Video recording on panasonic lumix g6 dslr

[quintrex]

How is exposure controlled when recording videos? My G6 has both mechanical and electronic shutters but I don't hear the click of the mechanical shutter with videos. I assume that only the electronic shutter is used and that this is controlled to set the correct exposure since when using old legacy MF lenses a fixed aperture is set. Is the ISO automatically adjusted to suit the light conditions?
How is the frame rate achieved? I can choose either 25p or 50p on the G6.

I apologise for what may seem very basic questions but I have only recently become interested in utilising the video capabilities of the G6 and wish to learn how recording is achieved.

[Inkanyezi]

I think these things might be easier to understand, if you know and understand why and how your camera is not a DSLR.

There isn't any video camera that I know of that uses a mechanical shutter, for very obvious reasons, and the "electronic shutter" is no shutter at all.

You look at the image on a screen, whether you look through a viewfinder in a mirror-free system or at the rear screen, what you see is akin to a television image, recorded from the sensor by reading it sensel for sensel in sequence. It is also presented sequentially, just as on the tv.

So a higher rate is simply a faster readout, and the video is recorded in exactly the same way as you can see the image in the viewfinder or on screen.

[jcuknz]

You will find an in-depth review of the G6 here http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Pa..._Lumix_DMC_G6/

You have to wade through quite a buit of still camera stuff to get to the video section but it is there, towards the bottom/end

Telling you more than you probably want to know about the creature ... I started MFT with the G3 and loved it but prefered more knobs to play with so have the GH2 ... it lists how superior your camera is to mine in various movie features

The purists will tell you you do not have a DSLR becuase only cameras with mirrors deserve that title although we both have DSLR-LIKE cameras The review makes me wonder if my classification is correct when I think the GH2 is a 'non-mirrored' DSLR for all the knobs and features it has .... whereas I assume you have to go into menus for the less 'day-to-day' features as I did with my G3.

Reads as a great camera and worth getting if I was into shooting video A step up from the GH2 if you don't want to spend on the GH3.

I am not a Vimeo user so I didn't watch the video clips.

[Inkanyezi]

It's not because of being "purist" I mention that the camera is not a DSLR, as a DSLR is not in SLR mode while shooting video, and it is an explanation that helps in undetstanding why there is no shutter. DSLR cameras when in video mode have no viewfinder as their viewfinder is optical, by looking through a mirror that redirects the image optically to a screen instead of to the sensor. When shooting video, the sensor must be exposed and therefore the SLR viewfinder won't work.

The mirror-free systems don't have that mechanical and optical system for redirecting, but capture the image for viewing directly on the sensor itself, and therefore, video recording is simply recording what you view. DSLR cameras must be switched to "live view" to accomplish the same thing, and viewing will only be possible on the screen.

So my point with saying that the camera is not a DSLR is to explain what it does when shooting video, even though a DSLR camera in video mode would do the same thing. It is not about "being worthy" of a designation. A bicycle is not a motor-car, and a sail boat is not the same as a row-boat. They are different things, and it is better to know that they are different as well as what their differences are. Call that "purist" if you will. I prefer to use proper words in context.

[thequacksoflife]

this is a review from a purely video point of view. http://www.eoshd.com/content/10824/p...-the-gh2-redux

G6 is a nice camera BTW.

[Manfred M]

An exposure is controlled the same way as when shooting stills – the exposure triangle is still important. Think of your videos as a series of stills shot in burst mode. A video is really a series of still images played fairly quickly, which is where frame rate comes into play. The 25 fps mode is going to give your video a more “feature film” type look and the 50 fps is going to have more of a video look to it. If the G6 is like the GX-7, then you have two choices for video compression; mpeg-4 and AVCHD. If all you are planning to do is post video on the internet or play it on a computer, then mpeg-4 would be your best option, but it you are planning to do “serious” video for playback on larger screens (TV), then the higher end AVCHD format would be appropriate.

