[Neil Pollick]

I found an answer elsewhere so I will post it here in case anyone else is interested.
Seems the auto focus speeds are so close as to be indistinguishable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-86nrBo7_T0

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[Neil Pollick]

You can load Magic Lantern onto the 70d and even extract raw footage but the workflow is heavy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3kStLheFxE

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[Neil Pollick]

I just noticed this post comes after the “solution”, sorry if it’s surplus to requirement but I thought it would be useful…

Nothing wrong with the camera!

I would suggest that the first 2 shots you uploaded of the wedding are maybe 2/3 of stop underexposed, maybe even a full stop. I am a documentary film maker and I’ve been using EOS 550d for 5 years now and I know that you can’t do much to recover standard underexposed video footage in post because the compressed video doesn’t hold enough detail.

I find it useful to keep the video image on the soft side, rather than too sharp (though of course using the best lens available) by using a flat picture profile in camera with the sharpening value kept low – the sharpening you can do in post in much more attractive than the sharpening the camera does automatically (in fact in my camera it is truly grotesque!)
A flat picture profile makes the unprocessed image look flat and washed out but it has good dynamic range and a few tweeks in the video editor brings it to life completely.

The footage you take is just the raw material for the video editor. It seems inadvisable to me to aim to get the final product straight out of the camera.

If you can load custom picture styles on your camera you can try out the “cinestyle” profile. There is loads of information on the internet on how to grade it in post.

And if you can use the magic Lantern software on the 70d you might be able to increase the bitrate that your video records at on the SD card – which will increase the quality even more (gives you more latitude in post). You will need a faster SD card if you use a higher bitrate though.

You really need to examine your footage inside your video editor, see what’s there embedded in the footage that can be brought out, how it can be changed successfully. Then you’ll get to know what things you MUST attend to during the shoot as well. You’ll feel more confident when shooting.

On the whole videographers don’t advise using automatic focus in live situations because the camera will focus on the wrong subject sooner or later. That really IS NOT a lens issue, it’s just that the camera’s priorities are not the same as the photographers. (I advise you to keep this lens for the time being and fully master the camera and the video editing software before you upgrade the hardware.

Your camera is a great film making tool I think. It is renowned for its innovative focusing system, it is very quick in live-view and during video shooting (when the mirror is locked up and the main focusing system is inactive). It has a touch screen which is very useful for shifting focus from one subject to another, and very quick. You can set it so that it ONLY changes focus when YOU tell it to, i.e. when you touch the screen. Once you master the skill it can really look superb. This is the a feature which professional videographers, who have been dissing autofocus since the beginning, are finally saying is useful.

[Neil Pollick]

Thanks for such clear information Bill, now I have a much better idea of what the GH4 can do.
I won’t be going for a 1 inch sensor camcorder, the images don’t seem nearly as good as from a larger sensor SLR.

Does anyone have any idea about other mirrored/mirror-less SLRs that have good auto-focus and focus pulling during live shooting?
What about the NX1 from Samsung?
Any others?

[Neil Pollick]

Thanks Andrew.

I take the point about not wasting time subtitling clips that won’t make the final cut.

But I think I will have to make srt files for a lot of the clips, probably all the ones that I can’t definitely rule out before I start the “paper work” I am not one of those who can hold chess moves in his head!
It would save time on hard coding and rendering copies of the clips and the subtitles wouldn’t have to be perfectly accurate, at least not until the final cut.

Of course it all depends on adopting your work method. But it is time I got more professional anyway.

[Neil Pollick]

Thanks everybody, I’ve tamed my play heads
I hope others will find it useful.

[Neil Pollick]

Thanks for the speedy reply Mike Kujbida
Your advice gave me the answers I needed only for me the solutions differed a little from what you said so I have listed below what I found to work, for the sake of others who may want to know the answers

TO MAKE IT SKIP FORWARD WHILE PLAYING WITHOUT STOPPING
I have to click on a blank space above the timeline to make it skip forward or back, but skip it does!

TO MAKE IT RESTART FROM THE PLACE YOU CLICKED WHILE IT WAS PLAYING, AND NOT FROM THE PLACE WHERE IT STOPPED
I unchecked the box Options – Preferences -General. Select Make spacebar and F12 Play/Pause instead of Play/Stop

This is Sony Vegas 10.

Thanks to Mike editing will be a lot quicker.

[Neil Pollick]

maybe this helps some people:-

there is a *.veg file on the net that you can download and open in vegas.
If you go to “track effects” and “sony color curves” you’ll see an s curve to correct technicolor cinestyle already loaded. (there’s n footage in this file but the preset is set for the video track)
Just save it as a preset in vegas and then you have the curve for all time!
The link is

cinestyle preset vegas file

I don’t use this style because it makes skin too orange. I may not really understand it.