GH13 Dance Contest reality show - plan to shoot with GH13/2

R

RandyQ

Well-known member
Folks,
I have been asked to submit a bid to shoot a Dance Contest (reality show style), and I am planning to shoot the dance performances 3-cam style with Gh13/2s.

Is this a crazy idea? Has anyone done it before? Or is it better if I just do it with old reliable 3CCD cams (PD170 et al).

My main reason for shooting it this way is that the look of the Gh13/2s are distinctly better (even on plain old TV) than the old 3CCD cams. And the fact that its a tapeless workflow. I am asking because I've been shooting a Gh13 for two years and I'm aware that its not exactly the most convenient to shoot, especially for dance.

On the other hand, its a TV show, and we can control the light and other aspects of the production.

If anyone here has tried this, please share your experiences. AND if its a stupid idea, please let me know so I can drop it asap, haha.

rgds/ RandyQ
 
As a veteran of dance shows but a total novice with DSLRs, I'd hate the idea of doing dance without proper zooms, constant apertures, and proper support. As I don't know DSLRs, perhaps this means I can ask you questions I really don't know the answers to.
Can they be matched, colour balance wise?
Can they stretch blacks - I do this to get a bit more detail in the shadows
How tight is DoF? Can you focus mid space and have close and far still acceptably sharp?
How easy are they to work on tripods?
if you are sharply tilted up or down, can you still see the viewfinder? I frequently like to use very low camera positions or high and being able to tilt the viewfinder for me is essential.

I guess sound isn't a problem - as they record room sound ok, don't they? I always use either mixer audio, or actually borrow the media they use to play the music out and then replace it when editing.

Does this help at all?
 
If you can get the set bright enough where you can stop down the cams enough to give you a nice deep DOF, then there should be no reason not to use DSLRs. The key is to get them focussed with deep DOF and then lock AE and AF to keep the cameras from hunting.

If you are planning on manning each cam and going for some "wow" look with lots of zooms, lots of angles and views, then you are starting to ask for trouble. You could still do that but then I think you are going to need matched fixed aperture zoom lenses on each of the cams to keep the same look.

A set of three XYZ camcorders would probably be easier to deal with, not that you couldn't pull it off with GH13s.
 
ChipThome said:
A set of three XYZ camcorders would probably be easier to deal with, not that you couldn't pull it off with GH13s.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the more I think about this, 3 actual video cameras makes WAY more sense. Keep the DSLRs around for interviews and picking up extra shots, but I don't think you'd want to try make them your primary cameras for a production like this.
 
The lack of proper zoom would be my main concern. Getting a good parfocal zoom lens for the GH2 is a bit of a hassle.
I recently shot Michale Clark's performance at the Whitney. We used a GH2 as a camera C. It's so small, you can place it in the corners on stage and hope for the best.
A good ol' HPX170 (or any other pro compact camcorder) would probably be a better option.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Yes, we can light it properly. Considering the Gh13's sensitivity, I figure we can do f8 no problem. This will take care of many of the focusing problems, but I realize now that we do need a proper zoom.

I'm thinking of doing it mixed, meaning one cam (the full shot) is a locked down GH13. The other cam will be an HPX150/170.

Actually one of the main reasons why I would like to do it with DSLRs and not regular 3CCD cams (which will make everything easier) is the buzz it will generate locally. Nobody has done it, probably because its isn't the best use of DSLRs, so doing it with HDSLRS will be very news worthy (hence good for my business). I might even do it with another DSLR brand (no, not Canon) because they seem like they need exposure in our market and are willing to make co-production deal. In this light, sometimes I wonder why I stick with Panasonic - I like the cam but dont get any support from them despite me waving the GH1/Gh2 flag solo for years.

rgds/ RandyQ
 
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