GH2, Canon 50mm, 1.4 and 1080p Streaming

Wow, Larry that looks great with Vimeo Plus 1080p streaming ! I like using my 50mm Pentax F1.4 @F4 most of the time, is that about what you used on your 50mm Canon F1.4 ?
 
Exactly! Shot mostly at F4 or 5.6. By the way, this video is straight out of the camera, no post processing which makes it even more amazing to me!
 
Larry:

That is fantastic footage... shows off what the GH2 can do.... sharp and detailed pictures, with locked down camera so I can do close peeping.

Most of the GH2 clips on the net I've seen so far have been bleh... until now.

Definitely makes the stuff I've shot with the Canon t2i look soft.

I am calling B and H. Can't wait to get mine.
 
Thanks Beryllum, really good to get this feedback. I thought it looked great but now hearing back from you and others on Vimeo, it really confirms for me how fantastic this little camera is.
 
There's something unusual and special happening with the Canon 50mm f/1.4 on an m43 camera. I notice the same thing whenever I use an FDn version of this lens, or especially an older FL 50mm f/1.4, on my GF13. Despite the fact that the field of view becomes that of a 100mm telephoto, there's just something about this lens that always delivers shockingly vivid and filmic footage on the m43 system. Wide open at f/1.4 it's dreamy and f/2 and above it's sharp as hell. And yes, I've noticed too that this lens often results in footage which requires little or no grading.

The only drawback of using such a long lens when shooting video is camera stability, as the longer throw amplifies every bit of camera shake and jitter. I learned this the hard way, and now I always use a tripod when shooting this lens. Even my usual LCDVF add-on viewfinder that presses against my face for added stability doesn't fully banish camera shake with a throw this long. And a monopod's no good either, because while it anchors the camera vertically, I still suffer from side to side movement and even worse, micro rotation that makes post-processing stabilization like FCP's SmoothCam impossible to apply without gross artifacts. So with this lens on my GF13, it's a tripod or else it's very casual.

I will never forget the week I first got an FL 50mm f/1.4, a Jinfinance m43 adapter, and learned about 180-degree shutter all in the same couple of days. I shot a jazz band at an outdoor summer concert and couldn't believe how filmic the footage looked when I dumped it on my Mac. A quantum leap from anything I'd managed to eke out of the GF1 before, even with the fabled 20mm pancake. The difference in look and character is so striking, and it's exactly the look I want for when I shoot moving pictures. It's why no matter what I'm shooting, the Canon 50mm is always in my bag.
 
Larry your video is one of the sharpest video I have seen by the way, enjoy your GH2.
 
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Larry, if you can get a Canon 50mm and a GH2 to move as smoothly as that video with a piddly shoulder support, I'm heaving the Flycam Nano I just bought all the way back to India.

I know slowing down footage always makes it a bit smoother, but seriously, that's some control you have there. I wish I was half that steady with handheld shooting.

larrys said:
Hey, thanks everyone for the great feedback. shaveblog, I got this for using with my monopod and also works for handhed as a small rig:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/554100-REG/Manfrotto_361_361_Shoulder_Brace_for.html

By the way, how does the motion look on your computers, the 24p looks pretty smooth to me, but would love to hear your impressions.
Click to expand...
 
shaveblog, thanks and that's funny. I mentioned the little monopod brace as a good option. I wish I was that good, but I had the camera on a fluid head on my slider. The slider sits on two light stands. The slider is new and I was also testing getting a very slow slide.
 
You caught me in mid-heave, thanks Larry!

Okay, I feel a lot better now. You actually had me walking around the house with an FD 50mm on my GF13, mounted to a Gorillapod Focus jammed against my shoulder to see if I could get near the smoothness of motion in your video. It actually works pretty well, but certainly not fluid head on a slider well.

I wonder how many Manfrotto shoulder braces you just sold in the time between your two posts...
 
Yeah, I heard the gorillapod works pretty well.

As for the vari-nd, yes it's the Singh-Ray, it stays on my lens at all times!
 
larrys said:
Yeah, I heard the gorillapod works pretty well.

As for the vari-nd, yes it's the Singh-Ray, it stays on my lens at all times!
Click to expand...

Well that's also a big tick for the Singh-Ray with a video that sharp and detailed. My FD 50mm 1.4 sure ain't that sharp though, you must have a good one.
 
though most Vimeo 1080p streams i'm seeing lately (including my own) are way too sharp for my liking, it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. lots of good info in this thread sofar :-)
 
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