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GH3 A cam, GH2 B cam settings?
  • I'll be doing my first gh3+gh2 two camera interviews in the coming weeks and I'm wondering if anyone has experimented with what the best settings are to match the two? I peeked around and didn't see anything about this, just comparisons. Any advice would be greatly appreciated...color profiles, hacks, +/- settings, ect.

    Thanks.

  • 14 Replies sorted by
  • GH2 moon was designed on the research of the GH3. It should grade well with the gh3 (as it does with my tests) using std to std settings. Indeed, moon should be the A cam.

  • @Driftwood Great! Thanks Nick, much appreciated. Any advice on +/- sharpness, nr, etc...? Standard isn't very flat is it? I'll give it a whirl tomorrow with some tests. Cheers.

  • @kupchenpo I'm in the same boat and would love to hear of your findings.

  • Here's an old test I conducted (this was EX Tele modes) showing the profiles and amount of bitrate each utilises. It still stands today as a test. The results showed (Ive put these in order below to show amount of avg bitrate each profile used for the same picture - test was from an old Cluster setting using my Sedna matrix);-

    • Nostalgic - 80160 kbps
    • Smooth - 77315 kbps
    • Nature - 75641 kbps
    • Dynamic - 75448 kbps
    • Vibrant - 74243 kbps
    • Standard - 74119 kbps
    • Cinema - 64180 kbps

    Clearly the GH2 pushes the encoder around regarding the chroma/luma differences in each profile. I choose Standard because its baseline without any additions/subtractions. Whatever floats your boat - use it! However, grading wise - Ive found setting both cameras to Standard gives me less head-scratching work to grade between the two.

    Here's the video (in no particular order of bitrate size used);-

  • @debinatx @driftwood

    I did a test of the gh2 using Moon v5 (lower quality setting to match approximate record time per card) and the gh3 in 50mbs (I mistakenly said 72 in the video). While the texture is similar, the colors in STD are waayyyyyy different. I did everything I could think of to make them similar, but no dice. Indeed the GH2 with moon looks more defined, but the colors are wayyy more contrasty. Any suggestions?

  • Now swap around lenses. Interesting test. Have you done a grade match test to demo the problem? In my past tests Ive found it pretty good to match. Though I haven't tried Trial 4 and 5 of moon against the GH3 in grading yet.

    @kupchenpo - Could u also do a very quick test of the GH3onaGH2 matrix (these settings employ the GH3's matrix) - download the settings here (theres an Intra version or a 12/15 GOP version to try);-

    http://personal-view.com/talks/discussion/4828/driftwood-experimental-series-2-low-rider-cluster-v8-v9-intravenus-ii-gh3onagh2-an-boom/p1

  • @driftwood I did swap the lenses and it didn't make a noticeable difference. I haven't tried grading to match yet, I'll try that next, but I'd like to get them looking as close as possible so I only have to do a lite grade. I'll try GH3onaGH2 now and also play with different profiles to get as close as I can in camera. Thanks for all your help, it's really appreciated!

  • @ driftwood I did a test with GH3onGH2. It's much closer! I was able to get things looking very close with a simple grade. Strangely enough, they looked very close on the LCDs, but still quite different on the monitor. I changed the settings to -2 all around on both cameras....I think this helped get a more uniform look.

  • Sorry, I don't have a paid vimeo account, so no hd on the last video. Here is a youtube version:

  • @driftwood and @kupchenpo

    Hi guys,

    Since end of 2012 I'm using GH3 for some interviews. Last week I decided to take a second camera but for budget reasons instead of buying a second GH3, two days ago I bought a second hand GH2. Yesterday I took my first shots with both cameras (same WB, both in standard mode) and the result was really not great. I saw all of your comment on this topic but I've never installed previously a hack, patch, firmware or whatever else on a camera, so it's very hard for me to understand what exactly should I do for installing GH3 moon, GH3onaGH2 matrix and then "Intra version or a 12/15 GOP version".... If it's possible for you to explain me step by step the process of installing the right firmware, hack/patch... I'll be grateful! Thanks in advance for your help and sorry for my English.

  • Here's Driftwood Cluster X 'Slipstream 3' - this is the all new mix of Cluster X 'moon' settings (plus Spizz/Nebula/DREWnet style GOPs for other REC modes) for the GH2 - PATCHED with the Panasonic's GH3 matrix so you can grade much closer between cameras.

    Inside the zip you will see install instructions.

    And hey @kupchenpo , wow! Don't you think the GH2 looks better using 4x4 transform for the whole picture over the GH3's predominant use of 8x8!? GH2 wins = A Camera. :-)

    Driftwood Cluster X Series 'Slipstream 3' with GH3 matrix - now you can grade with the GH3 - setg.zip
    2K
  • @driftwood thanks for your help! I've installed successfully the patch but had some crashes. As I said, I own the camera since few days and can't say if this problem came from the patch. I will do more tests and will write back. Thanks again!

  • @driftwood I actually can't see the quality difference, but I also think canon footage looks good and discerning eyes everywhere tell me it's soft. I just shot a bunch of interviews using both cameras and I tend to like the picture from the gh3 a little better each time, not for any discernible reason, perhaps just settings, or maybe my mind is trying to subconsciously justify the money spent on it, I'm not sure. I'll try the new patch you posted here soon, is it very different from gh3onagh2? Cheers.