Tagged with gh2 - Personal View Talks

still picture hacks for pany u43 - Possible to use auto-iso in M mode?

Derway — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 03:24:45 +0000

I have 2 main complaints that keep me away from buying a gh2, or g3, or gfn, or gx1. These are 2 standard features in every oly pen, or canon or nikon DSLR! They belong in cameras of this caliber.

For underwater photo, we always use strobe, and either A mode, (to maximize control of DOF and balance ambient and strobe exposure), or full M mode, to control blur and DOF, and balance the 2 exposures.

But with these pana cams, at these price ranges, there is no way to do the obvious. The A mode with flash forced on, is broken, since it allows 1/30 or 1/60 sec SS, which is way too slow, and will blur fish. Hoping that "intelligent ISO" will notice the movement, and do the right thing is absurd.

Is there a hack for specifying what the slowest SS allowed in "A mode, with flash" should be? (And bump the ISO if it is in auto, or just leave the exposure low, if not in auto ISO).

The alternative is to use full M mode, to specify SS and A for control over DOF, blurring, and ambient/strobe exposure balance. But this is so much easier in oly PENs, for example, which allow you to use auto iso in M mode, in 1/3 EV steps.

So, is there a hack for this? To make auto iso in M mode, set the ISO according to the meter reading? This sounds tougher.

Are these hacks possible? And for what cameras?

If you wanted to really beat the OLY/Nikon/Canon crowed, allowing us to use exposure compensation in M mode, to shift the ISO selection accordingly, would be awesome!

Is the firmware fully disassembled at this point? Can we all work on it too?

Thanks!
Don

Cine lenses and gh2

RRRR — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 19:29:40 +0000

It seems like theres a bunch of people who shoot with a bigger budget aswell. :)
I'm curious as to your experiences with the gh2 and cine lenses?

Experiences of individual lenses (on other cameras) will also do nicely, as long as we're talking cine lenses.

PTool v3.62d topic

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 02:36:20 +0000

PTool v3.62d released

https://www.personal-view.com/faqs/gh2-hack/ptool-software

GH2:
- Improved bitrate patches
- Improved GOP patches.
- Improved MJPEG size patches.
- Added quantizer patches.
- Added few other encoder related patches.
- Few fixes, including 24L behaviour.

1. You'll need this base firmware:
http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/330/new-gh2-firmware-leak

2. StreamParser by Chris Brandin as help tool to analyse AVCHD streams -
https://www.personal-view.com/faqs/gh2-hack/ptool-software

Other good idea is also use trial version of Elecard StremEye - http://www.elecard.com/en/download/products.html

3. Remember that Testers section patches are for testers. Use simple bitrate patches.

4. How can I make encoder hold better in low detailed scenes?
Use Auto Quantizer patches.

5. How to update firmware:
a. Load GH2 1.0E firmware, see 1. how to get it.
b. Check all necessary patches, Version increment must be always checked.
c. Save firmware. Just change last digit to any number you want.
d. Copy firmware to root of SD card. Fully charge you battery. Do not even attempt to use AC coupler!
e. Power off your camera if it was on.
f. Power on camera. After this press (not hold) green play button.
g. You'll see hourglass and prompt to update.
h. Press down arrow and after this Menu/set.
i. Wait until upgrade will be completed.

6. How to privide reports in this topic?
0. Post here only problems and questions about new patches. For all else we have special topics.
a. Use systematic approach (one-two changes at a time with careful thinking).
b. Shift-Click on round button in PTool to save your particular settings.
c. Paste here settings with detailed observation + MediaInfo screenshot + StreamAnalizer screenshot.

7. If anyone wants to share uncompressed video - you can use http://www.pipebytes.com/ or http://www.sendoid.com/ to instantly share very large files.
Of course you need good connection as it uses p2p tech.

8-999. Reserved.

Don't cry for your 5k dinocam (Post Scarlet world realities)

alcomposer — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:47:54 +0000

In this post scarlet world- where do the high level 5k+- cameras fit in?
Who is now interested in purchasing a Sony- Canon for 5k+- if for 9k you get RED? (forget about the new Canon 15k that was comedy relief).

Also - with GH2 being a prosumer camera (if not WTF is it really) what do Panny think will happen?
Semipros will even move up to RED (which will only get cheaper) and if your not a pro- you would buy that Pink Panny.

Point is - the mid range is endangered now with such high quality so close to the masses fingertips? (or am I totally nuts?)
The GH2 is endangered (and GH3) if Panny don't get REAL and unlock the potential of that sensor.

Is there a solution for longer file lengths than 4 minutes with Driftwood settings?

Jon2323 — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:43:58 +0000

Hi Guys,

I've been testing the: *** NEW **** Driftwood INTRA Patch: 'AQuarius' 1080p24 AQ3 with 720p50 AQ3. Posted Nov 3. (This is the only GH2 hack I've used, as I've just bought the camera)

I've been having problems with files longer than 4 minutes. The camera just shuts off at about 3:58, and Final Cut wont recognise the file, although shorter files on the same card are recognised sometimes. I'm also getting the '!' logo over the file picture in playback mode (see image attached)

Is this problem solved by using the UHS-1 Sandisk cards?

Thanks
Jon

Sandisk 8GB - Class 10 - 30MB/s
Final Cut Pro 7.0.3

35mm Rokinon Light Reflection due to UV filter

Tommyboy — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 23:43:48 +0000

Does any one know what is causing this light reflection in the lens. What is the technical term for it?
How can I avoid it in the future? Can I remove it in post? Just point me in the right direction so I can educate myself.

GH2.... The need of recognition.

danyyyel — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:47:58 +0000

I think the hacked gh2 is in need of recognition, what I mean is that until now is that many people either don't know about it or some just dish it because it is not a Canon. Without any comparative benchmark we just have to speculate. The gh2 is a true DSLR 2, true high definition, no moire/aliasing, proper monitoring and autofocus. Now with the hack is even much much better. But many are still thinking that DSLR technology will have these inherent flaws because the Canon do. It is as if only the Canon exists. Look how many are or starting to claim the 1 DX is going to be the second generation dslr.

It is really tiring outside of here to go and preach the hacked gh2 merit if we don’t have some benchmark. Until we have some good test of the gh2 against some of the industry standard camera or at the very least some other dslr, we will have no ground to change the perception towards that little wonder cam. Do I expect the gh2 to beat the red/Alexa in terms of resolution or dynamic range, hell no. But if it approaches it in any way I think it will be no mean feat.
What I love about the hack gh2 is that it could be a truly disruptive technology. What I mean is that this industry is really the most conservative I have seen. If you compare it to any other electronic ones, the progress has been at snail pace. Compare it to the photo industry where you have 18 mega pixel raw cameras for $ 700. No surprise that the affordable large sensor camera came by accident to the video world through the photo technology. Now what the hack gh2 shows is that there is enough power in a $ 800 camera body to make intra codec at 200+ megabit. It shows how this industry is conservative and should change.

I hope that with some good test, the gh2 could get a true recognition to a much bigger crowd and force this industry to move much quicker. No more excuse that it will cost thousands of dollar more for 10 bit etc...

GH2 Hack Not Working, Solved

ycabrera — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 23:56:18 +0000

I tried to figure this out as much as I can before going to the forums. But I'm doing something wrong. I used to have a GH1 which I've hacked successfully numerous times. But something isn't going well for me in my attempt to hack the GH2.

So here's what I did:

Prep:

1. Downloaded pTools 3.62D
2. Downloaded base firmware
3. Grabbed Driftwood patch

Process:

(I first preformatted the card in-camera)

1. I open pTools 3.62
2. I load base firmware.
3. I choose setting "B"
4. I save firmware as GH2_V11.bin (original GH2_V10.bin)
5. I load SD card with bin file in root directory.
6. I press playback button.
7. I get "No Valid Image to Display."

When I did the same thing with my GH1, I would get the prompt if I wanted to version up.

Any thoughts?

GH2 - Can I change lens during recording?

paralion — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:19:12 +0000

To avoid having more work synching seperately recorded audio after filming a performance, I wondered if it can do any harm to the GH2 if I change the lens WHILE recording (if that is even possible, i haven't tried it out yet).
I am using panasonic AND third party lenses. (minolta AF, canon fd)

Olympus ED-lenses on GH2

simensito — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 14:30:49 +0000

Hi, I got the GH2 and today I found some Olympus gear at home. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the gear (quality/useability) and if an adapter would make them work fine on the GH2? I guess it's a Olympus E-1 package we got some time ago:

Olympus Zuiko Digital:
14-54mm 2.8-3.5
50mm 2.0 Macro ED
50-200mm 2.8-3.5 ED

I already have:
Sigma 30mm 1.4
Nikkor 18-70 3.5-5.6
Panasonic 14-140 3.5-5.6

Not a big fan of zooms I have found out tho.

