GH2 Broken GH2 - LASTED YEARS! Need a replacement

M

MaroneSJ

Member
Hello, I finally lost my beloved Gh2. My friend broke it and gave me some cash for it. Now I need to replace it. I am living in Northern California and I am working to make a fishing film. I have tons of lenses and loved the camera, my only question, what do I replace it with. I have been out of the game for a while now.

I dont want to buy a gh3 or gh4...at least I dont think I do. But what about the Olympus E-M10 Mark ii? I dont need pro quality and 720 60p is fine for me. I also shoot photography so if I could double it up, that would be great.

Please provide some input when you can...I also was considering a go pro :(
 
You can replace it for only a couple hundred dollars used in good condition and pick right back up where you left off.

Anything else is going to be a LOT more money.

I've bought and sold a lot of cameras and to me the GH2 makes the least sense to part with. Check back in ten years....I may still have mine.
 
DPStewart said:
You can replace it for only a couple hundred dollars used in good condition and pick right back up where you left off.

Anything else is going to be a LOT more money.

I've bought and sold a lot of cameras and to me the GH2 makes the least sense to part with. Check back in ten years....I may still have mine.
Click to expand...


I have a GH2 that I have barely used. The reason being that anytime I go to record video the camera ceases recording and I get a message saying something about the card not being of sufficient speed, and I get that regardless of how fast a card I use. And yes, I've tried numerous different cards so the issue isn't a defective card.

If I remember correctly the display reads "motion recording was cancelled due to the limitation of the recording speed of the card." It typically ceases recording after only 20-30 seconds. It did this straight out of the box, purchased new shortly after the camera was released. I bought it for shooting video so the camera has likely only been used for around 200 still photos. It's pretty much been a doorstop ever since I purchased it and I have not put much effort into figuring out why it ceases shooting video after less than a minute of record time.
 
DPStewart said:
You can replace it for only a couple hundred dollars used in good condition and pick right back up where you left off.

Anything else is going to be a LOT more money.

I've bought and sold a lot of cameras and to me the GH2 makes the least sense to part with. Check back in ten years....I may still have mine.
Click to expand...

See one on ebay for about 300 starting bid. I also noticed the G7 is around this price...wait...so is the gh3...DARN! I hate how there are so many decisions these days.
 
MaroneSJ said:
See one on ebay for about 300 starting bid. I also noticed the G7 is around this price...wait...so is the gh3...DARN! I hate how there are so many decisions these days.
Click to expand...

I suppose a GH3 would be fine too, and it would be familiar enough that it won't be a slow-down. Some people said the image quality was a step up, others say it's a tad different but not better than the GH2.

I was going to get a G7 at one point...never got around to it. It seems really great, but if memory serves, it's missing something. Like a headphone output or external mic input... But if you're already in with the whole G or GH series, then it does make quite a nice image for the price.
 
IMO the best price/performance bargain by far is a used G7 ($350-400). Better ISO performance than the GH4, great layout and controls, and you get the same 100mbps 4K as the GH4, which is stunning when downscaled to 1080p, even with some minor cropping for stabilization/recomposition/faking another angle etc. You get 1080p60 too, so still a step up from the GH2. The screen and EVF are miles ahead of the GH2, yet it uses the same battery, so you can re-use your old ones. The one downside is that it doesn't have a headphone jack. I would definitely pick it over a GH3 or the Olympus.
 
JPNola said:
I have a GH2 that I have barely used. The reason being that anytime I go to record video the camera ceases recording and I get a message saying something about the card not being of sufficient speed, and I get that regardless of how fast a card I use. And yes, I've tried numerous different cards so the issue isn't a defective card.

If I remember correctly the display reads "motion recording was cancelled due to the limitation of the recording speed of the card." It typically ceases recording after only 20-30 seconds. It did this straight out of the box, purchased new shortly after the camera was released. I bought it for shooting video so the camera has likely only been used for around 200 still photos. It's pretty much been a doorstop ever since I purchased it and I have not put much effort into figuring out why it ceases shooting video after less than a minute of record time.
Click to expand...

