Justin Richardson
Member
Will check out that lens
GH2 GH2 W/14-42mm Lens OR GH2 W/O Lens
- Thread starter Justin Richardson
- Start date
Bruce Foreman
Veteran
One further suggestion, original question was purchase with or without 14-42 "kit" lens. While right now, B&H has the GH2 with 14-42 "kit" lens for $849 and the body only for $100 less, just a few weeks ago when I ordered mine the camera with lens was $814 and the body only $849 (feels like they paid me $35 to take that lens off their hands).
For awhile it was $849 with or without lens.
If in the time frame you are ready to place your order they have either of those options going, take the lens (if I had to order right now, I'd take the lens and bite the bullet).
While you won't use it in clubs or similar settings it is still a very handy lens for outdoors or fairly well lit interiors because it covers a very useful range from a "workhorse" wideangle to portrait perspective telephoto. While many like to run this "kit" lens down as being poor quality, optically is is a pretty good performer.
I've shot comparison on the same outdoor scene (still photos) with both the Lumix 14mm and the 14mm end of both the Lumix version and the Olympus Zuiko version of this "kit" lens and had to "pixel peep" to tell any slight difference.
It's a pretty handy inexpensive lens to have in the bag.
For awhile it was $849 with or without lens.
If in the time frame you are ready to place your order they have either of those options going, take the lens (if I had to order right now, I'd take the lens and bite the bullet).
While you won't use it in clubs or similar settings it is still a very handy lens for outdoors or fairly well lit interiors because it covers a very useful range from a "workhorse" wideangle to portrait perspective telephoto. While many like to run this "kit" lens down as being poor quality, optically is is a pretty good performer.
I've shot comparison on the same outdoor scene (still photos) with both the Lumix 14mm and the 14mm end of both the Lumix version and the Olympus Zuiko version of this "kit" lens and had to "pixel peep" to tell any slight difference.
It's a pretty handy inexpensive lens to have in the bag.
Also don't forget the
DMW-GWC1 wide angle adapter. It was just released and can convert the 14mm even wider. It was also designed with that lens in mind and it's only one of two lenses it attaches to so you'll get great image quality.
And don't doubly forget CCTV lenses and c-mount cine lenses. With the ETC you can zoom in and use as wide as 4mm lenses that are even faster than F1.8. You gain some low light noise, but if you get a fast enough lens, that could negate those issues, though then you'd have to worry about DOF.
Also if you really need low light in situations where noise is too much....max iso works really good in black n white, while in color it would be almost unusable. So you could shoot B&W and people would think you were being "artistic".
And don't doubly forget CCTV lenses and c-mount cine lenses. With the ETC you can zoom in and use as wide as 4mm lenses that are even faster than F1.8. You gain some low light noise, but if you get a fast enough lens, that could negate those issues, though then you'd have to worry about DOF.
Also if you really need low light in situations where noise is too much....max iso works really good in black n white, while in color it would be almost unusable. So you could shoot B&W and people would think you were being "artistic".
Justin, I have a different perspective for you. I'm always surprised that people don't bring this up very often on this board, but you have to be very careful to avoid rolling shutter jello effects if you go handheld on the GH2 with a non-OIS lens. I bring this up to you for two reasons: because you currently use the HMC40, which, being a dedicated video camera, is probably optimized to reduce the jello effect, and second, because you seem to do a lot of handheld work in your event coverage.
I used the Panasonic/Leica 25mm f/1.4 (a non-OIS lens) for an event, and most of the handheld footage had bad micro jitters/jello from rolling shutter. I have not tried the 14mm or 20mm so can't say if they're better. They should be at least a little bit better because they're wider. I ended up returning the 25mm because of this.
Anyway, I would strongly recommend an OIS lens for your specific use. If you can wait and afford it, the new 12-35 f/2.8 would probably be ideal for you.
Oh, one other thing, how do you run the focus on the HMC40 on your events? Auto or manual? I find the manual focus on the Panasonic native m43 lenses to be pretty annoying. The focus-by-wire on the 25mm would typically either take 2 full turns of the ring to go from a near object to a far object and vice versa, which introduced camera shake, and if I spun the ring really quick (which reduces the amount of rotation needed), it made it shake even worse.
Regardless of what you end up deciding, definitely practice with some throw away footage before you actually cover an event, so you get a feel for what is possible. Also, consider a shoulder rig or at least a pistol grip, which should help with stability.
Good luck!
I used the Panasonic/Leica 25mm f/1.4 (a non-OIS lens) for an event, and most of the handheld footage had bad micro jitters/jello from rolling shutter. I have not tried the 14mm or 20mm so can't say if they're better. They should be at least a little bit better because they're wider. I ended up returning the 25mm because of this.
Anyway, I would strongly recommend an OIS lens for your specific use. If you can wait and afford it, the new 12-35 f/2.8 would probably be ideal for you.
Oh, one other thing, how do you run the focus on the HMC40 on your events? Auto or manual? I find the manual focus on the Panasonic native m43 lenses to be pretty annoying. The focus-by-wire on the 25mm would typically either take 2 full turns of the ring to go from a near object to a far object and vice versa, which introduced camera shake, and if I spun the ring really quick (which reduces the amount of rotation needed), it made it shake even worse.
Regardless of what you end up deciding, definitely practice with some throw away footage before you actually cover an event, so you get a feel for what is possible. Also, consider a shoulder rig or at least a pistol grip, which should help with stability.
Good luck!
Justin Richardson
Member
thanks for the advice, for focus, I use manual, i've use my camera everyday so its not annoying to me, at first it was annoying though, now i've perfected the use of it "i think" lol
Justin Richardson
Member
It comes down to these choices guys since i'll be mostly in low light.If u had to choose one, what would it be?
noktor 17.5mm
lumix 12-35mm
oly 12mm
slr magic 12mm
noktor 17.5mm
lumix 12-35mm
oly 12mm
slr magic 12mm
I have an HMC40 and GH2 with kit lens 14-140, the HMC40 as you know is horrible in anything but direct sunlight so yes getting the GH2 will fix the low light issues but the rocker zoom on the HMC40 will be missed, and you'll have to try to pull focus too, DSLR depth of field goodness. You can get these little CCTV lenses with an adaptor for dirt cheap, off ebay, someting like f1.2 and for about $100, the lens is excellent in low light and sure not going to be a good as a legit lens that will probably set you back 3k or more with that f stop and wide angle.