JazzBox

Dear all, after some research I found 3 nice Zeiss in Contax Yashica mount: 25 f/2.8, 25 f/2.8 and 50 f/1.7, all in mint condition. Apart the 25, I had the other two for a bargain price, and the 50 was a new old stock. I'm very happy with those lenses, I like them a little more then the FD I had (also super nice lenses). Do you think there are some other lenses that it worth to have from Zeiss CY? Any zoom? Thank you very much!

Thank you! (we use the same mini-gimbal from Jacopo I think!)

Zak, your images are simply AMAZING! I also use a GH4 and sold my BMPCC because... I'm a dumb! I hated the poor battery life and the LCD in external shooting, but when I look BMPCC footage, even in ProRes, it is something so organic that I regret to sell it. I think I'll probably buy a MicroCinema one, it should have a better batteries' life and hopefully a nice 60p in rolling shutter mode. V-log is not nearly close to "cinema" setting on BlackMagic. I love my GH4 because it is so simple, so easy and overall good, but each and every time I see BM videos... I want one!

Is it possible to use 24p grain in a 25p project with credible results?

Dear all, I normally use LUT Utility and some LUT I bought from Daniel John Peters among other free. I tried the FilmConvert trial and I like very much the "grain" effect, that seems to remove some digital look from my footage. After applying S16 or S35 grain my videos looks more "organic", more filmic. I love also the possibility to adjust the WB on the go. I'm quite happy about the LUT I have and I'm wondering if there is any plugin that could do the FilmConvert work (especially the grain) for a cheaper price. Thank you very much! p.s.: some LUTs I have also shows some banding effect when I push them, while on FilmConvert no LUTs gave me that problem, it seems very good!

Thank you guys! I went to the shop with a friend that had to buy a lens and finally I gave back the Panasonic 25 and the Olympus 45 in trade for his lens and had the money, because I did not understand that ZE need a speedboster in order to change aperture. I tried the 40-150, really awesome, but maybe too long for handheld shooting. So I return home with my 12-40, the FD lenses and some money. I hope I'll find some Contax Zeiss lenses to trade with my FD one day

Thank you very much!! For sure I'm going to sell the 25 f/1.4 and the 45 f/1.8 since I barely used them 3 times in 1 year while I use the 12-40 also for personal photo. If the FD are better (or not so worser) then Zeiss ZE I could also remain with those lenses... I could make an effort just in case those Zeiss looks like the CP.2 or if they are at least a lot better then my humble FD... otherwise I could give back all and take the Olympus 40-150 f/2.8 Pro, in order to have 2 zoom and call it a day. It sound a little crazy to me, since I do love to shoot with manual primes, but... do you think it could be a possibility or it is just stupid? (the shop also sell a mint A7s for 1600... but at that point I have to give back all my gear and buy some other lenses... He also sells Samyang video lenses but I had not great experience with a 10mm) Anyway I shot 99% of the "prison" part of this video with the Olympus 12-40 and it does not looks that bad to me, for that reason I don't exclude a priori the 40-150. Thanks richg101! Other then Zeiss, what you would suggest for GH4?

Thank you very much! Why is Contax Zeiss better? Thank you!

I'm not giving back the Olympus 12-40 f/2.8 Pro. He also sells the Olympus 40-150 f/2.8 Pro, but I think 12-40 and some primes would serve me better then 2 zoom

He sells every lens (used) in the 750 - 850 euro ballpark. If I give back all my lenses (except the 12-40) he gives me about 1000/1100, so I could take just one or invest some money for 2....

Dear all, I use mostly a GH4 for music videos and little narrative things. In the last years I collected some nice vintage lenses such as Carl Zeiss Jena M42 (that I sold) and now I own a Canon FD set (24 f/2.8, 35 f/2, 50 f/1.4, 85 f/1.8) among some native m43 lenses: Olympus 12-40 f/2.8, Panasonic Leica 25 f/1.4 and Olympus 45 f/1.8. Today I had a call from a friend (owner of a shop), he sells some used Zeiss ZE (Canon Mount) lenses: Distagon 18 f/3.5 Distagon28 f/2 Distagon 35 f/2 Makro Planar 50 f/2 Planar 85 f/1.4 I don't have the money to buy them all... and I'm thinking to pick one or two lenses that I will use beside my 12-40 (that I find really impressive, even if I prefer full manual primes). Do you think that it worth to give back all my lenses except the 12-40 (so all the Canon FD lenses, the Panasonic 25 f/1.4 and the Olympus 45 f/18) in order to buy the Distagon 35 f/2 or the 28 and the 50? Are those lenses really better then the old Zeiss Jena M42 or then my FD? Are they in some way comparable with Compact Primes in terms of final results? Wich lens would you suggest to pick? When people say "Zeiss Hollywood 28 Distagon", talk about this one? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/655186-REG/Zeiss_1762_849_28mm_f_2_0_Distagon_T.html Excuse me for all the questions, but the shop is 2 hours from my hometown and I'd love to have some distinguished opinion before to take my car and go Thank you very much for your suggestions!

Really beautiful!!! Thank you!

A beautiful video for a beautiful song! I love the look, very Arri-like in my opinion. How did you color grade it?

I would go with Panasonic G6. Great image quality! You can read Andrew's review here: http://www.eoshd.com/2013/07/panasonic-g6-review-the-gh2-redux/ I made this with that little camera and a couple of cheap Canon FD lenses: http://vimeo.com/109707314

Thank you!! I normally use some Canon FD primes, but lately I started using the 12-40 Olympus and some other m4/3 lenses (25 panasonic/leica and 45 Olympus) and I'm very happy about them, I have to try the 12-35

Wow, great images!! I look forward to watch it!

Great work Aaron! Thanks to your suggestions I started to use V-Log and I'm having fun! I still not use it for client' shot because I'm still testing it, but for my personal things I had very good results outdoor. Which lenses do you normally use with GH4?

Beautiful!

Thank you!

I have the same issue... lot of noise in internal situations, no matter how much light I have. I mean, at least shooting with a couple of lights, not with a 18.000W Arri Outside no noise problems, but it's very difficult to use the peaking. I already have an external monitor but I can not load LUTS on it... and I'd love to maintain a light rig for 90% of my work, otherwise it is more simple to use other bigger cameras that can shoot ProRes internally. I'll try 800 ISO. Where to buy the LUTS you talk about?

Thank you! How do you manage the noise? In post or do you have some hints for avoiding it?

I was very excited about V-Log, because GH4 is a great camera (the one I use most of the time), but really needed a flat profile such as the BMPCC. But, for my experience it is very difficult to obtain great results inside a room with lights or in natural light: I had a lot of noise. Way too much for my taste. Outside it's slightly better, but I had some difficulties focusing. In my opinion it is something not comparable to the amazing BMPCC's ProRes flat file, but I would be more then happy if you have suggestions that could change my opinion. I love BMPCC files, but I really don't like the working process on it, so I end using always GH4. I cannot afford an external recorder in this moment (I just bought a 3 axis gimbal), so probably I cannot have great results because I record on the SD card. Wich LUT do you use for V-LogL? Thank you very much Aaron

Ciao, I shot the "infinite black" part of this video with just a black fabric, one light as key light and one for the background. The flare effect you can see (especially from 1:45 to the end of the song) was made with just a 1 led light (a cheap Qudos in "spot" modality, but you can achieve it with any flashlight) pointing it directly to the lens in time with the song, in order to obtain a J.J. Abrams-esque flares. If you want to change color just put a piece of colored gel in front of your light or add more lights for more colors and flares. Hope that can helps you

Thank you very much for your kind words, Cinegain I also picked the Olympus over the Panasonic, because the final quality is slightly better to my eyes. Normally I love my little FD prime collections, but on the gimbal a good zoom is more practical and the second setting (for the Panasonic-Leica 25) come in handy for a lot of shots. Jacopo - the MiniSturdyCam builder - has a GH4 with 12-35 OIS on one of his gimbal and in that way you are 100% free from every imaginable micro-jitter, even at 35mm. For me the stabilization of gimbal itself is more then enough with any non-stabilized lens, but he's so honest that when you contact him to talk about his products, he starts from the little "cons": of course he talks about "perfection", he's a truly passionate maniac about "flying" movements, but the gimbal is super stable, no problem at all. He's a very nice guy and I really appreciated his way to conduct business: I asked his opinion between the bigger SturdyFlight and the cheaper and smaller MiniSturdyFlight, and he recommended me to buy the latter, because he said that with my camera and lenses the MiniSturdyFlight would be perfect. He's very disposable also by Wathsapp and Skype. I hope this gimbal will lasts for some years, because after I tried I cannot stay without anymore, because it speeds up everything: besides the normal steadicam's work you can use it as a crane, as a dolly, as a monopod...

It's very easy to use: I'm lucky enough to live 1,5 hours from the SturdyShot's builder (he's in Rome), so I went personally to try it and I bought it. He balanced it mechanically for my GH4 and Olympus 12-40 f/2.8, then for the same camera and Panasonic Leica 25 f/1.4. After that he used the software to give the 3 motors the exact power for my rig and he suggest to not change lenses, unless doing the mechanical balance again (by myself, because I can't go every time to Rome). The batteries lasts for 60-70 minutes, he gave me 2. So I had plenty of time shooting with one and only at the end of the day I had to use the second. The software parameters are quite easy to change, so you can improve your setting after some days of use. Of course I used the camera's LCD It's not so cheap, but I bought it because the builder is very serious and if I broke he can repair it quickly, in one day