Michael Ma

His original question was "if you had to choose one (micro 4/3) lens for shooting narrative films on the GH4 (without a speedbooster) in 4k what would you choose?" That's what my answer was based on. He never mentioned price originally so why restrict yourself to the budget. We're talking about "in your opinion, the best one lens for this job with these specifications". Sure, if we had the option to choose many lenses for the job, I don't know if 12mm f/1.4 would even be in consideration for a wide or a low light shot.

http://copter-rc.com/en/accessories/69-pilotfly-balance-plate.html Something like this maybe? Not sure if it's not thick enough or maybe even too wide.

It all depends if you have access to walk up to your subject. So with a 12mm (24mm equiv), you don't need the equivalent 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm if you can get closer. If it's people's faces, you'd have to shoot the subject in the center directly perpendicular to the sensor. But at an arm's length from the camera you can get a beautiful portrait shot. Yes it's a workaround, but I'd rather have the option to shoot wide, and work the shot when shooting closeups. Another benefit is that it's sharp at 1.4. You never have to worry about stopping down for sharpness, and then compromising for sharpness for better low light. It's just always sharp. Since the scenario is one lens, I'm going to guess you won't be carrying lighting equipment either. With a f/1.4, you can work with even a single source of moderately dim light, expose people's faces properly (+2/3 EV), stay at 1/50 shutter with 24p, and go home with usable, virtually noise-free shots. My vote is for the versatility and reliable sharpness of the 12mm f/1.4. You sometimes have to work around with some compromises, but overall, you have more shots available to you than carrying a slower or farther reaching lens. I just preordered a G85 myself to use instead of the GH4 for 5-axis dual stabilization. Not gonna perform well as a gimbal, but depending on your genre, can provide usable footage while panning and even walking. It doesn't have an AA filter unlike the GH4, so moire may be more prevalent, but it should also be sharper for photos. GH4 has amazing battery life. G80/G85 has a smaller battery, smaller body, no earphone jack for audio monitoring. Probably the G85 has better noise performance, but the bitrate and codec is higher and will have less issues with compression on the GH4. GH4 is also log capable with $100 software upgrade. But if you're not planning on getting a GH5 anytime soon, the GH4 is probably a safer bet. I only got the G85 because I'm stopping by the US right around the launch date, and I'll be heading back to Korea where I am sure I can use it for 6 months and sell it used for about what I paid for the kit..

The only usable one here is the S7. If you look at the lines on the brick wall, it has the least amount of the micro rolling shutter and has no distracting micro motion blur for a split second that's an artifact from digital stabilization. You can put warp stabilizer on the S7 footage and achieve some amazing results where the other 2, you can't correct micro motion blur or micro rolling shutter. Overall, the image quality of all these phones are still pretty terrible. But with some other apps, maybe you can achieve better results.

Just put my preorder down for the G85 kit at B&H. Something to hold me over until the GH5. I got it primarily for the stabilization. I don't mind carrying my gimbal, but it doesn't work when you don't want to bring attention to yourself such as a wedding when you're a guest, not the hired videographer. I understand it's not going to provide the same level of stabilization but I think people are getting used to the jerky movements in vlogs where a lot of camera shake during walking has become the norm. I think I can sell the 12-60mm (unused) lens and the G85 (US import) body separately after 6 months of use and get pretty much all of my money back. As much excitement there is for this camera, if the GH5 comes out with the same IBIS, this camera will be barely mentioned in this forum after the GH5 is released. Whereas the GH5 will be talked about for many years after it's release.

I like the Panasonic Leica 12mm f/1.4. This makes the GH4 a low light camera with incredible sharpness. It provides very shallow DOF for things at chose proximity. It addresses 2 of mft's biggest weaknesses. It's also wide enough to shoot in any environment. The crop mode can be relied on for 2x zoom. I've heard great things about Voigtlander f/0.95 but I like the better integration with the Panasonic bodies and autofocus. The 12mm doesn't have the stabilization though.

I would not recommend this. I don't think there really isn't any smartphone or tablet that's going to let you transfer files faster than 20MB/sec one way (probably half that speed going up and down at the same time) regardless of USB specification. A tablet is not a computer. Their usb ports are very limited in speed. I own a USB 3.0 Galaxy Note 3, and a Galaxy Note 7 with Type C adapter. They don't come anywhere close to operating at full usb specification. Also, smart devices have this new trend going where if it detects something is eating a lot of battery, it will kill the process if your device hasn't been touched in a while. Probably a nightmare to try to troubleshoot if you wanted to rely on it to do 8 hours of file transfer while sleeping only to find out when you wake up that the file transfer was halted a hour in.

Optics are perfect. It is one of those lenses where you can just put it on f/1.4 and not really have to worry about not getting the best shot possible. The DOF is deep when focusing medium distance and further. And extremely shallow for macro. It's very versatile in that way. There is some vignetting at f/1.4 but I usually add a vignette to a lot of my photos anyway. Very rarely, a vignette has to be removed because it takes away from the photo. Only problems with aberration is when you don't have the focus perfect. Bokeh is beautiful. Focus is lighting quick and silent. Only significant drawback is that it doesn't have OIS. It doesn't need OIS for photos, but it could definitely use it for video. But the GH5 should have the 5-axis so maybe it won't be an issue. I have a few gimbals but I'd like to carry just a Manfrotto PIXI MINI these days.

