An adventure into the Panasonic GX85/80 begins - and a look at the Leica Nocticron for Micro Four Thirds

[fuzzynormal]

27 minutes ago, John Matthews said:

I was planning on doing some tests myself this week.

Here's a handful with white balance set using a WhiteCard and the same settings listed as before:  https://www.dropbox.com/sh/mfixcrz7c91fdqk/AAB6OtlZ2GDtcU_yrkRCBrDfa?dl=0

Also, I changed the lens.  Used something modern to compare with the previous set of shots:  http://www.getolympus.com/us/en/m-zuiko-digital-ed-12-40mm-f2-8-pro.html  The image redering differences are interesting to pay attention to.  Also, smaller aperture than before meant I had to boost the ISO, so these shots are f2.8 @400-800 ISO.

[jase]

I still like standard -5/-5/-5/-5, but might give you guys suggestions a try.

[DevonChris]

@jase it would be interesting for you to compare it to Natural -5,-5,-5,-5 but my bettting is that you won't notice much difference.

Do you colour correct and do any grading before using FilmConvert or do you just use the OOC images with FilmConvert?

I bought a Voigt 25mm 0.95 a couple of weeks ago and it is now my go to lens for video and photography. The more I use it, the better it becomes

[jase]

18 minutes ago, DevonChris said:

@jase it would be interesting for you to compare it to Natural -5,-5,-5,-5 but my bettting is that you won't notice much difference.

Do you colour correct and do any grading before using FilmConvert or do you just use the OOC images with FilmConvert?

I bought a Voigt 25mm 0.95 a couple of weeks ago and it is now my go to lens for video and photography. The more I use it, the better it becomes

Will do a comparison this weekend and show you the results. Those shots are not OOC; i applied filmconvert and then adjusted the lows and highs as well as correcting for skin tones, although i am not 100% satisfied with the first shot of my brother... it was just a quick grade which still needs a bit of tweaking.

awesome you joined the voigtländer club

[Inazuma]

BTW I recommend making the WB adjustment (A:3 G:3) even for a manually whitebalanced scene.

Your kids are so carefree fuzzy! I wish I had subjects like that to test my camera settings with.

Jase, really nice shots as aways. I think the -5 everything works well for you. Do you use idynamic or change the highlight curve at all?

[fuzzynormal]

46 minutes ago, Inazuma said:

Your kids are so carefree fuzzy!

Oh!  Not my kids.  Nephews.  Yeah, once that iPad game time is over with, it's a whole different reality/existence of chaos.

[jase]

5 hours ago, Inazuma said:

Jase, really nice shots as aways. I think the -5 everything works well for you. Do you use idynamic or change the highlight curve at all?

Nope, dont use them at all, but i will give your WB settings a try!

[DevonChris]

6 hours ago, Inazuma said:

BTW I recommend making the WB adjustment (A:3 G:3) even for a manually whitebalanced scene.

Your kids are so carefree fuzzy! I wish I had subjects like that to test my camera settings with.

Jase, really nice shots as aways. I think the -5 everything works well for you. Do you use idynamic or change the highlight curve at all?

I'll test out that WB adjustment, but not for my shoot today.

[sgreszcz]

14 hours ago, Inazuma said:

BTW I recommend making the WB adjustment (A:3 G:3) even for a manually whitebalanced scene.

Your kids are so carefree fuzzy! I wish I had subjects like that to test my camera settings with.

Jase, really nice shots as aways. I think the -5 everything works well for you. Do you use idynamic or change the highlight curve at all?

@Inazuma Any chance on using these same Natural Color Profile: 0,-5,-5,-2 WB balance adjustments (A:3 G:3) and highlight -2 settings on the GX80 and somewhat matching with the same on the LX100?

On 13 June 2016 at 8:02 PM, Inazuma said:

Footage with the default settings on this camera looks great, if a little clinical. 

I have been toying around with the settings whilst comparing it to the nikon d5500. It seems to me that the best way to get a slightly more filmic and nicer look is to use the following:

Natural 0 / -5 / -5 / -2 (cont, sharp, nr, sat). -2 highlights. No iDynamic. And whitebalance adjustment set to A3 G3.

With this setting, greenery looks less digital green and has more of a warm tint to it like film. And skin tones veer less towards the red and again has a warmer appearance (without looking yellowy like with GH4 stuff). 

