JazzBox

Nice article, I am still hesitating a bit between the GH-4 and the G6 with plenty of extras.

Andrew is talking about a 1600$ price for the GH-4 body and I never seen such a low price.

Any clues about a shop to get it this cheap?

thanks

In Siena I had it in May - probably one of the first in Italy - at € 1380, the lowest price in my country.
It is a real shop, Foto Moderna Siena: http://www.fotomodernasiena.com

I think that Panasonic is a very reliable brand, just do the normal thing (shoot, control that everything is ok, that batteries life is long...) and have fun, GH4 is a very nice and easy camera to use!

Andrew wrote a real great guide for using it as a cinematic camera: http://www.eoshd.com/eoshd-panasonic-gh4-shooters-guide/

Thank you Nick! :)

My goal is not using big rig or Flycam, since I want to shoot guerrilla-style without being noticed too much :)
This afternoon I'm gonna try all the great tips you kind gave me!

thank you!

Thank you very much Leafcutter and Fuzzynormal!

I've built myself this shoulder rig

DIY forever! Grazie mille Comurit! :)

I also tie myself to the talent round the waist with a piece of rope for head shots on a 50mm lens so the distance between us remains the same and they do have to walk exactly as fast as you do to keep a narrow dof .

 

lots of takes usually gets the shot you need. .....4 seconds is how long I like to cut each shot...less is more !

Great tips! Thank you very much Andy! :)

i am one of the biggest lovers of handheld and one of the worst shakiest camera women out there.

 

my advice 

1. gym, no way to do handheld if you have chicken wings for biceps

 

2.try to walk with your knees bended a bit  difficult but works (think of your knees as car suspensions keep them bended)

 

3.if you go completely handheld (no monopod) then control the shake by actually enhancing it in a rythm  up and down 

 

4.use the camera strap on your neck as balance and extend it with the camera 

 

5. use a pillow, crazy but works if you have nothing, just strap a pillow in your chest and rest your elbows on it.. (Chris Doyle dp )

 

6. in general use your elbows against your chest 

 

7. breathe right relax go with the flow, sing a tune in your head to find rhythm

 

c.

Huge thanks Christina! :)
Point #5 is just genial! 

Do you think there are better options then 180° for shutter when walking handheld?

  I wanted the shots to look like they were half way between hand-held and steady cam.

Yes, it is exactly what I'd like to achieve! 
I tried using a 17 mm (on my Panasonic it is a 34mm), but my shots were super wobbly, today I'll try with a 12 mm, staying closer to the talent :)

But the problem it is also when I go out, shooting in an uneven terrain...   :wacko: 
 

You ll have to bend your knees and keep you shoulders at the same level.

Thank you! :)

manfrotto fig rig is good for walking shots as you have a wider reach and your hands are not touching the camera , so less wobble

Thank you Andy! 

Do you think it is better a normal wide lens or a stabilized one while using the rig?

Ciao!

In these days I'm using monopod more and more, especially for medium shot and close up, thanks to the faster workflow compared to my trusty tripod 501HDV.

I sold my Flycam some weeks ago and, after reading that "Dallas Buyers Club" was shot mostly handheld, I am very motivated to become a good handheld shooter, because I loved the cinematography of the movie :)

Untill I stand still I have pretty good results shooting with a GorillaPod SRL Zoom (with ballhead) and with a little cheap shoulder rig.

But, as soon I start to walk following the talent I have shaky shots. 

Of course I use a wide angle lens stopped down, but the results are quite distracting...
I saw some great films (and videos) that show the talent walking perfectly  in focus, with a nice shallow DOF... so I'm pretty sure I need some hint to improve my technique :)

Could you help me? 
 

I had the same problem with a Canon some years ago... and I had to send it to the assistance.... :(

Rupert Neve designs kit is great too, check it out!

Super cool! :)

Thank you  Bluefonia! :)

Matt, huge thanks for your help! You are a goldmine of informations! :)

I don't know, I just "discover" it last week, I read the article and I've bought the DIY Bundle on http://layoverfilm.com :)
The extra contents are very interesting! 
I'm gonna shot a web series in the near future and I'm searching most information possible about shooting "guerrilla", with practical lights and no budget :)

No, they shot normal, as you can read Joshua's answer here: http://nofilmschool.com/s/11646/209876
(I had nothing to do with the movie, I'm just a customer who bought it and loved it)

I've bought the first feature film from Joshua Caldwell, "Layover": I've bought the version with special content, and I'm very happy, because it is full of great informations.

http://layoverfilm.com

I heartily recommend it to you all, it is really amazing and it's great to see that it's not the camera, but the man to make a great movie.

Joshua made it "guerrilla-style", with available lights, handelded, but there are many great scenes that I don't understand how he made so stable without a stedycam or a gimbal stabilizer (i.e. the scene with the girl walking in the airport at 00:08) or the scene with the bike (from 1:37).

Some little parts were made with a GoPro, but the most is shot with a Canon 5D. 

As a second camera, I am purchasing a Panasonic Lumix DMC-G6 video camera that shoots in 1080 60p, 60i and 24p, in the AVCHD codec(Of course, it supports MP4 movie recording). After recording some 1080 60p video clips, I planned to transfer the 60p video to Final Cut Pro on my iMac, but it’s a bit of trouble. Final Cut Pro seems not be able to ingest the 60p files from Panasonic DMC-G6.

 

Well, since the FCP native format is ProRes, the best method to import Panasonic 60p AVCHD from Panasonic DMC-G6 to FCP smoothly is to convert the AVCHD 1080 60p footage to Apple ProRes for Final Cut Pro along with some help from a 3rd-party Pansonic AVCHD Converter. The freeware Handbrake is available, but it doesn't seems to bring an ideal result as I've tried.

I have not problems working with AVCHD in Final Cut ProX: it works smoothly and as fast as the .MOV or the .mp4 from other cameras.

I have problems to preview quickly the files inside the folder I copy from the SD Card, before to import them in the software.
Especially when I shot music video, the takes - apart 2 or 3 "masters" - are very short, so I like to choose the "cut in" before starting to edit and to get rid of the bad shots without importing them in FCPX.

That is very slow, because I cannot use the simple "preview" from Mac OSX as I do with .mp4 or .MOV files, but I have to open them with Quicktime from a strange folder/list that not permits any preview.

I'm searching something that allows me to preview AVCHD files "normally", as all other files on Mac.

FCPX does have an interpret footage option. It's in the 'retime' menu (above the timeline/effects browser on the left - a grey circle with an arrow on the end). It used to be called 'conform' but now it's called 'automatic'. Just select your clip in the timeline and click 'automatic'. 

Thanks! I just saw it! It is the 50% speed I used, just quicker, so a lot better! Thank you! :) 

Thank you very much ChrisKing! I normally import my 50p in FCPx and then I set the speed at 50%, because there is not an "interpret footage" option.

That's true! 
And lighting/framing also plays a great part, but I was in doubt if using 25p was a bad habit :)

I worked on a Neve V series with flying faders for many years - i produced alot of big hit records on that desk.

http://www.discogs.com/artist/11911-Love-To-Infinity?type=Credits&subtype=Remix

Wow!! That's great! 
It's crazy that most of the people that shot videos also are involved in music! :)

This is one of my fav. CD I recorded and mixed: http://www.irmagroup.com/it/ida-landsberg-cherry-tree-lane/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00H25UFKQ/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp?ie=UTF8&qid=1413592709&sr=8-16