(sighhhhh)
Just as 'Charity' is deemed to be the greatest of the three virtues - surpassing it's siblings, 'Faith' and 'Hope' - so, of the three great laws that govern our lives, 'Godwin's', 'Murphy's' and 'S*d's', it is the latter one which is usually pre-eminent.
As in the case of my replacement GH2.
I waited almost a year before buying a GH2, hoping that the banding issue would be silently fixed by Panasonic.
When my new camera arrived from Amazon it turned out to be a September 2011 model - which was enough to inspire hope that the banding would have been long gone, and the problem would have been solved.
Alas, not so. Underexposure at even moderate iso's revealed the banding problem I'd read so much about. Present at 50th shutter, gone at 25th shutter, and moving merrily up and down the screen at other randomly selected shutter speeds.
The hack made no difference, the new firmware made no difference - it was there, clearly to be seen in the VF, and even more clearly to be seen when replayed on a screen.
So, it was back to Amazon with it - who, being Amazon, made a mess of the return and delayed the arrival of the replacement camera.
While waiting I drooled over the test reports of the Nex-7 (actually, more like 'lusted'....) and I made up my mind that if there was any banding, whatsoever, on the new GH2 I'd send it back by return, sell my Panasonic lenses & accessories, and settle down to wait for the Sony.
Actually, I was almost certain that *was* what would happen.
Enter the replacement GH2, an October 2011 model, and some wearily familiar tests - which is when the Law of S*d kicked in.
Not a hint of banding, even when lowering the EV off the scale. I tried (almost desperately) to provoke that familiar black line across the image - but the GH2 just wouldn't play ball.
Yes, there was noise - but absolutely nothing that could even remotely be construed as a band.
So there we have it - I can state conclusively that, like the GH1 before it, the GH2 differs in quality between batches.
Why? - who knows?
My own pet theory is that the thing is (obviously) the sum of its parts, each one of which is made to a certain tolerance. If all or most of the components happen to be near the optimum design criteria, then the camera, itself, will be 'as designed'.
If, however, those components are a little bit below par, then each one will contribute to poor performance - and that banding.
That's just my own theory, of course, but I can't really think of any explanation for such remarkably varying image quality.
It goes without saying that this shouldn't be the case! - we're not buying wine, here :cheesy: There should be no 'good years' and 'bad years' (or, more accurately, good months and bad months) We shouldn't have to dip into the bingo bag and hope we get a lucky number!
Anyway, there it is - but I'm pretty sure that if I'd been anxiously waiting for a 'good' GH2, it would have arrived with more noise and bands than a combined armed services parade.... That's exactly how S*d's Law operates :cheesy:
Just as 'Charity' is deemed to be the greatest of the three virtues - surpassing it's siblings, 'Faith' and 'Hope' - so, of the three great laws that govern our lives, 'Godwin's', 'Murphy's' and 'S*d's', it is the latter one which is usually pre-eminent.
As in the case of my replacement GH2.
I waited almost a year before buying a GH2, hoping that the banding issue would be silently fixed by Panasonic.
When my new camera arrived from Amazon it turned out to be a September 2011 model - which was enough to inspire hope that the banding would have been long gone, and the problem would have been solved.
Alas, not so. Underexposure at even moderate iso's revealed the banding problem I'd read so much about. Present at 50th shutter, gone at 25th shutter, and moving merrily up and down the screen at other randomly selected shutter speeds.
The hack made no difference, the new firmware made no difference - it was there, clearly to be seen in the VF, and even more clearly to be seen when replayed on a screen.
So, it was back to Amazon with it - who, being Amazon, made a mess of the return and delayed the arrival of the replacement camera.
While waiting I drooled over the test reports of the Nex-7 (actually, more like 'lusted'....) and I made up my mind that if there was any banding, whatsoever, on the new GH2 I'd send it back by return, sell my Panasonic lenses & accessories, and settle down to wait for the Sony.
Actually, I was almost certain that *was* what would happen.
Enter the replacement GH2, an October 2011 model, and some wearily familiar tests - which is when the Law of S*d kicked in.
Not a hint of banding, even when lowering the EV off the scale. I tried (almost desperately) to provoke that familiar black line across the image - but the GH2 just wouldn't play ball.
Yes, there was noise - but absolutely nothing that could even remotely be construed as a band.
So there we have it - I can state conclusively that, like the GH1 before it, the GH2 differs in quality between batches.
Why? - who knows?
My own pet theory is that the thing is (obviously) the sum of its parts, each one of which is made to a certain tolerance. If all or most of the components happen to be near the optimum design criteria, then the camera, itself, will be 'as designed'.
If, however, those components are a little bit below par, then each one will contribute to poor performance - and that banding.
That's just my own theory, of course, but I can't really think of any explanation for such remarkably varying image quality.
It goes without saying that this shouldn't be the case! - we're not buying wine, here :cheesy: There should be no 'good years' and 'bad years' (or, more accurately, good months and bad months) We shouldn't have to dip into the bingo bag and hope we get a lucky number!
Anyway, there it is - but I'm pretty sure that if I'd been anxiously waiting for a 'good' GH2, it would have arrived with more noise and bands than a combined armed services parade.... That's exactly how S*d's Law operates :cheesy:
