Getting into the DSLR scene

[Chris Wright]

gh2 can output hdmi 24 inside a wrapped 60i without too much degradation and is cheaper than the 5D mark ii. the t2i quality jumps down to sd when rec button is hit and the lcd screen turns off, lol.
and if you get a cheap SmallHD DP6 without zebras, the gh2’s got built in zebras anyways. mo savings = mo happy, right?

gh2 fix as talked about here.

https://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?237584-HDMI-Capture-Problem-SOLVED-AviSynth-RULES!

and if you turn off intelligent resolution and -2 sat, -2 sharpness, the gh2 makes some mighty nice 24p filmic pans. you can hack it with ptool to actual look better than canon 5d mark ii!

check it out on vimeo!
https://vimeo.com/groups/gh2/videos/33819723

[Bernard Borg]

What I’m worried about when it comes to the gh2 is the lenses and obviously the horrid crop factor of 2x that is already a pain to me my Olympus 510 and e3 pro

I would like to hear more tough even on the canons 600d 60d

[John Frey]

Our Panasonic Gh2 cameras had been our favorites until we purchased the just-released Sony SLT-A65. We have been testing it over the past 3 weeks and the results validate our purchase. Sony has used some new technology on this unit. It has a 24 megapixel APS-C sensor, implements the AVCHD 2.0 standard and will record stellar 1080 60p and 24p. It has a crop factor of 1.5, in-camera image stabilization, and will use all of the Sony and Minolta Alpha mount lenses. We picked up 4 additional excellent Minolta autofocus units via Craigslist locally for $150.00. This camera has an OLED viewfinder which is simply amazing – we do not have to use an add-on viewfinder loupe – it’s that good! Also, the articulating viewfinder is the best one that I have experienced on a DSLR. In addition, this camera takes great stills! We got ours from B&H for $900.00, which included a pretty good 18-55mm kit lens. This camera is a little bigger than our GH2s, which for us, is a plus.

For an additional $500.00, you can purchase the slightly larger SLT-A77 which sports a weather-proof magnesium body, extra controls and several technical extras. Here is a link to a recent review.

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sonyslta65/

John D. Frey
25 Year owner/operator of two California-based production studios.

Digital West Video Productions of San Luis Obispo and Inland Images of Lake Elsinore

[Bernard Borg]

Keep updating me please so I make an informed purchase to say it all I am impressed with the GH2 unhacked also the hacked is even better but stil unsure about the lens issue – surely the body doesnt matter because it will be all rigged up 🙂

still no illumination about the canon or nikon range 🙂

[Chris Wright]

in video mode on the Sony SLT-A65, iso is maxed at 1600, compared to gh2’s 3200. also, a65’s AF mode in video is limited to F3.5.

the video quality is slightly better than the 7d, i’ll give it that.

[Bernard Borg]

Basically I am getting that the gh2 is the best camera for movies or I am getting it wrongly ? Still not shure about the gh2 hack and what it achieves and the lens system for the GH2

Also should I forget the 60d or the d7000?

[Jorden Mosley]

Before I bought the GH2, I worried about the crop factor and lens as well. But once I got it, it became a non-issue.

First, your not just limited to Panasonic lens. With the mount type of a gh2 (micro 4/3) its the most versatile mount out there. I’m currently using old Minolta AF lens with an adapter that has an aperture ring. The image quality is still great. We’re talking about lens’ that you could buy at a small fraction of the cost of modern lens. With an adapter you can mount so many variety of lens (new and old) from various manufacturers that you couldn’t on a Canon with an adapter. That alone has saved me thousands of dollars.

Second, on paper the crop factor (1.6 vs 2.0) maybe be significant but in reality its not all that different. I got 28mm 2.8 (that’s a close 50mm equivalent)that I use the very rarely. What I mostly use a 50mm 1.7, 70-210 4.0, and 14-42mm (kit lens that comes with the gh2) to cover all the kinds of shots I need, whether it be close ups, medium, portraits, or wide angle.

For a guy who was in your shoes not too long ago, I dodged a bullet in picking the gh2 over the 60D or T3i. For the work I do the very limited record time, moire, worst rolling shutter distortion, and cost of the lens would have forced me to get a gh2 down the road anyway.

[John Frey]

I fully agree. Our GH2 cameras have been great, and we use a variety of Olympus and Nikon manual lenses with them. We bought the Sony A65 as we need 1080 60p to match our other cameras on an action sports project that will be highlighting Slomo. The GH2 only does 720 60p. I would not be overly concerned about very high ISO settings. In the real video world, you will be needing proper lighting gear, so keep that in mind when budgeting for support equipment.

John D. Frey
25 Year owner/operator of two California-based production studios.

Digital West Video Productions of San Luis Obispo and Inland Images of Lake Elsinore

[Deleted User]

The sensor in a GH2 is larger than most Micro Four Thirds cams, so when you switch the GH2’s aspect ratio setting (stills & video) the angle of view for the lens stays the same. So, for example, the angle of view of a 20mm m43 lens on a GH2 is the same whether the cam is in 16:9 aspect mode or 3:2 aspect mode. This is a great feature of the camera.

Also, because the GH2’s sensor is “oversize”, when shooting HD video (16:9), the crop factor is x1.8, not x2.0, very similar to APS-C cams which typically have a x1.6 crop factor.

There are plenty of wide angle lenses available for use with the GH2 & other m43 cams.

I recently listed other nice capabilities of the GH2 in this post:
https://forums.creativecow.net/readpost/280/7792

Cheers.

—

https://www.peterdv.com

[Bernard Borg]

So may I ask to get a clear picture of what are the specs
Of the GH2 hacked and standard because im having trouble to get proper specs for comparison also if someone can give me a good idea on how the camera behaves with using old glass as generally the optics of 35mm cameras were finer than today’s

Also what about pro res is really the gh 2 able to output 4:2:3 to an external recorder