Panasonic TM700 ► Looking for a Shallow DoF adapter / lens - Page 3

These are almost precisely my reasons for buying a TM700: I was shooting a lot of long performance events, which ruled out the DSLRS and their eleven-minute limits. And even though I'm in the market for a DSLR, I've found none that have the same framerate range as the TM700. And that 60p framerate comes in VERY handy.

Yes, agreed. So no one has found a low cost solution to get that shallow DoF on the TM700?

I certainly haven't; the best shallow DOF I've gotten from my TM700 has been either forcing it with ND filters, or by zooming into the object I wanted in focus and having a background that was far, far away.

Sorry, but it sounds as though there's no cheap route to shallow DOF outside of Photoshop and After Effects.

I will have to check out things on after effects, sure sounds like a lot of work post processing and planning the shoot.

btw, what can Photoshop do with video?

The GH2 can record a lot longer than 11 minutes from what I recall. Although I believe it shoots 60p at 720p.

Similar things you can do with After Effects only more a pain in the butt. lol. Basically, there is not much you can do to get shallow DOF with the TM700. The sensor is just too small and if you get an adapter it has a HUGE crop factor, plus loss of light. Gh2 is a great choice for those who want shallow DOF but with longer record times.

Thanks MTyson,

At the moment, don't need or want yet another camera. If I was to make a new purchase, it would be a Nikon D7000

Really wanted to make use of the TM700 as is to get shallower DoF. Maybe just need to zoom in and stand far back! lol

I've heard varying stories. The GH2's record time is limited, but with Vitaly's "Stalin" hack the record time is extended. (Not as much as the TM700, which I've used to record three-hour plays.) But the GH2 seems to shoot full HD only at 24 fps, even with the hack. It'd be great if it did full HD at 30fps, but it doesn't.

I've been going back and forth on this a lot lately. The GH2 has great video, the Stalin hack opens up a lot of capability, and can use a lot of lenses well. And over at the 43 rumors website, it can be had for cheap this week-- like $7-800 or so. But it has those framerate and resolution limits. So I'm leaning more towards the Sony A77-- it has the framerates and resolution, seems to have good image quality, but apparently it'd going to be next to impossible to use, say, Canon lenses on it. And it's expensive for now. And there's always the chance that, as soon as I pull the trigger and buy a DSLR, Canon or Nikon will release something that's even better.

I think you'd be better off getting a NEX-5n or NEX-7 instead of the A77 if you wish to experiment with different brands of lenses.

Just to clear up the confusion as I own a GH2 - there is NO time limit on USA NTSC models. The PAL / Europe versions have a 29 minute time limit. This is speaking unhacked of course.

Also, there is a new Panasonic firmware update anytime for the GH2 that is supposed to give it a true 30p.

Keep an eye here on Panasonic's site:

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/c...pdate_gh2.html

I have a real fast question. When you're shooting video on the GH2, do you have independent control of the aperture, focus, ISO and shutter speed? (I just learned that the A77 does NOT offer this, which shoots it down for me.)

Some of this you do.

There is a manual focus / auto focus single / auto focus continuous switch, and you can toggle this while shooting.

In full manual mode you can adjust aperture and shutter speed while recording.

You cannot adjust ISO or white balance while recording. It has to be set beforehand.

Take your time; ask any questions you want.

That all sounds very good. The only thing I'd want to adjust during shooting would be focus, actually-- take advantage of that shallow depth-of-field if I can. All the rest, I'd generally want to establish before recording.

So far, it seems that the only minus on the GH2 is the lack of 30fps at full hi-def. If I continue to use my TM700 alongside of this, I can get around that limit if I need to (because the TM700 does full hi-def at 24, 30 and even 60 fps).

Sadly, the big price breaks at Adorama may have expired, so...

Brian, did you read what I wrote about the (any minute now) new GH2 update? Supposed to bring 30p to the table.

If you're near Ohio you can stop by and fiddle with my gh2 if you want. There are other negatives to the GH2:

No fast prime zooms. All I want is about 14-70 in F/2.8. Panasonic makes a 14-50mm F/2.8-F/3.5 lens which gets you about 14-22mm @ F/2.8. But it does flicker a bit at the widest end even if you set it to f/3.5 and zoom in and out. Plus the OIS is very noisy with that lens. It also "breathes" quite a bit; meaning if you focus on something and zoom in a tad closer or pull out it will come out of focus. Autofocus for pictures is slow, but the image is fantastic.

Olympus makes a 14-35 F/2, but it's $1700-$2300 and also has iris glitches while zooming. Plus it's heavy.

I did finally track down a Sigma 4/3rds 17-50mm F/2.8 (the entire range) and I'm using it now. It "breathes" as well, but does not have the IRIS flicker problem, but there is no OIS.

The 14-140 is only F/4-F/5.8 so it's very slow for any shallow DOF; you won't get much close up; only mid-telephoto range.

Here's the other problems with the GH2, and I've owned 3 of them:

There is a noticeable gamma shift on the LCD once you hit "record".
Skin tones are tough to get correct no matter what color profile you use.
There is no focus peaking like on higher end professional camcorders (like the AF100).
No "in body" image stabilization like the Olympus cameras have, so it's in lens only. It's ok, because the Oly cameras only shoot 1080 60i and not 108024p.

But, overall, nothing beats a GH2 for shallow DOF for the money. Nothing. The Canon's look amazing but have moire/aliasing/12 minute record limits etc.

I own the hs900 which is quite similar to the other tm models, I am considering getting an encinema adapter so far the responses are similar to what rick got, but my question is how would you get rid of the graining from an adapter?

