Guy Mcloughlin
Forum Replies Created
-
Wow. Great layout.
The only thing that comes to mind is including a brief document explaining your file structure, so if someone else needs to work on your files, they will know how to work with your layout structure.
-
Panasonic GH3 vs. Canon 5D MK III
Download the full 1080 resolution version from Vimeo to see how much more detail the GH3 records over the 5D MK III.
Amazing stuff.
-
– Final Cut X can read/edit AVCHD files natively
– Portable Blu-Ray players with an SD card slot can play AVCHD files natively
-
There is nothing wrong with the AVCHD format, it’s a great compact acquisition format when shooting video.
The problem lies with Final Cut Pro, which cannot work efficiently with the AVCHD format.
Switch to a more up to date NLE like Premiere CS6 for the Mac, or Sony Vegas Pro for the PC, and you will find that the AVCHD format works great.
-
Hi Jim,
I have owned a HMC150 for the past four years, it’s a great camera, but it’s becoming out of date compared to the newer cameras. The only advantage it might have over the AC90 is low-light shooting, but I can’t say for sure.
From what I’ve seen of the sample footage the AC90 has great image stabilization, much better than almost anything else I’ve seen in this price range.
I would not recommend the Sony HXR-30U over the Panasonic AC90 because the HXR-30U is a single-chip camera so you won’t get the same image quality as the three-chip AC90. ( better resolution and better color from 3-chip cameras )
The only question I have with the AC90 is : What is the low-light performance like? I haven’t seen any comparisons with other cameras for low-light work, so this is one area I would want to check out before buying an AC90 camera.
-
Open the memory card on a Windows PC computer, and you should be able to access the “Stream” folder directly, which will contain the new AVCHD video files you shot.
By using your computer to directly delete SD card files you have messed up the file structure that is used to store AVCHD video in 4 GB segments along with the meta-data that describes how these files should be used by your video editor. This is a big no-no. Always use either your camera or your NLE video file interface to delete files, or simply reformat the card with your camera before every new shoot.
-
This firmware came out almost 2 years ago. I am surprised that some people are only updating their cameras now…
-
It takes practice to get good with the GH2, and for simplicity sake you can start with just the stock camera without using any of the “hacks”.
There are a few big issues that you need to keep in mind when shooting with this camera…
1- There are no real video zoom lenses for this camera, but that is about to change with the introduction of the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 and the Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 lenses. These are image stabilized lenses and are optically first rate.
Panasonic 12-35mm Lens Review is about half way down the page
2- This camera records very high resolution 1080 HD video, and with shallow depth-of-field your focusing has to be dead-on. This takes practice, as this is a digital-cine video camera and not a run-and-gun ENG style camera.
3- It’s a contrasty camera, so you have to tame the contrast with camera settings, post-processing settings in your editor, and getting the exposure dead-on as much as possible. There is very little room for mistakes with this camera.
That said, when you get everything right the results can be extremely good.
Here’s a sample frame-grab from an Indie film I shot last March using the GH2 with the Quantum 100 ( 100 Mbps I-Frame ) patch. This patch requires extremely fast SDXC memory cards. ( I used SanDisk 64 GB 95MB/sec SDXC UHS-I cards )
GH2 Quantum 100 – 400 ISO Frame Grab
…You can see a little aliasing on the top edge of the fake magazine, which is a limitation of the GH2 sensor, but otherwise I am very happy with the image the camera captures.
-
If you are thinking of buying a consumer camera, then there are two models I would consider…
Canon G10
– Fully featured
– Excellent low-light ability ( especially when shooting indoors without lights )
– Not as good as Panasonic X900 for hand held work ( stabilization not as good )Panasonic X900
– Fantastic image
– Fantastic image stabilization ( for hand held work )
– Not as good as Canon G10 in low lightMy preference would be for the X900, unless you shoot a lot of indoor low light work.
-
While the GH2 is the least expensive way to create impressive video, it has a large learning curve, so it will take some time to become comfortable shooting with it…
[Ruby Gold] “I’ve heard the GH2 can be a bit difficult to work with re: focusing and that it has no zoom”
Normally all large-sensor video cameras ( this includes every DSLR ) do not come with any lens, so you have to decide on which lens you want to shoot with, and purchase the appropriate adapter if the lens is not a Micro 4/3 mount lens. ( pretty much any lens ever made can be adapted to fit the GH2 or AF100 cameras )
Most people use external HDMI LCD monitors to ensure good composition and focus, though there is a built-in focus assist feature that makes it easier to check focus with the built-in camera LCD.
Here are few links to videos made with the hacked GH2 camera…
GH2 : Living the Dream Trailer
Here are a couple of links to get you started with hacking the GH2 camera…
An EZ Guide to Hacking the Panasonic GH2
*** NOTE: You must join the Personal View website in order to download any of the files from that website. It’s also a good idea to make a small donation, as the inventor of the GH2 hack owns that website and donations help to fund his work ***
…Also, you need to purchase high performance SDXC memory cards in order to shoot with these high bit-rate GH2 hacks. Currently the best card is this one:
SanDisk 64GB SDXC Memory Card Extreme Pro Class 10 UHS-I : $160
And you will want to buy a USB 3.0 card reader in order to off-load your footage quickly, even if you are using a USB 2.0 computer port.
Iogear SuperSpeed USB 3.0 SD/microSD Card Reader/Writer : $15
…As for audio, you can use a BeachTek passive XLR adapter to record audio directly with the GH2 ( it’s very good audio for a DSLR ), or you can use an external digital recorder like the excellent Tascam DR-100 MK2 model.
Beachtek DXA-2T Universal Compact Camcorder Audio Adapter : $179
Tascam DR-100mkII – Portable 2-Channel Linear PCM Recorder : $275
…Later this month, Zacuto will publish their big large-sensor camera shoot-out that put the little GH2 camera against cameras costing up to $65,000. From people who watched this shootout at the theater showings, most audiences put the GH2 footage ahead of the footage shot with $13,000+ cameras from Canon and Sony.
Zacuto Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout