FS700 paired with Hacked GH2

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walkingclock

New member
I'm doing a complete over haul on gear. I don't have any lenses or adaptors. I shoot mostly action sports as well as travel documentaries.
I rented the FS700 and loved it. I used a Canon L series 24-105mm and the image was great.
I still haven't used a GH2 but from what i've seen and heard it seems like a great option. I feel it would be a great smaller camera for run and run style shooting (usually its a one man production) Also would be nice to get a back up shot while the FS700 buffers on slo mo shots...

Just wondering if any of you out their have paired these cameras together and what sort of lenses & gear you use with them (lenses especially).

Can you use MFT lenses on the FS700? or should i just go canon on both cameras? Whats the best way to get auto exposure to work(or auto focus)? Not mandatory but always a nice option.
I'm looking for around 3 lenses that would work on both cameras.

Thanks!


FS700.JPG
here's a photo of the setup i used

PS
i tried searching the forums but couldn't find much
 
Honestly I don't see the reason for a hacked GH2. I still have one here on my ebay-to-go list as I did not touch it since I went for a FS700 in Sept 2012. I made one test both side by side and it seemed a long way and a lot of work to match both cameras. What prevented me from doing more than a test in my yard on a Sunday afternoon was one aspect: you have to match the camera with more headroom to the more restricted. It means match the FS700 to the GH2. That makes no sense.

Regarding your needs in run & gun, auto exposure, AF: forget about the GH2. The FS700 is imho more suitable for run and gun than the GH2.
Another aspect is fps you are shooting: best quality with a GH2 is in 24p as the 25/30p is wrapped in a 50/60i stream and writing transfer
to your SD card is more intensive. Using a intra frame hack on HBR (= 25/30p) is always a bit risky of camera freeze.

Don't get me wrong. The GH2 is a nice beast but has some limitations. I have always a Canon 5DM3 for back up and just in case the FS700
breaks (knock on wood, it never did) What's nice as a B-cam is the Blackmagic Pocket. It's handy, it's not too expensive and has a great image
quality with a superb codec. You can easily match these shots in post to the FS700. Unfortunately there is to way to use lenses on both cameras
except manual lenses both with an adapter for each camera.
 
My fav lenses on the FS700, Canon C100, 5DmkII, 7D and small Sony NX5N are Canon EF glass.

Most used: 24-70 F2.8 Canon L (the V1 it is fantastic and the extension is backwards from most lenses, it gets longer when WIDE, this makes the lens shade very effective negating the need for a matte box most of the time.

Longer: Canon 70-200 F2.8 IS L (one of Canons absolute best lenses.

Real long: Canon 100-400 F4.5-5.6 IS L ( a bit slow but real long combined with a doubler it is ridiculously long and still very sharp, needs very good sticks)

Wide: Canon 17-40 F4 L a bargain price for an L lens (or the 16-35 F2.8, more $$$)

Real wide: Rokenon 8mm (Surprisingly good for low $ and very wide)

Fast: Canon 50mm F1.4 (very sharp and in expensive, especially sharp stopped down to 2.8 or more, but very usable at 1.4 as well)

I also have the kit lens for the 700 and use it quite a bit, it is slow but really very usable especially outside and the IS and AF are really good.

That is my lens kit. I also sometimes use the V1 100 F2.8 Canon macro lens for macro filming, this is also a bargain priced lens.
 
I have an FS700 with a hacked GH2 as a b-cam or in gorilla situations where the FS700 isn't viable. And I have mounted the GH2 to the FS700 to keep some sort of live video rolling during slow motion buffer. It might be outdated (haven't check the personalview forums in awhile), but I've been using LPowell's Flow Motion v2 patch and it's been pretty rock solid for both 1080p24 and 720p60. The color science between the two is a bit different. I've found it easier to match the FS700 against my 5D3 than my GH2.

For auto-focus, AFAIK, only Sony alpha/e-mount lenses will autofocus on the FS700. For the GH2, only their own Panasonic MFT lenses will autofocus. So unfortunately, no set of lenses will autofocus between the two. I don't believe that MFT lenses cover the entire image circle of the FS700, so MFT lenses will only work with the GH2. With the Metabones speedbooster available for the FS700, probably best to buy lenses that can cover a full frame sensor. For my GH2, I do have the MFT Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 and haven't taken it off in awhile. It keeps the GH2 compact, allows autofocus and you can get some reasonable depth of field.

