gh3... any typical problems?

Luc Spencer · August 13th, 2013, 02:57 PM

I just realized that this particular thread, "gh3... any typical problems?" is 6 pages long, the longest thread on this front page of the lumix gf / gh series category.

For those of you who just arrived here:

THE GH3 IS AWESOME. SERIOUSLY. WE JUST LIKE TO RAMBLE A LOT.

Edit: great, my post just made it 7 pages now.

Chris Duczynski · August 13th, 2013, 06:57 PM

I agree, I use it 4 out 5 days for jobs and am really happy with mine. I find DSLR's in general more complicated to use than my XDcam and Z5, but it's "cinematic" advantages with quality lenses for the price are astounding.
And you know what's a really great thing about it....you can shoot broadcast quality footage around the world often without the hassle of a permit, which makes life a lot easier on shoots.
Great topic - I think there's a few more pages left in this thread yet.

Luc Spencer · August 14th, 2013, 02:03 AM

This is going to sound incredibly amateurish, but... you need a permit? Wherever I go I just point and shoot and unless it's a museum or a private property, there should be no problems.

Also, why do you say a DSLR makes it easier? Because people are bothered more by video cameras than by (what they think are) still cameras?

Noa Put · August 14th, 2013, 02:58 AM

Quote:

Also, why do you say a DSLR makes it easier?

A colleague of mine went to the racetrack with his nex ea50 just to shoot for fun but was stopped by the officials asking if he had a permit to film there, he didn't so they made him sign a paper that he wouldn't use any footage for commercial purpose and he had to stick a "press" sticker onto his camera.

If you would do the same carrying a gh3 no-one would ask any questions.

Luc Spencer · August 14th, 2013, 07:18 AM

Good idea, I will consider this for my next event where videographers will not be welcome. I will also film with the flash popped up, so they'll think I'm really dumb and stay away from me.

Les Wilson · August 14th, 2013, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luc Spencer

...THE GH3 IS AWESOME. SERIOUSLY. WE JUST LIKE TO RAMBLE A LOT....

I would never use that word to describe the GH3. This thread is long because it was hijacked to talk about stabilization

Noa Put · August 14th, 2013, 02:59 PM

I just made a comparison between the gh3, 550d and nex-ea50 at iso 3200 and above, the gh3 was the cleanest of the lot, about the same sensitivity as my 550d but at 6400 iso the 550d is noisy as hell, same applies for the ea50, this one looks more sensitive at 5000 iso (highest I could go) but again a lot of ugly grain. It looks I will be shooting at 6400 iso with the gh3 when they kill all the light at the next wedding without having to worry that much about the noise.

the 50mbs mov codec is a little bit cleaner then avchd 50p (28mbs) but you have to pixel peep in a 300% blown up part of the image in photoshop to see it. All intra was more noisy and that was visible without magnifying the image, weird. So 50mbs mov would be the best codec to use as far as I can see.

Luc Spencer · August 14th, 2013, 03:31 PM

I just love it when someone else does all this work that I try to motivate myself to do, although I know it's pretty important considering you have customers paying you to know what you are doing. All I can say is a big thank you for this, and I owe you a few beers if you ever decide to come visit Romania :)

PS: All I've filmed with the GH3 so far for paid events was in MOV 50p, so I was lucky!

Noa Put · August 14th, 2013, 04:19 PM

If I had the time I would post a video with the results but I"m swamped with work and I need to get the gh3 under controll before Saturday, I"m off tomorrow shooting with the glidecam for an hour or so, just to test, that footage I will post, the camera is actually too light, even with the samyang 14mm lens on it but will see how it goes, will have to shoot with that combi this weekend so it has to work. I"ll keep that beer in mind. :)

Luc Spencer · August 14th, 2013, 04:52 PM

This applied to the GH2, haven't tested it on the GH3, but supposedly the RED channel causes the majority of the noise. A workaround is to use tungsten white balance, to make everything blue - minimizes the information inside the red channel. Then you can get clean footage with high ISO. After which you color correct in post.

Again, I doubt the GH2 was able to get usable footage at ISO 6400, so that was probably very helpful for that particular camera. I've recorded at ISO 3200 and it still looks very usable. Haven't tried 6400 yet, though.

Your ISO 6400 footage, was it taken with the WB set to tungsten or something similar? Just curious! :D

Noa Put · August 14th, 2013, 05:01 PM

The gh3 footage was noisy at 6400 iso but still much cleaner then both other camera's so usable for me in dark venues at weddings, but still need to see that this weekend when I can put it better to the test. Wil post a few shots next week.

I used a tungsten preset since I shot with indoor light.

