-
I need more advice about DSLR from the professionals please
Thank you for all you info and insights on purchasing a DSLR camera.
I’m seriously thinking about purchasing a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 Digital Camera W/14-140mm Lens. Which is somewhere around $1.5K.
Just a couple of questions:
1) It has stereo sound recording but can I hook up mics to it?
2) Can I manually focus with it during film recording? or do I have to buy a specific lens to do that as well?
3) What type of projector do I have to purchase for it, and should it be the kind that is separate or is there a type that hooks up to the camera itself.
(I’m going to use it for filming wedding ceremonies)
Thank you all and happy new year -
3 Replies
-
1) It has stereo sound recording but can I hook up mics to it?
I don’t have the GH2 but rather film with the Canon T2i but the same answers should apply. Yes this camera does have an external mic input – it is very important that you come up with an audio recording solution that works for you because the built-in mic is terrible. Most pros use a “dual sound” technique which you can read about by searching these forums.
2) Can I manually focus with it during film recording? or do I have to buy a specific lens to do that as well?Yes you can and all DSLR lenses have a manual focus option – some may or may not have an auto focus option in addition to that.
3) What type of projector do I have to purchase for it, and should it be the kind that is separate or is there a type that hooks up to the camera itself.
If I am understanding you correctly, once you have edited your film and have exported a digital file (say Quicktime for example) to your computer then you can use any standard digital video projector – there’s nothing special needed simply because you filmed your project with a DSLR. I am not aware of any projector that attach directly to the camera.
-
[Ali Has] “1) It has stereo sound recording but can I hook up mics to it?”
I’m using the JuicedLink DT454 XLR box. It has very clean preamps and I’m running the output right into my GH2. I’m really happy with this system.
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style!Check out my Mormon.org profile.
-
Hi Ali: I often connect my wired & wireless mics directly to my GH2. The quality of the resulting recording is surprisingly good. Is it “perfect”? No. But often it’s quite adequate for many prosumer & entry-level pro productions.
However, because you can _not_ monitor (using headphones) LIVE audio out of the GH2 itself while the camera is recording, it’s impossible to be absolutely sure the audio recording is OK until later when you play it back.
This isn’t a problem if what you’re shooting lends itself to carefully listening to the sound on _playback_ after each take, and doing a re-take if there was a sound problem (bad mic cable connection, hiss, buzz, wireless/cellphone interference, etc.).
But for a one-time event such as a wedding, it’s not a good idea to rely on recording w/o live audio monitoring! If something goes wrong with the sound during recording, you won’t know for sure until it’s too late.
So, as others have suggested, especially in this case, record using an external audio recorder (and monitor its recording with headphones), and sync the video to the audio in the edit. If you plan carefully, this can be pretty easy to do. Although the GH2’s internal sound quality is pretty good, most external audio recorders sound much better.
Or, another variation is to do both: Record the sound both in-camera and externally. That way the external recording can serve as a backup if something goes wrong with the in-camera recording.
Cheers.
—
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up