Lumix GH1 Good Enough for Commercial Production

[Rob deJong]

That's good news. Thanks.

[Christopher Ruffell]

Just released - would love to hear what you think!

'Habit' Music Video - Cole Grifter Band GH1 60P on Vimeo

[Robert Turchick]

wow!
That's really nice! Good footage and good editing! Tunes not bad either! HaHa!

Screw what commercial clients think of a small DSLR on a shoot. Show them the samples and they won't care if it says Fisher Price on the side when the end result looks like this!
Congrats!

[Christopher Ruffell]

Thanks for commenting Robert!

Yeah, I wish it was that easy - I tend to shoot with small crews and small cameras - difficult for client's to 'feel' it'll look as big the work of mine they've already seen of mine! Good nes - everyone's switching to smaller cameras for production work, so, they'll learn either through me or another production group. That's what I keep telling myself anyway..

[Régine Weinberg]

great content, fantastic
I can say, never thought it is possible with such a tiny camera,
smal is so sexy ....great

[Christopher Ruffell]

Hey Régine, thanks! Yes, it's such a small, unassuming package, and yet.. delivers! D-SLR with video sure gained respect from industry-insiders quickly!

[Christopher Ruffell]

An article's been written on the process behind the production of the 'Habit' music video and it's been posted up at Digital Cinema Foundry's site.

Take a read and ask any questions you have, and I'll be happy to answer:

Digital Cinema Foundry – Learning resource in the field of digital cinematography – ‘Habit’ Music Video

In addition, here's the list of equipment written by the DP that was used on the shoot:

Technical Equipment List

Band Forest Scene:
8x8 griffolyn (key for whole band)
Smith Victor 600w open face (griff bounce)
1k arri fresnel (lead singer backlight)
1k Par 64 with Lee 251 diffusion and single net (Drums back light/ in manual lighting board for flashing)
2 575w zoom lekos, on right and left side of drums pointed directly at camera lens (lens flare lights/ in manual board for flashing)
2 650w fresnels (guitarist/ bassist backlights)
8 large "practical" style lights on programable DMX chase board (lens flares/ practical lights in shot)
2 fog machines (used for the wide shots heavy and lightly in the Meds/ CUs)
200w mini mole with 216 and medium snoot (eye light for lead singer)

WB: 3200k
Shutter speed:1/250? (please check metadata)
Aperture: Meds/ CUs f1.4, wide f2.5
Lenses: We used a nikkor 50mm f1.4 for most shots, and a 24mm tamron f2.5 for the wide shots.*
ISO? I believe it was 400?
Camera support: An indie slider was used to make the aggressive camera movements. Most of the CUs of the band members were shot handheld. A jib was used for the wide shots.
Power: A 6.5k generator, and a 4k generator provided the power needed for lighting

All the gear was hand carried (and generators were rolled) up and down a 200m steep embankment down to a marshy area where the scene was filmed. To make matters worse, Karl, Chris, and Kevin did most of the hauling down and set-up. *


Beach Scene (Dusk):
The opening jib shots (daytime) were shot about 2pm-3pm? in the afternoon (with a 50mm lens?)

Beach Scene (Night):
8x8 griffloyn (key)
1k redhead with F CTB (bounced off griff for key- for all nightime shots)
300w fresnel with F CTB and Lee 251 diffusion (backlight for sharman/ key for brandon- used for all night time shots)
Practical fire/ smoke (started with gasoline) was used to provide all "firelight" in the scene. There is no artificial firelight*
1k par 64 with F CTB (as I didn't have any fresnels) was used to light up the beach/logs*farther down from where the scene takes place

ISO: 400?
Shutter Speed: 1/250?
WB: 3200k
Aperture: f1.4 (night) f? (day)
Lens: Nikkor 50mm f1.4
Camera support: jib, tripod, apple box
Power: a 6.5k generator provided the power needed for the lighting (the generator/ other gear had to be carried 500m down stairs and along the beach until it would be in the correct position)

Alley Scene:
650w fresnel (start backlight)
650w fresnel (key through bars- end of alley/ moved for key with 251

[Chris Davis]

Great work, Christopher! I believe you have single-handedly convinced me to get the GH1. I mainly shoot with my JVC HD100 and was considering getting a JVC HM100 to shoot where space is tight or I need to be less conspicuous. I think I'll pick up a GH1 now, and get an HMC40 for times I need more of a "real" video camera. Both together are not much more than an HM100.

[Christopher Ruffell]

That's great to hear, Chris! I in turn was helped by the online Community here at DVinfo.net and Vimeo in my purchase decision to get a GH1 - enjoy and share what work you do with it here too! Cheers

[Chris Davis]

I just ordered it and opted for overnight shipping. I've been mulling over this "new camera" descision for two weeks, I'm glad to finally have made up my mind.

[Christopher Ruffell]

To Haiti With Love - Victoria BC Fundraiser for Red Cross on Vimeo

Shot this all handheld, with the GH1 and Nikon lenses over the course of a day to document a day of raising funds to give to Haiti in her time of need. I was asked last minute if I'd like to donate my time, and of course stepped up. Would love to hear what you think of this video, or the others.

[Adrian Frearson]

Good work, did you find the small size of the camera helped people be more relaxed than if you were shooting with a larger set up?

[Christopher Ruffell]

I had a Mattebox and Rails I was shooting with, and propped the end of the rails against my shoulder/chest as I was shooting. It was obviously a bigger camera with that setup I was using - I got asked a couple times who I was shooting for, but people weren't too intimidated by it.

That said, there's a shoot coming up that I'm planning to go more 'stealth' with, and it's nice to have the option!

[Christopher Ruffell]

It's about time the GH1 got more press - it's technically a very impressive camera-class leader in many respects. It's awesome to have a one-year old piece of tech get a second stab at pseduo-stardom....

I've used the patched firmware for my Lumix GH1 as per Vitaliy Kiselev's (Tester13's) instructions. Result = higher bitrate AVCHD recording. Works great, no funny business. I own the fastest Class 10 SDHC card made, an 8GB Sandisk, but I still had to patch 3x lowering the bitrate three times before I could find a bittrate the card or I/O of the camera's hardware could handle. It never crashed, just stopped recording letting me know the it couldn't keep recording at certain times (usually when I was shooting high detail with movement).

Very glad I 'hacked' my GH1 though. I did a shoot recently that was entirely handheld/DIY stedicam with a heck of a lot of fine-detail in the scene (fields of grass). Hardest combo a camera can deal with I imagine - high contrast imagery, movement with high detail.

Why did i opt for high-bitrate AVCHD and not the highbitrate MJPEG? I feel like no one's saying it - the AVCHD is sharper. Also, and MORE importantly, the majority of what I shoot is B-Roll - which looks absolutely fantastic in slow motion, and only AVCHD supports the 60P so far.

I'll post the projects as they're completed soon. Until then, those who are considering 'hacking' their own GH1s - go ahead (if you're comfortable) - just stick to the options that are throughly tested and leave the in-progress stuff alone.

[Ryan Glover]

hacked my cam too. it's incredible! can't wait to see your new stuff!