Camera advice for video work

[Ig7]

Need advice choosing a camera for video project. My daughter is shooting an instructional video and needs a camera. I have em-1 and em-5 but I never used either one for video recording. Appreciate any advice. I always hear that Panasonic is better for video work then Olympus.

 

[RRRoger]

Panasonic GH4 is and probably will be for awhile unless you want to spend thousands more for a professional CamCorder.
If poor/low light above ISO 3200 is not a problem, a used GH3 will do.

But, I would try the EM-5 first.

 

[PatrickVA]

The E-M5 shoots great video with excellent image quality right out of the camera. Give it a try. It won't have the specs, features or versatility of a GH3 or GH3 or most mid-level camcorders, but it's no slouch.

Don't neglect the audio. The on-camera microphone isn't ideal on any camera, so consider either recording the audio on a separate device (a high-quality recording app on a smartphone located near the person talking can be great), or you'll need a $50 SEMA-1 adapter and mic that plugs into the Olympus hot-shoe.

I use single auto focus, half-press the shutter to lock focus, then switch to video (don't touch the shutter again). Manual focus with magnify assist works great, too. I've never had luck with continuous auto focus as it hunts and shift too much.

Use a tripod as often as possible. The IBIS on the camera is terrific for video, but it gets tiresome quickly watching even the subtle movements of hand-held.

 

[Manu-4Vendetta]

Depends what kind of project to be, that instructional video its for some little or for some very meticulous and ambitious?


For some very pro the GH4 is the best investment, if something without professional purposes GX7 will overrun even the G6 could serve.

 

[Ig7]

Thanks everyone. Lot's to think about

 

[M4/3]

I've had my GH4 for 2 weeks now and just got done shooting about 100 landscape videos 600 jpeg stills with it while on a trip. I'm not impressed at all with the stills. Clarity and detail resolution is only mediocre and colors are off - the Panasonic trademark yellowish hue to green foliage really bothers me. Overall I give the stills of the GH4 a score of 4 on a scale of 10. I'd give my E-M5 a score of 7 and my E-PL1 a score of 9. The stills of the E-PL1 have wonderful color and fine detail resolution. These judgements are based on all three cameras being fitted with the sharp Panasonic 14-45 zoom. I'll probably get rid of my GH4 as soon as Canon or Olympus comes out with an affordable 4K video capable model.

 

[RRRoger]

I am using the default standard profile on my GH4 and have no problem with the Green foliage colors, clarity or detail resolution at all.
I am using the Lumix 12-35 lens.

 

[speedandstyle]

I would suggest you give your OM-Ds a try with video. They are more than capable of returning great video. Of coarse there is a LOT more to video than just the camera. Good mics are a MUST for this kind of production! Lighting is also very important. If you find after trying that the OM-Ds are limiting your videos then it might be worth moving up to a GH.

 

[sgreszcz]

I shoot a lot of video (personal/family) with the E-M5. I love the detail and look when shooting mid/close shots with the background blurred out. When shooting wider shots with more depth of focus with a lot of details and movement in the background, the image breaks down and goes blocky. I'll upload a couple of recent screen grabs/clips to illustrate this.

Here is a write-up by a professional videographer who used the E-M1 (handheld) for a music video: http://www.eoshd.com/content/12010/olympus-om-d-e-m1-review

Here is some good information about how to configure the E-M5 for video by another professional videographer, Martin Wallgren:
https://vimeo.com/50914623
http://cablefreak.blogspot.com/2012/12/optimizing-olympus-om-d-for-video-work.html

Finally, a wedding videographer that uses the E-M5: https://vimeo.com/96404612

If you know the limitations of the camera, it can produce lovely video, and the IBIS is amazing - no shaky footage! You could move to Panasonic which has much, much better video features and quality with no video image breakdown. You do lose the stabilisation unless you use the OIS lenses.

