Topics List - Personal View Talks

Zacuto 'Revenge of Great Camera Shootout,' featuring GH2

Tron — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:45:34 -0400

Ran a quick topic search, but did not see this news as having already been posted -

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/zacuto-announces-release-of-revenge-of-great-camera-shootout-2012-04-10

The cameras involved are:

Sony F65 -- Sony Representatives
ARRI Alexa -- Rodney Charters, ASC
RED Epic -- Ryan Walters
Sony FS100 -- Den Lennie & Mick Jones
Sony F3 w/slog -- Nancy Schreiber, ASC
Canon C300 -- Polly Morgan
Canon 7D with Technicolor settings -- Michael Negrin, ASC
Panasonic GH2 (hacked and non-hacked) -- Jonny Zeller & Colt Seman

"'Revenge' is unlike any other camera test that I've ever been involved with," says Zacuto producer, Scott Lynch. "I believe that the tools available to us are all capable of creating great looking images, but only if you know how to use them. The big challenge for us was creating a test that would bring out the real world differences between these cameras. You can shoot charts which will give you scientific results, but that environment is not the real world. What we wanted to know was how cinematographers creatively solve the limitations of their camera. There are going to be some great discussions when this test gets released. People are going to be blown away."

Coastal Black Winery Short Film - 9 months of driftwood settings

pchristoph — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:48:50 -0400

This project was a real labor of love as it began last summer during the berry harvest. Wine pressing started in November. The winery received their own bottling machine in March 2012 - so I waited to film this part until it was all setup.

Shot on quality 'driftwood' settings. The wine tasting shots were with Sedna AQ1, and Orion v4b. The harvesting/pressing shots were reQuainted 176 GOP1 and Spanmybitchup GOP1. Lighting was from some Lowel prolites, shop lights and a little 'Walli' light I found here on personal-view which made for a great hair light. http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/1083/good-deals-2000lm-led-light

The music was written by me and recorded using Logic 9.

I hope you enjoy it. cheers

GOLGOP3-13, GOP3ZILLA, natural, For MEGA Size I-Frame Lovers! :-)

bkmcwd — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 02:30:56 -0400

At the same time as the silent users of my settings have increased in number, the request to me has also increased. Moreover, those who improve my settings uniquely also appeared. Therefore, I start a new topic, in order to arrange them.

I am a resident of Official Low GOP Topics. I was shocked from @kae's 3GOP in August, last year. In compromise to image quality and motion, I have thought since then that 3GOP is the best solution, in some mode like 24p at least. Although surely many wonderful longGOP settings also exist, the clearness of noise grain does not match Intra and 3GOP.

It is serious that I acquire information from this forum since I am poor at English. And in Japan which is a home country of GH2, I was hardly able to acquire information. However, I have learned much know-how from many experts, @cbrandin, @LPowell, @Ralph_B, @balazer, @towi, @Stray, @proaudio4..., especially the great settings of @driftwood!

I do not know whether my settings are the best. However, since those who are pleased with my settings adhering to big I frame size and short GOP have also increased in number, I continue improvement further more.

Because my English is poor, there may be many unclear things, but I do my best in some questions to answer enduringly.

[The common feature of my settings]

For example, if some setting tries to use low qp with the frame size limited like Intra, many level lines of the high qp macroblocks will also appear in each frame pictures. Although it is unclear for appearance in looking with eyes, it means that the codec is not committing this correctly. I am making the settings which can use the lowest possible qp appropriately, avoiding this isuue by using the biggest possible I-frames. On the high definition scene, if the minimum qp is too low, the range of qp will spread and, as a result, many of this level lines of the high qp macroblocks will appear. Therefore, in my settings, on the high definition scene, it has adjusted so that the minimum qp may become high appropriately. On the other hand, it has adjusted so that the lowest possible qp can be positively used under the lowlight. I think that 3GOP can realize this all-round performance with the motion. Therefore, when using my settings as only for lowlight, you may feel thing insufficient only a few, although sufficient dark place performance is still given. However, also in a bright scene, the codec hardly wavers with my settings. This is the point that especially I am scrupulous. This feature is common in almost all my settings.

[The feature according to type]

"GOLGOP3-13" series is the settings for using low qp under lowlight positively. Simultaneously, it has tuned up so that a codec may work also in the high stress scenes as correctly as possible. The value of "Q13" to which I have stuck from last year realizes high image quality by practically lowest qp.

"GOP3ZILLA" series is the all-round settings which covers all the scenes with the mean bit rate. In a general shooting, this series realizes the highest image quality with the value of "Q15" to which I have stuck from last year.

"natural" series is the economical settings which covers all the scenes with the mean bit rate. In these series, it has also aimed that a codec works correctly also in a however high-stress scene. The value of "Q18" to which I have stuck from last year realizes the safest and good balance setting.

In my old settings, since the character by the version number was unclear, I imitated Nick in how to name. :-)

"standard": The Almighty setting which the codec works correctly as much as possible on bright scenes, and realizes low qp under the lowlight.