I've had this issue with mine before and i switched it to a different autofocus mode and that seem to fix it. Some of the hacks have this issue in different modes, but they note the issues.
 
aldolega said:
IMO the best price/performance bargain by far is a used G7 ($350-400). Better ISO performance than the GH4, great layout and controls, and you get the same 100mbps 4K as the GH4, which is stunning when downscaled to 1080p, even with some minor cropping for stabilization/recomposition/faking another angle etc. You get 1080p60 too, so still a step up from the GH2. The screen and EVF are miles ahead of the GH2, yet it uses the same battery, so you can re-use your old ones. The one downside is that it doesn't have a headphone jack. I would definitely pick it over a GH3 or the Olympus.
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I totally agree. The G7 would be a great replacement. My brother has the G7 and I have the GH4 and I'm impressed with how much stuff that's in the GH4, is also in the G7. Screen/EVF are way better and the GH2 didn't really have a headphone jack anyways. Menus/buttons are way easier to use on these newer cameras than the GH2.
 
I'll add another "vote" for the G7. I've got the GH4, G7, and just got the G85 a couple days ago. Two "workarounds" for having no headphone jack are doing a quick location test and immediate playback on a laptop to see how your mic gain settings work, or use a portable audio recorder (Tascam DR 60D, 70D, ZoomH1, or similar) you can monitor with headphones. The performance of the G7 is phenomenal either in 1080p or recorded in 4K, editited on a 4K timeline, then rendered to a 1080p file which results in some of the best looking 1080p HD I've seen.

I would use whatever GH2's go for towards either a used or even new G7 as currently good condition, working GH2's are getting a bit "long in the tooth" and more prone to failure. Everything on the G7 is better including color on both JPEGs and motion picture, I used to have GH2's before the GH3 and GH4 came out.
 
Bruce Foreman said:
I'll add another "vote" for the G7. I've got the GH4, G7, and just got the G85 a couple days ago. Two "workarounds" for having no headphone jack are doing a quick location test and immediate playback on a laptop to see how your mic gain settings work, or use a portable audio recorder (Tascam DR 60D, 70D, ZoomH1, or similar) you can monitor with headphones. The performance of the G7 is phenomenal either in 1080p or recorded in 4K, editited on a 4K timeline, then rendered to a 1080p file which results in some of the best looking 1080p HD I've seen.

I would use whatever GH2's go for towards either a used or even new G7 as currently good condition, working GH2's are getting a bit "long in the tooth" and more prone to failure. Everything on the G7 is better including color on both JPEGs and motion picture, I used to have GH2's before the GH3 and GH4 came out.
Click to expand...

If you don't know Bruce, I can tell you that the image quality of his work with these cameras is absolutely top notch. Enviable.
Watch his work and you won't be able to buy one of those cameras fast enough.
 
JPNola said:
I have a GH2 that I have barely used. The reason being that anytime I go to record video the camera ceases recording and I get a message saying something about the card not being of sufficient speed, and I get that regardless of how fast a card I use. And yes, I've tried numerous different cards so the issue isn't a defective card.

If I remember correctly the display reads "motion recording was cancelled due to the limitation of the recording speed of the card." It typically ceases recording after only 20-30 seconds. It did this straight out of the box, purchased new shortly after the camera was released. I bought it for shooting video so the camera has likely only been used for around 200 still photos. It's pretty much been a doorstop ever since I purchased it and I have not put much effort into figuring out why it ceases shooting video after less than a minute of record time.
Click to expand...

I am almost positive your GH2 has a hack in it. You need to reload the original firmware or load a more conservative hack. If you have not hacked your GH2, this means you have a lot to learn; it's all in this website and in the personalview website.
 
FYI, Adorama currently has G7 kits for $500, including a $50 gift card. You can sell the kit lens off for $80-100 on eBay, leaving you with a brand new G7 with warranty for about $400, and a gift card you can use towards some batteries, cards, or whatever else.
 
aldolega said:
FYI, Adorama currently has G7 kits for $500, including a $50 gift card. You can sell the kit lens off for $80-100 on eBay, leaving you with a brand new G7 with warranty for about $400, and a gift card you can use towards some batteries, cards, or whatever else.
Click to expand...

That's killer.
 
We use the GH3 / GH4 / G6 / G7 at various times.

The G7 might have 4k, but it doesn't have a HDMI out and for me that is vital. It's the reason I still work often with the GH3. Also, battery life. GH3's/GH4's battery life is simply amazing. And as we shoot weddings, I want as few interuptions on a day as possible. The GH-series are wonderful in that regard. And, IQ wise it still holds up in 2016 IMO. 2nd hand, they are a steal.

One of our recent films. Mixed footage of GH3, GH4 and G7. Mostly GH3.


For some reason it doesn't play in HD until you select 1080p yourself.
 
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