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Taking Pictures with GH2.. need some advice shooting properly
  • 178 Replies sorted by
  • Yeah, LightRoom is easy to use and very good with the noise.

  • Lightroom 5 is good I'm going to invest in it. I love my GH2 for both video & photos now LOL and grinning hard LOL. Thank you Guys... A good lens is definitely on the cards for me. Yes I'm getting great stills with My GH2 thanks to rNeil and the subscribers of this sight. I'm feeling positive about myself and am glad I got rid of my stubbornness, negative thinking and listened to the ones with experience. I really like the look of Lightroom 5. Nikon Series E 50mm f1.8. $40 USD is a great bargain Wow!!!

  • @T2iRebelvsGH2LOUIS Have a blast with that cam. I'd note that when we first started with digital cameras back in about 2003, for professional use ... you really HAD to have lenses designed for specifically digital-sensor use, so that the light-rays from the lenses went straight back to the sensor rather than at an angle. But along the way, sensors picture-element sites (pixels) have improved so much you can use older lenses that got mush on the first digital cams ... and get wonderful images/video.

    So yea, a lot of fine quality but slightly older glass is really cheap and works really well. Though ... you get those Noktons, you're probably going to love them ... I want 'em too ... :-)

  • You're not alone :) I'd kill for them :) I wish I had bigger budget, they look wonderful

  • Never pay attention to shoot stills before, but reading this thread and tried it out
    (Gh2 _45mm Olympus Raw with some adobe lightroom adjust)

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  • @tinbeo

    Use Flikr for large photos, please.

  • The GH2 produces great results with the standard kit lens on video and now proven on still photos, but quality will be much higher with the Voightlander Nokton Lens. The GH2 deserves this lens. I've been doing some research on the Sigma Lenses. They are incredible for the money.... One don't even need Voigtlander lenses to get quality results but if it's a faster quality lens with wider maximum aperture and good construction the Voigtlander is hard to beat.

  • Hi Vitally... What do you define as Large photos? E.G. what size. And when you say Use Flikr for large photos, do you mean upload the pictures there and paste the URL on here?

  • This sight has made me pay attention to stills and I'm amazed at the quality of stills that I get with the 14-42mm kit lens take a look at this JPEG of the daffodils. There is no post, this is straight out of the camera and downsized to fit on this sight. I set my GH2 to shoot RAW & JPEG at the same time and viewed a RAW file on my computer and it blew me away. RAW is definitely the way to go. I noticed that the RAW files were much larger E.G. 30mb RAW as opposed to the 4.5mb JPEG. My conclusion is the Panasonic Kit lens is damn good and a lens like Voigtlander is pure Magic.... No Vitally Keslev is pure Magic lol GH2 video!!! OH!! yes to the Hacks LOL

    1. 14-42mm kit lens F10 200th sec at 42mm.JPG
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    2. 14-42mm kit lens F10 200th sec at 42mm.JPG
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    3. 14-42mm kit lens F10 200th sec at 42mm.JPG
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    4. 14-42mm kit lens F10 200th sec at 42mm.JPG
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    5. 14-42mm kit lens F10 200th sec at 42mm.JPG
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  • I took great pleasure in following and reading this thread and seeing our beloved PV'ers turn this around into learning experience for a new (perhaps slightly jaded) member. :)

    You can literally watch the results get better as the advice keeps coming in.

    Not to mention: it's a pretty helpful thread for anyone who has been complaining of 'mushy jpegs' or wants to learn any new tips / tricks on how to maximize stills quality on the GH2.

    Kudos, PV'ers! Oh, and welcome to the website @T2iRebelvsGH2LOUIS

  • In case no-one's mentioned it, you can play with RAW using Silkypix (google for it) and they may still do a free version (I'm not near my PC at the moment but I have a free version they made available to GH2 owners and it's certainly OK).

  • yea.. I've used Silkypix DS with my G1 and G3 for a while. It's pretty easy and good pice of software

  • I've got it and using it now thanks.... What a sight this is they got a donation coming their way

  • I was certainly jaded by the new digital technology having never owned a DSLR or Micro four thirds camera before, and took a unusual negative approach dealing with. Thank to the members of this sight to set me straight. I'm absolutely amazed by the results coming out of my GH2. The video I was already assured of it's quality but Photos Wow!!!! Unbelievable... Believe me after this experience there is absolutely nothing wrong with the GH2 in the photo department, and I hope anyone having problems taking photos read this thread I now call the JPEG & RAW Bible Guide for the GH2 LOL. it can match and even beat the Canon T2i Rebel with the right lens. The rest of the secret is in the manipulation of the RAW files. I still have a huge grin on my face and still cuddling my GH2 LOL

  • Because of diffraction, the sharpest pictures on the 14-42 kit will probably be in the range of F5.6-F8. Going with smaller aperture might actually decrease sharpness. But please correct me if I'm wrong about this.

