The GH3 / GH2 Event Filming Thread! at DVinfo.net

Luc Spencer · July 1st, 2013, 07:53 AM

As (rightly) suggested by some of you, I have packed my suitcase and left the film making thread in hope of meeting other wedding / any other type of event videographers here, to share my successes as well as my failures with the GH3 so that we all can overcome this wonderful little camera's shortcomings and produce amazing footage, to put a big smile on our clients' faces and give the GH3 an even bigger and better reputation than that of the GH2. That being said, here is my experience with it so far.

I received my GH3 on Friday, June 28th, had a few hours to figure out how to turn it on and learn the basics, went to sleep at 2am and woke up at 6am to drive to a nearby city where I had to film the bride's make-up and hair styling shenanigans.

In all honesty, I was more focused on learning how to operate the GH3 than on filming the bride at the time. The biggest issue I had was to figure out which was the best way to use the AF. Thanks to some prior reading on this forum, I had previously disabled continuous AF and went for AF-S. I focused on my subject before starting to record, and if there was movement I needed to keep up with, I used the touch AF feature to refocus on the subject's new position. At the reception where I felt more comfortable with it, I switched to MF (with the MF assist OFF!) and found the OLED screen to be accurate enough to help me get the desired results.

I never once used the viewfinder when filming. The camera was always on a monopod at varying heights and the LVF was either unreachable or I would have had to bend into weird positions to actually be able to see through it. I also find it distorts the edges of the image if your eye isn't in the right position. That being said, I would use it for taking pictures, the clarity is very good overall.

Another thing I have to still figure out is how to QUICKLY get from manual exposure to auto, during filming. I liked to keep my lens wide open and ISO lowest possible, and since AE does not tell me what settings it's currently using, I don't trust it. So I need to be in manual, ready to switch to auto in case of something unexpected. I tried setting one of the Fn buttons to AE but it only works BEFORE starting to record. Very, very weird.

Another thing that changes immediately after pressing the record button is what I'm seeing on the screen. The picture becomes more saturated and colors change a bit. Have no idea why that is happening. There was a setting in the menu, something about "constant preview" which I set to ON, in hope that it will change this, but it didn't.

One last thing I don't like about the GH3, although this only applies to the EU version, is that I'm limited to 29m59s per clip. I hope Driftwood will hack this model too, can't wait :)

If you have any advice regarding the aforementioned issues or advice in general, I am more than happy to hear it, or if you have questions, I will try my best to help you guys. Thanks for making this a great community for us to learn from and become better at what we do!

-Luc

Noa Put · July 1st, 2013, 08:12 AM

You might want to add the new g6 to this as well, from what I have seen so far the camera produces excellent results on par with the gh3, there are some limitations like the recording formats. I am looking for a good replacement for my 550d and it seems to be an improvement on the 550d in many ways. There's not much talk about this camera as all attention seems to be going to the gh3 but I"m on the edge of getting one and if I do I might report in this thread as well.

Luc Spencer · July 1st, 2013, 10:38 AM

I can't change the name of the thread now, if a mod can, then please go ahead and add the G6. I don't know that camera, but if you say it's similar to the GH models, then sure, why not :)

Noa Put · July 1st, 2013, 10:55 AM

No, didn't mean that the threadname need to change but I guess the g6 would fit in this thread as well, imagewise it seems very similar to a gh3 and in terms of functions as well. Would be interesting though to share experience on that model.

Luc Spencer · July 2nd, 2013, 05:44 PM

I brought the GH3 with me while i was on the john today (it's an excellent time to learn something new, come on), took a picture of the toilet paper roll, then later, being bored, decided to make something of it. So... here you go. While I realize this is hardly event filming, I hope you guys will get a giggle :)

PS: That Olympus 45mm f/1.8 is just a great lens!

