Panasonic

Black line streaks across B&W ISO 12800 footage

SightfulProd — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 00:06:10 +0000

I've been working on a project where I'm using the GH2's ISO 12800 setting for its grainy film look. I'm purposely underexposing my footage to give it a more grittier look and what I've noticed when using 1/40, 1/50 or 1/60 shutter speeds, I get a black line that goes across my video.

Watch the video in 1080p to see what I mean, anyone else get this? I'm wondering if it's a sensor problem, I'm using Sedna AQ1 patch.

LOW LIGHT VIDEO SETUP FOR GH2

JayGatsby — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 13:35:33 +0000

I seek your advise about how to get the BEST possible video from my GH2 in a low light (incandescent) situation, such as in a Dimly Lighted room, like a cocktail lounge.

I have a 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens; a 14-42mm f/3.5 kit lens and a 14-42mm Vario X f/3.5 lens. I've been recording in AVCHDp, using the following settings: MANUAL mode High Bit Rate Standard, with all other settings at +/-0 I.Dynamic & I.R (both @Standard) Continuous AF Auto White Balance f/11 Speed: 25

I've steered away from using the Pancake lens, because its focal length is fixed. So, I've been pretty pleased with results using the Vario X 14-42 lens. To date, my videos are "pretty good", but not great

If a change in my Settings don't improve my results, I would consider getting another lens. Ive been looking at the Panasonic Leica D Vario-Elmar 14-50mm, F3.8-5.6 which was an expensive kit lens with the Pana 4/3rds L10.

If I can get this video concern straightened out, I may go for a moderate hack at a later date.

Many thanks for your help.

GH2 with external recorder? Will it work?

theconformist — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 17:02:09 +0000

Interested in getting an Atomos or Black Magic field recorder - but I've heard the HDMI out from the GH2 won't do 24p correctly. Being able to export directly to Apple Pro Res would dramatically improve my workflow! If it doesn't work, will the GH3 be able to do it?

Also, how do the hacks relate to this? Does the hack only work for recording to the SD card?

After GH2 Video Setup

JayGatsby — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:23:13 +0000

Recently I followed the "Optimal Settings For Shooting Video in "Panasonic GH2" on Vimeo". Now I have one question. When I'm ready to record a video, should I turn the mode wheel to "M"? Earlier, I tried to record in the"M" (preceded by a camera) ,and only got a very dark video. It appears that the setup settings I made, as suggested, are in the "M" display. Many thanks in advance for your feedback.

GH2 Sleeps while I'm shooting a time Lapse.

jvalal — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:31:10 +0000

My Hacked GH2 sleeps while I'm shooting a time lapse video. Is there a way to disable the "sleep" function so I can get a full time lapse?

GH2 files missing. Advice or explanation?

Brian_Siano — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 14:45:21 +0000

Last night, I set my GH2 up (with the Sanity hack) to shoot a play. On previous projects, I was able to simply set the camera up, and let it run. Sometimes I'd have to change the battery at intermission.

However, last night, during intermission, I found that the battery had run out before I could stop the camera manually. I replaced the battery for the second half of the show. At the end, I found that the camera had switched off on its own, despite having power and memory to spare.

Today, I find that some of the video files are missing from the card. They're numbered 00000, 00001, 00003, 00004, and 00006. Can't find 00002 or 00005 anywhere.

Now, this hasn't happened to me before. My first suspicion is that the battery running out caused the loss of 00002, since 00003 begins after the intermission. Can't understand why 00005 vanished, 00006 just ends abruptly.

Are there any explanations for this, and ways to prevent it from happening again?

How do I get better GH2 Autofocus?

acuriousman — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:04:19 +0000

I just got a 14mm Panasonic lens for my GH2. However, I'm quite new to this and wanted to learn how to get more continuous/steady autofocus.