Auto-exposure (in relation to electronic control of the iris), will work with EF lenses on the FS700 if you use smart adapters like those offered by Metabones. Might work with GH2 and the redreckmicro active mount, but not sure.

Three sets of lenses to consider:

Canon EF
- Great lenses, battle tested
- Metabones speedbooster and regular adapters work great and have electronic controls
- If you ever get a chance to upgrade/rent cinema lenses, most are available in EF
- Redrockmicro makes the only active EF to MFT mount for $598 and is battery powered

Canon FD
- No electronic controls
- cheaper/lighter
- harder to find fast zooms that cover the full range of 18-200

Nikon
- no experience, but I hear they're great!

If you go Canon EF glass, I'd recommended either the Holy Trinity of primes (35 f/1.4L, 85 f/1.2L, 135 f/2L) or the Holy Trinity of Zooms (16-35 f/2.8L, 24-70 f/2.8L, 70-200 f/2.8L)
 
Thanks for your recommendations everyone. Canon glass seems to be the way to go.
Hopefully get the Canon 70-200mm L. Maybe a 17-40mm L. I can get access to 24-105mm. The Rokinon 8mm is very tempting too!
I'd have a good range of lenses with all that.
Probably buy the 17mm olympus lens for the GH2 and a MFT to EF mount adaptor for all the other lenses.

Anyone know a good bargain lens that has amazing zoom? I like to do a bit of nature shooting and I don't think the 70-200mm can really get as close as i need. Maybe an old FD lens?
 
I also own an FS700 with a GH2 as a B-camera and also as a great camera to take on vacation :)

Frankly I hacked my GH2 but eventually un-hacked since it's actually nicer to know the files you are recording are essentially the same format as the ones on the FS700. I was using flow motion V2 as well but found the bitrates weren't much better and I had an issue with my NLE recognizing the audio track. In theory a hacked GH2 is awesome, but it's about 98% as awesome without hacking since its strengths are mostly in its color reproduction and resolution. I'd take the color of the GH2 even over the FS700, but it lacks significantly in DR and sensitivity. I wouldn't use the GH2 for run and gun unless I had to, but it's a great camera to throw in your bag run on a cheap tripod for a backup static shot that fits well with FS700 footage. And it's great for stealing short shots where you want to look like a tourist taking pictures.

I never figured out a perfect solution for lenses for the GH2. I've ended up just leaving my 20mm f/1.7 on most of the time since it really makes the camera so easy to always have around since it takes up no space. Basically that lives on there, but if I need a zoom, I got a Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 in Nikon mount that lives on an MFT adapter if I need a zoom with aperture control, and I'll usually bring an EF-to-NEX dumb adapter as well to throw all the EF glass I use on my FS700 on the GH2 if I want, though without aperture control. On paid work, my GH2 is mostly a set-it-and-forget-it static safety angle anyway so it works without aperture control anyway (I can set aperture on my FS700 or just use the 17-70).

The FS700 is a powerhouse for run and gun. I use it with a Metabones Speedbooster and a Tamron 28-300 IS when I need to avoid changing lenses, and it's a 20-215mm f2.5-4.5 with IS so it covers most situations. It's definitely a lens with drawbacks like the focus ring goes the wrong way, it breathes a lot at the long end like most superzooms, and the IS is very strong but it decides to let go every so often and that can be a little jarring. But I'm happy with the performance and the range and speed is pretty unbeatable. I find the ergonomics to actually be a quite ideal setup such that it goes in my bag fully built and doesn't need a rig for run and gun.

Other thoughts on lenses are that I try to stick to EF lenses and mounts since they are by far the most popular so they are easiest to buy and sell used and can be adapted to pretty much any camera. Canon EF mount is nice since it has a slightly shorter flange distance than Nikon and some others so most other lenses can be adapted to it, and its so popular these days that a lot of Cine lens manufacturers are offering their lenses in Canon mounts too (Canon Cine Lenses, Zeiss CP/CZ/LWX, Schneider Cine-Xenar, etc). MFT lenses are hard to adapt to anything and may even depend on powered servos for focus, even manually, and Nikon lenses are in theory the best to use on multiple cameras since their longer flange distance allows them to adapt to most other mounts and allows the mount to mechanically control aperture, but they also focus the wrong way and the aperture lever is not as nice as having electronic control over the aperture.