"lowlight": Although the codec may waver in a satisfactory grade on bright scenes, realize strongest high image quality under the lowlight.

*These features are mainly those of 24p.

All my latest settings are here: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/42201#Comment_42201

REMEMBER: IF YOU USE THESE SETTINGS PLEASE MAKE A DONATION ABOVE TO VITALIY KISELEV FOR HIS TIRELESS WORK IN MAKING THIS HAPPEN. THESE SETTINGS ARE TOTALLY DEDICATED TO HIM. THERE ARE MANY QUIET USERS OUT THERE WHO HAVE NEVER BOTHERED OFFERING ANYTHING. PLEASE, PLEASE HELP TO KEEP THESE HACKS GOING. NO MORE DONATIONS = NO MORE SETTINGS. IF YOU HAVE MADE A SMALL CONTRIBUTION IN THE PAST, NOW IS THE TIME TO DONATE AGAIN. Thank you, bkmcwd

Again, special thanks to @driftwood, @cbrandin, and of course @Vitaliy_Kiselev! :-)

Stop the presses! GH2 next to Sony F65

mo7ies — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:31:25 -0400

http://www.eoshd.com/content/8114/audience-reaction-to-revenge-of-the-great-camera-shootout-puts-gh2-in-3rd-place-behind-alexa-and-f65

Driftwood Quantum X Settings, Series 4: Mysteron, Sedna, Orion, Cluster...etc...

driftwood — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 10:55:42 -0400

*** THIS IS A CONTINUATION THREAD FROM SERIES ONE, TWO & THREE CAN BE FOUND HERE:-

Series 1 Link

Series 2 Link

Series 3 Link

ALL PRESENT DRIFTWOOD SETTINGS LINKS ARE NOW INCLUDED BELOW ALONGSIDE THE SETTINGS - SEE LINKS.

ALL Settings require Panasonic firmware v1.11 & ptools 3.64D '200212' OR 3.65d required). Settings for GH2 & GF2 Lumix cameras.

THE LATEST SETTINGS

VY Canis Majoris- Release TBC

Driftwood Mysteron. - Released 29th March 2012

Top notch 24pH Intra setting with deblocking. 720p50/60 (GOP3/6) Workling and spanning. HBR / 1080i INTRA. Plus special burst mode setting of Mysteron giving 170M+ recordings and 900k Intra frame sizes at 5 secs hi detail, longer at less detail.

Driftwood Sedna 'Settings' - Release 15th March 2012, 01:30am

Stats: 24p Intra, 1080i/HBR Intra, 720 GOP3/GOP6 all settings as Orion with Sedna Matrices:-

A = High Detail matrix Good for Wide full detail shots.

B = Good allround detail matrix Great all round wide / mid shots.

C = Softer detail matrix Softer skin tonal detail.

Two packs, one at Quantisation 20 (default), the other AQ1 (pushed the Quantisation and bitrate further still). Note: AQ2 to 4 is unnecessary. Q20 is REALLY pushing the Quantisation to best levels without having to use AQ. Q20 Bitrate is measured to detail and will achieve in places AQ3 or AQ4 size bitrates without distorting Q so much as before.

Driftwood 'Cluster' v1 With Orion (AVC Intra adapted) Matrix VBR 'Settings' - Released 9th March 2012 1am

Stats: Upto 72M 24p, Upto 36M HBR, Upto 36M 720p modes. (*All REC MODES include B frames)

Driftwood Quantum X (v4d Orion) 'Dark Matter' Matrix Pack + HBR FIX - CBR 'Settings' - Released 18:30pm 06/03/2012

Details: Featuring the new 'Dark Matter' matrix set (three version variations) based on current Orion Matrix with hi/lo freq adjustments. Plus 720p on 9/6 GOP. AQ is NOT required. This is a constant Q (Q8) CBR setting which performs measurably better than with AQ4 on. All other settings as before. INFO: Orion 4d with Dark Matter matrix pack. Three adjusted matrices to try out, all scaled from perceived HVS Great Quality (v1) to middle of these (v2) and perceived HVS Highest quality (v3). HVS = Human Visual System. This is sharper than the Orion matrix of yore which is still great but many of you wanted to pull out a few extra stops. Let's see if this helps YOU. Only other changes from Orion 4b are GOP Releated, 720p is 9/6 for NTSC/PAL.

