GH2 Starting film business, thinking about buying the panasonic GH2

J

JimiHx

Member
Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000167 EndHTML:0000003525 StartFragment:0000000454 EndFragment:0000003509 Hi dvxusers
Firstly i'm new to this forum so i'll introduce myself. I recently finished an half year of editing school and on the way started a one-man production company. For now i've done two promo-films and have accumalted two regular clients and two one time projects still to come. The content will be instructional video's, promo video's and maybe wedding-movies kind of stuff.
Things went a lot faster when the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] big client came in, but that does give me the room to invest in my own gear. The top of my budget is 4000$ for the whole start-up set (inc tri-pod, audio etc).
I have been doing a week or two of research and ofcourse stumbled at first at the big going-for-dslr choice.


At first i had my eyes on the Canon XF100, since my camera-experience is really low (say 10 hrs or so). As a beginner it seemed like a wise thing. But then again, I am ambitious and driven to put in the hours to learn a camera and felt like to DSLR can give me a picture quality and DOF, a camcorder under 4k can't give me. Especially since I can rent lenses. Am I wrong in that assumption?


After reading a lot on vimeo I got drawn to the canon 5Dmkii, 7D or 60D. But after reading here, and at eoshd.com I got more enthousiastic about the GH2. I have to mention that the quality of stills is not important to me, i'm soley interested in video capabilities.


After reading i've come to the conclusion that the GH2 is a better choice than the 7D and 60D. Am i right?

The footage i've seen and the things i've read about the 5DMKii i'm not so sure wich body suits me better. Some of the footage looked awesome. But i feel like i can use the 1000$ price difference to invest in glass&grips. Also i came across someone saying, buying a 5D as a beginnner is like buying a ferrari when you just got your drivers license.
Other pro's for the GH2 are: less moire/aliasing, a swivel LCD, the option to use a wide variety of lenses and better sound.
To round things up i feel like the GH2 is a perfect starting camera, giving me enough space in my budget to buy other useful equipement like the right rigs and maybe lightning. And after a year experience i can always move to a 5Dmk3 or GH3, and keep using the lenses and other gear.

So i guess my question to you guys is. How do you feel avout my thinking proces & my final deciscion? And/or do i oversee something?

Cheers,
rudolf
 
5d mk2 over gh2 for pro stuff. the people with the money want to see pro gear. not prosumer gear- even if the gh2 might give you better overall video quality. sad that client ignorance wins really. however, first dance at a wedding will be a lot easier to shoot with the king of low light(5dmk2/3). and a 24mm f1.8 will give you wide and fast. you cant get that with the gh2 due to the 2x crop. though a 5d2 is useless on its own and that eats very deep into your budget. look at the nex7 maybe? the 50mm f1.8 with oss is a lovely lens for video (with superb af and amazing stabilisation)
 
richg101 said:
5d mk2 over gh2 for pro stuff. the people with the money want to see pro gear. not prosumer gear- even if the gh2 might give you better overall video quality. sad that client ignorance wins really. however, first dance at a wedding will be a lot easier to shoot with the king of low light(5dmk2/3). and a 24mm f1.8 will give you wide and fast. you cant get that with the gh2 due to the 2x crop. though a 5d2 is useless on its own and that eats very deep into your budget. look at the nex7 maybe? the 50mm f1.8 with oss is a lovely lens for video (with superb af and amazing stabilisation)
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I tought about that but figured the end product would prevail. A client already hired me, so when i show up with 'amateur stuff' in his eyes, i can just tell him to wait for the result. And if I do my work good, the end product will be good and the client has nothing to complain. Ans, as you said, i don't think i have to budget to setup a proper 5 mk2. 4k is not enough, right?

As I'm a such a newbie i still have to learn a lot about lenses, could you explain this a litttle further for me:
"and a 24mm f1.8 will give you wide and fast. you cant get that with the gh2 due to the 2x crop."

Just to summarize, going for DSLR is def. a right choice. How about the choice between GH2 and 7D/60D, not considering stills, nobrainer for the GH2?

thx for the responses!
 
In response to RichG's " the people with the money want to see pro gear. not prosumer gear"

That is certainly not the case. Clients looking to have video shot for them, generally don't know about equipment or they would direct what products were used and how the video was shot...

