14-140mm with GH2 is great at DVinfo.net

Jeff Harper · March 21st, 2011, 10:23 AM

Let me tell you folks. The 14-140 may not be great, or even good, in low light. But after two weeks of shooting with a GH1 with prime lenses, the zoom is a luxury I didn't realize I missed. I've also learned a lot more about the cameras using primes. The 14 end is nice and wide, and I love it.

I have a whole new respect for this lens, and it will likely be my outdoor lens. Now that I know how to use auto focus, it's a dream.

I put the Sony monitor on it, and it's like driving a Rolls Royce. This is a sweet little rig.

Brian Luce · March 21st, 2011, 10:37 AM

What's your technique in auto focus? AF works great in stills, but no matter what I set it at in video, it always, eventually, starts hunting on its own. What are your settings?

Jim Snow · March 21st, 2011, 11:04 AM

It would be very helpful if someone could give a setup description of every step involved in setting up the camera for video auto focus particularly focus tracking and the use of the touch screen to change the point of focus. The manual is not at all clear on this (or anything else). Unfortunately this great camera is marred by a very poorly written and disorganized manual.

Jeff Harper · March 21st, 2011, 12:30 PM

Brian, after I posted, I took the camera out and sure enough it seemd to start hunting a bit, very exasperating. I'll be playing with it more tomorrow, my playtime for the day is over.

Jim F said to start in AFS, then turn off facial recognition and auto tracking, I think, and I don't know If I had auto tracking off or not, I thought I did. I wish I had more time to play with it today.

Jim no one could have said it better, the manual is a joke.

Jim, you were absolutely correct, at high ISO, the camera seems ok, but I have a lot more testing to do. I'll take it to church tomorrow and do some real tests if I have time.

Jim Forrest · March 21st, 2011, 04:04 PM

I can tell you what I did. On the top left of the camera is a dial and moved it to AFS ...auto focus single.
Then in the menu settings turn off 'contiuous auto focus'.
This will allow to to change focus only when you hold the shutter halfway down. It will keep that focus until you hold down the shutter halfway down again.
I found this will work even if you are rolling

William Hohauser · March 21st, 2011, 04:12 PM

I was shooting auto focus/facial recognition outdoors yesterday with the Panasonic 20mm pancake. The camera behaved in interesting ways. The auto-focus behaved itself when the background was a park or the side of a brick building with the wall receding from the camera. The camera locked on to the subject's face and stayed in focus. However when the background was a repeating set of horizontal metal slats on an air vent, the facial recognition couldn't see the face. Don't know what make of it.

Dan Carter · March 21st, 2011, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Luce

What's your technique in auto focus? AF works great in stills, but no matter what I set it at in video, it always, eventually, starts hunting on its own. What are your settings?

I've had good luck by changing Custom Menu Settings "AF/AE Lock" to "AF/AE" and "AF/AE Lock Hold" to "On".

Now pressing the "AF/AE Lock" button on the camera will focus and lock both AF and AE until pressed again.

Brian Luce · March 21st, 2011, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Forrest

I can tell you what I did. On the top left of the camera is a dial and moved it to AFS ...auto focus single.
Then in the menu settings turn off 'contiuous auto focus'.
This will allow to to change focus only when you hold the shutter halfway down. It will keep that focus until you hold down the shutter halfway down again.
I found this will work even if you are rolling

Thank you. This is a great tip! Will try tonight. I record musicians and often it has to be single long take. No cutting at all, and it just looks horrible watching the focus hunt and I'm not allow to cut away. I just imagine the client thinking "What am I paying this guy for?"

Jeff Harper · March 21st, 2011, 04:37 PM

Dan, that is very useful information, I will try that, thank you.

Brian Luce · March 21st, 2011, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Forrest

I can tell you what I did. On the top left of the camera is a dial and moved it to AFS ...auto focus single.
Then in the menu settings turn off 'contiuous auto focus'.
This will allow to to change focus only when you hold the shutter halfway down. It will keep that focus until you hold down the shutter halfway down again.
I found this will work even if you are rolling

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Carter

I've had good luck by changing Custom Menu Settings "AF/AE Lock" to "AF/AE" and "AF/AE Lock Hold" to "On".

Now pressing the "AF/AE Lock" button on the camera will focus and lock both AF and AE until pressed again.

And if you turn the lens barrel in AF/AE the focus/zoom assist kicks in, I'm not sure what good that does since it blows your AF that the camera has hopefully just nailed. And as usual, the focus assist won't work once you are recording. However, and I don't know if this can damage the camera, once you're recording in a locked focus, you can turn the dial on top left to MF and focus manually. Perhaps the best way is lock down the focus with AF/AE and BEFORE hitting Rec, switch over to manual and then if the subject moves you can track manually. I used a similar method on the 7d.

Btw, the AF/AE lock is by the shutter/aperture wheel.

Nigel Barker · March 23rd, 2011, 03:22 AM

I found the Focus Assist 5X magnification of the image that kicks in as soon as you move the focus ring in manual mode incredibly irritating & confusing. Luckily it is possible to delve into the Custom menus & switch it off although despite a reference in the manual that implies that you can assign this to one of the function buttons I have not figured out how to do it. It would be nice to e.g. have Fn1 toggle between normal view & magnified view.

