LOW LIGHT VIDEO SETUP FOR GH2

JayGatsby

I seek your advise about how to get the BEST possible video from my GH2 in a low light (incandescent) situation, such as in a Dimly Lighted room, like a cocktail lounge.

I have a 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens; a 14-42mm f/3.5 kit lens and a 14-42mm Vario X f/3.5 lens. I've been recording in AVCHDp, using the following settings: MANUAL mode High Bit Rate Standard, with all other settings at +/-0 I.Dynamic & I.R (both @Standard) Continuous AF Auto White Balance f/11 Speed: 25

I've steered away from using the Pancake lens, because its focal length is fixed. So, I've been pretty pleased with results using the Vario X 14-42 lens. To date, my videos are "pretty good", but not great

If a change in my Settings don't improve my results, I would consider getting another lens. Ive been looking at the Panasonic Leica D Vario-Elmar 14-50mm, F3.8-5.6 which was an expensive kit lens with the Pana 4/3rds L10.

If I can get this video concern straightened out, I may go for a moderate hack at a later date.

Many thanks for your help.

vicharris

You need faster lenses. Those Pany Lenses are not low light lenses except the 20mm which performs really well. Also the HBR will lessen the quality. Use Cinema Mode unless you are moving the camera alot but I never use HBR. No hack is going to give you better performance in low light for the most part. The high bit rate hacks will give you a little more information to pull from in post and there's a few patches that help out color and chromo stuff in low light. I've seen 40mbs and 124mbs patches produce some really great low light videos. I'm by far not the most technical guy here. This is just stuff I've learned from the countless wasted hours I've spent testing gear and pissing of my girlfriend!

bmorgan83

I agree with vicharris. You're going to need faster glass. I'd recommend apertures 2.8 or wider… with the exception of the Olympus 4/3rd f/2 zooms, 2.8 is probably going to be your fastest for zooms if you're looking for something that's not fixed focal length. The panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 and 35-100mm f/2.8 lenses might be a good option. Otherwise, you're looking at fixed primes which you can find much much faster and typically sharper than zooms.

vicharris

Yep. All my glass is at 1.4, 1.5 or 1.6 that I use in low light. Rokinon Cine Primes, Nikon AIS Primes and the SLR 12mm. Haven't had the balls to spend the money on a Voightlander yet! :) I have a hard time going above F2.0 for most things as I don't really like to go over ISO 1250 though I know 1600 isn't too bad and it's easy to clean it up.

rajamalik

get a tungsten light 300W atleast. low light shooting is not recommended in most situation. use iso below 1000, use prime lenses, but even if u have f1.2 or f0.95 set it to f2.0 for sharper and detailed shots, bokeh will not be affected in f2.0. keep 300w to 500w tungsten or use 312 led lights atleast keep 2 of them.

Meierhans

Check out Driftwoods CM nights settings, they were optimized for lowlight situations.

vicharris

They are but if you're shooting at F3.5 or above, this is not going to help. It does not boost the DR of the camera. You need fast glass and a little bit more light if you are allowed at the location. If not, better grab some .95 glass and hope you can focus like a MOFO!

bmorgan83

haha… yeah… i shoot a lot of weddings, and if i'm on my 50mm f/1.4 FD prime, its bad enough to try to keep focus with all the movement while it's wide open. I couldn't even imagine how rough focusing f/.95 would be! I have a 300 LED light with a tungsten filter on it that I attach to my camera, and that really helps, especially with my 28mm f/2.8

JayGatsby

So many thanks folks, for all your help. A lot to consider. I'll work with my Pana 20mm prime for a start and try to incorporate some of your suggestions. Believe me, your help means a lot. Jay

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