My videos have a lot of a movement away and towards the camera. I shoot review videos and have to bring the product close up and set it back down again. Trouble is, the camera keeps focusing on a small bit of the video instead of the whole scope (Like my old camcorder does). This results in the video constantly focusing/refocusing whenever I move my hands and it looks terrible. Sometimes it doesn't focus at all! :(

Is there any way to configure the autofocus to perform better? Any settings in the GH2 or techniques?

Thank you for reading

GH2 vs GH3 HDMI Monitor Output?

willianaleman — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:01:00 +0000

The only feature that would make me jump and upgrade from GH2 to GH3 is the limitation in the GH2 of output monitoring though the HDMI to an external monitor. When using an external monitor during recording, spanning gets interrupted no matter what spanning patch is being used. The GH2 just stops recording.

Accordingly to the last response I got from V. Kiselev in this forum was that it hasn't been fixed. Then, accurate focus is the biggest issue I have been encountering with the GH2, specially for run and gun type of shooting. I'm hoping that the GH3 doesn't have this issue.

Lumix GF2 glitch

ch3 — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:18:01 +0000

Hi all!

Recently i've purchased a Lumix GF2, unfortunately it seems to have a serious glitch with CCD (Live MOS) or Compression engine.

If you see the attached image you would notice a RAW+JPG photo. JPG shows the problem with compression engine, although RAW file shows no problem at ALL! I would not care at all if the problem didn't go to VIDEO mode... but that's not the case, as it shows the same glitch.

I've found some information regarding "similar" problem on CANON A70

http://www.imsolidstate.com/archives/915

As canon a70, the problem also shows on LCD screen, not as bad by any measure, but somehow also percievable. I have searched some info regarding the hardware and i've found some steps on this link

http://www.lifepixel.com/tutorials/infrared-diy-tutorials/panasonic-lumix-gf1-ir

CCD seems to go through 4 ribbons (2 upperside, 2 downside) which all of them seem to be ok. So I'm stuck!

My last hope would be some debugging advice from this board!

Any lead would be really appreciated!

AVCHD 1080p time lapse

balazer — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 04:10:11 +0000

You can shoot video in any mode and use software post-processing to apply any speed-up that you want. I shoot with a wide shutter angle and use frame blending to make the motion look smooth. This simulates severe undercranking with a 360-degree shutter.

This particular example was shot on a hacked GH2 in AVCHD 1080p 24-fps mode with the shutter speed set to 1/2 s. That makes the recorded video have 13 frames for each picture taken, for an effective frame rate of 23.976/13, or about 1.84 fps. You can set the GOP length to 13 frames, which will give you one I-frame for each picture taken, and then use just the I-frames in decoding. That increases compression efficiency and gives you longer recording times. The shutter angle here is 332 degrees, or 92%, which isn't bad, but ideally you want to get closer to 360 degrees so that you don't have discontinuities in the motion trails. If I did this again, I would have shot 8-fps in 300% variable mode with a 1/8 s shutter speed. Using a lower frame rate of course means there is less video data that needs to be processed.

Here's the video data flow:
camera MTS -> Haali Media Splitter -> ffdshow tryouts decoder -> Avisynth -> makeAVIS -> Sony Vegas

Here's my Avisynth script for doing 65x speed-up: 16.25x from undercranking and 4x from frame blending:
DirectshowSource("input.MTS")
SelectEvery(13)
c1=selectevery(last, 4, 0)
c2=selectevery(last, 4, 1)
c3=selectevery(last, 4, 2)
c4=selectevery(last, 4, 3)
blend1 = Overlay(c1, c2, mode="blend", opacity=0.5)
blend2 = overlay(c3, c4, mode="blend", opacity=0.5)
Overlay(blend1, blend2, mode="blend", opacity=0.5)
AssumeFPS("ntsc_video")

Time lapse photography has practical applications. Say you are filming a car driving by at 10 miles per hour, but you want to make it look like it's going 60 miles per hour. If your target format is 24 fps with a 180-degree shutter, you can shoot 24-fps with a 1/25 s shutter, and then blend the first three frames of every six into one output frame. Or you can shoot 8-fps in 300% variable mode with a 1/8 s shutter, and drop every other frame. If the car is going straight down a road with no bumps or curves, the effect will be totally convincing. :)

GH2 Made in...China, Japan, etc...

fosterchen — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:10:33 +0000

Just curious as to all the different places of manufacture for the GH2. My GH2 says made in China, and I bought it from B&H when it was $599 back in March/April 2012 for only a day. (Wonder if that's the reason it was much cheaper) It's been working fine and hacks work fine too.

