Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

My, this is a meandering thread isn't it - all good stuff though !

Well curiosity got the better of me and I installed the GV codecs pack again:

https://www.edius.net/hqx.html

However, when I came to transcode some GH5 4K 10-bit 422 clips (and other 10-bit 422 sources) to GV HQX using VirtualDub_FilterMod (VDFM), only the 8-bit variant was available. Whether that's a limitation of the VFW codec, as made available to third-party applications, or there is a way to access the 10-bit variant, I'm not sure. I've queried that with the developer of VDFM.

Edit: Apparently the VFW GV HQX codec doesn't support 10-bit, even though the information on that codecs pack download page implies it does:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.ph...83#post1829583

Still, with VDFM it is possible to transcode to other Resolve-compatible 10-bit 422 formats (including ProRes and Cineform, both using native encoder implementations) with confidence that the conversion is mediated at high bit depth. And also remux GV HQX.avi files to .mov using Direct Stream copy. There is 10-bit 422 x264 encoding also, but Resolve will not import these files, nor compressed lossless avi formats, like MagicYUV, UTVideo, HuffYUV, that support 10-bit.

Worth mentioning also - now that Resolve has integrated the Cineform codec SDK (internal transcoding and export previously required installation of GoPro Studio/Quik to access the codec), Cineform is now available as a caching and Optimised Media format. For Windows users it was previously limited to DNxHR or Uncompressed.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

There's also BRNO BaLens, which uses the same principle, available in 62mm filter size:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/591750-REG/BRNO_BAL62_baLens_62mm_White_Balance.html/BI/2855/KBID/3801

I haven't tried either (on a camcorder), but I'm thinking to.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

FWIW - browsing the Canon GX10 user manual again I see that, despite being dubbed the 'consumer model', it can (just like the XF-400/405) output 10-bit 422 1080/30p and 1080/60p (1080/25p and 1080/50p on PAL model) over HDMI to an external recorder.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

The only differences between the GX10, XF400 and XF405 is the XLR handle and for the XF405 the SDI connector . Other than those things all the three are basically the same according to the video on the Canon site.

EDIT: Of course with a Shogun Inferno one can get all the performance and extra XLR connectors plus 12G SDI for about $300 more than the difference between the GX10 and the XF405.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

Shame the GX10 appears to be getting such a lukewarm response, at least as judged by the few customer reviews I could find (on B&H and Amazon), with complaints that the 4K video images are 'dull' (and so assumed to be sub-par quality) compared to the AX100 and other 4K cameras. Can't help but wonder though whether that perception relates more to differences in (default) in-camera sharpening than 'flat focus' IQ per se. Still looking for some raw sample clips from the GX10 (or XF-400/405) to examine and unfortunately none of the camera stores in my locale stock it or have a demo model - 'special order' only.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

Hi, I'm thinking to buy a GH5 camera with Leica lens 12-60mm to make UHD documentaries around the world. I don't visit towns but I document indigenpous life in remote areas. I'd like to ask some questions because I have always used videocameras in my life and the GH5 is opening up for me a new horizon that I don't know at all. For this reason I'd like to ask some questions please.
1) In your opinion will I need a Zhiyun Crane for my shots? I don't like to bring with me heavy matters but if it will be important for me I will buy it.
2) If you suggest to use the Zhiyun Crane, usually for how much time will I need to use it? I know it is a stupid question but I like to understand better. Will I have to use it around 50-60% of my shots or for all the time 100%? Certainly there are rare times that I need to put the camera on the tripod, but I do not mean this moments. So I exclude them because I mean allt eh times without tripod.
3) Can I always use a skylite instead of UV filter to protect Leica lens? Do you advise against it?
4) Can I use GH5 without any gray filter in the very sunny days? Will I get enough bad images?
5) How do you suggest to make the white balance?
6) Can you tell me if GH5 gives a good image quality with in semiautomatic mode? I'd like to fix only the shutter at 120f/s and I let the camera to choose all the other options in automatic mode.
I'd like to get replies from expert guys who make UHD videos with GH5.
Thanks a lot for your pleasant suggestions.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

If this is how you want to use the camera then there is no use in answering all other questions, the GH5 is not made to shoot all auto.

