Blackmagic Pocket 4K vs GH5S: Skintones, LOG vs LUT, Focal Reducer, Highlighthandling

Cinematic Quality Comparison:
Pocket 4K vs GH5s + Atomos Ninja V
- Skintones
- Focal Reducer
- Highlight Handling
- internal 12 Bit CDNG RAW vs external 10 Bit ProRes HQ Recording

music: "rib rob bounce" by Thelonious von Schulz.

[JeremyRatzlaff]

Honestly, this video has just convinced me that there's no real discernible differences; they both look incredible. Any differences in color can be corrected in seconds. If I didn't already own a GH5s I would probably buy the Pocket, but I'm not super shook either way. Glad to know both these cameras are simply splendid. :)

[jaynazario]

I have a blackmagic and i still like the gh5s over my blackmagic 4k.

[edgeofvision]

I'm surprised to see lots of people saying the GH5S skin tone looked better. I'd love to say the GH5S kicks Pocket's ass since it seems so much more practical to use, but the Pocket image pops with warmth. Much more human, much more pleasing.

[motionplacescamera]

The GH5s is great, but you could buy two Pocket 4K's for the price of 1 GH5s and the Pocket has the better looking image here imo. Do you have any low-light comparisons planned? Thanks!

[JoshuaStancea]

They are nearly identical, with the gh5s probably having a slight edge.

This is a base $1300 versus a $3200 one. People who are getting overly excited about the gh5s are disregarding the fact that he's given an external recorder to the already more expensive camera.

I promise you that the vast majority of people are not like us and absolutely will not care about the miniscule differences in quality between these two setups. At the end of the day though, I'm able to get 2x p4ks and still have another 600 left to spend before I spend as much on a gh5s + ninja V.

[uhu]

Both look pretty good.
GH5s seems to have less detail in the skin-tones. But I already heard, it might be beneficial to not use LOG to get more color-resolution here.

[LikeAGentlemanPlease]

Most of these people commenting must be watching from their phones 📲. On a ips 4K monitor black magic is is slightly shaper but gh5s looks more natural. To me anyway.

[GlueFactoryBJJ]

The GH5S appeared to be exposed about 1/3 to 1/2 stop higher than the BMPCC4K (at least with the Panasonic LUT applied). I wish they were both exposure adjusted so it would have been a better comparison.

However, I'm not particularly surprised that the BMPCC4K, using about 3-4 times the bitrate of the GH5S (RAW vs 400Mbps All-I), has a slightly better picture. IMO, it would have been more instructive to compare more "apples to apples", rather than differences between codecs. If both had been recorded to, say, ProRes (preferably) or even an equivalent bitrate BMPCC4K ProRes compared to the GH5S 400Mbps All-I codec, we probably would have been able to more clearly see which is really better.

I say this because the cost handling the data for a RAW workload is significant. I record events (2-5+ hours) and I won't be able to afford (storage-wise) more than the 150Mbps long-GOP codec in 4K. Also, I'd like to see what the shadow recovery would compare.

Finally, this ignores that you are basically limited to about 35-45 min of recording per battery using RAW and to get an equivalent battery life on the BMPCC4K would probably add another few hundred dollars to the cost. And there is, for all intents and purposes, no AF in the BMPCC4K or any framerate over 120fps. On the other hand, you do get a free copy of DaVinci Resolve, something I'm taking a hard look at after the recent subscription increase for Adobe's CC.

That said, both produced very nice "cinematic" video. Just out of curiosity, what were the reduction settings for each camera?

BTW, has anyone tried to take pictures with the BMPCC4K? I need to occasionally take pics and can't afford a second camera dedicated to pics.

I second the request for a low light comparison!

Thanks for the video!

[ExploringWorldYouTube]

Very interesting video. Thank you
I am not an expert because I just like to shoot. I'd like to ask a questio please, hoping someone experienced will answer me.
1) I only make documentaries in remote areas, around the world. 2) I travel alone. 3) I like to film in 4K 50p 10bit. 4) I would like to get the same or slightly better video quality than the GH5. 5) I would like a room that is easy to use.
Which room do you think is the best for me? I could also accept a small camcorder, but only if it has excellent image quality.
I thought of Blackmagic because it was small but then I realized that maybe it's not for me.
Thank you very much for the advice.

[samuelleanos]

You CANNOT compare raw footage with compressed footage. Obviously raw is going to be Leaps beyond anything else. Also, a small percentage of people will shoot raw because of the massive file sizes. What you SHOULD be comparing is Prores LT of the pocket with the ALL-I of the gh5. Both of these are similar bit rate and therefore you would be able to make a fair and more realistic comparison.

[chronocross]

The Pocket 4K looks better but Im probably going to get the GH5s. That battery life on the pocket 4K kills it for me

[viranimediakenya]

Gh5s available to buy anytime bmpc4k has long waiting line. Wait and spend less or buy expensive now?

[coreyfromtheband]

That’s weird, really the panasonic has more dynamic range?

[vivianvaldi]

Is your WB the daylight manufacter preset for both ?
It's chocking how greenish the GH5S looks. So tell us.

[playmaka]

Great video! Love the look of the pocket 4k! Can you do a prores v prores comparison from the two? I feel like that would be the most fair comparison.

[alansmithee]

The highlight comparison tells us nothing. Neither log footage nor log+LUT will reveal the full range of data captured. You need to apply the LUT (or a rec. 709 transform), then pull the highlights (superwhites) below 100% in the grading application. In the case of BMPCC 4k raw, you'd also want to enable highlight recovery.

[BeierFilms]

Nice comparison. I'd love to see the Fujifilm X-T3 thrown into the mix.

[JetSmackedHD]

Does the client actually care or pixel peep? I dont see that much people who work in the film industry who compares camera, rather just shoots with it. But then comes the youtubers and hobbyist and i see lots of comparisons instead of shooting

[jayclas]

BMPCC 4K has the edge for more than half the price, not needing an external recorder for RAW or ProRes. The Black Magic fits on a gimble, also with 4k 60 i think the game is over!!!

[nordfresse]

I want to like the bmpcc4k so much, but I have to say that I kinda favor the skin tones of the gh5s in this comparison (as in many other ones). It just looks amazingly natural and real to me. Dont know if thats just the grading or what..