Some real world sports video and AF (DFD, 100-400, G7)

No tests of faces moving towards and away from the camera here; I maintain that despite all the angst over the GH5 AF, real world use of any AF system is the true test.

The first event of the 2017 Pacific Windsurf Cup was held a couple of weeks ago, and since it was - almost literally - on my doorstep, I figured it would be rude not to make some video. So I sat on the beach in the dunes opposite the first mark, and this is what I got.

So here it is, for what it is worth; no point doing this and not sharing. This was all done with the G7 and the 100-400 lens. Yeah, I'm sure the GH5 would have been amazeballs...

Weather was rubbish, very cloudy and only windy for one day of the three day event - international visitors must have been a bit disappointed. Still, the first day was excellent for racing, even if the light was bad.

4K grab

Some observations.

1. G7 does not have customisable AF as the GH5 does; but it does have DFD that works very well with the newer DFD-capable lenses, and particularly well with the 100-400.
2. AF works well enough - not perfect, but for an entry level camera (and an entry-level user) it is good enough. I would not have said that about the previous generation of camera and lens. You can see where focus is sometimes lost and re-acquired if you look carefully enough, but in general it is pretty good. In a static shot you'd probably see the background pulsing, but in a real life situation like this, that really doesn't matter.
3. I use the G7 at 30fps - this is a PAL model so I've used the work around demonstrated on YouTube. I've been doing this for months, and am not aware of any problems. I don't know why Panasonic restrict switching between PAL and NTSC to the GH range, because PAL users are SOL if they want to match action camera footage, and have the choice of 24p, 25p and 50p basically. And don't get me started on the stupidity of why NTSC is 29.97fps...or even why that is still relevant in this day and age.
4. I used 4K, which despite its disadvantages, gives me enough headroom for zooming and panning at the more distant marks. Using 4K means I have to deal with larger files, and have to use proxies - in fact 1/8 res proxies! - for editing (which for sure is something GH5 users will find themselves doing, even if they don't realise that yet). Rendered at FHD.
5. Despite claims that the G7 is incapable of/useless/too weak for C-AF at 4K, I don't find that to be the case. At all.
6. I ended up using mostly, but not exclusively, the C-AF clips. Many of the S-AF clips were rubbish, being slightly off focus due to moving out of field so quickly. Most of the C-AF clips were quite good in comparison.
7. The 100-400 lens is really ugly in any kind of wind. (Well, what we call wind). It vibrates like crazy, introducing a jello effect. This might be made worse by using the 4K mode, further experience will tell. OIS needed to be on; and footage (or gigabytage) needed stabilisation in Resolve. And nope, it is not the tripod or head.
8. Recording audio? Not going to happen. The Rode mic was bouncing against the mount, and this was from a relatively sheltered location, and down at ground level.
9. I use high shutter speed, high aperture and fairly high ISO. I know this will offend the purists who will say I should be using 24p and a slow shutter speed (for a "c i n e m a t i c" effect - which to me looks like, in this situation, a blurry mess), and believe me, focusing is hard enough at 400mm (800mm EFL, FWIW) to want to add shallow DOF to the problems. At least I can extract usable still from 4K footage with the settings I use - quite a big factor.
10. I used a combination of S-AF (manually re-acquiring focus as required) and C-AF for the same scenarios. The difference between the two is night and day. For this kind of thing, you don't have the luxury of not using C-AF, because the scene is changing so fast. I know the purists may say I should have been using full MF (probably while using a VND to maintain exposure and a proper shutter speed, and handholding the whole setup - because, IS) but they weren't there, and I was.
11. FWIW, shot in Cinelike-D, edited, stabilised, graded in Resolve 12.5, using Ground Control's free LUT pack which includes a Cine-D to 709 LUT. Probably no need to use LUTs for this kind of thing, but it is a kind of practice I guess.
12. Using very long lenses like the 100-400 requires a lot of practice and a really strong technique, even with an excellent head and sticks - still learning.
13. Despite the forum wide clamour for IBIS, I really struggle to see how it fits into this kind of scenario. I'm kind of glad that the G7 sensor is effectively bolted to the tripod mount. More complexity is not my friend.
14. YouTube sucks. It dramatically reduces the quality of the video for normal users like myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6y-8XT4wfM

And the official video is here (shot and edited by professionals, so quite different from my hobbyist perspective):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fLcTgCFT2k

They use shots from the water and drones and stuff, I don't have any of those cool things

I'm an entry level player here, with an entry level camera, and this stuff, while enjoyable - if you have a story to tell - is very hard. (And not having a story to tell, no matter what gear you have, is pointless). Photography in comparison is easy.

Those people considering the GH5 as a way of getting into and learning video have I think little idea of exactly what is in front of them. I hope they enjoy the journey and show us their progress; I'd be happy if there was more interest in video in this forum, for whatever reason.

Comments welcome (except for the inevitable comments saying "I'm not interested in video" - I don't care).