As some of you know, I recently sold my Lumix GH4 and replaced it with a Sony A7S II. Unfortunately, I sold my GH4 before V-Log was released and as such never got a chance to try out Panasonic’s V-Log picture profile while I owned the camera.

I have however, been shooting with the Sony A7S II almost exclusively in S-Log 3 since getting the camera, and naturally I started to get curious about V-Log again. For the most part, I’ve had a very positive experience with S-Log 3 and have been very curious about how the GH4’s V-Log would stack up next to it.

A couple of days ago, a friend and I shot some quick and dirty test shots with the GH4 and A7S II side by side, both shooting in Log mode to see what both cameras are really capable of. As is the case with most of my camera tests, these test shots were not “scientific” by any means. For instance, different lenses were used on each camera which in itself means more than one variable is factoring into the resulting image.

That said, even though the tests did have some uncontrolled variables, I do believe that the results are quite accurate and representative of what you can expect when shooting in Log on these two cameras in real world environment. Whenever possible settings were kept the same (shutter speed, f-stop, etc.), and both cameras were shot using their native ISO’s to ensure maximum DR and image quality across the board. ND filters were used to compensate for differences in exposure between the GH4 and A7S II in certain instances.

Going into this, there were a few key items that I was hoping to test – Dynamic range, highlight rolloff, and color accuracy. With minimal time to do this test shoot, I decided to limit the test to only two main shots that would hopefully shed some light on each of the elements I was curious about.

Let’s take a look at the first set of images below –

S-LOG 3 – RAW

S-LOG 3 – LUT

S-LOG 3 – LUT + CONTRAST ADJUSTMENT

V-LOG – RAW

V-LOG – LUT

V-LOG – LUT + CONTRAST ADJUSTMENT

The first and most obvious thing I noticed with this shot was the banding, which is particularly problematic in the GH4 footage. The A7S II clearly has some banding issues in the sky, but the GH4’s banding is much more severe. The GH4’s transition from exposed to over-exposed luminance in the sky leaves us with a very strange looking, rainbow shaped arc that is very noticeable – even to the untrained eye.

Granted, both of these cameras would likely perform better if they were recorded to a higher quality codec (such as ProRes) using an external recorder… But I would guess the GH4 would still have less organic highlight rolloff, even if the banding is not as severe.

Now, take a look at the second set of images below –

S-LOG 3 – RAW

S-LOG 3 – LUT

S-LOG 3 – LUT + CONTRAST ADJUSTMENT

V-LOG – RAW

V-LOG – LUT

V-LOG – LUT + CONTRAST ADJUSTMENT

The idea with this shot was to capture a high dynamic range situation that would show the differences in latitude between the two cameras, and in this department the A7S II once again came out on top.

When I first applied the LUTs to each shot, they didn’t look all that different – in particular the window in the background was blown out on both shots. But when I used Resolve to reduce the highlights and adjust the contrast of each image, the A7S II footage clearly had more information in the highlights, while the GH4 had clipped completely. The difference is somewhat apparent in the images above, but much more obvious when actually working with the footage in Resolve.

This was of course no surprise as the A7S II sensor can supposedly capture 2 more stops of DR than the GH4, which tops out at about 12 stops.

What this test also revealed to me though, was the fact that neither camera produces great colors in Log mode. Don’t get me wrong, you can certainly capture beautiful images on both cameras and color grade them to look really great… But right off of the camera, using nothing more than a LUT on the Log footage, neither camera delivers perfect results in the color department.

The GH4 tends to be a bit too saturated and punchy for my taste, and skin tones often look flat and green-ish. The A7S II on the other hand is a bit too de-saturated, and leaves skin tones looking cooler and even purple-ish at times, which essentially is the exact opposite of what the GH4 delivers.

To me, color is one of the most important considerations when choosing a camera, even more than dynamic range. I’ve seen some beautifully shot films that were captured on cameras with lower DR, but had gorgeous colors – ultimately creating a unique and immersive visual environment. On the other hand, I’ve seen plenty of ultra high DR digital footage that looks bland and flat, and doesn’t deliver realistic colors. In an ideal world, you want both: A high DR camera that can produce beautiful colors without having to do a lot of heavy lifting in the color suite.

The point being that neither camera is perfect in Log mode – especially with regards to color science. The A7S II does seem to perform better in terms of DR and highlight rolloff, but the GH4 in V-Log mode isn’t bad either.

In fact, if you own a GH4 and are on the fence about V-Log, I would say that it’s likely worth the upgrade price, even in spite of everything I’ve written here. It does seem to help the GH4 squeeze out more dynamic range, and while the colors are far from perfect, they do seem to be better than Cine-D or Cine-V.

Here is one more quick comparison shot taken on the GH4, between V-Log and Cine-D – 

V-LOG

CINE-D

Obviously the V-Log footage has a bit more DR and holds the highlights and shadows more effectively. Even after attempting to reduce the contrast on the Cine-D footage, the information just wasn’t there in the highlights, and it was clear right away that the V-Log footage was able to actually capture a significant amount of additional latitude.

In the future, I’ll be sure to do some more V-Log/S-Log tests and will post the results on the site. In particular, I’d like to try to push V-Log in a low light scenario, and see just how noisy it will get when pushed to the limits.

For now, please share your thoughts or feedback in the comments below. I’d love to hear how all of you are enjoying V-Log and S-Log, and what your techniques are for maximizing their potential on set, and in the editing room.