Secondly, once you pretty your gh2 up with a cage, rails, H4n, Rode Shotgun Mic, matte box, an LCD screen, and all the other spiffs, you can't see the name of any camera that is on there.

Any camera that shoots great quality is a great camera. Period.

Stay within your budget while providing the client and yourself with quality video and equipment.
 
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That is certainly not the case. Clients looking to have video shot for them, generally don't know about equipment or they would direct what products were used and how the video was shot...

Secondly, once you pretty your gh2 up with a cage, rails, H4n, Rode Shotgun Mic, matte box, an LCD screen, and all the other spiffs, you can't see the name of any camera that is on there.
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Exactly. The hacked GH2 will give you exceptional footage, well it all depends on the operator of course.
 
richg101 said:
5d mk2 over gh2 for pro stuff. the people with the money want to see pro gear. not prosumer gear- even if the gh2 might give you better overall video quality. sad that client ignorance wins really. however, first dance at a wedding will be a lot easier to shoot with the king of low light(5dmk2/3). and a 24mm f1.8 will give you wide and fast. you cant get that with the gh2 due to the 2x crop. though a 5d2 is useless on its own and that eats very deep into your budget. look at the nex7 maybe? the 50mm f1.8 with oss is a lovely lens for video (with superb af and amazing stabilisation)
Click to expand...


I've actually seen many examples of this. People posting the need for a videographer and specifically naming the 5D or 7D as a requirement. I see this a lot with the 7D in particular. It's got a ton of great videos behind it and uneducated people doing the hiring think that's the only option.
 
Depending on the gigs pay, you could always rent a 5D or 7D. Use the rental as "cover" for those shoots where the client wants to see that kind of cam and do the bulk of the work on the GH2. Or rent a AF100 so you can use the same lenses and have a big pro cam to also give that extra "professional assurance".
 
Or how about you buy a GH2, hack it, get some useful lenses and a lighting kit and use all that to go out there, shoot and make money. That simple.
 
gundar said:
In response to RichG's " the people with the money want to see pro gear. not prosumer gear"

That is certainly not the case. Clients looking to have video shot for them, generally don't know about equipment or they would direct what products were used and how the video was shot...

Secondly, once you pretty your gh2 up with a cage, rails, H4n, Rode Shotgun Mic, matte box, an LCD screen, and all the other spiffs, you can't see the name of any camera that is on there.

Any camera that shoots great quality is a great camera. Period.

Stay within your budget while providing the client and yourself with quality video and equipment.
Click to expand...

I'm not trying to play devils advocate here. but with 4k budget, a zoom h4n etc frankenstein rig, all rickety and with those god awful blue handles everywhere, a flappy cheap matte box, etc you'll stand out like a sore thumb at weddings. where the videographer has to be out of the way (like you are not there). We are in a buyers market. and I absolutely promise that when (and they do) the bride groom (or his photographer friend/brother/uncle whatever, who happens to be best man) ask what camera you will use, he will know and respect 'canon 5d mk2'. unfortunately he probably wont have heard of the gh2, and will remember the lumix label from the tiny little point and shoot cameras you see sold a supermarkets.
 
richg101 said:
I'm not trying to play devils advocate here. but with 4k budget, a zoom h4n etc frankenstein rig, all rickety and with those god awful blue handles everywhere, a flappy cheap matte box, etc you'll stand out like a sore thumb at weddings. where the videographer has to be out of the way (like you are not there). We are in a buyers market. and I absolutely promise that when (and they do) the bride groom (or his photographer friend/brother/uncle whatever, who happens to be best man) ask what camera you will use, he will know and respect 'canon 5d mk2'. unfortunately he probably wont have heard of the gh2, and will remember the lumix label from the tiny little point and shoot cameras you see sold a supermarkets.
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Unfortunately this is often the case. As others have stated I have seen a LOT of freelance camera operator work that specifies 5d/7d. It's disgusting.

Though, if you have a good portfolio of work you can negate that.
 