  • Oh, and if you do get the 25mm Nokton, don't forget that there are two versions out there. The recent version has option for clickless aperture which is useful for video. I've seen many great picture taken with that lens, but it is heavy and manually focussing on the GH2 does take some practice, especially with large apertures.

  • I only use apertures past F8 because I haven't got a neutral density filter yet, so I have to stop down to get correct exposure on a bright day. I will find a good ND filter and therefore not need to use anything past F8. Click less aperture... That sounds good.... Which version is easier to focus the old or new version? Thanks for the info

  • As you can see, the GH2 can produce incredible results. Take a look at the JPEGS quality. When I get into editing RAW the sky's the limit. These photos have been resized smaller for this sight. GH4 for me once I have learned to appreciate and extract the maximum quality out my GH2. It does look nice and has a good spec. Like the battery power grip which I find hard to find for the GH2

    1. 14.3.2014 THE GH2 INCREDIBLE JPEG QUALITY NO POST 14-42MM KIT LENS.JPG
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    2. 14.3.2014 THE GH2 INCREDIBLE JPEG QUALITY NO POST 14-42MM KIT LENS.JPG
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    3. GH2 14-42mm F3.5 200th sec.JPG
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    4. GH4 COME ON YES!! BUT I'M GOING TO APPRECIATE THE GH2 FIRST.jpg
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  • I could just Imagine the real excitement of using this GH2 camera when I get into the Vitally Keslev & Nick Driftwood Hacks... This camera and the Hackers are awesome

  • I'm Panasonic positive since I started to shoot.. My first camera was FZ7 and used it for 3 years. Then G1 for 2 years, then G3 and now I have 2 GH2s and love them. G3 wasn't bad, but it lacks of video control and that's limiting factor for me as I started to shoot videos. I was never regret to go mirrorless. Quality is similar to DSLRs and if I want to excersise I'll go to gym :) Today I'm going to try my brothers Canon lenses (Tamron 18-55mm F2.8 & Canon 70-200mm F4L IS) and I'm curious what results on my GH2 will be like :)

  • The canon lens are excellent, my partner uses them on her T2i Rebel. Wow you have used many Panasonic cameras

  • I'm amazed by Tamron one... Here is 1:1 crop of shot taken today with broters Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 lens at F7.1. I didn't expected this amount of detail on the lens of this price.. It's nice surprise. Just like new Sigma 60mm lens.image

    GH2_Tamron_18-55_1_to_1.jpg
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  • The quality is frightening LOL Those eyes are coming to get me for real LOL. Voigtlander lens are expensive but the reason for me getting them apart from their excellent optical quality is their speed and now I've heard click less adjustable F stops F/0.95 is awesome & my GH2 will give the Canon 5 DMKIII users a run for their money lol

  • @JOFO Amazing quality on that shot.

  • Hello lovely community,

    I just read the entire thread and I learned a lot, thank you very much!!!
    Here is my story: I'm a semi professional filmmaker who decided to go more into photography for now to built up a business (easier with pictures, imho) and once I have some money coming in (stock photography) I want to focus more on video. I've worked with the GH3 making videos for about 2 years but I didnt own it - so I go a fair amount of experience on the film making part.
    Now I bought myself a GH2 Body about a month ago, trying to get good quality stills (and in the future videos). Then I got myself the Sigma 30mm f2.8 lens since it has great reviews and fits my price range. I also got and old Canon 50mm f1.8 FD lens with adapter.
    After one month with this setup I had the same feeling as "T2iRebelvsGH2LOUIS" had a the beginning of the thread: GH2 is not good for stills. I never had perfect sharp picture results (following all the rules of aperture, ISO and shutter - all in RAW). With the manual 50mm f1.8 i thought its because of my lack of manual focusing skills, its quite hard with f1.8 because of the shallow DOF. But also with the Sigma 30mm f2.8 in Auto Focus I had never sharp pictures. Now I realized that I had my "Film Mode" set to -2 -2 -2 -2 as i would have for good video results. I will try some shots later today with 0 0 0 0 (as I've learned here in the thread) and check if the result is better. The Sigma 30mm should bring sharp results as I've seen on the web.

    Now I have some further questions, thank you already in advance for your help:

    • Which "film Mode" setting would you recommend for best still results?
    • I'm running the original firmware on the GH2, would you recommend a hack also for better still quality?
    • any tips on increasing the quality when I do manual focus? Should I stop down my lens to have a bigger DOF?
    • I noticed the Canon FD 50mm f1.8 is very soft with wide aperture, what f stop would you recommend?
    • Obviously the lens makes the biggest difference, I cant effort lenses like "Pana Leica 25mm f1.4" or "Voigtlander 17.5mm f0.95" - For now it seems old FD or M42 lenses can be a great deal for great results: Which one would you recommend?
    • Which budget solution would work for macro shots?

    again, thank you already!