Noise during playback in video is something best avoided, so most video is shot at the base ISO; again, in serious video work, lighting is an important aspect of shooting, so light levels are increased to allow shooting this way. While shutter speed is variable, most video shooters will use the camera default setting as this tends to work well and aperture settings being used to get the correct exposures. Again, a lot of video tends to be shot using wider angle settings, depth of field is less of an issue for many shooters, although the larger sensor in the mFT camera has been a boon to Cosina and their fast (f/0.95) Voigtländer prime lenses because of the shallow DoF that they offer.

Most serious video shooters shoot 100% manual; autofocus is off as is autoexposure. Both these modes introduce focus seeking and exposure seeking, which are hallmarks of amateur shooters.

This is primarily a still photo site, but there are a number of members that shoot video as well. You might want to try a dedicated video site; DVXuser.com is probably the best, but many members are fairly advanced video shooters.

[Inkanyezi]

One really Good Thing with the new breed of mirror-free systems, including the G6, is that it will definitely make the ridiculous video rigs with a counterweight a thing of the past. The WiFi capable cameras, Samsung Galaxy and followers, as OM-D and Panasonic G6, all can be worked from a touch tablet or phone with Android OS. Thus the camera rig may put the weight over your shoulder without a counterweight, and you can have the screen/viewfinder in front of you wirelessly connected to the camera, with most or all controls available.

Also for many other chores, the wireless remote control ability, with viewfinder image, is a boon, as when making reproductions or shooting products. You can bee your own assistant, holding reflectors or whatever, as you need not be behind the camera to shoot. The viewfinder image will also be conveniently large if you use a larger tablet. If the camera has a motor zoom that can be controlled from the tablet, it is more convenient than photography ever was.

Also for video, the remote ability is worth a lot, as for shooting from a drone or working in model setups where the camera can be moved on rails but you need not be close to it, and it can be moved into positions that are impossible with other gear.

[Manfred M]

One really Good Thing with the new breed of mirror-free systems, including the G6, is that it will definitely make the ridiculous video rigs with a counterweight a thing of the past. The WiFi capable cameras, Samsung Galaxy and followers, as OM-D and Panasonic G6, all can be worked from a touch tablet or phone with Android OS. Thus the camera rig may put the weight over your shoulder without a counterweight, and you can have the screen/viewfinder in front of you wirelessly connected to the camera, with most or all controls available.

Also for many other chores, the wireless remote control ability, with viewfinder image, is a boon, as when making reproductions or shooting products. You can bee your own assistant, holding reflectors or whatever, as you need not be behind the camera to shoot. The viewfinder image will also be conveniently large if you use a larger tablet. If the camera has a motor zoom that can be controlled from the tablet, it is more convenient than photography ever was.

Also for video, the remote ability is worth a lot, as for shooting from a drone or working in model setups where the camera can be moved on rails but you need not be close to it, and it can be moved into positions that are impossible with other gear.

Well, at least let's hope for something that weighs less. I tend to be a tripod shooter when it comes to video because I very much dislike the bouncy, nausea generating video we see all too often. The counter-balance on the shoulder rigs is probably more important to counterbalance the weight of the rig, rather than just the camera.

A proper camera that can be should mounted would really help here, but this is something I have yet to see when it comes to DSLRs and mirrorless still cameras with video capabilities.

[dje]

How is exposure controlled when recording videos? My G6 has both mechanical and electronic shutters but I don't hear the click of the mechanical shutter with videos. I assume that only the electronic shutter is used and that this is controlled to set the correct exposure since when using old legacy MF lenses a fixed aperture is set. Is the ISO automatically adjusted to suit the light conditions?
How is the frame rate achieved? I can choose either 25p or 50p on the G6.

I apologise for what may seem very basic questions but I have only recently become interested in utilising the video capabilities of the G6 and wish to learn how recording is achieved.

