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Taking Pictures with GH2.. need some advice shooting properly
  • I have been taking pictures for a long time but with Nikon's.. I have never had so much problems with taking pictures with a camera as i have with the Gh2.. 99% of my photos are blurry in some aspect and action or slow moving objects are always a problem.. i am using the 14-140 lens by panasonic and can never get a clean picture without a tripod. Is there any kind of setting for actions shots and not blurry? Can anyone help me? Thanks guys.. My Videos are perfect, i love my GH2 for this... But my pics are crapola..

  • 178 Replies sorted by
  • Did you turn on IOS on 14-140mm ?

  • LOL :-) really funny topic.

  • @WRLEO Its because the GH2 isnt the best for stills photography. Shutter lag is slooooow and requires you to use higher shutter speeds for a good sharp shot but even then theres this weird softness to GH2 photos (even RAW). I get better photos from the GH1 & GF1...

    Hopefully the GH3 will deliver the goods.

  • @Mimirsan

    Stop telling this shit, really.

    Tales of "big shutter lag", weird softness, etc.

    With any of the cameras you can get good, sharp photos.

    As for @WRLEO, in case of not trolling he has either badly broken lens or badly broken hands.

  • For action pictures, I know I made the error of following the subject with half-presser shutter, like I was used from my other camera.

    Of course that did result in 90% of the pictures being out of focus.

  • Good lens, and goods hands make good, crisp and sharp photos.

  • @WRLEO Check theTroubleshooting section of the Manual first.

    If your problem not answered, post or link to some original jpegs please with shot details

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  • Yes i use half press to focus when shooting like my nikons.. And Yes i know you can bring up the shutter speeds, but also need more light.. Camera or lens has never been dropped.. And No i dont have broken hands.. Vitaliy i really appreciate your work, but its really the truth what Mimirsan is talking about.. I am experiencing some crappy photos and im just aksing for some advice.. I used to have a Nikon D300s with F2.8 Lenses.. So i know that good lenses are going to help.. But the 14-140 is supposed to be one of the good lenses.. I do plan on getting the 12-35mm lens in hope of sharper photos, closer to my nikon shots..

    I did say that i only get good photos with a tripod and still items.. As soon as i take pictures of my kids, all bets are off.. Before i could just crank up the shutter speed and open up the aperture to a happy medium and im good with my nikon..

    So thanks to those who were helping me.. Please keep the ideas and experiences coming to help others in need also.. I am a experienced photographer, but purchased the panasonic because i wanted to get more into video, which the GH2 is perfect for.. But i still want to be able to use the GH2 for my usual picture situations. I sold all my nikon equip and bought the GH2 for weight savings when traveling to shoots..

    Thanks guys..

    Also here are some pictures without any Photoshop work. This is a Blurry pic with the fastest shutter speed i could use.. No Tripod image

    This pics is with a tripod and non moving subject. image

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  • You shot them at f4 and 1/8 of a second, that's the issue. 1/8 is an extremely slow shutter speed for shooting anything that may be moving. For my kids, it's usually go AT LEAST 1/125 or higher... otherwise, I have plenty of blur like you do.

  • @WRLEO The 14-140mm is NOT a good lens if you need a fast lens (which is usually one of the issues when your photos are blurry :)

    Remember that if you had shot that with your old f/2.8 glass at f/2.8 it would have been metered somewhere around 1/15 and been less blurry than at 1/8. I usually go no lower than 1/20 for human subjects with anything other than a very short/wide/light lens.

    I have been at concerts shooting with 3 cameras around my neck (Canon 50D, GH1, GH2) and for all my complaints about the GH1 and GH2, the ones you listed are simply not among them. :)

  • @WRLEO

    Yes i know you can bring up the shutter speeds, but also need more light..

    I'm not a good photographer, but... c'mon! you have your answer. Dark scene/slow lens (>f4) --> long exposure time = blurry motion... like all cam. Where is the defect here ? That's not a question of good or bad lens. 14-140 is a good lens, for its purpose : all around. Just not interior/night (and surely not both!). Try flash(s) and/or faster lenses.

    edit : oops, like your lens I'm too slow. =)

  • Most still photographers know the old rule of thumb: shutter speed < 1/focal length to avoid hand shake. With the m43 crop factor of 2 you have to adjust: shutter speed < 1/(2*focal length). Even if you shot at extreme wide angle 14mm you must have a shutter speed less then 1/28 second to catch motion without camera shake, this still doesn't solve the problems if your subject is moving quickly (like a little kid.) :) Think about taking a picture with a racing car. Usually you need to push the shutter speed to something very high. You took at 1/8th second. Too slow. If you need more light shoot with the flash or grab some practical for fill. Learn how to shoot manually....... seriously. My $0.02

  • @WRLEO If I were shooting the same scene over with the GH2, I would have used an ISOs in the 800 to 1250 range most times (sometimes 1600) and I would be much more likely to use a 20mm pancake f/1.7 (no IS) to reduce the motion blur, since with that long a shutter speed the IS would only do so much.

