QUestions about GH1 operation from a new owner...

R

Rocket_Dog

Active member
Hi All,

Recently received my gh1.. i thought I had gone thru the manual but apparently I'm missing a few things... for those who have experience with this camera, I hope you can help me... (keep in mind I'm a total noob to SLR style cameras... I've only used video cameras (currently hmc150s), so forgive me if any of this makes you roll your eyes in disgust...) ;)

1. Will it auto focus when in manual video mode? I can't seem to get this to work.. in fact, setting the focus dial to anything other than manual appears to make the focus ring not function at all... very weird.. I would love to be able to have it in manual exposure but auto focus (facial) if possible for some specific shots and can't seem to figure out how...

2. how do you judge proper exposure when there are no zebras (that I've been able to find)?

3. It appears that the ISO is limited to 1600 in manual video mode.. any way to get it into 3200? I know it would probably be noisy but I'd rather have something over nothing when I can't add light..

if there is a previous thread that has covered all this please feel free to direct me as I haven't had much luck searching so far...

Thanks for any help.

Cheers,
Scott
Thanks for
 
You can trick it into ISO3200 video, apparently, by selecting that in a photo mode, and then recording with the dedicated "Record Video" button. There's some caveats to shooting video outside "Creative Video Mode" -- but if you need ISO3200 for something, those caveats are probably the least of your worries.
 
1. Will it auto focus when in manual video mode? I can't seem to get this to work.. in fact, setting the focus dial to anything other than manual appears to make the focus ring not function at all... very weird.. I would love to be able to have it in manual exposure but auto focus (facial) if possible for some specific shots and can't seem to figure out how...
Click to expand...
If the focus dial is set to AF, whatever mode you are in it will autofocus. If you mean facial recognition, then this doesn't work in creative movie mode as far as I can tell.

2. how do you judge proper exposure when there are no zebras (that I've been able to find)?
Click to expand...
Histogram, which you can switch on by going into menu or you can also use the exposure level indicator -/+ 3ev, which should be displayed at the bottom of your screen.
 
You can trick it into ISO3200 video, apparently, by selecting that in a photo mode, and then recording with the dedicated "Record Video" button. There's some caveats to shooting video outside "Creative Video Mode" -- but if you need ISO3200 for something, those caveats are probably the least of your worries.
Click to expand...
If you press the record button on the back, you're in full auto mode, including ISO (unless you're in CMP mode). So you can't set ISO3200 that way. The ONLY way to get manual control of virtually anything on the GH1 for video is to use Creative Motion Picture mode. Any other mode, the GH1 is in control.
 
When I'm in manual movie mode the auto focus definitely isn't working... I'll keep testing..

Thank you everyone for chiming in.
 
Make sure focus dial on the left top is set correctly.

Make sure AF/AE lock is not pressed

Before recording it won't autofocus until you press the shutter button half down (unless in page three of the 'custom' menu you have pre-af set to "on" - which will run your battery down faster). Once actually recording, it will autofocus.
 
Crap yer right... see, I told you I was new to these SLR thingy's...

So if I'm in the shutter priority mode it doesn't matter once I press the record button? It doesn't shoot video in shutter priority, it just kicks into full auto video mode? that's what I am getting from your statement about... even in the "M" (manual) mode? Seems odd..
 
That is correct. You need to use the Creative Movie Mode. Learnt that the hard way myself.
 
I think the way they see it is that for serious video, you'll want Creative Motion Picture mode already set up the basic way you want it in the CMPM menu. So you'll spin the dial to that mode and off you go with your serious video.

At other times, they imagine you'll primarily be taking stills using the other modes. But if there's a sudden Video Opportunity, then all you've got to do is press the button on the back and you're likely to end up with something at least well exposed, but not necessarily with the ideal choice of shutter, aperture, and ISO that you might have chosen if time were not of the essence.

Note that in the various 'Scene' modes, the video is shot with at least a nod towards the kind of scene set - not that I've carefully tested yet - but I would expect that in Sports mode, the video shutter speed would be higher than if you were shooting in still-photo M, A, S, or P modes using the video button on the back.

There's an interesting little note in the manual (page 97) about "Close Up" mode - "Creative Close Up is suited to near distance motion picture recording". This could be a quick and dirty way to the basis of a filmic look (shallow DOF) if you didn't have time to do the job properly in Creative Motion Picture mode. I've not yet tried it myself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top