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Producing stable handheld video while traveling
  • I've recently picked up a GH2 with the Voigtlander 25mm. I've been slowly learning to operate it, and have mainly been sticking to stills for the practice I've been doing (nature stuff, and indoor sport events), because I really don't feel confident in producing video. The main reason I bought this camera+lens was because I really want to produce video for when I travel with my friends. My main goal is to emulate the style of the Vietnam video below. However, as you can see from my video beneath that, which I hastily edited together after my first day with the GH2 (it's not graded or modified at all), I can't seem to get stable footage.

    In the first video, he appears to be shooting handheld while walking, riding cars and motorcycles, and for the most part it's all pretty free of micro-shakes and vibrations. Did he apply something in post? Is he just better at holding the camera? I've looked at some stabilization solutions, but I really would like to keep the setup discreet and simple for walking around.

    I suppose my question is: How do I make something like the Vietnam video?

    PASSWORD: 'winter'

  • 7 Replies sorted by
  • http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/111196#Comment_111196 You may have seen this already but It shows how a guy gets smooth results with an RX100. You can see how he holds the camera at the very end.

  • Warp stabilizer could help on certain shots (I mainly use it when I want to lock some shots done handheld). But to keep light while travelling I tend to use a Joby GorillaPod w/ ball head like a shoulder rig : one leg on each shoulder, the third one in the left hand under the lens and the right hand focusing the lens. With eye contact on EVF it's pretty steady. The thing is easy to fit in most camera bags, and after very little practice you can have pretty smooth motion instead of the micro-shakes. Most of my walk around for fun vidz are done with it. Example (using only joby + voiglander 25mm) :

  • @astraban That looks great, and I have a Joby myself :) Another trick to put in my toolbox...

  • There are two ways that I have found that work best:

    1) Hold it up to your face using the eye level evf and cup your hand underneath the lens (3 points of contact). Take a deep breath, hold and record.

    2) Hang the camera by a strap, use the vf and pull outwards so that there is tension. You can walk around using this method much easier than with #1.

    I pretty much only shoot handheld while travelling and have no problems. In this vid I was shooting at 50mm X 2 crop = 100mm and there isn't much shaking (some shots are 14-140)....

  • I thought I was the only one using my Joby that way =) I actually do it slightly different. I use it on the shoulders like astraban described, but then I usually pin the in between my chest and abdomen. Not saying my way is better by any means, and I will definitely give astrabans method a try next time around. Definitely a versatile little tripod though. You can also pop the pieces apart and lengthen individual legs, however after doing this a dozen or so time it is not a stiff.. so be warned. With a second bottom only unit you could make a very tall gorilla pod and form it into about anything. If each ball had a threaded hole, you could make some very interesting uses for it/funky rigs.