You may find with the old legacy lens you will have to use full manual exposure mode to get good exposure - suggest you try it and see. Also note that shutter speed ties in with frame rate. If you are shooting 25fps, the slowest shuter speed you can use is 1/25th sec but this would be too slow and give too much motion blur. I believe on the old mechanical cameras with rotating shutters, they often adjusted the shutter open time to about half the frame duration. For 24fps, this gave a shutter speed of 1/48th sec and it was this relatively slow ss that gave a bit of blur to the motion creating the softish movie effect.

Dave

[quintrex]

You may find with the old legacy lens you will have to use full manual exposure mode to get good exposure - suggest you try it and see. Also note that shutter speed ties in with frame rate. If you are shooting 25fps, the slowest shuter speed you can use is 1/25th sec but this would be too slow and give too much motion blur. I believe on the old mechanical cameras with rotating shutters, they often adjusted the shutter open time to about half the frame duration. For 24fps, this gave a shutter speed of 1/48th sec and it was this relatively slow ss that gave a bit of blur to the motion creating the softish movie effect.

Dave

Thanks Guys, in the future I will refer to my G6 as an MILC

quintrex

[ajohnw]

I'm not sure if system cameras will ever replace decent video cameras. Not sure how common this aspect is but see

http://petapixel.com/2011/09/14/sony...rheating-test/

Sony seem keen to protect their sensors. Not sure about others but had heard that they had problems some time ago mainly due to noise and people shooting much longer video's than anticipated.

Some people refer to this type of camera as a compact system camera - CSC's but it's only a matter of time before some not so compact ones arrive. Mirrorless doesn't imply that lenses can be changed so if not ???????

In some respects the term DSLR is still ok - still single lens reflex via the viewfinder but entirely digital. And then there is the case when live view is used --------------------- A dslr is then working in the same fashion as a plain ordinary compact.

John
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[jcuknz]

I believe from having used film movie cameras that the shutter speed being half the frame rate comes from the need to change one frame for another during the 'black' half of the rotating shutter disc. So the shutter speed was always half of the frame rate [ note I have a nagging feeling memory that some cameras have variable shutters however their use would largely destroy the need for a movie camera to take blurred images when there is movement in the frame]. I had it I remember in my Bolex H16 which was used to close and open the shutter for fade ins and outs. Another time I used 64fps and a shutter speed of 1/128 to try abnd capture the swing oif a golfer, also when filming out of a Piper Cub

When we come to view motion pictures, film or electronic, there is a fact that the eye can perceive flicker if the frame rate is less than around 45fps ... perhaps an origin of the term 'flicks' from when cameras/projectors were hand cranked and anything around 16fps was common .... the arrival of sound standardised on 24fps and electric motors.

To achieve a better than 45fps the sound projector has a second, narrow, blade so we see each frame twice for 48fps. How critical the eye is in determining flicker depends on ambient light , hence the need for a dark room.

I belive that the 50fps comes from television where without shutters on monitors they show each frame twice, sort of, with alternate lines being shown ... that is the PAL system whereas NTSC has a complicated system to match the 60 cycle power supply .... but I'm not a technician and never paid much attention to the details

It is interesting reading Manfred and Urban and I never realised until tonight how cumbersome the DSLR rig of neccessity is compared to the film and video cameras I have used ... only having used mirrorless still cameras of late

[Manfred M]

John - things were so much simpler in the "old days", a mechanical pawl and ratchet would advance the frame and the shutter would rotate over the film frame to expose it. ISO was driven by the film, so there was only so much one could do to get the correct exposure.

My personal objection to still cameras being used for video work is that they end up being designed first and foremost as a still camera (from and ergonomics and features standpoint), so getting a working rig means buying all kinds of add-ons. I had a really hard look at the new Panasonic GH4, before opting for a GX-7. If one wanted to use it as a decent video camera, you would have to double the price (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ess_micro.html) if you want to get decent shooting times out of the camera and add the capability to add phantom power audio input. Add to that a decent viewfinder (thinking of one of the better Zacuto units) and you are into the same price range as a low end 4K camera (the new Blackmagic 4k studio camera will be out next month for less money); with a decent sized screen, mFT lens mount, and all the features one needs...


http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/prod...icstudiocamera