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GH2 showing fixed darker band/stripe 20 pixels high across footage
  • 186 Replies sorted by
  • yea, compared to mine.

    i am uploading the file now to you-tube, its almost 1 gb.
    so to morrow morning i will post the link.
    i have used iso 640, 1250, 3200, 6400 and 12800 (with always one step back, except the last one 12800)
    with the higher iso's, go's the shutter to, between 1/25 and 1/200.
    Shot in 720p 50fps with tele2 and the Dynamic profile.... no correction or filters added.
    the image go's up and down from a light-source (PC monitor, to a wall and is out of focus)
    in this way it looks like the gh2 corrects the problem, ad least, thats what i think?

    Lens is a 14/150 Olympus F4-5.6

    Patch used is NINE http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/37520#Comment_37520
    To give a idea about it
    3/4 of the first image i just edited with neat video 2.6....
    other images untouched.
    ps, i will also do a 1080 24p, sorry my mistake to do it in 720, i practical always use that ;-o

    here it is.

    Image2.jpg
    1280 x 720 - 159K
    Image3.jpg
    1280 x 720 - 383K
    Image4.jpg
    1280 x 720 - 352K
    Image5.jpg
    1280 x 720 - 329K
    Image6.jpg
    1280 x 720 - 281K
  • @mozes

    I don't see it in yours at all. Maybe because of 720?

    Also, I forgot to mention I did another test, this time in black and white:

  • @mozes - I wonder what effect your lens may be having as I can hardly see any lines on your recordings. Wonder whether the Panny len's show this up a lot more.

    You got any you can use to re-do this test?

  • the tests are interesting but also useless to some point. even if you find out that some models behave a little bit better, there is no flawless gh2 regarding "the line". work around it if you can (avoid darkness, use fast lenses, low isos, 1/25 or just more light) move to something else or wait for the gh3 and pray that it won't have some similar or even totally new bug!

    ps: oh yeah and i fuckin hate this bug.

  • There is a lot in that stance @futur2. Defo one to work around. I really love using my GH2 - it produces stunning results and is a joy to use. Just annoying to be shooting in 1/50 all day then suddenly the line appears when it gets dark but there is still tons of street / car light etc. Changing to 1/25 is cool though. Just got to be sure to remember to do that. I suppose it's just that feeling that maybe a replacement might not show it up quite as much on my current unit..

  • @JamesAllenVisual you could as well end up with a worse model ;) just sayin...

  • Usually my luck.. lol :)

  • @JamesAllenVisual, i dont have a other lens ad the moment, maby over some months.

  • @futur2 But some perform a lot better. On my first one the line was consistent and almost black. The replacement has the line, but it's overall lighter and fades toward the center of the frame--much less noticeable. It's useful for people to have a reference to compare their camera to to decide if they want to keep it or if they want to play the sensor lottery and exchange it for another.

    @mozes I don't see the line in yours. Not at all. All I see are the rolling bands caused by electric lighting. Are you sure you're shooting in 1080p (24P Cinema mode)? I don't think it's the lens, the band shows up just fine with the full manual nokton.

  • yep i am sure, still have the mts file, its 37 sec. and 455mb. i can upload it, or make another example, just tell me what to film.

    Format : AVC
    Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
    Format profile : High@L4.0
    Format settings, CABAC : No
    Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
    Codec ID : 27
    Duration : 37s 204ms
    Bit rate mode : Variable
    Bit rate : 95.7 Mbps
    Maximum bit rate : 102 Mbps
    Width : 1 920 pixels
    Height : 1 080 pixels
    Display aspect ratio : 16:9
    Frame rate : 23.976 fps
    Color space : YUV
    Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
    Bit depth : 8 bits
    Scan type : Progressive
    Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 1.925

  • I started pixel peeping a lot. Sitting at home, causing this to happen. It frustrated me. Bugged the f**k out of me. I took a stroll (actually a bike ride) home from work yesterday. Magic hour, almost clear skies with some overcast, northern Europe (it was the last drops of light - violett and pinkish very nice). Took my cam out. Cranked it up to 1250 ISO, f3.5, stock lens - widest - did some recording. It looked beautiful (quantum 9b)! Some hints of the line at some times, but otherwise not noticible, and definitely managable in post.

    So real shooting scenarios guys! ;)

    @JamesAllenVisual - My cam exhibits the same as yours. I looked at your footage. It was cloudy and you pointed at the clouds. It seems to be most noticible in the mids. I don't mean it is OK, but you either take the fight or lay it to rest. Nothing wrong with persevering to ones cause though. ;)

    I've even seen it in ISO 800... lowlight greyish sorry-ass-scene with barely no colors.. ;) 640 is good though.

    My point? Don't have one really. Ha ha. Maybe it's just that we tend to get hung up on these things instead of being creative? Looking at a grey wall, a lens cap, or some smeared gray clouds might not be so interesting in your story telling after all?

