GH1 any tips for taking stills with GH1 and manual lenses?

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sean90291

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I bought the GH1 for video, and know it through-and-through in this regard. But whenever I am inclined/asked to take a still photo with my GH1, I become an embarrassing amateur.

Because I primarily shoot video, I only use manual (Nikon) lenses--however when I try to shoot stills with these manual lenses, I'm completely baffled by the exposure, as it's controlled by camera settings. There doesn't seem to be a truly manual setting for taking stills as there is for taking movies.

So I use the A or S or M setting, only to find the LCD totally lies as to the shot's exposure (ie., the pic is actually darker or brighter than shows in LCD).

Any tips to getting good, controlled exposure on still photos using the GH1 + manual lenses?
 
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The fact that Movie mode and Manual (M) mode are right next to each other on the mode dial is great, as I can quickly take a still while on a video shoot.
I know what you mean about the camera lying for the exposure. I too find that annoying how it's doing that in manual mode. The trick is getting the exposure meter to level out in the middle. It is definitely slower than using an automatic lens, but the results are usually fine once you get the hang of it, as the metering is pretty accurate even with a manual lens.
It would definitely be better if the live histogram didn't lie in manual mode, then it would be as useful as it is in movie mode.
 
Take lots of photos! Seriously! I know it sounds obvious, but some of my best photos with the GH1 and Nikon AIS lenses has simply been as result of learning the ins and outs of each lens. Then, go into your settings, and set your dial from "M" to "P"- now you get to focus on framing and DOF. Also, take all the things you learned from videography and apply them to photography- they are interchangeable.

I've found it helps to go back to basics like I did when I first started shooting video- I shot everything in black and white to force myself to concentrate on lighting, exposure, framing, and DOF. I didn't add color back into the picture until I knew what I was doing with those original elements.

Happy shooting!
 
the one big drawback to shooting stills with a GH2 and manual lenses is there is nearly no focus reference other than your own vision / judgement.
the zoom focus assist is about all you have, but with no reference points i find myself rocking back and forth at each end of focus so i can see where "optimal" is.
once you do it for a while you kind of get used to finding it. but if youre spoiled by good autofocus features of most modern pro cameras, its a bit of a culture shock

you might try getting an external monitor with a peaking feature.

as far as the exposure-lie thing. i saw more of a problem with it when i used lumix lenses. its still kinda there with manuals, but not anything i cant shoot around...
 
For focus, unless you are doing something specific, use the autofocus, there are a lot of ways to control iron the GH2 with the touchscreen. Going manual in IMHO not as important as in film where the issue is that it will rack to focus while filming and therefore looks bad.
For the light, use the histogram and maybe use the bracket option to decide later.
Other advise, practice and take your time to take your picture. In film you may be spending an hour on set to prepare your shot, you can at least take a few seconds or a minute to set up your still picture.

Also GH2 is not the most incredible still camera it is a good thing to practice shooting still IMHO. It allows you to sharpen your eye on how to compose a shot. I even use a film still camera to practice to raise the bar of the challenge (no preview is a big deal in our digital world)
 
sean90291 said:
... Because I primarily shoot video, I only use manual (Nikon) lenses--however when I try to shoot stills with these manual lenses, I'm completely baffled by the exposure, as it's controlled by camera settings. There doesn't seem to be a truly manual setting for taking stills as there is for taking movies.
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Since your'e primarily shooting w/ manual lenses — the M mode (imho) is your best friend. Since you can't rely on live view when setting exposure — "bracket" your shots: adjusting your manual aperture one stop up and down for each shot (taking multiple shots of the same subject at differing f stops); If you want to lock down your aperture to a single f stop — bracket your shutter speed to control exposure. I work this technique to find where my camera/lens combination works best.

As for focus on GH1, unfortunately an external monitor for focus is a no go. The HDMI out is only good for playback mode and not live monitoring.
 
Does the GH1 have the Constant preview option in the tools menu? The GH2 has this option. If you turn it on it will enable a "What you see is what you get" for the "M"(Manual still pictures) mode only. It will still meter just the same as turning it off. However, it will now show you the actual exposure instead of a boosted exposure. Just be aware that if you are shooting with too low of an ISO or too short of a shutter speed you will see an underexposed image on the display. I guess that is what you want, right?
 
mpgxsvcd said:
Does the GH1 have the Constant preview option in the tools menu? The GH2 has this option. If you turn it on it will enable a "What you see is what you get" for the "M"(Manual still pictures) mode only. It will still meter just the same as turning it off. However, it will now show you the actual exposure instead of a boosted exposure.
Click to expand...
No, the GH1 lacks the Constant Preview menu option, and IMHO that little detail is one of the major improvements in the GH2.

However, there is a workaround for the GH1. Set the camera to Creative Movie Mode in Manual exposure mode, and adjust the settings for your shot. Then turn the mode switch one click to M still mode and snap the shutter. The Live View display will likely change, but the exposure will remain what you set in Creative Movie Mode.
 
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