Thinking about purchasing a DSLR w/1080 and 24p, couple of questions

S

S7CK

Carbonite Member
Hey guys, I'm interested in getting a lumix g1 but had a couple of questions before I purchased it. Here they are:

How many minutes of HDvideo can I record on the card and how long does the battery last?(pretend I have the highest powered battery and largest storage chip)

I want to mix live action with stop motion and was wondering if the 12.1 pixels would appear in 1080hd quality so there isn't much of a distortion when switching back and forth?

Compared to the other canon cameras, how does it compare? Pros/cons? I heard the 7d is good but the sound sucks and the 5dii is pretty much the best, but for 3k I would just purchase a hmc150.

Any upcoming dslr cameras with hd in the future so could I expect a price drop in the versions out now?

Just trying to make my mind up and this camera sounds like a very sweet deal! I just hope when I edit live action and then stop motion that the pictures dont lag behind the video quality! Thanks!
 
First you're looking for a Lumix GH1, if you get a G1 it won't shoot video. I would also wait till mid march when they're supposedly announcing new cameras before you pull the trigger on it. You can decide if you want to wait for a new one or if you want to get the GH1 after the price inevitably plummets post announcements.

Mine records around 30 minutes on a 4gb card but it kind of depends on what you're doing, by the nature of video compression. If you are recording a blank wall at a low ISO it doesn't take much data because nothing changes and it holds more (the number actually goes up instead of down as you start recording!) The battery lasts for about 1.5 hours of continuous recording with the LCD out and on full brightness, or at least that's what I've gotten.

You can set the camera to take photos in 16:9 (sacrificing some vertical resolution although you actually gain some pixels horizontally vs the other modes, even 4:3, since the sensor is larger than the image circle.) This is convenient if you're intercutting the two. The images will probably look a bit better but once they're edited together it won't be super jarring, especially if you color grade them similarly.

It does pretty well vs the other cameras...not quite as well in low-light vs the 5D (I think it holds up pretty darn well vs the 7D), and the image can break down on complicated backdrops (like a forest) if there is a lot of camera movement. However most shots with excessive camera movement are already ruined by the rolling shutter effect present in all of the cameras before they get ruined by the codec. The post production workflow for 1080p is a little more involved than the other cameras, and has an extra step to it.

Here's a video to watch that might help you make your choice...keep in mind that these conditions are pretty good for the cameras, lots of light.


Upcoming cameras: see above.

Although the camera is not as good of a photo camera compared to the Canons, the photos will still look better than the videos, and that idea of it being worse for photos is mainly from the way it's designed, rather than the quality of the photos it takes. However, I feel like the flip-out LCD might actually be a benefit when it comes time to shoot stop motion because you'll be able to get a good viewing angle without risking bumping the camera, and can even flip it around so you can make the moving and photo taking process a bit faster.
 
S7CK said:
Hey guys, I'm interested in getting a lumix g1 but had a couple of questions before I purchased it.
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As Ben said, the G1 doesn't record video at all, you'd be looking at the GH1.

How many minutes of HDvideo can I record on the card
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Largest card is 32GB. You should be able to get over four hours, at least, and depending on the complexity of your scenes you might get about six hours.

]quote] and how long does the battery last?[/quote]
Don't know, haven't had it run out during a shoot yet. Probably says in the manual.

I want to mix live action with stop motion and was wondering if the 12.1 pixels would appear in 1080hd quality so there isn't much of a distortion when switching back and forth?
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stop motion will be much much sharper than HD video from any still/video hybrid camera. You could always soften up the stop-motion stuff to make it match perfectly though.

Compared to the other canon cameras, how does it compare? Pros/cons?
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Lots of each. Read my comparison article to see my take on how the GH1 and 7D shape up.

Any upcoming dslr cameras with hd in the future so could I expect a price drop in the versions out now?
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New ones seem to come out every month or two.
 
One just did, the Canon T2i. $900 with kit lens and, supposedly, video quality almost indistinguishable from the 7D. Trade off is in photography (though for most uses I'm sure it's fine, including stop motion), and build quality from what I hear so far. I'm sure there are more, but it shoots 1080 in native 24, 30, and 25 fps in MOV which is nice when editing.
 
majikfraug said:
One just did, the Canon T2i...it shoots...in MOV which is nice when editing.
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H.264 which still warrants a transcode.

I feel like the GH1 is the better choice for combining stop motion and live action because the fact that you're going to be framing your stop motion stuff with the viewfinder or the flip-out LCD (the same things you're filming your videos with) and in 16:9 (and actually taking them 16:9) instead of some half-assed liveview mode is going to make it easier to keep the look consistent.

But maybe wait.

http://43rumors.com/panasonic-g2-and-panasonic-g10-launch-next-week/
 
Hey guys, thanks for all the information, I've decided that the gh1 is the right camera for me and will be ordering it soon.

Also, if the gh2 is being released next week or within the near future, how much of a price drop could I expect on the $1200 gh1? Thanks.
 
S7CK said:
Hey guys, thanks for all the information, I've decided that the gh1 is the right camera for me and will be ordering it soon.

Also, if the gh2 is being released next week or within the near future, how much of a price drop could I expect on the $1200 gh1? Thanks.
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Don't bet on the GH2 in "the near future." $1200 is unbelievably cheap as it is. The main component of that price is the kit lens. The lens sells for $850 on its own. Panasonic hasn't cut the price on that lens even as the GH1's price decreased by $300. So Panasonic isn't going to give you a free camera with the lens.

If you're really, really frugal, then you could easily sell the lens for $700-800.
 
ydgmdlu said:
But the transcode doesn't require pulldown removal for 24p, which can be a big deal for many users.
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The pulldown removal is annoying, but my point is that it's one extra step for a great camera, not two extra steps, because everyone basically has to transcode anyway. Also lets not forget that on most hardware transcoding and removing pulldown still takes less time than capturing :D
 
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