Great story, client with low production budget, good but public shooting location, no lights, crew or assistants? I grabbed my Panasonic GH3, and Panasonic’s fantastic 12-35mm f/2.8 Lumix zoom, and went for it.
The Panasonic GH3 is a fine video camera for a lone storyteller. All of this footage I used in this movie was shot solo, in ambient light, and recording ambient sounds. All of the soundtrack was assembled and constructed entirely from audio recorded on location directly onto the GH3 from a Rode VideoMic Pro, and/or the GH3 internal microphones. The GH3 strengths are many, a few outstanding among them being the fast image stabilized Panasonic zooms, the excellent sharp colors, ease of setup and go, and how well the footage stands up to being graded in post. The Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 used to film this production is an image stabilized, 24mm to 70mm equivalent on a full frame sensor camera. This single lens is an excellent piece of glass all the way around, and a fine one lens solution with the ability to go wide and in close with ease.
If video is in your plans, be sure not to forget this GH3/12-35mm combination when considering your purchase options. The GH3 is micro four thirds, so those super-shallow depth of field shots will need to be done on another camera and cut into your footage in post. In every other way the video the GH3 produces is surprisingly good for such a small and compact camera. The Panasonic GH3 truly is a top drawer indie filmmaker’s tool. If you are looking for a small body, single zoom lens video solution of the first order, the Panasonic GH3 is one you should consider. As always, I suggest you rent first. You rarely have regrets when you try before you buy. Our preferred rental house is LensRentals.Com. Be sure to tell Roger or his staff if you talk to them Chuck Jones said to give them a call. Oh, and before I forget, as a filmmaker sometimes you want a lens that gives you a pretty sun flare ;=)
“It’s finally here: the equivalent of a 24-70mm professional quality zoom on full-frame is now available for m4/3 cameras. It’s as good as I’d hoped it would be, meaning it gives you just what this type of lens does on a full-frame camera. It’s very sharp even wide open. Not as sharp as the best primes, but close. And it doesn’t have a weak spot, it retains sharpness at both the long and short ends of the zoom. It gets a bit sharper at f/4, but not much, so most of us will leave it on f/2.8 all of the time.”
“I shoot it mostly on an Olympus body, so I haven’t tried the OIS on this lens, but other’s tell me it’s very, very efficient. Probably the only warning I have is do NOT put the sun in your image. This lens will flare, most definitely it will flare. But otherwise it’s just about perfect.”
Salerno Winery is a small boutique winery located in the Ramona Valley American Viticultural Area. Opera singer Herman Salerno and his wife Rose first came to the Ramona Valley in 1998 with over 23 years prior experience crafting fine wines and a dream to establish a world class winery. That is Herman performing live singing in the movie soundtrack. Twenty five miles east of the Pacific ocean near Ramona, CA, the Salerno’s planted their first grapes, and it is here today that they make their dream a reality.
The rich soils, the strong sunshine warmed days with the kiss of the cool evenings of the unique micro-climate yielded premium grapes for making the finest of wines. Herman Salerno uses traditional, Italian hand crafted methods in sculpting his wines. From knowledge, determination and a quest for excellence, Salerno Winery earned an International Medal in 2005 upon the release of their first wine. Achieving worldwide success with the first release, Salerno Wines continue to be ranked with the top boutique wineries of the world. To date they have been awarded over 63 local, national, and international awards and yearly sell out their wine offerings.
In addition to established favorites such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petite Sirah, Salerno Winery offers hand crafted wines such as their signature wine, a double gold medal and gold sweepstakes winner, Elegante. Additional yearly offerings include Lagrein – silk in a glass! and Muscat Canelli – a great desert white wine. As the yearly harvest sings a different song, so does Herman Salerno in crafting the perfect song in a glass. Sensation, Tempranillo, Perfection, and Barbera have been some of Salerno Winery’s past limited blends.
Salerno Wines are available at San Diego’s finest restaurants, wine bars, and markets, and they ship online or telephone orders to most states. Visit their tasting room on the weekends to sample the ever changing bouquets of award winning fine wines they have at Salerno Winery. Do be sure to give my warmest regards to Herman and Rose Salerno, and be sure to tell them Chuck Jones sent you!
Suzanne Birrell
The wine is REALLY top shelf!