ehanauer

I made my decision 4 years ago when Nikon was treating video as an illegitimate stepchild. I sold all my Nikon gear and switched to Panasonic GH4 (since updated to GH5). No regrets, never looked back.

Oops. Correction: The 7-14 is f4. The 12-35 is f2.8.

The dome port has been sold. Lenses, zoom gears, and camera are still available. Make me a reasonable offer.

If you are shooting Panasonic or Olympus underwater, here's some gear for sale: Lumix 7-14mm 2.8 wide rectilinear zoom. Retail price $800. Sale price $450 includes zoom gear for Nauticam housing.Lumix 12-35mm f4 recilinear zoom. Retail price $800. Sale price with Nauticam zoom gear $450Zen 6 inch dome port DP 170 for Nauticam housing. Optical coated glass dome, built in extension ring will accommodate both lenses. Slight scratches on outside bottom of shade, but the glass is perfect. Retail price $1000. Sale price $500.Panasonic GH4 camera body. If you’ve got a housed GH4 or GH5, this will allow topside shooting with Panasonic or Olympus lenses.. Price $400Gear is located in San Diego. Please contact me off list if interested.

Over the past year, color correction software has improved significantly. Final Cut Pro has released improved tools. Denver Riddle has released cinema Grade, a new plugin that works really well. These are just the ones I use; I'm sure there are others that are just as good. Bottom line: GH5 manual white balance gets me in the ballpark; software does the fine tuning. For my work, I see no need for LUTs.

For sale: Two Light & Motion Sola 2500 video lights. Both are in excellent condition mechanically and cosmetically. They come complete with ball mounts, chargers, manuals, and cases. Please note: These are the original Sola 2500 lights, with 90 degree flood beams. They are not the current model that also has a spot beam. Price is $260 each, or both for $500.

If you've got a 5 to 10 minute video you're ready to share with the public in a 500 seat theater on a 30 foot screen, now is the time. Entry deadline for the 2016 San Diego UnderSea Film Exhibition is Friday, July 1. For full details, click on http://www.sdufex.com/Call_for_Entries.html. This will be the 17th year of this prestigious underwater film festival. Don't be left out .

Manual white balance on the GH4 gets me in the ballpark. Then I fine tune it in post with FCP.

Last spring I shot this brief video of mantas dancing by the light of Howard Hall's artificial moon. We were on the Kona Aggressor and Howard hung a big LED light array on the side of the boat. The mantas did the rest. To tell the truth, I was underwhelmed by my footage, so I adapted some Final Cut Pro magic. This is the result:

I love my GH4, but autofocus while shooting video is next to impossible. Take advantage of the wide depth of field of your 7-14. Prefocus on your fin and leave it on manual. Shoot at f8, and boost iso if necessary, up to 800 max.

Love the slo mo. Thanks for sharing.

If you are going to shoot any video, you need a fisheye. The Panasonic 8mm works great for me.

When I moved from a Nikon D7000 to a Panasonic GH4 it wasn't a downgrade. It was an upgrade in video capability, and Panasonic lenses are at least equivalent to Nikon glass. The only thing I miss is the versatility of the Tokina 10-17 fisheye, but the 8mm is a good substitute. As for stills, they are publishable, as are 4k frame grabs. The smaller size of the system is another benefit, but not the prime one.

With extreme wide angles lenses, hyperfocal distance ranges 1/3 in front and 2/3 behind the focal point. At f8 and smaller, focus on your fin and you'll lose focus only when the fish kisses your port. Divers way in the distance may be a bit soft, but viewers will discount that. On the GH4, that holds true for the 8mm fisheye and the 7-14mm rectilinear lenses. With extreme wide angles lenses, hyperfocal distance ranges 1/3 in front and 2/3 behind the focal point. At f8 and smaller, focus on your fin and you'll lose focus only when the fish kisses your port. Divers way in the distance may be a bit soft, but viewers will discount that. On the GH4, that holds true for the 8mm fisheye and the 7-14mm rectilinear lenses.

Panasonic 7-14 works great. The GH4 body lacks image stabilization, so it pays to use Panasoic lenses, which have it.