    So if you went from f/4 with ISO 400 to f/1.7 with ISO 800, then your exposure time would go from 1/8 to 1/100. You could stop down either one (ISO or aperture) by one stop and still have a shutter of 1/50.

    But overall, shooting ISO 400 indoors without additional light and an f/4 lens does not tend to be realistic.

  • You're joking, right?

  • @proaudio4 Are you asking me or @WRLEO? Because in my case I was referring to (but did not explicitly specify) subjects such as those indicated (i.e. moving children).

  • come on...shooting a kid in low light with a slow lens 1/8th shutter?. anybody that has kids knows you're dreaming if you think your kid will stay still for a photo let alone photo shot at night indoors. pop the flash if this is how you like to take photos. im sorry but I'm with vitaly on this one.

  • @VK one could drive a car with a flat tire and like any other car it can still get you to the end destination but be a lot slower. You got such a potty mouth...it does not intimidate me in anyway if that what your going for. Personal view this forums called remember?. Dont like my personal view. Too bad as im not going to change it in regards to the GH2s photo capability. Ive used enough different camera models to know when a camera isnt as good as it could be.

    @WRLEO 1/8th isnt going to look good anyway lets be honest. But theres your advice get a very fast lens use a high shutter speed and use a flash. There are other cameras (cheaper and older models) that dont require you to do this to that extent and this is probably why you get better results from your Nikon. You can get great results with the GH2 but it requires more working with the settings..but sometimes it can mean a bit of time getting a good shot or quickly losing it. Not really designed for sports photography and running kiddies the Gh2.

    I did a quick test...dont care how you guys react or believe it. Cuz y'know I talk shit.

    GH2+20MM F1.7 @2.8 SHUTTER 400 ISO 160

    NEX 5n + cheapo SIGMA 19mm f2.8 @f2.8 SHUTTER 400 ISO 100

    Locked focus on rose while static. Then continually moving camera slowly left to right/right to left then pressed shutter near to when rose was in centre.

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  • Maybe you should try some basic photography lessons?

    GH2 is a great camera, also for photography!

  • @Mimirsan So in essence you are saying that GH2 does not focus as well? If that is your point, then we are saying different things. I shoot almost entirely manual focus on the GH2. I would not be surprised if it does not respond to normal half-depressed technique as well as other cameras - but I have little experience with testing it as well.

    Can you try the same test in manual focus just to clarify to what extent it actually is a matter of shutter speed vs focusing?

  • Man, this is a silly topic. This is basic photography. If you don't know what's going on, then how can you call yourself an experienced photographer? Experienced at what? Pushing the shutter button?

    Get a faster lens or use higher ISO. Your Nikon had a faster lens, but probably also used higher auto ISO.

  • Why would you move the camera around after half-pressing the shutter?

    Of course your picture is out of focus this way.

  • to be honest, i experience almost the same as @WRLEO But i have a not so good lens (slow), but there is a trick that works for me. Set it to burst, and every second photo will be oké. if i push the button halfway, no picture will be sharp, even the gh2 will not make the picture because it is set to taken only the picture when it is in focus, so when you make a picture it takes one second to focus and fully pressed button, in that time, your object is out off focus.

    first picture is not sharp... 2e is already better.. 3e is with a slower SS 1/100 with a telelens. 4e is with 14mm

    btw, pictures are taken when filming............ and i have practically always sharper photos that way.

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  • @thepalalias

    Nope the rose was locked using AF-LOCK and is in focus before moving the gh2. the blur you see in the photo is from the motion from going left to right and right to left slowly not from being out of focus. Ironically I had to use a half button press to lock focus on the rose with 5N as it doesnt have a AF LOCK button.

    EDIT; I noticed I put back and forth above hence the focus confusion

    Focus is only one part in getting sharp photos.

    We get this all the time with new M4/3rds cameras "fastest af yet" fast af is great but the capturing itself should be fast to go along with it.

    The 5n does benefit a first curtain shutter though so it helps getting sharper shots on moving subjects at lower shutter speed.

    I really doubt WRLEO will get the same results with his GH2 with a 2.8 lens as he would with his Nikon with a 2.8 lens in the same scenario,same settings. Gh2 would require a higher shutter speed to capture the image sharp. As we know..higher shutter less light. So a faster lens would be needed.

    There seems to be a lot of hostility for no reason...the usual "learn to do photography" is a cliche by defensive camera owners.

    GH2 is fine for what it is but there's better around that can give you more reliable results. GH2 does have a good burst mode like Mozes said so WRLEO could try that.

  • I really dont think WRLEO will get the same results with his GH2 with a 2.8 lens as he would with his Nikon with a 2.8 lens in the same scenario,same settings. Gh2 would require a higher shutter speed to capture the image as sharp.

    Can you describe me physics of this phenomenon?

  • @VK Can you?

    Just going by the experience ive had using different cameras.

    Could be a number of things. Shutter lag.slower proccessing.Sensor size.Lens.Duff camera. Fairies.Pixies.

    But you're the expert.in everything.You should know.