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Category: Panasonic GH4

Scooter Shoot: CAME-Single 3-axis gimbal stabilizer, Voigtlander 10.5mm f/0.95 lens & Panasonic GH4 in 4K-UHD

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I’ve got a new scooter shop in my neighborhood, and figured it could be a visually fun place to start experimenting with my new CAME-Single 3-axis gimbal stabilizer that just arrived. A more thorough review of the product is forthcoming, but in the meantime, here are some notes on this shoot.

CAME-Single Wide with VoigtlanderApart from the standard practice of closing up apertures for wide depth of field where you just can’t manage pulling focus while flying on a gimbal, I’ve always wanted to try out steadicam style in shallow focus, using a bright prime lens. But that presents a few problems: it only makes sense to shoot ultra-wide on a gimbal, and those lenses aren’t typically bright, especially with a high crop factor like you get with the Panasonic GH4. Anything capable of shallow focus at wide focal lengths has got to be huge, and the king of them all is Voigtländer’s new 10.5mm f/0.95 lens, weighing in at 568 grams. Hooked onto the GH4 and then stacking a requisite ND filter, it’s well past the CAME-Single’s 1 kilogram weight limit. So, these results probably look worse than the normal stabilizer capability of the CAME-Single (to be confirmed soon), and I have to admit, I applied Adobe Warp onto a clip or two where things got really bad. But I was surprised that the CAME-Single didn’t freak out, and it generally did the job.

CAME-Single Close-Up with Voigtlander

You must agree, it’s a cool look! Having that buttery bokeh while smoothly flying around like this is a really unique aesthetic. It only works when you’re keeping an equal distance to everything, as seen here starting a half-minute in. But if I wanted (or only could manage) long depth of field, I would be better off using my Olympus 9-18mm f/4 lens that’s truly miniature and wouldn’t stress the motors (but performs great). I’ll test the CAME-Single with that lens going forward, in a stabilizer round-up that includes the CAME 7800, Nebula 4000 Lite, Cinevate Morpheus, Big Balance Gibbon, and Steadicam Merlin.

Thanks to Jamie at La Moto Washington for letting me roam around. He’s running the best shop in the mid-Atlantic region for scooters and motorcycles.

Note that you can play the video back in 4K-UHD, on a capable monitor, by enlarging it to full-screen. If that doesn’t seem to work, it’s also posted at YouTube where you can hit up the gear icon at bottom-right there to select 2160p resolution. Thanks for watching!

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Atomos Shogun Tests: Panasonic GH4 and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

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Here’s an original video overview with commentary on the Atomos Shogun, emphasizing camera tests and comparisons, rather than a critical review. Mentioned at the beginning, you should start with Atomos’ own introductory video, if you haven’t already, for an explanation of the Shogun’s menus and features in-depth.  The product is shipping now from the usual places, e.g., B&H Photo and Video, and Adorama.

These results show only slight differences, but they are precise. For apples-to-apples comparison without deviation, there’s always a compromise between getting things into perfect docile alignment, and pushing devices to their respective limits using shot diversity and severe motion.  I chose the first approach here, for formal comparison, but subsequent field work will bear out the other more instinctual types of comparisons (and I’ll be looking forward to seeing your samples).

As explained in this video’s commentary, I was satisfied by the proof here comparing 10-bit 4:2:2 via ProRes HQ (Shogun) against 8-bit 4:2:0 via .MOV (GH4 internal), ironically by way of deduction:  the capture looked identical between the Shogun externally versus the BMPCC internally, both recording at 10-bit 4:2:2 via ProRes HQ.  The design philosophy at Atomos is right-on:  they are leaving sensor design to the big industry vets, while pushing the envelope on this recorder/monitor side where it’s usually neglected in camera bodies.  I look forward to mating the Shogun as often as possible with the GH4, but as I mention in the commentary, V-Log couldn’t come soon enough.  For now, as you’ll see during each sample, I’m relying upon the FilmConvert plug-in to match footage between different camera color spaces, for common ground.  (FYI, they are giving 10% off using exclusive code FOCUSPULLING at filmconvert.com.)  And 10-bit 4:2:2 capture really shows its “colors” when you grade footage heaviliy, which I do.

I “obey” the 180-degree shutter rule always, because a camera test is useless if it doesn’t approximate field use, and good cinematographers are obligated to capture correct motion blur (for the sake of their audiences)!  Thus all of these shots are locked down to a shutter speed of 1/60, as I’m shooting at 30 frames per second.  My GH4’s ISO was at the minimum 200 in movie mode, though I cranked up to 600 or so after the sun went down.  Rather than fiddling with the shutter speed (boo!), I compensated by opening up my aperture on bright lenses, including the lovely Leica 42.5m f/1.2, and the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8.

Thanks for watching, and for a quick look behind-the-scenes from this shoot, and for full-resolution comparison stills, here’s the photo album from Flickr:

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