GH2 12-35mm wedding

Thoughts?

Hi Gary

That looks like a really useful lens!! The flash banding on the GH2 is really bad isn't it!!! That's the only thing that puts me off. CCD chips or smaller camera sensors handle the flash (which is always going to happen) a lot better.

Nice footage though....Did you use the GH2 on something like a Blackbird about a minute or so in ?? Look like it's sitting on a rig or you have very steady hands!!

Chris

Thanks, yes I used a glidecam hd1000

Hi Gary

OUCH!! those 13-35 zooms cost more than the camera!! I saw them on Amazon for $1299!!! For that price I would have expected at least an F1.8 or faster!!!

I only use my GH's for backup and the odd reverse shot as a static camera as I still prefer video cams..Chip hacked a US model for me so I can use it in PAL land but it's only got a moderate bitrate (I think he was talking around 28 mbps average which is more than enough)

Chris

Really inspirational piece Gary, loved every single part of it. The sound was also excellent and I think we all know how challenging it can be to get good audio at weddings, beside the good camera and audio work I think you got lucky that these people had something meaningful to say :) I often have couples reading out only text that is provided to them in church and they just do a short welcoming speech, that hardly gives me any material to work with, but the wedding you did is full of personal and funny speeches that you used very well throughout the video to support your images.


I did see soms other camera angles, was it a 2 or 3 camera shoot and was it also a 2 man shoot? And what other lenses where used?

A 12-35mm on a Micro Four Thirds camera is the equivalent of a 24-70mm full frame. Unfortunately there ain't no such beast as a F/1.8 zoom. The Olympus 12-35mm F/2 is the largest constant aperture zoom on the market for any camera & the best that you will see on a full frame is F/2.8.

Really inspirational piece Gary, loved every single part of it. The sound was also excellent and I think we all know how challenging it can be to get good audio at weddings, beside the good camera and audio work I think you got lucky that these people had something meaningful to say :) I often have couples reading out only text that is provided to them in church and they just do a short welcoming speech, that hardly gives me any material to work with, but the wedding you did is full of personal and funny speeches that you used very well throughout the video to support your images.


I did see soms other camera angles, was it a 2 or 3 camera shoot and was it also a 2 man shoot? And what other lenses where used?

Thanks, 2 man shoot with a third cam on tripod just for the ceremony.

Other lenses were 25mm 1.4 Panasonic, 35mm 1.4 rok, 85mm 1.4 rok, 135mm F2 FD lens

Hi Gary

OUCH!! those 13-35 zooms cost more than the camera!! I saw them on Amazon for $1299!!! For that price I would have expected at least an F1.8 or faster!!!

I only use my GH's for backup and the odd reverse shot as a static camera as I still prefer video cams..Chip hacked a US model for me so I can use it in PAL land but it's only got a moderate bitrate (I think he was talking around 28 mbps average which is more than enough)

Chris

Don't mind the price, though I haven't bought the lens, just rented it for now.

A 2.8 Lens with AF and Image Stabilization costs $1900 in full frame land with the Nikons - which don't AF well with video like the Panny does.

Canon only had a 2.8 WITHOUT IS, no C-AF for $1200. Also the Canon wide isn't that good.

So Panny is right in line with the competitioin IMO. $600 cheaper than a Nikon counterpart. Slightly more expensive than the Canon, but the Panny is sharper, and has OIS and C-AF that the Canon doesn't.

35mm 1.4 rok, 85mm 1.4 rok

have those 2 as well, great lenses for their price.

Yep especially the 85mm, really makes the GH2 for weddings. 35mm didn't use too much and kind of wished I got the 25mm 1.4 first (the 25 was a rental as I'm aiming for the noktons). 25mm was def. sharper wide open vs. the 35 - comparing apples and oranges as the focal length is different enough, but still. I used to own the 20mm 1.7 and must say the 25mm 1.4 is leaps and bounds better and can see how it's always back ordered, just gorgeous and that really impressed me more than the 12-35 on my wish list (12-35mm was a rental as well).

haha, same here :) when I bought the 35mm the 24mm was just announced, a local store told me it could take months before it was available and I didn't want to wait, I do use my 35mm quite a lot but wished I had waited for the 24mm. I use the 85mm a lot at the reception to get closeups from people and the footage turns out great on my canon 550d, my 35mm at f1.4 turns out to be a bit soft so I often close it down a bit.
First I was thinking to get the 24mm as well but now that the Canon 5DII is sold quite cheap second hand (very likely do to the 5DIII) I might get a used 5DII instead which will turn the 35mm to a more usable wide lens and I still can use the 85mm on the 550d to get closer with the 1.6 cropfactor.

