looking for an upgrade

[alexplayero]

Hi guys, so I have been using a Sony a-65 for my first year of film school. And I wasn't really happy with it.

I wanted to upgrade and have a budget of $1500 for just the camera. I thought of either GH2, GH3, or blackmagic pocket camera.

I also looked into the canons. EVERYONE in my film school, literally, we have 100 students in my grade, 487 of those 100 have a canon 7d. However, I looked at the 6d.

Before the announce of the BMPCC I did, however, look into the digital bolex.

Also, I was looking into specialized video cameras. Maybe a Sony VG900 or something else?

I must admit, I really like sony. It's just the really low bitrate (seemingly to spite me, because they could easily do better), and more video looking type than cinematic, that got to me.

The man who hacked the gh2 is working on a sony firmware hack, but no clue as of yet when he will finish, if at all.

I don't terribly need a photography-capable device. It's just an extra feature I might use on somebodies birthday or something. Like once in a while, or for fun.


***NOTE:
I know the VG900 is over $1500, but for a specialized camera my school has a little fund for students, which we are allowed to spend during the year.

 

[brunerww]

Hi Alex - I started with a Canon T2i and have shot with the VG20 - I own the GH2 and the GH3 and I have the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera on pre-order (only heaven knows when it will get here).

The GH3 is the best of all of them (1080/60p, a headphone jack, very little moire, multiple codecs, high bit rate recording). No other camera can give you 1080/60p 50mbps .mov video straight out of the box.

The GH3 is on sale right now at Amazon, and there is an additional 4% off deal (until 6/15/13) that takes it down even further. There is no better value-for-money video-capable camera on the market today. Highly recommended.

Good luck at film school!

Bill

 

[ChristopherArter]

Hi Alex - I started with a Canon T2i and have shot with the VG20 - I own the GH2 and the GH3 and I have the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera on pre-order (only heaven knows when it will get here).

The GH3 is the best of all of them (1080/60p, a headphone jack, very little moire, multiple codecs, high bit rate recording). No other camera can give you 1080/60p 50mbps .mov video straight out of the box.

The GH3 is on sale right now at Amazon, and there is an additional 4% off deal (until 6/15/13) that takes it down even further. There is no better value-for-money video-capable camera on the market today. Highly recommended.

Good luck at film school!

Bill

Bill, did you ever notice a difference in the overall look of the GH3 vs GH2? I compared the two for weeks to the point of obsession, and I really couldn't put my finger on the difference, but the GH2 just had a different 'look' somehow. It seemed a bit more cinematic / film looking, but just by a hair. I know the GH2 and GH3 do not share the same sensor, so I'm wondering if that's the difference. I'm probably crazy, and hte only person who prefers the GH2 to the GH3, but I was just wondering if anyone else had seen that. I know the GH3's specs are far superior to the GH2, (in addition to everything you named, a weather sealed body as well). etc..

to the OP, I've personally used a 7D and it's.. 'ok' but from what I've seen from test videos, it's no where close to the lumix gh2-gh3 especially when you start talking about hacks. Like everyone else on this forum I'll use the Upstream Color to plead my case

 

[brunerww]

Bill, did you ever notice a difference in the overall look of the GH3 vs GH2? I compared the two for weeks to the point of obsession, and I really couldn't put my finger on the difference, but the GH2 just had a different 'look' somehow. It seemed a bit more cinematic / film looking, but just by a hair. I know the GH2 and GH3 do not share the same sensor, so I'm wondering if that's the difference. I'm probably crazy, and hte only person who prefers the GH2 to the GH3, but I was just wondering if anyone else had seen that. I know the GH3's specs are far superior to the GH2, (in addition to everything you named, a weather sealed body as well). etc..Like everyone else on this forum I'll use the Upstream Color to plead my case

Chris - I still love my GH2. I just don't use it anymore (except as a demonstrator).

Once I learned how to white balance the camera (which took me a few months, I'm slow ), it never let me down. But its frame rates and codec options are limited - and the lack of a headphone jack and splashproofing can be a challenge.

As far as "look" goes...at the same frame rate and bit rate, I can't tell the difference.

Here are two clips, both shot with a Canon FD 50mm at f1.8 wide open, ISO 400, 1080/24p, and 24mbps AVCHD with Auto White Balance (with anti-"Panasonic green" fudge factor dialed in). Dynamic Color on the GH2, Vivid on the GH3 - both set at 0,0,2,0.

Camera A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vImOH31v9PY

Camera B: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_tSRnCSOok

Given YouTube's compression and artifacting, maybe you can tell the difference, but I can't

All of that said, the GH2 is still a fantastic camera, and I'm sure you'll produce great images with it.

Best,

Bill