fuzzynormal

Close enough for a PR release.

We must not watch the same horror films.

True skill.  Such informed use of wide angle too.  Very impressed.  Need a PA anytime soon?

One simple but intricate metaphor and 10 minutes of excellent movie making.  Love films that are true cinema and are not overwritten.  

I'm thinking a lot of y'all need to take a break and go into the screening room here on EOSHD.  Look at stuff that actually exists as a creative endeavor, for better or worse.  Get motivated to create rather than pixel peep.  Even if you have the latest and greatest camera, all that resolution is for naught if you're horrible at framing a composition and editing.
 
And try not to get all sad and mopey if someone doesn't like a piece of kit that you like/covet.  It happens, so what?  Does your self-worth run tandem to the gear you own?  Really?  Someone owns a BM cam and you want a Pan4K.  Fine.  I'm not sure we need to hear convoluted rationalizations about your future purchase here online.  Do we?
 
(I'm attempting to motivate myself with this plea as well...too much dry corporate editing and procrastination forum reading.  Making a dry training video turns me grumpy.  Not enough creativity going on in my life this week.)

I'm thinking a lot of y'all need to take a break and go into the screening room here on EOSHD.  Look at stuff that actually exists as a creative endeavor, for better or worse.  Get motivated to create rather than pixel peep.  Even if you have the latest and greatest camera, all that resolution is for naught if you're horrible at framing a composition and editing.
 
And try not to get all sad and mopey if someone doesn't like a piece of kit that you like/covet.  It happens, so what?  Does your self-worth run tandem to the gear you own?  Really?  Someone owns a BM cam and you want a Pan4K.  Fine.  I'm not sure we need to hear convoluted rationalizations about your future purchase here online.  Do we?
 
(I'm attempting to motivate myself with this plea as well...too much dry corporate editing and procrastination forum reading.  Making a dry training video turns me grumpy.  Not enough creativity going on in my life this week.)

As I mentioned, nothing on the market is going to make amateur videos of your family look better than 5-axis stabilization.  For the record, PP stabilization on extended clips is typically lousy, not to mention time consuming to accomplish.

As I mentioned, nothing on the market is going to make amateur videos of your family look better than 5-axis stabilization.  For the record, PP stabilization on extended clips is typically lousy, not to mention time consuming to accomplish.

No, not in DIY film making, that's for sure.  But I've mired myself in the tech for decades.  I do enjoy it and don't find it daunting.  
 
It's just that, for me, digital imaging has finally gotten to the point where it's so technically democratized that I feel I absolutely have to focus on the more important aspects of the craft.  I've too often ignored the art to play with the newest buttons and switches.  I'm now feeling that such propensity is not going to serve me well in a DIY film making career moving forward.  
 
Those switches and buttons are not as expensive and exclusive as they used to be.  Anyone can afford them.  I just saw a 5DII for sale on craigslist for $350.  Put that camera and a cheap 50mm prime lens in the hands of a talented artistic kid and there's no limit to what she/he could do.  And the gear is so good, even if it's not "the best", it will support and even improve their creativity...as you allude to.
 
Sorry. I'm hijacking the thread.  I know gear talk is the prevue of this forum and sensor stuff is the main part of it.  Have at it and I'll shut up.  

That's why I don't really care all that much.  I'm the type that would just rather use the dang things to make something interesting and call it good.
 
I mean, it's curious and cool to know the tech, but hardly a priority for making something artistic.
 
Good for you if you want to delve in though.  Lord knows I'm not inclined to be an engineer.

5D MII and 5D MIII with open apertures (sDoF) and @ 24/25p will provide aestetics that are as cinematic (as a parody almost) as it gets.
 
Run&gun with said cameras, with clipping highlights, inappropriate shutter, shaking and shivering, small apertures, big DoF and no or boring motifs will say 'video'.
 
Careful lighting, good framing, interesting motifs - in short, creation of images - and an old HDV-camcorder ....

For what it's worth, this is one punk that's more than willing to stay away from a toxic work environment.

For what it's worth, this is one punk that's more than willing to stay away from a toxic work environment.

For what it's worth, this is one punk that's more than willing to stay away from a toxic work environment.

Well of course 4K can look better, there's more resolution.  I'm just saying 1080, properly and dramatically shot, looks great as it is.  
 
My local camera shop has a pretty scuffed but otherwise perfectly functional used 5DII for sale at $730, so I exaggerated a bit on that one.
 
Anyway, my main point is the tools are cheaply there to create and create wonderfully on par to a pro level.  It's not to deny that better gear exists.

By doing the same thing, but different.
 
And then we all get to read various internet postings from fan boys.  They'll assert that because they made a decision to spend their money on Canon, it's so much better than Sony.  And Panasonic?  Forget about it, just because they were first, doesn't mean they're the best and so on and so on.
 
It's just that this time the phrase 4K will be used a whole lot more.
 
