Am I missing something about 4K?

[tkbslc]

Since when did you upgrade to a 4K-shootin' body? I thought you had a GX7?

Well the GX9 announcement was very weak and then they were closing out GX85's the same day....

So it's not like I have a lot of experience with 4K, but I do like the pre-burst, post focus and focus stacking quite a bit from my 1 week experiments.

 

[DanS]

But that's OK I suppose - artist's prerogative! Personally, I find I prefer to read rather than watch to learn things; my heart sinks when I want to look up how to do something in Photoshop and all there seems to be are endless videos.

I've found that it's very much related to the subject matter being presented. I have a wide spectrum of interests, and follow a lot of different channels on YouTube. For one topic the average video might be 5 to 10 minutes, for another it might be 30 minutes to an hour.

 

[DanS]

I do have a large 4K tv, and even on smaller screens I can see the difference between 4K and 1080p. I think it’s worth the hype.

I'm the same way, specially if the footage has a large dynamic range.

 

[alex66]

I am not interested in video, however since the first DSLR with the ability to shoot video came out it was a great feature to help sell cameras. Then there is the artistic options that small but high quality cameras can give film makers, again it means makers can sell more cameras but it has been great for budding film makers. There was an episode of House that was shot on I think one of the 5d series as this gave the film makers a visual effect they would not have on their normal cameras and they can use them in places where the big cameras they use can't. I have heard that a lot of film makers also see higher resolution files can offer them the ability to have a couple of frames from the same shot. It does not stop at 4k, 8k is coming and it will be here pretty soon, I guess that either the GH6 or 7 will be 8k. If they can do the same photo function off the camera as the current cameras have from 4k and it could be a game changer for sports with a large enough buffer. Its not something I am bothered in creating, find it easier for the wife to use her phone and I have no ideas for movie making but having the option there for if say my children fancy doing something. Our next TV will be a 4k though, by the time we replace it will be probably the only choice.

 

[Speedliner]

4K TVs exist and some of us watch from file servers so we can watch our own content at 4K easily. Some of us want to future proof our content for the day of 8k TVs. Some of us record in 4K and downsample to 1080 in order to get higher quakity 1080 content. Not having it is an unnecessary omission these days. Simple as that. Needed to compete.

 

[Bytesmiths]

why the need for 4k?

Why the need for 20+ megapixels? Why the need for RAW images?

Processing. With 4k, you have a lot more options for cropping, rotating, special effects, etc. Do your processing in the highest rez your computer will support, then render down to 1080p (or whatever) for delivery.

Or, just shoot at 1080p and don't edit. That's more than you need if you'll only be posting to YouselessTube.

Same for stills: if you're only doing screen rez and don't edit, shoot 1,800 pixel JPEGs. That's plenty for posting on FacePlant.

 

[pellicle]

Wondering as lack understanding of why the need for 4k?
Any insights or information is appreciated.

Its handy in post for a bit of crop tightening up if needed.
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Should have read through replies before answering...