I think it either smells of a calculation error, or corrupt staff trying to take advantage of foreigners who quote outrageous prices because they think foreigners have exponential amount of money. If you don't mind me asking, you mentioned you had an edelkrone before. Are you looking for something better? I got the edelkrone medium slider with the works (action and targte module). I like it but the sound of the motor sounds like an industrial copy machine so that limits the use quite a bit. I'm kinda wishing I saw the Rhino slider first.

Thanks everyone for your input. I have the 12mm f/1.4. I'm loving that lens, but now I'm looking at the possibilities of what the 25mm has to offer, since it is fractions of the price. About 1/3 (for bulk packaging) what I paid for the 12mm (retail). I guess I should ask the question, will I find the 25mm useful if I already have the 12mm that performs better wide open? I'm tempted by the Voigtlander. I hear they are not as sharp wide open. If they can at least the center as sharp wide open, without having to stop down, I think I'd get one for sure. I think if it's edge to edge sharp at f/1.2 and people report that its as responsive/compatible as a Panasonic lens on a Panasonic body, I'd get one for sure. But that's a lot to ask for. But then again, at that price, maybe I should just get a Canon 50mm f/1.2 L, for what body......I'm not sure. Probably have to be a Sony. Thanks for your concern. The online marketplace in Korea, which is where I'm living at the moment, is very reliable because the shopping portals are always on the side of the customer. The Leica 25mm f/1.4 can be purchased here for around $400 US with bulk packaging with OEM lens hood. I think it's only about 33% cheaper than in the US retail. I meant 1/4 the price of the soon to be released Olympus 25mm f/1.2. But after hearing about how Olympus lenses don't work 100% on Panasonic bodies, I think I might hold out. Maybe Leica will release an updated one with f/1.2 to compete with the Oly. Currently, the Panasonic Leica is not up to par with the 12mm 1.4 and the 42.5mm 1.2 which both have aperture rings, even though they are seldom useful. Congrats on the retirement! Thanks for the links! These pics begs the question....do I need a 25mm lens when I have the 12mm f/1.4. I think I can get most of these shots if I just got closer. Thanks for the insight. This type of information was more specific to what I was looking for. Do Olympus lenses work as well on Panasonic bodies. Mostly yes, but not 100%. And for that price, I think I would want 100%. Great stuff. Thanks! The style, colors, contrast, and transitions really go well together.

It's pretty good, but it doesn't even come close to a $200 smartphone gimbal. It is still lightyears behind. For this kind of recording, I wouldn't call this a solution. I'm sure it'll work well if you hold still and pan slowly.

I've never owned a M.Zuiko lens. Is it as good as Leica? The Leica doesn't have an aperture ring and it could be bought for about 1/4 the price in the gray market.

8bit....always leaves something to be desired. Articulating screen seems interesting. I've always felt that the fully articulating swivel screen and the weak battery are the top 2 reasons I don't own a A7S.

Oh, I forgot one thing. I had to get a NEUTRIK NA3FM because you can't just plug in the Oktava into the iRig pre. I did try buying another iRig Pre to mod with a XLR female jack so I can plug the Oktava directly into the iRig pre, but it turns out I'm just really really terrible at soldering. I'm back to using the NEUTRIK NA3FM. The Rode SC3 is a TRRS to TRS adapter.

I have almost exactly this. The Tascam DR-10CS with the Senn ME2. Its pairs really well. Very clean and loud. Gets the job done. But overall if you're an audio snob there its more of a utility mic than a mic for someone looking to capturing the endearing nuances in someone's voice. If I were to vlog like Casey Neistat, I would do it with a Oktava MK 012 with a hypercardioid capsule powered by a irig pre with a Rode SC3 adapter straoght into the 80D. And for interviews on a budget I'd get a cheap boom for the Oktava and and a XLR extension for the same setup. It may look a little wonky, but it would sound a million times better than a Rode VideoMic.

I felt the same way about my Panasonic, so I updated my old Canon to a Canon 80D and got most of the STM lenses. Mostly for photos (and video when I don't have my mft camera with me.) HOWEVER, I just got the Panasonic 12mm f/1.4 Leica and I gotta say I'm back on team MFT. The shallow DOF (of closeup shots), low light performance (clean bright images from very dim lighting), and color seems perfect on the 12mm. I'd say DOF wise, it's equivalent of a full frame f/2.8, which far exceeds any STM EF-S crop lenses that I own by ~2 stops. Similar for low light performance. I haven't tested it thoroughly, but I am pretty sure that it exceeds the lowlight performance of any STM lens on a 80D body. And for once in my life after being a mft owner for 5 years, I am happy to shoot photos with the Panasoinc without regretting not bring my Canon. The drawback is, how many of these f/1.2 f/1.4 Leica prime lenses exist on the MFT? 3? Do they work with the range and convenience of what you are looking to shoot. They are also very expensive. But considering the specs of the GH5, I think it's a good investment for the next 4-5 years.. Overall, I think you can make either solution work as needed without giving up entire systems.

