GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please.

Ron Evans · January 27th, 2018, 08:30 AM

Have to agree with Noa. Any camera that you use point and shoot will be little different than the AX100. In fact you can manually adjust some things on the AX100 and get better performance from it too. If you are comparing your videos to National Geographic then they have very expensive cameras, manually adjusted all the time. Then the videos are graded. You will not come anywhere close with a point and shoot approach. However content is king. Wonderful video of something of no interest is not worth much. Phone video of something of real linterest is worth a lot more.

Both Noa and myself have both GH5 and AX100 ( at least I think still has the AX100 ). It is the manual adjustments that make the difference. Left in auto ( P mode on the GH5 ) there is little difference between the cameras. Image stabilizer is I think better on the GH5 and I can make the autofocus about the same ( don't use continuous auto on either camera use touch focus ). Zoom range is longer on the AX100 than the 12-60 you would need to get the 14-140 to get close to the AX100. I think you would need a variable ND on all the time in Africa. GH5 has advantage of being weather sealed including the lenses.

In summary. The AX100 is a much more convenient camera to use than the GH5. I would not even consider the GH5S because of the lack of stabilizer in your application. True, you could mount it on a gimbal all the time. Something else to carry and adjust. You can put a UV filter on the AX100 and it has everything else full manual control included. The same would be true for the GX10 or XF400 to get UHD50P that you want. The GH5 will be better but only if you control manually, chose lens for application etc and is a lot less convenient with pieces to carry and change. If you do not have the time to set up manually for your applications and just run full auto then you will see very little difference whatever camera you get. You will be far more dependent on auto focus and the ability to at most do AE shift realtime. I think the AX100 or one of the Canon's will do a better job run this way.

Adriano Moroni · January 27th, 2018, 09:18 AM

I sometimes think how much marketing influences/affects the market. It is so easy to put a 50p sensor in every camcorder but some Company doesn't want to do it. Sony for example. It has to sell other cameras and in this time it can't put 50p in their cameras. I was waiting with interest for the next Sony a7SIII because it is very interesting for 4K video. It is a full frame but I'm pretty sure that camera will be 25-30p again. It is incredible but real. In my opinion Sony is falling lower and lower. I never would buy again a stroboscopic 25p camera. I wanted to make a leap of real quality with a new and more expensive camera, but I evidently can't do it. I've never sold my videos. I realize those videos for my taste and to know always different cultures. If I had to sold my videos, maybe I didn't care about getting better image quality and and I didn't have so much interest in making so many difficult journeys. I even risked my life by going to the mountains of the Sierra Nevada in Colombia. Sierra Nevada was the Farc guerrillas' hideout. But being alone, I could avoid them in a simpler way. Maybe I'm selfish and for this reason I understand that it is better not to sell my videos. I also understand my videos are giving me a lot of satisfaction, above all when I get a good trip with a good video quality. But since I always travel alone, I understand that I have to settle for my AX100. But I hope things can change over time. Anyway I thank you for your suggestions.

Adriano Moroni · March 17th, 2018, 02:34 AM

These days I made a lot of tests with the all the profiles of the GH5 and I noticed that those profiles that I like more are the "Natural" and "Like 709".
I'd like to understand better about "Like 709" profile and I would like to ask a few questions:

I read it is a profile born for broactast. But yet "Like 709" is probably the most baked in look you can get from the GH5. It has the least dynamic range, so if you are trying to preserve highlights without losing the shadows, its not the best option. For a finished look though its great. It also works very well on the more compressed recording options like 120, 180, and 240fps, as they are very brittle codecs that can't be pushed much.

Adriano Moroni · April 19th, 2018, 12:16 PM

Hi guys, all today that I was thinking about my problem but I can't get out of it. I'd like to do the WB with 18% gray cardboard but with the B: 1 M: 1 setting. Every time I do the WB I have to put those data manually. Is there the possibility to save those data? In other words, after doing the WB I would like to see automatically B: 1 M: 1.
Thanks

Ron Evans · April 22nd, 2018, 03:26 PM

The whole point of doing a white balance is to do it just as you are going to shoot so that it is done in the light that you will be shooting in. Saving it does not make any more sense than using one of the presets in the camera now and then altering when you edit.

