GH1 firmware research volunteers required

[Vitaliy Kiselev]

A big issue for us PAL users is the 30min. time limit maybe you could check on that.

Thanks for the link. I'll try to look if could find enought time.

As for 30min limit. It is definitely possible.

[Camera Expert]

Online you hear about people hacking into their Sony PSP and doing all sorts of things with it and recently someone have made headlines for thinking that they discovered the first big step to fully hacking the PS3 and although theirs still a lot more work to be done, Sony didn't want to take the chance and did the unthinkable, they decided to release a firmware that disables the option to install another OS.

It would be nice of some of them would spend time on a GH1. At least people have done some hacking in Canon cameras so hacking a GH1 can't be that much more difficult unless Panasonic already thought about people going to hack it in the future and put an extra thick wall.

[Vitaliy Kiselev]

PSP hacking as well as PS3 hacking is very high level. Big money here, I believe. Millions at stake.
Dreamcast lost because smart software hack had been discovered (and online updates did not existed in that time). Despite this I still love my Dreamcast more then PS3 :-)

[Svart]

Don't everyone get too excited yet. For all we know, the limitations that are coded might be the maximum the camera can handle reliably.

As for coding, some coders are very liberal and put all kinds of notes and comments in their code for others to understand while other coders are very strict and do not do anything like that at all. For all we know, Canon's code might be chocked full of comments making it easy to hack. The panasonic code does not seem to be that way.

[butler360]

Despite this I still love my Dreamcast more then PS3 :-)

Dreamcast was the best! Still have it in a box in the closet. It's hanging out with my old Sega Saturn!

But this project sounds fantastic. Best of luck!

[Vitaliy Kiselev]

Don't everyone get too excited yet. For all we know, the limitations that are coded might be the maximum the camera can handle reliably. .

You can be right here.
FPS and time limit are possible, but bitrate must be tested.
I believe that we must have about 30% guaranteed reserve.
And it can be anly AVCHD encoder bottleneck, as camera could write at faster speed (it can record 1280 MJPEG at about 25MBps).

As for coding, some coders are very liberal and put all kinds of notes and comments in their code for others to understand while other coders are very strict and do not do anything like that at all. For all we know, Canon's code might be chocked full of comments making it easy to hack. The panasonic code does not seem to be that way.

Comments are not present in assembler :-) Only some text strings (and, yes, Canon have about 25x more times of them)

[Blackout]

Ahhh... took a good look at this this morning, and while drinking my coffee, ripped the GH1 apart, downloaded the firmware onto another workable platform, updated the avchd to 24mbits, got rid of the 60i and made 1080 go at 24p, enabled hdmi out, and I also gave it a pair of breasts, named it sheila, and had sex with it. It's SUCH a better camera now.

But I'm not sharing this with you guys. Sorry.

[TrueIndigo]

Thanks for answering the question about Pentax cameras -- it would seem, then, that the video performance which Pentax themselves achieved (and some people quite liked the look of the k-7 video) was perhaps about the best you could expect from their choice of components?

Good to see the screenshots you posted but it's totally beyond me even after you explained what to look for! I have a GH1 and look forward to any developments that might come about (after I finish my current film project using the camera normally in case something went wrong!).

Interesting what you say about Canon cameras -- if they are easier to work, have you ever considered looking into say the 550D as a project? If ML have "gone easy" on the big targets (bitrate, even frame size) maybe there are some big strides to be made there? I was always interested in the possibility (if it really were possible), of re-windowing for 2k CinemaScope (instead of 1080). That is: 2048 x 858 instead of 1920 x 1080, which I believe would be a lesser datarate than 1080.

Cheers.

[Ben_B]

The camera does composite out right now, but it goes away when you hit record. Having it stay on would be huge...and likely much more possible than enabling HDMI out which isn't there outside of playback to begin with.

[Vitaliy Kiselev]

Interesting what you say about Canon cameras -- if they are easier to work, have you ever considered looking into say the 550D as a project? If ML have "gone easy" on the big targets (bitrate, even frame size) maybe there are some big strides to be made there? I was always interested in the possibility (if it really were possible), of re-windowing for 2k CinemaScope (instead of 1080). That is: 2048 x 858 instead of 1920 x 1080, which I believe would be a lesser datarate than 1080.

In fact I looked at 550D and this is dead end until some information leak.
According to encryption statistical analysis XOR tables are not used anymore.
5D II have no interest for me (Pentax glass don't work on FF bodies), as it'll be replaced very soon with much better camera, I believe.
Also these cameras require bunch of tools to work as real film rig, and their limits can't be easeally hacked as GH1 :-)
I still believe GH1 is the best camera with large sensor. It just have some silly limitations. And I already have two Panasonic HD consumer cameras and love them. Especially DX1, very underestimated camera with 3CCDs, no any rolling shutter :-) Love mini-DVDs also. Instant backups, and cost about $10 for ten.