Hope anyone could give some advice!
Thanks

My GH2 Checklist -Please feel free to use it :)-

No_SuRReNDeR — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 19:22:18 +0000

I created a checklist to keep me from making mistakes when setting up my GH2 for production. Some of these things are "No-Brainer" things and I realize its a bit anal to use a checklist but... I think its easy to forget this stuff when your working a long shoot and at 4am the coffee is wearing off. Hope someone finds this useful it saves me from allot of mistakes. I did it as a half sheet sized doc that you can tweak etc.

*Edit fixed shutter settings should be 60p 1/125 and 60i 1/60... See several post below for correct file.

Official Low GOP topic, series 2

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:06:45 +0000

Second part for hacks with low GOP numbers

Previous part see at:
http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/421/official-low-gop-topic

GH2 Possible Improvements

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:32:07 +0000

This topic is dedicated to improvements of GH2 firmware you would like to see.

Here is list of previous collected suggestions -

25mm f1.4 Leica Summilux D four thirds ?

feha — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 16:57:27 +0000

I'm about to buy this lens, however i see two different types of same lens, one with 62mm thread and one with 46mm,
is there any difference or I'm wrong ?
Have anyone experience with this lens ?

For Sale: Panasonic GH2 Filmmaker Package

Chrispy — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:00:50 +0000

Hello all,

I've enjoyed being a part of this forum the last several months and trying out the hacks, responding to a few posts, etc. and thought this would be one of the best places to let people know I am selling one of my two Panasonic GH2's. Lots of extras....

Please check out my eBay listing....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120798994002?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Thanks, Chrispy

ST: AVCHD Encoder team

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 05:19:09 +0000

This topic is made to form AVCHD focused strike team (we'll have also HDMI team and few others).

Who is strike team member:
1) First, it is very systematic tester, doing all tests accordingly to the provided list in time.
2) Second, all team members will have access to prerelease beta versions.
3) Third, prior testing expirience is required.
4) Forth, strike team members are responsible for making recommended settings before release.

You can apply below.

Is GH2 cinema mode 24 or 23.976 fps?

evero — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:18:56 +0000

Just a quick question regarding the 24 fps mode on GH2. Is it 24 fps, or 23,976 fps? Just wondering, for setting up settings correctly in Premiere when editing.
Thanks

How to find out White Balance setting by Presets?

stoney — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:14:49 +0000

GH1 and GH2 have preset 1 and 2 for setting white balance. Is there any way to display the color temperature value when the preset 1 or 2 is set by the camera?

If I know the color temperature value of ambient light, I could set LED lights like 312AS to similar color temperature.

20 Megabyte a second setting

Ausboy — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 07:16:02 +0000

I think you guys are gonna love this.

http://www.henryolonga.net/Blog/?p=1893

Sorry but on the road for a few days so may be slow to respond. All the detail is on my blog. Dunno how to upload file here so if someone wants to download it and add it that would be great. In summary.................

Folks,

Once in a while a revolution occurs that sets up the little guys for success. For sooooo long it has impossible to get a combination of an affordable large sensor camera that is; good in low light, that has minimal aliasing, that has a great codec, that has interchangeable lenses, that is convenient enough to put in your pocket, that is small enough to shoot without attracting attention etc. That is until the GH2 came along. But oh the codec – what a disappointment. Although it was 24 Mb/sec AVCHD those of us who were used to HDMI capture were never satisfied. Mud, compression artifacts and poor colour grading potential. UNTIL NOW!!!!!

A well known hacker in the GH2 community called Vitaliy permitted me to be part of the HDMI beta testing team but it became clear that in camera recording was so much more convenient and recquired fewer tricks. So……….. I tweaked and tweaked until I came up with a patch that gives all wanna be indie movie makers quality that they only dreamed of months ago IMHO. This patch will in most cases give you sustained 20 megabytes a second data. That is close to Cineform data rates. In fact conversion to Cineform has a similiar data rate. Stock up on SD cards and batteries – your gonna love it!!!!! I have 6 now as the average data rate will be about 1,2 Gigabytes a minute. If the files do not span that means an average take of 3 and a bit minutes. You need the Class 10 Sandisk extreme 30 MB/sec cards HD Video. Avoid UHS1 cards for now. No real issues as far as stability goes as long as you follow the simple rules. Use manual lenses or use your Panansonic micro four thirds lenses in Manual mode and focus prior to shooting.

If you are interested in colour grading with Cineform looks check out my post here and I have included some free looks.

Thank you Vitaliy. YOU ROCK!!!!!

Ladies and Gentlemen. I Present to you the Holy Grail of independent movie making…………….. the Henry Olonga Holy Grail patch for the GH2

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

25p official topic, aka Don't cry for me Argentina

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:28:38 +0000

In this topic we'll collect all GH2 25p wishes and cries. :-)

Music video I shot with my 3 unhacked GH2's

brianluce — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 06:06:36 +0000

ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS

rbna — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:02:44 +0000

Hi,

I'm opening a new thread here as I realize that much of the basic information for absolute GH2 hacking beginners is quite hard to find in this forum (going through this right now myself), and even the "Basics and Beginners" forum preassumes some knowledge that, entering this field, again is hard to find.

I would like to compile a baisc guide with procedures and definitions, and grow it as we go along. I (and beginners like me) would be very endebted to you verterans if you could look over these postings and let us know if the assumptions are indeed correct.

If you guys "greenlight" the information (and/or add to it / correct it), we can then file on it, make it more specific, and even more user friendly.

I realize that much of this must be a kindergarden excersise for most of you… but please, do help us to grow up!

And: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR WORK!

___

Here is the first set of what I believe to have understood - please to have your way with it!:

(1)
The GH2 Firmware v1.0E is the current hack for the GH2 firmware. It allows to change bitrate settings (that are fixed in the factory settings), as well as other manipulations that Panasonic locked in their version.

(2)
A "patch" is a specially formatted text document (ending with .ini) that contains a unique set of user-defined bitrate and other settings. Many creative useres on this forum have been extensively playing around with the numbers in these settings, trying to find a balance between stability (i.e. no crashes, freezes, drops etc.) and highest possible image quality - sometimes knowingly sacrificing some of one to benefit the other.

(3)
The "PTool v3.62d" is a Windows based software that lets you load the hacked GH2 Firmware v1.0E and marry it with a patch that you may select. The PTool will create a new firmware package, called something like "GH2_V11.bin", which can be loaded into the camera via an SC card through a special procedure.

(4)
In order to use a different bitrate setting, one needs to use a different patch, and hence go back into the PTool, load another patch, output a new .bin firmware, and load that into the camera via the SC card again.
Hence, within one firmware, one cannot switch between different patches, or settings. Once uploaded into the camere, ther is exactly one 24H setting, on 24L setting and so forth one can use. To use a different bitrate, one has to go through the PTool process again.
Alternatively, one could just get a few cheap 2GB or so SD cards, and load a different firmware/patch on each one. This way, in the field new patches could be loaded at liberty, without the need of a computer or going back to the PTool. (Of course, these cards would not be used for recording, but ONLY to load firmware patches.)

(5)
In order to get a new patch into PTool, one just saves the selected patch .ini in the same folder than the PTool. Once starting the PTool, it will recognize the patch, the corresponding letters at the bottom of PTool will be green and can be clicked.

(6)
The most conservative and highly tested bitrate suggested by Master Vitaliy is 42M. The highest bitrate that seems to be absolutely stable is 66M, provided by CBRADIN (66M_44M stable or 66M_44M max variation patch).

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR CORRECTIONS.

GH2 in Taiwan or Singapore

LongJohnSilver — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 12:00:44 +0000

Hi guys,

I will be there several times in the next few weeks,
Any suggestion where to find a GH2 body and the average price there?

Thank you in advance

A good removable camera strap for the GH2

jimtreats — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:32:42 +0000

I wondered if anyone knew of any decent removable camera straps for the GH2.

I've always been a bit peeved that the camera strap eyelets on the GH2 move, if you move the camera around a little vigurously these things hit the camera and make a noise. To be honest your footage would probably be jello mess if you did this anyways.

