I noticed, 3 lenses I have all offer stepless aperture in photo shutter priority mode, so filming with mode wheel set to "S" - but it doesn't work in film mode (with mode set to "S" in the menu)... I find it strange this is disabled, and it's annoying because you're limited to 17Mbit if you want auto-iris - but I think it might not be too difficult to change this in the Ptool - since principally filming with stepless Aperture works. Of course the alternative would be, to enable higher bitrates in non-movie mode settings... But the 1st variant would be better in my opinion, because this way you can also use the Telecrop function with stepless aperture. I hope, this wasn't posted yet by others, but I think not :-) Cheers, CG
Is there any chance to make usb composite live out active during recording? Since it normally work until recording start I believe it's just a software limitation? Please Vitally make this to work, I need live out from GH2 on my helicopter :)
found a workaround for a B&W viewfinder mode, easy to set up really. Just set up two manual custom modes with the same settings except one has film mode in a black and white setting of your choosing. Then you can easily change between the two settings to switch viewfinder from colour to black and white and back again.
It would be nice if there was a way of getting more than 3 custom modes as there are lots of ways you can set this camera up for different situations. But I expect this is impossible?
It seems you can define an Fn button for the film mode menu but not a specific setting which would be nice.....
I read through the GH2 improvements list and somewhat confused by "aspect ratio" entry in "AVCHD/Sensor" sub-list. Does it refer to the onscreen crop marks or to actually cropping the footage as it is recorded? Thanks.
1. Would be there lock and unlock apperture during recording clip also? Is it important if you panning in scene where is more light sources. For example as windows, spots. In outdoor for instance sky, sunshine, car reflectors ...
2. hdmi output 4:2:2
3. manual continual setting apperture during recording clip. (Not with steps)
In my opinion the menus and how to activate some features should be revised. In fact, all the logic of operation of the camera leaves much to be desired.
For example, the "menu / set" sometimes functions as a "yes" and an "advance" on the menu, while other times it makes you exit the menu.
Another thing that seems illogical (or at least I still have not found a way to do work differently) is that some options that work as "on / off", pressing the button that corresponds to the function, rather than the button function as "on / off" gives you access to a menu from which to choose.
For example, if you assign an extra TV mode button, pressing this button instead to enable or disable the extra TV, he opens a menu from which to choose. So what could be done in a movement must do in 2 or 3 moves.
I also think the menus are all mixed up and does not provide all the necessary information.
For example, anyone who does not know the camera does not have a clue what it means iA, or how the IR works, and it's hard to know what is being done when the film quality option is "sh", "h" instead of directly (or side of the screen) show the mps of each option.
In addition to what we see While the letter may be a little big, maybe a font size option would be nice.
Finally, a feature that even I could not find (and not wonder) is that a button can be configured to automatically focus the camera when squeezed, while working with manual focus.
When I bought my GH2 back in mid Dec 2010 it was the first thing I asked Panasonic. To their credit they answered very quickly, just that it was a "no". But it would be a great feature for video users. I think it might be part of what's been requested many times. I live in hope, because it would be brilliantly useful.
I'm not a great lover of adding other bits to the camera, because to be honest it makes it more unwieldy. With my existing HD cameras, which are pretty robust, it's still a pain to plug lots of things into it. The one thing (apart from a good gun mic, obviously) I do sometimes plug in is a 17" LCD monitor in a flight case. It's very useful mainly for the actors to see what the shot looks like, and it's also useful when playing with lighting.
B&W viewfinder and focus peaking would be great for pro users and would make the most of the relatively low res viewfinder. Actually they would be great features for anyone who wants their footage in focus. I'm planning to buy a good EVF to handle this since it does not seem possible through firmware. There goes another $750-1000... *sigh.*
Another feature which would make the GH2 more pro would be to be able to switch the viewfinder into black and white mode (but still shoot in colour). Better for composition. I can't think why this isn't a standard feature already. Also shooting black and white on digital is better if you convert in post. So a live monochromatic preview whilst shooting in colour would be very useful. Not sure if this would be possible, but just a thought. ...thanks for all your hard work.
Hi, I'm not sure if this has been mentioned, or if this is already possible as I've been getting used to the GH2 over the last week or so. It would be great to have, whilst in manual shooting mode, a programmable Fn button to select either auto aperture, auto shutter speed or auto iso whilst holding down an Fn button. Then when releasing it carries on in manual mode. This would be really useful in unprepared situations, especially when using lumix lenses where you can't get manual aperture control on the lens. I know you already have the AE lock button which is useful in Aperture priority mode but I think it could be improved if it could be programmed to work in the way I mentioned. Unless it already can and someone can show me how to do this? Best of luck with the hack!
I read on the rumors site that they decided it wasn't a pro feature so they left it off the GH2. I doubt that is true. I think it really didn't work well enough so they just left it off.
25 FPS is definitely the most important thing for PAL users. However, focus tracking in video is definitely something that would help all of us. Apparently, it was in the pre-release firmware. Hopefully, it is still hidden in there.
cool. I know how hard this stuff is. (A few months ago I hacked Final Cut Express to allow 24fps timelines in sequences. It worked, except then FCE would not reopen those projects after saving and I couldn't fix that, so eventually i gave up…) keep up the good work! would love to see any improvements to the already awesome GH2.