Some more recommendations:

For live audio use an external recorder such as the zoom H1/H4 and also record using the built-in Olympus microphones. If dialogue is important, use a Lav Mic. You can even get ones that plug into an iPhone (Rode) that could be worn on the person speaking. Final Cut (or other editing platforms) can automatically sync the "good" sound from the recorder to the in-camera recorded soundtrack. Always best to get the microphone closest to the sound source (music / person speaking). Use headphones on the external recorder to make sure your levels are good and the sound doesn't clip and distort. Sound is probably even more important than the image you create.

Don't use auto-white balance. Set it using one of the presets, kelvin settings, or use a grey card and a custom white balance. Olympus auto white balance is quite sensitive and shifts around a lot making the video shift from blue to yellow cast, especially indoors with mix daylight coming through windows and incandescent/florescent lighting.

Set sharpening to -2 as Olympus' sharpening causes a lot of compression artefacts in video. You can always sharpen a bit later in your editing software.

Use the left dial on "camera" icon and set up in the menu so that you can fix shutter and exposure how you want it. If you just use the red button, it will ALWAYS shoot in P mode regardless what the mode dial is set to, and will adjust the exposure automatically. Since OM-D only shoots 30 frames per second, you want your shutter speed around 50 (if in PAL country) or 60 if NTSC to try and reduce light flicker. You can use a higher shutter speed, but you will get less smooth motion blur and the video might look choppier if there is fast movement. Don't bother with C-AF or tracking. It is useless. The best results are to be had with manual focus. The Fn2 button can be used to single autofocus when in video recording mode, which is great to use before starting to record (shutter button). If face detect is on, it will set focusing on faces which I find really useful when shooting video. Then I'm on my own with manual focus. You can use the Fn2 button again while recording, but the camera will hunt before finding focus.

I would also use the live histogram which can be useful to see if you have the right exposure or are blowing out highlights before beginning recording. You can use this in the EVF or LCD.

To make the production even better, use both of your cameras. Set one up for a wider shot on a tripod, and use the other one handheld for close ups if it is some sort of performance or something. If it is an interview then use both on tripods (or a single tripod) and have one record a wider view and another a closer view on the talking head. You can then cut in-between shots. I recommend the Ripple Training courses to learn Final Cut X and multi-cam editing in final cut X. They also have a video on "creative editing" which shows you how to put together a project.

I would also recommend these courses (and there are many more) on Lynda.com for learning more about video production. I am only just beginning learning, but found these useful.

http://www.lynda.com/Video-Audio-Vi...niques-Location-Audio-Recording/129015-2.html
http://www.lynda.com/Video-Shooting-Video-tutorials/Art-Video-Interviews/141499-2.html
http://www.lynda.com/Video-Shooting...on-Techniques-Location-Lighting/129014-2.html
http://www.lynda.com/Video-Video-Editing-tutorials/Foundations-Video-Art-Editing/120261-2.html
http://www.lynda.com/Premiere-Pro-tutorials/Video-Journalism-Storytelling-Techniques/120605-2.html
http://www.lynda.com/Video-tutorials/Video-Interview-Techniques/104965-2.html
http://www.lynda.com/Premiere-Pro-tutorials/Up-Running-DSLR-Filmmaking/105371-2.html
http://www.lynda.com/Video-Video-Pr...damentals-Video-Cameras-Shooting/97394-2.html
http://www.lynda.com/course-tutorials/Video-Journalism-Shooting-Techniques/51608-2.html

 

[sgreszcz]

Screen capture showing E-M5 codec breakdown caused by leaves moving in background and camera panning:

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

Smooth video indoors at f/1.8 and only my son moving:

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[sgreszcz]

The E-M5 shoots great video with excellent image quality right out of the camera. Give it a try. It won't have the specs, features or versatility of a GH3 or GH3 or most mid-level camcorders, but it's no slouch.

