AF-100 bitrate hack?

Kindredmachine

Kindredmachine

Well-known member
Any word on how an AF-100 hack is coming along? I would love to have a higher bitrate with GOP 1. It would almost like an entiely new camera :-)
 
I think he wrote something about why bother as the gh2 footage looked better so why bother.
Made me feel a bit sad while I stared at my af101.
 
In his dreams the gh2 footage looked better. Owned two gh2's and now the af100. Don't get me started! :)
 
Naive as I am, I sometimes dream Panasonic would do it's own "bitrate hack" adding some extra features ..... kind of a "bonsai-S3-log" ..... just to poke the new kids in town a bit .....
 
It would need a bit more than that Tom. We'd need to provide him with a couple of AF100's to work with as well.
 
Any damaged AF100's out there, depending on the damage...lens sensor etc.. could they be donated
 
Guys, There is no pathway into the CODEC board. Just give it a rest. It isn't possible. If you want higher bitrates, use an outboard recorder.


Best,

Jan
 
Letzring said:
Every time they do this I think they end up "bricking" one or two bodies which might be a little prohibitive with an AF100. I'm also not certain I know what the point would be if you have the option of SDI out to something like a Blackmagic that is recording uncompressed?
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I wonder if anyone has put the AF100 (Using the SDI out) against the GH2 (Hacked) and compaired the two?
 
I've not had any issues with the onboard codec. I'm sure some people want a higher bitrate just because it's higher - not because they need it. Just like my clients who demand we work at ProRes 422 (HQ) - not because their project requires it but just because it's higher than ProRes 422.

If you do demand a higher bitrate codec for demanding green screen or other effects work then maybe the AF isn't the camera for you.
 
Yeh, I don't get this fetish for hacking a pro camera like the AF100.

Sure, it could be fun to mess around with the firmware on a cheap and cheerful consumer cam to get more out of it I guess. But even then, these cameras weren't designed to take it, so you're at risk at the very least of overheating as the 5Dii illustrates even without any hacking for higher data rate. (Hacking to add stuff like 24p or audio bars is a different matter, I can see that, but even then it risks owning a pretty expensive brick).

Panasonic thoughtfully provided a high quality clean SDI and HDMI signal out on the AF100 so if you need a higher rate codec, just slap an external recorder on it. It is what it is there for! And much cheaper than replacing a bricked (or heat-fried) camera.

If you really need it and can't afford it, maybe chip in those $100's with some local friends to buy an external recorder and share it between you for days when you need it? :) :) :)

Cheers, Hywel.
 
Yes different tools, but still worth trying out. No more a waste of time then spending hours every day crushing on glass... Also know as lens envy, which I happen to have lol.
 
I had two GH2's - one I hacked multiple times with all sorts of different variations of hacks. It resulted in blips and the beginning of clips, files that wouldn't span over 4 gigs, a camera that was no longer stable, etc.

I saw barely any noticeable improvement over the native 24p 24mbit and the hack. The Af100 is pretty damn clean IMO. Those guys with the hacked GH2s think they've got a better camera than the AF100. But of course, I could never ever get the WB right on a GH2, the screen changes drastically when you hit record, you cannot monitor audio levels, etc. Don't get me started. :)
 
Jan_Crittenden said:
Guys, There is no pathway into the CODEC board. Just give it a rest. It isn't possible. If you want higher bitrates, use an outboard recorder.


Best,

Jan
Click to expand...

ROTFL, that made my night. Jan chimes in rolling her eyes. I guess that's that; AF-100 still produces a better image than our hacked GH2 b-cams and of course we could just slap on a nanoflash but that negates the point... *sigh*
 
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Really, whats the point of hacking it when you can just slap a recorder on it? All while not risking your camera. Move on people. I suggest having a recorder anyway if you own a camera with HD/SDI. My Ki Pro Mini works great when I want that extra umphh. Although the on board codec if the af100 works fine as well....As for the Gh2 hack. I have one. I've hacked it and the hack improves it. But I have not seen many things shot with a hacked gh2 where they shot all day much less on an intensive project. Just movies of cats and cups and trees.
 
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