Someone posted this on a chinese gh4 forum.
I've already done it and it works. :)
Download the free firmware 2.3, install in camera, use the smartphone image app to change to V-Log-L.

Once you select VLOG via image app, save it to a custom setting so you wont be doing this via the app everytime. The Vlog option disappears if you change the profile via camera menu.

I think you just put yourself on panasonics hit list, run while you still can. :)

Super simple. I was on the fence about paying $100 for it. With the fence taken down, it's an easy line to cross.

Someone posted this on a chinese gh4 forum.
I've already done it and it works. :)
Download the free firmware 2.3, install in camera, use the smartphone image app to change to V-Log-L.


Could you go through the steps of what to do in the most simple terms for us least sophisticated computer people?

Could you go through the steps of what to do in the most simple terms for us least sophisticated computer people?

Download and install the 2.3 firmware.
Start the WiFi on the GH4.
Install the Panasonic Image App on your smartphone or tablet.
Connect your smartphone or tablet to the GH4's WiFi access point.
Launch the Panasonic Image App while your camera is set to Movie Mode.
Use the Remote Control feature to access the picture profiles and set it to VLog L.
On your camera, bring up the Custom Profile screen and select Disp.Save and save it to your Custom slot.

Yes I got it to work!! THANKS

But why will it only allow me to shoot at 400 ISO? And there seems to be a LOT of noise on it... Im just letting the camera point at a blank black screen and tons of noise pixels are popping up randomly.

But why will it only allow me to shoot at 400 ISO?

It doesn't only allow you to shoot at 400 ISO, it simply will not go under 400 ISO. That's the base sensitivity of the GH4. If you go lower, you are in negative gain and it kills the dynamic range of the sensor.

And there seems to be a LOT of noise on it... Im just letting the camera point at a blank black screen and tons of noise pixels are popping up randomly.

It will be noisy, especially if not properly exposed. Pointing the camera at a black screen is underexposing the entire sensor, and will lead to noise just as much as raising the ISO to insane levels.

Yeah I meant lowest was 400 ISO. And yeah it's REAL noisy. Reminds me of my old Mini35 when I had the JVC-100.

Regarding just pointing the camera at a black screen. I did it by mistake and just noticed all the random flicker of noise pixels..

In VlogL try to test from 1250 and 1600 iso. I seem to get better noise handling at those. Especially the 1600.
There must be a reason why the sony A7xx cameras only do log at very high iso's and noise must be one of it.

I'm basing observation this from a test on a high contrast scene of a model indoors by a window, balancing exposure with sky and shadows indoors.

I think you may be right.. I just shot something at 1600 iso and it seems much better, but then again, if you like the film grain look, and In do to some extent, the 400 iso is fine.

According to Barry Green Vlog L maxes at 79 IRE. Middle grey is about 42 IRE. So if one uses zebras set them to clip at 80%.

Yeah because I don't see any zebras anymore... but it still has everything captured in very safe range at about 25-80. I boosted everything and it still was at range from it basically captures everything and still SUPER flexible in post...

It seems even better and noise free at 2000 ISO. But I would need to do a better test.

Freaking amazing!!

well... that's certainly an interesting legit loophole. im sure the window is narrow before panny gets wind and fixes it. probably a good idea not to use the app once they do :)

The loophole is on the Image App, to prevent it from updating to a "fixed" version, go to your app settings and turn OFF Auto update. If on an android, thats the playstore>settings.

There is already a 2.4 firmware update: "Improved V-Log L setting issue of firmware Ver.2.3"

Scared to update to 2.4 as they might have also fixed this loophole. Anyone else installed it?

There is already a 2.4 firmware update: "Improved V-Log L setting issue of firmware Ver.2.3"

Panasonic could have taken the high road, but they didn't, and instead decided to lied by implication that the zebras and histograms are messed up by using the Image App loophole (they aren't) and now by calling this "Improved" Vog L setting. This update is solely to close that Image App loophole. And who knows if they fouled something else up in doing that? I wouldn't update.

