New GH4, have some questions

[Dearborn]

Hi, I've been learning and setting up my GH4 with some help from the EOSHD shooters guide. And just had some general questions. 1) The shutter button feels wobbly, I was wondering if this is suppose to be this way or if I should be concerned about it. Some of the top buttons like ISO are this way too a little but not as much as the shutter button 

2) I was hoping that the Extra Teleconverter mode was a one button switch, but it seems you have to assign it to a function button and when you press it, even though the photo option are greyed out, you then have to push yes/no and then set. making a total of three pushes to switch back and forth, four really if you use a virtual function button. Is there a way to set it up to just be one push of a button, or two at most, using the virtual button? It doesn't even make sense, cause in creative movie mode turning it on is the only option.

3) Due to funds I went with the panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 vario x over my first thought of picking up the recommended sigma 18-35 f1.8 & Metabones Speedbooster XL canon EF mount. This was also because the panasonic lens was 200 off with the bundle, I was concerned about having no image stabilization, and figured the weather sealing would make the lens have it's own uses. Really I'm might return it, cause I'm shooting ISO 1600 indoors, higher with EOSHD's Cinematic profile, and reviews have said 1600 should be the max before heavy noise. I have 30 days to decide anyway. I'll learn more when I can test the lens image stabilization on/off more, and if I don't think it's a big deal I might send it back. Any thoughts or comments you can share about these lenses would be much appreciated, and also with regards to the power O.I.S. . It would be 700 more, 800 really, because the 72mm Heliopan ND filter is 100 more than the 52mm, and I've realized I have to stop it way down outside during the day loosing whatever depth of field f2.8 might have.

4) I'm using Premiere Elements 13, anyone know if it automatically stabilizes it's renders or do you have to tell it to do so? Some shots in my test edit just seemed more stable and I was trying to judge if it was the lens or not doing the work.

5) My computer is playing back the 4k video's back really choppy. I am assuming it would do this with 100/mbsec 1080p as well. VLC plays it back the smoothest so far but it's still way to choppy. My rig is about 4 years old, self built, and has Windows 7 Professional 64bit, a MSI P55-GD65 motherboard, Intel Core i7-860 (4 core, 8 threads) 2.8ghz, 16gb of Gskill DDR3-1600 (I think it runs slower than that), an AMD Radeon HD 5700 series 1gb graphics card (think it's the 5770, if not 5730), my display is just 1440x900 right now (may upgrade soon if I can get the rest worked out first), Hard drive is not raid, but Western Digital Cavilir Black 1TB that i've been editing or playing video's off of. I tried playing the video off of my SSD c:\ drive but the video was still choppy. I'll be installing a PCI-e USB3 card next week. Premiere Elements 13 doesn't use GPU acceleration, not sure if VLC does either, so I don't know if that's my issue. I thought it might be the motherboard that's sata is limited to 3/Gbits per sec as opposed to the new 6/Gbits boards but hope not cause that'd be a big change over, not to mention I'd need a new CPU. Never overclocked my computer but maybe that's an option, would rather not though. I should also note I've never updated Windows on this computer. I could try that. Any advice on how to smooth out the video with minimal upgrading? I'm just doing basic edits for now, and wanting smooth playback from VLC or another media player when not editing.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

[jonpais]

Welcome aboard, Dearborn. I haven't noticed that the shutter button is wobbly (maybe 'mushy' would be the right word), but yes, many of the buttons are way too small, and the rear wheel can be inadvertently turned, screwing up your shutter speed (but there are a couple of workarounds for this). The buttons could perhaps be made a touch wider and higher, with more tactile user feedback when they are depressed. I really like my 12-35mm f/2.8 and don't regret purchasing it at all, though it is really plastic -y (not at all what I'd expect from such an expensive piece of glass); and focusing by wire isn't ideal for video - and the whole point of the GH4 is video. The Sigma 18-35mm feels much more solidly built and has superb optics, but it is a real burden to carry around all day, and will require some sort of stabilization. It also has an extremely limited range for a zoom lens - I almost wish it were a prime. I tried the GorillaPod, but I still get jitters. Still, it's awesome to be able to shoot at f/1.1 on micro 4/3: the Sigma is tack sharp from its widest setting and focus peaking (especially when set on 'orange') makes focusing a breeze. I'm not sure I understand what you are saying about ND filters: it's true larger filters cost more, but I would just get an inexpensive but respectable Hoya 77mm ND filter with a 72mm step up ring for when you purchase the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 (or Tiffen if you like). Unlike the Sigma, the Tokina balances perfectly with the GH4 and stabilization will no longer be an issue. So I guess my advice would be to keep the 12-35mm and purchase the Metabones and other lenses later. On the other hand, if the majority of your projects are shot at ISO 1600, ignore all my advice, return the Vario and get the Sigma: you'll be able to shoot the same scenes at ISO 400, with a dramatic improvement in color and noise. Moreover, should you ever decide to change systems, you could still use the Sigma, whereas the Vario is only usable on micro 4/3. 

[edit] The Vario also has the advantage that you can fly it on a USD 700 pistol grip gimbal, whereas the Sigma will require a more expensive, traditional brushless gimbal.

[Dearborn]

Thanks for the advice Jonpais.

To give an update, I've found some but not full improvement by turning on graphics acceleration in vlc on my desktop. Also tried playing a bunch of files off the sd card on my surface pro 3 i5 256gb model and the video plays smoothly pretty much that way In vlc. Or I should say 100mbs 1080p mp4s would play smoothly but 4k footage would only play smoothly with additionally setting vlc to use graphics acceleration again. This leads me to think I'm having a harddrive speed issue on my desktop computer with the drive and motherboard stuck to 3gbs transfer speeds, newer wd caviler black drives use 6gbs speeds and I think usb3 is 5gbs. Solid state drives would be faster I think, but I'm thinking a new HDD used externally via usb3 enclosure connected to a pci-e USB 3 card might do the trick giving play back at 5gbs on an older system. That and also using vlcs graphics acceleration on the 4k footage should play the videos smoothly I hope.

What handheld gimble stabilizers do you recommend looking at? Idealy it would be able to carry the sigma lens too if I do get it, cause it would need it. I saw the mdi comparison of the came 7800h? Moza light? And ronin. Cause of the shake on the came and quick setup with remote on the moza and lack of joystick/heavyness on the ronin/m I'm leaning to the moza light which I think could carry the sigma f1.8 zoom gh4 and metabones. Not completely sure of that. And I don't even know if I want to get one yet. Like computers it seems like these are going to get better and less expensive. Cause of the video playback woes I wonder about the em1 and if that wouldn't be better for general use and some professional work with video. Not needing a stabilizer seems like a big plus. But I'll just keep testing stuff for now and hope I can get the playback issues worked out.