I've heard of earlier GH2's made in Japan, but wanted to confirm and see where everyone's GH2's were made and when they bought it.

Thanks!

external monitor GF1/GH1/GF2

AlbertZ — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 11:49:24 +0000

Is it posssible to control via external monitor GF1/GF2' s live output? And on GH1? It's not necessary to get HD signal in real time..just SD signal would be fine...

gh2+14-140mm : focusing points in advance...

magnifico — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 13:04:20 +0000

I just want to keep in memory (marking with some tape my 14-140mm) to points where to focus. The problem is that gh2 and 14-140 just loose "memory" : that means even in manual focus mode, when I move the focus ring and I am back to the mark I did, the image is not focused any more ! 14-140 mm is given as a video lens : how can I prepare in advance some points to focus and go from one to another while recording (in manual focus mode) ?

Gh1 External Monitoring

010101 — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 10:24:58 +0000

I remember sometimes ago Vitaliy was working on live monitoring out of HDMI of GH1. Did a search in PV for the subject to no avail ! Setting a GH1 on a Jib for a couple of shots and we need to monitor the framing on that GH1. Any help will be appreciated.

Slow Motion for 25p film

Donnie88 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:04:47 +0000

I'm going to shoot a film at 25p - though one or two shots will be slow motion.

What mode should I record on to get footage as slow as the GH2 can produce? 'Manual Movie Mode?' 'Variable Movie Mode?

will these Minolta lenses work with GH2?

bloomsday — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 09:35:21 +0000

I'm a newb - but I could use someone's advice.

http://nh.craigslist.org/pho/3352394025.html pamela

GH1 - GH2 light difference?

tenjin — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 17:27:16 +0000

To make a long story short, I used the GH1 with great result and waited for the GH3. Then I just recently add a great offer to buy a used GH2 and got it today. I install the latest flow motion patch and did some tests. I immediately felt that it seemed the GH2 was getting darker in shots than my GH1 (max lattitude patch) so i did some test with the same lenses with the exact same framing. The GH2 is 1-2 stop behind? Is that a matter of settings? (I use smooth settings based for both GH, with -2 in most parameters) or because of the difference in patches? Sorry if my observation is an obvious one but I would like to understand what is hapening and learn :) Thanks!

Replacing the GH2 EVF housing

GH2lover — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 12:23:49 +0000

Anyone know what kind of screwdriver I would need to take out the 2 small screws on the bottom the EVF plastic housing? They're super shallow and tiny, none of mine have worked. I tried using a set of mini screwdrivers and a few special ones for electronics that I have in my computer kit... but no dice.

Value of gh2 in relation to gh3

hay — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 23:44:58 +0000

i could use some input re: the soon to be discontinued gh2.

my projects are displayed on 60 inch+ lcd panels and digital projectors. i've used, extensive in the past, a borrowed gh2 and have been impressed with the hacks over the stock firmware. considerations: - i don't plan to use in-camera audio recording, - DR isn't as important as image sharpness and pixel structure, - i have enjoyed using the high bit rate hacks in the past, particularly the v9b and i do a fair amount of grading in post

also, any idea how the 100mbps+ hacks impact the life of the camera? i recall reading something by a panasonic engineer who thought the hack "overload" would diminish the lifecycle. any real world examples of this?

thanks for the help.

how does one edit footage shot with the GH2 on CS5?

Billy — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 02:23:34 +0000

When I import the footage into premiere it plays, bt in some parts it freezes. Why is that and what might I have done wrong?

