GH2 portait lens with Continuous AF / AE Functionality for gh2 ?

A

amanieux

Member
hello

i want to do video interviews in regular indoor lighting (without additional lighting) - i guess i need a fast prime portait lens to do that. (typically a 50mm f1.8 , 75mm equivalent on full frame)

but there is not such a 35 to 40mm prime lens in the panasonic family of lens what are my options from other brands (i would like to keep the Continuous AF / AE Functionality is it possible)?

is the option of the Lumix 20mm f/1.7 x 2.6=52mm using the ETC crop mode a possible solution that will give me a good video image quality?

thanks for your help.
 
Please see this video, which is interviews I shot entirely on the Panasonic 20mm f1.7, some in available light, and most in artificial light. But I could've easily done it in available light if necessary.

http://vimeo.com/20343716

The only concern I had with using that lens is that for tighter shots you end up fairly close to the subject, but it never became a problem for me, so I would definitely do it again. Very sharp lens, love it.

Also, FYI, the AF motors are audible on the internal mic so record audio externally.
 
CColton said:
Please see this video, which is interviews I shot entirely on the Panasonic 20mm f1.7, some in available light, and most in artificial light. But I could've easily done it in available light if necessary.

http://vimeo.com/20343716

The only concern I had with using that lens is that for tighter shots you end up fairly close to the subject, but it never became a problem for me, so I would definitely do it again. Very sharp lens, love it.

Also, FYI, the AF motors are audible on the internal mic so record audio externally.
Click to expand...

great quality, did you use the 2.6x ETC crop mode ? if not how far were you from the person you interviewed ? were you manually focusing or was it on autofocus ?
 
amanieux said:
great quality, did you use the 2.6x ETC crop mode ? if not how far were you from the person you interviewed ? were you manually focusing or was it on autofocus ?
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I'm using GH13s, so no ETC. I was 3-5 ft from the subject, and I focused using AF lock and then checked the focus with the MF assist. AF did all the work; it always focused well.
 
CColton said:
I'm using GH13s, so no ETC. I was 3-5 ft from the subject, and I focused using AF lock and then checked the focus with the MF assist. AF did all the work; it always focused well.
Click to expand...

wow ! camera 4 feet away from their face + artificial lighting in their eyes dazzling them, do you have special tricks to make them comfortable enough and try to forget they are filmed ?

about the AF locked on the gh13 ? did you try face tracking instead, isn't it supposed to do that for you ?

thanks for sharing your experience.
 
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amanieux said:
wow ! camera 4 feet away from their face + artificial lighting in their eyes dazzling them, do you have special tricks to make them comfortable enough and try to forget they are filmed ?

about the AF locked on the gh13 ? did you try face tracking instead, isn't it supposed to do that for you ?

thanks for sharing your experience.
Click to expand...

Strike up a conversation, people get used to it surprisingly quickly. Only one of the interviewees on that video was nervous, and you can only kinda tell from the video. That being said, if I had a GH2, I'd probably use ETC for interviews with the 20mm f1.7.

Face tracking works too, but if a person is sitting, they're not moving enough to move out of focus, so you really don't need continuous AF during the interview. Just lock it before you shoot, and then you can use MF assist to ensure that it's absolutely focused, and then once it's locked you know you're good to go for the interview. Sometimes continuous AF, whether 23-zone or face tracking, will hunt for focus randomly, not only on the GH1/2/3/784, but on any AF camera. That can be avoided easily :) If you watch this video - http://vimeo.com/16265759 - you can see a lot of interviews shot with AF lock (mostly on the 14-140 f4-5.6) and none of them went out of focus, even when the interviewees were standing and shifting their weight around.

Also, I've used face recognition to acquire focus (with AF lock) frequently, in fact I think I did on that video, but I don't often use it while shooting. If the subject turns their face away from the camera, it will lose the face and start hunting for it, causing it to go out of focus temporarily. I pretty much only use face recognition for AF in video if I'm filming my friends and family or something like that; not on a professional shoot.

EDIT: Please excuse my lighting in the video I linked above. I've gotten better at lighting since.
 
CColton said:
EDIT: Please excuse my lighting in the video I linked above. I've gotten better at lighting since.
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what kind of lighting are you using ? what price is it ?

so to make sure i understand about the AF, you us it to get a initial focus and then you lock it for the rest of the interview ? when people lean forward or backward during a close up don't they get out of focus ?
wouldn't a cheaper manual focus lens do the job also if the difference is just this intial focus stage that must only take a few seconds before starting an interview ?
 
amanieux said:
what kind of lighting are you using ? what price is it ?

so to make sure i understand about the AF, you us it to get a initial focus and then you lock it for the rest of the interview ? when people lean forward or backward during a close up don't they get out of focus ?
wouldn't a cheaper manual focus lens do the job also if the difference is just this intial focus stage that must only take a few seconds before starting an interview ?
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Yep, a cheaper lens would focus similarly (my Canon FD 50mm does) but the 20mm is the sharpest lens I've used, with only the 14-140 competing.

If people lean that far forward or back you'll need to recompose the shot anyway :/

I use LED lighting: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/754806-REG/Bescor_LED95DK_LED_95DK_Dual_90W_Kit.html and it works great! The panels don't get hot, they run on batteries if you need them to. Several of the interviews on this video were shot on battery power: http://vimeo.com/20343716
 
CColton said:
Yep, a cheaper lens would focus similarly (my Canon FD 50mm does) but the 20mm is the sharpest lens I've used, with only the 14-140 competing.
Click to expand...

so for a video portait, other people would recommend the panasonic 20mm 1.7+ETC x2.6 crop mode on the GH2 because it will give me a better sharpness over a canon (or nikon) 50mm 1.8 (without the crop mode of course ) ? i read something about pancake lens :"Pancake lenses may not be as sharp as a normal size lenses due to their compact design and generally fewer glass elements." is it true ?
 
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amanieux said:
i read something about pancake lens :"Pancake lenses may not be as sharp as a normal size lenses due to their compact design and generally fewer glass elements." is it true ?
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I believe the aspherical elements of the 20mm pancake are designed to keep sharpness even though the lens is compact. Not sure, all I know is, that lens is quite sharp.
 
CColton said:
Please see this video, which is interviews I shot entirely on the Panasonic 20mm f1.7, some in available light, and most in artificial light. But I could've easily done it in available light if necessary.

http://vimeo.com/20343716

The only concern I had with using that lens is that for tighter shots you end up fairly close to the subject, but it never became a problem for me, so I would definitely do it again. Very sharp lens, love it.

Also, FYI, the AF motors are audible on the internal mic so record audio externally.
Click to expand...


The faces all had very good color exept Jacob[blue look]?
 
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