Try closing ptools, make a new folder called Quantum, redownload latest ptools dated '200212', redownload firmware v1.11 from Panasonic, redownload Quantum patches and copy them all to the new Quantum folder. Rerun ptools, save Orion to firmware, and see if that helps.

mmm, I also tried the Flowmotion patch. Had the exact same thing, but then I uploaded it again in my camera and now it doesn't freeze anymore..... strange, but will try the Quantum V4 again!

@thomasso Did you try v4b Orion patch? It's the last one listed of the beginning of the post. Driftwood updated the Orion and Rocket patch today. Salud

Pictoris is baby Quantum 50M/75M tops. SpanMy... is 100M tops. Pictoris is being put through the paces at the moment :-)

A little off topic, but I found v1 really impressive both in terms of image quality and file size:

Any Rocket or Orion users have tried both?

Conclusion:

We are back at point 0. The rules have changed. We have to start testing everything again (and keep in mind what we have learned so far). Big thumbs up to @Driftwood @Cbrandin @Vitaliy_Kiselev for their amazing work. The party is just getting started. If we continue like this, the GH2 has a very bright future ahead.

What we need now is some test reels that toggle through all the settings (filmmodes, sharpening, contrast, noise reduction, saturation) and their combinations to see how that influences Orion.

@stray Good to have you back. You always seem to pop-up at the right time with your spot-on analysis.

Agree with Stray that "all" the controls for image settings (color, sharpness, contrast, noise reduction) have dramatic effects on the end picture quality when using Quantum X Orion b.

This is great news because we now have a patch that gives us the control.

IMO I think people should leave the settings at 0 and run tests before dropping down to -1 or -2 (or boosting if desired).

Second thing I am noticing is how much "different" all my lenses look. I believe that older hacks (and panny original settings) had a baked in sharpness that made lenses look similar, perhaps even giving what I call fake resolution. I have a large 46inch TV that I am playing back footage on and Orion looks great to me. Really does. Micro detail is still there when I use the Zeiss 100mm F2.0 macro lens (nikon mount). But the out of focus areas just seem to roll off so smooth and natural. Again I love it!

But to sum up what Stray is getting at - #1 work with the settings, and #2 test all your lenses - imo a crap lens will look more like a crap lens with Orion. Also the "differences" between lenses I own seem magnified (perhaps my imagination but we will see what others think) so using "matched" lenses (Zeiss CP primes - many Oly lenses are similar in color etc) might have a big advantage when shooting with Orion.

Ill post samples tonight...

Cheers!

Looking forward to your results @kholi. Post some here!

@ricker i'd really like to see a good example of 9b beeing superior to orion. could you post one? i just set up a very short and unscientific test at home and i have a hard time discerning any difference between the two.

the "dead pixel line" as you call it is probably this http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/693/gh2-showing-fixed-darker-bandstripe-20-pixels-high-across-footage/p1 the goddamn effin plague of this otherwise brilliant camera that cant be cured.

I forgot you will have to have some post processing knowledge also.

@cosimo_bullo Ha, yes I noticed the improvement in the grain in the shadows too. It seems to be consistent too.

@proaudio4 Its pretty difficult for me to make anything approaching a qualitive judgment on the difference in grain quality between 9b and Orion tbh. Its something I havent really built a test for yet (not hard to do though). My gut tells me however that 9b is going to have an edge over orion, which I guess is what you expect too. But the noise seems er.. somehow 'tidier' (less fizzy) its definitely not OMG! noticeably worse. I do feel there is noticeably more mid&low frequency noise apparent in the chroma channels, but its not hard to remove. Thats just a feeling btw, I wouldn't say it were a fact without more testing. I think what driftwood said above is key to how we need to think about this, "How sharpeness works in our GH2 profiles is probably down to some further factor placed on the Quantization Matrix and its scalers (enhancing the high-frequency characteristics by +- a sort of add 'n' to 'x' factor). However, it could very well be artificial... again only testing can tell."

The encoding has been radically changed here, all bets are off, most of our previous assumptions need to be retested. Sharpening in camera maybe isn't going to get back to the detail levels we have without the matrix but I don't think thats a bad thing myself. My personal experience is that with the in camera sharpening you can get a good enough detail.

The image out of orion was too soft for some of my lenses, making post work a bit more of a pain (for the specific work I'm doing that is, which is putting short video sequences into a 3D CG environment). Also contrast in camera I feel can have as much, if not more, of a positive effect than tweaking sharpness in camera if your finding image softness a problem. But yeah, you may lose latitude for CC work etc.. Using the two controls together is working out fine for what I need right now. This is all related to what I need though. Its still going to be a lens, shot, what you want influenced decision like always. But, try altering the settings, I understand entirely your misgivings about the in camera sharpening, its not that bad with this matrix, I've no idea why though. Hell I'm a post monkey, sharpening and altering contrast in camera is something that I just don't do.. normally. But if its giving me a better starting point for going in to post, which it is, then I will. I wish I had more time to test today, but the tests I've managed so far, particularly with the smooth profile, are looking really positive. I think I'm getting the measure of it, in terms that the changes I make are producing the results I'd expect from them.

I think its also worth revisiting that godawful in camera noise reduction too, will give that a workout tomorrow. I think it may be even more of a 'no. don't touch that' than it was before now, as it seemed to create a look akin to a gaussian blur, but you never know, things can surprise you.

@itscehris You don't have to post the same video twice (can you EDIT one of the links out please). All I can say is try Orion. You decide.

double post