GH2 Cinema Anamoprphic footage and More | Evolving

K

Kholi

Section Moderator
EDIT: This started out as a footage request thread and I'm just evolving it into a ton of test stuff over time.

I'm debating really hard here on what cam to use for the next project. GH2 has been on my mind.

I'm looking for 1080 24 footage in the rawest format anyone has, that shows interior and low ISO (640) or night exterior and low ISO.

Pretty simple, but having a hard time finding any very well compressed examples. And, I don't think it's okay to go off of my old GH2 footage, which seems to only look great in broad daylight or amply lit settings.

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8-29-12] [sedna]


http://www.vimeo.com/campcomet/anmamorphic (not a typo)



---

5-12-11]
http://vimeo.com/42018395


Canis Majoris Night Patch with a new [old] set of lenses that I've reintroduced myself too. Think these are gonna be my go-to primes and zooms for well-lit GH2 work.

12-18-11]
http://vimeo.com/33858689

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Z611AIMG -- better compressed X264 with the right gamma. Same File Size

Check the vimeo description, but quickly: yes, I used 2x Zoom and the S16 for this one. All night material. 400 ISO and 800 ISO.

Lots of new revelations for myself, cam just keeps on giving.

12-12-11]


http://vimeo.com/33761833

There's some lowlight interior stuff in this video. Yes, we are goofing around like mad. Download the file at will, it's heavily compressed from a 2GB file, but looks better than the vimeo viewing and is 1080.


12-07-11]


GH2 | Driftwood seaQuake 176mb Patch
Hot Rod Cameras PL Mount (hotrodcameras.com)
Zeiss Superspeed Super16mm Zoom T2 10-100
Profile: Smooth -2 -2 -1 -2
NDS: .3, .6, .9
ISO: 400

Nothing special, it's footage that I grabbed pre hack re-install so I need to go back out and try this again. I noticed that, after I re-patched, ETC mode looked a lot cleaner than what's being shown here. However, my eyes may be playing tricks on me.

This is a very specific look. Lots of noise. I did a chroma denoise with Magic Bullet Denoiser and left the luma noise alone, as I'm not a fan of how soft the image gets when you tear noise out of it.

I am a fan, however, of the noise altogether. It's different, adds something to it.

Pretty cool to be able to get two distinctly different looks out of one camera at this price point!

Footage has been graded and is not the image right out of cam.

And, yes, I know, I have shakey hands. Try holding this camera with a zoom on it and focusing without a neckstrap! I've found a temp solution though, so next time it'll be a lot smoother.

From Vimeo Description--

Promise
Click to expand...

I do have some after re-patch footage and it is definitely cleaner in the same situation. Some of it was in the other video. Looking forward to grabbing the combo again to test it out.


12-02-11]
www.vimeo.com/33016592


Some more test footage. Wipes from ungraded to graded included.

Will make the file downloadable tomorrow, need to change some stuff and will replace the video.

Rig supplied by Hot Rod, by the way. I mentioned it a while back but you can't beat this thing for GH2 + PL.


11-29-11]
www.vimeo.com/32881219


Of course, it would be leaves or trees, right?

Gonna break out the lite panels and do some interior stuff tonight. