Time for the first ever guest post on Jules.tv. Freelance Director Joe Shaw shares his experience of using the new HD Video shooting Panasonic GH1.

Cut to Joe:

“I had my first opportunity to test the Panasonic GH1 out recently and took the camera out to the Thames Barrier Park in London. The park has 22 acres of lawns, trees and a fantastic formal garden that echoes the unique architecture of the Barrier.

The first enjoyment of using this rig for me was the sheer portability of it. I’m used to lugging a Panasonic HVX200 around and with a 35mm lens adapter attached plus a heavy duty tripod… Since this was the hottest day of the year so far, I felt a sense of relief every time I looked down at my lightweight backpack.

Another benefit of shooting with such a small camera is that it allows you to be more inconspicuous. I was paid little attention - and this allowed me to capture some nice candid moments of people relaxing in the sunshine.

The camera was great to use. The viewfinder is bright and detailed and has a dioptric adjustment for glasses wearers such as myself. Under normal conditions, the LCD screen is very good - I particularly like the fact that it can articulate into different positions, allowing you to see the screen clearly whilst shooting at all sorts of angles. But in bright sunlight it is hard to see properly – particularly as it is highly reflective. I’m considering the particularly funky Sock Loupe to deal with this issue.

Another consideration in the bright light is getting a decent exposure. I wanted to achieve shallow depth of field and in order to do that you need to open up the aperture. However, as the camera has no ND (Neutral Density) filters built into it - as a video camera might - there is no way of restricting the light coming into the camera.

I bought the Cokin P series filter mount which holds up to 4 filters and was suddenly transported back to my days of stills photography. The camera is extremely sensitive to light and I will need to buy more ND filters for future use.

One of the beauties of the GH1 s how adaptable it is. There are a large number of adapters available online to allow you to mount lenses from different camera systems to the body of the GH1. I’ve picked up a few Canon FD primes on Ebay - (28mm 2.8, 50mm 1.4, 100mm 2.8) for use with my SGPro 35mm adapter, but with an adapter they worked great on the GH1. I used the Jinfinance, which is a well made adapter that screws neatly and simply onto the lens and then onto the GH1 body.

One thing to bear in mind is that the Panasonic uses the micro Four Thirds system, which means that when you mount a 35mm still lens on the camera it will have an equivalent focal length of 2x. This means that a 50mm lens will have the look of a 100mm lens in 35mm terms.

I shot most of the Thames Barrier Park film in FHD mode - this is the camera’s full HD 1080/25 AVCHD mode. There has been a lot written about the quality of the codec in this mode. I would say best on my brief experimentation so far that the codec in this mode can cause you problems. The picture can break up if you move the camera too quickly - but this can be planned for and avoided. However, I did notice some artifacting even in static shots – high detail scenes such as foliage seem to be particularly problematic.

That said, the camera does have a fantastic 720/50 mode. All of the slow motion shots in the film were done in this mode. The codec appears to be much more robust in 720 and anything fast moving or that required quick camera movement should be shot in this mode for best results. As a bonus, since it is 720/50 - dropping the footage onto a 25p timeline allows for very simple and effective slow motion. This is achieved differently in various NLE’s, but in Edius - my editing setup - I simply dropped the footage onto a 25p timeline and changed the speed to 50%.

I’m already looking forward to my next outing with the camera and can see this being an extremely useful part of my kit. For lowlight work, or where I need to be compact and portable, the camera is perfect. Using a DSLR to shoot video also has the added benefit of being able to deliver high quality to stills to clients as well - all from the same unit.

For audio, I’m about to invest in a Zoom H4N recorder. This is an extremely popular option for recording sound with a DSLR. Compact and able to record on 4 channels simultaneously, the H4N can also provide phantom power via XLR – which means the mics I have for the HVX200 will work great with it.

In September I’m off to Hong Kong to start work on a long-term documentary following new students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The fact that this setup is so portable means it will be my first choice for kit for the shoot – which is remarkable considering the cost of the camera. My HVX200 is going to have to sit this trip out …”

To find out more about Joe Shaw please visit his website.

(US) Panasonic GH1 (UK) Panasonic GH1

I spotted a cool Behind the Scenes Video on IJustine’s addictive Tasty Blog Snack. It’s made by Photographers and Videomakers The Bui Brothers. The video is BTS at a photoshoot they did with Star Videoblogger Justine Ezarik and there was something about the way it was put together that engaged me within the first 30 seconds.

Quite often videos like these are slung together as montages with hardly any sync at all or any change in pace or tone to break them up. I like the fact that the Producers actually ask some questions and turn it into a reality piece, but it’s the use of the new breed of Digital SLR which captures video that really gives it an extra visual layer.

I asked Lan Bui about the kit they used and he was good enough to ping me back with this:

JTV: What was the Vid shot on?

Lan: The video was mostly shot on the Canon 5D mark II (as well as all of the stills) and some of the ‘dark’ clips were with a Canon HF10. We really like using the Canon 5D mk II because you don’t need any adapters, it just works with any Canon SLR lens. It was edited in iMovie 09.

JTV: It looks like you put a lot of effort into your BTS movies?

Lan: We take our video blogs and BTS videos seriously and want to tell a story with them, the music is a massive part of that. We owe all of the music credit to Paul Dateh of pauldateh.com, he scored it with Ken Belcher to give it the great flow and mood you feel when watching it. Usually BTS videos are short and don’t say much, we believe in giving everyone a good look into our personalities as well as tell the story of what happened to create the images you see.

JTV: Thanks!

Here’s the kit:

The EOS 5D Mark II boasts a new 21MP CMOS sensor, an expanded ISO range of 50-25,600 and a wealth of improvements and new features including full 1080p HD movie recording, live view, 3.0″ 920k dot LCD, DIGIC IV processor, increased battery capacity and sensor dust reduction.

Check out the Canon 5D mark II on Amazon.com

The Canon Vixia HF10 records in the AVCHD format with full 1920 x 1080 output, a new 17 Mbps bitrate, and has 60i/24P/30P frame rates.

In this Video watch photographer Alexx Henry create a living movie poster using the Red One digital Camera: 4520 x 2540 pixels, interchangeable cinematography lenses, the quality of 35mm film. Ideal for when high res digital photography needs to turn into video for an Ad screen.

Thanks to Sony Europe I have been loaned a new Sony HVR-Z7E to try out for a week.

I’ve been wanting to take a Z7 out for a spin for a while, as firstly I am on the look out for a new camera and secondly I’m sure on a future TV job I’ll be handed a rented Z7 or a Z5 to go out and make some TV.  

Out of the box here are my first 3 reactions:

1. The lens is great, it comes with 12X zoom, 4.4-52.8mm (equivalent to 34-384mm in 35mm photography terms), not only is it interchangeable, it has an iris ring (I never liked the fiddly iris control on the Z1)  and a lever to crash zoom. As I mainly do run and gun Reality and ob doc type shooting this ability to zoom fast is a bonus. A with shoulder mounted cameras like the DSR450 you can quickly pick out tight shots of faces during a scene before returning to you wide. This will keep your Editor happy cutting around conversations, and trust me that’s important.

2. The Z7 feels chunky in the hand and the balance is good. It is heavier than the Z1 especially with the Compact flash adaptor  but for me that’s good. As I mostly handhold, a heavier camera is easier to keep steady and to fluidly move around your subject. 

3. I’ve just started trying out capturing tapeless to the card and I’m going to load these clips into Final Cut Pro later to see how that works. The fact the Z7 can take tapes is great feature as I have collected lots of Mini DV  tapes over the years shot on the Z1 and PD150. I’ve just been playing one back through the camera and as you’d expect it works fine

I use my old PD150 as a deck to digitise from (not recommended if you do a lot of diigitising) and if I get rid of it I’ll need my next camera to still run the min DV’s as well as using the Z7’s solid state workflow for shooting.

I’ll be writing more about the Z7 as the week progresses. If you have any questions give me a shout by using the ‘Ask’ graphic on the right.

UPDATE:

Ok so the Z7 has been returned to Sony who were good enough to loan it me. I did a VoxVop shoot with it which was a useful test for the speed of the camera.

What I discovered:

The lens control is indeed great. It took me a while to figure that there is a ring at the front of the lens which you can push and pull to switch between auto focus (not recommended) and manual. The fluidity of the zoom meant I could get in really quick to the interviewees but the best thing was the ND filter has more options than the Z1 (it has 1/4, 1/16, and 1/64).