And, gee, thanks Panasonic for being insulting.

shame. shame. shame. (game of thrones fans will know).

so does anyone still have the v2.3 bin file and are willing to share it? pretty please?

edit: found it, here you go - https://www.dropbox.com/s/cswiu3a7bpzw6vg/GH4__V23.bin?dl=0

EDIT2: i did the update and it works! my question is, what LUT do we need to apply to this footage?

Re the new firmware :)

EDIT2: i did the update and it works! my question is, what LUT do we need to apply to this footage?

Gh4 VlogL was intended to be a close match to the varicam 35 vlog so Panasonic's LUT for the Varicam can be used for the gh4.
The Varicam Vlog log to rec709 LUT is a good starting point, though it leans to the red a bit so a slight mid tones correction on a 3 way corrector should correct it to your taste.

On resolve, using the ARRI LUT also gave a pleasing starting point, it leads to the slight green/warm side, again a slight correction would fix.

Here is a link to download the Varicam log to rec709 LUT.
DOWNLOADS | VARICAM 35 | VARICAM | Panasonic (http://pro-av.panasonic.net/jp/varicam/35/dl.html)

..

I am surprised at the number of people who would revel in the act of stealing software and then call the owner dirty names for closing loop hole. Panasonic has the right to sell this update and you have the right not to buy it. Panasonic could have just waited to add this to the GH5 and charged $2000.00 for the "update". Grow up.

I am surprised at the number of people who would revel in the act of stealing software

Except it's not stealing, it's using it as it was released.

and then call the owner dirty names for closing loop hole.

Someone called Panasonic a dirty name? What post was that?

Panasonic has the right to sell this update

They do.

and you have the right not to buy it.

We do.

Panasonic could have just waited to add this to the GH5 and charged $2000.00 for the "update".

And they will.

Grow up.

Not applicable, and thanks for being insulting too.

Gh4 VlogL was intended to be a close match to the varicam 35 vlog so Panasonic's LUT for the Varicam can be used for the gh4.

Thanks Ted, I got it. If only it weren't dark outside already, to see that improved dynamic range in action...

I am surprised at the number of people who would revel in the act of stealing software and then call the owner dirty names for closing loop hole. Panasonic has the right to sell this update and you have the right not to buy it. Panasonic could have just waited to add this to the GH5 and charged $2000.00 for the "update". Grow up.

Frank, with the risk of diving into the supernatural here, my opinion is that whenever something like this happens, that's how it was meant to happen. Meaning Panasonic's decision alone to charge money for this upgrade does NOT mean that they deserve money for it. From a Divine point of view. For atheists, let's just say it's the Universe not agreeing with Panasonic's decision of asking money, hence the loophole.

To give you a more comparable example, we as videographers may charge whatever we wish, whatever we consider "right" for us. If that amount is larger than what the Universe considers we deserve, stuff might happen. We might drop a lens on the floor and cause damage, maybe a possible client decides to go with someone else instead of us on a future project and we lose money that way, maybe the GH3 breaks down during a routine firmware update and we need to send it in for a repair [me]... the possibilities are endless. I know it may sound like a poor and bogus excuse, but over the years I have seen countless examples of this happen.

You can of course call it nothing more than a coincidence, that Panasonic just goofed up a little and overlooked that activation bypass and that we all make mistakes and that they still deserve to get paid for it. But, as Gary said, there is nothing illegal about what we're doing here, everything we've used to make it work we obtained from Panasonic directly.

And by the way, I'm sure a lot of GH4 users either have already bought the upgrade kit or will do so in the future. I have no doubts about that. But hey, some people who are more informed and active on forums deserve a break every now and then. Especially we Eastern Europeans who charge 350 Euros for a wedding.

An honest person would have contacted Panasonic about their oversight before broadcasting to the world that the upgrade is"free".

An honest person would have contacted Panasonic about their oversight before broadcasting to the world that the upgrade is"free".

Has nothing to do with being an honest person, or a dishonest person, and it's not cool for you to try to paint your fellow board members in that light over something like this. That seems both petty and judgemental, and I think that says more about you than anyone else.

