GH1 for Wedding Videography???

J

JokCoustou

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I have been doing wedding videography for 10 years and wondering if the GH1 would work for weddings. I know it's not really ideal for events. Specifically, because of the medium its recorded to and the risk of losing video data is higher. Some things I need to make sure are tackled before I get this...

1. How long does it record without inturruption? Typically you change tapes every 60 min of video .. can I record the same length or longer on a single SD card without it stopping?

2. Does it have a slow zoom speed? .. Variable or can you see the zoom speed "step"?

3. Low light capability.. ? I currently use Sony VX2100 .. could it contend with that? I'm planning on mounting a light on the cameras anyways but still.

Maybe some of you that have your hands on one can help point out some pro's / cons ..

I want to do a feature and it would be great if I can get two GH1's .. instead of buying new HD 720 cams.. I really like the 24fps 1080 not to mention the price! .. oh also.. I wouldn't have to buy tapes again!
 
The GH1 is perfect for this.

Switch between the kit lens and primes often or buy two GH1s. The kit lens is simply not an option for the reception.

There is no variable speed zoom (it's all manual like any SLR) but as you can see from the best wedding videos, you shouldn't be filming when zooming anyway. I'm thinking of getting a slider.

As for filming the reception I recommend to ask the DJ to keep the lights on (he can tune down the intensity a bit though) as those green and purple lights are pretty ugly on video.

Don't use a video light, plain and simple. If the DJ wants all lights down just set up one or two spots. If you insist on having something on top of your GH1, put a Zoom H4N there (or a mic but you have forced auto gain), that will be much more useful.

BTW from tests you shoud never go over ISO 500 - 640 inside. Remember that equals to ISO 1600 to 2000 on larger sensor SLRs
 
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Variable it good if you know how to use it tastefully.. if it comes to zoom or 24p I'd go for 24p any day.. I've never set up spots before but I've always wanted to try it.. I think it would give a lot more dimension .. cam lights just flatten out everything. I love it when the DJ has light cause if you shoot from the right angle you get a nice rim lighting effect on people dancing... and the cam light fills the front.

Why would the kit lense not be good? Coming strickly from video background I'm not hugely familiar with lenses.. I just knokw that mm is how far and wide it zooms and F2.8 makes let's in the most light.
 
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Also, I typically use 5 tapes average on a wedding.. comes out to about 450 minutes between both cameras.. how much storage on SD cards are we talking here?
 
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I think I would opt for the ZOOM since it looks like I could slide it in the officiants jacket for lapel mic recording as well as interviews and cam top mounting. I guess it's forced auto gain even with a mic plugged in the GH1 too right? I'm a new ZOOM fan.. after watching the promo vid
 
The hmc-150 might be better suited for continuous events or weddings but the gh1 would be perfect for the highlight style wedding video unless you have multiple shooters.
 
If your familiar with the vx2100, i have a hdr-fx1 that Im selling that I shot a good number of weddings with and it was excellent in low light and a great 1080i HDV camera. I also have the bogen 523pro tripod controls that makes smooth pans and zooms perfect for shooting weddings.
 
JokCoustou said:
I just knokw that mm is how far and wide it zooms and F2.8 makes let's in the most light.
Click to expand...

The kit lens is max app. is f4, so you'd need to bump up the ISO depending on the lighting conditions. So if you decided to set up spots you'd probably be fine. I shot some dirty footy of a friends band playing in a backyard last night at a birthday party and they just had super basic lighting (2 spots like 30-40 feet away on a patio and 1 other fill on the opposite side approx. 15 feet from the band) and it was pitch black and everything held up quite well. ISO 800 and F5.8. Considering I wasn't planning on shooting anything I think it looks pretty decent. If I had my adapter arrive for my zeiss glass it would have looked killer. So for a wedding with proper planning you'll probably get some pretty nice results

Any noise or banding that can be seen is hardly even noticeable when in motion and mainly brought on right now from being a highly compressed jpeg.
 

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JokCoustou said:
I have been doing wedding videography for 10 years and wondering if the GH1 would work for weddings. I know it's not really ideal for events. Specifically, because of the medium its recorded to and the risk of losing video data is higher. Some things I need to make sure are tackled before I get this...

1. How long does it record without inturruption? Typically you change tapes every 60 min of video .. can I record the same length or longer on a single SD card without it stopping?

2. Does it have a slow zoom speed? .. Variable or can you see the zoom speed "step"?

3. Low light capability.. ? I currently use Sony VX2100 .. could it contend with that? I'm planning on mounting a light on the cameras anyways but still.

Maybe some of you that have your hands on one can help point out some pro's / cons ..

I want to do a feature and it would be great if I can get two GH1's .. instead of buying new HD 720 cams.. I really like the 24fps 1080 not to mention the price! .. oh also.. I wouldn't have to buy tapes again!
Click to expand...


In regards to recording length...a 16gb class 6 SDHC card will record 2hr 5min continuous. A 32gb card even more.

As for low light settings, ISO 1600 has color saturation loss. 800 as stated is the limit for decent footage but also dependent on the lens you use.
 
I'd recommend spending a couple of hours reading the reviews in detail, also download the manual and check it through. That would give you a fuller idea of its features and capabilities before considering such a radical step.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicdmcgh1/
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/DMCGH1/DMCGH1MODES.HTM
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Panasonic_Lumix_DMC_GH1/index.shtml
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Panasonic-Lumix-GH1-Digital-Camera-Review-20751.htm
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/gh1.shtml
http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/panasonic_lumix_dmc_gh1_review/

(The quality of these reviews varies a lot but there's usually something to be gleaned from any of them).
 