I can't believe ANYONE would want a 35mm adapter anymore with Cameras like the T2i in the $500 range now and GH2 in the $700-$800 range. The Thread Starter dismisses the GH1 because of its low light recording, but putting a 35MM Adapter on his camera which means his camera will be filming a projected image from ground glass, which means LIGHT LOSS. Whatever decent low light the TM700 had before kiss it good bye after the 35mm Adapter is on. Plus, you're stuck needing a wide open aperture regardless of the shot.

Also, I have a hard time believing the GH1 cannot outdo the TM700 in low light. Maybe with the kit lens. Throw a fast F1.8 or F1.4 lens on it and I have a hard time believing it would not come out on top easily then. Though the T2i or Gh2 would beat it for sure.

Another factor probably not considered is the extreme lens crop required in order to get rid of horrible vignetting with 35mm DOF adapters.

I used to want a 35mm adapter so bad back in the day before DSLR put an end to that nonsense. I remember they once cost as much as $8k. Now I am so glad they are pretty much dead! No more light loss, upside down image, huge crop factor, horrible vignetting, etc. It's funny how I remember back then asking why can't DSLR cameras record HD video to get the DOF and it seemed like it was just never going to happen and then it became such a huge success almost by accident.

The T2i is like $500 now on Amazon. It's EASILY hackable with highend professional motion picture features....full manual audio, no auto gain, HDR video mode (which only Red camera before this hack), zebras, histogram, waveform monitor, focus assist, zoom feature for focusing, etc, etc. Not to mention awesome downloadable custom picture styles that beat the ones that come with the camera. Or a GH2 for a bit more is a great choice if you need the cleanest HD video with great low light and long record times.

By buying a DSLR like the Gh2 or T2i, gaining much better low light, less crop factor and quality.

On a serious note though...vibrating or spinning. Overly complicated headaches. I built one once. Glad it's dead and buried. LOVE my DSLR. Would never do an adapter again ever unless they release a camcorder with like 15-18 stops of true dynamic range.

You have to remember, though, that camcorders are dedicated to video wheres' DSLR's were made looking toward photography, but with the right lighting, gear eg, shotgun mic, you can still make great films

True, lol, although the GH2 is pretty much a true hybrid that was heavily designed and optimized for video recording...it's a true video camera as well as a stills camera. Plus, hacked Gh2's footage has been compared side by side with Red Epics and very well under not too extreme conditions.

Most people looking to add a DOF adapter are looking to make some kind of film. Don't know many people who go through the headache of adding a shallow DOF adapter to use 35mm lenses with their camcorder just so they can film a birthday party. lol. Which is why it makes NO sense to get one....at least not anymore...to me anyway. lol. If you're making a creative movie in 2012 it'd be best to just get a Panasonic GH2 if you need a true video camera with long record times and autofocus ability. If you don't need those two features and are making some kind of movie a T2i or T3i (I say T3i) will be great! No need for shallow DOF adapter and the headaches/problems they come with.

True enough, when I have more money, maybe I'll reinvest in a DSLR someday, I think you'd be surprised to know that I'm studying cinematography at 15. Surprise! , I drool at the mention of red epic.

Sounds like me at around 18 or 19, although I have wanted to make movies since I was about 10 years old or younger. I used to choreograph fight scenes with my best friends for our movie we were planning to make. Though back then had NO clue about editing or anything really, but we had some pretty cool fight scenes for being about 12 years old. lol. I remember one part my friend kicked at me and I would catch his foot and throw him into a backflip where he would land on his feet. lol. Good times.

I'd love to have an Epic, but hell, a Scarlet is pretty much the same camera minus a few frame rate options, for a fraction of the price, though still pretty expensive to get one up and running.

Right now I'm considering a few options for the future since the Scarlet and Canon C300 are out at the moment:

Canon 5D Mark III with Rokinon 24mm F1.4, Rokinon 35mm F1.4, Canon 50mm F1.8 and Rokinon 85mm F1.4.

Canon GH2 + a few fast lenses.

Canon T4i (waiting to see if it will be announced)

Possible Canon 4K EOS being announced April 15th.

I don't like the way the 5D mark III is going. A few reviews tell me you'd be better with something like the 6D, or 7D. T4i is always a possibility and 4K would bring canon into the same league as red. So waiting seems to be a good idea or you can go with the scarlet, it looks like a very capable camera.

See, I've heard different as well and people are just complainers. The 5D MKIII fixed the issues most of the complaints were about and still gets complaints even with the huge jump in low light quality over the Mark II, which was already considered a low light best.

The 60D, T2i, T3i and 7D are ALL pretty much the same video camera with the same old tired flawed sensor. They all line skip, have bad moire and aliasing at times and less resolution (plus more rolling shutter). 5D MKIII has a new sensor, does not line skip or bin and has WAY better low light, almost no moire/aliasing and 50% less rolling shutter. 6400ISO on the 5D MKIII look like 1600ISO on the 5D Mark II. It's usable at 25,600 ISO.

I have a T2i that goes upto 6400 ISO and I can tell you this. It's not usable and the videos I've seen of the 5D Mark III at 25,600 ISO blow it away. Low light shooting is night and day difference. This is a HUGE deal. Obviously, if you don't have the money to spare I wouldn't go for a Mark III though. I wouldn't go for a 7D either. Gh2 or T3i is best bang for the buck if you don't have at least $3,000+. T4i should improve the aliasing as well. We shall see.

Even the Red Scarlet can't beat the 5D Mark III in low light. I'm looking forward to Canon's April 15th announcement.