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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

G85 questions on Video capability (1 Viewer)

rka

ttbirds
I've started taking short video clips with my MFT setup which is an Olympus EM5 Original Model + Panasonic 100-400 Zoom. However there are limitations with focusing, audio quality (no mic input) and resolution mainly due to the camera. I have no intention of recording audio separately and merging after.

For other reasons, already considering the G85 as an upgrade. My main questions are:

1. How much does the G85 autofocus stray. The reviews on this point are all over the map.

2. What affordable shotgun mic are birders using? Also is the G85 audio preamp clean enough or should one consider an external preamp? I did a bit of research and AT875r mic plus Saramonic Smartrig preamp may do the job for around $225US and would need to add a windshield.

3. Has anyone used the Smallrig Cage and does it make the camera handling cumbersome when off tripod?

4. For 4K video at highest bitrate, would the Lexar 1000x UHS2 be ok or is tge higher speed Lexar 2000x UHS2 needed?

When one begins to add up the extras beyond the camera for video, it gets pretty pricey. That's why I'm hoping the lighter G85 is adequate as opposed to considering the bulkier GH4 or GH5.

Any feedback welcomed.
 
Unfortunately, I have not used video to that extent at all. I have not even tried to set the video selection to 4K at this point.

One thing not to overlook; if you are using 4K, is your computer system prepared for the chore of processing it?

Niels
 
I've got the G85 since a while, I like to take video clips and I have started trying the G85 for this now. However, I'm doing that on a very amateurish level, I don't use external mix, I do it purely handheld, and in HD (1080p) max so far. So I only can say sth on your first question.

I've still a lot to learn about the G85's autofocus in video, but I find it works quite well. So far I find it works best with the central AF field of small, but not smallest size. Obviously it is important then to keep the subject well centered to have it in focus, but I feel it works well enough.

Here an example of a recent clip, so you can judge yourself. (When filming this, I found out that fast panning handheld does not work well at all, as the (phantastic) IS has the image bouncing around when stopping the pan. I guess tripod with IS off is the only way for such situations. So please ignore these effects, and the sometimes not so great cutting, but you can see well some behaviour of the AF in these clip, I think)

https://youtu.be/pDTXpQTjY0U
 
Seeing that clip made me think about what I read regarding G85 AF. It was along the lines of "switching from near to far and back to near subject" being the more problematic. Dalat showed a video where switching could be used to good effect, but most often when I have used video (not often at all) I have been interested i trying to keep the bird in focus and not to change distance too much.

Niels
 
Thanks Niels/Dalat for the feedback.

From what I read, the autofocus hunts a bit. So even if a bird is in perfect focus, the camera may still from time to time re-acquire the focus point on its own and in doing so goes out of focus on either side of the perfect focal point before settling again. SAF+MF would however eliminate that issue but keeping a bird in focus if it is moving away or coming closer could be an issue.

Likely I'll take video at 1080p/60fps to conserve space. Unfortunately it seems Mov format is not supported so will have to research the others for pros/cons.

Even with the niggles, I think the G85 hits the sweetspot for value and performance. The only other cameras I would consider for my needs are not available yet - Oly OM-D E-M5 Mark 3 or Panasonic GX9, the latter mainly because of very high quality EVF.

On the Audio front, there is very little out there on experimenting with Shotgun mics on the G85. So I'll just have to take the plunge and hope for the best.

Thanks again for the feedback.


Seeing that clip made me think about what I read regarding G85 AF. It was along the lines of "switching from near to far and back to near subject" being the more problematic. Dalat showed a video where switching could be used to good effect, but most often when I have used video (not often at all) I have been interested i trying to keep the bird in focus and not to change distance too much.

Niels
 
Needless to say the GH5 and Oly EM1 Mark ii are a bit too expensive and have many of the same issues as the G85. The difference in price could be spent on Audio (Mic, Windshield, Preamp etc.). Also the GH4 has inferior IS and picture quality compared to G85 but is very well built.

Thanks Niels/Dalat for the feedback.

From what I read, the autofocus hunts a bit. So even if a bird is in perfect focus, the camera may still from time to time re-acquire the focus point on its own and in doing so goes out of focus on either side of the perfect focal point before settling again. SAF+MF would however eliminate that issue but keeping a bird in focus if it is moving away or coming closer could be an issue.

Likely I'll take video at 1080p/60fps to conserve space. Unfortunately it seems Mov format is not supported so will have to research the others for pros/cons.

Even with the niggles, I think the G85 hits the sweetspot for value and performance. The only other cameras I would consider for my needs are not available yet - Oly OM-D E-M5 Mark 3 or Panasonic GX9, the latter mainly because of very high quality EVF.

On the Audio front, there is very little out there on experimenting with Shotgun mics on the G85. So I'll just have to take the plunge and hope for the best.

Thanks again for the feedback.
 
Here is a link to one short video. It is in 1920x1080x24b according to my photo manager, and as you will see, it is in MP4 format. (The alternative is a format that takes special software and has not been widely used). This video at that size is 9 seconds and it takes up the space of about 1.5 Raw images on the disk. I have not tried the alternative sizes of video yet, but I doubt I will go with the smaller size again. I probably will try 4k sooner or later.

My memory card is https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extr...G-064G-GN4IN/dp/B01J5RHD58/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Niels
 
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