GH2 GH2 for Event Video?

lovetrumpsfear

lovetrumpsfear

Active member
Hi all,

I shoot a lot of wedding/event video, and I've been really disappointed with the low-light performance of the 60D for this. I'm loving what I've seen from the GH2 with the 44mbit hack, and I'm wondering if any of you could help me make the decision to switch or not?

My main concern is obviously reliability, as I don't get a second chance to capture the kiss or the getaway on a wedding day. Have any of you experienced problems with reliability on longer shooting days?

Thanks very much,

Paul
 
you just have to note of spanning, depending on which hack you choose. Safest bet is to use the Sandisk 32g/95mb SD card.
Other than that, the GH2 has always been reliable for me during long shoots.
 
If I were shooting events with the GH2 then I would not use any hack. The image is plenty good enough with stock firmware & it's guaranteed to be reliable for both recording & playback/review.
 
lovetrumpsfear said:
Hi all,

I shoot a lot of wedding/event video, and I've been really disappointed with the low-light performance of the 60D for this. I'm loving what I've seen from the GH2 with the 44mbit hack, and I'm wondering if any of you could help me make the decision to switch or not?

My main concern is obviously reliability, as I don't get a second chance to capture the kiss or the getaway on a wedding day. Have any of you experienced problems with reliability on longer shooting days?

Thanks very much,

Paul
Click to expand...

Low-light performance in general has a lot more to do with lens choice than the minute sensor differences between these models. Don't expect the GH2 to blow away the 60D in low-light. In fact, the larger sensor might even give a slight advantage to the 60D vs the unhacked GH2. The 5D would probably to them both, but then again, that's a nightmare for wedding/event videography given its limitations.
 
We use 5DIIs for wedding/event videography. They are by no means a nightmare. No different to any other Canon DSLR really apart from the fact that they are a good two stops better in low light. I routinely use ISO3200 & just adjust aperture to keep the image well exposed. It's clean & noise free if exposed correctly even at ISO3200. I wouldn't go above ISO800 on any of the crop sensor Canons. I know from my own experience that the GH2 is pretty clean in low light. Not as good as the 5DII but better than the 600D(T3i) & presumably the other Canon APS-C cameras.
 
Thanks for your replies!

We use 5DIIs for wedding/event videography. They are by no means a nightmare. It's clean & noise free if exposed correctly even at ISO3200.
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I can affirm this, I love shooting the mkII when I have access to one. (We own a few 60D's, and rent the mkII when the job calls for it.)

Don't expect the GH2 to blow away the 60D in low-light. In fact, the larger sensor might even give a slight advantage to the 60D vs the unhacked GH2.
Click to expand...

We've worked extensively with all the video-capable Canon DSLRs, and unfortunately the 60D is the runt of the litter, on par with the T3i. On paper it's a 7D with a flip-out screen and better audio control, but in practice we've found that it's much noisier at higher ISOs, and suffers from hideous moire issues.

Anything else I should keep in mind, as we consider this switch?
 
lovetrumpsfear said:
Anything else I should keep in mind, as we consider this switch?
Click to expand...

Yes... Welcome to the club of event shooters that chose the best tool for the job regardless of brand name. We are rare in this industry. 90% that shoot with DSLRs shoot with Canons not because they tested them all, but because "that's what the other people use".
 
The image is plenty good enough with stock firmware & it's guaranteed to be reliable for both recording & playback/review.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reassurance! I've been impressed with the image in my informal testing, and if we decide to move in this direction, I'm looking forward to putting it through more rigorous tests!
 
Welcome to the club of event shooters that chose the best tool for the job regardless of brand name... 90% that shoot with DSLRs shoot with Canons not because they tested them all, but because "that's what the other people use".
Click to expand...

Ha... Thanks! Giving credit where it's due, Canon made the club possible, but you should definitely remain open-minded when you're considering your tools. Especially if you don't have an unlimited budget! (I don't.)
 
The main problem I've had with live event shooting on the GH2 is finding good zoom lenses that are fast enough for low-light shooting. Last week, I had to shoot an event in a large room with a colleague, and we realized no lens I had for the GH2 would do the job, so we borrowed an EX3 and EX1 and used those for the panel of speakers, with the GH2 relegated to a static shot of the audience from a little tripod tucked near the podium (using the 20mm pancake set to ETC mode).

If you're doing wedding video or any other event video that doesn't require really long, really fast zooms, you'll be all set with the GH2. It's a wonderful camera. And if you do need a really long, really fast zoom, you can use a Canon or Nikon (or other) zoom with adapter.

But for us, lacking those expensive lenses, going with traditional video cameras like the EX1 and EX3 was the right choice for a big lecture-style event. (And thankfully, we work for two filmmakers who own such nice traditional cameras and can loan them to us...)

EDIT: As I mentioned in another thread, I just bought a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 Nikon lens with adapter, and so far in one small shoot today, it did pretty well. But it still (even with ETC) lacks the range we'd need for a lot of our live event shooting.
 