It's silly, but that's all part of what helps sells these things.

He just means that if you're going to add an effect that introduces a lot of activity to your image (like film grain) in post-production, you need to convert your video to a codec that can handle all that "new" motion information.  
 
A codec like H.264 can't compensate for all that new visual activity, because the data rate is too minimal, so it "crushes" those details and makes them mushy.
 
Thus, he changes his format from from the camera, H.264, to ProRes444 and then edits with that converted footage.
 
Essentially ProRes444 is a big wide pipe and data flows through it easily.  H.264 is a thin garden hose and can only handle so much data before it starts to fail under pressure.

For home movies (sometimes even professional ones) I think this 3 or 5-axis stabilization feature is far more beneficial than superior  resolution.  You should go try one in a camera store to really get a sense how powerful this ability is for your movies.
 
Stable handheld shots without much effort?  That's incredible.  And your viewers will thank you as well.

Your situation screams Olympus E-M10 imo. It's cheap, nice form factor, great stabilisation.
 
Yes, it has downsides for video, like no 25/24p, codec not as good as Panasonic. But if you just want to enjoy filming the kids, I think the stabilisation is worth more. It's just pick up and shoot, you pretty much always have smooth shots.

I have a gx1 and have debated the gm1 and gx7. I'm renting a gx7 this week to see if the focus peeking and ibis is worth it. I am using more manual focus lenses so I want better focus assist and peeking. For now it's for stills since I have a pocket camera for video. I'm also using the speedboost nikon mount more and more on the gx1 and pocket camera. Opens up the lens options greatly.

Jim.

Granted.  "Story" is my current perspective and maybe I'm convoluting the semantics here.  Ironically, my last film was almost wholly impressionistic.

Nada que si no está mi cámara el test no vale. JAJAJAJAJAJA
Bravo por la Panasonic GM1 pequeña pero matona. Va a dar que hablar mucho mucho.
Hay algunos que si no es grande y gorda no vale (igual que las gallinas).
Yo tengo casi todas y me quedo en video con la GM1 señores. Ea lo siento.

The advice 'when you want a camcorder zoom, buy a camcorder' can be taken literally. Indeed, there are decent camcorders that cost less than a decent zoom lens. And there are decent zoom lenses (parfocal, 20x, some even with electronic zoom lever) that cost less than a family sized pizza. They are calculated for SD resolution, true, they will vignette at wide angle and if not proper adapted will not focus on infinity, but for the odd 70ies zoom ... (kidding)

Zooms, pans and transitions - these should be prohibited for beginners, but in the right hands, they are fantastic. Vocabulary of film language.

I love zoom lenses too. I have 4.  They're great run and gun lenses for getting the best focal length quickly.  
 
I bought my last one specifically to do one shot in a western movie, and that was just to do a direct homage to a Sergio Leone film I like.  Plus, the shot was part of a montage meant to convey an unnatural/uncomfortable scenario.  
 
I'm not condemning the lenses when I say "Zoom" I'm complaining about how they're too often used.
 
I don't like actual zooming during shots unless it's well considered.  The human eye doesn't work that way, so if you use a zoom, you better regard seriously how it fits into your narrative.

Too often I see video where people do a pull or push because they can, not because they should.

I come from a broadcasting background. Lenses are built to do "zooms" on those field production cameras and lazy TV shooters abuse the heck out of it.  It drives me nuts and it's an unfortunate visual cliche' when done wrong.

Not bad.  I'm not partial to shooting with a shoulder rig myself, but if you find it helps, no problem.  
 
Using that LED light though?  I'd ditch it.  IMHO, that's not going to do you any favors with creating an attractive image.  I'd say, at the most, use it as a rim light on subjects.  Have a assistant hit 'em from the side or behind if need be, but direct like that?  Nah, not a good thing.
 
No assistant?  Roll with natural light and then find your angles that compliment your subject.  This is a much better approach to documentary style film making.  Modern cams are great in low light.  Keep it naturalistic and try harder to find your shots rather than just illuminating the first thing you see.
 
Is that the Oly45mm on there?  If so, that's a great focal length (90mm Full Frame Equivalent) for portraiture and will look awesome...but not handheld --unless you're some sort of zen master shooter.  You'll need a tripod or at least a good monopod.
 
If you can handle it, I'd recommend shooting the whole thing longer lens @2.8/fps50/and a shutter speed of 100. (adjust exposure with ISO and/or ND filters)  It would make your work look much more elegant and cohesive.  But again, only if you can effectively control the lens movement on that longer focal length.  Easier said than done.  
 
More practically, shooting @50mm (FF equivalent) would still look nice and give you a bit more flexibility with space.  Personally, I'm not a fan of wide angles with documentaries.  Useful for a few special shots, depending on the subject, but I stay away from them if I can.  I like to pick one prime and shoot at least 80% of my footage with it.
 
Good luck!