At our church, I've migrated from just being involved with sound once
or twice a month to also being on the video production team. We do
four identical services every week (one on Wednesday evening, three on
Sunday morning) and live broadcast on FB the final one We record the
others, though, and may actually broadcast one of those if we run into
technical issues.
Anyhoo, this past week, I was operating Camera 5, which is handheld
and used for all the on-stage and alternate shots. Our services are
more rock-concert than the usual church service, and the lighting grid
is quite extensive with dozens of intelligent lights, massive screen,
fog machines, color LED lights everywhere. All computer controlled and
synced in with click-tracks and ProPresenter. We also tie the digital
mixers in and have some special effects and complex mixes automated
too. (Allen and Heath SQ7 and SQ5 mixers).
Camera 5 is a Canon 5Dmk3 with 24-70 2.8 zoom in a cradle system. The
HDMI output goes to a signal converter and sent to the video switcher.
I used that camera, but found it to be almost unusable in certain
things and horrible to focus. But the DoF and noise level is good and
the lens is actually quite fantastic. Unfortunately, the ergonomics
are simply horrid.
I ran that camera for practices and two services and we needed to try
something different. I switched to my GX85 with an adapted 14-42 lens
(manual focus ring, farther reach). The image quality difference was
staggering. The GX85 completely changed everything and it was a
MASSIVE improvement over the Canon. The handling was much better too.
The biggest difference that everybody noticed right away was how much
improved the lighting was. The Canon just doesn't know what to do with
LED stage lighting. The GX85 stayed true and also kept the skin tones
from going wonky. The only area where the Canon was superior was when
playing DoF tricks (one trick pony) and highlight recovery. Otherwise,
the GX85 was better in every tangible way.
The only major issue with the GX85 really comes down to three things:
1. The HDMI output is the micro-sized connector. This is an issue
because it generally requires an adapter, and is horribly flimsy.
2. The HDMI connector is in the right grip. Seriously, this is the
absolute worst position they could ever put a connector, which means
that the camera cannot be handheld, nor can you actually reach/use
some of the controls.
3. The position of the playback button is in the wrong position and
always easy to press. When shooting stills, not much of an issue, but
on more than one occasion, I accidentally pressed it and the camera
would do what it was NOT supposed to do. Fortunately, I did have a
blank card in there and not one with some embarrassing photo on it to
get broadcast. The camera would oddly go into a mode that I didn't
want it to and I had to do a quick camera reset.
I'll make a few mods to my grip/frame situation which will help
matters a bit, but also I'll make a few modifications to the setup of
the Canon to make it a bit better for the application.
AG Schnozz
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