 

@Inazuma do these settings hold up in most lighting as long as the white balance is adjusted more or less to the daylight/cloudy/tungsten or kelvin settings?  I will need to do some testing in the next few days as someone just asked me last minute to get some footage of an event (carnival parade) this weekend...  Thanks.

14 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

Oh!  Not my kids.  Nephews.  Yeah, once that iPad game time is over with, it's a whole different reality/existence of chaos.

If I can get my kids somewhat in focus and in frame, I consider that a victory.

[streetshot]

I'm brand new here...but I've read all 22 pages about the GX85/80 and learned so much from you all.  Thank you!

My question is about how much cropping happens when one shoots video with this camera?  In other words, when I shoot a still photo with a 14mm I get the approximate equivalent of a 28mm lens (in full frame 35mm terms).  Does this get reduced when I choose to shoot video.  And would shooting 4k penalize me more than 1080p?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Michael

[John Matthews]

3 hours ago, streetshot said:

I'm brand new here...but I've read all 22 pages about the GX85/80 and learned so much from you all.  Thank you!

My question is about how much cropping happens when one shoots video with this camera?  In other words, when I shoot a still photo with a 14mm I get the approximate equivalent of a 28mm lens (in full frame 35mm terms).  Does this get reduced when I choose to shoot video.  And would shooting 4k penalize me more than 1080p?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Michael

Thank you for your post and reading 22 pages worth! The GX80 crop is 2.22. Your 14mm will become a 31mm in 4k. In 1080p, it'll a be 28mm.

[mercer]

3 hours ago, streetshot said:

I'm brand new here...but I've read all 22 pages about the GX85/80 and learned so much from you all.  Thank you!

My question is about how much cropping happens when one shoots video with this camera?  In other words, when I shoot a still photo with a 14mm I get the approximate equivalent of a 28mm lens (in full frame 35mm terms).  Does this get reduced when I choose to shoot video.  And would shooting 4k penalize me more than 1080p?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Michael

Welcome Michael. Per your example, in 1080p video the crop factor would remain 2x, so your 14mm lens would be 28mm. In 4K, I believe it is a 2.1x or a 2.2x, so your 14mm would be around 30mm. However, I believe there may be a slight, additional crop when IBIS is used, but I am not a hundred percent sure about that.

[streetshot]

19 hours ago, mercer said:

Welcome Michael. Per your example, in 1080p video the crop factor would remain 2x, so your 14mm lens would be 28mm. In 4K, I believe it is a 2.1x or a 2.2x, so your 14mm would be around 30mm. However, I believe there may be a slight, additional crop when IBIS is used, but I am not a hundred percent sure about that.

 

19 hours ago, John Matthews said:

Thank you for your post and reading 22 pages worth! The GX80 crop is 2.22. Your 14mm will become a 31mm in 4k. In 1080p, it'll a be 28mm.

Thanks to both of you for these responses...they help a lot!

[John Matthews]

When I first got a RX100 a few years back, someone recommended using 5dtoRGB. Does anyone use this software? It's supposed to retrieve a maximum amount of information out a 8-bit file. I tried it for fun on a GX80 file, but I really couldn't see much difference.

[fuzzynormal]

1 hour ago, John Matthews said:

When I first got a RX100 a few years back, someone recommended using 5dtoRGB. Does anyone use this software? It's supposed to retrieve a maximum amount of information out a 8-bit file. I tried it for fun on a GX80 file, but I really couldn't see much difference.

You have to pixel peep, but, yeah, it's a bit better at smoothing out edges.  I wouldn't bother using it for 4K footage that's delivered 1080.

[BucksterUK]

currently have a G6 and 14-140 II and would like to upgrade

I've looked at the GH4, GX8, G7 and G80 - would I be right in thinking - even though a few compromises (like not so good EVF etc) - the G80 is probably the best bet ?

currently the G80 can be got with 12-32 kit lens for £499 - £50 cashback so £450 which seems good price to me

[John Matthews]

24 minutes ago, BucksterUK said:

currently have a G6 and 14-140 II and would like to upgrade

I've looked at the GH4, GX8, G7 and G80 - would I be right in thinking - even though a few compromises (like not so good EVF etc) - the G80 is probably the best bet ?

currently the G80 can be got with 12-32 kit lens for £499 - £50 cashback so £450 which seems good price to me

First, let's get the naming right!   It's GX80... I mean GX85... I mean GX7 mark ii. If value or bang for the buck is what you're after, this is it. The other cameras you mention probably all have significantly better EVFs... probably due to form-factor. The IBIS in the camera is stellar. The 4k crop will be less than the GX8 and GH4. At the end of the day (Brit expression), it's most about which feels best in your hand and how important portability is for you. For me, it was THE reason for me to consider MFT. The other cameras are all bigger than the GX80.