Chris..... if it wouldn't have been for Gary being so supportive of me going GH1 all those years ago.... I might not have had any, nor got you going on one either. :-) Interesting how things and people connect in this world, isn't it ???


Hi Gary

OUCH!! those 13-35 zooms cost more than the camera!! I saw them on Amazon for $1299!!! For that price I would have expected at least an F1.8 or faster!!!

I only use my GH's for backup and the odd reverse shot as a static camera as I still prefer video cams..Chip hacked a US model for me so I can use it in PAL land but it's only got a moderate bitrate (I think he was talking around 28 mbps average which is more than enough)

Chris

For what you get, I agree it's worth the price, but I would go with the Olympus F/2.0 zooms at about $2100 instead. F/2.0 is as slow as I go on my cameras. In low light F/2.5 is just slower than I like. Still useable, but low-light shots just don't seem to have the pop I like.

Granted the Olympus lenses are very expensive, but at F/2.0, and given the quality of the glass, they cannot be beat on the GH2, IMO.

great video well done. Love the glide cam parts, I still cant get mine to stop twirling around!!!

good audio too, i think audio is key, you maybe be forgiven for dodgy video but if you cant make out what people are saying in a video it ruins it, to the point that it makes people annoyed and lose interest.

Really inspirational piece........ I think you got lucky that these people had something meaningful to say :)...........

Where i'm from you'd seldom get people pouring their hearts out in public, I guess irish people dont do that too well, so i'd be in the same boat there, sometimes it's hard to coax a word out of people when they realise there's a camera or a microphone about or if theres someone looking at them! Therein lays the challenge :-)


R

For what you get, I agree it's worth the price, but I would go with the Olympus F/2.0 zooms at about $2100 instead. F/2.0 is as slow as I go on my cameras. In low light F/2.5 is just slower than I like. Still useable, but low-light shots just don't seem to have the pop I like.

Granted the Olympus lenses are very expensive, but at F/2.0, and given the quality of the glass, they cannot be beat on the GH2, IMO.

I actually had a few chances to get some, but was afraid since it's not a m43 mount and even with the adapter won't AF for video. I prefer 12 vs. 14 for glidecaming as well. If I weren't gliding, I'd probably go for the 14-35.

But 2.0 is still slow for receptions, one reason why I don't bite, even though I'd like to.

Where i'm from you'd seldom get people pouring their hearts out in public, I guess irish people dont do that too well

Same issue in Belgium :) I often see really great videos here but most of them have one thing in common and that's meaningful speeches, as if they where scripted to be used in a movie, you often also see people speak during not formal moments like bridal prep as if no camera is there, that also gives you valuable moments to use recorded speech. If you have got that, then building a great demo on top of it is a lot easier.

Hi Rob and Noa

Some weddings are tough and some are easy. Apart from speeches I also do a "video guestbook" during pre-dinner drinks and sometimes it's really tough to get people to say even congratulations on video. Then othertimes I have guests standing in a line wanting to say their piece and it all comes straight from the heart!! Every new wedding surprises me as I don't know whether the next guest I interview will be awarded "orator of the year" or getting everyone to be brave enough to actually say something will be like "pulling hens teeth"

I have had people at the lectern spout a load on nonsense and be shivering with nerves and next time you get an emotional outpour....with me plenty of Brides fathers will choke on emotion...must be tough for them but it makes awesome video for me!!

We get a very wide range of guests here and it makes life interesting!

Chris

The groom at the Nigerian/Caribbean wedding that we shot at the lovely Eltham Palace & Gardens, London - Wedding Venue Hire | English Heritage (http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/book-and-buy/venue-hire/wedding/eltham-palace/) in London last weekend gave a wonderful speech. Totally off the cuff with no notes but fluent, funny, gracious with thanks to relatives & friends & full of great anecdotes. He is a plumber by trade & until he stood up to speak we thought that he was rather quiet & self effacing. We hadn't met him until the day as everything had been arranged by the bride so the speech was a very pleasant surprise & of course pure gold for the wedding video.

Gary, you are a master videographer, your work is inspirational. You are right, even F/2.0 is slow at times.

Hi Nigel

My wedding back in June had a guy from Africa who had a wicked sense of humour and gave a delightful speech ... things like "When I arrived at Perth Airport the Customs officer with a delightfully posh British accent asked me "Do you have any drugs or contraband Sir?" ...I replied "Exactly what do you define as drugs?" ..3 hours later I left the airport !!

I'm sure the groom will watch it countless times!!

Chris