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Hack feature suggestion: High Dynamic Film Mode on GH2
  • apefosapefos

    The GH3 has a new film mode called HIGH DYNAMIC. It takes the raw information from sensor and delivers an image with improved dynamic range before compression.

    So would be possible to the hack to implement this film mode in GH2 ?

    The Canon cameras have a great feature, they allow the users to create film modes in computer and load these film modes to the camera, Canon call them Picture Styles. There are some Picture Styles to allow better dynamic range available for download. It would be great to the hack to try to create a Film mode or manipulate one of the available Film Modes in GH2 to do a better DR.

  • 16 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    We had similar suggestions countless times.

    To make anything like it we need to fully understand how film modes work in Panasonic cameras.

  • apefosapefos

    So can we hope or would be better forget?

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    I am working on this good amount of time.
    I'll be trying few new approached soon.

  • apefosapefos

    Great to know!

    I think something with the same dynamic range approach found in Canon LIGHTFORM Picture Style will be great. Maybe Lightform website and the canon Picture Style Editor software can give you some ideas in how to calibrate the GH2 film mode. Our forum have lots of information about Picture Styles and PSE software also.

  • apefosapefos

    Nostalgic is the best film mode for shadows

    Cinema is the best film mode for highlights

    So if you copy the shadow values from nostalgic and paste into cinema, it will be a good beginning.

    After that you can go further improving it.

  • fatpigfatpig

    great to hear that possibilities for DR are still being looked at in GH2, even with the GH3 arriving. Lets see what this new film mode accomplishes on the GH3. :) Something like it on the GH2 would surely be big news :)

  • balazerbalazer

    apefos, best film mode for what? Nostalgic mode compresses the shadows less, which is better for when there's a lot happening in the shadows and you want to grade. But if you don't plan to grade, it gives more dynamic range to the highlights, which is better if you are having problems with overexposure. It's the reverse for cinema mode. But it totally wouldn't work to take part of the nostalgic curve and replace part the cinema curve. You'd be re-using part of the output range. These two film modes have similar dynamic range, and just represent different trade-offs between the shadows and highlights. What we need is a new curve with greater input range and/or greater output precision.

  • apefosapefos

    Maybe you are correct, maybe i am correct, but I think VK knows what to do. If he keep going in a nerd behavior, like I did in the adapter, he will find the way.

  • MirrorkisserMirrorkisser

    Would be outstanding to get new profiles and more DR on the gh2. As of now many people have just recently bought the gh2, while others are skipping on the gh3, as it -as far as it can be judged at this point- is not the hoped messiah. Long live the gh2! :)

  • apefosapefos

    If GH2 could do this, it would be a dream come true (roll over images to compare):

    http://www.cineplus.ch/

  • BlueBomberTurboBlueBomberTurbo

    @apefos If there's enough data in the seemingly blown out portions, you can still recover the detail with something like AE's Shadow/Highlight filter. I use it all the time on clouds and white objects in daylight (and auto mode works GREAT on GoPro vids!). The pics on that site can easily be recovered with the same filter, in the same way they display.

  • apefosapefos

    I did some experiments with shadow/highlight and yes, it works, but not for all situations. Problem is when you shoot clouds in sky at same time with people under building shadows you have to chose because if you expose for highlight and try to lift the shadow image will be ugly, and if you expose for shadows the clouds will clip after 100% and cannot recover. the Lightform takes the raw data from Canon sensor and do the best to recover highlight and shadows before compression and this works better because raw data can recover better. This is what we need for GH2, a film mode to recover highlight and shadow from sensor raw data before compression.

    this post shows some experiments to recover shadows in post unsuccessfully:

    http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/93513#Comment_93513

  • Ian_TIan_T

    What about just stabalizing the iDynamic function in the GH-2 to work "all of the time" instead of sporadically?

  • sammysammy

    That would make a world of difference ..im wishing that somehow that would be possible

  • apefosapefos

    I started a topic about i.dynamic lock some time ago and VK said he already did some try and no success until now. I also did some tests with i.dynamic with kit lens and nikon lens. It works good with kit lens, but does not work with nikon lens, it seems it needs the information from the kit lens to work properly.

  • BlueBomberTurboBlueBomberTurbo

    Yup, I was never able to see a difference in iDynamic, even if it showed it was active, until I picked up a native lens.

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