Driftwood Quantum X v5b and v5c 'β Pictoris' (baby Quantum X) VBR & CBR versions 'Settings' - Released 10:30am, 01/03/2012

INFO: Two versions - 1) CBR constant Bitrate at 75M, 2) VBR Adaptive Bitrate 35-75M

There are actually four versions (two in each pack CBR/VBR versions) for you to try out of Pictoris, two different matrices - v5b is the new hybrid matrix, v5c is the Orion included matrix. with NEW Driftwood scaled Panasonic GH2 Matrix meets AVC-INTRA Matrix hybrid (somewhere in the middle of Orion matrix meets GH2 Stock matrix) inc;- Settings primed for 50/75M Standard Rec Modes plus additional 25M for Etc Mode, 1080p24 on INTRA 50/75M Standard/75M Etc Mode, 1080i50/60 INTRA 50M /75M Etc Mode, 720p50/60 GOP6/9 40/75M, Standard/75M Etc, MJPEG Highest Quality 1920&720 Mjpeg modes. Good standard SD card recommended

Two Zip files below contain the settings: Download all packs and try them out:

Driftwood Quantum X (v4b Orion) CBR 'Settings'- Released 00:15am 28/02/2012

INFO: Settings include;- Quantum v9b style constant bitrate patch with full AVC-INTRA Matrix ; Requires firmware v1.1 and ptools 3.64d '200212 dated' (*Not compatible with 180212 dated ptools); CBR style 154M INTRA 108024p; CBR style HBR & 1080i INTRA 100M+ Max; CBR Style GOP12(PAL)/GOP15(NTSC) 720p 50/60 - 80+ Max; AVC Intra Matrix all round; GOP related Adjustments for B frames; EX Tele and 80% mode support. SD_Card=V good Class 10; SanDisk Extreme HD Video recommended

Driftwood Quantum X (v3b Rocket) RC VBR 'Settings' - RC Released 00:15am 28/02/2012

INFO: Settings include;- Adaptive Hi Bitrate INTRA on 1080p24 upto 154M; Adaptive Hi Bitrate 25p(50i PsF) upto 100M; Adaptive Hi Bitrate 30p (60i PsF) upto 100M+; Adaptive Hi Bitrate INTRA 1080i modes upto 100M+; Hi bitrate 720p modes on GOP 12/15 with B frames upto 50M safest; Highest Quality tested MJPEG on 1920x1080 (720 compression mode); Highest Quality tested MJPEG on 1280x720 (480 compression mode); EX Tele Mode support (will increase bitrate usage by around 20M); 80% on 1080p modes (will increase bitrate usage by around 25M)

Driftwood Quantum X 'SpanMyBitchUp' v2b - Released 10:15am 25/02/2012

INFO: Updated version of SpanMyBitchUp.

Settings include;- Adaptive Hi Bitrate INTRA on 1080p24 - upto 100M. (* Only for GH2); Adaptive Hi Bitrate 25p(50i PsF) INTRA - upto 100M; Adaptive Hi Bitrate 30p (60i PsF) INTRA - upto 100M; Adaptive Hi Bitrate INTRA 1080i modes - upto 100M; 720p modes on GOP 6 with B frames - upto 98M; Highest Quality tested MJPEG on 1920x1080 (720 compression mode); Highest Quality tested MJPEG on 1280x720 (480 compression mode); EX Tele Mode support; 80% on 1080p modes; 24L, 720/1080i FH/H settings on Trick mode (encoder calcs bitrate)

Driftwood Quantum X (v2 Rocket) 'Settings' - Released 22/02/2012

INFO: Adaptive bitrate settings. (See attached settings zip file below). Settings include;- Adaptive Hi Bitrate INTRA on 1080p24 - upto 154M. (* Only for GH2); Adaptive Hi Bitrate 25p(50i PsF) INTRA - upto 100M+; Adaptive Hi Bitrate 30p (60i PsF) INTRA - upto 120+; Adaptive Hi Bitrate INTRA 1080i modes - upto 120+; 720p modes on GOP 6 with B frames - upto 98M; Highest Quality tested MJPEG on 1920x1080 (720 compression mode); Highest Quality tested MJPEG on 1280x720 (480 compression mode); EX Tele Mode support; 80% on 1080p modes; AVC INTRA Matrix on I Frame coding with Flat 16 Matrix on P/B frames

These settings are dedicated to VK @Vitaliy_Kiselev (master in control) and Chris Brandin @cbrandin (thee font of information).

IF YOU LIKE THESE SETTINGS PLEASE PAYPAL DONATE (ABOVE) TO VITALIY FOR HIS TIRELESS WORK ON GIVING US THE HACK.

Aerial GH2 wide shots, suggest settings

robbie75vr — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 19:26:57 -0400

Hi guys,

I need your suggestion about what patch to use for low altitude aerial footage, filmed with panny 7-14, subjects are most of the times under very contrasted sunny light, most of the times buildings or detailed nature..

I need low contrast and high latitude to color grade in post and most of all I need the lowest amount of sharpness possible, or not at all would be perfect.

What patch and settings do you suggest me ? (24p or 25p is good)

Thanks

gh1 low light - best settings

m_c — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:14:45 -0400

hi, hope you can suggest best patch for shooting with gh1 in indoors low-light situations with only available light using gh13 with FD 50/1.8 finding no matter what i try, i'm getting some undesirable noise in the images the test shots so far are ok, i'd just like to get as best possible shooting a no-budget short very soon THANKS

GH2 HDMI output 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 with garbled chroma timing

zcream — Wed, 16 May 2012 05:58:55 -0400

For over a year, there have been contrasting reports. Can @Vitaliy_kesselev give a final answer ? Is the GH2 HDMI output a YCbCr 8bit 4:2:0 or a YCbCr 8bit 4:2:2 with timing and cadence issues ?

