gh3... any typical problems?

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

Noa, if you haven't purchased yet then I suggest that you look at the new Panasonic G6.

Well, I just have :) I might get the g6 body as b-cam, I have two 550d's of which one was on the steadicam all the time, since I got my nex-ea50 one 550d was not being used anymore, plan to get rid of both canons anyway, hopefully the gh3 will prove to be a worthy upgrade. I got the body for below 1000 euro which is a good price as not so long ago it was listed at 1300 euro.

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

If it is exclusively to replace the 550D for Steadicam use then it's worth looking at the Olympus OM-D E-M5. Not only is the best MFT stills camera with great low light performance but the in body 5-way stabilisation is amazing. If only shoots 30p so if you conform footage to 25p but that adds a nice slo-mo look.

Thx for that link, great video from the Olympus, the image does look very good and the stabilsation when shooting handheld seems great but for on a steadicam I don't need stabilisation and the fact it only shoots 30 or 60i and p only makes it useless for me, I need 25p or 50p.

[Nigel Barker]

Noa, what lens did you get for the GH3?

I have been using a 5D2 with a 16-35mm F/2.8L on my Glidecam & TBH it seems a terrible waste when I could sell them & get something smaller/lighter/cheaper so I have started looking at MFT cameras again. I sold my GH2 as while I liked the video a lot I found it too small & fiddly to use but using it on my Glidecam I wouldn't need to touch the camera much.

When I first started using the Glidecam I used the widest possible lens to cover up my lack of skill. I even used a Samyang 14mm at one stage. However as my skill in flying & framing has improved I am using a tighter focal length so don't need to worry about distortion of close objects (or worse still people). I generally use the 5D2 at 24-28mm now. While the Olympus 12mm F/2 lens l(24mm FF equivalent) ooks great it's almost the same price as a G6 so I would probably be better off with the panasonic 14mm F/2.5 which is equivalent to a 28mm on a full frame. It's a pancake lens so manually focusing isn't easy when shooting video but on the Glidecam I would be adjusting focus while shooting anyway. In any case the hyperfocal distance of the 14mm lens on a MFT camera is 5.5m at F/2.5 with everything in focus from 2.67m to infinity.

BTW I also found this lightweight handheld Steadicam that could be great for an MFT camera Xcam stabilizer steadicam minicam Mini Cam for video excellent Skyler | eBay

There is a demo of it on Cheesycam XCAM Mini vs Skyler MiniCam Handheld Stabilizers CheesyCam

[Noa Put]

Noa, what lens did you get for the GH3?

Well, initially I was not planning to get any lens and to just get a adapter to fit all my samyang lenses, I did plan to get the leica 25mm f1.4 and the olympus 12mm f2.0 as both seem to be excellent lenses for their price but that would be a upgrade I want to do much later.

But then I saw a good deal on 2 of the cheapest pana lenzes, the 14-42 f3,5/5,6 ois lens and the 14 f2.5 pancake, it was a bundle offer with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF5, if I would buy both lenses separately it would be the almost the same price of that bundle offer including the DMC-GF5 body so I would be getting that body basically for free. Since I need a stabilized lens that cheap 14-42 lens seems to be a good start, will see how that goes and I have a pocketcam with the pancake lens I can take along everytime I go out. It's not a bmcpc but since it was about "free" and available I"m not complaining. :) And from what I have seen it does output a decent image.

Will be doing some thorough testing with the gh3 before I put it into production, need to know what the best noise free settings will be and if my 14mm samyang will be wide enough on the steadicam, in full frame terms I"m going from 21 to 28mm so need to see first if it's wide enough.

[Nigel Barker]

I have five or six nice Canon FD lenses & several adaptors but none of the lenses is wider than 28mm i.e. 56mm FF equivalent. The FD lenses are also heavy hunks of metal & rather defeat the object of a small & light MFT camera. When I had my GH2 I did have the Panasonic 7-14mm F/4 lens with it. It's a fantastic lens & I regret selling it now but I got rid of all my MFT gear when I sold the GH2 & AF101. The 7-14mm is expensive & quite large but not too heavy. The only drawback is that it's only an F/4 but as the GH3 has better low light performance than the GH2 that would not be too big a problem.

[William Hohauser]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

William, I am surprised that you don't use the GH3's built in EVF. The resolution is better than enlarging the pixels of the rear screen. Perhaps it's the fact that using the the loupe is better ergonomically for prolonged use? I used to use the EVF on my GH2 a lot when I lived in the South of France & had to contend with very bright sunshine.

I have got used to not using a loupe on my 5D3. I loved using a loupe on my 5D2 partly for the extra stability of the third point of contact but initially there were no loupes that fitted the 5D3 so I was back to using the camera 'naked'. The screen on the 5D3 is superior to the 5D2 & I think that I use my Glidecam a lot more nowadays rather than the monopod so don't miss the loupe.

Until a loupe was designed for the GH3 LCD (which is larger than the GH2 LCD) I did use the EVF almost exclusively and it's an experience I don't want to repeat on long shoots. If you are shooting short shots here and there, it's fine but if I am shooting a twenty minute interview or a two hour long stage presentation it's awful. Sometimes the LCD is not viable if I am shooting from within the audience. And keeping the EVF to my eye results in a soggy camera from breath condensation. This is why I stated that the design is still for still photographers who rarely keep the camera next to their face like video people have to. The past couple of days I have been filming a dance performance in natural locations with the GH3 and it's been great. Last weekend I filmed a live stage performance and used a pro video camera as the GH3 is just too fidgety to deal with. And I needed a parfocal zoom that is greater than 1 to 4.

