My GH2 package, help needed
- Thread starter Giriki
- Start date
Hi,
I had the videomic first and switched over to the ntg-2. Depends on what you´re doing with it. For Interviews the wider Videomic is good, for film you´ll be better off with the ntg-2 for it is a very narrow shotgun mic which will reduce alot of sound coming from the sides.
And if you´re getting a follow focus, I´d suggest to get yourself some nice old and fast slr lenses with an adaptor. the kit lens isn´t the best one to manually focus on as it has a motorized focus ring with no start or end. it´s not very bright either.
As for monitor I had a Manhattan LCD once. I wouldn´t buyit again although it worked fine. But its quite bukly and the screw mount threading got lose....also they´re not cheap. The Jag-Monitor reminds me of pictures I´ve seen of Liliput monitors. maybe it´s a rebrand? I´m going for one of those soon.
All in all you should do just fine with your kit, once you´ve assembled it and messed around with it a lot
Regards!
I had the videomic first and switched over to the ntg-2. Depends on what you´re doing with it. For Interviews the wider Videomic is good, for film you´ll be better off with the ntg-2 for it is a very narrow shotgun mic which will reduce alot of sound coming from the sides.
And if you´re getting a follow focus, I´d suggest to get yourself some nice old and fast slr lenses with an adaptor. the kit lens isn´t the best one to manually focus on as it has a motorized focus ring with no start or end. it´s not very bright either.
As for monitor I had a Manhattan LCD once. I wouldn´t buyit again although it worked fine. But its quite bukly and the screw mount threading got lose....also they´re not cheap. The Jag-Monitor reminds me of pictures I´ve seen of Liliput monitors. maybe it´s a rebrand? I´m going for one of those soon.
All in all you should do just fine with your kit, once you´ve assembled it and messed around with it a lot
Regards!
Oops, I just looked at the Jag monitor. That one seems to not have a hdmi input. so hands off that one! look on ebay for a liliput 7" or 8" with hdmi, they´re cheaper and even have touch screens now. Or try that one: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...and-HDMI-input-for-your-upcoming-GH2-130-only
OK, you could save huge when you buy the body only, although it´s a bit difficult to find a fast wide angle prime. 14-140 adds up to 28mm-280mm roughly due to crop factor. so with a normal 28mm or even 24mm you´re not that wide.
See my signature for what I use. Cheaper are Canon FDs and nowhere worse at the same time.
For starters I suggest to get the 20mm pancake from Panasonic, a 50mm with F1,4 and maybe a zoomlens for inbetweens.
gotta go...
See my signature for what I use. Cheaper are Canon FDs and nowhere worse at the same time.
For starters I suggest to get the 20mm pancake from Panasonic, a 50mm with F1,4 and maybe a zoomlens for inbetweens.
gotta go...
Pietro Impagliazzo
Well-known member
Hello Giriki, in case you're interested in other lenses besides the kit, here's a package I made:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/wl/360AA05979
A 14-54 f2.8~f3.5 to cover the wide to medium close range, a 105mm f2.8 macro for tight close ups and a 20mm f1.7 for low light.
Simple and effective, the way I like it.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/wl/360AA05979
A 14-54 f2.8~f3.5 to cover the wide to medium close range, a 105mm f2.8 macro for tight close ups and a 20mm f1.7 for low light.
Simple and effective, the way I like it.
Is the 20mm panny quiet enough to use for video? I've heard it's rather noisy during focus (even MF...).
I too am trying to get a starter package together and I'm wondering how far ahead the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95 would put me, compared to the slower and wider panny 20mm 1.7 (cash aside...i know it's 3x the price). Any thoughts?
Thanks a lot.
Pietro Impagliazzo
Well-known member
I'm pretty sure you can shot a feature with the 14-140... Just need to plan ahead to light for indoors.
However I guess the better high ISO performance might help you there. With my GH1 I'm not very comfortable past ISO 500, if you're ok to use ISO 800 on the GH2 (which shouldn't be a stretch) you might only need the 14-140 for now.