Fixing the shutter at 1/120 and just let the camera deal with the rest is at a certain point asking for a bad image quality. From all your posts so far it looks to me you just want a point and shoot camera and focus on content and not deal with camerasettings at all, for that reason I still would suggest to get a small sensor handicam from either sony or canon.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

I can watch videos made with small sensor. I don't like them anymore. I can spend much more money than the price of Sony AX100 for a camera but there are not cameras better than AX100 in image quality.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

If you want to have the best image quality a camera can provide you then you have to learn how to properly operate a camera manually, if you are not willing to do that then every camera you buy will give you less then optimal results.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

I know you are right but I have to deal with my reality. I know it but I can't setting my camera every time I need to shoot in places where it is hard to survive and where the sun burns the brain. With my AX100 I have been satisfied for a long time, now not more. I am a lover of good images quality but I understand that I can be satisfied even if I get only a little from those cameras. If I get 60% from AX100 and I get 60% from GH5, I hope the image quality of GH5 is better than AX100.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

Have to agree with Noa. Any camera that you use point and shoot will be little different than the AX100. In fact you can manually adjust some things on the AX100 and get better performance from it too. If you are comparing your videos to National Geographic then they have very expensive cameras, manually adjusted all the time. Then the videos are graded. You will not come anywhere close with a point and shoot approach. However content is king. Wonderful video of something of no interest is not worth much. Phone video of something of real linterest is worth a lot more.

Both Noa and myself have both GH5 and AX100 ( at least I think still has the AX100 ). It is the manual adjustments that make the difference. Left in auto ( P mode on the GH5 ) there is little difference between the cameras. Image stabilizer is I think better on the GH5 and I can make the autofocus about the same ( don't use continuous auto on either camera use touch focus ). Zoom range is longer on the AX100 than the 12-60 you would need to get the 14-140 to get close to the AX100. I think you would need a variable ND on all the time in Africa. GH5 has advantage of being weather sealed including the lenses.

In summary. The AX100 is a much more convenient camera to use than the GH5. I would not even consider the GH5S because of the lack of stabilizer in your application. True, you could mount it on a gimbal all the time. Something else to carry and adjust. You can put a UV filter on the AX100 and it has everything else full manual control included. The same would be true for the GX10 or XF400 to get UHD50P that you want. The GH5 will be better but only if you control manually, chose lens for application etc and is a lot less convenient with pieces to carry and change. If you do not have the time to set up manually for your applications and just run full auto then you will see very little difference whatever camera you get. You will be far more dependent on auto focus and the ability to at most do AE shift realtime. I think the AX100 or one of the Canon's will do a better job run this way.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

I sometimes think how much marketing influences/affects the market. It is so easy to put a 50p sensor in every camcorder but some Company doesn't want to do it. Sony for example. It has to sell other cameras and in this time it can't put 50p in their cameras. I was waiting with interest for the next Sony a7SIII because it is very interesting for 4K video. It is a full frame but I'm pretty sure that camera will be 25-30p again. It is incredible but real. In my opinion Sony is falling lower and lower. I never would buy again a stroboscopic 25p camera. I wanted to make a leap of real quality with a new and more expensive camera, but I evidently can't do it. I've never sold my videos. I realize those videos for my taste and to know always different cultures. If I had to sold my videos, maybe I didn't care about getting better image quality and and I didn't have so much interest in making so many difficult journeys. I even risked my life by going to the mountains of the Sierra Nevada in Colombia. Sierra Nevada was the Farc guerrillas' hideout. But being alone, I could avoid them in a simpler way. Maybe I'm selfish and for this reason I understand that it is better not to sell my videos. I also understand my videos are giving me a lot of satisfaction, above all when I get a good trip with a good video quality. But since I always travel alone, I understand that I have to settle for my AX100. But I hope things can change over time. Anyway I thank you for your suggestions.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

These days I made a lot of tests with the all the profiles of the GH5 and I noticed that those profiles that I like more are the "Natural" and "Like 709".
I'd like to understand better about "Like 709" profile and I would like to ask a few questions:

I read it is a profile born for broactast. But yet "Like 709" is probably the most baked in look you can get from the GH5. It has the least dynamic range, so if you are trying to preserve highlights without losing the shadows, its not the best option. For a finished look though its great. It also works very well on the more compressed recording options like 120, 180, and 240fps, as they are very brittle codecs that can't be pushed much.

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

Hi guys, all today that I was thinking about my problem but I can't get out of it. I'd like to do the WB with 18% gray cardboard but with the B: 1 M: 1 setting. Every time I do the WB I have to put those data manually. Is there the possibility to save those data? In other words, after doing the WB I would like to see automatically B: 1 M: 1.
Thanks

Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.
 

The whole point of doing a white balance is to do it just as you are going to shoot so that it is done in the light that you will be shooting in. Saving it does not make any more sense than using one of the presets in the camera now and then altering when you edit.