And if you do need a really long, really fast zoom, you can use a Canon or Nikon (or other) zoom with adapter.
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Thanks for the input, I had been thinking about what to do when I needed the extra reach... Fortunately on the majority of my shoots, a 135 equiv. is all I need.
 
lovetrumpsfear said:
Thanks for the input, I had been thinking about what to do when I needed the extra reach... Fortunately on the majority of my shoots, a 135 equiv. is all I need.
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If you need something longer with autoiris and autofocus, there are a couple of relatively fast Olympus 4/3 auto zooms longer than 135 equiv:

1) the $2500 Olympus 35-100mm f2.0 or

2) the $1200 Olympus 50-200mm f2.8-3.5

Of course, you'll need a 4/3 to m4/3 adapter ($104 used from Adorama) to use these lenses.

Or you can rent them when you need them from lensrentals or borrowlenses.

Cheers,

Bill
 
Gerson said:
The main problem I've had with live event shooting on the GH2 is finding good zoom lenses that are fast enough for low-light shooting. Last week, I had to shoot an event in a large room with a colleague, and we realized no lens I had for the GH2 would do the job, so we borrowed an EX3 and EX1 and used those for the panel of speakers, with the GH2 relegated to a static shot of the audience from a little tripod tucked near the podium (using the 20mm pancake set to ETC mode).

If you're doing wedding video or any other event video that doesn't require really long, really fast zooms, you'll be all set with the GH2. It's a wonderful camera. And if you do need a really long, really fast zoom, you can use a Canon or Nikon (or other) zoom with adapter.

But for us, lacking those expensive lenses, going with traditional video cameras like the EX1 and EX3 was the right choice for a big lecture-style event. (And thankfully, we work for two filmmakers who own such nice traditional cameras and can loan them to us...)

EDIT: As I mentioned in another thread, I just bought a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 Nikon lens with adapter, and so far in one small shoot today, it did pretty well. But it still (even with ETC) lacks the range we'd need for a lot of our live event shooting.
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That's what ExTele is for man! I'll use a fast prime in the back of the church, then switch to to extended tele for the closeups. As long as you are at a lower ISO it's very clean. I cut zooms out anyway so I just need the wide and tight shots.
 
ATL Media Group said:
That's what ExTele is for man! I'll use a fast prime in the back of the church, then switch to to extended tele for the closeups. As long as you are at a lower ISO it's very clean. I cut zooms out anyway so I just need the wide and tight shots.
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I love ETC, but I've been in situations where it's either not enough or too much... For example, last week, I had a 14-140 Lumix lens, the 20mm pancake, and an 85mm Rokinon. The 14-140 was too slow to be usable in the horribly dim lecture room. So that was out. The 20mm even with ETC didn't come nearly close enough to the tight shots I needed. And the 85mm Rokinon was TOO long, even without ETC.

It all depends on the room, and the lenses you have. I guess the lesson for me is to save up for an incredible zoom (maybe the 35-100 Lumix X whenever it comes out...mmmm...).
 
Hey Paul,
i think you'll really appreciate the great look, ease of use, and quality of resolution the GH2 provides. The patches by Driftwood have been really great. Some have been tailored just for events and docs. I used Driftwoods Quantum baby 25 patch for this wedding and I got 1hr20min on each of my 16gig cards. No issues. Shot as high as 3200 iso for some scenes.
Go for it.
Paul
 
pchristoph said:
Hey Paul,
i think you'll really appreciate the great look, ease of use, and quality of resolution the GH2 provides. The patches by Driftwood have been really great. Some have been tailored just for events and docs. I used Driftwoods Quantum baby 25 patch for this wedding and I got 1hr20min on each of my 16gig cards. No issues. Shot as high as 3200 iso for some scenes.
Go for it.
Paul
Click to expand...

Hey Paul,

beautiful video, which stabilizer did you guys use?
 
I shot my son competing in the youth national bouldering competition this past weekend. I had to have ultimate reliability since this is a 1 shot live sporting event. I shot about 3 hours of footage with the no adverse affects settings and it worked perfectly even with my ultra slow class 6 Eye-Fi card. The no adverse affects settings are completely stable with all memory cards and offer about twice the bit rate of a non hacked camera.

Everything was shot handheld in AFC mode with either the 25mm F1.4, 45mm F1.8, or 14-140mm lens. Some of the 25mm F1.4 shots are with the ETC mode. The no adverse affects settings are actually more reliable than the stock firmware. The stock firmware will even fail with class 6 cards sometimes.


No adverse Affects settings setup video.

 
pchristoph said:
Hey Paul,
i think you'll really appreciate the great look, ease of use, and quality of resolution the GH2 provides. The patches by Driftwood have been really great. Some have been tailored just for events and docs. I used Driftwoods Quantum baby 25 patch for this wedding and I got 1hr20min on each of my 16gig cards. No issues. Shot as high as 3200 iso for some scenes.
Go for it.
Paul
Click to expand...


That is a really good video. I wish the GH2 was around when I got married.
 
Thanks so much mpgxsvcd, me too ...and that's going back 11yrs :D I bought a Sony tvr17 dvcam when I was first married. Little did I know it would lead to what I do now. Your boy can boulder!
 
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