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GH2 - Wise choise for the future? Speedbooster and Canon EF lenses
  • testeringtestering

    Hi, I hope I got the correct category for this thread. A friend and I share a GH2 with a lot of equipment like crane, tripod, follow focus, shoulder rig, slider etc. We need an advice for lenses we also could use in the future on a newer camera. GH2 is getting old, has to much noise, is not weather resistent and so on.

    GH4, a Canon or a Blackmagic camera could be the choice in the future. As far as I figured out if we choose the path with Canon EF lenses we can use them on MFT cameras with Metabones Speedbooster EF to MFT Ultra 0.71x.

    1. Would you advise to use Canon EF mount lenses with Speedbooster instead of native MFT mount lenses? Brands like Rokinon offer mounts in different variations so my plan would be to buy Rokinon lenses as EF mounts and put them on the Speedbooster on MFT devices.
    2. What about powering the speedbooster? Do I need external power source on GH2 if I want to use electronic lenses?
    3. Could you also recommend some wide angle lenses for our GH2?
    4. What do we shoot? Nothing special just basic stuff like nature, streets, indoor, ...

    Thanks in advance

  • 8 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    What work you plan to do? I mean in more detail, as description is very vague.

    Do you plan to use primes only?

    It is good idea to tell if you use manual focus always.

  • testeringtestering

    right now only manual focus because gh2 is not good at it. in future? maybe autofocus why not.

    I had in mind to buy Rokinon prime lenses as EF mount and use them with the speedbooster on the gh2.

    we are amateurs and didnt shoot anything special yet. now with spring we can shoot the nature. someday a short film would be our goal.

  • donniewagnerdonniewagner

    @testering- I shoot on GH2 with old nikon 50 1.4 and 24 2.8. You Can't really go wrong with CanonEF either. I've been shooting with this setup for years and still learning and getting better. Consider this: "someday a short film would be our goal" why someday? Looking at the list of gear you have, there's more than enough to make a short film. The GH2 is very capable. I don't think the quality of your (or my) work will improve by going from a GH2 to a GH4 or Blackmagic. GH2 does not have too much noise, the cameraman must give it enough light, and know how adjust ISO, shutter speed, white balance, composition etc to get great results. You can find plenty of videos online of people using expensive cameras that don't understand light or composition and the results are not good. If you practice the craft and make many short films, love the process more than the gear, and make great images, you will be much happier than spending thousands on new cameras and lenses.

  • testeringtestering

    @donniewagner, thanks for your input. how do you actually get along with these lenses since the crop factor is 2x you get 100mm and 48mm respectively. Don't you need any wide angle glasses? I have a Rokinon/Samyang 35mm/T1.5 VDSLR which is only usable for close ups due to the crop factor.

    Regarding noise: yes lighting is very important I am aware of that, with hacks noise gets much finer or say more detailed. I also did some tests with Neat Video its actually not bad.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    Regarding noise: yes lighting is very important I am aware of that, with hacks noise gets much finer or say more detailed. I also did some tests with Neat Video its actually not bad.

    Stop to be obsessed with noise. Most of the time you do not need any Neat Video until you upload highly detailed scenes to online platforms and want to save bitrate (as less noise saves bitrate).

    Buying Samyang/Rokinon manual primes do not become fixed on mount.
    Just be calm and watch ebay/amazon sales. Nikon F can be adapted to Canon without issue, same as Pentax and some other mounts.

    Invest most in your skills, audio and lighting gear.

  • samuelcabralsamuelcabral

    Would you recommend any lighting kit, Vitaly?

  • testeringtestering

    Right now I am tending to the Sigma 18-35mm lens with Canon EF mount and speedbooster for my GH2.

  • testeringtestering

    I am going to buy the Sigma 18-35mm Canon EF mount + Metabones Speed Booster Ultra canon EF to MFT to use on my GH2.

    Does anybody know if its possible to change the aperture from the camera body with this combination? I still don't get why most people recommend the Nikon version over Canon.

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