Imho, 5D or Gh2 on a video gig is still not "professional" looking. These are DSLRs! They are still cameras that shoot video. Choosing your camera based upon the possible opinion of a groom's friend at a wedding sounds less than professional to me :)

The GH2 makes a more detailed image than the 5D. Some like the look of a 5D. The GH2 is more affordable. The 5D has more lenses that are native and high quality. The GH2 will give you more information in the codec with "the hack"...

These are the types of things i would focus on to make your decision. I own both and use the 5DMKII for still work and the GH2 for video work.
 
It's really a question of the right tool for the job.

In my opinion... Your first choice of the XF100 is the right choice. It has the basic tool set needed for the type of work you will be doing which the DSLR cameras lack. Pickup a GH2 or a used GH1 as a second camera.
 
David W. Jones said:
It's really a question of the right tool for the job.

In my opinion... Your first choice of the XF100 is the right choice. It has the basic tool set needed for the type of work you will be doing which the DSLR cameras lack. Pickup a GH2 or a used GH1 as a second camera.
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I can see your point but the thing is 'right for the job' isn't the mean thing for me. I know I maybe asking to much but I also want to go out and make beautiful films just for my creativic activities so to say.
I just saw this vid in an other post, http://vimeo.com/32204670
http://vimeo.com/33025136 and this one.

Am I to indoctrinated already by the DSLR movement, when I think i won't get that quality out of a XF100?


Furthermore, i don't have any wedding video's on my client list. it's just something I would like to do too in the future. Maybe even more stuff like dance events
In the upcoming months i will me filming instructional vid's for construction workers (brick laying etc) an promo (comercial like) films.

I feel like with buying an DSRL (more and more leaning to GH2) I am equiped to do that (may not be optimal) but I also can start shooting the beaty footage, wich in the end is my true ambition as a filmmaker.

Thanks again for all the replies. After being directed towards canon (vimeo forum) and then GH2 (eoshd.com) I think this is the right place for the final decision ;-)
 
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The GH2 will give you the shallow DOF look of DSLRs, while having the same resolution qualities as a Sony EX-series camera. I'm constantly amazed by what I'm getting out of my camera.

However, it's not for the faint of heart. This is not a simple point-and-shoot camera. It can be difficult to hack in the first place, depending on your level of expertise, and there are a number of "gotchas" that range from mildly annoying to potentially devastating (i.e. the 720p HDMI bug). The camera has been out and hacked long enough for people to pretty much know what to expect, and the very first thing you need to do is educate yourself on all potential pratfalls that exist in its use. And, if after going through it all, you're still convinced that the GH2 delivers one of the best images for under $10,000 (and I would argue that it does), then by all means go for it, and happy shooting to you.
 
Gary Huff said:
The GH2 will give you the shallow DOF look of DSLRs, while having the same resolution qualities as a Sony EX-series camera. I'm constantly amazed by what I'm getting out of my camera.

However, it's not for the faint of heart. This is not a simple point-and-shoot camera. It can be difficult to hack in the first place, depending on your level of expertise, and there are a number of "gotchas" that range from mildly annoying to potentially devastating (i.e. the 720p HDMI bug). The camera has been out and hacked long enough for people to pretty much know what to expect, and the very first thing you need to do is educate yourself on all potential pratfalls that exist in its use. And, if after going through it all, you're still convinced that the GH2 delivers one of the best images for under $10,000 (and I would argue that it does), then by all means go for it, and happy shooting to you.
Click to expand...

Thanks Gary, help a lot.

My (hacking) level of expertise is zero, haven't own anything before. Altough i know my way around computers to some level. Would it be wiser to let someone else do the hacking for me?

Considering it not being a point&shoot, that goes for both DSLR's right? Wasn't aware of the 720p HDMi tough, could you maybe point me to a thread about this?
Anyway, I like life the best when i sometimes just jump in the deep water and work my way out of it. Fully respecting the difficulties combined with my beginners level, i will shoot day in and day out to get the hang of it.
Roughly how many hours would ik take met to sort of control the camera?

Also, does the lack of moire/alliasing issues with the GH2 makes it a little bit easier to learn to shoot on a good level than with the canons?
That combined with the auto zoom option as backup makes the GH2 also a more ideally camera to start with as beginner?
 
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