On every thread, the opinions seem to change between 4:2:0 and 4:2:2.

SANITY 4 and 5

Ralph_B — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:34:13 -0400

I'm starting a new thread because this is something really special.

Here is the new version of Sanity for firmware 1.1. What makes this special is:

Picture Quality - across-the-board, no-compromise, high quality images in all modes: 24P, HBR, 1080i and 720p. And all at very modest bitrates. There are improvements in all modes. 720p is especially notable because I have successfully got B-frames working in it, and it makes a huge difference.

Stability - I hate write errors - hate em', hate em', hate em'. Sanity 4 is rock stable. I use Sandisk 30M Class 10 cards and have not had any write errors in any mode, including ETC. Of course, your milage may vary, but I hope not.

Spanning - Sanity now spans in 24L, FH, SH & H mode.

Two versions - Because of HBR mode, I was forced to make two versions of Sanity 4, one for NTSC and one for PAL.

Samples - I've uploaded a zip file containing four raw MTS files, which show the same scene in 24P, HBR-30P, 1080i60 and 720p60. The shutter speed was set to 1/2000 sec, to really torture the codec. Even if you're a confirmed intra-junkie, you owe it to yourself to check this out. You just might be amazed.

[url]http://www.sendspace.com/file/9j72rc[/url]

NOTE: When downloading from Sendspace, click the button that says "Click here to start download from sendspace". Do not click anything else.

SANITY 4.1 UPDATE - March 27, 2012

Here is an update for SANITY with vastly improved stability for the PAL version. This sucker is STABLE. In fact, so stable that I was able to raise the data rate in FSH/SH mode to 36M. So, there's better picture quality, too.

I've also updated the NTSC version, although there was nothing wrong with version 4.0. I simply applied some of the things I learned from the PAL version, to make it even more stable. Call it preventative maintenence.

Again, what SANITY is about is top picture quality is ALL shooting modes with reasonable data rates and 100% reliability.

SANITY 5 UPDATE - April 14, 2012

Here is a new version of Sanity with some major changes. First, it fixes a problem with a subtle pulsing in the shadows in HBR mode. But more importantly, in the process of fixing the pulsing, I discovered a way to create monster size I frames, while still keeping the bitrate low. In 24P, we're talking about I frames approaching the one million mark with certain subject material. And this applies to 24L, as well! For 24H I had to lower the bitrate from 66M to 38M, and yet the image quality is the same (and maybe better). I applied this technique to all modes; 24P, 1080i, 720P and HBR.

Sanity 5 is unified for NTSC and PAL - there is only one version.

Spanning works with 24L, FH, SH & H modes. When spanning, do not go above ISO 5000 and do not use ETC. Spanning works in HBR mode with third party manual lenses. Do not go above ISO 3200. Spanning does not work reliably in HBR mode when using Panasonic lenses.

Using The Panasonic GH2 To Broadcast live video stream?

DeShonDixon — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:07:18 -0400

I have to shoot my high school's graduation video, but the thing is I have to broadcast it live on Skype for a Iraq Soldier so he can see his sons graduation and wanna shoot it with my GH2. How would I go about doing this with my GH2?

International Shooters Needed for Collaborative Spot - $$$

mattodowd — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:35:37 -0400

Hey all - We're currently putting together an international collaborative shoot for a Chevy spec spot. We need about 5 shooters / teams from diverse locations and ethnicities.

We should have about $500 per team, maybe more.

Requirements: Decent Camera / DSLR - Canon, GH2, etc are all good Access to a Chevy Vehicle Access to decent actor or two Some existing work we can see

The plan: Shoot a mini short film based on our template shot in NYC. You can put your creative spin on it, but certain shots and actions need to match as closely as possible. Let me know if you're interested!

Personal View Disclaimer: I am an independent writer / shooter and not an ad agency. I pitched an idea and got a small grant to try and make it happen.

Cheers, Matt

GF2 any way to enable live HDMI while recording ?!

feha — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 06:40:19 -0400

I started this thread in order to get information, is it possible to enable HDMI out while recording, much needed when using an external monitor ? Any tips/tricks/hacks ?

Panasonic Conversion Lenses

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:57:15 -0500

Conversion Lens DMW-GWC1/GTC1/GMC1/GFC1

Wide Conversion Lens DMW-GWC1, Tele Conversion Lens DMW-GTC1
Macro Conversion Lens DMW-GMC1 and Fisheye Conversion Lens DMW-GFC1

Panasonic is pleased to introduce a variety of conversion lenses for the Interchangeable Lens System Camera LUMIX G Micro System. Compact, lightweight conversion lenses propose users to experience the fun of switching lens and enjoy the different angle of view casually.