GH3 - Video Clip Length: 240 minutes

willianaleman — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:26:23 +0000

Accordingly with B&H's sale specifications, the GH3 has a 240 minutes clip length with stereo audio. This is a motive for celebration for live concerts recording and events.

Broadcast quality issues with the GH2 in Europe

gameb — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:57:11 +0000

Anybody heard of broadcast quality issues lately shooting with the GH2 for national TV stations, like german TV, british or french? Somebody told me, they won't accept documentaries shot with the GH2 any more, is that true?

Camera Bag broke my GH2?

sonowake — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 20:33:43 +0000

I have a little interesting story and wondering if you've ever experienced it or heard anything like it. So after shooting a wedding video (non professional) for a friend with my hacked GH2 i decided to treat myself to a more discreet camera bag for doing street photography, i ended up buying a Golla Focus medium camera bag from amazon. I bought it because it's small quite fashionable, and a friend had recommended it, but the thing that interested me was the fact in addition to a velcro strap to secure the the front flap, it had magnets to keep it shut but allow fast access. So i get my new case, put my camera in and go out for a shoot around edinburgh during the fringe. I pull it out of the bag and hit the power switch, camera doesn't boot up, press the shutter a few times and it jumps to life for 1 second flashes off. I strap the camera around my shoulder with my strap and try it again about 30 mins later, works fine, end of shoot put it back into the bag, get home take it out attach the camera to my computer, doesn't boot again. next day i try the camera and it's working again fine, going to see my new born niece, pack the camera in the bag, go and when i come to take it out, camera doesn't work again, frustrated i sling the camera over my shoulder and an hour later it works, i'm suspecting the case at this point. So i keep it slinged around me and everything is good for a few days, out of the case. Now i thought i'd give it one more chance, put it in the case, go out to the fringe again with camera and lenses, pull it out camera doesn't work, leave it out, camera still doesn't work. Now my camera only works in about 5 second chunks. I've tried different official batteries, 3rd party ones, with/without/different memory cards, changed lenses. Nothing. I've had the camera for a year with the Hack with nothing wrong, the moment i got this camera bag it's all stopped working.

I suspect the magnets but i don't know.

GH1/GH2 Cinema Profles Comparison

producer — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 03:54:02 +0000

As long as I see, the best video setting for GH2 for the most users is Smooth -2 -2 -2 -2.

I still work with GH1 and if I set Smooth -2 -2 -2 -2, whatever I shot the results are always not good and poor, no matter if Panasonic lenses or vintage lenses are used (even FD 50mm 1.4).

So, would somebody with experience give a suggestions and comparison between GH1 and GH2 profiles?

For example, which GH1 settings to use to be equivalent to GH2 Smooth -2 -2 -2 -2? Etc...

Music video for Argentinian synthpop band (with lyrics in English!)

charlie_orozco — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:56:12 +0000

Hi! This is the first material I share here. I shot it completely at 720p50 (I wanted 60p, but the band couldn't keep up, they had to play too fast!), with the GH2 of course. The hack was 88Mbps, but the 50p footage wasn't up to par, and ended up showing compression artifacts I had to get rid of.

This was the first work I made with the GH2, only 4 days after it arrived! It was crazy. I used the kit lens for the few wide angle shots there are (the 14-42mm), the 20mm f1.7 and a Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f1.7, which I still have and love it (although I want to get a PG f1.4).

The video was shot in a single day, kind of in a hurry. I actually like narrative stuff, just didn't have the chance to do it here, but I'll be showing a couple more videos I made that actually tell a story later.

Please tell me what you think!

Panasonic GH3 72Mbps ALL-I Sample Movie

zzap64 — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 17:50:12 +0000

The website Photography Blog has published a 14 second sample move shot with the Panasonic GH3 in 72Mbps in ALL-I.

http://www.photographyblog.com/previews/panasonic_gh3_photos/

I have attached a screen shot taken from the movie. Unfortunately I am disappointed with the quality of the movie which I find inferior regarding sharpness and compression artefacts to driftwood's ALL-I hacks for the Panasonic GH2. Hopefully the 50Mbps IPB mode is better.