I am surprised at the number of people who would revel in the act of stealing software

Eventhough it was not intended, Panasonic made it available for everyone to activate and use, nobody stole anything from them, it was their mistake.
I have installed v-log now, for free, only because I want to see what the fuzz is about, log footage is just not for me but now at least I get the chance to play with it for a while without wasting my money until I probably get so frustrated because I don't know how to use and colorcorrect it properly, it will be removed from my camera when Panasonic releases a real firmware update where they don't need to lie about it's contents as it is obvious right now that the "improved firmware" is only to close the loophole and they would have been better off just saying it as it is.

Sure, Panasonic made a mistake, and because they are a big impersonal corporation it is easy to treat them with disregard - but what if it was a close friend of yours? How would you explain doing something that is obviously completely against their wishes?

I would hope, at the very least, that those of you who have installed v-log without paying for it will, after you have "played" with it, either pay for it or stop using it.

I very much doubt this will happen however. Such is the modern age of the great self-serving internet...

Sure, Panasonic made a mistake, and because they are a big impersonal corporation it is easy to treat them with disregard - but what if it was a close friend of yours?

That's simply a terrible analogy. Do you send Panasonic a Christmas card? Do you call Panasonic on its birthday? What if it was a close friend of yours?

See? Silly.

I very much doubt this will happen however. Such is the modern age of the great self-serving internet...

Oh please, then go be self-righteous somewhere else.

Your reply is totally predictable.

There is no way you are going to change your mind. But clearly you also don't respect other people's opinions. Instead you call me names and tell me to go away.

So now we know what kind of guy you are don't we? Maybe not the best guy to take moral advice from.

There is no way you are going to change your mind. But clearly you also don't respect other people's opinions. Instead you call me names and tell me to go away.

Where did Ted ask for people's opinions on whether or not this loophole was morally right or wrong? Newsflash, Mark, he didn't. This thread is simply about the fact that Panasonic left a glaring hole open in their months-long attempt to lock out a feature in the GH4 firmware, a laughable mistake.

Then you decided to waltz on into this thread and tell everyone what you thought of those who decided to try the loophole out in order to make yourself feel superior to what you must consider are a bunch of "dishonest cretins" in here. And it's not appreciated.

So now we know what kind of guy you are don't we? Maybe not the best guy to take moral advice from.

See? You're being a huge jerk. If you don't want to take advantage of a loophole, don't take advantage of it. And keep your opinions to yourself, thanks. I don't see this at all as being morally questionable, and I don't appreciate you trying to make some snide remark about what my character is based on this incredibly asinine barometer. You're just being completely full of it.

Frankly, I don't trust people who spout stuff like you have been to actually treat others fairly in business. Somehow, they always manage to find a way to make screwing over another person directly the "moral high ground" in their minds and I make it a habit to single them out and avoid them.

Another option aside from the Varicam Vlog_to_rec709 LUT and Resolve's ARRI log_to_rec709 LUT is this one from Art Adams of Pro video Coalition.

Pro Video Coalition - LUTCalc: Trials, errors, and a full-range LC709A LUT by Art Adams (http://www.provideocoalition.com/lutcalc-trials-and-errors-plus-a-free-lut)

Use the AA709A LUT.

Some testers claim its better in minimizing the magenta blockiness.

See Gary, more name calling, more shut up, go away, keep your opinions to yourself, etc.

Same treatment you dished out to Frank Grygier.

Other people are reading this you know?

I would hope, at the very least, that those of you who have installed v-log without paying for it will, after you have "played" with it, either pay for it or stop using it.

I wish panasonic would have given the possibility to try v-log, with a watermark or something like that, so you could make a better decision before buying it. If panasonic would bring out a firmwareupdate tomorrow that would add some very useful features and if that would mean me loosing v-log that would be no issue for me no matter if I want or don't want to continue to use v-log, if I find v-log to be valuable for my workflow I gladly would pay 99dollar to get it again. But since panasonic decided to treat us like idiots by trying to mislead us that the 2.3 v-log might not work as advertised and that the 2.4 is an improved version I have no desire removing v-log right now, after all, that is not the kind of behavior I expect from a friend.