Compatibility*	Wide Conversion Lens DMW-GWC1	Tele Conversion Lens DMW-GTC1	Macro Conversion Lens DMW-GMC1	Fisheye Conversion Lens DMW-GFC1
H-PS14042
H-H014		-

Compatibility*

Wide Conversion Lens

DMW-GWC1

Tele Conversion Lens

DMW-GTC1

Macro Conversion Lens

DMW-GMC1

Fisheye Conversion Lens

DMW-GFC1

H-PS14042

H-H014

Wide Conversion Lens DMW-GWC1

Attachable to H-PS14042 and H-H014*As of January 9, 2012.

Enables capturing dynamic scenery in wider angle of view
Extends the focal length of wide-end from 14mm to 11mm by just attaching it to the front of the lens.
Compact, lightweight design featuring high mobility
Included Adaptor Ring for the use on H-PS14042 and H-H014
Helpful in shooting from dynamic landscapes to indoor group portraits

Tele Conversion Lens DMW-GTC1

Attachable to H-PS14042*As of January 9, 2012.

Enables capturing distant subject up close
Extends the focal length of tele-end from 42mm to 84mm by just attaching it to the front of the lens.*
Compact, lightweight design featuring high mobility
Included Adaptor Ring for the use on H-PS14042
Helpful in shooting from travel to street snapshots

* Attachable when the lens is at tele-end.

Macro Conversion Lens DMW-GMC1

Attachable to H-PS14042 and H-H014*As of January 9, 2012.

Enables shooting macro shot easily
Features closest focusing distance of 0.14m by just attaching it to the front of the lens.*
Compact, lightweight design featuring high mobility
Included Adaptor Ring for the use on H-PS14042 and H-H014
Helpful in shooting delicate, descriptive subject such as flowers or insects

* Closest focusing distance is 0.14m with H-H014 and 0.16m with H-PS14042. Longest Focusing Distance is 0.23m with H-H014 and 0.26m with H-PS14042.

Fisheye Conversion Lens DMW-GFC1

Attachable to H-PS14042 and H-H014*As of January 9, 2012.

Enables shooting unique images with rounded effect
Features 120-degree angle of view by just attaching it to the front of the lens.
Compact, lightweight design featuring high mobility
Included Adaptor Ring for the use on H-PS14042 and H-H014
Suitable for shooting characteristic, impressive images unique to the fisheye lens

The Boss - GH2 shot short film

amokalex — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 05:53:06 -0400

Hey guys! Shot a short with the GH2 and thought I'd share it with you lot:

It was all shot at 720p50, using a Voigtlander 25mm 0.95, Canon FD 50mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.8.

As a cautionary tale, I attempted to shoot with the Flowmotion v1.11 patch, but found when getting the footage in it was averaging a very low bitrate of between 14 - 17 mbps, which I can only attribute to me not having applied the patch correctly. So always test your bitrates before going out into a shoot! I can't work out why this patch won't work for me as I don't have problems with any others.

Anyhow, just wanted to express my thanks for all the work you guys do on this forum, and to show how great this little camera can look even without a massive high bitrate patch!

Driftwood VY Canis Majoris: 'Night', 'Day pm', 'Skin Tone Soft'... more to come

driftwood — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:54:14 -0400

We measure brightness emitted off our subject matter by its Luma values, then, how much chrominance signal governs the hue and saturation of the recorded color. Known as Y'CbCr, the luma and chrominance information are digital sample values partly maximised by the quantisation matrix and scalers. Chrominance is usually represented as two color-difference components: U = B' − Y' (blue − luma) and V = R' − Y' (red − luma).

We also have deblocking tables to mess with. How digitally smoothed should we treat the signal of the adjoining sampled macroblocks?

VY Canis Majoris explores these areas further and each setting analyses approximate conditions of input required for certain times of the day where the natural light is weaker/stronger.

The first release in the VY Canis Majoris series, 'Night'. Including the highest measured matrix to date - no AQ required, tried and tested deblocking over the three main settings (24p, HBR and 720p) this is the first in a few settings for various filming conditions.

More settings in this series to come... some tomorrow, and more released 'slowly' to you further into the week... ;-)

NOTE: ALL MY CANIS SETTINGS HAVE THE 4 MINUTE RECORD LIMITATION CHECKED TO GUARANTEE WRITES. UNCHECK THE TIME LIMIT AT THE BOTTOM OF PTOOLS AND ENABLE > 30 MINUTE LIMIT AT THE TOP OF PTOOLS TO RELEASE THIS.

Cheap Chinese MB

Vitaliy_Kiselev — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 23:05:24 -0400

As far as I know none of currently sold such MB have filter problems.
Also 4x4 filters are not 100x100 filters, they are slightly larger. Larger trays are not for 4x5 filters also.

B4 to GH2 mounting solutions?

qwerty123 — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:36:45 -0400

The only adapter I've seen is this one: http://bit.ly/obeiGG

Looks nice, but it costs $320!!!!! (seems very over-priced)

Anyone know of alternatives?

