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Best Camera choice with Stabilisation


deckitout
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I am mainly a stills shooter but want to add some Video to my skill set which will mainly be used for family events, Grandchildren growing up, small documentary's of days out etc.

 

I am not looking to use tripods, rigs etc so want a system that has some stabilisation in either lenses or body.

I have been around the houses on this considering Olympus (EM1-EM10) for it's excellent stabilisation, to Panasonic (G6-GH3-GH4) with stabilised lenses such as 12/35. I am familiar with M4/3

 

What else if any should I be considering for good quality footage preferably the ability to do some slow motion  with the ability to  stabilise footage in Camera or lens. 

 

Any help appreciated.

 

Phil

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A friend of mine said the EM1 is a very good stills camera. Its 5-axis IBIS is very good. Perfect for family events unless you want to become a serious videographer, in which case you might want something with more video options. The EM1 will also let you use lenses without stabilization which could be a plus.

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I have a GH3 and E-M1, and for your intended use I would definitely go for the E-M1.  A lot of people will say it can't be used for serious work, which is wrong in my opinion.  Like all of our tools it has weaknesses that we have to work around, but it has some major strengths-not only the amazing stabilisation on all of your lenses but great dynamic range, great ergonomics and build, excellent EVF, good skin tones and good colour out of camera. When Canon introduced video dSLR with the mark II, everyone complained about 30p but it didn't stop us utilising the strengths the camera offered.  With the E-M1 most of your shots are usable without any post-stabilisation, you can shoot faster and can pull off camera moves handheld that you would not usually even consider with other cameras.  Would you use a E-M1 on a studio shoot or narrative film, when you have time and money to set-up a shot etc -no but for solo shooting, run and gun, travel-documentary type work, I think its a great option.  

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I've got both the GM1 and GH3 with the 12-35mm and 35-100mm Panasonic lenses. Even though both lenses have built-in stabilization, it's nothing to write home about. It's not as though you can actually walk around and shoot with the camera or anything, unless you've got some awesome coordination. I always use a shoulder rig with the GH3, even with the OIS, and especially when I'm using the longer of the two lenses, since it suffers from jitters. I also shoot slow motion a lot, which naturally reduces the amount of apparent camera shake. But if your primary concern is stabilization, I would go with the Olympus. I should add that I'm a shaky fellow who drinks a lot of coffee :) 

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I have the E-M5 and a G6. I haven't had either for very long (both were second hand and cheap). The OMD stabilisation is definitely very impressive, but it isn't quite steadicam level. Maybe I have a somewhat lolloping gait, but I haven't been able to get a decent traveling shot by walking along with it. Maybe I need to learn Tai Chi. This isn't a complaint of course, it's wonderful that it can stabilise to the degree it does, with old manual lenses too, even 100mm (full frame equiv) is doable.

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Thanks for the feedback, I am really looking for decent stabilisation for static hand held shooting, it would seem my choices are G6 with 12/35 which has superior Video or OMD which stabilises all lenses but at a reduced Video quality.

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superior Video or OMD which stabilises all lenses but at a reduced Video quality.

 

The OMD video is perfectly fine.  It's not as good as a G6, but it's only lesser by a very very small amount.  That amount matters to pixel peepers.  To "normal" viewers of your videos, having steady shots will look much more impressive.

 

As we can all testify, crappy handheld video is annoying to watch.

 

Film making is not about the best resolution.  It's actually a craft that's somewhat independent of the technology.  You necessarily wouldn't know that by reading most subjects on this forum, (it's a boys and their best-est-IQ-camera-toys kinda place) but it's true.  Knowing how to lens stuff properly, telling a good story, and understanding light is so much more important.

 

You can't buy skill.  You have to learn it and develop it.  If you're lucky, you'll have a knack for it.

 

Improve your skills (that's free) and don't worry so much about resolution.  Almost any new camera these days delivers wonderful results.  It's how you use the camera that matters.

 

IMHO, the OMD line is the perfect solution for a dedicated enthusiast.  The 5-axis stabilization, when applied to shots properly, will take you farther production-wise than any other camera on the market.  That includes the GH4.

 

For what it's worth, I'm buying one for an upcoming documentary shoot...rather than buying stabilizing rigging for the (really good) cameras I do have.

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For a moment, I thought the owl wasn't real.

 

So how does the owl attain such stabilisation?   Maybe I can build a DIY prototype once the principles are clear. :D

I think if you can, you're well on your way to building GIANT DEATH ROBOTS

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Thanks great feedback

 

 

 

The OMD video is perfectly fine.  It's not as good as a G6, but it's only lesser by a very very small amount.  That amount matters to pixel peepers.  To "normal" viewers of your videos, having steady shots will look much more impressive.

 

As we can all testify, crappy handheld video is annoying to watch.

 

Film making is not about the best resolution.  It's actually a craft that's somewhat independent of the technology.  You necessarily wouldn't know that by reading most subjects on this forum, (it's a boys and their best-est-IQ-camera-toys kinda place) but it's true.  Knowing how to lens stuff properly, telling a good story, and understanding light is so much more important.

 

You can't buy skill.  You have to learn it and develop it.  If you're lucky, you'll have a knack for it.

 

Improve your skills (that's free) and don't worry so much about resolution.  Almost any new camera these days delivers wonderful results.  It's how you use the camera that matters.

 

IMHO, the OMD line is the perfect solution for a dedicated enthusiast.  The 5-axis stabilization, when applied to shots properly, will take you farther production-wise than any other camera on the market.  That includes the GH4.

 

For what it's worth, I'm buying one for an upcoming documentary shoot...rather than buying stabilizing rigging for the (really good) cameras I do have.

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I haven't seen a direct comparisons of the E-M1 vs E-M10, but my understanding is the E-M10 use electronic stabilisation in video to compensate for only having 3-axis sensor stabilisation so it would stand to reason that the output may be a bit softer etc.

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think the E-M5, which has 5 axis stabilization, also uses an element of electronic stabilisation. When you are shooting a video, you don't hear the (very soft) whir of sensor motors. They are audible when you have the shutter half pressed to take a photo. Also, sometimes the footage you get out looks exactly like footage that has been stabilised in post: it has that same "ripple" effect, where the camera movement has been removed, but the artefacts of that movement (rolling shutter, a bit of motion blur perhaps) are still there (presumably, if the sensor was physically moving to counteract the camera's motion as in photo mode, you wouldn't see that kind of ripple effect?). One theory I read is that the gyroscopes are still active, but instead of the data from them being used to physically move the sensor (as in photo mode), it's being used to do (usually really excellent) in-camera electronic stabilisation. I suppose I could test whether a crop appears when IS is turned on.

 

E-M1 owners, does your camera behave in a similar way?

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