andy lee

all Panasonic cameras have variable Kelvin - I couldnt work without it

oops!!

Zeiss Planar 50mm F1.7 is C/Y mount in my book is the 'KING' of 50mm lenses It is a superb lens strong Zeiss blacks and rich warm colour tint to it and INSANLY SHARP! It is my favourite go to 50mm lens - I do prefer it to the 50mm f1.4 which is a bit more washed out wide open at f1.4 you can find these if you hunt around for about £80 on ebay or get the Rollei QBM HFT 50mm F1.8 which is practically the same spec Zeiss lens just alot cheaper these go for about 50 quid on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROLLEI-HFT-50MM-F1-8-PLANAR-SL35-QBM-MOUNT-FAST-PRIME-LENS-TESTED-NORTHCAM-/291263649881?pt=UK_Lenses_Filters_Lenses&hash=item43d0aa9859

just do it on the nikons - they are great lenses

I shoot on Schneiders and Iscos, first on 16mm film in the 90's and later on digital - I've been championing those lenses on this forum for along time now, have a look on the anamorphic forum . this is my Blackmagic rig with an Isco, these later integrated ones are great lenses http://www.eoshd.com/comments/gallery/image/180-tecnoir-blackmagic-anamorphic-cinema-rig-lores/

thats why lens choise is so important - with great cinemotography you are playing with light in a pleasing artistic way for the human eye, and that artisty for me tends to happen wide open or 1 stop down from there , it doesnt happen at f5.6 - all lenses looks good and clynical at f5.6 .....they loose their soul and artistry . If you are shooting pack shots for a commercial then you will be stopped down so it looks clynical - but anything with feel and soul I shoot wide open in that area - I just looks so much better . So pick your lenses carefully - most cinema lenses are designed to be shot side open - I used to shoot on Zeiss for 10 years and we shot wide open all the time just to get the look. Now there are so many great lenses out there that have these desirable characteristics ...like the Nikon 28-70mm Bourne lens , thats why you hear me banging on about certain lenses on this forum - its not because they are good at f5.6 - its because they are great all day long when you shoot WO . get the NDs out - get that lens wide open!!

I shot on Super 35mm and 16mm film for 15 years , then Digi Betacam for 3 years , then I shot on 5D for 3 years ....all hi end expensive pop videos for MTV -I just dont ever use the Canon anymore as I dont like the look I only use it for taking stills now!! with 5D you have to shoot f4 - 5.6 to get the Super 35mm filmic look , but the sweet spot on most lenses - the bit that actually looks great is wide open or one stop down from that - that is where the 'character' is - all the great cinematographers like Owen Roisman, Darius Khondgi, Gordon Willis , Barry Ackroyd , Jack Cardiff etc etc do this - thats the area I always play in as thats where you get the great looks and style from a lens , you cant do that on full frame as you have having to stop down heavily all the time thats why I dont like the look of full frame as you are not working in the lens sweet spot.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sigma-EX-30-mm-F-1-4-HSM-DC-Lens-Canon-EOS-Fit-/261643463917?pt=UK_Lenses_Filters_Lenses&hash=item3ceb2a6ced

ebay - have a look

I dont white balance as I have way of shooting that works for me I shoot day interiors lit to 3200k at 4000k as it gives a warmer looking skin tone and I shoot day exteriors at 6400k all the time cloudy sunny or over cast as I prefer the warmer tones I shoot night exteriors at 2500k as it makes a cooler blue tone I prefer .....and it kills sodium vapour street lights too so my whites are completely off technically but I like the look, It all gets messed with in the grade anyhow so it never looks like it came out the camera.

with out a doubt the best lens i use alot in this range is the Sigma 30mm f1.4 - in CANON EF mount stunning lens - I use it on a zhongyi mitakon lens turbo - but I stop it down to f2.8 so when its on the lens turbo its F2 others are carl zeiss 35mm f2.5 Flektogon yashica ML 35mm f2.8 canon fd 35mm f2.8 - superb lens warm and sharp Nikon AIS 35mm f2.8 is a great lens but not $150 neither is the Sigma but its the best of the lot in my book.

its dead! send it back , I had to send my first Panasonic g6 back as it had a dead pixel on the sensor - right out the box

send it back - its not gonna get any better soon!

