GH2 Another potential GH2 switcher

S

-Sandro-

Well-known member
Hello,
I'm thinking about selling my Canon + lenses and buy the GH2.

Disclaimer: I'm poor :) So don't start throwing $1000 lenses for the gh2 as alternatives(see below)


Background: I currently own the Canon 550d, Canon 18-55 f/3.5-5.6, Canon 50mm 1.8, Nikon 35mm f/2 (via adapter). I mainly use the cam for video but I take pictures too which I'm very satisfied of! For the video part I'm definitely not, it was in the beginning in 2010 when it was the new toy and I wasn't thinking about res, moiré etc but now I just can't take it anymore and the fact that Canon is clearly asking you to spend thousands of dollars to get a videocamera (so forget pics) to get a real 1080p is the last drop for me.
At night my favorite lens is the Nikon 35mm due to the FOV sweet spot while "retaining" the aperture of the 50mm 1.8 which is often too long for video in general.

Switching to the GH2 worries me for both the video and the picture part (for prices and final results).

Video:
- The sensor in video mode is 19 mm x 10.7mm. With a 1.86x crop compared to 1.6x I will have to find a 30mm lens to match the same FOV.
- Being the sensor smaller I will (will I?) automatically lose some light, so what kind of aperture equals the same light I would get on the Canon? For example for the Nikon 35mm f/2 I will need to get a 30mm f/1.8 maybe?
- Even if they existed I suppose they will cost a lot more since the wider/bigger aperture you got the higher the price! Consider that I paid both the 50mm and 35mm just $100! Will I able to match the same light and FOV on the GH2 while spending the same money?


Pictures:
- I read that to get a good picture you need to use RAW only. There's no problem for me but the same limits for lights/FOV also apply for pictures of course!


So in the end the question is: is it inevitable that having the GH2 a smaller sensor I will in the end spend a lot more money to switch for lenses?

Of course before doing anything I will wait and see what the GH3 will bring, maybe it will be better in low light and solve part of my problems!
It will also be cool if the GH2 had a better ISO performance so that I can fill the lost light with that.


Thanks
 
Light and apertures are universal and have nothing to do with the size of the sensor. f1.8 on a Canon with any sensor size is the same as an f1.8 on a Nikon with any sensor size.
 
You can still use the 35mm nikon via a different adapter, a 50mm 1.8 nikon is fairly cheap. And the 14-42 kit lens will get you in the same territory as your current kit lens. I wouldn't worry too much about fov differences. 35 and 50 are not wides on your canon either, you may need a step back to get the same framing.
 
fotodiox nikon to m43 adapter $23 US (on amazon.com)
nikkor 28mm f/2.8 AI $100US (up to 150$ US)
nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AI $80 US (up to 150$ US)
nikkor 105mm f/2.5 AI $150US
if ya got the cash:
tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 $600US

range + IQ + sharpness? priceless

iso 800 should be max if ya looking for quality but with some "hacking" and some steady/clean camerawork 1600 + denoise should be cool, depending on your standarts ;)

i say GO GH2, cant go wrong here!
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
Light and apertures are universal and have nothing to do with the size of the sensor. f1.8 on a Canon with any sensor size is the same as an f1.8 on a Nikon with any sensor size.
Click to expand...

How can you say that? if I put the Nikon lens on the canon and then on gh2 it will give me same exposure? I don't think so, the sensor being smaller will get less light (not due to the lens!)
 
Hydarnes said:
fotodiox nikon to m43 adapter $23 US (on amazon.com)
nikkor 28mm f/2.8 AI $100US (up to 150$ US)
nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AI $80 US (up to 150$ US)
nikkor 105mm f/2.5 AI $150US
if ya got the cash:
tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 $600US

range + IQ + sharpness? priceless

iso 800 should be max if ya looking for quality but with some "hacking" and some steady/clean camerawork 1600 + denoise should be cool, depending on your standarts ;)

i say GO GH2, cant go wrong here!
Click to expand...


OK but... why is 1600 so bad? On the Canon I can use it no problem at night. You said Nikkor 28mm f/2.8...OK for the FOV but I will loose about 2 steps of light? 1 for smaller aperture and 1 for smaller sensor that will equal like using the canon at f/3.5! That would be awful and step back :( (the canon's kit lens for me is banned at night!)
 
dop16mm said:
You can still use the 35mm nikon via a different adapter, a 50mm 1.8 nikon is fairly cheap. And the 14-42 kit lens will get you in the same territory as your current kit lens. I wouldn't worry too much about fov differences. 35 and 50 are not wides on your canon either, you may need a step back to get the same framing.
Click to expand...

