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Panasonic G6 topic, GH2 replacement camera
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  • Hi, great thread with lots of info.

    I was about to go ahead with the G6 but want to know if it can be used for live streaming over the Internet, for podcasts/live broadcasts?

    I currently use a video camera that has FireWire with a laptop that has FireWire to do it. Given that this does not have FireWire, is there a way to stream live with the G6?

    I would really appreciate your answers!

  • e.g. can it be used as a "webcam" for Ustream or Skype even?

  • At the moment the answer is probably "no". G6 does not provide live output when filming. You can probably do with with GH2 or GH3 and some computer third-party HDMI input device.

  • G6 can stream live but....via Wi-Fi you have only VGA quality and block wifi in laptop so you can only in no out....you must use hdmi cabel

  • Hi everyone,

    I'm thinking about buying a G6 to start playing around with video. I've always been fascinated by filmmaking and I guess I want to try it out.

    I've been reading about lenses and all that for a while now, but I honestly still don't understand 100% (or... 10%!) what are the advantages and disadvantages of each lens.

    My budget is limited, so I'm between 3 options: G6 + 14-42mm (around 600 EUR), G6 + 14-42mm + 15-150mm (around 720EUR) and G6 + 14-140mm (around 950 EUR). Also, I can also buy the body only (around 520 EUR) and then buy an adaptor and cheap Canon lenses, but I guess I would be missing out on the OIS?

    As I said, I'm not the type of guy that it's going to buy a bunch of very expensive lenses and I much prefer finding a hack than wasting money :)

    I know that the 14-140mm is more practical, because there's the obvious "one size fit all" advantage, but since this is for shooting video, I'm not sure I would miss the superzoom. What do you guys think?

    In general, given the fact that I have 0 experience, but would like to be able to achieve good results, what would you recommend?

    Thanks!

  • The G6 is a nice camera and does alot for the money. The lens you gravitate toward depends mostly on the type filming you'll be doing.

    Documentary film making utilizes different lens than wedding videos, music videos, home movies and short stories etc.

    I'm a big fan of buying the Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm and 35-100mm F2.8 lens as the foundation of your kit the build your specialty prime lens around that kit. That's more or less the path I'm on. I have a G6 and Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm F2.8 and 45-100mm F4.0-5.6 so far. The 35-100mm F2.8 is next.

    Thomas

  • I think best solution for you: Buy body + 14-140 kit than buy adapter + Canon FD 50; 1.8.

    I buy cheap adapter fo 1,5 eur on ebay in china and Canon FD 50 1.8 for 25 euro and works great.

    Acording to crop...G6 have 100% (not 10%) so with canon 50mm will be like 100mm in full frame and yes you'll be missing out on the OIS but this is no problem because You'll be allways use manual focus, trust me. Follow focus is too poor.

    Later you can buy tokina or voighlander 25mm 0,95 or simple panasonic 20mm 1.7 if you save some money

  • Canon FD lenses work really great...my fav right now is 50mm F1.8 and planning to take F1.4 too.

  • Thank you all for the feedback!

    Thomas, all those lenses are WAAAAY out of my budget right now :) In fact, the less I spend, the better! So that's why I just didn't buy the 14-140mm kit right away, as I want to know if there's a cheaper alternative for filmmaking. I don't plan on doing documentary stuff for now. Only some short stories and maybe some wedding videos. However, it seems that if one day I would need to buy the 14-140mm I would be spending a lot of extra money comparing if I bought it right now with the kit...

    Grrrr... so undecided!!!

  • digitalamator thanks! That Canon lenses sounds exactly like what I would buy, cheap and fun!

  • The Canon lens is indeed a good buy. Very cheap and produces a really nice image.

  • "..That Canon lenses sounds exactly like what I would buy, cheap and fun!.."

    Buy the 14-42 kit and a Canon 50mm FD (1.4 is preferable). Remember, the Canon has no image stabilization and is manual focus and aperture only. Also image quality will be different. But between the two types of lenses you will gain an understanding of the benefits/cons of each which will help with future purchases.

  • Image stabilisation might be an issue if I don't get the proper rig (which will probably be the case at first), but I'm not too worried about the lack of autofocus, since I guess manual focus w/ focus peaking will be good enough

  • I have made some new test shots made with the G6 and a Voigtlander 25mm f0.95:

    Color corrected with After Effect, noise reduction with Neat Video.

  • For wedding stuff the 14-140mm is slow and unlikely to bring in enough for you to keep the ISO low which in turn keeps the noise level low. You'll need something like a 17, 20, 25, 45mm lens at F1.4+ to deal with the low light situations you undoubtedly encounter when shooting weddings.

    The Canon FD lens are fast and using focus peaking will make manual focusing as easy as pie.

  • Oh, I just noticed a couple of things...

    The cheaper G6 + 14-42 kit (599 EUR) has the H-FS014042 while the more expensive one (699 EUR) has the H-PS14042... Should I go with any of these or with the slightly more expensive kit with a 14-42 (still the H-FS014042) and the 45-150 (730 EUR)?

  • See if you can find a deal with this lens, which is the standard kit lens in the US.

    http://panasonic.net/avc/lumix/systemcamera/gms/lens/g_vario_14_42_a.html

  • Ah that sucks... I don't have much options, it seems to be the same model for all European stores...

    I was there in the US a week ago, I knew I should have bought it there!

  • Thanks for the replies on live streaming (broadcasts/podcasts). Is there not a way to do it through the WiFi? Anyone tried?

    What about sort of adapter or add-on to the HDMI port?

  • @edu115 H-PS14042 lens has power zoom might be come handy for video work. but you know better. you can also add a wide angle conversion lens, it becomes 11mm on the wide side

  • Here you have a short test which i make in first contact with g6. All this test no collor correction, orginal quality to comparision and test.

    Test G6 + Canon FD 50

    Test G6 + 14-42 KIT

  • So... I just bought the G6 + 14-140mm kit :O

    I went to the store (Media Markt) to buy the G6 + 14-42mm, but they didn't have it. So the guy told me he would make me a good price. He went online, saw the best price was 950 EUR for the 14-140 and made me a 125 EUR discount, so total 825 EUR. Given the 100 EUR difference to the 14-42 + 14-150 kit and the fact that the 14-42 appears to be the old lenses and not the new offered in the US... I went with this kit. I think it was a great price, but if you guys don't think the 14-140mm is good for video I guess I can always sell it and buy proper lenses.

  • You will see...14-140 is a good lens, better than 14-42 (old version)...biggest focal range and the same dark :) In sunny day will be ok but in low light, in house, or on a cloudy day this kit lens are poor. Not too sharp, not too speed, not to good. When you test it on few days you will see and you go to buy canon fd :) But this kit 14-140 will be good to photos.

    Today i make for you new test of canon fd in low light, in house. See belowe and enjoy :)

  • @edu115 if you have the new 14-140mm that's very good and a little bit faster than the old one if I'm not wrong. I think you did very well; you won't regret it. I have various panny and canon FD glass and the new 14-140 is on my list; a really nice allrounder lens. cause sometimes you just don't want to keep changing lenses.