GH1 - shooting on a boat tips

R

RandyQ

Well-known member
Has anyone here taken their GH1 out on a fishing boat? I'm going to shoot on a commercial fishing boat out in the Pacific, and I'm wondering what you folks do to protect your GH1 from seawater, as well as what rig you use to stabilize the shot.

I'm shooting alone (no assitants), and the shoot is for a corporate video. I hope the sea will be relatively calm, but I've done this before and a tripod was unusable due to engine vibration.

Some folks have said that I need a steadicam-type stabilizer, but will this work out in a wild sea?

Any other tips are welcome!
 
polarizer/ND filters? i think a steadycam is better than hand held for sure. if it is a paid gig then its worth considering. you could alawys gorilla pod wrap it around a pillar and gaffa tape the crap out of it so it doesnt fall for a shot or two...lol get a go pro HD and stick it to your head? or fishing rod, or in the water, some interesting shots to be had there? never filmed on a boat, just plucking ideas out of the air=)
 
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Some more notes on this: yes, its a paid gig, and a very important one too.

Last time I did this, I shot it with a PD170, and I needed to keep one hand on a post or something to keep my balance much of the time.

Re: stabilizer, its the ruggedness I'm concerned about. Haven't tried it, but it seems to me that its too easy for the counterbalance to get knocked about because of all the movement on the boat. Windage is a factor too, which makes me prefer a rigid rig of some sort.

Anyway, if any of you have any suggestions, I'd be glad to hear it.
 
I've shot quite a bit with DSLRs on boats, including the GH1. Below is a piece I shot 80% on the GH1 and the rest on the EX1. With the GH1, I used the Zacuto Tactical Shooter and Z-Finder, shooting handheld most of the time. A stabilizer like the Steadicam Merlin may have helped, but I never really felt like I needed it.

For protection, I'd look at Think Tank's Hydrophobia (I think) series, or a simple Op-Tech Camera Cover. Plastic grocery bags and gaffer's tape work pretty well for me also. At the end of every day, I always thoroughly wipe down the camera and clean all lenses and filters.


 
Stephen Mick said:
I've shot quite a bit with DSLRs on boats, including the GH1. Below is a piece I shot 80% on the GH1 and the rest on the EX1. With the GH1, I used the Zacuto Tactical Shooter and Z-Finder, shooting handheld most of the time. A stabilizer like the Steadicam Merlin may have helped, but I never really felt like I needed it.

For protection, I'd look at Think Tank's Hydrophobia (I think) series, or a simple Op-Tech Camera Cover. Plastic grocery bags and gaffer's tape work pretty well for me also. At the end of every day, I always thoroughly wipe down the camera and clean all lenses and filters.
Click to expand...

This is such a fine, fine piece. Had seen parts of it before, but never the whole thing. Thoroughly enjoyed both the story and the production quality.

In fact, it was a posting of yours awhile back featuring parts of this that steered me to the Zacuto Tactical Shooter and Z-Finder. Some people on here mock the Zacuto stuff for being unnecessary and/or too expensive, but I've never regretted purchasing my rig or the Z-Finder. Both have allowed me to capture stuff that would have been otherwise inferior, if not unusable. In bright conditions where you're moving around following changing situations or moving subjects this rig is tough to beat.

Another thing your past posts influenced me to buy was a variable ND. Unfortunately, I bought into the widely-held opinion at the time that the Fader ND was just as good as the Singh-Ray, but at a fraction of the price. Well, as I've since learned, this is far from the truth and I've recently put aside my Fader NDs and gone with a Singh-Ray Vari-ND, and couldn't be happier with the results.

So I'll add a +1 for the Zacuto Tactical Shooter and Z-Finder, and also recommend that a Vari-ND can come in very handy for this type of shoot. But I'm sure Stephen Mick could elaborate on that better than I.
 
Thanks for the kind words, tflak. :D

And a big, big, big +1 on the Singh-Ray Vari-ND for outdoors, run-and-gun style shooting.

In fact, if all I had to work with was a DSLR, the Zacuto Tactical Shooter/Z-Finder and the Vari-ND, I'd still be a happy man.
 
Hello Randy Q. I recently raced across the pacific in the Pacific cup on a 42' Beneatu. (sailing vessel.)

While I am a GH13 user, I also purchased a 7D and a GoPro HD hero right before the boat-trip. My theory was that the 7D's weathersealing would be a big advantage on the boat, and that for the really wet-stuff I could use the Go-pro for insert shots.

Now it ended up being a drier trip than I've experienced previously, so I can't swear that it's the right kit for really rough conditions, but it worked for me. The GH1 on a light-weight shoulder rig worked great when it was sunny or I was in the cockpit, and the 7D with a z-finder allowed me to brave the foredeck. I used the gopro to go over the side, up the mast, etc.

They seem to cut together pretty well. It was probably a little risky, but I didn't feel like buying really expensive waterproof cases.

One thing I noticed later on land, and something that I'm still dealing with, is that the 7D with z-finder is actually more stable than the light GH1 on a cheap shoulder rig. On the boat, I was able to wedge myself into tight corners and brace myself against various surfaces, so it wasn't as noticeable. Plus everything is moving. But if the GH1 is your Acam (as I think of mine for daytime stuff and wides...the 7 is for down below, at night, or when it's wet) you really need to get serious about stabilization. I imagine you'll be a little more free to walk, a little less wedged in, on a fishing vessel, and that won't help for stabilization. I didn't bring my Merlin, next time I'd consider a redrock or something.

My 'professional' invovlment in the video world is not yet shooting or editing my own material, and this was a quick edit after the race spoof for the family (the crew was all related), but it might give you an idea of how everything cuts together out there:

http://www.vimeo.com/13594207
 
Make sure you set your GH1 to the "standard" or use a variation on the standard picture profile, as other profiles (smooth, etc) can experience a weird color shift when filming lots of blue water and sky.
 
Thanks folks, very helpful.

One other question I have is regarding choice of lenses - I'm sure the kit lens will be great out in the sun, but I wonder if its too slow for shooting in the wheelhouse, etc? If it gets too bad, I've got the 20mm f1.7 lens which will work great, except that it might not be wide enough for shooting below deck.

btw - did you folks shoot in 24p over the water? Did a "wiggle test" yesterday, simulating the worst boat rolling that I expect to encounter, and the jello was very, very visible at 24p, but not at all at 720/60p.
 
bring a portable led lighting kit with you. does a world of good having one at hand. 720p is what i would be shooting at personally for reliability.
 
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