Don't neglect the audio. The on-camera microphone isn't ideal on any camera, so consider either recording the audio on a separate device (a high-quality recording app on a smartphone located near the person talking can be great), or you'll need a $50 SEMA-1 adapter and mic that plugs into the Olympus hot-shoe.

I use single auto focus, half-press the shutter to lock focus, then switch to video (don't touch the shutter again). Manual focus with magnify assist works great, too. I've never had luck with continuous auto focus as it hunts and shift too much.

Use a tripod as often as possible. The IBIS on the camera is terrific for video, but it gets tiresome quickly watching even the subtle movements of hand-held.

The on-camera microphone isn't bad when you have nothing else. I've got good results of bands in pubs or recording an outdoor concert on a still day - but an external recorder close to sound source is much, much better. I'm not sure the SEMA-1 is the best solution as there is no way to monitor the sound levels with headphones?

If you use manual focus in video record mode (mode dial set to movie icon) and if FN2 button or red record button isn't set to anything then it will work as S-AF even if you are set for manual focus. Then you don't need to switch between stills mode or video mode.

You are right, C-AF is useless.

 

[orfeo]

on camera mic is omni, that is really bad when doing a recording of a person in front of a camera in enviromental, streets, bad echoing rooms, or just when you sneeze behind the camera! There is a reason why a portable recorder is always needed. Kevin already told us the other reasons for seperate micing but multipling threads is not going to help OP!

 

[sgreszcz]

on camera mic is omni, that is really bad when doing a recording of a person in front of a camera in enviromental, streets, bad echoing rooms, or just when you sneeze behind the camera! There is a reason why a portable recorder is always needed. Kevin already told us the other reasons for seperate micing but multipling threads is not going to help OP!

True about an omni mic, but even a shotgun mic will pickup sound behind it (but not to the sides) based on its pattern.

If you are recording voice the best is lav mic or shotgun on boom pointing down close but out of camera. Shotgun mounted on camera probably next best, watching out for noise behind. Look up juiced link on youtube for tutorials.

I'm not sure how any of this info won't help OP especially if they haven't found all the old threads or are just starting out?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[brettmaxwell]

Sure, some Panasonics, particularly the GH4 will be better for video than your two Olys, but if you're a total video newb there will be no practical difference. Certainly not worth warranting a camera purchase.

Focus on stabilization and audio. Those will make the biggest difference.

Stabilization. Use a tripod for everything you can. For anything handheld, the sensor stabilization of the Olys will actually work fairly well.

Audio. The EM1 has a mic input, even a $20 lapel mic, with a $5 extension cable, will give much better audio.

 

[markdaunt]

Please give some examples M4/3 of the pictures you say are so bad with EXIF date so we can see where your going wrong. You seem to yet again be slating Panasonic and bugging up Olympus as you do in all your posts. This thread was about video maybe you would like to give your thought on that as the Olympus cameras are vastly inferior to the GH 3 and 4 in that area.

 

[Yannu]

I am pretty suprised by the judgement of mr "4/3"
I use the Gh4 now for my pro work and I have no issues with the images at all. I am coming from a D800. Ok resolution is not the same for sure, but personnaly I am still impressed with the sensor of the GH4 and the good stills quality :smile: I can only recommend it.

 

[markdaunt]

Same here, mainly use it for video as that's my job but the stills I have taken have been as good as my EM5 if not better. Mr M4/3 make a habit of slagging off Panasonic gear at every chance he gets, just check his other posts.

 

[Yannu]

oh ok =)
To go back to the topic... for video the GH4 is an absolut killer machine

 

[markdaunt]

Sure is, I'm getting some stunning footage. Was using the Blackmagic pocket and GH3 before, now it's 2 GH4's

 

[Yannu]

yeah I get it the blackmagic pocket is a great camera but nearly impossible to get great on the go with small setup footage. While the GH4 can work and deliver with very small accessories. By the way I am pretty impressed with the battery life of the GH4 !