GH2 12mm Olympus+Glidecam! Wedding Short Film GH2

Psynema

Well-known member
Just wanted to share a recent GH2 wedding short I did with the new 12mm lens, 25mm (4/3 one which is GORGEOUS)

Thoughts? 3 GH2s...57mm Hexanon and 85mm Rok as well.
 
Did you use the 12mm with continuous autofocus on? If so, how did the AF perform?
Yes, C-AF. Performed VERY WELL - telepathic even. Only has trouble with backlit subjects, which is to be expected, but honestly, wasn't a big deal at all and very minor and few instances of backlit confusion...other than that, PERFECT w/ face detection. 1000 times better than the 20mm 1.7 which I won't use again on a glidecam
 
I love how DSLR and the GH2 handle low lights so well... I can't do that with my HPX170.

If all of this is AF, it is very impressive.

But the rolling shutter flashes are very annoying.

Beautiful!
 
Nice work! I lost interest in glidecam products back when I was still using traditional video cameras, but this has got me interested again. How did you handle exposure? Did you also have the 25mm on the Glidecam? If you did, how did that work?
 
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Nice work! I lost interest in glidecam products back when I was still using traditional video cameras, but this has got me interested again. How did you handle exposure? Did you also have the 25mm on the Glidecam? If you did, how did that work?
Exposure was manual. 12mm only on the glidecam
 
Glidecam is back in the running with the smaller lighter DSLR's I'd say.
People seem to be getting much better results now then back with larger heavier cameras.
 
Glidecam is back in the running with the smaller lighter DSLR's I'd say.
People seem to be getting much better results now then back with larger heavier cameras.

Odd IMO it's the reverse. The heavier the rig, the smoother the gliding - though your bicep may say otherwise LOL. Seems there's less glidecam work since most DSLRs don't have autofocus (can't rack while gliding obviously) and no or little IS (which helps even with a wide lens and glide rig). But the 12mm is made for steadicam work IMO.
 
Very nice video. How does the Olympus 12mm work with the GH2? Is it possible to use the autofocus and image stabalisation?
Works great with the Gh2, AF is very accurate and smooth and quick and pretty much flawless.

THere is no IS with the 12mm lens, it's wide enough to not need it on a glidecam...but I recommend support of some sort going handheld due to lightweight body/lens
 
Thanks so much for sharing this. I was just thinking about the 12mm Olympus as a lens that I need cause I don't have any fast wide angles and I too have a glidecam. I have the Glidecam HD4000 and I love it. I also have the merlin arm and vest which are a true arm and back lifesaver. I also think that the footage flies smoother on the glidecam HD4000 when i'ts totally loaded down. The heavier the better but I know how painful that is doing it handheld as I did this for about 6 months till I got the vest. I do also think that the HD2000 and 1000 are great units but they do pendumlum a lot more than my 4000 even if I'm flying with the Gh2 on it. What I do when I fly with the GH2 on the HD4000 is that I add three weight plates and usually a LED light to add some more weight over the actual camera as it's so front heavy.... I also think that a rig helps in shooting don juan... So hard to shoot that handheld...



It looks really good. So how does the Olympus manually focuses? I was disappointed too on the 20 mm in terms of it's auto focus and it's manual focus. For a lot of my steadicam stuff I use the 14-140 which is great if there's light. I've heard different things about the olympus but mostly in terms of it being on the AF100... But you say it's good? How does it look when you use the teleconverter?


Cheers and thanks so much.


Justyn
 
cool. I'm really interested in this Olympus but I have mostly been buying full frame, but I think that if I need to sell it down the line, I"ll still get some cash as the micro 4/3rd isn't going anywhere and it's such a great great camera platform.


This footage has really helped me to decide on getting this. I do love the Nokton 25mm but it's not always good for close quarters. I think that I have a pretty good collection of glass now, all except for a fast wide. I've been especially happy with the Canon FD lenses. For my eyes they just look so so so damn good. Less contrasty than the current lenses and just so smooth an image. Love 'em, and love the price too!
 
Thanks so much for sharing this. I was just thinking about the 12mm Olympus as a lens that I need cause I don't have any fast wide angles and I too have a glidecam. I have the Glidecam HD4000 and I love it. I also have the merlin arm and vest which are a true arm and back lifesaver. I also think that the footage flies smoother on the glidecam HD4000 when i'ts totally loaded down. The heavier the better but I know how painful that is doing it handheld as I did this for about 6 months till I got the vest. I do also think that the HD2000 and 1000 are great units but they do pendumlum a lot more than my 4000 even if I'm flying with the Gh2 on it. What I do when I fly with the GH2 on the HD4000 is that I add three weight plates and usually a LED light to add some more weight over the actual camera as it's so front heavy.... I also think that a rig helps in shooting don juan... So hard to shoot that handheld...



It looks really good. So how does the Olympus manually focuses? I was disappointed too on the 20 mm in terms of it's auto focus and it's manual focus. For a lot of my steadicam stuff I use the 14-140 which is great if there's light. I've heard different things about the olympus but mostly in terms of it being on the AF100... But you say it's good? How does it look when you use the teleconverter?


Cheers and thanks so much.


Justyn

Manual focus is just fine, again, LIGHT YEARS ahead of the 20mm which I hated using manually. I assume you mean ETC mode by teleconverter? Haven't tried much with it, I think there's one limo shot with it but ETC looks good with any lens so long as there's light and 160 iso.
 
thanks for posting, it's great work.

do you have any experience with the Panasonic 14/2.5? was just wondering how that compares to the olympus 12..
and how'd a glidecam hd2000 compare to the hd1000.

any comments would be greatly appreciated.
 
thanks for posting, it's great work.

do you have any experience with the Panasonic 14/2.5? was just wondering how that compares to the olympus 12..
and how'd a glidecam hd2000 compare to the hd1000.

any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Haven't used the 14 2.5 at all and don't plan on trying it from the reviews - seems like a waste IMO...2.5 is too close to 2.8 and may as well get a 2.8 zoom starting at 14mm (the 14mm prime isn't has sharp as other panny/oly primes according to reviews so really never had interest in the 14mm pancake - just seems like a budget lens, a counterpart to the 17mm Oly pancake most people here ignored and rightfully so).

I've only tried the Glidecam 4000 and own the hD 1000 currently. Hd 1000 seems fine so long as you're aware that it's light weight and will require some care on your part and will be less forgiving if you're off balance or it's windy. However I prefer the lighter model since I can use it all day long and not go tired and just have the energy to glide as much as I want and there's more room to boom/twirl in tight spaces which is very nice, especially for weddings which often have crowded sections throughout the day. HD1000 can support a shotgun mic and a zoom lens with the wieghts provided so it's perfect for the Gh2 - thoough a Canon DSLR with a mirror or af1000 you'd probably want to start at the 2000.

The only minor drawback to the HD1000 is since it's shorter and lighter, using it as a monopod isn't as effective since you're still prone to shakes with out IS in the lens. However if you have a camera bag strapped on you, just rest the HD1000 on the bag, press down firmly and you're good to go - I've done this and successfully gotten smooth shots with an 85mm lens.
 
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