A Guide To Setting Your GH1/GH2 Up For Video

I have just received my first HD camera, a GH1 with v1.2 firmware. I live in UK, and will shoot 25p and 50p slow-mo whenever possible.

I need some advice on settings for hacking.

I am completely happy with the definition 720p brings at 25p, rather than full HD, if it will a) save on Gigabites on my hard drives, b) mean less digital artefacts due to lower compression, c) lead to less colour compression and d) make for smoother, easier editing on my Macbook Pro 2.66Ghz, 4Gb RAM laptop.

Should I then adjust my hack to record both AVCHD and MJPEG at 720p at 25p, or is there a good reason not to?
 
awesome write up. For someone who just bought a GH2 this is was very helpful! Now all i need is a tutorial on how to set this bad boy up on Final Cut Pro :) thanks again!
 
DDiLeo720 said:
awesome write up. For someone who just bought a GH2 this is was very helpful! Now all i need is a tutorial on how to set this bad boy up on Final Cut Pro :) thanks again!
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Step 1. Copy the PRIVATE folder to your computer off the card, rename it if you want.

Step 2. Open Final Cut Pro Log and Transfer Window. Click the icon with the plus and a folder. Add the PRIVATE (or whatever) folder off your hard drive. Select the footage and hit "add selection to queue" (all this after setting your scratch disk of course.)

Step 3. Edit. (GH2 needs no pulldown removal for 24p.)
 
Ben_B said:
New update, some basic GH2 setup, though a lot of the GH1 stuff holds true:

GH2 Setupggravate the "banding" artifact in low light conditions. It may be prudent to increase contrast in these conditions to reduce banding, but do whatever looks best for your particular situation.
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It would be nice to come up with a "definitive" scope of tests for the GH13/2 that would once and for all cover picture style settings and the effects. For example:

1. Does -2 contrast really cause issues for low light shooting.
2. Sharpness 0 or -2 or +1 and why?
3. If we turn saturation to -2 have we lost color information for good?

There is a lot of talk on the Canon side about flat picture profiling and correcting in editing. It would be nice to verify how flat the GH series can go before it degrades the final result.
 
Awesome, thanks for the writeup, and definitely sticky worthy. I was lucky enough to find a GH2 in stock a few weeks back, and I got it w/ the 17-170, added a 50mm macro Olympus (4/3rds w/ adapter), and a Rode Pro w/ adapter. Unfortunately, I've been too busy with editing and motion graphics work to do anything with it until yesterday. I've been shooting on an HVX for the past few years, so while the GH2 certainly provides a nice image, the workflow is very different. For instance, I got a Singh-Ray adjustable ND, which is a nice way to compensate for the ND wheels built into the HVX/AF, but then I realized that it's still lacking the nice built-in warning of the HVX to switch your ND up or down. I haven't yet read this thread, but I'm just really glad to see it as a sticky.
 
Ben-B, U-Da-Man

Thank you so much, I finally got my GH2 and although I set it up much like I did with the two GH1-13's , I was lookin for some more specifics on the GH2.

Thanks again for posting this!

Regards, Sizzle
 
I have a GH2. Would anynone care to explain all the Auto Focus menus and best settings? I have an Olympus 14-54, and at one point it would auto focus only when I depressed the shutter button half way, but now I can only get full auto or full manual focus.
 
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Thanks for the tutorial. Without this, my Japanese-language only GH2 was presenting a slow, uphill learning-curve.

This got me shooting after 30 minutes.

As a media trainer myself, I vote A++ for this because, in adult learning-styles it's called "Random, concrete" experience. You get working and learn from real experience challenges as they occur.

Could we invite other users to use this as a template (or improve on it, with pictures) for more GH2 shooting situations?

[The other learning-style where you read the entire manual first is called "structured, abstract." Fun but not very effective for a complex tool like the GHx cameras].
 
One thing I would enjoy seeing covered is steps to getting good audio quality from an external Mic. I have a Rode video Mic and a Sennheiser ew-100 set up, and while I've been recording to external devices, there are run and gun projects I'd like to go directly to camera if possible. I have the GH 1 btw. Great write ups though.
 
Something to ad to the GH2 setup. When you first get the camera the LCD has this annoying property where it shifts brightness. It will do this even when in M mode where shutter and aperture is not changing and iso is fixed. Even with a vintage manual lens. Its the LCD and its a huge pain in the ass. The way to fix this is to go to SETUP (spanner tool), 2nd page, LCD Mode and take it off auto.
 
doesnt work at all. all tips here told about this color shifting problem are useless. nothing works. its simply crap
 
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