Advice for GH2 Video Setup on a budget

I'm planning on buying the GH2 (if it ever finally arrives in stores!) for indie film-making.
Looking for advice on a decent video setup...on a budget.
Questions include:

What lenses?: Thinking of the 14-140 HD lens that comes bundled, plud the 20mm f1.7 pancake. Is this an ideal setup to start, or should i look into other brand used lenses with adaptors instead to get more quality glass at a discount? Many have said that older lenses with aperature rings are great for film, but practically how usefull would that direction be for this camera?

Support system: Any affordable support recommendations? I've heard that Cavision makes affordable stuff, but i haven't encountered anyone with experience on these systems. I'm looking for a compact shoulder rig (i think!) but again, advice here, on a budget would be appreciated.

Viewfinder: I wear glasses and have an astigmatism, so a diopter would not help without glasses. Any advice on a viewfinder that would work well with glasses for the swivel LCD of the GH2?

Microphone: I've heard Phillip Bloom raving about a new mic he loves for this camera, but he hasn't been able to divulge what it is yet. Any advice on recording
audio with this cam? I'm trying to avoid using an external recorder

Memory: What class SD card to i really need? i'm looking at 32 or 64gb, but don't want to waste money on performance that this camera can't use.

Matte Box: Is this really a necessity for starting and, if so, do i go for drop-in ND filters or circular?

My biggest challenge is I'm ordering online for when i travel to the US, so i can't try anything out first.

Thanks a lot for any advice!

DPR is 99% still shooters only so I would say you should ask this here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/forumdisplay.php?181-GH1-Hardware-Lenses-etc .

My GH2 body is coming today and I will use my 16GB 30mb/sec Sandisk Extreme SDHC card with it. I will use my Pentax lenses (6.5mm-2350mm) with my GH2 at first and then add the 25mm 0.95 , 100-300mm etc. I use a Rode Stereo VideoMic with my Pentax K-7 and Panasonic HDC-TM700 3MOS 1080p60 camcorder and will use it with my GH2.

Hi mate.

In terms of lenses, it really depends on your film style.

If you don't do any dynamic shots (where quick auto focus us needed), but you do mote tripod scenes which don't require re-focusing then you skip both those panny lenses save about £600-700 and buy only manual focus lenses.

Sure you will have to lock focus manually before each scene but that's generally best practic Anyway.

You could also get a f1.4 or an f1.2 manual lens for great low light video. And very shallow DOF.

If auto focus is required, then I'd go for a native lens which will auto focus. But think do you need that full 14-140 range? You could save a lot of money and go for the 14-45 / 14-42 instead. Layer you could add the 45-200 also if needed.

I think you'll figure out eventually that manual focus is where it's at for video work. That leads to the need for repeatable focus moves, which can't really be done with focus-by-wire lenses. What I ended up with is a set of old manual-focus fast primes from Nikon: 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm. Kind of a poor man's version of a Zeiss CP set. I use these with a Redrock Micro follow-focus unit. They're all fast enough and have short enough throws that focussing is a dream. And they're easy to find and cheap.

I also have the Nokton f.95, which is also beautiful for video, and works well with the FF.

--

Tim Wilson
Studio/lab
Chicago

...and a couple additional notes: I like the Redrock micro rig stuff, but it's not cheap. For sound I use dual system with a Zoom recorder and Sennheiser wireless mics. You just gotta get the microphone away from the camera. All those Nikon lenses I mentioned, they all have 52mm filter mounts (except the 20mm) and so does the Nokton. So I just use a set of 52mm glass ND filters, instead of messing with a matte box.

--

Tim Wilson
Studio/lab
Chicago

Great. Thanks for the advice and i've posted it over at dvx.
Cheers!

Joe Ogiba said:

DPR is 99% still shooters only so I would say you should ask this here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/forumdisplay.php?181-GH1-Hardware-Lenses-etc .

Click to expand...

Great. Thanks for the advice and i've posted it over at dvx.
Cheers!

twilsonstudiolab said:

I think you'll figure out eventually that manual focus is where it's at for video work. That leads to the need for repeatable focus moves, which can't really be done with focus-by-wire lenses.

Click to expand...

