tag under $2,000. To learn more or sign up to get a notification when the camera (body only), camera and interface, or just the interface are finally in stock and ready for pre-order, head over to B&H Photo by following the corresponding links.

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