[jonsalty]

Cheers for the feedback.
Yes once I got it onto a bigger screen I noticed the tripod judders and hand held shakes are something I need to work on.
The vocals were very quiet unfortunately, I even increased the volume on fcpx of the vocals and that was the best I could do.

I used the kit lens and a 100-300 which is ios. I feel I need something in between with a wide aperture which would have added a shalom depth of field when doing the closeups on the singer.

The camera felt great to use, really light and easy to work with. I filmed in 4k and the 32gb memory card became full really quick so that's a lesson learned for next time.
The auto focus on the lumix was great but then I think once something was in focus I should flip it to manual otherwise with people walking in the background it tries to change focus.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Does the G7 let you set and change focus during a video by touching a place on the screen?

[jonsalty]

Does the G7 let you set and change focus during a video by touching a place on the screen?

It does Edgar.
It also has a setting whereby you can set 2 focuses and the time limit to get between the two so it looks like a pulling focus.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

It does Edgar.
It also has a setting whereby you can set 2 focuses and the time limit to get between the two so it looks like a pulling focus.

Sounds like the G7 might be a good camera to hold me over until the GX8 comes down in price.

[Tanzer]

I like the video! Good editing, cutaway shots, etc.

I found the focus hunting to be distracting in a few spots. No doubt this is largely related to my own experience with the GH4 - once you see it, it is something of an illness that you look for it, whether you want to or not. Anyhow, this might not be so much of a problem for your client, if they are not looking for it.

Here are a couple of tips from my GH4 setup. The G6 supported at least some of these settings so I'm guessing these might be helpful to you on the G7 as well.

-- The rotary switch on the back for "MF/AFC/AFM/AFS": In video mode, there is no difference between AFC and AFM/AFS. Both positions do the same thing, where continuous autofocus is governed only by the menu. Turn that off. Then, turn on Touch Pad AF. This works like AFS, and allows you to control when the camera autofocuses, and on what. Generally I don't care too much for touch screens but Panasonic's Touch Pad AF is really, really helpful. (This might be similar to the focus pulling feature you described earlier, that is very cool.)

-- Continuous AF does have its uses. If you have a spare custom setting available, set up your own "green mode" using continuous AF. Also, set shutter-priority (at 180 degrees for your frame rate of course), and let the camera take care of the aperture and ISO. This is my run-and-gun setting, and came in handy when I handed my camera to my wife while on vacation. I don't use it much, but sometimes you just need a basic camcorder.

-- All that said, most of the time, you will probably want to use MF. If you are a Pentax shooter, you probably want to go into the menu and change the direction of the autofocus rotation from the default orientation, so as to match the Pentax orientation. Fortunately, the zoom rotation on Panasonic lenses is already correct. If you have mostly Canon lenses, then you probably don't want to do this, and you probably don't agree that the zoom orientation is correct either.

-- Note that the Touch Pad AF only works when the switch is in one of the aforementioned AF positions. And when in MF mode, you can't leverage the "AF lock" button to refocus in the middle of the shot. So it's either one or the other: You can use Touch Pad AF to pull focus, or you can pull focus manually, but you can't mix them during the same shot without flicking the switch with your thumb. That introduces a bit of shake. At least we have the option.

-- Sadly, the GH4 does not allow you to do focus magnification while you are actually recording video. So to manually focus during a shot, you will need to rely on the focus peaking. Fortunately, the GH4 has a great monochrome setting for the LCD and viewfinder, which makes the focus peaking much easier to see. If you can, you might want to set up a custom button to turn on/off monochrome display, instead of menu diving. Sometimes it helps to see color (i.e, tracking moving subjects in a crowd from a distance), so having it on a button helps. You can switch this in the middle of a shot too. The GH4 has a firmware bug where the monochrome view sometimes reverts back to color, which is another reason I have it on a button.

-- For what it is worth, the 12-35 f/2.8 and 35-100 f/2.8 supposedly have very smooth focus and zoom rings, and are close to parfocal, compared to the other Panasonic offerings. The only native Panasonic lens I have at the moment is the 14-140, which is not fantastic in terms of mechanical feel, but good enough for my needs. As far as versatility and image quality, I consider it to be the spiritual equivalent to Pentax' 18-135.

-- The shutter, aperture, and ISO are all stepped, but if you If you use the on-screen controls for aperture, it will smoothly change the aperture during a shot. Something to keep in mind because sometimes you just need to change the exposure. Not sure why it doesn't work when you rotate the aperture dial as opposed to the the on-screen control, or if I'm just remembering incorrectly and it works just as smoothly from the dial as well. It would be better to have a lens with a stepless aperture ring, but none of the Panasonic lenses do. I sometimes use my Pentax lenses with a Fotodiox adapter with an mechanical aperture coupler which works well.

-- The histogram is only meaningful in manual mode. In other modes, it works like Pentax' K-01 implementation -- i.e., it automatically adjusts based on the brightness of the LCD display, therefore not as helpful as it could be. But in manual mode it its does what it should.

Hope this helps!

[jonsalty]

Crikey thanks very much.
I've found that there is so little about the g7 online it usually brings up the gx7.
What you've said is so helpful. I am just about to do a 4 day job (starting in 3 hours time and literally 18-24 hour days) I am gonna be shattered. I'm going to read through this again. But thank you for making it relevant to penta as well. Really appreciate your advise.