Help needed with putting together a GH3 + Lenses video kit

Movie-Fanatic said:
^^^ Thanks for those links.



^^^ Sounds like the Cowboy rig is worth at-least giving it a shot especially for the money. I do however really like the small/discrete form factor of the Fotodiox clone rig.




^^^ Im hoping I have the same things to say about all 3. I actually switched it up and decided I want the 25mm first so I changed my order and will be getting that first and then next month Ill be getting the 14mm and 45mm. Cant wait to get some test video's and photo's done in the next week. The GH3 already arrived today and the 25mm is set to come in by end of this week :)
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Any specific reason you went with the 14mm over the Olympus 12mm f2.0? Slightly wider and brighter with autofocus that works much better.
 
Thomas Smet said:
Any specific reason you went with the 14mm over the Olympus 12mm f2.0? Slightly wider and brighter with autofocus that works much better.
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Price simply put. I couldn't justify the price difference between these two lenses. For half a stop and 2mm (ok 4mm) paying an extra $600 just didn't sit right with me. I know the Oly has other other things going for it as well as well like much better build quality and not to mention that really awesome focussing ring that you can pop back and forth from AF/MF which would be great for video. But for me... someone who doesn't do a lot of shooting in the wide angle focal lengths it didn't make sense to buy the premium lens in this case. The $600 saved could almost fund a Oly 75mm F/1.8 or anything else for that matter that I might need. I think if the Oly 12mm was a F/1.4 lens I might have been swayed a bit more to perhaps consider ponying up the extra coin for it as that would then make it quite a bit faster and more low light capable.
 
Sorry for the delay on this. Stupid Fedex Smartpost from Amazon didn't get here on Friday so now I have to wait until Monday to get the rest of my stuff for this rig. This is the cheap shoulder mount with my rails attached and the follow focus. Weighs it down a lot but also makes it more sturdy. Once I get my 7" arm I will post a new photo of my rig with my Lilliput 7" monitor attached as well. I did order a handle for the rig as well. It is a cheap little single handle that will attach to the center of a 15mm rail plate. I was hoping for a dual handle set but couldn't find a set below $60.00 that would work directly with my rails. If the single handle works as well as I hope I will invest in better handles but right now this is just an experiment.

By the way never use standard shipping from Amazon. They now tend to randomly use this totally useless service called Fedex Smartpost that only delivers to your local post office and then you have to wait for the post office to deliver to you. Not the fault of the post office at all but a cheap way Fedex wants to cut costs. Best to either sign up for Amazon Prime or just pay for two day shipping. The worse part is the tracking number only works until it hits the post office. Then Fedex considers your package delivered and signed for. Amazon even shows the package as delivered. Based on this shoddy service nothing is ever delivered within the estimated time. I have my stuff delivered to my work which is a corporation in the city of Milwaukee, WI so they can't use the excuse I have an odd house address in a weird remote location. It is just a bad god awful delivery service. Rant over.

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By the way that is a Manfrotto quick release plate that the rails are attached to. This way I can quickly move the rails between my Tripod, shoulder mount and monopod (new favorite stabilizer).
 
Thomas Smet said:
Sorry for the delay on this. Stupid Fedex Smartpost from Amazon didn't get here on Friday so now I have to wait until Monday to get the rest of my stuff for this rig. This is the cheap shoulder mount with my rails attached and the follow focus. Weighs it down a lot but also makes it more sturdy. Once I get my 7" arm I will post a new photo of my rig with my Lilliput 7" monitor attached as well. I did order a handle for the rig as well. It is a cheap little single handle that will attach to the center of a 15mm rail plate. I was hoping for a dual handle set but couldn't find a set below $60.00 that would work directly with my rails. If the single handle works as well as I hope I will invest in better handles but right now this is just an experiment.

By the way never use standard shipping from Amazon. They now tend to randomly use this totally useless service called Fedex Smartpost that only delivers to your local post office and then you have to wait for the post office to deliver to you. Not the fault of the post office at all but a cheap way Fedex wants to cut costs. Best to either sign up for Amazon Prime or just pay for two day shipping. The worse part is the tracking number only works until it hits the post office. Then Fedex considers your package delivered and signed for. Amazon even shows the package as delivered. Based on this shoddy service nothing is ever delivered within the estimated time. I have my stuff delivered to my work which is a corporation in the city of Milwaukee, WI so they can't use the excuse I have an odd house address in a weird remote location. It is just a bad god awful delivery service. Rant over.
Click to expand...

Thomas Smet said:
By the way that is a Manfrotto quick release plate that the rails are attached to. This way I can quickly move the rails between my Tripod, shoulder mount and monopod (new favorite stabilizer).
Click to expand...

^^^ Thanks for that. Set up looks decent especially for the money spent. Thats a good idea with using the same quick release plate between things, definitely makes things easier. Looking forward to pics with the monitor on the rig :)
 
Simple little Audio Technica stereo mic that sounds more full compared to the built in mics on the GH3. Far from the best but it beats the tiny pin hole mics on the camera. Mostly my ambient walk around mic alternative. Not a shotgun or lav alternative by far.

Still testing it out on the GH3. Honestly I think it worked better on the GH2 but I haven't really tested it out that much yet.
 
Being a GH3 owner who jumped from Nikon to shot video, i second 14/2.5, 45/1.8, 25/1.4.
I own the first one, it is nice and has AFC.
Two others are on my buying list.
And i also have Rode Video Mic Pro, it's nice,
put it on +20dB, set GH3 audio level to 1 and it'll work well.
i'm not decided on the zoom yet, but 14-140 might be a good option.
 
Hi, I got the cowboy shoulder rig. I am just looking to add a cheese plate, rails and a handle. Any cheap suggestions? I searched and found various videos but having a hard time figuring out if they will all work together.

I am looking at this cheese plate. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/656408-REG/Glidecam_GLCWP_Camera_Weight_Plate.html
Then I need to get a rail or something to be able to attach a rail and to attach to that a handle, right?
The maybe a manfrotto quick release plate for the cheese plate, right?

Is that enough to get some additional stability?

I don't plan on using a follow focus system at the moment. Still learning.

Thanks!
 
I like your choices! I own a Panasonic GH3 and my 3 lenses are the 14mm, 25mm 1.4 and the olympus 1.8. My favorite is the Olympus but if you dont need auto focus you could get a Canon 50mm 1.4 for only $50. This will save you some money if you want to wait on that lens. The cheap canon is actually better in low light and gets a shallower depth of field for interview shots. The olympus is great though, it made me start doing photography!

I also have a liliput 7inch, i wish i went with the 5 inch though.

I dont know what type of video you are looking to do so i dont know what other accessories to recommend but here are some things I bought and liked:

2 LED lights - i switched from tungsten lights that kept breaking. I also like the look of LED's and 5600k over 3200k.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DVUSE9K/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

for under $23 this memory card has worked perfect for me: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B7ID99I/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For Audio:
If i film something that doesnt need to be perfect (for example I film audition tapes for actors) I use the Rode VideoMic plugged into my camera, with a 10 foot 3.5mm cable using this mic stand:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000978D58/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Then clip the mic on it with this clip:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00347A44I/ref=oh_details_o09_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I keep it on my camera for a lot of shoots and use this windcover:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0055E8HZG/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And if i want better audio, instead of running the VideoMic into my camera I run it into a Zoom H1 (Which I LOVE)

If I film webinars i just use the zoom h1 set on a $20 mini gorilla pod and set it on a table next to the hosts. If i film a wedding/live presentation i use an Oscar Sound Tech OST-802 lav and run it to the zoom H1 which people can drop in their pockets.

If you want to do a lot of quick interviews get this lav, under $25, super long cord and has GREAT sound for the price:
http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technic...27599&sr=8-1&keywords=audio+technica+atr-3350

for my rig I also like to have an LED light mounted on top. I had a couple $30-40 ones that broke but this one for $70 works great and balances between daylight and indoor lights: (also works great as the head light with the 2 LED light kit i posted)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006OI5X7C/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



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I'd like to suggest audio as it's often forgotten - and bad audio makes bad video. I'm not a fan of the Zoom recorders as you need to continually switch them on and off separately and then synch in post. Spend your cash on a decent set of wireless mics, or a Rode NTG 2 and a beachtek DXA - Pro or a juiced link. I have the beachtek, it fits nicely on the bottom of the cam and you can monitor levels, disable AGC and have phantom power. It will set you back about a grand all up, but it is completely worth it. Agree with the lens choices and the Olympus prime 45mm is a stunning lens for the price. Also, I think the Lilliput monitors are pretty poor (I have the 7") and not very well made - small HD DP4 or 6 are much better but more expensive. Also - a good loupe for daylight shooting. Good luck.
 
I think the Panny 45-150 is the best kept secret out there. At 169.00 it is a steal and a good OIS and AF lens. I have the 12-35, 25 1.4, 14-140 version II, and believe it or not, I prefer this cheap little lens to all the above for exterior still photography. Something about the color and AF speed and accuracy.
 
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