It does need some work on the color though. The green and the reds are oversaturated. Highly likely they will be clipped all the time. The blue is very apparent in the shadows. Hopefully they can calibrate color better in a firmware update. Blue shadows can be handled easy. The clipped reds and greens are impossible to recover the detail. Not having to do any color correction would be a huge plus.

I'm 99% convinced at this point that the samples we are seeing from the Mavic is just the unprocessed image from the same sensor as the DJI Phantom 4. And if you want Phantom 4 quality images, you can get to it with processing. Either the Mavic doesn't have the processing hardware or DJI just needs to update the firmware so that it changes the processing settings. Either way, considering I'm not going to make entire 2 hour movies with the Mavic on a daily basis, and drone shots only being a small portion of the entire video I would put together, having to occasionally process a minute or two of the drone footage, although a hassle, isn't that bad. The Mavic is back in contention in my book.

From today's Casey Neistat's vlog, he compared the Mavic to the DJI Phantom 4. So I took a frame from the Mavic and applied Sharpness, Unsharp Mask, Defringe, and WB to match the Phantom 4. I think you can get it to look 95% identical. Is he using a retail Mavic? Maybe he just needs a firmware update.

I like the DJI's compactness. I need the assist with collisions, tracking, and landing. It does have DLOG. But you can tell by the image it's really suffering from heavy compression. It's a few notches lower than what I would like to work with. I think I'll start pixel peeping every shot and be looking to upgrade to it's successor from day 1. GoPro....No flying assist features. I have a few gimbals already that work with the GoPro so another gimbal is not necessary for me. As much as I like the size of the Mavic, the backpack that I would carry either in would fit both. The real bummer is the lack of the flying assist features. Should I get the one with the better video, or the one I would crash less? It's 50/50.

Location, the camera movements, and camera angles doesn't make sense. If you muted the sound, you might guess they are planning for some criminal heist. One thing that they are clearly doing that they shouldn't be is making sure every shot is in motion. Doesn't fit this interview at all. I'm guessing the purpose was to add energy. Many ways they could have done this rather than have the camera always moving on mostly still subjects. The first half of the interview, do they explain why they are standing in a junkyard or what seems like an abandoned house? Had they explained why they were standing there by introducing the location, maybe it would have worked better. A tripod, slider shots, maybe a more lively location for the first half, and cuts to live concert footage would have been much more fitting.

I'm not sure if firmware matters, but after I updated the firmware for both the BLE and gimbal, I can get to "Full" mode by a double click. For the joystick button: 1 click = toggle between modes 1 and 2. 2 clicks = full mode 3 clicks = turns 180 degrees long click = turns motors off (power is still on). long click again, and it goes back to neutral position. Anyone know what that golden lever under the gold power button does?

Yi will definitely shake up this industry for sure. But keep in mind it's 1st gen. The chances of it having (or not having) something that's a dealbreaker is likely 100%.

I always wondered what the results would be if someone bothered to put a light 360 camera on a camera's hot shoe that was stabilized on a gimbal. This is the rig I wish I had on my honeymoon, unfortunately we didn't have these options a year ago. Now that I've got around to it, I would like to share the results. Gear: Gear 360 Canon 80D (I recommend a taller camera over a mirrorless. Also, lighter camera won't always work out in your favor if the rig is top heavy which makes the 360 camera prone.) Zhiyun Crane (I tried something very similar with my Pilotfly H1+ GH3, and a GoPro Hero 3, and it was too shaky as the motors was not strong enough). The Zhiyun Crane with the 10-18 STM lens had no problem with the Gear 360 on top. Note: The edelkrone TILTHEAD is only there as rudimentary stand and more importantly a counterweight to balance a top heavy rig. Somehow adding a lot more weight to the bottom makes it much easier to hold for longer periods. Results: It stabilizes very nicely. In fact, when the 360 camera itself is placed on a table that is not perfectly level, the stitching doesn't seem to align that well, but when on a gimbal, it's always holding that perfect longitudinal (roll axis) level, even during movement. If you can get a taller coldshoe mount than the one I'm using (without making it too top heavy), that would be much better. As high as it is, the gimbal is very apparent in the shots if you look slightly down. Premiere Pro has tools to work with 360 videos now and lets you pull normal looking 2D shots in the NLE. And even though the the quality is much better than I expected from the YouTube videos online, the video quality still has a long way to go. The 2D frames offer less quality than a HD (720p) camera would provide. Still useful for something like a vlog. Currently, 2 cameras are being recorded and stretched on a 4K file. I think we need to have at least 8K (maybe more) to match the 2D image quality from a GoPro. Other notes. As you might have imagined, having a big ball on top of your camera will limit the movement of your gimbal slightly. You cannot extend your camera outwards with the camera facing out as the Gear 360 would make contact with the roll axis motor. Also, keep in mind, unless you are willing to hold this above your head, your face is always in the shot, which may be undesirable.

Yeah, it may be for photo purposes only. I wouldn't hold my breath.