It's Official: Firmware Update for DMC-GH2 / G3 / GF3 / GF2 coming

alcomposer

@Micius, you probably should get it out and have a play for 10 mins, you may even like it?! 24 looks amazing anyway, (and most of the material that is played on TV in PAL countries originates in NTSC/24p anyway!)

kazuo

Why? have you actually tried using it? its still a great video camera with or without 25p.

Micius

If 25p will not available in December, I'm going to sell my GH2 - still new...never used for this reason.

Donnie88

Very excited about the new 25p possibility! Hopefully a nice patch to go along with the 25p would come about too. I always had faith in Panasonic!

alcomposer

@kazuo if there is a good stable 25p patch we should all rejoice as this would allow VK to 'hack it up!'
Same with any other 'fixes' available in the new firmware. VK can 'improve' them! (and secretly I am hopeful of a nice HDMI fix!)

kazuo

Actually 24mbps is good enough for most applications, even broadcast although I must admit having seen the quality produced by the hacks, 24 is nothing.

Still I'd very happy if there is 108025p at 24mbps with the new patch

mpgxsvcd

I am updating the second it comes out. For the things I do the higher bit rate hacks are not necessary. However, the 1080p @ 30 FPS could be very useful. I also can't wait to get the longer burst rate mode and some of the other new features.

I can test it if no one else is willing to try it.

adventsam

Are people going to update the gh2 firware or wait?

bwhitz

I've noticed that I only see the band intermittently... mostly only under artificial lighting, doesn't seem to show up much under natural conditions. Maybe it's a weird light frequency thing?

alcomposer

@All, this isn't really an issue- as such high ISO footage needs lots of processing to look broadcast/cinema quality anyway... hence... a little bit more is not that much of an issue... comes with the price of high ISO's.

(Think of all the processing the guys on Superman Returns had to do to fix that 1pixel dead line on ALL of their footage!)

John_Farragut

@alcomposer yeah, I think you're right about the internal circuity causing interference. That was my first thought. Probably because of the huge amount of data going through the processors, and having bad shielding around some of the components. I have a similar line in my GF1. The less UI elements on screen, the lesser the line becomes on my GF1. So probably processors interfering with each other.

alcomposer

@atticusd the line is probably some internal circuitry that is causing interference- so that is hardware- but at such high levels (crazy levels) this is bound to happen!

atticusd

@alcomposer You're right. It really looks like something that can be repaired in post. I'm just not that well versed in After Effects or anything similar. Someone here (I can't find the comment or user right now) mentioned an After Effects treatment with adjustment layers that sounded fairly easy even for people like me who have launched the program just two or three times. Gotta give it a try soon. In any case, let's hope it's firmware related. Right now, the closer I can get to the final result in camera, the better.

alcomposer

@atticusd there are ways to repair this in post. I remember looking at RED high ISO footage- looked like street pizza. There is just not enough knowledge about what post houses have to do with footage- that is why there are so many tools out there in Compositing VFX land...

atticusd

There's a thing that I really would like to see fixed in this firmware update and that's the damned fixed horizontal band visible with really high isos and low light. Among other things, I can't take full advantage of the "iso limit" patch until this is fixed. But then again, maybe is hardware related and we, early gh2 adopters, are pretty much fucked in that regard. In any case, this is by no means a deal breaker. I have shot a lot of stuff since I got the camera and rarely bumped into this issue. But I'm going off-topic here, let's just hope it's firmware related and addressed in the upcoming update.

alcomposer

@VK its comments like those that keep me hopeful that soon there will be no difference between the two, (except for the size- and the canon mic jacks...)

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@Bueller

Yep, something like it.
They are now even on different levels of hardware.
With Lumix team being far ahead.

Bueller

About a year ago I talked to one of the Project managers for the AF100. She said that Coke and Pepsi probably talk to each other more than they do with their Still Camera Division. Neither one cares what the other is doing.

alcomposer

@bwhitz maybe some people need bigger *($*s.

But you are right. SO LISTEN UP PANASONIC! Do the right thing and fix the camera! Your AF100 will still sell because its one big mother*#(%er.

bwhitz

Honestly, Panasonic could release a 4:2:2 10-bit patch for the GH2 and people would STILL buy the AF-100. Some people have just convinced themselves that bigger cameras are just better.

Here's a real example that actually made me realize this:

I had just shown some of my GH2 footage to someone (the subway stuff) and they were blown away. They asked what I shot it on... and I just whipped out my GH2 to show them. Immediately they had a disappointed look on their face and said "oh really, that's too bad", to which I replied "what's too bad?"... "the camera it's small". Puzzled, I said "so what? you loved the footage..." "Yea, but I want a BIG camera". *slap...

In the end... some people just want big things. The GH2 could be upgraded with RAW and some people would still flock to the AF. So really, it doesn't matter what they decide to up-date in the firmware.

Some people want to tell good stories.
Some people want to make good images.
And some people just want to "look cool".

johnnym

@elenion
>If they give us log curves they have to provide us also 10 bit or they'd be unusable

Not really. The i-dynamic does some kind of curve on the 10-bit RAW data. If there would be a way to control the highlights/shadows, you could have the illusion of more dynamic range in an 8-bit file.

But i doubt there would be a way to control this curve. Maybe @Vitaliy_Kiselev may see some way to do this with the firmware, maybe.. but most probably not, i guess.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

Guys, is it possible to stop this GH2 vs everyone flame?
First, it is offtopic. Second, it has no real value.

nomad

Yeah, that came to my mind too, I think many have been holding investments back waiting for a cheap 2/3 Scarlet with a fixed lens. They may go shopping for FS100s now – or Panny has to do something about it…

danyyyel

I think the Af100 and scarlet are in two completely different market. To get a working scarlet package you would need about 4x the cost of an Af100. I don't think they need to get to that level to get a successful product. A high high rez 1080p, 10 bit, 12+ stop DR with very good low light and reduced rolling shutter for about $ 5000 would be a huge success. Put a good codec in there with clean sdi output for external recorders if need be. It would satisfy 90% the need of the dslr, indie and pro users not needing 4k. Just put the proper product at the proper price point and they can grab a very big market share.

Pana has one inherent problem compared to all the other manufacturers is that you want or not, it is not a s35 sensor. So either they move fast to capture this market or they will loose it. If you have to choose between 2 comparable product, I think that 90% people would prefer the s35/apsc size sensor.

PixCanFly

- Is pretty difficult to compare GH2 and AF100 images. Video shot by a good GH2 cameraman will always look superior to a crappy AF100 cameraman, and vice versa.

- well the opposite can also be true. Panny AF100 or even the Sony FS100 sales might increase because many have now realize that a fully kitted ready to shoot Red Scarlet is not as cheap as they once thought it to be.

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