A comparison of video footage taken on the Panasonic DMC-G6, DMC-G7 and the DMC-FZ1000 cameras. It compares 1080p to 4k and in particular how 1080p in EX crop mode compares to 4k cropped in camera or in post-production. All footage was edited in a 1080p 25fps timeframe allowing the footage to be resized. I have not made any adjustments.
Much of the footage was shot side-by-side for a more accurate comparison. Where possible I tried to take in to account the different crop factors and choose an appropriate focal length for the lens to give a similar crop. The G6 and G7 have a crop factor of 2.17 in 1080 and a crop factor of 5.22 in 1080EX mode. The G7 has a crop factor of 2.42 in 4k. The FZ1000 has a maximum zoom of 592mm in 4k. It can also use intelizoom to enlarge this image up to double this size giving it a maximum of 1184mm.
The results show that the shooting in 1080EX and cropping 4k will give very similar footage. The G7 gave the best results and in 4k it had slightly less noise and a bit more detail. The FZ1000 gave good results but looked softer when enlarged.
Overall I was surprised how well matched the footage was on all three camera which will allow them to be used together. Three Panasonic lens were used the 14-42mm, a 14-140mm and a 100-300mm.
I hope this test will be of interest, if you have any questions I will do my best to reply.