The Varavon loupe has a unique design that really changes the ergonomics of the GH3 and once magnified you'll find the LCD much sharper then you thought it was. I recommend it.

[William Hohauser]

Here is my standard GH3 set-up. Hopefully the 2 pictures upload from my phone. I apologize for the focus.

[William Hohauser]

For whatever reason only one picture uploaded. Here's the front in focus.

[Noa Put]

Can I ask which type of loupe that is William? Does it stay well on the viewfinder and doesn't it slide from left to right?

edit, sorry, I see it's a Varavon loupe

[Buba Kastorski]

Originally Posted by Alex Anderson

I think almost all the cameras today look good when there is enough light. So, the quest for the best low light camera to shoot HD video in the less than or around $1k.

that's the thing - what's enough for Mark 3 is not for GHx;
the issue i hated is when you start shooting video after a few seconds all on screen data goes away, and there is no option to keep it there, not even histogram, why did they do that - mystery;
probably GH3 is the best low lighter under $1K, depending on the lens of course, at least compare to GH2 it is noticeably better in low light and has wider DR, but i gave it up in favor of another Mark3,
still keeping my GH2 though :)

[William Hohauser]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

Can I ask which type of loupe that is William? Does it stay well on the viewfinder and doesn't it slide from left to right?

edit, sorry, I see it's a Varavon loupe

Yes, it's a Varavon. The metal mounting mechanism is very secure and the LCD should be safe from any but the most severe damage in case of a fall. It is adjustable in terms of fit but I find that the very extreme right of the viewfinder is a little obscured in the viewfinder after moving the camera in and out of the bag. The eyepiece comes with a diopter so it can be adjusted for eyeglass wearers like me. The eyepiece also folds up so you can step back from the camera and still monitor the image. In normal use it's held closed by magnets. The loupe goes on and except for what I describe below does not interfere with the normal operations of the camera.

What are the functional drawbacks?

- It is moderately tough to attach and remove so I keep it on 99% of the time. The camera is significantly bigger when it's on (but not much heavier) so your camera bags may not fit it. I have a configurable bag so it's nice and snug for traveling.

- The eyepiece only has about an 80 degree range of swivel from horizontal to facing up so it's not good for holding over ones head to get a shot of a crowd for example. But it's perfect for most eye level shots or low angle shots which are 90% of what I shoot anyway.

- The loupe makes the audio and HDMI ports hard to access. The Rode mike you saw in the photos comes with a right angle mini jack which is perfect. The headphone jack is lower on the body so a short right angle headphone extender would have to be installed before the loupe is put on. Since I never use the camera for main audio anyway I haven't put one on. To tell the truth, I am not sure if a standard right angle mini adapter would fit in the headphone jack with the loupe there. The mini HDMI port is a bigger question, I have a right angle mini HDMI wire but I have never tried to see if it fits with the loupe. Quite frankly, my need for an external monitor on this camera is low and I haven't found an external recorder that does 24p from the HDMI yet. If I get one (which is presently unlikely as the 50mbs files have been great so far) it will probably be a Atomos Ninja Recorder that has a monitor built in (with focus peaking!) and I'll remove the loupe when I use it.

[Chris Duczynski]

William, I've also have the varavon and find it really comfortable and functional. Like an ENG viewfinder actually. I slip the loupe off at the end of a shoot but leave the plate attached - makes it a really easy add-on. The headphone jack is not accessible, however the line out is if you're using a pre-amp like juiced link and you can monitor from that.
I have also ordered the Samurai Blade to use as a monitor for the GH3 (and recorder for my Z5), so will let you know how it goes when it arrives.

[Ron Fabienke]

Originally Posted by William Hohauser

For whatever reason only one picture uploaded. Here's the front in focus.

William, do you have a photograph for how the base bracket for the Varavon attaches to your quick release bracket you need for your tripod? I have a similar looking one for a DV Multi Rig that I use with the GH3.

I was starting to get the impression from a couple of the videos you could only use the sliding "tube" type rigs and make it work until I saw your photo.

Thanks much

[William Hohauser]

It's pouring today and I can't get a decent phone photo of the underside but there's not much to see. It's a standard tripod attachment for any camera. I sometimes use a Spiderbrace shoulder mount with the camera for long hauls of handheld work and it attaches easy. It should not be a problem for you.

[Ron Fabienke]

OK. It's just I was watching one of the youtube videos last night and it "seemed" to me that the knob on the bottom brace which is used to screw the bottom brace into the tripod hole in the bottom of GH3, did not have a tripod hole of its own to be able to screw a quick release adaptor into it. Your spider brace does have some similarity to the DVMulti-Rig I'm using.

And then I found a link for the Varavon EX UNI loupe which I liked because it could be configured with the LCD against the back of the GH3 or swung out to the side. But had the same question there as did not see mounting hole in bottom of the Varavon tightening wheel for the under the camera part of the bracket.

Varavon Loupe EX UNI & GH3 : little tip on Vimeo

[William Hohauser]

Varavon does not recommend the EX UNI for the GH3 as there are issues with mounting it due to the LCD's size which is slightly larger than older LCDs on DSLRs. I actually tried to buy one from Varavon for my GH3 last year and they told me to wait until they were ready with the GH3 exclusive loupe. Zacuto makes a similar model to the EX UNI and they sell a special adapter to get it to fit on the GH3. Plus it costs much more.