craigbuckley

This forum has been very good to me in the past few years. I appreciate everything very much ... To be able to continue to shoot video and make movies with your help..

I do have a problem right now regarding my GH2s...

I shot an event recently that required 2 hours of non stop recording on both of my hacked Gh2's (Flowmotion hacks on both). I use two 64 GB SanDisk Extreme PRO 95 SD Cards with this hack.  I shot the event on tripods and everything went smoothly, both cameras recorded a couple hour takes and everything seemed fine. I then got home and put in my SD card into my macbook and  opened up FCPX and only 3 files showed up- the last few clips of the event... I didn't panic because I have had this happen before so I knew to look under my private folder and then AVCHD > BDMV> STREAM  to find .mts files that were my footage.. I then converted them but still lost some footage from the whole mess..

Why does this happen? The hack has been working fine other than this but with this long event shoot, I figured its why my SD card acted funny. It happened on both cameras and it seemed to have happened when I changed batteries during the shoot.

Is there a new hack you recommend? I know the gh2 is old news but are there any new hacks or solid ones?

Thanks again for all the help. This old community.

Thanks!

 

Can you recommend a different hack that won't take up as much space?

Correction: another hack in the hackpack did leave 41minutes remaining on my card, but this is still not enough space for me.

Hey so I have been trying to figure out my hack situation. I have a 32gb sandisk extreme pro memory card. I used the driftwood hack from the OSGfilms hack pack tutorial, and whenever I load a new hack onto my memory card, it always leaves me with 27m of recording time. Can this be right? this little time for such a big memory card? I tried other hacks that were in the pack and they all show up as 27m R with a freshly formatted card...

 

Any suggestions? I am looking for a hack that is good quality but doesnt take up insane amounts of space.

 

Thank you!

Thank you guys!

 

So I think Im going to re-hack my gh2 and see if that helps. I also got another memory card.

So I have used my gh2 to import to final cut pro x on my macbook pro, for a while now. Never had any problems...

 

But I have been out of the game for a while and recently recorded some footage, and I am having trouble importing it in final cut or even imovie. Most files work, but some give me this message

 

"The following clip encountered an error during import and is still referencing media on the camera:"

 

And i can watch the clip but I can't use it or export it, because it still is referencing on the camera. I dragged all contents of my memory card to a folder on my desktop and tried importing that way, but the same message comes up for those particular files, any idea?

 Its a hacked gh2, using final cut pro x - Mac OSX  10.7.5

 

Any ideas? Thanks!

ISO is alll the way down...

 

But the ND filters that I can find say 0.9 or 0.6 filter but I can't find higher than that number. Where can I find my 2 4 8?

 

Something like this ?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Neutral-Density-Filter-Series/dp/B00759TQ7W

So I have a bunch of low light lenses like the SLR Magic 25mm .95 and 12mm 1.6, most of my lenses have fast apertures, but when I bring them outside I can't really use them.. even with the aperture completely shut its still too much light... I ordered a neutral density filter for one of my lenses from amazon so I will try that,

 

but was wondering if there is any other advice? Thanks.

Thank you Matt. I will check right away... Mine works and then sometimes doesnt work which is the weird part..

Hey anyone have any problems with the aperture ring on the SLR magic 25mm? I was on a shoot the other day and when I hooked up my slr 25mm the aperture ring didn't work... It has happened a couple of times. I kept taking it on and off and rotating the ring but nothing was happening... Eventually it started to work again but I was wondering if anyone heard of this? Is there a possibility I'm hitting something on the gh2 that disables aperture control?

I'm aware I can't focus while I'm using a steadicam, I didn't plan on it, but wondering why the DOF would matter? My 12mm SLR magic goes from 1.6-20 (I believe) so F4 will be fine. The slr 25mm is .95- ^

Thanks Matt. I was thinking of getting the HD 2000. How strenuous is this set up on the body? I only ask because I have neck/back problems, wondering if I should go lighter.

I have a gh2 and I have been searching for a month or so now for a cheap steadicam under ($500) .....