Below is the specifications of the movie.

MediaInfo Mac 0.7.36.0 file analysis report.

Report for file: panasonic_gh3_01.mov

Video Stream #1

Codec (Human Name)................................AVC

Codec (FourCC)....................................avc1

Codec Profile.....................................High@L5.0

Frame Width.......................................1 920 pixels

Frame Height......................................1 080 pixels

Frame Rate........................................25.000 fps

Total Frames......................................360

Display Aspect Ratio..............................16:9

Scan Type.........................................Progressive

Color Space.......................................YUV

Codec Settings (Summary)..........................2 Ref Frames

QF (like Gordian Knot)............................1.362

Codec Settings (CABAC)............................No

Codec Settings (Reference Frames).................2

Video Stream Length...............................14s 400ms

Video Stream BitRate..............................70.6 Mbps

Video Stream BitRate Mode.........................VBR

Bit Depth.........................................8 bits

Video Stream Size.................................121 MiB (98%)

Date of Original Encoding.........................UTC 2012-10-08 13:59:21

Color Primaries...................................BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4, SMPTE RP177

Transfer Characteristics..........................BT.709-5, BT.1361

Matrix Coefficients...............................BT.709-5, BT.1361, IEC 61966-2-4 709, SMPTE RP177

Audio Stream #1

Codec.............................................PCM

Codec (FourCC)....................................twos

Audio Stream Length...............................14s 400ms

Audio Stream BitRate..............................1 536 Kbps

Audio Stream BitRate Mode.........................CBR

Number of Audio Channels..........................2

Sampling Rate.....................................48.0 KHz

Bit Depth.........................................16 bits

Audio Stream Size.................................2.64 MiB (2%)

Date of Original Encoding.........................UTC 2012-10-08 13:59:21

GH2 broken after connecting HDMI converter

DutchAerial — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:19:37 +0000

Hi,

After I connected a HDMI converter to my GH2 it stopt working. It was working before with the original 5v usb power supply but with the converter powered with 6v the whole camera stopt working? How is it possible that a camera completly go's dead?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDMI-Digital-Signal-1080P-CVBS-AV-3RCA-Composite-Mini-Converter-TV-DVD-PC-/180917349499

Which light meter mode on GH2 and why?

brianluce — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 04:46:16 +0000

I've been keeping my GH2 in spot metering mode. Which mode are you guys using and why?

GH2 Problem: Video colors look different before I press record.

acuriousman — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 10:29:56 +0000

I've noticed that my GH2 shows drastically different video colors before I hit record. Before (After I set the proper white balance/iso), everything has a nice neutral white/blue tint to it. However, right when I hit record, the color changes to a dark and grimier greenish yellow.

What's going on? Why is there such a massive difference and how do I make the recorded video look like what I see before recording?

Thank you.

i.dynamic behavior: it just works good with M43 lenses, does not work with Nikon and Canon FD lenses

apefos — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 09:13:49 +0000

I did a careful test to discover what is the thing that makes i.dynamic turn on in GH2.

I tested contrast scene with shadow / highlight areas, just shadow areas alone in the frame, and just highlight areas alone in the frame. I also tested same situations with the three different light mettering and different iso, shutter speed, aperture.

What I found is: the camera does not take into account the differences in shadow/highlight areas to turn it on, and the mettering type, iso, shutter, aperture does not influence it also.

What makes i.dynamic turn on is some amount of overexposure. It does not matter if the mettering is showing underexposure (if you put the spot meter in the shadow area), but if there is an area in the frame big enough to camera consider it an overexposure in some area of the sensor the i.dynamic turns on. It turns on even in a white wall if you overexpose it a little. The i.dynamic does not lock when hit record, it keeps in auto mode. So it is impossible to use it, because nobody will overexpose some area to get it on.

If the hack could make the camera feel an overexposure even if there is not (a false overexposure information to camera), the i.dynamic would be keep enabled.