Hi Panini,

I've just bought a GH2 and I've also bought a 2/3" adaptor so I can use my broadcast Canon wide angle lens with it, I've also got a very nice matte box and filters to use on the rig but at the moment I'm struggling with a few issues the GH2 has in terms of strange strobe effects when in 24/25P mode and also the fact that the ISO setting reverts to auto in all modes except movie mode, this is a real bummer and Vitaliy says it CANNOT be sorted with a hack... Re the powered zoom, you can buy a Hirose connector and supply the lens with 12Volts to get motorised zoom, I guess this isn't such a big issue BUT I'm not sure about record start/stop via the ext. Mic control socket, do you have the required protocol information to control the camera via this socket?

Hi, I also use the manual 50i mode BUT the camera switches to auto ISO setting, it switches to auto ISO in ALL modes (when shooting video) except when in movie mode (but you can't shoot 50i in movie mode). Because you're shooting in manual mode and it's 50i there isn't any strobing (50 frames/second), but in progressive mode and 24P there are strobing problems, lots of people on this forum have discussed this point and Vitaliy is sick of people commenting about it, but I shoot video for a living and the strobing issue IS a problem, it's far worse than my full size Sony DSR-450 camera, not only that, the strobing effect seems to alter with lighting conditions. I use a shutter speed of 1/25, this gives the smoothest motion, anything higher and you start to get the 'plastic video' feel to motion, when shooting video with regular ENG cameras you don't have the shutter switched at all (only to cure frequency issues with monitors or lights, or of course because you need to get the shutter effect...). This is the item number (ebay) 260874837695 for the adaptor, it arrived yesterday and I've already done a little testing. Firstly the quality of the adaptor is very good, it's made to industrial standards and the quality is like what you would expect from film industry quality components, very good. It's fits the camera and video lens perfectly and this makes the whole set-up look very professional, you wouldn't be dissapointed if you buy one... My initial results from the first recordings are subjective, the weather yesterday was crap, very dull and not good for testing, BUT a couple of issues I picked-up are, 1; if the iris is FULLY open the image resolution drops (but close the aperture a little and it sharpens-up). 2; there is some chromatic distortion when you throw off the focus on bright high-lights, having said that I get the same thing when the lens is used on full size 2/3" ENG camera. I think we should also consider that the GH2 automatically corrects for chromatic lens errors when using the 'stock' supplied lenses (I have the cheap 14-42mm). From a resolution point of view the initial results using my Canon J9 x 5.2mm Wide angle lens are good, but like I said the weather didn't help yesterday. The image does stay in focus all through the zoom range but of course you must adjust the back focus on the lens first. I also tried the lens with the 2x extender switched OUT but enabled the ETC mode on the GH2, the results looked fine with no obvious optical issues. I've tested the external audio on the GH2 using a high quality external mic, the audio quality was actually very good with no side affects, so I wont be using the remote shutter option...

I think I can post my rig here as well.. Seems like what you are looking for, maybe you can use it as inspiration: http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a345/FW200/GH2Fuji8.jpg

@FW200 .. that is sooooo .. retro cool

I'm very surprised, I didn't think an SD VF would be any use for focus...

@ Galovoguru. thank you 4 you valuable info! I have also tracked this adapter on ebay. Thanks for confirming that this is a quality adapter - I´ll gona have one, too. I had the 25p/24p strobing experiance with my first JVC (GY HD100) I was not used filming with this kind of raw `time resolution´. I was used to 50i. With my next JVC i was able to use a 50p mode- which I still love... But you seem to have a different problem, because you are telling you don´t face this problem using your DSR-450 in 25p mode - strange... Regarding shutter speed: I use it sometimes also to aviod a aperture smaller 11 or 16, having set the ND-Filter already... With GH2 there is no ND and if you don´t have the opportunity to use filters, you only can dial down your ISO. What´s left then is shutter speed... Here again. When filming in 1080/50i using an exposure time of 50 it strobes at least in the viewfinder (I will test that with a recorded file) It is smooth when using 60 in my fiewfinder - that´s strage, too... so when there is motion I use 60... I´m filming in manual movie mode, AVC HD 1080i, rec quality FSH (42mb/s), exposure mode - M, bodyfirmware 1.1 and the actuell hack. My ISO does not change...

@ FW200. Where do you trigger the recording. Are you using the trigger button of your fujinon? If using a remote trigger, can you also use the mic in 4 audio?

It does say in the manual that you can start/stop recording using the remote shutter if you are in 'creative motion picture mode'. I also noticed looking at the picture of the panasonic remote that it uses a 4 Pin 2.5mm connector, the circuit diagram for the external mic/remote socket shows the fourth pin being used for something other than the left or right mic input, I think it may be possible to use this 4th pin for start/stop whilst still using external mic/s. I'm going to get a 4 pin mini jack and do some tests to see if I can trigger record...

That's an interesting rig! Do you have remote record start/stop? What lens are you using?

@Galvoguru & panini. I don't need any remote because I hold the GH2 body with right hand when shoulder filming. This lens is a Nikkor 17-55 DX 2.8, it has the perfect range for interviews and I use a Novoflex adapter to control aperture. The SoundDevice MixPre has better preamps than most camcorders so recorded quality is very good.

@Galvoguru

Good work. I'd like to see a circuit diagram here.

Have you looked at the schematics at http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/2555/gh2-hardware-modifications-not-for-the-faint-hearted#Item_22 ?

For some, audio mods are some sort of holy grail. There are simpler things we could tackle.

IMHO, the mainstay of ENG camera skill is the fast use of a true shoulder-mount. The solution for the DSLR's inability to be placed to the rear of the eye is a minimally - invasive mod. See http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/2555/gh2-hardware-modifications-not-for-the-faint-hearted/p1