[DevonChris]

17 minutes ago, John Matthews said:

First, let's get the naming right!   It's GX80... I mean GX85... I mean GX7 mark ii. If value or bang for the buck is what you're after, this is it. The other cameras you mention probably all have significantly better EVFs... probably due to form-factor. The IBIS in the camera is stellar. The 4k crop will be less than the GX8 and GH4. At the end of the day (Brit expression), it's most about which feels best in your hand and how important portability is for you. For me, it was THE reason for me to consider MFT. The other cameras are all bigger than the GX80.

The poor old GX8 keeps being overlooked, yet it is the best of the Panny bunch for photography and superb for video too.

I did a shoot today with the GX8/Nikon 28-70/Metabones/Atomos Ninja Star and the quality was really amazing at 1080.

I love using the GX8 with the Ninja Star as it is so easy to get very high quality footage with long battery life in both the cam and external recorder and for some reason you still get live view when streaming via HDMI even though the manual says that you can't

[John Matthews]

4 minutes ago, DevonChris said:

The poor old GX8 keeps being overlooked, yet it is the best of the Panny bunch for photography and superb for video too.

I did a shoot today with the GX8/Nikon 28-70/Metabones/Atomos Ninja Star and the quality was really amazing at 1080.

I love using the GX8 with the Ninja Star as it is so easy to get very high quality footage with long battery life in both the cam and external recorder and for some reason you still get live view when streaming via HDMI even though the manual says that you can't

GX80 manual says the same... I don't know why Panasonic is doing that to us- then they don't tell us if it's 8-bit 4:2:2 or 4:2:0. I believe the GX80 one-ups the GX8 on that point because it will record internally at the same time. I would say both cameras are very capable. However, I believe this person is after value based on what he said... I'm going to say the GX80 beats the GX8 because it's less expensive. If he wants weather-sealing though, the GX80 is NOT the way to go- choose GX8 of GH4.

1 hour ago, fuzzynormal said:

You have to pixel peep, but, yeah, it's a bit better at smoothing out edges.  I wouldn't bother using it for 4K footage that's delivered 1080.

I just pixel-peeped it and still couldn't tell a difference. Staying with the original file.

[DevonChris]

6 minutes ago, DevonChris said:

The poor old GX8 keeps being overlooked, yet it is the best of the Panny bunch for photography and superb for video too.

I did a shoot today with the GX8/Nikon 28-70/Metabones/Atomos Ninja Star and the quality was really amazing at 1080.

I love using the GX8 with the Ninja Star as it is so easy to get very high quality footage with long battery life in both the cam and external recorder and for some reason you still get live view when streaming via HDMI even though the manual says that you can't

I found something about the GX8 out by accident today which blew my mind.

I was setting up manual focus and double clicked the MF Assist which was set to full screen. I was recording via the Ninja Star at the same time, but when I checked the file after the shoot I had recorded the magnified MF assist screen, which created an amazing close up of the subject.

It means that you can double tap the screen to punch in and out of zoom via the MF assist screen. The quality didn't seem to suffer either.

The client was delighted that I had got such an amazing close up of his woodworking skills!

It would be interesting to know if this happens with the other Panny cams when using an external recorder.

11 minutes ago, John Matthews said:

GX80 manual says the same... I don't know why Panasonic is doing that to us- then they don't tell us if it's 8-bit 4:2:2 or 4:2:0. I believe the GX80 one-ups the GX8 on that point because it will record internally at the same time. I would say both cameras are very capable. However, I believe this person is after value based on what he said... I'm going to say the GX80 beats the GX8 because it's less expensive. If he wants weather-sealing though, the GX80 is NOT the way to go- choose GX8 of GH4.

I just pixel-peeped it and still couldn't tell a difference. Staying with the original file.

Yes, it sounds like the GX80 would offer the better value and it is great to record both internally and externally at the same time for redundancy.