Erico Penteado Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Hi friends, can you help me? Is it possible to use the GH2 for the run-n-gun night weddings (low light and fast angle changes)? Or do you recommend another cam for me? I have a Sony NX5. Thanks :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axel Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Possible? Sure. You'd need a really fast lens like the Voigtlander Nokton 25mm or better yet the Nokton 17,5mm. You'd need some experience in focussing through the viewfinder. There are some issues with the Iso settings, they need to be dialed in a certain order to avoid noise. For lowlight, a hack with smaller GOPs. The combination of all these and on top of that raising the lower midtones in post lets the GH2 beat a lot of other cams as far as low light is concerned. Because of the viewfinder, the GH2 is imo better equipped than conventional DSLRs for this kind of job. On the other hand, other cameras like the Sony FS-100 (i.e.) will be more easy to operate and there will presumably be more useable shots. If you have done a wedding video before, you know that sometimes, [i]every[/i] shot has to be usable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrad Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 FS100 or 700 (with ND filters but slightly worse low light) would be the ideal for those sort of shoots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomekk Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 5d mk3 + 6d as a B camera (when it's out ;)) + ML. Stills + video that's what you need for wedding, Nice combo imho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axel Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 [quote name='tomekk' timestamp='1350709192' post='20024'] 5d mk3 + 6d as a B camera (when it's out ;)) + ML. Stills + video that's what you need for wedding, Nice combo imho.[/quote] Good for a 'best of'. Many customers demand uninterrupted reports of some church rituals. This could present a problem. We have been recording a rock concert not too long ago with three EOS (not the mk3 among them, but also GH2 and EX-3). It was two hours and to be edited with multicam. The first 45 minutes or so could be recorded with minor breaks, but afterwards, the breaks were longer, they missed bigger parts of the performance and the quality went down. This is my experience with my 7D also. I would never rely on it in such a situation. The FS-100 was tested to have way better lowlight than the GH2. I'd guess the FS-100, the GH2 and the mk3 are on par if you take the availability of fast lenses into account. You also have to find a satisfying audio solution. As I wrote in another thread, though it is [i]possible[/i] to use GH2 or EOS for a wedding, a classic camcorder (good lowlight performance provided) would be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenb Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 I know a few people who shoot weddings with a 5DkmII and a 7D or T2i as B cam. The way I think of it is that a wedding is kind of like a beauty or fashion shoot; It often looks much better with a nice shallow Depth of field. While it's possible to do this with a GH2, You'll need to buy the right lens and that might cost you quite a bit. Whereas on a 5DMkII or MkIII you can get away with an f/3.5 zoom lens and still have nice shallow depth of field. On the other hand, the 5D is going to cost more initially so maybe it balances out in the end? I would normally go for the GH2 when shooting indy film but with weddings in churches, I don't know. You don't usually have the option of lighting the scene. Just something to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Campbell Films Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 It's what I use at the moment. Mostly with a Voigtlander 25mm f0.95 & Samyang 85mm f1.4 for the night shots. A lot of my night/dancing shots are 50fps conformed to 24fps so that means I lose a bit on a high shutter speed as well. But honestly it doesn't matter with fast lenses you can get stunning shots. For reference this is my wedding showreel with which cameras I used for each shot - [url="https://vimeo.com/50939906"]https://vimeo.com/50939906[/url] Password is - which Night shots from about 2-15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axel Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 [quote name='Dale Campbell Films' timestamp='1350825783' post='20078']For reference this is my wedding showreel with which cameras I used for each shot - [url="https://vimeo.com/50939906"]https://vimeo.com/50939906[/url][/quote] Well done. Hacked? Nostalgic or vibrant? Lot of post? What audio solution? What are your comments on the discussion above? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Campbell Films Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 [quote name='Axel' timestamp='1350847268' post='20090'] Well done. Hacked? Nostalgic or vibrant? Lot of post? What audio solution? What are your comments on the discussion above? [/quote] Hacked running Driftwood Sedna A, Smooth dialled down -2 on all settings. Audio I have a rode video mic pro that either goes direct to camera or more often into a Tascam DR-05, though I usually run a Zoom H2 as a backup. Transcode to prores with 5DtoRGB Batch and conform any 50fps footage to 24fps. Edit in FCP7, denoise with neat video, colour correct, grade with magic bullet looks, apply a film grain over-lay then compress and to vimeo. Pretty much summed up what I thought but to put it another way - Yes it can be done, with the right lenses and a good hack you can get very good footage. Be aware of increase file sizes with hacks - have enough SD cards! And thoroughly research any quirks of the hack you intend to use + shoot many tests. FS100 is great, but much bigger and more expensive and unless the OP is thinking of dropping a fair wedge on it a GH2 may be a more economical solution.