Day Dreaming GH1

commanderspike

commanderspike

Carbonite Member


This was shot in 1080p. Mud wasn't a problem so long the kit lens wasn't used, then it was a lot worse especially with AF Tracking enabled.

I was very happy with the GH1's performance. A lot of that was down to the lenses used though:

Leica Summilux 25mm F1.4 (now for sale, due to 20mm F1.7 pancake being available)
Canon EFS 10-22mm for the wide shots
Sigma 28mm F1.8 Macro for the eye and sunlit face shots

Steadicam used was a B-Hague Mini Motion. Really small and quite cheap (£70) for a steadicam. Great for the GH1 but only with small lenses. The Canon was just about as big as you can get with it and it doesn't like anything too heavy!
 
Awesome work man... great to see new work from you. The innitial wide shots in the forrest seemed a bit dark in comparison to the later footage, were you testing shutter speed on mud?

It seems as if you just love shots in nature.... considering this, I can understand how mud in the Gh1 can drive you crazy. Its difficult telling with the low exposure and high contrast, but was the mud issue resolved purely by not using the kit lens... or is there is hidden mud in the darker regions?
 
Thanks.

Nope, none was triggered. There is compression, sure - but I just went out and shot it, without any problems. A few things helped in this video - first underexposing. Second the mostly dim light. Thirdly not using the kit lens.

The footage is ungraded and 100% untouched in FCP. I am building my knowledge on grading quite slowly, so until I can get it right all my footage will be 'direct out of camera'.
 
Was it hard finding an actress willing to kick a cow pattie? :D

Have you shot with the 20mm 1.7 -- that Leica is a pretty sweet lens -- kind of surprised to see you selling it, although it is a bit heavy; especially compared to the 20mm.
 
tflak said:
Have you shot with the 20mm 1.7 -- that Leica is a pretty sweet lens -- kind of surprised to see you selling it, although it is a bit heavy; especially compared to the 20mm.
Click to expand...

Just a case of saving some money really. The Leica is a stunning lens but for less than half the price, that 20mm F1.7 pancake gives almost as good an image when it comes to video mode. Very little of the Leica's stunning sharpness gets through the AVCHD compression, although the colours and bokeh are very nice indeed.
 
commanderspike said:
Just a case of saving some money really. The Leica is a stunning lens but for less than half the price, that 20mm F1.7 pancake gives almost as good an image when it comes to video mode. Very little of the Leica's stunning sharpness gets through the AVCHD compression, although the colours and bokeh are very nice indeed.
Click to expand...

Ok I'm confused...... does your above statement means that AHCHD destroys the quality or it keeps everything sharp ?
 
ajamils said:
Ok I'm confused...... does your above statement means that AHCHD destroys the quality or it keeps everything sharp ?
Click to expand...

AVCHD destroys the quality. If you start with a higher image sharpness (that the Leica can provide) to begin with, I believe it does help. But with any lens you will have (at a guess) 50% of it's resolution lost in compression artefacts on a camera like this.

James Cameron took 10 years until he was satisfied with his 3D camera equipment. I guess we can wait another 6 months for the GH2 :)

However what this video does show, is that mud and compression affects certain shots much less than others.

The GH1 is way better with static shots and facial close ups, as evidenced in this video and not the other style of video (Erase & Rewind) shot on the same day which has a lot of camera movement and wider shots of the singer (some with the kit lens - eek). Call me arrogant but I am not changing my style to suit a damned camera :) Expensive though it is, it's 5D all the way from now on. You can get Hasselblad lenses covering full frame for £90 in video mode. Ninety quid!! Incredible. It kinda justifies the cost of the camera body when full frame means making the most of your investment in lenses. It cost me £600 just to get a decent fast portrait lens for the GH1 (the Leica 25mm F1.4 = 50mm F1.4 on a 5D).

This thing about the GH1 being good with close up shots is all well and good but you can even say the same about an iPhone camera. Close up shots are always gonna look detailed to the naked eye because they can magnify your view. The real challenge for a video camera is to capture the more subtle tones and details in wider images.
 
I have a Zeiss 100mm 2.0 sitting here just waiting for the adapter to arrive (which is driving me crazy!). Once it gets here am planning on doing some comparison between that, the Leica 25mm and the kit lens to see just how much difference a top-quality lens can make in video mode. I'll post some results.
 
tflak said:
I have a Zeiss 100mm 2.0 sitting here just waiting for the adapter to arrive (which is driving me crazy!). Once it gets here am planning on doing some comparison between that, the Leica 25mm and the kit lens to see just how much difference a top-quality lens can make in video mode. I'll post some results.
Click to expand...

It makes a lot of difference in terms of colour, bokeh, DOF and field of view of course. But in terms of sharpness, I'll be interested to see your tests. I do tend to notice sharpness in moving images with a good lens more than it's noticeable in just a still frame grab from the video though. The moving image is important to convey a sense of resolution.
 
this is really nice - some of the best use of manual focus-only lenses that I have seen so far from the gh1! reminds me of shooting with 16mm. keep it up!
 
Really nice vid Commanderspike, you've nearly convinced me to get a hague stabiliser.

Did you use the Leica 25mm on any of the tracking shots?

How well does it work/balance on that size steadicam?
 
Well, as the camera sits on the stabliser and the stabliser rail extends in front of the camera, you cannot use large lenses on it. The GH1's body is so small that a large lens extends below the bottom of the body. So unless you find a way to mount the body higher on the rack, it cannot be done. So no Leica on the Hague, or any other similar steadicam I'm afraid.

I used the kit lens and a Canon EFS 10-22mm on the steadicam shots. Kit lens fits nicely. Canon is a bit more awkward though, as you have to put it far enough forward so that the large diameter front portion of the lens goes beyond the flat end of the rail to where it begins to curve downwards. This would have been impossible had the lens been heavy, as the weight would be balanced too far forwards and the steadicam would point downwards. But the Canon EFS 10-22 is a really light weight lens for it's size!

Its all a case of balance and using the appropriate lens. The wider the better on a steadicam, I think. With a telephoto or portrait lens beyond 50mm you notice the pitch and roll of the steadicam too much.

It may be worth experimenting with different mounting techniques and heavier weights, to see if you can be more adventurous with lens choice on the steadicam. A nice heavy fisheye or Zeiss, for instance. The extra weight, if balanced correctly, has the advantage of preventing the steadicam from rotating when blown by a gust of wind.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top