Chip Thome
Forum Replies Created
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I don’t have a Canon but everything I have read says yes you will deal with moire from it, more so than say the GH2.
As far as a mic I think you need to look into something called Magic Lantern in order to utilize one if you want the audio recorded with your video.
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You might want to look into the Panasonic HMC40. It has a downfall at low light, but for your use that shouldn’t be much of a problem. If you are worried about the time limitations of the Canons, you might want to consider a Panny GH1 as it has no time limitations, and right now there are some deals on them (closeout).
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“my interest in making the switch is motivated by reducing the overall weight I have to carry in the field”
I can not comment on the other aspects of the post, but this one, I can. You are going to be SHOCKED at the weight and overall size difference between carrying your Canon and a DSLR set up. I went from a pair of DVX100Bs, each in their own Kata bag, to a pair of GH1s. The camera bag that fit both cams and lens, SD cards, batteries etc that I needed was half the size of ONE DVX and Kata bag, and probably half the weight as well. I have Manfrotto 3246s that are fantasitc tripods and handled the DVXs with no problems, but are such OVERKILL for the GH models, I am seriously looking at something less “industrial strength” now.
The tech aspects of your decision I don’t know about. But this aspect, been here and done this and love it, love it, LOOOOOOVVVE ITTTTTTTT !!! 🙂
Good luck !
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From what I could glean as I researched this recently, gray cards are to stills, what white balance is to video. I agree with Michael, when we are in the field, we do tend to go for whatever we think is white. This is why I bought a set of gray, white and black cards to use to be able to set each.
During Christmas I had a GH1 here and went to white balance in the living room. Because I knew the real color of my off white chair, I was able to color balance by temp. I just kept adjusting the temp value, until my chair appeared in the screen as it really is. If you think your lighting is 5100K, I would set something in there you know the color of when it is in daylight, and try setting your cam accordingly. It might be 5100K, or as I found in my living room, it was off about 400K+ from the preset.
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I’ve asked this myself on a different board and the consensus has been the 14-42 isn’t bad for the $100 you pay additional for it.
Of the lens packages offered on the GH2, if you have nothing going in, the 14-140 is an excellent lens to start with. It is the only lens Panasonic offers that is claimed to be optimized for video. The auto focus on this is also supposed to be super fast, again optimized by the GH2.
The 20mm pancake is excellent in low light, but auto focus is slow and noisy as well. The 100-300 with the crop factor turns it basically into a 200-600 lens.
Over the last several months I have read of quite a few people buying the 14-140 for their anticipated new $5000 AF100. That alone says a lot about it.
Good luck and enjoy it!
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For long duration use a SD cam and firewire it to a laptop. Run the feed out to an external hard disc and you are going for as long as you have power and disc space. I have used any number of programs to do this from Movie Maker up through Vegas and Premiere. All you are doing is capturing, same same as pulling it from the tape.
I did a project for a market research specialist, and he seriously thought I could use Windows Movie Maker to do the editing. He had done it before many times, although it was for “house video” supplied to him. He informed me these “house videos” cost about $250 each when supplied by the venues. Those he typically “editted” were just a few and cut apart for the “good stuff”. This project was far more indepth, so he deferred to whatever software I wanted to use. A few days later he sent to me a “typical” house video to view for comparision.
Honest to the good Lord above, it looked like it came out of a surveillance camera !!! The camera was attached to the wall or ceiling and may have even been black and white. Discussion with my client was they would do 4-6 of these interviews a day, and get cracked $250 each !!!
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It sounds like you and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I bought Panasonic GH1s and am waiting on my GH2s to be delivered. I am NOT looking at the AF100 for EVERY reason you should be. It is way PAST my level of experience, where what I am using is way BENEATH yours. I came to GH1s from a very limited knowledge of video. Although it was very limited, I quickly found some options I was used to, missing in a DSLR. Now if I can find missing attributes I wish were there, imagine what YOU would find in a heartbeat !!!
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Welcome Lisa, you are EXACTLY where I was three months ago. I owned 2 DVXs that I never got the hang of, and 3 other Panny consumer GS models we shot with. Instead of beating my brains out any longer with the DVXs, I sold them all and went to Panasonic GH1s. I since have sold those, and have Panasonic GH2s on order. Distribution has begun on the GH2s, albeit slow right now.
Here is what you are going to encounter going to DSLRs.
First, you are going to be shooting in most likely 1080P to get that “look” you want. From the GH1s and 2s, that is editing in AVCHD. I had CS3 and upgraded to Premiere Pro 64 bit CS5 which edits .mts files natively. IF CS4 can not handle that, you always can transcode to a codec/wrapper it can handle.
Audio is going to be a bit different, as a DSLR doesn’t have the audio attenuating and limiting capacities you may be used to. I have gone to using Yamaha Pocketrak CX digital recorders. I picked those from another’s recommendation that they have no drift in the audio. These give me the clean audio, and I use Plural Eyes to sync the Pocketrak clips to the camera’s clips, via syncing the audio.
What is going to be very different going to these, as was said, the body can be the cheapest part of the investment. Lenses are the key, especially to get some of those seriously insanely gorgeous views. Starting out, like you, I am learning as I go. I have the Panasonic 14-140 kit lens and the Panasonic 20mm prime pancake for low light. I find with these two, I am “in the game” at least for now. I have my wish list for more and different, but right now I can shoot something in any light I am given.
If unlike me you came to video from photography, you are way ahead of the game understanding the terminology etc used with DSLRs. Where in video I learned about db and gain, here they talk about ISO and F Stops. This for me has been the greatest challenge.
So to give you a list of what I have bought, to make this change over happen.
i7 64 bit Windows 7 computer with 9 gb ram. (also needed for day job)
Upgraded Premiere Pro and After Effects to 64 bit CS5.
Upgraded Colorista to CS5 compatible version
Yamaha Pocketraks and a couple of Giant Squid lavs
Plural Eyes by Singular Software
GH2s with the 14-140 kit lenses and Panasonic 20mm pancakes to match.My existing Rode Stereo Videomic and shotgun Videomic I can use with a 3.5mm-2.5mm adapter cable for the cameras ($3.50 Ebay) or just plug right into the Pocketraks.
On another forum I had several people try to talk out of going DSLR and to stick with the DVXs. There was one guy there who supported this move, and so far, I am thrilled to have gotten to know him. Right now I am happy with DSLRs, and even more thrilled I didn’t listen to the nay sayers. There are times I miss the simplicity of a camcorder, but those times are getting fewer and farther between.
Good luck in your decision and if I can be of any help, hit me via PM if you care to.
Chip
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I agree, although not sure you need to go to broadcast level. There are lots of used Panasonic DVX100B model cameras entering the market, that do everything you describe and do it well. I sold mine a few months ago, and they brought me around $1350 each. Today I think I could find cams as nice as mine, for close to $1000 and maybe less. Most of those shooters are going DSLR and as nice as the DVX is, it’s not the same as a high def DSLR would be.
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Alfredo… it would help to know what you have the DVX set to for the recording format. Was it Squeeze or 4:3 and did you shoot in 24/25P or in Interlaced?