This meant I could throw distracting backgrounds out of focus without being far away on a long zoom (you need to be in fairly tight to subject for Vox Pops). On the Z1 it was a struggle and you would end up with overly sharp backgrounds when filming people from a close distance on a medium zoom. Pro Cameras and lenses like those used on the DSR would always win in these situations but not now.

What else? I found the hand holding easy and balance good, the iris ring is a big improvement over the Z1 and I could tweak exposure very slightly without it looking obvious on screen. Like any new camera it takes a while to get used to all the buttons and the different layout so goes without saying, practice first before a big shoot. 

When I had a look at the rushes they looked great and the colours and contrast range was a pretty impressive. I didn’t get much time to play with the tapeless workflow, and CD’s you get in the box. Next time!

Check the Price and buy at Jessops.com

Just when I thought the solid state EX1 was set to dominate the TV self-shooting market Sony announces the HVR-Z5E. The Z5 has one major advantage over the more expensive EX1 and the old Z1E it can take BOTH tapes or memory cards. As with the HVR-Z1E, you have the option to record in either DV, DVCAM or HDV – but unlike the Z1E the Z5 can also give you 25p native progressive recording.

It’s the addition of the optional HVR-MRCK1 CF Memory Recorder (as found on the HVR-Z7E and HVR-S270E) – that makes the Z5 a truly hybrid camera capable of simultaneously recording to tape and solid state media. You can record different formats onto two seperate media at the same time.

Having the option of shooting on tape or card means that Production companies can invest in future technology but also sit on the fence a while longer before committing to shooting a tapeless series with all the extra kit and back up options this requires. Also if you are shooting at home you can still play your old tapes into your PC or Mac for DV editing but still have the potential of tapeless workflow.

What else does it have over the Z1? It has a much better rating under low light (1.5 lux) and it has a far more powerful zoom range (20x). Even better I always hated the aperture knob on the Z1, well the Z5 has an aperture control on the lens barrel like posh cameras.

If you want all the specs you can see a video here at the Sony site, but please come back!

Of course you’ll want to know the price - it’s reasonable (OCT 08 PRICES !!) at £3,347 inc vat, Eur 3690 + vat, or US$5,300 if you’re Stateside. You will certainly get a good few years out of it before the next big thing comes along. I am still happily shooting home and web videos on my Sony PD150 which is over 5 years old.

03/09 UPDATE: Check out this comprehensive video for more Z5 info.

Don’t forget to subscribe via email (see right hand column) I will send you occasional updates but won’t bombard you with trash I promise. I include some self-shooting tips and info that is exclusive to newsletter readers!

The Shift from James Plumlee on Vimeo

The Sony XDCAM EX–PMW-EX1 is making shockwaves throughout the TV and Video Industry. Move over the Sony Z1 the EX1 is about to blow you out of the water. The Video above had me gobsmacked, it looks sweet in low light and the detail captured looks as the Americans would say “Awesome!”. The key thing is that it is tapeless, everything is recorded onto solid state memory cards, so no fumbling with plastic wrappers and fragile tapes. It retails at around GB£4900 or US$6500.

Here is the pitch from Sony:

“The PMW-EX1 XDCAM EX Camcorder is Sony’s exciting new addition to our XDCAM family of professional tapeless acquisition tools and our first offering in the XDCAM EX series of products. The PMW-EX1 utilizes Sony’s three newly designed 1/2-inch type “Exmor”™ CMOS sensors, each with an effective pixel count of 1920 x 1080. Coupled with our newly developed signal processing LSI, the PMW-EX1 produces truly exceptional images in 1080p, 720p and 1080i HD. Using another new Sony innovation, the SxS Memory Card flash memory device, very high data transfer speeds are also made possible in order to enhance the High Defintion content creation workflow. Utilizing the MPEG-2 Long GOP CODEC to achieve a balance of quality and the required bit rate, the PMW-EX1 boasts a long recording time - approximately 140 minutes using two 16GB SxS Memory Cards. Additionally, the PMW-EX1 offers a powerful Slow & Quick Motion feature, or what is more commonly known as “over-cranking” and “under-cranking”, to enable users to create slow and fast motion special effects. The PMW-EX1 XDCAM EX Full High Definition Camcorder represents a new level of high quality, value-added High Definition content creation professional tools. It will, once again, transform industry expectations of just how much quality can be achieved with an affordable HD camcorder.”

Buy the EX1 in UK/Europe at Purely Gadgets GB£51995.95 inc vat