But all the Panny lenses have manual focus rings...isn't that like the best of both worlds? I'm really just exploring video for the first time, so i dont really know what type of shooting i will end up doing (though mostly narrative/documentary style i think).

thanks again for sharing your thoughts.

for stabilization support on the cheap side and for walking scenes try hague mini motion cam and there is one called nano smoething

iflight said:

twilsonstudiolab said:

I think you'll figure out eventually that manual focus is where it's at for video work. That leads to the need for repeatable focus moves, which can't really be done with focus-by-wire lenses.

Click to expand...

But all the Panny lenses have manual focus rings...isn't that like the best of both worlds?

Click to expand...

The Pany AF lens focus ring tells a motor to move the lens elements ("focus by wire"). It's an indirect connection that lacks the speed, precision and feedback found in purely mechanical focus mechanisms. The focus throw from minimum focus to infinity is also usually far longer than a true manual focus lens, so you need to turn the ring further/longer to move the focus point.

I don't do much video, but quick, precise focusing is difficult with focus by wire lenses...

Pick a brand like Canon, Nikon or Minolta.

Buy an adapter (like FD for Canon).

Start buying lots of prime lenses most of which will be $30 - $100.

I bought my Minolta 50mm F/1.4 lens for $30

Most film makers don't zoom too much, so high priced zooms are not very helpful.

First off, thanks to all who have responded so far. I'm really enjoying your useful tips.

Everdog said:

Pick a brand like Canon, Nikon or Minolta.

Buy an adapter (like FD for Canon).

Start buying lots of prime lenses most of which will be $30 - $100.

Click to expand...

Are you talking NEW or Used lenses? (recommend a good online US source?)

HOW would you reccommend picking the brand/line of lenses?

Also, i imagine all those primes have aperature rings? how else would i controll DoF if the cam doesn't communicate with the lens?

Thanks again all!

twilsonstudiolab said:

What I ended up with is a set of old manual-focus fast primes from Nikon: 20mm, 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm.

Click to expand...

But with since i'm putting these on a GH2, i would multiply each of these X 2, correct? ie. if I want a 35mm prime, i'll have to look into a 17mm or similar?

What function will the mounting ring have on the focal length of the lens? ie. would it alter the conversion to m4/3 any further?

Thanks!

Used. The kind made for film cameras that may not fit the newer digital cameras
FD Canon lenses
MD Minolta lenses
etc.

They are cheap because they do not auto focus.

iflight said:

First off, thanks to all who have responded so far. I'm really enjoying your useful tips.

Everdog said:

Pick a brand like Canon, Nikon or Minolta.

Buy an adapter (like FD for Canon).

Start buying lots of prime lenses most of which will be $30 - $100.

Click to expand...

Are you talking NEW or Used lenses? (recommend a good online US source?)

HOW would you reccommend picking the brand/line of lenses?

Also, i imagine all those primes have aperature rings? how else would i controll DoF if the cam doesn't communicate with the lens?

Thanks again all!

Click to expand...

iflight,

While I have no personal experience with them, I understand that these folks are very reputable: http://www.keh.com/ .

Regards,

Dan.

iflight said:

Are you talking NEW or Used lenses? (recommend a good online US source?)

Click to expand...

iflight said:

But all the Panny lenses have manual focus rings...isn't that like the best of both worlds? I'm really just exploring video for the first time, so i dont really know what type of shooting i will end up doing (though mostly narrative/documentary style i think).

thanks again for sharing your thoughts.

Click to expand...

The Panny lenses are focus-by-wire. You get to infinity and the ring just keeps going. No way to mark the lens--with FF or otherwise--for repeatable moves. I thought I had figured out a way to effectively recalibrate before each shot, only to discover the Panny's manual focus action is not even linear. It's completely unrepeatable.

With shallow DOF (and isn't that why we use these camera for video?) you need precision moving focus. For precision moving focus, I believe you need a mechanical movement that stops at both ends, and is repeatable and linear in between.

--

Tim Wilson
Studio/lab
Chicago

Avoid Canon EF lenses--no aperture ring.

--

Tim Wilson
Studio/lab
Chicago

i have purchased all my used canon lenses from keh, they are the best and every lens i bought was perfect

I'm loving it!

Thanks everyone for all the great tips.

iflight said:

Viewfinder: I wear glasses and have an astigmatism, so a diopter would not help without glasses.

Click to expand...

That's a real shame because the electronic viewfinder is one of the GH2's major features. I'm wondering if you removed the eyepiece from the viewfinder and took it to an optometrist if they could get a prescription one made?