Live composite video out not working?

[Barry_Green]

Hey folks, anyone out there who can tell me the exact keystroke procedure to get the live composite video output from a GH1?

I did this on my old GH1, and I am pretty sure I just held down the "display" and "trash" icons for a while, and from then on it always had live output available on the composite output. But I can't seem to make it work on my newest GH1 (running 1.1 firmware).

So -- how exactly do you do it again? :)

[Ben_B]

That'd be good to know crap...I forgot exactly what it is! I am getting a shiny new Ikan monitor soon (contest ftw)!

Hmm hopefully it still works in new firmware....try just the trash button?

That's what a place I found seemed to indicate...I will play around with mine when I get home!

You got a Gh1 of your own Barry? We can haz book plz? :P

[Martti Ekstrand]

I have a faint memory that you just hold in the trash button for 10 seconds with the LCD folded out.

[Peter J. DeCrescenzo]

Hey folks, anyone out there who can tell me the exact keystroke procedure to get the live composite video output from a GH1?

I did this on my old GH1, and I am pretty sure I just held down the "display" and "trash" icons for a while, and from then on it always had live output available on the composite output. But I can't seem to make it work on my newest GH1 (running 1.1 firmware).

So -- how exactly do you do it again? :)

Hi Barry: Are you saying the technique described by Hunter Richards isn't working for you, or ?
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=1621831&postcount=253

This link is also the GH1 FAQ, so if this technique isn't working we should update the FAQ:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=1660967&postcount=2

But hopefully the above brings joy.

[Ben_B]

Ouch, linking Barry Green to an FAQ sticky. That takes balls :P

[Nighthawk]

Barry, you just scared the crap out of me. Just tried it and holding the trash button like Martti described still works. I thought for a moment the firmware update disabled that feature.

[Barry_Green]

Tried that about forty times now. Open the screen, hold down the trash for 15 seconds or more before giving up. Tried every combination of "display" and trash that I can think of. What am I doing wrong?

It's weird, I followed Hunter's post before and it worked fine. But on this new one, no dice.

So -- step by step -- you turn it on, open up the LCD panel, and then -- what? It says "press display" but -- to what end? To turn the LCD on, or off, or what? And do you hold display down while holding down the trash can?

[Barry_Green]

Okay, this is silly. Figured it out.

YOU HAVE TO HAVE AN SD CARD IN IT.

Sheesh. Why? I don't know. But I went in to try for the sixtieth time, and it flashed "no memory card" again, and I thought... hmmm.... and so, yeah, put a memory card in, hold down the trash can, and bam -- it works.

Thanks guys.

[Ben_B]

Great news. :)

[Nighthawk]

YOU HAVE TO HAVE AN SD CARD IN IT.



Who'd a thunk it. Good to know

[Ben_B]

Ugh watching that video feed switch off when you hit record is amazingly frustrating. Seriously.

How hard would that be to keep on? There is no way that that takes too much processing power...HDMI maybe I'd believe, but composite, no way...this is pretty much crap.

[Nighthawk]

Feel the same way. This has to be hackable.

[Indyreel]

Are you guys saying that you can view the picture through composite output to a monitor?

[Barry_Green]

Yes, but not while recording.

[Ben_B]

You can only view live out through composite and then only when you're not recording.

[Peter J. DeCrescenzo]

I edited the post in the GH1 FAQ to include the detail that a SD or SDHC card must be in the GH1 for composite "preview" out to work. See:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=1660967&postcount=2

Thanks for the heads-up, Barry!

[Ozpeter]

With no card in it, the GH1 makes a compact doorstop but really is of no other use for anything! :)

[Martti Ekstrand]

I use it's amazing low light capabilities, 140mm zoom and the focus zoom to spy on my neigh... oh did I say that out loud?

[Nighthawk]

I use it's amazing low light capabilities, 140mm zoom and the focus zoom to spy on my neigh... oh did I say that out loud?

Oh, brother. If I hear that from just one more person... we're going to have to start a club.

[haojan]

But it works so well... you should try it...

[Ben_B]

But even that works better with the card in it lol.

[Justyn]

man.... thats rough that it won't work while recording.. Such a deal braker as I want to use this camera for some aerial stuff that I do and also to mount on a polecam but without atleast a composite output it's pointless... They need to get this together.

[muntus]

The title of this thread got me very excited......then disappointed.

[SonicStates]

The title of this thread got me very excited......then disappointed.
Yeah. I hear you. I thought I had just stumbled onto something very special...

[Justyn]

its kind of like a few of the HD cams that allow for focus assist, but not when recording.. only during the set-up.

[Nighthawk]

Barry, Nighthawk, Kholi et al,

It sounds like you all really want an SD/composite output from the camera. About 3-months ago I spent an afternoon and pretty much solved the problem by customizing a bit of old school (cough, cough... film) technology. I designed an eyepiece video tap, adapted to the GH1; I even made plans for a properly lightweight power supply, not 1x but 2x 601 outputs yadda, yadda.

Priced the whole thing out and it was going to cost a chunk of change. Production didn't want to pay for it, so we went with the really cheap (free) SD output "rig", this involved a Canon HV20. Thing looks ugly but effective for the jib shots none the less.

I've held off on making the video tap a reality, because if I was to bet on one thing being updated in firmware it would be a live output, and then the video tap project would be a total waste of time for me. I have no knowledge if enabling live video is even possible in the GH1; it just seems more likely than any other update to me.

If there's enough interest I'll actually build the prototype I worked out, in a proper machined housing and take some pictures of the part and the live images. THEN, If there's enough interest in the prototype, I can build a small run of video taps.

Even if I got enough people to buy one, and I did the work at a break even (or near enough break even) operation, to cover my machine time and prototype expenses, the investment on a video tap would still work out to be several hundred $ per unit.

So let's say I do all that and make a small and elegant GH1 video tap- how much would you actually be willing to spend on an accessory that solves the SD output problem??

I know Nighthawk says he will kill, but will he spend?


The title of this thread got me very excited......then disappointed.

The concept still lives through this thread. It isn't the easy answer but hope is still there at what might be an affordable price.

[Indyreel]

Can you live monitor out via HDMI or any Composite Output?
No.
This is still listed in the FAQ section. By what everyone is saying, this is not true. Am I misunderstanding things or does this need to be updated?

[Barry_Green]

You cannot monitor the footage while recording. As soon as you press the "record" button, the monitoring goes away.

[Indyreel]

I understand, but can you monitor the video live for a preliminary check, before actually recording?

Originally, I thought you had to rely on the LCD screen as your only source of checking lighting etc. but atleast this way I can check everything right up to the actual recording, right?

[DvxHerb]

I know this my sound incendiary and childish, but the lack of live video is borderline offensive. As is their lack of response to the firmware request / petition. Oh and not to mention the handling of the orders with Panasonic Direct.

Go ahead and light me up. I just had to say it.

[boulder]

Yeah the inability to monitor externally while recording is really annoying, but the auto audio gain is ALMOST the deal killer for me. But I have decided I can live with these and hope for a hack or firmware fix. Now I just have to find a GH1...

[Barry_Green]

I understand, but can you monitor the video live for a preliminary check, before actually recording?
Yes, if you do the trash-button thing.


but atleast this way I can check everything right up to the actual recording, right?
Yes, with the understanding that it's a low-def export of the LCD screen's display (including the menus and battery info and all that stuff).

[Nighthawk]

I know this my sound incendiary and childish, but the lack of live video is borderline offensive. As is their lack of response to the firmware request / petition. Oh and not to mention the handling of the orders with Panasonic Direct.

Go ahead and light me up. I just had to say it.

You're not wrong. I had an earlier rant about Panasonic's lack of involvement in the Gh1 discussion but I was use to Jan Crittenden from the Broadcast division being part of the dialogue. As the GH1 is considered a 'consumer' item it's in a completely different division of Panasonic. Unfortunately we here were not the target customer base for this camera and are not being taken as seriously as Jan did for the DVX and HVX camera. At the moment we have to rely on the input of each other to find work arounds for some of the camera's shortcomings. As for the handling of orders that was simply unbelievable what some had to go through to get their cameras. Bad Panasonic on that one.

[Peter J. DeCrescenzo]

Even my several-year-old, $150 FujiFilm FinePix E900 piece-of-sh*t point & shoot digital still camera has live composite video out. And the output stays live even when taking photos _and_ when recording video!

Bad, Panasonic, bad! Grrr ... :-)

[Ben_B]

If anyone is interested in getting a production monitor...I believe has the right ins for GH1 (I think S-Video and BNC) but no HDMI...friend is selling his for pretty cheap.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=181121