Panasonic lumix g6, wow

Bruce Foreman · August 24th, 2013, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noa Put

If you would get one, be sure you get the cine version:

I did. Got it in Nikon F mount as I had the adapter and a couple of Nikon lenses on hand. So far all I've been able to test it with has been on stills and seeing what it does with exterior lighting on my house from the front yard.

I've been having cataract surgery and for the first few days after each eye is done I stay inside so stuff blowing around in the wind doesn't get in the eyes. I can see anything past arms length far better than I ever remember.

But I think I'm liking the Rokinon 85mm T1.5 Cine lens.

Nigel Barker · September 21st, 2013, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

I agree the images look great which is why I linked to Pete's video. In fact I believe that the ETC on the G6 gives a 4.8X crop & what I was trying to convey is that the image won't look the same as if you really had taken off a 100mm lens & put on a 480mm.

Now that I actually own a G6 & have read the manual I need to correct this. WIth 1920x1080 mode ETC is 2.4x. It's s shame that there is not a way of simply toggling ETC On/Off as on the Olympus OM-D as the Panasonic requires several button pushes to engage/disengage ETC.

Nigel Barker · September 21st, 2013, 06:12 AM

Partly as a result of seeing these posts singing the praises of the G6 I have now bought one. It's a PAL model but bought from Hong Kong & is without that pesky 30 minute recording limit so I can use it to replace my recently sold Canon XF105 as a locked off wide camera when shooting weddings. However the G6 is far more than that as it is a very capable camera. I used to own a GH2 but disliked using it as it was so small & fiddly. The G6 is just as small but feels much better in the hand because of the grip & the textured feel of the whole camera is more like my Canon 5D3. Even with the 14-42mm kit lens the still & video images are great while the ability to operate the camera remotely over WiFi (even the zoom lens) is great for a camera intended for unattended use. This is the first camera I have owned that does 1920x1080 50p so I have been experimenting with slow motion. I don't see any lack of resolution when using 50p as reported in some reviews.

Noa Put · September 21st, 2013, 01:54 PM

A snail is not exactly the best subject to test slowmotion on :)
I don't like the way the camera lies in my hand at all, I constantly activate one of the buttons on the back with the palm of my hand, very annoying, never had that issue with my 550d which has a much better layout of the buttons and where you hold the camera. The gh3 is also a much better camera in that respect.

Noa Put · September 21st, 2013, 02:00 PM

Also the etc mode on the g6 and the gh3 is just brilliant, have been shooting talking heads at a very dark reception with my g6 and a 85mm at f1.4 with etc enabled, I guess you get a 200mm f1.4 equivalent with that etc mode, the resulting images looked very good and where perfectly usable.

Noa Put · September 21st, 2013, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

It's s shame that there is not a way of simply toggling ETC On/Off as on the Olympus OM-D as the Panasonic requires several button pushes to engage/disengage ETC.

I have assigned the etc mode to one of the preset buttons, so I just press the preset button and the etc menu pops up, then I tap on the screen to activate the etc mode so that's pretty quick to turn on or off.

Nigel Barker · September 21st, 2013, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noa Put

A snail is not exactly the best subject to test slowmotion on :)

My little joke although it does show that the slo-mo is pretty smooth even at 25%:-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noa Put

I don't like the way the camera lies in my hand at all, I constantly activate one of the buttons on the back with the palm of my hand, very annoying, never had that issue with my 550d which has a much better layout of the buttons and where you hold the camera. The gh3 is also a much better camera in that respect.

It's certainly not as ergonomic as my 5D3 but it's not too bad & is vastly better than the GH2 that I couldn't get on with at all. TBH I only got the G6t to use as a locked off wide angle camera & as such I won't need to handle it much. In fact using WiFi I won't need to touch it at all once it's in place. The fact that it is only 5/8 of the price of the GH3 means that if it's a success I'll probably buy another so that I can use it for another locked off angle.

I did a test earlier today with a cheap non-Panasonic battery that lasted just 81 minutes while recording. I am currently repeating the test with a genuine Panasonic battery & it has been running 130 minutes & still hasn't died so I guess paying 3x the cost for genuine Panasonic batteries is worthwhile

Steve Bleasdale · September 23rd, 2013, 01:03 PM

Nigel I to have started to use it for my weddings, the kit lens are great but I need to save for a micro thirds lens 1.7/.8 to give me bokeh that my canons give me... I am slowly but surely loving the g6, dead light hold in your hands and steady......Still unsure on picture setting, I like standard toned down in sharp contrast sats -2, but just natural is good...

Nigel Barker · September 23rd, 2013, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noa Put

I have assigned the etc mode to one of the preset buttons, so I just press the preset button and the etc menu pops up, then I tap on the screen to activate the etc mode so that's pretty quick to turn on or off.

It's not terrible. It's just that I know it could be better. With my OM-D I have ETC mode assigned to a function button & it's press once for on & press again for off. I do keep forgetting about using the touch screen which us something that I do need to get used to as it does work very well.

Nigel Barker · September 23rd, 2013, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

I did a test earlier today with a cheap non-Panasonic battery that lasted just 81 minutes while recording. I am currently repeating the test with a genuine Panasonic battery & it has been running 130 minutes & still hasn't died so I guess paying 3x the cost for genuine Panasonic batteries is worthwhile

I tested with the Panasonic battery & it filled the 32GB card recording over 2.5 hours & there was still battery left.

I have also been experimenting with the smartphone app connecting over WiFi. It is possible to connect & disconnect the smartphone to monitor the recording which just keeps on going. This means that you could have multiple cameras all controlled from one smartphone. It's a little cumbersome & not as slick as the GoPro app that easily toggles between multiple cameras but it still looks usable.

Nigel Barker · September 23rd, 2013, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Bleasdale

Nigel I to have started to use it for my weddings, the kit lens are great but I need to save for a micro thirds lens 1.7/.8 to give me bokeh that my canons give me... I am slowly but surely loving the g6, dead light hold in your hands and steady......Still unsure on picture setting, I like standard toned down in sharp contrast sats -2, but just natural is good...

I have the Panasonic 14mm F/2.5 for use when it's a locked off wide shot. With the maximum ISO of 3200 it's going to be good enough for all but the darkest of venues. The only wide MFT lens available with a larger aperture is the Olympus 12mm F/2 which is much more expensive & while it is a little wider it's light gathering ability is only marginally better. The Panasonic 20mm F/1.7 is not as wide but does have a better low light.

I am not too bothered about shallow DoF & bokeh from my MFT cameras as I am using my Canon 5D3 as my A camera for all the beauty shots.

There is an Israeli guy shooting some amazing wedding videos with a GH2 & an OM-D that are as good as any that I have seen. When I saw what he achieves with MFT cameras it inspired me to try for myself.

Check out all his videos as there is some fantastic work there both camera work & editing.

Noa Put · September 24th, 2013, 01:50 AM

Yes, great camerawork and editing though he probably could do that with any type of dslr, there are some great looking shots in there and some not so great. Especially outside there are several very overexposed shots.

I have a wedding this Friday where everything will be on one location which gives me much more time to prepare and setup, was really thinking to use my gh3/g6 and my ea50 for the ceremony which would be the first time. For the ceremony I always use my small handicams for their ease of use and great image quality but they don't have that dslr look. I am quite nerveous though about using the g6 as I haven"t used it for longer continuous recording before. Might take the risc if I have easy access to all 3 camera's.

Steve Bleasdale · September 25th, 2013, 01:05 PM

Noa, did a wedding Saturday. Canon 60d morning prep, 60d arrivals, ceremony main cam hfg25, Panasonic g6 b-roll on bride another angle, 60d on guests parents. 60d exit and photo shoot, reception hfg25 on glidecam and also using on the glidecam on thigh when needing static shots.used to use the 60d but focus was every where. Entrance g6 locked of on tripod one angle, hfg25 glidecam in... Speeches g6 one angle hfg25 main cam 60d moving around 50-150 sigma...close ups. Mingling into dance sigma 30mm 1.4 on the 60d, 50mm 1.4 locked on tripod. glidecam and hfg25 dance. g6 coped well. steve

Nigel Barker · September 25th, 2013, 10:51 PM

Steve, don't you have problems matching up the look of three very different cameras? What picture styles do you use?