I'm not a fan of full frame for the reason you can get such wierd looking narrow dof and people go mad with it . Super 35/ APSC for me has a look we all know as 'film' from 100 years of cinema and movies we all like. This extreeme full frame super narrow DOF just looks too arty OTT for me, I never use it. (Super 35mm /apsc /micro 4/3 with speedbooster ) at f2 is about my max I go to any more than that and it becomes unusable for me - too wierd!

Century Optics make a very nice x0.7 wide adapter that can fit on the front of your helios 58mm making it wider with no visable loss in IQ I am a big fan of glass with the same look and colour tinge

cool Ok MP me

ok so how are you zooming this lens - I take it you are turning the zoom ring on the lens describe if the image is shaking only if you are moving the zoom ring or when the zoom ring is not moving?

you are focusing manually arent you - if you are filming video always use manual focus not auto focus focus all manual zooming all manual dont let the camera try to do anything automatically - turn all that off in the menus

will the zoom barrel turn ok manually? is the track inside free and turning ok? have you accidently changed paramaters in the menus - go back and check teh manus are correctly set up for how you use it

I had no idea you where a Mancunian too ! - we should start the Manchester GX7 shooters club!!

if you buy a Canon EF- Micro 4/3 Mitakon Lens Turbo you can use alot of lenses of it , Canon EF , Nikon , Pentax, M42 screw thread , Olymous , etc etc etc by using cheap metal adaptor off ebay if you buy Nikon -micro 4/3 Lens Turbo - you are stuck with just Nikon lenses due to the flange focal distance of Nikon lenses I have both the Nikon and the Canon EF Lens Turbos as I shoot with 2 camera most of the time , and I use alot of Nikon Zoom lenses The Lens Turbo is very good - I highly recomend it

gx7 has wifi to a iphone or tablet so you can have a wire free external monitor - its very useful to have

g6 is great over all camera and now very cheap on ebay g6 and gx7 in daylight outside good exposure there is not much in it image wise both are similar at night gx7 wins hands down much cleaner and less noise - I dont go above 800 iso at night and I shoot f2 - I looks great on the gx7 g6 EVF with peaking is superb - its like you are looking thru a glass view finder its that clear ...no pixels visable - I love it! GX7 evf is just as sharp - BUT has a crushed blacks and saturated look that is not accurate and looks nothing like the rear sceeen on the camera ....rear screen is good and accurate - so use that to check colours - I just use the EVF to frame the image not to check any colours or dark/ light infomation !!!

Wally Pfister , who is Christoper Nolan's DOP for 5 films they have done together all shot on anamorphic super 35mm film, his main 3 lenses that get used 90% of the time are 50mm, 75mm and 180mm These are used time after time in his films you can hear him talking about this on the ASC website podcast. If I was wanting to shoot cinematic looking anamorphic I would be listening to Wally !! he's one of the best out there still shooting anamorphic on all his films. (yes he does also have the luxury of shooting Imax for some scenes but these are with spherical lenses all f2.8 but Im not talking about his Imax stuff just the anamorphic shooting he does alot of) So all you APSC and Micro 4/3 shooters (m4/3 ...stick a speed booster on to make your camera have a super 35mm field of view for the lenses ) can get these lengths that Wally uses , the 5D shooters might have a problem getting the 50mm to not vingette.

I've shot on two G6's since they first come out 18 months ago and as you all know Im a big fan of this camera I just got a GX7 last month and it is a 15/20% better image than the G6. Much much cleaner and clearer image with alot LESS noise , it noiticebale especially at night shooting in streets GX7 is without a doubt the best Panasonic 1080p camera they have made so far . The EVF is very good and nicley on the left side and swivels which is great on my shoulder rigs Also GX7 has a much sturdier metal lens mount than the g6 - I get body flex on the G6 with the big Nikon 'Bourne ' lenses THE Gx7 is more stable for these big lenses on a rig. The menus and functions are 95% the same as the G6 - they have added a few extra features like 2 settings on peaking for how strong it is. The main thing is its a better newer sensor and this shows in the image - I was stunned at how good it is!!! this is now my main 'A' camera for night time shooting .