It only cost $99. Mine was shipped and should arrive today,! I also received an email apology from Panasonic stating that the Vlog L workaround would be disabled with version 2.4, future upgrades and warranty service. IMO, why sacrifice the long term integrity of your camera to save a measly $99.


Professional integrity applies on several levels here.

What's wrong with my camera integrity? I currently have a legal firmware update, v2.3, installed on it provided by Panasonic. I didn't ask panasonic to provide me the v-log update for free and nobody can force me to install a 2.4 upgrade. My warranty is also not in question, in case of a repair panasonic might put firmware 2.4 on it, thats' all, but as far as I am concerned they can not take any legal action against me or refuse to repair my camera.

but as far as I am concerned they can not take any legal action against me or refuse to repair my camera.

It's laughable that people have this impression. Panasonic goofed. They cobbled together a hacked version of Vlog from the Varicam 4K and then spent months trying to figure out how to lock it out with a firmware activation code. And then, after all that time, they left the rear barn door wide open. And after all that, instead of admitting it and asking people to help support the "development" of their hacked Vlog L (which all it does it cut out four stops in the processing which is why it doesn't allow information below 25 or above 79 IRE because that's where those four missing stops on the Varicam are) they instead decide to go the insulting route and say that their 2.3 firmware is completely messed up with the exposure tools and that 2.4 fixes it (all while conveniently closing the barn door after the horse has left).

So Panasonic has decided to take the route of insulting people's intelligence. And others one here have decided to take the route of treating people like children for using the loophole to try out Vlog and, mostly, find out it would have been a waste of $99.

This is a great day for Panasonic, let me tell you.

Interesting discussion, guess i found the first posting on this thread and gave it a try and it worked.

over this thread i got to Learn what to apply as LUTs was successful at it and the best option that worked was V-LOG L to varicam lut + some colour correction. Not sure if there is any legality involved as everyone used what Panasonic provided on a given day and nothing extra.

Choice to update to 2.4 or 2.3 is really a individual choice and everyone should be free to take it.

Guess as a saying goes "a stitch in time saves nine" here a "twitch in time saved 99 " .

I don't want to stir this up more but lets respect each others decisions here.

Here is the link to one test i did , as it was raining today didnt have much option rather than shooting rain from my window.

Private Video on Vimeo

password - 1234

Here is my test done today. The V-Log footage definitely needs more work even after applying the varicam LUT. More work as in both color and luminance correction. Really have my doubts as to whether it would be worth the effort for event videography. Therefore to me at least, paying that hundred dollars doesn't really seem worth it. What Noa said, that Panasonic should have allowed the use of v-log with a watermark makes perfect sense. You just can't know if something like this is right for you without trying it first.

For the pixel peepers I have also uploaded the same clip exported at 25mbps if you are not satisfied with the quality on Youtube. Link: http://we.tl/CttJqjCyuj


https://youtu.be/jakuMXdg8Po

There is also a clear NOISE ISSUE with v-log. Snapshot 005 [left] was taken from the Natural clip, 006 from V-Log WITH the applied LUT, a fast color corrector to bring the highlights up to 1.0 and the blacks down to 0.3, saturation 150% and gamma raised to 1.2 to bring back some detail in the rims. Also, as Ted said, I lowered the red midtones very slightly to compensate for the extra red the LUT brought in.

Look at the bridge pillars. Horrendous COLOR NOISE. I don't remember color noise even being an issue before, at least definitely not in daylight, not even when I raised the gamma to 1.3.

Either I'm doing something wrong or this V-Log update is not worth $10, not to mention $100 plus shipping. I really wanted to like it, but I don't...

You need to shoot at a much higher ISO. I started at 400 and it was terribly noisy, then I put it to 2000 ISO and the noise was gone.

I'm sorry, but I'm laughing out loud now. I'm not saying you're wrong, not at all, it's just that I find it extremely funny to be told to use a much higher ISO with this camera in order to get less noise. You have to admit, nobody saw that coming with the GH4.