 

Through my research I came up with the blackbird cmr, glidecam hd 2000, and more expesnive Merlin... It seems like the blackbird may get the best /most steady (floating camera) shot but I am worried my lenses will be too heavy... I have also been recommend the cheaper Hague MMC but I think I will be flying way to heavy for that.

 

Gh2 users, any recommendations for me? I have a couple SLR magic lenses so they are somewhat heavy...

 

Thank you.

Thanks Ben.

 

I get what he is saying... Makes sense... I did some tests shots and it seemed like the image jumped with a quick touch... I'm going to upload. I feel like its too noticable.

I just got my 40 dollar counterweight shoulder pad from Amazon and it makes my rig hell oof a lot more stable.I have it rigged up so I can useit like the zacuto video with the pistol grip but then I have two other handles which feel more stable.. I'm thinking about getting a viewfinder, your tho ughts?

and as far as a " floating camera shot", which Steadicam on a budget would you recommend? Glidecam , blackbird, or something for a smooth walking shot.

I have had problems with the focus ring being a little clicky and there's almost a delay to it. might just be our lenses because other people werent complaining. I also had problems with the aperture ring.

Yeah the pentax 25mm won't compare to the SLR magic 25mm

Thanks for all the info... Seems doable but I will need a bunch of parts and tools...

 

As I do appeciate the DYI, I did stumble upon this for a mere $35

 

http://www.amazon.com/ePhoto-Counter-Shoulder-SHOULDER-Mounting/dp/B009ZG5VQS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1363407405&sr=1-1&keywords=counterweight+shoulder+rig

 

Has counterweight

It turns fine but nothing happens to the aperture, it just stays the same when I turn it. It eventually kicked backed on but then it kicked out again...

 

I also noticed a TAD delay coming from the focus ring.. Almost a little clicky.. I'm going to post a video with the results soon to show.

Ok we'll where would you get the Alu bar, counterweights and such to build this shoulder pad? It definitely seems to make the difference.

Should I get another rod if one rod is my weak spot?

Thanks Axel. Right on.

 

Instead of building my own because I don't  think I have the materials, is there something out there that you can buy like this alu bar as a whole?(i.e with the rubber foam and counterweight and screws all together?)...

 

Also, why dont you think its necessary to have a follow focus? Mine seems to work pretty well and helps the shaking, but I may look into selling mine like you said.

 

Thanks again!

 

EDIT: something like this but not $200 bucks...

 

http://www.amazon.com/Shoulder-Pad-Dslr-Camera-Rig/dp/B006CAMCFS/ref=sr_1_16?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1363370065&sr=1-16&keywords=shoulder+rig+pad

I bought a 50 dollar pistol grip from eBay but it almost makes my camera more shaky when I have it on then holding it handheld.is there a way to fix this? Maybe more weight? my other stabilizer is a 15 mm rod set up with a follow focus from eBay but it's too wobbly. Do you have any suggestions axle to make the shot more steady? II know adding weight will do this but I still get movement when I move my feet or walk. I have been looking at Steadicams for this reason,would you recommend 1 of those for a floating camera shot?

so I ordered a nice external monitor from eBay and it's great but I didn't realize it had to be plugged in to be used. It uses a 12 volt plug but I didn't know if there was a wayto use a portable battery so I don't have to plug it in.

it's a Manhattan 8.9 1080 p

Hey have you noticed anything with the aperture not working with the slr magic 25mm? I just got the lens and my ring stopped working. When I spin it - it doesn't have any effect on the aperture. The aperture ring also feels clicky.. Just seeing if anyone else had this, it may just be the lens I got.

The  SLR Magic 12mm is a very cinematic, awesome lens. You will need something around the 25mm range as well.. The canon FD 1.4 50mm is an awesome lens too, very good look too it. I have a gh2 and use these lenses and they work great.. I highly recommend them. Andrew Reid's book on the gh2 is great for lenses and stuff.

 

I got a 15mm rail- rig with a follow focus for like $150 from amazon but its not stable enough... Thats one thing I still need to invest more into. I have been looking at steadicams like the glidecam hd 2000 and blackbird CMR. They are around the $450 range but look really smooth. Only thing is they are heavy to hold...

 

Any suggestions for a good rig with a lightweight camera like the gh2/gh3? I'm talking smooth, floating camera shots.