Steve Bleasdale · September 26th, 2013, 01:42 AM

Nigel, canon hfg25 p mode settings all down -1 apart from brightness, 60d neutral contrast down -2, sharp down -2 sats down -1, Panasonic g6 neutral all down -1 or -2, leave in auto white balance all three and adjust in prem pro cs6 on the white balance and I move the colour sliders if any adjustment is needed. Seems to be working great. This was the other week same cameras. Regards Steve

September 21st, 2013, 06:12 AM	#33
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	Re: Panasonic lumix g6, wow Partly as a result of seeing these posts singing the praises of the G6 I have now bought one. It's a PAL model but bought from Hong Kong & is without that pesky 30 minute recording limit so I can use it to replace my recently sold Canon XF105 as a locked off wide camera when shooting weddings. However the G6 is far more than that as it is a very capable camera. I used to own a GH2 but disliked using it as it was so small & fiddly. The G6 is just as small but feels much better in the hand because of the grip & the textured feel of the whole camera is more like my Canon 5D3. Even with the 14-42mm kit lens the still & video images are great while the ability to operate the camera remotely over WiFi (even the zoom lens) is great for a camera intended for unattended use. This is the first camera I have owned that does 1920x1080 50p so I have been experimenting with slow motion. I don't see any lack of resolution when using 50p as reported in some reviews. Snail - some experiments with slow motion on Vimeo

September 21st, 2013, 01:54 PM	#34
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Panasonic lumix g6, wow A snail is not exactly the best subject to test slowmotion on :) I don't like the way the camera lies in my hand at all, I constantly activate one of the buttons on the back with the palm of my hand, very annoying, never had that issue with my 550d which has a much better layout of the buttons and where you hold the camera. The gh3 is also a much better camera in that respect.

September 21st, 2013, 02:00 PM	#35
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Panasonic lumix g6, wow Also the etc mode on the g6 and the gh3 is just brilliant, have been shooting talking heads at a very dark reception with my g6 and a 85mm at f1.4 with etc enabled, I guess you get a 200mm f1.4 equivalent with that etc mode, the resulting images looked very good and where perfectly usable.

September 23rd, 2013, 01:03 PM	#38
Steve Bleasdale Trustee Join Date: May 2010 Location: England liverpool Posts: 1,343	Re: Panasonic lumix g6, wow Nigel I to have started to use it for my weddings, the kit lens are great but I need to save for a micro thirds lens 1.7/.8 to give me bokeh that my canons give me... I am slowly but surely loving the g6, dead light hold in your hands and steady......Still unsure on picture setting, I like standard toned down in sharp contrast sats -2, but just natural is good...

September 24th, 2013, 01:50 AM	#42
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,510	Re: Panasonic lumix g6, wow Yes, great camerawork and editing though he probably could do that with any type of dslr, there are some great looking shots in there and some not so great. Especially outside there are several very overexposed shots. I have a wedding this Friday where everything will be on one location which gives me much more time to prepare and setup, was really thinking to use my gh3/g6 and my ea50 for the ceremony which would be the first time. For the ceremony I always use my small handicams for their ease of use and great image quality but they don't have that dslr look. I am quite nerveous though about using the g6 as I haven"t used it for longer continuous recording before. Might take the risc if I have easy access to all 3 camera's.

September 25th, 2013, 01:05 PM	#43
Steve Bleasdale Trustee Join Date: May 2010 Location: England liverpool Posts: 1,343	Re: Panasonic lumix g6, wow Noa, did a wedding Saturday. Canon 60d morning prep, 60d arrivals, ceremony main cam hfg25, Panasonic g6 b-roll on bride another angle, 60d on guests parents. 60d exit and photo shoot, reception hfg25 on glidecam and also using on the glidecam on thigh when needing static shots.used to use the 60d but focus was every where. Entrance g6 locked of on tripod one angle, hfg25 glidecam in... Speeches g6 one angle hfg25 main cam 60d moving around 50-150 sigma...close ups. Mingling into dance sigma 30mm 1.4 on the 60d, 50mm 1.4 locked on tripod. glidecam and hfg25 dance. g6 coped well. steve

September 25th, 2013, 10:51 PM	#44
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	Re: Panasonic lumix g6, wow Steve, don't you have problems matching up the look of three very different cameras? What picture styles do you use?

September 26th, 2013, 01:42 AM	#45
Steve Bleasdale Trustee Join Date: May 2010 Location: England liverpool Posts: 1,343	Re: Panasonic lumix g6, wow Nigel, canon hfg25 p mode settings all down -1 apart from brightness, 60d neutral contrast down -2, sharp down -2 sats down -1, Panasonic g6 neutral all down -1 or -2, leave in auto white balance all three and adjust in prem pro cs6 on the white balance and I move the colour sliders if any adjustment is needed. Seems to be working great. This was the other week same cameras. Regards Steve Gemma + Shaun on Vimeo