Get GH4 V-LOG for FREE !!

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Mark Wilson

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.

[Ted Ramasola]

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

Use the AA709A LUT.

Some testers claim its better in minimizing the magenta blockiness.

[Mark Wilson]

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?

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Mark Wilson

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.

[David Parks]

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.

[Noa Put]

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.

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

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.

[Vishal Jadhav]

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

[Luc Spencer]

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

YouTube (Short URL)

[Luc Spencer]

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...

[Brian Duke]

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.

[Luc Spencer]

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.

[Ted Ramasola]

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.

[Ted Ramasola]

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.

[Brian Duke]

Originally Posted by Luc Spencer

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.