GH2 Hardware modifications - (not for the faint-hearted)

Roberto — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 19:48:14 -0400

As GH-2s get used and misused, a number of unrepairable items and units will start to accumulate in repair shops. I was taking a look through the repair manual to see if it would be possible to remove the LVF or the LCD and re-locate it elsewhere; (for me, to the side of the lens as with a shoulder-mounted ENG camera). This would be effectively replicating a bench-testing setup but requiring a separate housing for the viewfinder outside the existing camera body. Extension cables exist, like the Part No RFKZ0477 which connects the EVF to the circuit board , for testing purposes. A similar cable may exist for the LCD screen.

Well, this mod looks at first to be doable by the tech savvy or foolhardy. (!) CARE! viewfinder screens can carry high voltages!!

GH2 Hacked - SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB - Video stops at varying time without error

thomasklosinsky — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:07:56 -0400

Hi guys,

I searched the forum and the whole internet for this problem, but didn't find any post or anyone having this problem, so I started a new topic for this and hope I didn't search for the wrong keywords... ;). I am using the GH2 for video shooting very short time and all I am doing these days is not really working well. I know that it should be easy to use firmware patches but for me it turns out not to be that easy as it maybe should. I used a few patches and tested around with each for quite a bit and tried to check wether the patch is working fine or if there are occuring errors while recording. I would need a very stable patch since I always need to record longer footage... not just 15min, but most of the time 2-3 hours. I found that SD card speed is a thing which is why I bought the SanDisk Extreme Pro with 95MB/sec. Used the Sanity 4.1 Patch which should be stable, but the cam stops recording video after some time (I couldn't specify when it does) without any error. It just stops recording and doesn't write the file completely to the card. Used the Quantum X SpanMyBitchUp and I get the same error. Also tried some other patches, some came up with errors that the card is not fast enough, some didn't... most of them didn't...

Since I can't tell why that is and I don't know how to find out why the cam stops recording I am not sure what to do next. Fact is that the patches really do enhance the quality which I would not love to miss ;).

Can anyone help me with this? All the best from Hamburg, Thomas

GH2 hack HDMI output testing

EOSHD — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:57:32 -0400

Did some testing today with the GH2's HDMI output and existing PTools AVCHD patches, here are the findings:

- When a monitor is connected to the HDMI port, camera switches to an interlaced mode both on LCD / EVF and HDMI output
- When progressive 1080i -> 1080p patch enabled, camera can record without the usual hang if HDMI monitor is connected
- However AVCHD encoder still writes garbage to the card
- Garbage AVCHD files will playback in camera and not crash, if HDMI screen was connected at time of recording
- The output to LCD and HDMI is not garbage - seems 100% unaffected by current PTools AVCHD patches
- Pulling HDMI cable during recording ends clip, camera switches to live view mode
- Output is always 1080i on 'auto', never progressive regardless of camera mode or PTools config (I am now testing with HDMI option in menu set to 720p)

@Vitaliy_Kiselev has interesting comment - "Good thing is that some HDMI related functions names are present is some debug messages as well as their arguments names"

I am using a SmallHD DP6 as monitor, we can also use TV or PC screen with HDMI, be sure that it displays reported input signal type (i.e. 1080i or 1080p).

Aim: clean high bitrate progressive video instead of current bad cadence 24p -> 1080i.
Or even uncompressed signal. 1080/60p would also be great target but let's start small!

Testing continues...

FS: Edelkrone Hand Strap / Manfrotto 560-1 Video Monopod with ball head PRICE DROP

soundgh2 — Sun, 06 May 2012 20:03:02 -0400

Edelkrone hand strap for sale free shipping in the U.K. used once - save yourself the international postage (and a tenner!)

£75-00 including shipping in the U.K.

http://www.edelkrone.com/hand-strap/

[SOLD] Manfrotto 560-1 Video Monopod with ball head - as new - fold up feet and fluid base for panning.

£60-00 free shipping in the UK

ETC Mode Discussion

AlbertZ — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:04:20 -0400

I own only a GH1 (no etc mode) but I'm planning to buy a GF2, which has only x3.2 ETC mode (while GH2 has more options on ETC). I like very much old fast lenses like c-mount tamron 4-12 zooms, pentax 6-41, it would be great to use them (they're very cheap, you know) on GF2, however most of the demos I've found on the net are GH2-specific,and I don't know what are ETC drawbacks. A x3.2 could be too "extreme" in terms of video quality? It would be a good idea to use a c-mount 4-12 tamron f 1.0 on a GF2 x3.2 ETc (24-72mm!!) or video quality would be worse than a common kit lens panasonic 14-42 f3.5?

AT875R mic phantom powered directly by the GH2

balazer — Sun, 13 May 2012 02:06:01 -0400

Here is a small secret: some microphones that require phantom power with a minimum of 9-12 V will operate happily using the 2.5-v "plug-in" power provided by the GH2's mic port. I have my GH2 set up with the Audio-Technica AT875R, and I am very pleased with the results. See post number 7 for more details.