Dan Carter · March 23rd, 2011, 09:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

I found the Focus Assist 5X magnification of the image that kicks in as soon as you move the focus ring in manual mode incredibly irritating & confusing. Luckily it is possible to delve into the Custom menus & switch it off although despite a reference in the manual that implies that you can assign this to one of the function buttons I have not figured out how to do it. It would be nice to e.g. have Fn1 toggle between normal view & magnified view.

Nigel,

This might be what you're looking for. In Manual Focus mode, press and hold the "Q Menu" button, then press "Set".

Nigel Barker · March 23rd, 2011, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dan Carter

Nigel,

This might be what you're looking for. In Manual Focus mode, press and hold the "Q Menu" button, then press "Set".

Thanks a lot for that hint. I just figured out how to assign Fn3 to Focus Assist from the Custom menu but this is better as it is already set up & I can therefore use Fn3 for something else.

Dan Carter · March 23rd, 2011, 06:13 PM

This camera is full of "Easter Eggs". Every day another pleasant surprise.

Jim Snow · March 23rd, 2011, 06:46 PM

I'd like to give the guy who wrote the manual an "Easter Egg"!

March 21st, 2011, 10:23 AM	#1
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	14-140mm with GH2 is great Let me tell you folks. The 14-140 may not be great, or even good, in low light. But after two weeks of shooting with a GH1 with prime lenses, the zoom is a luxury I didn't realize I missed. I've also learned a lot more about the cameras using primes. The 14 end is nice and wide, and I love it. I have a whole new respect for this lens, and it will likely be my outdoor lens. Now that I know how to use auto focus, it's a dream. I put the Sony monitor on it, and it's like driving a Rolls Royce. This is a sweet little rig. __________________ "The horror of what I saw on the timeline cannot be described."

March 21st, 2011, 10:37 AM	#2
Brian Luce Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,290	Re: 14-140mm with GH2 is great What's your technique in auto focus? AF works great in stills, but no matter what I set it at in video, it always, eventually, starts hunting on its own. What are your settings?

March 21st, 2011, 11:04 AM	#3
Jim Snow Trustee Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 1,104	Re: 14-140mm with GH2 is great It would be very helpful if someone could give a setup description of every step involved in setting up the camera for video auto focus particularly focus tracking and the use of the touch screen to change the point of focus. The manual is not at all clear on this (or anything else). Unfortunately this great camera is marred by a very poorly written and disorganized manual.

March 21st, 2011, 12:30 PM	#4
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: 14-140mm with GH2 is great Brian, after I posted, I took the camera out and sure enough it seemd to start hunting a bit, very exasperating. I'll be playing with it more tomorrow, my playtime for the day is over. Jim F said to start in AFS, then turn off facial recognition and auto tracking, I think, and I don't know If I had auto tracking off or not, I thought I did. I wish I had more time to play with it today. Jim no one could have said it better, the manual is a joke. Jim, you were absolutely correct, at high ISO, the camera seems ok, but I have a lot more testing to do. I'll take it to church tomorrow and do some real tests if I have time. __________________ "The horror of what I saw on the timeline cannot be described."

March 21st, 2011, 04:04 PM	#5
Jim Forrest Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Washington DC Posts: 368	Re: 14-140mm with GH2 is great I can tell you what I did. On the top left of the camera is a dial and moved it to AFS ...auto focus single. Then in the menu settings turn off 'contiuous auto focus'. This will allow to to change focus only when you hold the shutter halfway down. It will keep that focus until you hold down the shutter halfway down again. I found this will work even if you are rolling

March 21st, 2011, 04:12 PM	#6
William Hohauser Inner Circle Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: New York City Posts: 2,650	Re: 14-140mm with GH2 is great I was shooting auto focus/facial recognition outdoors yesterday with the Panasonic 20mm pancake. The camera behaved in interesting ways. The auto-focus behaved itself when the background was a park or the side of a brick building with the wall receding from the camera. The camera locked on to the subject's face and stayed in focus. However when the background was a repeating set of horizontal metal slats on an air vent, the facial recognition couldn't see the face. Don't know what make of it. __________________ William Hohauser - New York City Producer/Edit/Camera/Animation

March 21st, 2011, 04:37 PM	#9
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: 14-140mm with GH2 is great Dan, that is very useful information, I will try that, thank you. __________________ "The horror of what I saw on the timeline cannot be described."

March 23rd, 2011, 03:22 AM	#11
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	Re: 14-140mm with GH2 is great I found the Focus Assist 5X magnification of the image that kicks in as soon as you move the focus ring in manual mode incredibly irritating & confusing. Luckily it is possible to delve into the Custom menus & switch it off although despite a reference in the manual that implies that you can assign this to one of the function buttons I have not figured out how to do it. It would be nice to e.g. have Fn1 toggle between normal view & magnified view.

March 23rd, 2011, 06:13 PM	#14
Dan Carter Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Scottsdale, Arizona Posts: 366	Re: 14-140mm with GH2 is great This camera is full of "Easter Eggs". Every day another pleasant surprise.

March 23rd, 2011, 06:46 PM	#15
Jim Snow Trustee Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Santa Clara, CA Posts: 1,104	Re: 14-140mm with GH2 is great I'd like to give the guy who wrote the manual an "Easter Egg"!