GH1 crane shots

Azmyth

Azmyth

Veteran
Ok, I tried searching and cannot find anything on this. This is my last question before I make a final decision on which one of these cameras to get.

I'm using it for narrative purposes only, and I know that at some point it will have to go up on a jib/crane. My question is, with no way to monitor externally.. how are you guys putting GH1's on a crane and getting jib shots?
 
The way we did it was preposterous; we faced the LCD to a downward direction where a spotter could watch it, and then we practiced the move a dozen times until the operator felt he could pull it off. Then we shot it a half dozen times until we got it right.

In other words, it's totally the wrong product for that task. And the only practical way to solve it would be to rig up a second camera, like a handycam, pointing at the GH1's LCD, and take a monitor feed off of that.
 
would that work well though? I mean, I know it works well because I've already done it.. but in trying to pair that footage with the GH1.. will It be able to be matched to the GH1 footage?
 
That's what is called a witness cam and it's usually there to show the 1st AC the barrel of the lens during the move. He still has to spatially understand the distance from the plane to the subject as it changes during the move. In my experience, they aren't there to act as parallax viewfinders.

Unless you have something within the move that demands noticeably shallow DOF, skip the GH1 and use a 1/3" or 2/3" camera that take remote start/stop and lens control and offer live monitoring. The jib operator needs to see the shot live on a monitor to be effective, and to effectively repeat a move.

It's probably more of a testament to my skill as a crane operator, but one take is a very, very rare exception.
 
I think I'd rather get the GH1, with the hack and its movable LCD, and use another camera for my jib shots. Than to get one of the Canon DSLR variants. After all I want it for video first and not photography. I have a nice nikon for that.
 
....or you can rig it (the HV40) to shoot the LCD of the GH-1 and monitor the footage from the HV40. There is a recent thread here where someone did that.... As ghetto as it looked...I think that would work perfectly.

But even if you used the HV40 I think they (HV40 and DSLR) can match easily in post. After all.....those crane shots are mostly wide open shots anyways right?
 
Yeah, I haven't done anything with a crane that wasn't like an exterior establishing wide shot. and the shots usually only last a few seconds. I doubt you'd be able to pick them apart.
 
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