I know, its crazy, before VLOG the mantra was, DO NOT GO ABOVE 800, 1600 is pushing it.

BUT a lot of testers, me included, saw better, not great, but lesser noise in shadow areas at higher ISOs, There are those that say its better at default and lowest 400 iso. Havent done further tests yet.

But lets take the sony A7s and A7r cameras, the lowest iso you can do when shooting log is very high! I think more than 1600 on the A7s, even 3200? I cant recall exactly. But there must be a reason for that and this noise we are seeing could be one.

For now, the consensus for exposure is, adjust your zebras to 80% for the highlights or white card, 50% for a graycard. This will force you to over expose.

Take note though that right now a lot are seeing a magenta, greenish blocking, found in midtoned color surfaces, be it skies, walls, etc. The Varicam LUT will bring this out clearly, some LUTs lessens it. However, some tests show that the original footage already has it baked in and it is there weather its internal 8bit recording or 10bit output.

I'm sorry, but I'm laughing out loud now. I'm not saying you're wrong, not at all, it's just that I find it extremely funny to be told to use a much higher ISO with this camera in order to get less noise. You have to admit, nobody saw that coming with the GH4.

I just think the RAW file needs a lot of light/info for it to work best. Only reason that makes sense and as others have pointed out, other cameras that shoot raw do it at a much higher iso. I can only tell you what ACTUALLY happened when I shot at higher iso. The noise almost went away.

First, thanks for that video Luc. I'm glad no one grabbed your camera and ran out the door when you were in the fast food restaurant.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around why I would need/want this particular VLOG feature. I still have firmware 2.2. From what I see it only flattens the dynamic range of the image and desaturates it. I know that's a good thing so that you have more freedom and options in post to do specific color corrections and looks, but is it really any different than using Cinelike D with a few custom settings?

I use Cinelike D with some custom settings gleamed from either Tom Antos or Phil Bloom's suggestions. That gives me a desaturated and flat image that I'm able to mess around with and apply different great LUT's from Color Grade Central.

I assume this is all the same thing? VLOG is just a specific variation? Am I missing something?

I'm still in testing Phase of putting Vlog against the other profiles but so far this is what I gleaned from my own tests.

Cine D at its default setting can be made to look just as flat as VLog using custom luts. But Vlog has unique characteristics to consider as another tool in your kit.

Slight detail is gained in the shadow area versus Cine D. This is even greater compared to Standard profile.

For Highlights, VLog handles falloff much better than cine D and other profiles.

And here is the best improvement for me. Vlog has better and more natural looking skin tones.

I did a controlled test to change ISOs and maintaining similar exposure on a set by only controlling aperture.
My ISO used in a series of test are 400(lowest in vlog) 800, 1600, 2500

My conclusion is, 800 seem the cleanest, followed by 400. Is 800 the base ISO? I don't know.

My conclusion is, 800 seem the cleanest, followed by 400. Is 800 the base ISO? I don't know.

400 is the base ISO and it's also the lowest you can set. On the A7R II Slog2 works the same way, you cannot set the camera lower than 800 when you are in Slog2 mode.

The reason 800 can be cleaner than 400 is that the image in front of you needs 800 ISO sensitivity in order not to be underexposed, which is tricky since Vlog L only has that small window of 7.5-79 IRE in which to work

800 ISO is the base for Vlog not 400. Vlog L icurve is pretty much the same as Vlog for 12 stops. That is why you can apply the Vlog technical LUT. Vlog L was designed to match with Varicam. The other base for Vlog on the Varicam 35 is 5000 ISO but Vlog L cut off around 1600 ISO. If you want to u understand vlog l then study the Panasonic documentation of Vlog and its curve characteristics.

http://www.dvinfo.net/article/acquisition/panasonic-avvcam/nab-15-from-the-panasonic-private-suite.html

And here is the best improvement for me. Vlog has better and more natural looking skin tones.

from my vid, the part with me in front of the camera, I can't see it. natural gives better skin tones. but all i did was apply the v709 lut, did you do anything else? i did not try reducing red in the midtones like you said.