GH3 Next step

M

mikcheck

Active member
Hello guys.


I have a Canon HF S20 to shoot my stuff, it's the only one i have and i like it. But now i would like to take the next step and buy something that give a better and professional look to the things i shoot, including some short films in the future.


There is too much offer and too much products that i dont know which one i should choose. I've read about Blackmagic Pocket and even though i understand a little of color grading, i think it's too much for what i really need, at least for now and i dont have the experience to handle it.


I guess it's pretty consensual that GH3 it's one of the best stuff ou there to do it? When comparing price/quality, is it really the best? I was looking for Canon 70D but i've read about focusing issues with it!




Thanks
 
That all depends on what you intend to shoot.

The gh-3 is a great camera and can be had for a great deal with the gh-4 having just come out.

But it really depends on your particular situation.

What do you like to shoot, and where is your current camera coming up short?
 
Hi homestar_kevin, thanks for the reply

I was planning to shoot short films and other stuff like nature, works that some people might want me to do.

Well it's not for one particular situation, but that can be used for different situations.

I was also thinking about Nikon D7100
 
I understand. No problem!

I have the d7100 and like it a lot.

I was pretty torn between the d7100 and the gh-3 last summer and eventually went with the d7100 because I already had an existing collection of Nikon Lenses and I was really attracted to the still camera side of the d7100.

It was a hard choice and I don't regret it, but from everything I've seen and what I've experienced on friends gh-3's, I think I would've been happy either way.

Both cameras are great. They're a bit different, not only in what they have to offer, but in the controls, UI, and how they offer it.

Check out as much footage from both that you can and see if you can go try one out in a store. Sometimes even just holding it for a bit in store and really feeling it helps.

If you can't in a store, consider renting the cameras for a weekend. It can be done pretty cheap.
 
Thank you for your reply!

I admit that what's been taking me away from buying Nikon D7100 is that it doesn't have a flip out LCD and that annoying thing of not being able to control the exposure while recording.

But from what i've read from dpreview, Nikon D7100 is better overall than GH3
 
The flip out LCD is a great great feature for video. Like GREAT, can't say that enough.

It's not a deal breaker for me and what I do, but man is it nice to have.

You can not change the aperture setting in live view.

This is not as big of a deal as people make it out to be.

Yes, it's dumb, but it takes 2 seconds to change the aperture if you have a lens that needs that.

All my lenses except one have aperture rings, so this never really bothers me at all.

I would avoid words like better when comparing the two.

I wouldn't say one is better than the other so much as I would say they're better for different things.

Another option you have, especially if you care more about video, is the d5300.

Video is as good as the d7100 plus you get 1080 60p and the flip out LCD screen.
 
mikcheck said:
I was looking for Canon 70D but i've read about focusing issues with it!
Click to expand...

Canon 70D has the BEST Auto Focus that can be found in any DSLR and it can also of course do manual focus like every other camera without issues. Im not saying its the best option...that is highily subjective!
 
Mik, as a past owner of GH4 and D5300, and user of GH3, in my opinion go for Panasonic if you're mainly focused on video, go for Nikon if you lean toward photography as well.

I assume you don't have lenses yet, and there are some pretty awesome MFT options out there, plus you could use Nikons with an adapter.
 
Thanks.

Yes if it wasn't for the static LCD, i would certainly buy D7100, but i may go for D5300 because of the flip out LCD.

Do you think that i can get away easily with that exposure problem in live view?
 
lyrov thank you, yes i've read and seen videos of Canon 70D autofocus at it was pretty awesome, but i dont consider it essential.

Ryan, thank you for the input. Yes i'm buying just for video, i'm not very interested in photography. Video related, you would consider GH3 is better?
 
mikcheck said:
i'm buying just for video, i'm not very interested in photography. Video related, you would consider GH3 is better?
Click to expand...

As others say, it's going to be somewhat subjective. The Nikon bit with not being able to change aperture in live view (video) is not insurmountable, but "can" be annoying. The video quality of the GH3 is super, the fully articulating LCD makes using that very flexible, but when I'm working with video being able to change shutter speed (if needed), aperture, and ISO all independent of each other and having a constant preview (CONSTANT PREVUE set to ON with video in manual mode) of what my video is going to look like is something I don't ever want to do without. And this can be seen in both the EVF and on the LCD.

I have both the GH3 and the new GH4. I could work with the Nikons (and make them work for me) but my choice was the Panasonics (I also have the GX7 which looks enough like a common point 'n shoot with some of the GH3 functionality so no one gives me a second look).

All take the same lenses.
 
I am just as biased as anyone else on this board is, but I think the GH3 has a couple of "Aces" that are hard to ignore...

1- The SpeedBooster adapters ( either the low-cost eBay versions or the higher priced MetaBones adapter ) which suddenly make older legacy glass very attractive. I own several very good Lumix lenses, but I've switched almost entirely to shooting with Nikon AI-S lenses on a SpeedBooster adapter for my corporate interviews because of the look and the speed you get with this combination. A Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AI-S lens becomes a 35mm f/1.0 lens with a SpeedBooster, and the image quality is very good.

2- The GH4 camera, which is the obvious upgrade route for any GH3 owner down the road. If you wait long enough you might end up upgrading to the GH5, but at least you know that there is a high performance upgrade path available when you are ready to take it.
 
mikcheck said:
lyrov thank you, yes i've read and seen videos of Canon 70D autofocus at it was pretty awesome, but i dont consider it essential.

Ryan, thank you for the input. Yes i'm buying just for video, i'm not very interested in photography. Video related, you would consider GH3 is better?
Click to expand...

I'd say it's definitely better in nearly every way. Swivel LCD, live view oriented, easily adaptable lenses, high bit rate codec... I'm sure there are a few more I haven't thought of yet!
 
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