Noa Put · August 15th, 2013, 03:10 AM

Just testdrove my gh3 on the blackbird, the camera with a samyang 14mm (28mm equivalent on a full frame camera) is a bit too light, I have to extent the vertical rod all the way up and use the smallest weights which makes it more difficult to keep it from swaying to the left or right, I need to tweak the balance further to get it right but it's OK for use at the wedding I plan to use this on this Saturday. Need to get a wider lens asap, 14mm on this camera is too narrow.

I"ll get the battery grip later on which will make it easier to balance, my 550d had a battery grip and I had some more tilt and pan control on that combo as well, with the light gh3 it's very sensitive to the touch and it's always better to add some more weight to increase inertia in the pan or tilts you perform.

Here the test shot I did, I added some random shots I shot yesterday, I"m taking the camera with me every day now just incase I see something interesting to take it out and shoot, just to get better used to it and I like the output more and more, really nice camera. (there is no sound in the video)

I did notice something strange, I shot the steadicam shots in that 50mb mov codec but importing, editing and exporting was slower then just avchd 2.0, it almosdt looked like edius didn't like the mov file, think I"ll stay with 28mbs avchd in the meantime until I figure out why that is.

Luc Spencer · August 15th, 2013, 03:57 AM

Wow... such smooth motion * _ * nicely done!

What wider lens are you considering?

Noa Put · August 15th, 2013, 09:19 AM

I want about a 14mm equivalent on a 1.5 crop camera, so that means a 10 to 11mm lens that has f2.8, at first I thought about the Tokina 11-16 but I rather have a lens with a iris ring, samyang has a 8mm lens at f3.5 but I"m afraid it will be a stop too slow, 2.8 was barely enough and f3.5 might cause some issues. The Olympus 12mm is f2.0 but that's a risk when it's wide open to maintain focus, but you can use it at f2.8 as well ofcourse + it's not cheap. Then you also have the 12mm slr magic f1.6 but that one produces some ugly flare, so actually I don't know yet. :)

Luc Spencer · August 15th, 2013, 11:56 AM

I completely feel your pain. I browsed through the entire 3 pages of Panasonic/Olympus MFT lenses on BH Photo, and the only lens that sparked somewhat of an interest was the 7-14mm f/4 Panasonic. But it's way too expensive. And it's f/4. So no thanks.

To me it feels like it's a battle between the Tokina and the Olympus. For some reason I don't trust the Tokina though. And I want to be able to use AF, the touch-AF feature produces beautiful focus pulls. Not that you will have a very shallow DoF on a 12mm lens, but still!

August 13th, 2013, 02:57 PM	#91
Luc Spencer Major Player Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 201	Re: gh3... any typical problems? I just realized that this particular thread, "gh3... any typical problems?" is 6 pages long, the longest thread on this front page of the lumix gf / gh series category. For those of you who just arrived here: THE GH3 IS AWESOME. SERIOUSLY. WE JUST LIKE TO RAMBLE A LOT. Edit: great, my post just made it 7 pages now.

August 13th, 2013, 06:57 PM	#92
Chris Duczynski Major Player Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: sydney Posts: 304	Re: gh3... any typical problems? I agree, I use it 4 out 5 days for jobs and am really happy with mine. I find DSLR's in general more complicated to use than my XDcam and Z5, but it's "cinematic" advantages with quality lenses for the price are astounding. And you know what's a really great thing about it....you can shoot broadcast quality footage around the world often without the hassle of a permit, which makes life a lot easier on shoots. Great topic - I think there's a few more pages left in this thread yet.

August 14th, 2013, 02:03 AM	#93
Luc Spencer Major Player Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 201	Re: gh3... any typical problems? This is going to sound incredibly amateurish, but... you need a permit? Wherever I go I just point and shoot and unless it's a museum or a private property, there should be no problems. Also, why do you say a DSLR makes it easier? Because people are bothered more by video cameras than by (what they think are) still cameras?

August 14th, 2013, 07:18 AM	#95
Luc Spencer Major Player Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 201	Re: gh3... any typical problems? Good idea, I will consider this for my next event where videographers will not be welcome. I will also film with the flash popped up, so they'll think I'm really dumb and stay away from me.

August 14th, 2013, 02:59 PM	#97
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,509	Re: gh3... any typical problems? I just made a comparison between the gh3, 550d and nex-ea50 at iso 3200 and above, the gh3 was the cleanest of the lot, about the same sensitivity as my 550d but at 6400 iso the 550d is noisy as hell, same applies for the ea50, this one looks more sensitive at 5000 iso (highest I could go) but again a lot of ugly grain. It looks I will be shooting at 6400 iso with the gh3 when they kill all the light at the next wedding without having to worry that much about the noise. the 50mbs mov codec is a little bit cleaner then avchd 50p (28mbs) but you have to pixel peep in a 300% blown up part of the image in photoshop to see it. All intra was more noisy and that was visible without magnifying the image, weird. So 50mbs mov would be the best codec to use as far as I can see.

