Pana GH6: problem with AF

[Pete Cofrancesco]

My experience with shooting log is that it takes more work and is more difficult shooting. That's not to say some people don't find shooting log a problem.

For myself I don't have the time, experience or desire to deal with the process of shooting Log. This out weighs the appeal of increased dynamic range and the flexibility of color grading. I don't want anything that is going to make my life more difficult when shooting solo. That's me.

No offense but you don't seem to be the type of person that is suited for shooting Log. If you want to put in the time learn how to film and edit it on practice projects until you're comfortable to use it on a paid gig then have at it.

Like Ron is saying you need to shoot manual at high ISO, use variable ND and lens aperture to control your exposure.

[Adriano Moroni]

Originally Posted by Ron Evans

To get the best out of VLog and DRB ( preset at 2000ISO ) the camera needs to be completely in manual exposure. If gain is set at 2000, shutter at 1/100 ( 180 angle for 50P ) you only have iris and/or ND to control exposure. Iris for depth of field control and then just ND for exposure. Nothing automatic left it will be totally up to you. You will have to use waveforms, zebras to expose and your eyes.

Now I understand better, thank you. But what is still not clear to me is: do you set the ISO first and then the shutter and the iris or the other way around? Thanks again

[Adriano Moroni]

Originally Posted by Pete Cofrancesco

No offense but you don't seem to be the type of person that is suited for shooting Log. If you want to put in the time learn how to film and edit it on practice projects until you're comfortable to use it on a paid gig then have at it.

I never take offense when someone gives me advice. Instead I'm afraid of the opposite, that someone will get angry at my too many questions. ;) If you don't shoot in log, which profile do you use? Do you use Cinelike2?

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Adriano Moroni

I never take offense when someone gives me advice. Instead I'm afraid of the opposite, that someone will get angry at my too many questions. ;) If you don't shoot in log, which profile do you use? Do you use Cinelike2?

I don't use the GH6 but yes you would use a profile that has the grading baked into. It's a personal choice of whether the added time/complexity of filming log is worth it.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Adriano Moroni

Now I understand better, thank you. But what is still not clear to me is: do you set the ISO first and then the shutter and the iris or the other way around? Thanks again

When shooting in log the accepted method is controlling exposure manually and using the fixed native iso. This iso is often high which will require you to use ND filters (especially in outdoors) to bring it down enough that you can fine tune the exposure using the lens aperture.

Everyone is going to have their own opinion how easy it is to shoot Log but in the end it only matters whether its easy for you. The only way to determine that is do some sample projects.

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Adriano Moroni

Now I understand better, thank you. But what is still not clear to me is: do you set the ISO first and then the shutter and the iris or the other way around? Thanks again

For you to shoot 50P it is best to fix shutter at 1/100 ( 180 angle ). this is fixed then the exposure can be set using both gain ( ISO ) or iris or both at any time. Moving iris will effect the depth of field ( control the range of image in focus ) so you can choose this and then expose using gain and/or ND. IF you want lots in focus set the iris at F8 etc then adjust the ND and/or gain to set exposure. You really need to practice this rather than keep asking. This is very basic photography. V log adds to this complexity as it will need to be exposed in a particular way to get the advantage and then graded afterwards. Normally between 1 or 2 stops over exposed. If you want something to shoot and look at straight away then Like709 picture profile is perfect. Baked in grading for a normal TV. Cine D or Cine V will require some adjustment but move closer to dynamic range of V Log.

You need to learn to use the presets on the dial C1,C2, C3 ,C4 ( there are 3 subsetting for C4 too ) When you set these up you can switch to them and they will set up the camera so you do not have to keep setting things. Find how you like a set up and save to a preset. I have C1 set for 5.7K 60P with all the settings I like, C2 is set for C4K, C3 for UHD. The GH6 is a very feature rich camera that is very easy to use. But it is not a point and shoot camera.

[Adriano Moroni]

Originally Posted by Pete Cofrancesco

When shooting in log the accepted method is controlling exposure manually and using the fixed native iso.

I give you for sure that the native ISO of GH6 is 100 ISO. It sounds unbelievable but it is.

[Ron Evans]

It has dual native ISO but you cannot select the higher one manually only when you use DRB. Then the camera takes two images and mixes them together . Simplistically. It is in this mode that for Vlog the minimum ISO is 2000. The base ISO is not always the best either as often the dynamic range changes with ISO above and below middle grey. So it depends on whether it is important to protect highlights or shadows. Panasonic does not show this range but BlackMagic do for their cameras. I expect a similar characteristic.

[Adriano Moroni]

But in principle, without thinking about the high and low lights, if I want to set the GH6 with fixed ISOs by shooting in V-Log (without DRB) on a sunny day, is it better to choose 250 or 400 ISO?

[Ron Evans]

Originally Posted by Adriano Moroni

But in principle, without thinking about the high and low lights, if I want to set the GH6 with fixed ISOs by shooting in V-Log (without DRB) on a sunny day, is it better to choose 250 or 400 ISO?

That depends on what you want your iris to be as your shutter is going to be at 1/100 ( or 180 ). Why don't you try by setting gain to auto and let the camera decide. You can look at the LCD and the camera will tell you what it is using. One thing the GH6 has that the other GH series did not have displayed. You are still looking for the magic numbers that will give you the best outcome without you learning what to do. It doesn't work that way. You have to learn and understand what each parameter does in different circumstances.

[Adriano Moroni]

These days I do a lot of tests in 4K with V-Log and I have begun to understand how I should expose with V-Log. I'm starting to get good results. But one thing is not clear to me. The problem I don't understand is when I shoot with the ISO in AUTO. Simply put, when I rotate the variable ND filter, the image darkens. But is this normal? So what is ISO in AUTO for? An example: on a sunny day with the ISO in AUTO, in the viewfinder I see that they are at 250 with f5.6. I rotate the ND filter and the ISO reaches 800 but the image darkens .... and if I rotate more, the image darkens more and more (the image becomes very underexposed) even if the ISOs reach 2000 or more . In other words the ISOs don't compensate the exposure when I rotate the ND filter. Maybe do I have to configure something in the Menu?
I checked on Menu "ISO sensitivity (Video)" and I see the lower limit is ISO 250 and the upper limit is AUTO.
Thanks for some info.

[Ron Evans]

You really need to spend more time learning and understanding. In your example the auto gain is balancing the change in ND until there is nothing left for it to use. ND are used for several reasons but in your case to be simple. Darken the light input into the camera because the scene is too bright for the shutter speed you have chosen and the aperture you want to use. Simplistically -- for you-- ND and gain are opposites of each other . Too bright use ND for exposure fixed gain. Too dark take ND off and use auto gain. In both cases you have to decide how to set exposure using waveforms, zebras etc.

[Ron Evans]

Adriano. I have now experienced an issue with the ProGrade reader. It occurred when trying to copy two files from the CFexpress card by selecting both then dragging to a hard drive icon. Just locked up. Taking one at a time and it worked fine. Tried the same on the Mac Studio Max using a Thunderbolt port and it works fine. So may be a Windows driver issue that I will look into.

Ron

[Adriano Moroni]

I'm sorry that you are also having problems with the reader. I still have problems ejecting the CFexpress cards but not the SDs.

[Ron Evans]

I can get it to work . But it does seems to not be consistent. I do not eject ( other than on the Mac ) just pull the card out. I sent a question to ProGrade about new driver and they do not have anything new for that reader. Issue only occurs with the CFExpress card. So usable fine for me. Just thought I would let you know.