January 27th, 2018, 08:30 AM	#91
Ron Evans Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,220	Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please. Have to agree with Noa. Any camera that you use point and shoot will be little different than the AX100. In fact you can manually adjust some things on the AX100 and get better performance from it too. If you are comparing your videos to National Geographic then they have very expensive cameras, manually adjusted all the time. Then the videos are graded. You will not come anywhere close with a point and shoot approach. However content is king. Wonderful video of something of no interest is not worth much. Phone video of something of real linterest is worth a lot more. Both Noa and myself have both GH5 and AX100 ( at least I think still has the AX100 ). It is the manual adjustments that make the difference. Left in auto ( P mode on the GH5 ) there is little difference between the cameras. Image stabilizer is I think better on the GH5 and I can make the autofocus about the same ( don't use continuous auto on either camera use touch focus ). Zoom range is longer on the AX100 than the 12-60 you would need to get the 14-140 to get close to the AX100. I think you would need a variable ND on all the time in Africa. GH5 has advantage of being weather sealed including the lenses. In summary. The AX100 is a much more convenient camera to use than the GH5. I would not even consider the GH5S because of the lack of stabilizer in your application. True, you could mount it on a gimbal all the time. Something else to carry and adjust. You can put a UV filter on the AX100 and it has everything else full manual control included. The same would be true for the GX10 or XF400 to get UHD50P that you want. The GH5 will be better but only if you control manually, chose lens for application etc and is a lot less convenient with pieces to carry and change. If you do not have the time to set up manually for your applications and just run full auto then you will see very little difference whatever camera you get. You will be far more dependent on auto focus and the ability to at most do AE shift realtime. I think the AX100 or one of the Canon's will do a better job run this way.

January 27th, 2018, 09:18 AM	#92
Adriano Moroni Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Rome Italy Posts: 676	Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please. I sometimes think how much marketing influences/affects the market. It is so easy to put a 50p sensor in every camcorder but some Company doesn't want to do it. Sony for example. It has to sell other cameras and in this time it can't put 50p in their cameras. I was waiting with interest for the next Sony a7SIII because it is very interesting for 4K video. It is a full frame but I'm pretty sure that camera will be 25-30p again. It is incredible but real. In my opinion Sony is falling lower and lower. I never would buy again a stroboscopic 25p camera. I wanted to make a leap of real quality with a new and more expensive camera, but I evidently can't do it. I've never sold my videos. I realize those videos for my taste and to know always different cultures. If I had to sold my videos, maybe I didn't care about getting better image quality and and I didn't have so much interest in making so many difficult journeys. I even risked my life by going to the mountains of the Sierra Nevada in Colombia. Sierra Nevada was the Farc guerrillas' hideout. But being alone, I could avoid them in a simpler way. Maybe I'm selfish and for this reason I understand that it is better not to sell my videos. I also understand my videos are giving me a lot of satisfaction, above all when I get a good trip with a good video quality. But since I always travel alone, I understand that I have to settle for my AX100. But I hope things can change over time. Anyway I thank you for your suggestions. __________________ A lonesome traveler looking for lost tribes around the world: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdv...DrZCaaw/videos

March 17th, 2018, 02:34 AM	#93
Adriano Moroni Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Rome Italy Posts: 676	Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please. These days I made a lot of tests with the all the profiles of the GH5 and I noticed that those profiles that I like more are the "Natural" and "Like 709". I'd like to understand better about "Like 709" profile and I would like to ask a few questions: I read it is a profile born for broactast. But yet "Like 709" is probably the most baked in look you can get from the GH5. It has the least dynamic range, so if you are trying to preserve highlights without losing the shadows, its not the best option. For a finished look though its great. It also works very well on the more compressed recording options like 120, 180, and 240fps, as they are very brittle codecs that can't be pushed much. __________________ A lonesome traveler looking for lost tribes around the world: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdv...DrZCaaw/videos

April 19th, 2018, 12:16 PM	#94
Adriano Moroni Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Rome Italy Posts: 676	Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please. Hi guys, all today that I was thinking about my problem but I can't get out of it. I'd like to do the WB with 18% gray cardboard but with the B: 1 M: 1 setting. Every time I do the WB I have to put those data manually. Is there the possibility to save those data? In other words, after doing the WB I would like to see automatically B: 1 M: 1. Thanks __________________ A lonesome traveler looking for lost tribes around the world: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdv...DrZCaaw/videos

April 22nd, 2018, 03:26 PM	#95
Ron Evans Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,220	Re: GH5 for video documentaries: some questions please. The whole point of doing a white balance is to do it just as you are going to shoot so that it is done in the light that you will be shooting in. Saving it does not make any more sense than using one of the presets in the camera now and then altering when you edit.