July 1st, 2013, 07:53 AM	#1
Luc Spencer Major Player Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 201	The GH3 / GH2 Event Filming Thread! As (rightly) suggested by some of you, I have packed my suitcase and left the film making thread in hope of meeting other wedding / any other type of event videographers here, to share my successes as well as my failures with the GH3 so that we all can overcome this wonderful little camera's shortcomings and produce amazing footage, to put a big smile on our clients' faces and give the GH3 an even bigger and better reputation than that of the GH2. That being said, here is my experience with it so far. I received my GH3 on Friday, June 28th, had a few hours to figure out how to turn it on and learn the basics, went to sleep at 2am and woke up at 6am to drive to a nearby city where I had to film the bride's make-up and hair styling shenanigans. In all honesty, I was more focused on learning how to operate the GH3 than on filming the bride at the time. The biggest issue I had was to figure out which was the best way to use the AF. Thanks to some prior reading on this forum, I had previously disabled continuous AF and went for AF-S. I focused on my subject before starting to record, and if there was movement I needed to keep up with, I used the touch AF feature to refocus on the subject's new position. At the reception where I felt more comfortable with it, I switched to MF (with the MF assist OFF!) and found the OLED screen to be accurate enough to help me get the desired results. I never once used the viewfinder when filming. The camera was always on a monopod at varying heights and the LVF was either unreachable or I would have had to bend into weird positions to actually be able to see through it. I also find it distorts the edges of the image if your eye isn't in the right position. That being said, I would use it for taking pictures, the clarity is very good overall. Another thing I have to still figure out is how to QUICKLY get from manual exposure to auto, during filming. I liked to keep my lens wide open and ISO lowest possible, and since AE does not tell me what settings it's currently using, I don't trust it. So I need to be in manual, ready to switch to auto in case of something unexpected. I tried setting one of the Fn buttons to AE but it only works BEFORE starting to record. Very, very weird. Another thing that changes immediately after pressing the record button is what I'm seeing on the screen. The picture becomes more saturated and colors change a bit. Have no idea why that is happening. There was a setting in the menu, something about "constant preview" which I set to ON, in hope that it will change this, but it didn't. One last thing I don't like about the GH3, although this only applies to the EU version, is that I'm limited to 29m59s per clip. I hope Driftwood will hack this model too, can't wait :) If you have any advice regarding the aforementioned issues or advice in general, I am more than happy to hear it, or if you have questions, I will try my best to help you guys. Thanks for making this a great community for us to learn from and become better at what we do! -Luc

July 1st, 2013, 08:12 AM	#2
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: The GH3 / GH2 Event Filming Thread! You might want to add the new g6 to this as well, from what I have seen so far the camera produces excellent results on par with the gh3, there are some limitations like the recording formats. I am looking for a good replacement for my 550d and it seems to be an improvement on the 550d in many ways. There's not much talk about this camera as all attention seems to be going to the gh3 but I"m on the edge of getting one and if I do I might report in this thread as well.

July 1st, 2013, 10:38 AM	#3
Luc Spencer Major Player Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 201	Re: The GH3 / GH2 Event Filming Thread! I can't change the name of the thread now, if a mod can, then please go ahead and add the G6. I don't know that camera, but if you say it's similar to the GH models, then sure, why not :)

July 1st, 2013, 10:55 AM	#4
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: The GH3 / GH2 Event Filming Thread! No, didn't mean that the threadname need to change but I guess the g6 would fit in this thread as well, imagewise it seems very similar to a gh3 and in terms of functions as well. Would be interesting though to share experience on that model.

July 2nd, 2013, 05:44 PM	#5
Luc Spencer Major Player Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Romania Posts: 201	Re: The GH3 / GH2 Event Filming Thread! I brought the GH3 with me while i was on the john today (it's an excellent time to learn something new, come on), took a picture of the toilet paper roll, then later, being bored, decided to make something of it. So... here you go. While I realize this is hardly event filming, I hope you guys will get a giggle :) PS: That Olympus 45mm f/1.8 is just a great lens! Attached Thumbnails