JokCoustou said:
Also, I typically use 5 tapes average on a wedding.. comes out to about 720minutes between both cameras.. how much storage on SD cards are we talking here?
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You're looking at about 96gb's worth. 8gb cards are pretty cheap, so that's 12 cards.

You also need to consider power. I'm not sure if there's been any effort to rig the AC adapter pack that sits in the battery compartment to a big battery yet. The standard battery that comes with the camera can do about 2-3 hours before giving up.

Lenses, heh, I could write a book about them. :P
 
You also need to consider power. I'm not sure if there's been any effort to rig the AC adapter pack that sits in the battery compartment to a big battery yet.
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It's very likely that the camera will detect a non-standard arrangement if that was tried and would put up an error message. I'm pretty sure I tried something of the sort with another Panasonic AVCHD device and that's what happened. Not hard for them to arrange - the charger/mains power unit could be sending some kind of identifying signal up the wire as well as the required voltage.
 
I did a family member's wedding with a GH1 and a DVX. Even though I blew up the dvx footage 250% to match resolution, the two cut together just fine for your average viewer.
For the ceremony, I used the stock lens, and had to bump up to 650 iso to get a decent exposure, and I think it was a lot better than trying to change lenses, because I would've missed a lot, attracted attention, and made noise in the mic.

The audio was the main issue. I had the H4n running with one wireless on the priest, and a shotgun mounted to the cam, but the H4 is dangerous if you don't keep a close eye on it, because it will stop recording when batteries are low and give you no indication in the headphones. I didn't record part of the ceremony due to that. Luckily, the dvx was running with the other wireless and a shotgun. Note: Use the 'stamina mode' in the batt compartment to make batteries last more than 15 min. :)

I found that even on a tripod, at full zoom, there was shaking all over that I didn't notice during the ceremony.
When you go handheld, a stabilizer or shoulder-mount is a must.

For the reception, I used primes and the kit lens, all on the shoulder mount. When they saw the footage, they were all very impressed. Late at night, when the wedding party all decided to jump in the pool in their tux's and dresses, lit by only one 100w lightbulb, I was able to capture it at 1600iso and the 50mm 1.4. I was wishing for a wider lens at that moment, but it worked out and still looks pretty darn good.

The other great thing for tossing the bouquet and dancing was the 60p slowmo. Everyone loved that.

I don't shoot weddings, and this was my 1st, but I would definitely use the GH1 again, ONLY if there was a second camera running, but next time I would try to get a dedicated audio person.
 
I think it all depends what kind of video you make. The company that I work for doesn't care about audio except for the exchange of rings so I'm OK with in camera audio. The rest of the wedding video is music.

IMO 720 minutes of footage is overkill and I would probably only import 50% (in log and tranfer) of that, with the final video being no more than 30 minutes.
 
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I found that even on a tripod, at full zoom, there was shaking all over that I didn't notice during the ceremony.
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What firmware version are you on? I noticed a similar issue with some pre-firmware-upgrade footage but after doing the upgrade I think the OIS is working much better (it's on the list of fixed items on the firmware notes).
 
mmm. I haven't upgraded firmware at all yet. Trying to get my money's worth from those cheapo batteries. Maybe it's time now to upgrade. :)
 
Hmm.. I just ordered my GH1 so I'm gonna test it out on a wedding and see how the kit lense performs.. what is the best bang for the buck lense ??

I just ordered the ZOOM too.. I don't think I can go wrong with that thing.

I almost always have two or more shooters at weddings and I'm thinking maybe get a HV30 as a wide shot and 2 GH1's for medium and close up shots.. I just LOVE the shallow depth of field this camera gives.
 
JokCoustou said:
Hmm.. I just ordered my GH1 so I'm gonna test it out on a wedding and see how the kit lense performs.. what is the best bang for the buck lense ??

I just ordered the ZOOM too.. I don't think I can go wrong with that thing.

I almost always have two or more shooters at weddings and I'm thinking maybe get a HV30 as a wide shot and 2 GH1's for medium and close up shots.. I just LOVE the shallow depth of field this camera gives.
Click to expand...

I've tried to use my HV30 as a master and the problems I have are the colors never match quite right, even after correction, and HDV isn't nearly as sharp as the GH1's AVCHD.

But for the average viewer, they will probably not notice a thing.
 
JokCoustou said:
Hmm.. I just ordered my GH1 so I'm gonna test it out on a wedding and see how the kit lense performs.. what is the best bang for the buck lense ??

I just ordered the ZOOM too.. I don't think I can go wrong with that thing.

I almost always have two or more shooters at weddings and I'm thinking maybe get a HV30 as a wide shot and 2 GH1's for medium and close up shots.. I just LOVE the shallow depth of field this camera gives.
Click to expand...

If you are interested, I just posted a GH1 wedding video on vimeo:
http://www.vimeo.com/6421216

It was quick and dirty, all is handheld, with kit lens, no grading.

I think it is a great camera for doing wedding stuff. What is the best thing, the people don't reckognize they are getting filmed.

I also love the kit lens. Auto focus helps a great deal not to miss the important stuff.

best regards, Gunther
 
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