    But as a human you always think, what if I missed out, what if there were something better? What if the other guys got something better? And it starts to bug you and chews focus from more important things.... :D

    (but really, that park-running-can't-remember-it's-name) you filmed was a little too much of that line I think. Return the cam! Nothing to lose really. MY cents

    (and see what anglo-saxian culture did to me, very nice english skills LOL <------------------ impressed by my own capability - Thank someone for deciding not to dub movies in my country - always subs - unless childrens stories... :P some public free schooling also of course - rant rant rant)

  • LMFAO. Thank you @kanintesova - really appreciate that, though half way through your post I was questioning whether to return it then you pointed out the 'Parkour' (like your name for it ;) )scene being worse than it should be. It was really obvious there. That is my main concern - that on almost every shoot I've done so far the line pop's up as soon as the evening set's in even with lots of street light.. Makes me think that if other's had the exact same sensor as me they would see it a lot more than many claim. So perhaps it is that mine is more on the obvious side.. My only concern was losing the Panasonic cashback that I have submitted for - but could always submit the new cam as well if they cancel the cashback on the first. Have till the 31st January...

    Need to think tonight.

    Thanks again for the input.

  • Right, well returning the gh2 to Amazon. They are arranging a brand new replacement to be sent out straight away. Then I can test both - see if there is a difference. Will report back.

  • just did a test again with the Flow Motion Patch v1.0
    again in 720 50fps, and there it is :(

    i will do another test with the Driftwood GOP1 AQ2 'AQUAMOTION' Experimental patch.
    i dident see it in sanity v3.1, and in the NINE [Quantum + P-frame 720] patch.

  • Just used the NINE -Updated patch.
    and its there but only in 1/60.............
    i am really confused now, i did try driftwoods AQ2 for Slow Motion Work in EX TELE mode patch. what have the same banding as the flow motion patch.
    but SANITY v3.1 looks way diffent, i must do that one again, its for what i film, and to my personal teast for me the best one ...
    and the nine patch, what i will try out some more.............

    NINE -Updated patch

  • Ok guys I've just done a quick test with my new GH2 against the old one and... result!

    The new one shows almost no line at all in the same conditions. It may be there very very faintly on certain shot's but hardly noticeable. The same shots on my old GH2 show the line completely obviously.

    The old one is serial starting: WE1HA

    The new ones is serial: WE1JA

    A totally different result on the new one which has pleased me greatly. Looks like my old one definitely had the line issue worse than other people and I can understand why some never see it.

    May be placebo but the LCD screen looks crisper on the new one.

    Will be doing more tests over the weekend and may look at doing a comparison video..

  • @JamesAllenVisual Good find, I'm glad that it worked out for you.

  • So Panny puts in a lot of effort to give everybody a camera with it's special personality, given it's a "characteristic" ;-)

  • I also stumbled over the darker band issue, starting from ISO 1250. Shooting with shutter of 25 is a preferable workaround. Personally I do not see any difference in motion between 25 and 50 in Cinema mode nor with 50i. But I should see identical Top/Bottom Fields with shutter 25 in 50i mode, which I do not. Strange Sorry, if you see images, they have nothing to do with this post, but with: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/2127/gh2-smearing-even-with-low-iso

    180-HorizontalBleeding.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 1M
    2500-horizontal bleeding.jpg
    1920 x 1080 - 1M
  • Thanks @Tommyboy - I'm really pleased I went for a replacement. Can't believe I almost didn't bother.

    Also thanks to @kanintesova for encouraging me to return it and confirming that it was showing up more than it should be on my test video.

    Off out to shoot some more Parkour today. I can really focus on enjoying this awesome camera now.. :)

  • @JamesAllenVisual

    Glad it worked out for you. That's what my replacement from panasonic was as well (WE1JA), and it was much better than the WE1SA it replaced.

    n=2, but I wonder if WE1JA is a good batch? I also noticed a similar thing with the lcd screen.

    It'd be cool if you could do a quick test of the new one to compare to the video I posted earlier (film a white wall in low light, -3 exposure, 12800iso), to see how much variation there is among cameras from a given batch.

    @mozes I see it now in your videos. It doesn't look too bad. What does your serial number start with?

  • Something new just happend.
    i have uploaded the Driftwood Aquamotion ver2 AQ2 to the gh2.
    and i just try what @shaun suggested. (film a white wall in low light, -3 exposure, 12800iso)
    Well .......... every option (m.s.a.p) give some difference results.
    But in M-Film mode, it sound some times if there is is something lose in the camera.
    Some sort of fast rattle sound. it gos away if i change the shutter speed or the iso, its mostly there if there is a stronge lightsource next to the camera.
    Its not there when the lightsource is behind me, or in front ???

    i dont think the patch have anything to do with it...

  • @shaun

    I'd definetely do that test but I haven't hacked my cam yet and was going to wait until 1.1 has been sorted. The hack allows ISO >3200 yeah?

    My only concern now - typical really - is that my new cam isn't as good visually as the old one. :( Been doing some tests and the original seems to have a richer and deeper look colours wise - less washed out. Though after doing ton's of tests last night I'm wondering if the sensors in each GH2 do have variations in terms of WB etc.. Could that be right? When increasing contrast to +1 or +2 that seemed to help with the new cam. I'm going to do some more tests soon and put a video together - would love to know what you guys think.