However I guess the better high ISO performance might help you there. With my GH1 I'm not very comfortable past ISO 500, if you're ok to use ISO 800 on the GH2 (which shouldn't be a stretch) you might only need the 14-140 for now.
Pietro Impagliazzo
Well-known member
If you're getting a mattebox, perhaps you could consider this filter:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...e-with-a-GH2&p=2194397&viewfull=1#post2194397
Since the kit lens is very contrasty and sharp, this filter will help you achieve a more smooth, diffused look, like old lenses usually give.
Combining this with careful grading (http://vimeo.com/17728149) you're pretty much set to achieve any look you want.
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthrea...e-with-a-GH2&p=2194397&viewfull=1#post2194397
Since the kit lens is very contrasty and sharp, this filter will help you achieve a more smooth, diffused look, like old lenses usually give.
Combining this with careful grading (http://vimeo.com/17728149) you're pretty much set to achieve any look you want.
Pietro Impagliazzo
Well-known member
John Caballero
Veteran
The 14-140 is a lens you MUST have for the GH2. The 20mm pancake also. If you want crop factor, jello, difficult focusing and a few other annoying little things go ahead and invest in other lenses. If you are going to do good looking feature film stuff invest in good lighting. You don't need to invest that much to make the GH2 with the kit lens shine with a good lighting set up. Forget about the low light, available light stuff that people want to believe in nowadays, to make film look its best you HAVE to light well.
The 14-140 kit lens sounds like a good way to go if you are shooting outdoors or well lit indoors. As a pro videographer new to the dslr game, I found the low-light response of the GH2 with a f3.5 lens pathetic, and while I got the 14-42 kit lens, (for financial reasons), the contrast was/is pretty severe too. (The low light bit at f3.5 would apply to any dslr, not just the GH2).
My suggestion, post what kind of shooting your feature is most likely to be doing, i.e. indoor/outdoor, set-up/run&gun, experienced crew/inexperienced crew and actors, etc. This will help others zero in on more focused recommendations.
BTW, do you have lights? Do you have a budget? Are you going to be able to feed your crew?
I ask this because if you are doing a lot of indoor, a fast, wide lens like the Panasonic 20mm 1.7 lens is a good idea, especially if you have few or no lights. If you have an experienced crew, you may want to ask them about some of the items, like a follow focus. (If you don't have the budget to feed them, you may not have a crew for very long...) Inexperienced actors may mean having audio meters would be very handy to check for varying speaking levels and that extra monitor for your focus puller because the actor is always missing their mark.
In short, experience is the best teacher, so if you can hold off on buying some of the gear and do some test shoots in the same situation(s) as your feature, your experience might better inform you of which way to go with your budget.
My suggestion, post what kind of shooting your feature is most likely to be doing, i.e. indoor/outdoor, set-up/run&gun, experienced crew/inexperienced crew and actors, etc. This will help others zero in on more focused recommendations.
BTW, do you have lights? Do you have a budget? Are you going to be able to feed your crew?
I ask this because if you are doing a lot of indoor, a fast, wide lens like the Panasonic 20mm 1.7 lens is a good idea, especially if you have few or no lights. If you have an experienced crew, you may want to ask them about some of the items, like a follow focus. (If you don't have the budget to feed them, you may not have a crew for very long...) Inexperienced actors may mean having audio meters would be very handy to check for varying speaking levels and that extra monitor for your focus puller because the actor is always missing their mark.
In short, experience is the best teacher, so if you can hold off on buying some of the gear and do some test shoots in the same situation(s) as your feature, your experience might better inform you of which way to go with your budget.
woodcarver
Well-known member
Other than price, one of the biggest draws of using DSLR is the control of DOF and lens choice. If you only have the 14-140 you really sacrifice the DOF options. In most low budget indy productions a matte box is not essential. You can get round filters or rent a matte box the days you know you're going to need an ND grad filter or something. You can get lens hoods for glare. Sure, it's good to have a matte box, but if your budget is that tight drop the matte box (and anything else that isn't completely critical) and get more glass.