Which phantom powered mics will operate on such a low voltage? Electret condenser mics (i.e. permanently charged) are good candidates. You'll also want a mic with high sensitivity, to give a high SNR given the noise of the GH2's pre-amps and the quantization noise of 16-bit samples. I speculate that mics that can operate on a low-voltage battery are good candidates. But ultimately you'll have to test the mic to see how well it works. Here's more info: http://recording.org/pro-audio-gear/30016-phantom-power-is-a-mystery.html

How do you wire the mic cable? From my testing, the AT875R can be wired with XLR pin 3 unconnected, or shorted to pin 1, which apparently means it is impedance balanced. Here are wiring references:
http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/site/4ffc7039c199613a/index.html/index.html#unbalancedinput http://www.benchmarkmedia.com/discuss/feedback/newsletter/2008/05/2/helpful-how-tos-how-properly-connect-balanced-outputs-unbalanced-input

You must lose something by operating the mic under spec, right? Generally speaking, the max sound pressure level before distortion will be reduced somewhat, and the sensitivity will be reduced a tiny bit. Judging by the specs of other Audio-Technica shotgun mics that can operate on phantom power or from a 1.5-V battery, the max SPL is reduced by about 10 dB. Even with that reduction, the max SPL is still quite high - so high that if you are in that environment, you better be wearing earplugs. I tested some loud sounds, and I was getting distortion inside the GH2 with the mic level setting set to 1 (the lowest gain setting) before I got any distortion from the mic.

Of course the weak point in any GH2 mic connection is the 2.5-mm jack. I got the highest quality cable with a right-angle connector that I could find, and made my cable just the right length to keep it secure and out of the way. The link is unbalanced, so to minimize interference, use a shielded cable and keep it short.

The GH2's lack of real-time audio monitoring prevents the use of the mic port for any application in which the audio is critical. But you can work around the lack of monitoring to a certain extent. Plug the mic into something that does allow monitoring (e.g. the Zoom H1), and do some walk-around tests to identify problems. I found and eliminated noise coming from my shock mount, cable, and XLR connector. You can also record a short test video and play it back and listen through the GH2's terrible, tiny speaker before shooting.

The shock mount configuration in my photos is intended to have a very low profile. A more standard configuration would put the shock mount higher and allow for the use of wide-angle lenses. But in my configuration the mic is out of the view of all of my lenses, including the Lumix 20-mm. I swapped and reconfigured the elastic bands to improve the isolation and give a slight upward tilt that keeps the mic out of the lens's view.

I thought about posting a sample video, but it doesn't let you hear anything different from all of the other AT875R samples online. If anyone is interested in recreating my setup, I can post a parts list and instructions. With the GH2 mic level set to 4 (the highest gain setting), speaking in a normal voice from about 3 feet in front of the mic puts the meter at 7 bars, just into the red.

Compared to the MKE-400, the AT875R has better rejection of off-axis sounds, and the shock mount I'm using performs much, much better than the one built into the MKE-400. I might have been satisfied with the MKE-400, except for its shock mount. Every time my finger touched the camera, you could hear it in the recording.

Wireless HDMI and SmallHD DP6 - Interesting article

kavadni — Thu, 17 May 2012 11:13:15 -0400

SmallHD posted this link on Facebook

http://rigjob.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/wireless-hdmi-and-dp6.html

BlackMagic: Official $2,995 raw cinema camera topic

sohus — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 11:33:16 -0400

Remember that we have special pages about BlackMagic Cinema Camera in out Wiki now

http://www.personal-view.com/faqs

Feature highlights include:

13 stops of dynamic range
Large 2.5k sensor
Integrated solid state drive recorder (SSD)
Ability to capture CinemaDNG, RAW, ProRes and DNxHD files
Touchscreen for metadata entry
Compatibility with EF and F mou
SDI and Thunderbolt connectors
Includes a FULL copy of DaVinci Resolve and UltraScope software

First videos:

http://vimeopro.com/johnbrawleytests/blackmagic-cinema-camera

Full specs

Videos:

Links:

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/blackmagiccinemacamera/

http://johnbrawley.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/blackmagic-cinema-camera-lets-take-it-from-the-top/

If this camera delivers, this is going to be my next camera. BlackMagic Design is gong to deliver what RED promised with the original Scarlet announcement. Thunderbolt connector, free Resolve, Touchscreen for metadata entry!

This happens when honest companies like BlackMagic Design, which don't have to artificially protect their high-end gear (I am talking about you Sony, Panasonic, Canon) start entering the camera business. If the image quality lives up to the specifications, this is going to be THE camera to get. Sony, Canon, Panasonic won't be happy in that case. The 5D Mark III could do the same but Canon doesn't allow it because of C500/C300. Same for Sony, Panasonic. If BlackMagic delivers, I will respect them so much!

I won't be surprised if BlackMagic Design will launch their own NLE down the road as well.

Apertus Project: Opinions, discussion, etc.

irregularME — Thu, 17 May 2012 14:58:51 -0400

Hello all,

I thought in this section there should be a discussion about the Apertus Project. (http://www.apertus.org/)

It sounds, at least for me, very promising and down to the ground and not too hipster like the digtial bloex, (which is, with all respect, beautyful).