As for longer focal lengths than 200mm, I also carry a cheap 2x tele extender and dumb EF-NEX adapter when I need to double my reach or more. Not sure it'll hold up at 4K but if you have the light for it it's not bad and easier to justify a $80 extender than a whole other huge slow $1K+ lens that may not get much use. With the extender and my 28-300 on a non-speedbooster, I can get up to 600mm if it's called for, but that's f/12.6, so I'd prefer it on my Sigma 70-200 which performs much better and can get me up to 400mm f5.6 which usually does the trick.
 
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I own an fs 700 and just got the BMPCC. I think the GH2 has met it's match though a true warrior, I had one as well and loved it. What's nice about the BMPCC and the fs700 you now have the ultimate lowlight monster thanks to the good people at metabones. They specifically make a speedbooster for the BMPCC now and if you get the new Sigma 18-35 f1.8 you can use both lenses on the FS700 as well as the BMPCC and with the speed booster you're looking at close if not more than f.08. That's stanley Kubrick style. I have to say the 12 bit raw is great as well as the prores on the BMPCC , so for me the best part is to take two totally different cameras (that can match up pretty good) and use one lens for both. It's a pretty good deal for that type of power at your fingertips. Good luck, with the fs700, you can't go wrong (for the price). Thanks
 
I dunno, the BMPCC sounds nice but there are so many drawbacks that make the camera hard to see as production ready. You can't format cards in-camera? I hear the battery life is quite bad. And prores is nice but it's also nice to have small files that match those recorded by the FS700. It's also twice the price of a GH2, doesn't do stills/AF, lacks the nice EVF, has a smaller sensor, etc. On the other hand maybe the benefits of its greater DR and sensitivity will outweigh the drawbacks for some.
 
there are a few drawback at the BMPCC which makes it not suitable as a main production cam. Nevertheless for me as a one man show with one assistant it's great as a B-Cam / handheld unit etc. I can live with crappy audio, short battery life, bad display as I don't shoot with it all the time and don't mostly need audio in this unit. But as I wrote above for me it's way easier to match these shots to the FS700 than shots from a GH2. And it works in vacation too ;-) A big drawback is strong moiré, in RAW even worse than in ProRes.

But coming back to the original question: I would really like to know how you guys manage to match the GH2 to FS700. It seems that I am the only chump around here ;-) I am in PAL country and I need to shoot in 25p. When trying to grade the GH2 footage to match to FS700 shots I came very quickly to the end of the rope.
 
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At any rate, I would get super35mm lenses (or full frame, if you choose). You can either buy a canon or nikon DSLR. The other option is to buy a Sony camera that takes e-mount lenses (native to the FS-700). Or buy a fs-100 or Sony NEX-EA50 as your second camera. The advantage of e-mount is ISS, auto focus, and auto iris. The disadvantage is that the lenses won't work on most DSLRs (Canon, etc). Remember, the lenses will last a lot longer than the camera.
 
Jim Ritscher said:
At any rate, I would get super35mm lenses (or full frame, if you choose). You can either buy a canon or nikon DSLR. The other option is to buy a Sony camera that takes e-mount lenses (native to the FS-700). Or buy a fs-100 or Sony NEX-EA50 as your second camera. The advantage of e-mount is ISS, auto focus, and auto iris. The disadvantage is that the lenses won't work on most DSLRs (Canon, etc). Remember, the lenses will last a lot longer than the camera.
Click to expand...

I'd recommend buying full frame lenses if you buy DSLR lenses. They tend to be higher quality than "crop" lenses which are for more of an amateur market and you can use them on a wider variety of cameras including being able to use them with a speedbooster on your fs700, plus its a bigger used market in my experience.

IS should work with any powered mount adapter but yes e-mount lenses will allow auto iris and auto focus though I can't really say I ever use either even when using e-mount lenses.
 
I bought the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera as a b-cam for my FS700. I did a review of it and you can see one comparison shot where I tried to match the cameras as close as possible. http://samisanpakkila.com/2013/12/blackmagic-pocket-review/ I will definitely be able to use both cams on the same shoot and intercut with no problems. I used to own a GH2 and had it hacked but the BMPCC is in a totally different league image quality wise.
 
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