One of the concerns with shooting on micro four thirds is with it's cropped view. In addition, shooting at 4K on the GH4 camera will further crop your view. If you follow the blog, you would have seen me testing some de-fishing techniques using a Rokinon 7.5mm Fisheye Lens. Though not perfect, i've been able to use this for some smaller projects with acceptable results. Check out the video below for examples.
[Tip: When using this technique with a person, keep a distance and place them in center frame whenever possible. Side distortion is not always flattering..]
Though not a perfect solution, this sub $300 dollar lens defished is still capable of capturing a wider field of view than the $1K 7-14mm F/4 Lumix. Of course with the defish technique your project will look it's best at a final output of 1080p. Here are a few screengrabs showing how much view is lost during the defish process.
Original Fisheye View - GH4 7.5mm MFT Fisheye
4K Defished to 1080p - GH4 7.5mm MFT Fisheye
Original Fisheye View - GH4 7.5mm MFT Fisheye
4K Defished to 1080p - GH4 7.5mm MFT Fisheye
The small form factor and light weight also make it easy to carry and perfect for small stabilizers. So if you're shooting with a GH4 and have to work with interior or tight spaces, defishing from a 4K file is an interesting option to be aware of. Definitely a lens GH4 shooters should have in their bag, and available for just under $300 (click here).
Rokinon 7.5mm Fisheye Lens for MFT Cameras
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH4 MFT 4K Camera
Here's another example of a video shot with the GH4 and the Rokinon Fisheye Lens (de-fished).
FCPX has it's own fisheye plugin, but may not work very well for some corrections. You can also check out the FCPEffects Plugin to remove the Fisheye Look (found here).
FCPX Fisheye Removal Plugin
Cheesycam
@Janis - You can add a strip of ND gel behind the lens like this. httpss://cheesycam.com/hack-tip-using-nd-filter-gels-with-rokinon-fisheye-lens/
Janis
Hi, can you share more info about Nd filter you used outdoor on this lense? Thanks
Emm
Post author@Chris - The new GoPro will have 4K. That might be a good camera for aerial.
Chris
Thanks so much for the video. I am considering the new LX100 for 4k aerial photography. I am worried about the fixed lens. I would prefer a fixed wide angle like this Rokinon. Can you recommend a good 4k camera to go with it? Weight is important. The lighter the better.
Emm
Post author@brian - The older version of Premiere had a lens distortion option, but I think they removed it. Now you have to use a plugin. I haven't used Vegas in a while, but look for any type of lens distortion feature.
brian
Can Vegas or Premiere do this?
Adam Jeal
Thanks so much for this (and everything else that you do) Emm! - The Rosco Cinegel tip is killer as well! 😉
Peter
All you need to do is use the lens distortion tool in premiere cc, set it to -20 and boom goes the dynamite it's fixed!
Emm
Post author@Chuck - I added a note in this article about the 7-14mm. This technique will still have a wider FOV.
Chuck
Or you could buy/rent the 7-14 and have barely any barrel distortion to deal with?
Orlando
Emm, thank you very much for the response, and very nice the footage with the 3 Axis Gimbal
Emm
Post author@Satva - Yes the Fisheye Removal plugin linked from the article with a setting of '35' Removal Amount, is pretty good to get straight lines.
Satva
Emm, what NLE are you using to defish? If FCP X are you using the FCP Effects plugin?
Emm
Post author@Vladbox - Defishing will lose pixels, but i have seen guys shoot 720p for slo motion with a Canon camera 60fps, and upres it into a 1080p file. Though you don't get all of the pixels, many times your content should hide the imperfections.
Vladbox
Got the defishing part on the vid, however any solution when the origin starts at 2K? Thanks
Emm
Post author@Vladbox - If you want to adapt lenses, it's cheaper and easier to do it with Nikon lenses and there are Speed Boosters available. The Canon EF lenses don't have manual aperture.
I love the Rokinon lenses because they are cheap, offer wide apertures, and have smooth focus rings. They are great for video, but they won't compare to the look of an expensive Canon / Nikon lens. I own several Rokinon lenses and the most common ones you may use would be the 24mm, 35mm, and 85mm.
Vladbox
Emm would you recommend ant of the Rokinon MFT Cine lens or would you rather use Canon's with Adapter. Also Defishing, how can one achive that on premiere CC? Thanks
Emm
Post author@Orlando - In this video i'm trying out my 3 Axis gimbal hand held stabilizer. This tour was shot in one long '10 minute take'. I will have videos added soon about my build.
Orlando
Great stuff, actually after you first mentinened the Rokinon I got one and am very pleased with it.
I have a question not related to the lens: What stibilizer did you use? Very, very smooth shot.
Thank you
Emm
Post author@Adam - I'm not sure, but honestly I wouldn't want to use that setup. That's a very expensive setup not to mention much heavier. I would rather sacrifice a bit so that I can fly this lightweight compact affordable setup on my stabilizer.
Emm
Post author@johnny - Though I say i'm 'losing a little' overall i'm 'gaining a lot'.
Take a look at this other test. Another lens still will not capture this amount of Field of View. httpss://cheesycam.com/gh4-4k-vs-1080p-crop-view-with-fisheye-lens-de-fish-to-1080p-test/
One thing a fisheye can do that a standard lens can't is to capture more of the ceiling and flooring. Other lenses may be wide, but they don't cover the height in the same way a fisheye can.
johnny
if it's cropping the image wouldn't be better just to use a longer lens?
Adam
What's the fov diff between this rokinon 7.5 and the rokinon 8mm f3.5 fish eye with speed booster?
Aron J Anderosn
That's cool. I think I may try this on the bmpcc and gh3. I love the gh3 and the gh4 looks super, but getting exposure on the bmpcc is so easy.
Emm
Post author@Aron J Anderson - Yes I still use the BMPCC from time to time. The BMPCC will not have the extra resolution, but I have defished on a BMPCC using this same Rokinon lens, and most people can't immediately tell.
Aron J Anderosn
Very cool Emm. Getting those wide shots are always a challenge. I'm still messing with the bmpcc camera. Are using the bmpcc.thanks
Derrick
Emm,
I wonder how the LMH6 (Kowa 6mm) would look. I'd think excellent.
Emm
Post author@Joseph - Well the image gets a little bit sharper when going from 4K down to 1080p, so actually you're not losing much. My settings are typically at 0 or less so you can also add post sharpening. I have another video showing other samples here: httpss://cheesycam.com/gh4-4k-vs-1080p-crop-view-with-fisheye-lens-de-fish-to-1080p-test/
Joseph
What's the SHARPNESS like before and after defishing?