gh4 shooters: how do you use your camera?

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by Dave Partington

To be fair we in Europe have the disadvantage that the GH4 is still limited to 29m59s, so having it as the unattended camera is still problematic. I suppose if the Atomos Shogun gets around the problem then things could change. Either that or I'll have to nip across the pond and buy a US version of the GH4.

It probably will not have a time record limit (haven't heard of any of the previous models having that), but the upside/downside being that you can't record internally if you want to do that. The problem is that, when the camera stops itself, the image will pause for a half second and this will get recorded on the Shogun (happens when you start/stop the camera after and before hitting start/stop on the Ninja Blade). The benefit is that you can get 10-bit out if you're not worried about recording internally.

[Vishal Jadhav]

Hi

I use the GH4 almost exclusively for wildlife videos

4k is my preferred choice of formats which i down scale in post.

96fps on slow motion is something i have used a bit.

a feature i liked was the variable frame rate and use the 2 fps to get a time-lapse right in the camera , have used this feature a bit till now.

a for wildlife most sound is externally recorded and zoom H4N is the one for it, i do have the rode on camera mic however still not used it.

i do not use a rig at all, use it on my tripod ,
Choice of lenses used have been the Canon 500 f4 L IS II, the canon 100-400, even the samyang 14mm f2.8
with a dumb adaptor as i have not had that metabones in stock

over all satisfied with this camera,

i just worry about the low light performance and nothing else.
best regards
vishal

[Mark Whittle]

This is the rig I use with my GH3 but will do the same thing with my GH4 when it arrives any day now.

I use a Fhugen cage with a JuicedLink Riggy micro mounted on top, a rode NTG1 feeding channel 1. I mount a Sennheiser receiver plugged into channel 2 when I need interview sound.

There is also a small arm attached so I can quickly mount a Lilliput 664 OP 7" monitor. On Miller or Libec sticks for interviews and wedding ceremony/speeches, the rest of the time on a monopod with a small Manfrotto video head. Hand held is possible but a bit awkward.

The Tascam may be a better option as you get a backup plus a direct feed, with the advantage that the backup is most likely of better quality that the direct camera recording. The JuicedLink is small and good quality but no backup and is heavy on batteries.

As with the GH3 I will use it for weddings and high end corporate interviews. What I don't like is not having an eyecup like on a proper video camera, so outdoors in Aussie sunlight it is very difficult to see the VF, and no ND so have to use Variable NDs.

I now use Premiere CC on my old 2009 Mac Pro but I gave it a birthday with an SSD boot drive and a GeForce GTX580 from Macvidcards so I can take advantage of the GPUs - a must have for Premiere IMO. I went with OSX 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion) as Mavericks gave me too many issues. I think FCP7 would be too painful if at all possible for a 4k experience.

I edit on Avid MC, Premiere CC and until recently FCP7 and CC is definitely my favourite and the only one I can cut 4k on anyway. The new JVC LS 300 might be worth considering if you want more videocamera features.

Cheers

[Vincent Oliver]

Originally Posted by Mark Whittle

This is the rig I use with my GH3 but will do the same thing with my GH4 when it arrives any day now.

I use a Fhugen cage with a JuicedLink Riggy micro mounted on top, a rode NTG1 feeding channel 1. I mount a Sennheiser receiver plugged into channel 2 when I need interview sound.

There is also a small arm attached so I can quickly mount a Lilliput 664 OP 7" monitor. On Miller or Libec sticks for interviews and wedding ceremony/speeches, the rest of the time on a monopod with a small Manfrotto video head. Hand held is possible but a bit awkward.

Always amuses me when I see a HDSLR camera with all the bells and whistles on it, I often wonder why not go for a dedicated camcorder. Some guys I have seen walk around with a rig that looks like scaffolding or a well decorated Christmas tree. I am sure it all serves a practical purpose, but rather defeats the object of having a small portable camera.

[Noa Put]

I would say it has several benefits compared to a dedicated camcorder, one would be the fact you can use it as a dslr only making it really small in use or add on accessories depending on your needs, such a Fhugen cage is very small but allows easy attachment of mike or a separate monitor or recorder.
Another advantage is lens choice, low light advantage, shallow dof. A dedicated camcorder has it purposes if you do longer continuous shoots or want to have a powered motorised zoom, deeper dof, good autofocus but if you shoot more creatively a dslr is the way to go.

[Mark Whittle]

Originally Posted by Vincent Oliver

Always amuses me when I see a HDSLR camera with all the bells and whistles on it, I often wonder why not go for a dedicated camcorder. Some guys I have seen walk around with a rig that looks like scaffolding or a well decorated Christmas tree. I am sure it all serves a practical purpose, but rather defeats the object of having a small portable camera.

Yea I know. Frankencam I call mine! But - even with the cage and a 10x zoom lens on it is still smaller, lighter and less intimidating than my camcorder. The picture quality is the reason. I too would rather have a dedicated camcorder for sure.

Because of the light weight of the GH cameras and their lenses, I can carry around two bodies with different lenses on like the stills guys do. One of my cameras has no cage or rig and just a videomic on it so you hardly know it's there.

[Noa Put]

I forgot the size benefit, I have a lowepro backpack that would fit one dedicated camcorder but could fit 5 dslr bodies including 5 lenses.

[Vincent Oliver]

Well, I do agree with the points being made, Last week I did a one man job with my Sony EX3 and it nearly broke my back just hiking the gear around. After that job I made my mind up to get an updated HDSLR (have the Nikon D90 which has never been used for video), so called in a GH4 from Panasonic, Will put it through some extensive tests this weekend, but I like what I see so far. The viewfinder is convenient and a delight to use, having previously used a Zacuto finder on a Nikon D7100 (loan stock from Nikon). As for the cage or scaffolding unit, well I am not so sure about all that, will see how I get on with the bare minimum amount of decorations.

Thanks for all your input, and thank you Noa for so many posts with useful information that has helped me decide that the GH4 may be the right camera for my needs.