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erico Penteado Posted October 22, 2012 Author Share Posted October 22, 2012 Thanks for the feedback :) By the way, a GH2 here in Brazil with the standard 14-42mm lens costs about U$1.500,00. A FS100 with the 18-200mm lens costs U$8.000,00. The 5dMkIII (body only) U$4.500,00. All of them on a very good deal! And about the recording for many hours... these cams can hold it well without overheating and breaking up? Thanks :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenb Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Yeah, [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Voigtlander 25mm. that[/font][/color]'s the lens. Gotta save up. Those are really nice videos Dale! I've never really cared for wedding videos to much but you've caused me to take a closer look. I'm amazed because I've never really thought of wedding videos as filmmaking but really, they can be just as creative as anything else. One thing I keep wondering as I watch these: Do you ever have clients that see these and say, "Hey, there's not dialog?" or, "You missed when I said..."? Are they mostly happy with what they get in the end? After working in commercials for 20 years I've gained this really negative toward clients. Most seem to be actively trying to make everything to look bland and boring. Do you ever run up against this? Like, they see the finished product and say, "Well, it certainly is... Ah... Interesting?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galenb Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 Oh, I meant to ask you, do you ever use any kind of stabilizer like a flycam? I'm wondering how you get your handheld footage to look so jitter free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Campbell Films Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 [quote name='Erico Penteado' timestamp='1350879591' post='20104'] Thanks for the feedback :) By the way, a GH2 here in Brazil with the standard 14-42mm lens costs about U$1.500,00. A FS100 with the 18-200mm lens costs U$8.000,00. The 5dMkIII (body only) U$4.500,00. All of them on a very good deal! And about the recording for many hours... these cams can hold it well without overheating and breaking up? Thanks :) [/quote] GH2 has always been fine, there is a glitch when recording very long files which can give an error message, I think if you record a long video, then stop and turn the camera off it sometimes brings an error out. Trick is to record a short (literally start stop) video straight after before turning off to avoid it. Only had this once on a non-commercial 'fun' shoot but if you don't know how to deal with it could throw a spanner in the works. Not sure if it is common to all hacks or not.... http://www.personal-view.com/ may be the best place to go for more detailed info. Can't speak for the 5DMK3 personally but I know a few people using these on weddings and they haven't had problems. FS100 I've never used but it is design as a moving image camera so I reckon if there are any issues a quick google would let you know about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Campbell Films Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 [quote name='galenb' timestamp='1350883904' post='20108'] Oh, I meant to ask you, do you ever use any kind of stabilizer like a flycam? I'm wondering how you get your handheld footage to look so jitter free? [/quote] Thanks! Glad you found it interesting. They always know the highlight reel will be set to music, most are glad that everything they say won't be in the final video. That said I do film the ceremony and speeches from multiple angles with external sound I don't use a Steadicam/flycam in any of those shots, handheld is either a shoulder mount or more recently a manfrotto 561bhdv monopod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axel Posted October 22, 2012 Share Posted October 22, 2012 [quote name='Dale Campbell Films' timestamp='1350942496' post='20137'] I don't use a Steadicam/flycam in any of those shots, handheld is either a shoulder mount or more recently a manfrotto 561bhdv monopod. [/quote] The monopod is a good idea. What I didn't get is why you apply film grain. Can you elaborate on that?And a few workflow questions: Where do you see the advantage of 5D2RGB, when FCP can do the conversion to ProRes during L+T and Cinema Tools can batch-conform your 720p to 24 fps? You neat when? What are your experiences with nostalgic for night shots? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dale Campbell Films Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 I apply the film grain for a couple of reasons. The way I see it if you look at older classic films and focus on the skin you can see the film grain has a big impact on the perceived skin tone and 'glamour' factor and along with careful use of Magic Bullet Cosmo can help reduce the appearance of blemishes etc... Think shots of [i][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigitte_Bardot"]Brigitte Bardot[/url] : ) [/i] shots Also I apply neat video as the first filter in the chain, when footage is de-noised you can introduce some problems with gradient banding. This isn't always obvious in your full resolution high bitrate master files but when compressed for streaming it can suddenly appear. So adding a film grain overlay helps to retain gradients and IMHO gives a more classic look to skin, especially in a imperfect shooting environment where going for very clean no grain footage can sometimes be tricky... not a huge fan of completely clean smooth plastic skin anyway : ) 5D2RGB batch works well for me, it renders the gamma range of the GH2 correctly and allows me to conform and convert in 1 go. Cinema Tools has been temperamental recently refusing to conform converted prores files. So I just do it all in 1 go. Hope that is useful : ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axel Posted October 23, 2012 Share Posted October 23, 2012 Very interesting aspects. Thank you for answering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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