My main issue is since getting a steadicam i had to take the strap off as it was just a nightmare balancing with it on. However i rarely use the steadicam so would like a strap from time to time, one that's more easily removed than the stock one with its threaded knot and slider.

Anyone know of a good one?

My final "non-hacked" GH2 piece of work

ed_lee83 — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:29:39 +0000

Of course a lot of GH2 buddies here talk about the latest hacks and developments. So I'd like to take a step back into the ancient time of "28mpbs" and introduce my latest work which also happens to be my final video shot using standard AVCHD.
It was only shot a few days before Mr Kiselev released the first hack tools for the GH2 (but only now published by 686). How I was both excited and disappointed! I could have really used the hack to boost the shadow details.
The following video was shot using only Lomo prime lenses.

Other than the fact that today's hacks allow us to shoot up to crazily 176mbps, has it changed your shooting style or film making method?

Thanks for watching

GH2 Long Recording Problems

whynot — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:33:34 +0000

Hello I hope to use my GH2 for recording long takes (Between 4hrs and 7hrs).
I have done some tests at 4hrs on a Transcend 64GB Class 10 card. (Card was reformatted prior to recording)
Recording at 24p FSH (Unhacked GH2) AVCHD
Using a powerpack.

When I look at the recorded files there are a few dropped or corrupted frames at the beginning of each 4GB section.
Has anyone else come across this problem? I thought the camera was supposed to handle spanning without any problems on an unhacked GH2?
I am doing a test on a sandisk Class10 32 GB card presently to see if the card is the problem.
Any suggestions would be welcomed as this puts an stop on my current project.

Help with Soligor/generic 1.33 anamorphic lens.

Gabel — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 08:52:33 +0000

So I picked up this anamorphic yesterday (seller said it was a Soligor, but it could just be a generic one. It says "ANAMORPHIC LENS, Made in Japan" on it), a steal at about $120 (keep in mind I live in Sweden, one of the world's most expensive countries). It's a 52mm diameter, so it fits my Nikon lenses perfectly and has some really nice flares (see picture of my friend taken under here, taken with a 28 2.8 at f/4 and ISO around 1600).
Sharpness seems ok, especially with stuff at a distance. But this thing needs a diopter which brings me to my second point.

That damn lens hood! Firstly I'm a matte box user and that thing gets in the way. Secondly, it won't take filters. So I need to get a solution to this.
One is to get a new front, if these exist (the front says called DC-S HOOD 72mm).
The other is to remove the hood. Here was a guide on how to remove one from a Nikon lens and I'm guessing this technique would work here too though.

But it won't take filters. As I have yet to find any 4X4 diopters (I hear Tiffen makes them, but haven't been able to find them), but if these exist, this would work great.
Otherwise I could try to fit a filter holder on the front. The area around the lens is recessed as you can see, which I think could work to mount a step ring to get a filter gear.
But would it work to mount a diopter behind the lens? Then I could just get a 52mm one that I could mount in between the anamorphic lens and my lenses. This would mean I won't have to mount a step ring.

My GH2 was burned in 0.001 second and repaired for 1.5 hour and 100 bucks.

_mike_ — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 07:24:30 +0000

The day before yesterday I've bought Energizer 18000 lithium battery and connected it to my beloved gh2 camera. I felt awful seeing the light didn't come up and after checking with battery it was obvious - the camera is dead. I was lucky enough to have main Panasonic service in 1km from my office. I told them that connecting the wrong polarity power source caused mulfunction and asked for urgent repair. 100 bucks and hour an a half makes my camera ready for shooting again. Actually I could ask them to make it on warranty, but I needed it immediately. Always!!!! Always check the polarity and voltage with tester before connecting anything to camera!!!! The second option is to use diode - I even think about inserting it inside the power coupler... So in case of wrong polarity - nothing will happen )

What is the best solution for shooting in the freeze?

GOODEMPIRE — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 00:10:56 +0000

How does GH2 stand? How long does the battery last (especially when doing timelapses) Any alternatives to 7D in terms of weather resistance?

A poem shot on GH2

kazuo — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:56:28 +0000

I recently acquired a couple of lenses and decided to let them out of the bag.

Had less than an hour's coverage, shot with an unhacked GH2.

Here's the clip: