Upcoming Reviews: Panasonic GH5 XLR Audio Adapter, Sanken CSS-50 Stereo Shotgun Microphone, RODE iXLR & Reporter

We've got some new gear in for testing and review. First on the list is the new Panasonic DMW-XLR1 audio adapter for the new GH5. This allows you to record two XLR microphones to your GH5. Panasonic seem to have taken the feedback they received on the interface for the GH4. Evidently the feature people most wanted was the XLR inputs and they were very turned off by the fact that the GH4's interface needed to be powered either by an AC adapter or a big 14V battery like a Sony V-Lock. This time, the interface connects to the top of the camera via its hotshoe and is powered by the camera. That's good and bad. I cannot keep my GH5 in its Varavon Zeus Uni cage when I need to use this. But it is also good as it is a much more compact and lightweight solution than the previous GH4 interface. We'll put it to the test to see how it sounds...

B&H was kind enough to send over a Sanken CSS-50 stereo shotgun microphone for testing. Sanken is a rather interesting company and their tagline is "World's most innovative microphone company." It has three different modes: Mono, stereo, and wide stereo. So far I'm impressed and expect to hear this one along with my test results and impressions soon as well.

This year at the National Association of Broadcaster's show I'm planning to do some interviews with manufacturers at various booths on the floor but wanted to keep the recording rig very light. So, our plan A is to use my iPhone 7+, RODE iXLR microphone adapter, and the RODE Reporter microphone. This will be the ideal solution because post/editing will be pretty straightforward with no need to sync. But I need to do a little more testing to be sure everything works as planned. And I'm not sure how well the iPhone will do in the NAB lighting. So our backup plan is to use the GH5, either with the Panasonic audio adapter, or record audio separately with the RODE iXLR and Reporter. I'll be interested to see if we can pull this off with plan A.

Panasonic GH5 and Ursa Mini Pro? Both?

Before I start, I just want to explain my purpose in writing this. The main thing you should take away from this is that cameras are tools. When deciding which camera to buy or rent, consider the priorities for the jobs you need to accomplish. I am NOT trying to convince anyone that they should make the same camera buying decisions as me, particularly if you're not shooting the types of things I shoot (corporate and educational pieces). But perhaps there is some benefit in here to see how I made my camera buying decisions.

Also, I am of the opinion that upgrading no more often than every 2 to 3 years is best. More often than that and I don't find that I get as much benefit for money spent. Also, it takes time to get really familiar with a camera. And you need to be intimately familiar with your camera to solve problems when production issues arise and you need to solve them.

My main production cameras for the last two and a half to three years for my corporate and educational video work have been the Panasonic GH4 (98% of the time) and the Nikon D750.

The GH4 is a great little camera that has held up reasonably well, with one repair for the rear thumb dial after 2 years of daily use. I'm not a low-light shooter in most cases so the noisy performance at ISO 1600 and above wasn't a problem for me. The only other issue that bugged me was that it always seemed that the audio was out of sync by about 2 frames. Maybe that was just my copy or perhaps it was a setting that I never figured out. Not a huge issue since I generally used a slate or clap to manually sync sound to the video.

But aside from those two main factors, I really, really love the GH4. It helped me produce a lot of content that my clients appreciated.

I like its color science straight out of the camera and almost never find myself doing secondary color corrections to pull the look back into reality. I generally find myself shooting with the Neutral profile with the contrast, sharpness, and saturation reduced a couple of notches. I turn off all of the other little gizmo features like the i.Resolution and i.Dynamic. Those just made the footage look unnaturally crunchy and over-sharpened and flattened them without a much benefit, even with post color correction and grading.

The battery life is quite good, and I find that I can get through an entire production day with 2 or 3 batteries. The 4:2:2 10 bit color which I record as ProRes using an Atomos Shogun makes my post workflow much smoother, especially with 4K footage. 

So I was excited when we finally heard the GH5 announcement. For me the big news was the ability to record 4:2:2 10 bit internally, in-body image stabilization, and a full-size HDMI port. There are lots of other little additions as well including waveforms and dual SD card slots. This makes the GH series even more helpful to me at a practical level. Now I don't need that massive Shogun and a huge Anton Bauer battery attached to my rig when I need to fly the camera on a gimbal or travel light.

So last night, I brought home a new Panasonic GH5. I used it in my most recent episode to shoot some of the insert shots and b-roll. I'm obviously not ready to do a full review or even a give my high level impressions aside from saying that it seems really promising. Everything feels right and the footage it produces is every bit as good as I would expect. The in-body image stabilization looks good with a very short informal test.

The GH5 looks like it will be a good, solid B camera for me, and an A camera when I need to keep things light, like when flying the camera on a gimbal or going to a job where we won't have the luxury of lots of set-up or strike time before and after the shoot.

I have the Panasonic XLR audio interface on order with B&H and will be testing that when it ships in a few weeks.

And my new A camera? The Ursa Mini Pro. With some recent jobs where I needed to turn things around to the client quickly, it became very clear that a DSLR or hybrid mirrorless camera wasn't going to make this an easy job for us. In fact, using the D750, which we did for a few reasons, we actually cut significantly into our profit margin. We essentially built good will with a client and came very close to breaking even. This is a situation that pro shooters eventually encounter when growing their business. And so we had to make a decision...

While you can create beautiful work with a DSLR, there are some workflow considerations that make them a less than ideal tool for the job. Yes, I could have and should have used an audio adapter and fed the audio from the Sound Devices mixer into camera so that we didn't have to sync approximately 12 hours of footage (whether using Pluraleyes or any other method). Battery power was an issue - these were long form interviews so we ran two cameras for angles and to have the opportunity to swap out batteries. We added Atomos Ninja HDMI recorders so that we could record ProRes which are larger files but much better to work with in editing.

So the weight of our Nikon D750 rigs, once we added Atomos recorders, an audio adapter, rods, battery plate, and cinema battery would put us in the same league as an Ursa Mini Pro.

If I had had the Ursa Mini Pro for that job, I could have plugged in to AC or used an Anton Bauer battery which can power the camera for four hours. I could have recorded straight to ProRes in camera. And of course with the XLR inputs, I could have fed a stereo mix from the Sound Devices 633 straight to camera. Our first round of post would have included syncing up camera angles and delivering to the client rather than also syncing audio.

Also, one of the biggest things missing from my kit was a camera with a wider dynamic range. And I realize that I am not shooting the types of things which require film profile (log) for every situation. And I certainly do not need to shoot raw in most cases. In fact, I don't see myself using raw all that often. The ProRes 422 files shot in film profile seem to provide all the latitude that I need. The highlight rolloff looks good as well, much less digital than any other camera I have shot to date.

I had been waiting for Canon to announce a C100mkIII but they haven't done that to date. And when Blackmagic Design announced the Ursa Mini Pro, I found that it met the criteria I was seeking. And because it has been almost three years since my last camera upgrade, I had enough money saved up to make this a reasonable decision.

Now I need to really learn these cameras and get back to shooting!

More to come...

Ursa Mini Pro XLR Inputs & Sound Features

The Blackmagicdesign Ursa Mini Pro camera has 2 XLR inputs. Are they good enough to use for your main production audio recording? Or do you still need a separate audio recorder to record your sound?

Let’s have a listen and do some tests.

Spoiler alert: The inputs are decent for camera inputs and usable with high quality microphones. They're not nearly as clean as most high quality audio recorders with XLR inputs, but can still be very usable depending on your mic choice and sound quality expectations.

I'm still learning my way around the Ursa Mini Pro. This is my new main camera for most of the type of work I do but I still very much rely on my Panasonic GH4 (and hopefully soon, GH5) as second camera and when I need to get a gimbal shot.

I'll still probably do most of my sound recording to my Zoom F4, F8, or Sound Devices 633 but will experiment with sending a stereo mix from the Zoom or SD to the Ursa.

Gear used to film or mentioned in this episode:

Blackmagicdesign Ursa Mini Pro Digital Film Camera

Shure SM58 Dynamic Microphone

DPA 4017B Shotgun Microphone

Sennheiser EW100 G3 Wireless Lavalier Kit

Aputure Light Storm COB120t LED Light (Key Light)

Aputure Light Dome Soft Box (for COB120t key light)

Panasonic GH4 4K Camera

Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 Lens

Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd

Panasonic GH5 Live Event

For the last 3 years, the Panasonic GH4 has been my workhorse video camera for my corporate, education, and YouTube videos. It is a great little camera that has served me well, producing a beautiful image with color quality that I like and doing so reliably. As a daily camera for three years, it is time for me to consider a replacement. Not because I don't like the GH4, but its got a lot of miles and while I plan to continue using it as a second camera, I need the insurance of a new camera to keep my business rolling.

Panasonic's new GH5 is the natural upgrade path for me. And as soon as the funds are available, I'll be getting one ordered. In the meantime, B&H has arranged for a live event with several prominent GH camera filmmakers to discuss the GH5. Looks like a worthwhile way to learn a little more than just the specs and get the impressions of the people that have already been using it in their work. You can add the live GH5 event to your calendar which is scheduled for 1PM EDT on Wednesday March 29th. You can also submit a question for a chance to win a free GH5. Not a bad deal.

Sound for Video Session: EQ Presets, Clothing Noise, 3rd Party Plugins

In this week's Sound for Video Session we run through several questions:

- Should I create an EQ preset for microphones which usually sound too bright (like the Sanken COS-11D when worn on the outside of clothing)?
- How can I manage clothing noise when using a boom mic?
- Are there benefits to using 3rd party audio processing plugins versus using the plugins that come with Adobe Audition?

