This beginner’s guide has been written for the benefit of all new members who have busy life of course.

No this site would not make you become a totally awesome filmmaker unless you are already a totally awesome filmmaker.

This is where we share and exchange ideas. We don’t have to agree to each other. We can agree to disagree.

There is a search box below the logo on the top right corner which uses Google site search.

The front page has a list of “important” sticky postings that are either announcements or hot deals.

The rest of postings are from all categories which can be overwhelming at first.

Personal-view site has these categories:

Blog / General and News - Who?

Hacks and Patches - I stay away from it because the latest gears such as GH3/GH4/GX7/GM1 produce good enough image quality without any firmware enhancement.

But if you want to get into hacking the GH2, which is still a very capable camera for filming, you came to the right place. Please make sure to follow the guides closely or you can brick your camera!

In general you'll find the many settings developed by forum members in the beginning of their respective thread. There are settings with mild improvements of data-rate (i.e. less compression) and high data-rate hacks with intra-frame compression. The latter are very demanding on the SD card to use and will note always play back in camera, but they will make your footage much more resistant to grading before the image quality is falling apart.

BTW, you can't easily see in the camera if it was changed from it's original state. But if the settings were checked to remove the 30 minute limit or allow switching from NTSC to PAL (or vice versa), you can tell from those features…

Hacks News and Development - No interest either.

Compacts and Camcorders - Definitely keep an eye on compacts and camcorders as they can be quite versatile. Using cameras with a larger sensor became quite fashionable these days. But you need to understand that operating them without getting lots of out-of-focus footage is considerably more demanding.

Small HDSLR Cameras - Yeah we love small system cameras. Not surprisingly Panasonic tops the chart. We don't need to impress clients with a big box – rather impress them with good work. In the past there were great movies shot on DV, like “In this World” by Michael Winterbottom or “Lost Children” by Ali Samadi Ahadi and Oliver Stoltz. Tools accessible to independent filmmakers are much more capable these days than what they had!

Professional Video Cameras - Professional? Who? How do you define a “Pro”? By the money he/she can spend? Or by experience, talent, patience, courage and knowledge? We can help a bit with the last item …

Art - Film taking is just more than collecting cool gears. Let’s get artsy. BTW, what's “cinematic”? Blurred back- and foreground? Watch “Citizen Kane”! No camera, not even the most expensive one, will make you an artist. See last topic.

Skill - Yes definitely I would like to spend more time on sharpening skills. You should as well, instead of hanging around here all the time or spend all your money buying gear.

Gear - Yes there is a plethora of new gears. You hear about new gears, dream about it, then begin shopping like there is no tomorrow.

Lenses - What's a camera without a good lens? If you get serious about film (or photography), you're gonna spend far more for lenses than for your camera(s). But they'll also be with you for longer, if you choose wisely – glass doesn't get outdated as fast as electronics. Mirrorless cameras can make very good use of many fine lenses from the past, and you can learn about those too in this subcategory.

Showcase - I like watching other people’s works. Usually their works are better than mine. Sad.

Marketplace - I wouldn’t try to be greedy. Many members know fair market prices. We don't accept you just posting an Ebay link – post a fixed price to forum members and lower it if you notice it was unrealistic. BTW, that's the only accepted way of bumping a “For Sale” post.

Offtopic - Usually I try to stay away from off topics, but some can be quite fun.

Notice that there is a section for “All Tags in this Category”. When you post a new topic, make sure you select a correct Category and set appropriate Tags.

Please do not upload a large image file. It slows down the loading time. Try to resize it under 100K. No you can’t delete images after uploading.

Keep in mind that you would not be able to edit old posting after certain period (24 hours?). Basically do not post a topic or a reply that you are going to regret.

Be courteous. Be humble. Then your new friends will welcome you.