However, what are your opinions on it? After all, there is a lot going in the 4k sector and raw cinema development.

Thanks for your input and looking forward to it.

Best, A

Affordable and Effective Light Meter

shian — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:17 -0400

The Gossen Digisix is my replacement for my now completely dead vintage Gossen Luna Pro. It's small, lightweight (unlike the old GLP which was the size of Spock's old tri-corder from the TV series and was like a lead weight hanging around my neck). It's very accurate, and also measures contrast. For $169 it's the cheapest light meter you'll find out there, and works great for DSLR video work.

Can't afford those awesome $800 Sekonics? Get one of these instead.

ColorGHear TOOLKIT- color grading SYSTEM for AE

shian — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:41:24 -0500

So rather than hijacking other threads and adding to the clutter, I've decided to start a ColorGHear thread as a more centralized place to handle questions, suggestions, demos videos (mine and yours), and other concerns.

So as not to be misleading, ColorGHear is an add-on of MODULAR PRESETS, and not a true plug-in.

The toolkit isn't just a collection of drag and drop "looks." It is a series of modular presets, or nodes, specially designed to contend with the codec limitations native to HDSLR footage. Along with these modular nodes, comes a system of use - learned through the online tutorials - which will open up the full power and functionality of After Effects to absolute beginners as well as long time users. Doing so will give users amazing power and flexibility to reduce noise and artifacts, and apply vibrant, astounding color grading to DSLR footage. In short, ColorGHear transforms After Effects from a Animation and Compositing tool, into a Color Grading Monster!

The power of ColorGHear is presented in the video demonstrations below.

ColorGHear is available at http://www.ColorGHear.com

CGT retails for $50

With your purchase of ColorGHear, you will get a free subscription to my video tutorial series showing how to unleash the power of After Effects using ColorGHear to turn your footage into stunning, film-like images.

Below is a link to our special deals portal, which will change often, and without notice. Some days you will come here and find fantastic deals on ColorGHear products, and on other days you'll find no deals at all. We reserve the right to offer our products at our set price, and give discounts when we see fit. If you come here and see a price lower than what you paid for a product we will not offer any kind of rebate or refund. It's the beauty and wonder of chance at work.

http://colorghear.com/specials/

H.264 to self-contained Quicktime file?

bostonmike — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:14:24 -0400

After all the help I got with converting HD to SD and formatting it on a DVD, the film festival I'm taking part in decides to change the guidelines just days before the start of it. They are now accepting HD and will take a USB flashdrive as long as it conforms to the following guidelines:

A self-contained Quicktime file - codecs for HD: Apple Intermediate Codec, DVCProHD, HDV, Motion JPEG-A, Apple Pro-Res 4.2.2 (not HQ, LT, or 4.4.4), or H.264 (with a data rate of at least 16Mbps)

So I'm using my GH2 on a PC, rendering in Vegas Movie Studio HD 11.0, shooting 1080p 24fps

This is going to be shown a full-sized movie theater screen, so I want to maintain as much quality as possible. I wonder if there is any way of doing this without buying Quicktime Pro?

Thanks

Topics List - Personal View Talks

Zacuto 'Revenge of Great Camera Shootout,' featuring GH2

Coastal Black Winery Short Film - 9 months of driftwood settings

GOLGOP3-13, GOP3ZILLA, natural, For MEGA Size I-Frame Lovers! :-)

Stop the presses! GH2 next to Sony F65

Driftwood Quantum X Settings, Series 4: Mysteron, Sedna, Orion, Cluster...etc...

Aerial GH2 wide shots, suggest settings

gh1 low light - best settings

GH2 HDMI output 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 with garbled chroma timing

SANITY 4 and 5

Using The Panasonic GH2 To Broadcast live video stream?

International Shooters Needed for Collaborative Spot - $$$

GF2 any way to enable live HDMI while recording ?!

Panasonic Conversion Lenses

Conversion Lens DMW-GWC1/GTC1/GMC1/GFC1

The Boss - GH2 shot short film

Driftwood VY Canis Majoris: 'Night', 'Day pm', 'Skin Tone Soft'... more to come

Cheap Chinese MB

B4 to GH2 mounting solutions?

GH2 Hardware modifications - (not for the faint-hearted)

GH2 Hacked - SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MB - Video stops at varying time without error

GH2 hack HDMI output testing

FS: Edelkrone Hand Strap / Manfrotto 560-1 Video Monopod with ball head *PRICE DROP*

ETC Mode Discussion

AT875R mic phantom powered directly by the GH2

Wireless HDMI and SmallHD DP6 - Interesting article

BlackMagic: Official $2,995 raw cinema camera topic

http://www.personal-view.com/faqs

Apertus Project: Opinions, discussion, etc.

Affordable and Effective Light Meter

ColorGHear TOOLKIT- color grading SYSTEM for AE

H.264 to self-contained Quicktime file?

FS: Edelkrone Hand Strap / Manfrotto 560-1 Video Monopod with ball head PRICE DROP