Here's an example of using an EQ plugin to cut a hole in a music track for dialogue. You can use this same idea to create a preset which helps to reduce "presence boost" which sounds too harsh:

Gear mentioned/used in this episode:

Sanken COS-11D Lavalier Microphone

DPA 4017b Shotgun Microphone (This is the microphone I used to record this session)

Blackmagic Design Ursa Mini Pro (my new camera which I used to film this session) Also available from DVeStore.

Copyright 2017 by Curtis Judd

Zhiyun SmoothQ: Smoother Video with Your Smartphone

Shooting video with your smartphone is convenient but often the results are pretty jarring with lots of shake and jitter. The Zhiyun SmoothQ is an affordable motorized gimbal which smooths out your video and is easy to use. In this episode, we have a closer look at the SmoothQ to see whether it might be a good option for you.

For the audio enthusiasts out there, can you identify the glaring audio issue with this episode?

Gear featured and used to record this episode:

Zhiyun SmoothQ Motorized Gimbal (Amazon USA, Amazon UK)

Manfrotto Monopod (for crane shots)

DPA 4017B Shotgun Microphone My new favorite shotgun microphone

Sound Devices 633 Audio Mixer/Recorder

Aputure Light Storm COB120t LED Light (Key Light)

Aputure Light Dome Soft Box (for COB120t key light)

Panasonic GH4 Camera

Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 Lens

The Music Maker

I am about ready to jump out of my skin because I'm so excited to finally show some of my work to all you who have been kind enough to watch my YouTube episodes!

My friend Levi Whitney asked me back in June last year if I would help him by doing the sound for a micro documentary piece on Joel Nowland, a guitar maker here in Utah. Joel makes amazing acoustic guitars which have been played by some big name musicians. But Joel is an incredibly humble guy who loves the craft of creating things for other people. And what's more is that he does it with a significant disability.

So here is what Levi and I made. I recorded all of the production audio for this piece with my trusty Audio Technica AT4053b hypercardioid microphone and my Sound Devices 633 audio recorder/mixer. I recorded a few foley clips with the Aputure Deity shotgun microphone, again with the Sound Devices here at my home.

Levi shot the piece with a Sony A7SII and graded and edited.

I hope you like it.

And I'd like to thank Levi for having the confidence in me to do the sound recording and mixing and Joel for opening his home, his workshop, and his story for the world to see and hear.

Levi will have a piece in the coming weeks over on his YouTube channel covering how we did the lighting. I've covered the sound from the film (both mixing and foley) in these previous Sound for Video Sessions:

Zhiyun Crane 3-axis Motorized Gimbal Setup and Tips

I’ve talked to several people who have been frustrated with various 3-axis motorized gimbals for their cameras. The gimbals promise smooth shots when you’re walking or hand-holding your mirrorless camera or DSLR but often people find them difficult to use. In this episode, we show you how to setup the Zhiyun Tech Crane, a gimbal which can support cameras up to 1800 grams in weight. Then we cover a few tips for getting the smoothest shots possible. Once you get this down with a little practice, you can avoid all that frustration and get the most out of your gimbal!

Aputure VS-2 FineHD: Now Takes 4K

Earlier this year when we reviewed the Aputure VS-2 FineHD HDMI monitor, one of the downsides we found was that the monitor could only accept up to an HD signal from your camera.

The trick with that is that some of the 4K cameras like the Sony A6300 and A6500 evidently could not down-sample to HD on their HDMI output port and record to 4k internally at the same time. So this monitor just was not a good fit for those cameras.

The Panasonic GH4 could down-sample to HD and record 4K internally but autofocus performance slows when doing this. Not a deal-breaker for everyone, but not ideal.

But now, with the new, free firmware available as of this week, the VS-2 FineHD can now take a UHD (3840x2160 up to 30p) signal. Of course it still only displays it as HD, but this solves a big problem for those shooting 4K cameras. Thanks Aputure!

We'd love to see the same thing for the new VS-5 monitor which I'm in the process of reviewing!

Zhiyun Tech Smooth II Gimbal for Smartphones

Today’s smartphones can shoot very impressive video with surprisingly good quality. Adding camera movement to your smartphone video can make your video look and feel much more professional. It can also add to the energy of the story. But even with the new generation of premium smartphones with optical image stabilization, most phone video will still look pretty jittery and shaky when you move the phone with your hand. That’s where a gimbal can make a huge difference. The Zhiyun Tech Smooth II is professional quality gimbal for smartphones which does a really nice job smoothing out your video footage, even when you’re walking. And it also works well with the larger phones like the iPhone 7+ or Samsung Note series.

Zhiyun Tech was kind enough to send us the Smooth II for review. Full disclosure: This gimbal was given to me for this review, I did not purchase it with my money. I was not paid to do this review. The link above is an affiliate link. If you use this link to purchase the Smooth II, it will not cost you anything additional and we will receive a small payment which we use to purchase and review additional gear to help you make better video.