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Panasonic G6 topic, GH2 replacement camera
  • 1330 Replies sorted by
  • Hi,

    I've been shooting today using the ETC mode for the first time and there are a few shots on which a strange noise appears, some kind of lines moving from top to bottom in a small light part of the image, with ISO 160 and daylight.

    I shot with noise reduction set to -5 in natural mode, and noise may be related to this. Do you have any suggestions concerning the noise reduction settings?

    Thanks in advance.

  • @naphta What type of lighting are you using, and what was the shutter speed?

  • @maranfilms, I shoot at ISO 160 and ETC all the time and have never once seen any sort of banding at shutter speeds between 1/60th and 1/125th. I shoot almost exclusively in 1080-60p mp4 though. YMMV in avchd mode.

    If you boost iso to 1600 and up there can be some quite nasty fixed pattern noise in the dark area's even with NR set to 0 and either the natural or Std profiles.

    Cheers, Pete

  • I think I have a faulty sensor, I get some really weird noisy banding issues on my copy, I wasn't sure if they all had the issue, but I kind of suspected it just may be mine. These have a 1 year warranty don't they? if that's the case, I should send it in and have it looked at.

    Would it be possible to try these settings on your copy and see if you get the same issue. go to ETC mode, Put on your lens cap, then go into your iso settings, scroll through them and see if you see any weird banding, but do it in a low light scenario, sometimes I don't see them until I hit record, other times it's the opposite, If your unable to see any issues I will post up what im getting. thanks c3hammer:-)

  • @maranfilms I will have to try using A and P modes as well, then, because almost all my lenses are manual. Also, the rotary phone was just out getting cleaned the day of that shoot. ;)

  • @Mckinise It was daylight, AVCHD 24fps, shutter speed 1/50.

  • @Naptha, yes, that horizontal noise banding is exactly what I'm talking about. So either we both have faulty cameras, or the others haven't shot in a situation when it occurs. I found Magic Bullet denoiser helps to clean it up, but it is there after, just harder to notice. As I mentioned above, I'm not a big fan of ETC, I prefer using a longer focal length as it's less noisy and seems sharper, but of course there's times when changing a lens is not practical, not to mention we paid for a camera with the feature, it should work. However I need to look into this more before I make any false statements regarding what may or may not even be an issue.

  • @maranfilms I've been watching the videos I shot yesterday and the horizontal noise banding appears only when using 42mm focal length of the Lumix vario 14-42 II on ETC mode, specially on clothes and stony walls. I tried putting the cap on the camera and scrolling the ISO and all I can see is noise, but no banding.

  • did you notice if the noise is less when scrolling through iso from right to left? It's prevalent on my copy, could you have a look and post your findings? you might have to zoom in a bit to notice the difference. thanks

  • @maranfilms, yes the noise is less when scrolling from right to left (3200 to 160). I've recorded and verified it on a screen and there's no banding except at 3200.

  • Thank you for confirming this, It's good to know i'm not going crazy or have a faulty camera. It's similar to the gh2 in that regard. I appreciate you doing that naptha, thanks again

  • Hi,

    long time PV user - first time poster.

    I'd like to ask some opinions - Here in the UK Panasonic are about to launch a spring promotion (it's a bit hush hush) the deal is, you buy a GH3, and get the battery grip and a 22mm 1.4 Panny lens thrown in for good measure. (could be a 24mm though) anyway, I currently shot with a G6 making music videos and youtube stuff, but I do occasionally shoot higher end stuff. Do i trade in the G6 (and pray it then doesn't get hacked the week after) and trade up to the GH3, or stick with the G6?

    I like the weather sealing feature, and the higher bitrates, but i'll miss peaking...

    I read somewhere that the GH3 has a smaller sensor - is this right?

    Will i see a big jump in quality? And if not is this deal too good to miss?

    Thanks in advance,

    Matt

  • Not a big jump. Get GH4, it will be a jump, sortof.