It is a problem for me. That's why I bought the Nikon, 50mm was too narrow. I can't even imagine even worse than 50mm!
 
-Sandro- said:
How can you say that? if I put the Nikon lens on the canon and then on gh2 it will give me same exposure? I don't think so, the sensor being smaller will get less light (not due to the lens!)
Click to expand...

Que? So if I put my nikon 1.8 from my d7000 to my d700 it magically becomes a faster lens? doesn't work that way. Sensor size has nothing to do with f stops. The lens is the same distance from the sensor the light goes through the same amount/size of glass. The amount of light that hits the sensor is the same aps-c m43 or full frame. It might have a bigger circle of coverage that you aren't using but it doesn't make it more or less brighter.
 
dude you are going "too far" with the "light loss OMG" . . . you talk about being poor and then you want super high speed lenses to shoot night ONLY with ONLY available light? the difference between t2i's sensor and gh2's are not soooo much different because of the roughly 20% size difference, so the lightloss there is minimal. And you can go 3200 iso if thats what floats your boat, but i'm talkin about super clean images that can be manipulated in post and regrained to look like film ;)

so yeah, 28mm 2.8 is SUPER sharp and one of the best nikkors. the 1.2 and 1.4 options out there are muddy and worthless. Just cuz it says 1.4 doesnt mean it really is 1.4 cuz ONLY the center will be 1.4 and often the sides will be almost a full stop lower, so is the muddiness and the "not real 1.4" worth it?
you can go 17.5mm 0.95 but you dont want 1000$ lenses.

there are faster nikkors but their quality is FAR from what i have listed. The stuff i listed can easily compete with lenses made only 1-5years ago. The 50mm 1.4 nikkor is worthless because of the "bad sharpness at 1.4" and at 1.8 it is not as good as the 50mm 1.8 so you chose ;)

believe me, you'll be good going nikkors and gh with 1600 or even 3200 because if ya cool with t2i and canon kit lenses (or used to be cool ;) ) then the jump will make a huge diff.

or save up and buy 17.5 0.95 and 25mm 0.95 and 50mm 0.95 super set worth 3k total ;) wish i had the money :/
 
I'm thinking of making the switch but the one thing stopping me is the confusion between if the tokina 11-16mm lens is usable on the camera and if so what adapters do I need?
 
The tokina works fine if you have the nikon version. You can use a novoflex adapter or cheap ebay ones to dial in the right aperture. It doesn't have aperture settings on the lens but the adapter can use the lever on the nikon g type lens to set the aperture.

It has to be an adapter that works with G type lenses. They have a ring that actuates the lever on the lens and opens and closes the aperture.

For a canon eos mount 11-16 I am not sure. I think you have to buy an adapter with a built in aperture. I don't have canon lenses so I don't know much about those types except that they exist and they are more expensive than having a nikon style adapter
 
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I have the Tokina 11-16 Canon mount and I'm also thinking to switch from 60d to gh2. Not only because fo the zacuto shootout... but mostly becasue i want to film some landscapes and hate how bad the sharpness on canons are.
so does anybody know i f i can use this lens on a gh2 with a proper adapter or will there be aperture issues?
 
Or sell the Tok and buy a Panasonic 12-35/2.8 instead - twice the range at half the size, with AF and OIS (at twice the cost)
 
I don't know what your budget is, and I know you don't have a lot to spend on lenses. But even if you sold everything and went with a GH2 and a used Sigma 30mm 1.4, I'd be surprised if you weren't the happiest guy in town. Perfect range on the GH2, still sharp wide open... and looks amazing. If it's too much, then don't hesitate to jump on some cheap vintage primes. Rokkors like the 28mm 2.8 are great and practically free.
 
-Sandro- said:
Hello,
I'm thinking about selling my Canon + lenses and buy the GH2.

Disclaimer: I'm poor :) So don't start throwing $1000 lenses for the gh2 as alternatives(see below)


Background: I currently own the Canon 550d, Canon 18-55 f/3.5-5.6, Canon 50mm 1.8, Nikon 35mm f/2 (via adapter). I mainly use the cam for video but I take pictures too which I'm very satisfied of! For the video part I'm definitely not, it was in the beginning in 2010 when it was the new toy and I wasn't thinking about res, moiré etc but now I just can't take it anymore and the fact that Canon is clearly asking you to spend thousands of dollars to get a videocamera (so forget pics) to get a real 1080p is the last drop for me.
At night my favorite lens is the Nikon 35mm due to the FOV sweet spot while "retaining" the aperture of the 50mm 1.8 which is often too long for video in general.