August 14th, 2013, 03:31 PM	#98
Luc Spencer Major Player Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 201	Re: gh3... any typical problems? I just love it when someone else does all this work that I try to motivate myself to do, although I know it's pretty important considering you have customers paying you to know what you are doing. All I can say is a big thank you for this, and I owe you a few beers if you ever decide to come visit Romania :) PS: All I've filmed with the GH3 so far for paid events was in MOV 50p, so I was lucky!

August 14th, 2013, 04:19 PM	#99
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,509	Re: gh3... any typical problems? If I had the time I would post a video with the results but I"m swamped with work and I need to get the gh3 under controll before Saturday, I"m off tomorrow shooting with the glidecam for an hour or so, just to test, that footage I will post, the camera is actually too light, even with the samyang 14mm lens on it but will see how it goes, will have to shoot with that combi this weekend so it has to work. I"ll keep that beer in mind. :)

August 14th, 2013, 04:52 PM	#100
Luc Spencer Major Player Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 201	Re: gh3... any typical problems? This applied to the GH2, haven't tested it on the GH3, but supposedly the RED channel causes the majority of the noise. A workaround is to use tungsten white balance, to make everything blue - minimizes the information inside the red channel. Then you can get clean footage with high ISO. After which you color correct in post. Again, I doubt the GH2 was able to get usable footage at ISO 6400, so that was probably very helpful for that particular camera. I've recorded at ISO 3200 and it still looks very usable. Haven't tried 6400 yet, though. Your ISO 6400 footage, was it taken with the WB set to tungsten or something similar? Just curious! :D

August 14th, 2013, 05:01 PM	#101
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,509	Re: gh3... any typical problems? The gh3 footage was noisy at 6400 iso but still much cleaner then both other camera's so usable for me in dark venues at weddings, but still need to see that this weekend when I can put it better to the test. Wil post a few shots next week. I used a tungsten preset since I shot with indoor light.

August 15th, 2013, 03:10 AM	#102
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,509	Re: gh3... any typical problems? Just testdrove my gh3 on the blackbird, the camera with a samyang 14mm (28mm equivalent on a full frame camera) is a bit too light, I have to extent the vertical rod all the way up and use the smallest weights which makes it more difficult to keep it from swaying to the left or right, I need to tweak the balance further to get it right but it's OK for use at the wedding I plan to use this on this Saturday. Need to get a wider lens asap, 14mm on this camera is too narrow. I"ll get the battery grip later on which will make it easier to balance, my 550d had a battery grip and I had some more tilt and pan control on that combo as well, with the light gh3 it's very sensitive to the touch and it's always better to add some more weight to increase inertia in the pan or tilts you perform. Here the test shot I did, I added some random shots I shot yesterday, I"m taking the camera with me every day now just incase I see something interesting to take it out and shoot, just to get better used to it and I like the output more and more, really nice camera. (there is no sound in the video) I did notice something strange, I shot the steadicam shots in that 50mb mov codec but importing, editing and exporting was slower then just avchd 2.0, it almosdt looked like edius didn't like the mov file, think I"ll stay with 28mbs avchd in the meantime until I figure out why that is. Vimeo

August 15th, 2013, 03:57 AM	#103
Luc Spencer Major Player Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 201	Re: gh3... any typical problems? Wow... such smooth motion * _ * nicely done! What wider lens are you considering?

August 15th, 2013, 09:19 AM	#104
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,509	Re: gh3... any typical problems? I want about a 14mm equivalent on a 1.5 crop camera, so that means a 10 to 11mm lens that has f2.8, at first I thought about the Tokina 11-16 but I rather have a lens with a iris ring, samyang has a 8mm lens at f3.5 but I"m afraid it will be a stop too slow, 2.8 was barely enough and f3.5 might cause some issues. The Olympus 12mm is f2.0 but that's a risk when it's wide open to maintain focus, but you can use it at f2.8 as well ofcourse + it's not cheap. Then you also have the 12mm slr magic f1.6 but that one produces some ugly flare, so actually I don't know yet. :)

August 15th, 2013, 11:56 AM	#105
Luc Spencer Major Player Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 201	Re: gh3... any typical problems? I completely feel your pain. I browsed through the entire 3 pages of Panasonic/Olympus MFT lenses on BH Photo, and the only lens that sparked somewhat of an interest was the 7-14mm f/4 Panasonic. But it's way too expensive. And it's f/4. So no thanks. To me it feels like it's a battle between the Tokina and the Olympus. For some reason I don't trust the Tokina though. And I want to be able to use AF, the touch-AF feature produces beautiful focus pulls. Not that you will have a very shallow DoF on a 12mm lens, but still!