  • My only issue is - with trading in the G6, the move to GH3 won't cost very much, i have the 2 lens kit, and will trade them all in, along with an old Sony RX100 Mk1, so to go from G6 to Gh3 + nice prime and battery grip, I'm looking at sub £400?? Is it worth it?

  • I would not think of going from a camera with focus peaking to a camera with no focus peaking (I have enough of those!) is a wise move.

    I got an email about a special promotion on Panasonic TVs and the like today (in the USA). I bet they are just spring cleaning. They must have a lot of stock on GH3s in the UK, they need to get rid of in the next weeks.

  • I don't see the big deal with the focus peaking on the G6. From my experience it's not that great. If your using older primes it's not very effective at all. I prefer to use the magnify focus assist for critical focus.

    I came from using a Sony EX1. The focus peaking on that was far better and less temperamental. If I could trade my G6 for a GH3 for a minimal outlay I would. Sealed body, higher bit rates and it shoots in mov format (I'm mac based). Plus I think they are working on hacking the GH3. G6 won't be hacked anytime soon I thought.

  • OBgene, really 'oh wow...' ! Beautiful. Despite the slow motion, do you think is possible keep the same image quality using a GH2 with this lenses?

  • G6 users: I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on one of these – they are available at a very good price, my gh2 can't be trusted anymore (it looses files every now and then) and the gh4 won't arrive in time for my needs.

    Apart from good video, how do you like shooting stills with it and how do you like the handling?

  • for that price you won't regret it. I have both mostly use G6 for everything unless there is a need to shoot 24p highbitrate for a projectI use GH2. handling is almost like GH2. I like the stills too.

  • Here's the promotion for anyone interested... I have a G6 + 2 kit lenses, and an RX100 to flop in against the new body - which is all I will need to buy.... Pretty good deal I think.

    http://promotions.panasonic.co.uk/offer/lumix-gh3-free-lens-and-accessories/

  • @Spinsterboy

    We have this info, it is just in m43 bodies deals topic :-)

  • Hi guys, i own a hacked GH1 and i brought a G6 just a few weeks ago; like some others said, it feels a little too much like a toy (especially coming from a metal body like the GH series)... i always have fear of broke it by accidentally dropping down...

    One thing i noticed is that once you press the record button (full manual movie mode) the image took a diffrent tone than the one is displayed before recording. I.E. yesterday night i was making a test in my home, an while the preview showed a correct colour; once i pressed rec. the image turned way too much toward green... this happen even changing white balance and movie style (i used neutral and standard).

  • Decided to put up a few motion tests I did. Nothing fancy. Just some down and dirty clips to give you an idea of what each looks like.

    Camera: G6

    Location: Track meet.

    Settings/Style: Handheld. 24p. Three Shutter Speeds.

    1/40

    1/50

    1/60

    Sony Action Cam HDR-AS30 (Comparison Video if you are curious)

  • Hi PV! Long time reader, first time poster. I have a pair of G6's and was wondering if anyone's had the same struggles with this camera as I have. When it works properly, it's amazing! But when it doesn't...boy is it a pain in the ass and a bit embarassing in front of clients.

    Issue 1 - present on both of my G6's - Every so often, when I stop the recording, the camera will freeze up and not respond to any input including the power switch for an extended period (1-2 minutes) or until I pull the battery. One of my cameras has also frozen during recording and required a battery pull to make it respond again.

    Issue 2 - present on just one of my G6's - It is bricked. Worked perfectly one day (formatting cards and testing batteries the day before a big job) and then wouldn't turn on the next day. No warning or anything. I've tried multiple batteries, cleaning the electrical contacts with a Q-tip, etc. I always carry two backup options for each job so it wasn't an issue this time, but I'd obviously like to get it fixed.

    If anyone also has these issues and could help out, that would be awesome! If not, hopefully this post lets someone else know they are not alone...I could find very little other info about these issues online.

  • @AGSchear

    Isn't/wasn't it in warranty ? How would anyone but a qualified serviceperson know how to fix the 2nd ? and how could the first be present on the 2nd if it's bricked ? And as for the first, you need to give us more info. My g6 has worked perfectly so far. Were you using wifi ?