Switching to the GH2 worries me for both the video and the picture part (for prices and final results).

Video:
- The sensor in video mode is 19 mm x 10.7mm. With a 1.86x crop compared to 1.6x I will have to find a 30mm lens to match the same FOV.
- Being the sensor smaller I will (will I?) automatically lose some light, so what kind of aperture equals the same light I would get on the Canon? For example for the Nikon 35mm f/2 I will need to get a 30mm f/1.8 maybe?
- Even if they existed I suppose they will cost a lot more since the wider/bigger aperture you got the higher the price! Consider that I paid both the 50mm and 35mm just $100! Will I able to match the same light and FOV on the GH2 while spending the same money?


Pictures:
- I read that to get a good picture you need to use RAW only. There's no problem for me but the same limits for lights/FOV also apply for pictures of course!


So in the end the question is: is it inevitable that having the GH2 a smaller sensor I will in the end spend a lot more money to switch for lenses?

Of course before doing anything I will wait and see what the GH3 will bring, maybe it will be better in low light and solve part of my problems!
It will also be cool if the GH2 had a better ISO performance so that I can fill the lost light with that.


Thanks
Click to expand...



If you couldn't make money with a Canon, it's going to be worst for you with a GH2. Find corporate work, local business , artist etc. and start creating art. Do it for free even if you have to and when more people start seeing your work then you can start charging. Many times we get caught up with the camera when in all actuality it is yourself that is holding you back. Image quality aside you should really find a way to make money with your current camera. It shoots videos and takes great pictures, if anything I would invest in lighting as you can always make your image nicer.

After all of that is said and done then I would consider buying a camera, staying in the negative is a reason why we never progress...
 
mcbob said:
Or sell the Tok and buy a Panasonic 12-35/2.8 instead - twice the range at half the size, with AF and OIS (at twice the cost)
Click to expand...
This is probably what I will do, even though it is more money its a nice lens and i get a lot more range for only losing 1mm on the wide side.
 
ReelFilmGeek said:
This is probably what I will do, even though it is more money its a nice lens and i get a lot more range for only losing 1mm on the wide side.
Click to expand...

...or sell the Tok and buy a used Oly 11-22/2.8-3.5 for 4/3 and the 4/3 to m4/3 adapter - wider and less money than the Panny 12-35/2.8 - plus you get auto aperture & autofocus, unlike an adapted Tokina.

I found mine on eBay for less than $400. Love this lens. It pretty much stays on the camera all the time.
 
-Sandro- said:
I currently own the Canon 550d, Canon 18-55 f/3.5-5.6, Canon 50mm 1.8, Nikon 35mm f/2
Click to expand...

1- Buy a Panasonic 14-42mm kit lens to replace the Canon 18-55mm kit lens : 14-42mm Kit Lens : $145 at B&H Photo

2- Buy used Nikon AI-S 50mm f/1.8 lens : $50+ on eBay

3- Buy FOTGA Nikon F mount to Micro 4/3 Adapter : FOTGA Nikon To Micro 4/3 Lens Mount Adapter : $11 at Amazon.com

...So for about $200+ you can have pretty much the equivalent lens system for your GH2 camera. Forget the 1.60 crop factor versus 1.86 crop factor, once you start shooting they are more or less equivalent. ( you will have to back-up slightly when framing with the GH2 versus your Canon 550D, but the difference is not a big deal )

-Sandro- said:
- The sensor in video mode is 19 mm x 10.7mm. With a 1.86x crop compared to 1.6x I will have to find a 30mm lens to match the same FOV.
Click to expand...

The difference is minimal, so I would not worry about it.

-Sandro- said:
- Being the sensor smaller I will (will I?) automatically lose some light, so what kind of aperture equals the same light I would get on the Canon?
Click to expand...

FALSE. An F-Stop is ALWAYS an F-STOP, sensor size has NO relevance in terms of exposure.

Exposure is ONLY determined by: F-Stop, Shutter Speed, and ISO of the Sensor

-Sandro- said:
- I read that to get a good picture you need to use RAW only.
Click to expand...

Yes, the GH2 JPEG engine is pretty crappy compared to Canon, Nikon, or Olympus. Pick-up a copy of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 for $145 then shoot RAW and never speak of this again. :-)

BTW, I owned a Canon 60D with a few very good lenses for about 4 months, and then dumped it completely in January 2011 after owning the GH2 for about 1 month. The Canon took better photos, but the GH2 absolutely killed the Canon when came to shooting video, and the new GH2 patches ( like LPowell's Flow Motion 2.02 ) have put the GH2 in a whole other class of DSLR video camera.
 
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