I used to be a camera assistant--so I know the value of a follow focus--but the slr lenses used with these cameras are not very conducive to using ff's. Some of them are better than others, but in many cases you're almost better going without a ff. I guess it depends on what you're shooting and how you work. Still, it seems like you're putting a spoiler on a pick-up truck--and the spoiler is costing you almost the price of a 911.
I used to be a camera assistant--so I know the value of a follow focus--but the slr lenses used with these cameras are not very conducive to using ff's. Some of them are better than others, but in many cases you're almost better going without a ff. I guess it depends on what you're shooting and how you work. Still, it seems like you're putting a spoiler on a pick-up truck--and the spoiler is costing you almost the price of a 911.
Others have given you great advice -- I just wanted to offer my personal experience if you have not made your final decisions, because I have had to make some of the same choices that you are making.
Like you, I am on a very tight budget, and want the highest quality picture and sound for the dollar. Interestingly, my equipment list looks a lot like yours -- with a few minor modifications:
I looked at the H4N, but got the H1 -- same quality sound for half the price. If you don't need XLR inputs or 4 channels, I'd save the money for...
...some fast, wide classic glass. As other posters have noted, the kit lens performs poorly in low light. I just bought an old Vivitar 24mm f2.0 Minolta lens on eBay. With a Hong Kong adapter, total cost was <$80. A lot cheaper than buying lights. It may not be razor sharp at 2.0, but stopped down a little, it gets the job done.
And you should not need the follow focus. With my T2i, I needed one, but instead of buying a follow focus and dealing with the hassles of finding a camera assistant or actors missing their marks, I bought a GH2. Last weekend, with the 14-140 kit lens and its silent, lightning-fast AF, I tracked snow sledders zooming down a hill and kept perfect focus.
You can also save some money on your ND filter. There is a new adjustable ND filter from Polaroid -- available on Amazon for about half the price of the Fader ND. I haven't bought it yet, so I can't personally vouch for it beyond the price savings.
Back to the H1, RedHead makes a good product, but the Furryhead is a little more than half the price and does a great job of eliminating wind noise: http://vimeo.com/14450415
Also available on Amazon.
And, although it never pays to cut corners on sound, instead of buying the Rode Videomic, why not put the H1 on either your cold shoe or your boom pole with a shock mount and use it as your microphone? In my setup, I use the Sescom cable to pipe the output from the H1 right into the mic input of the GH2 (using a splitter to monitor what's going into the camera). With the audio input on the GH2 set to "low" and the mic input set to -12dB on the H1, I get very clean sound on both the recorder and the camera. The camera will remind you if you forget to turn the H1 on, and even if you forget to hit the "record" button on the H1, you will still have a usable camera track.
If you do insist on getting a mic (this will be the only recommendation advising you to spend *more* money ;-)) -- wait for the Rode VideoMic Pro. Rode has put NTG-2 performance in compact DSLR form-factor. This test convinced me: http://guycochran.com/
The new Rode is on backorder at B&H.
As others have suggested -- you don't really need a monitor or a mattebox. I put a Hoodman H-300 on my LCD and am able to see it just fine for composition, focus and playback in bright sunlight. And the hood that comes with the kit lens works just fine in keeping flare to a minimum.
So:
GH2 w/kit lens, obviously
Classic wide, fast lens and adapter for indoor work
Polaroid Variable Range ND Fader Filter
Zoom H1 and FurryHead windscreen +shoe mount
Pearstone DUSM-1 shockmount + Rode Boompole
CPM Shoulder Flyer
Hope this is helpful.
Pietro Impagliazzo
Well-known member
Sacrifice in DOF how? Only if you're crazed about shallow DOF or your aesthetic choices asks for more blur (which is not very common).
The 14-140 gives a good natural focus falloff.
Which is great not just for close-ups but also for medium shots:
What I perceive as a sacrifice is the low light performance when paired with a GH1, which I'm not comfortable past ISO 500. With a GH2 it should be less of a issue.
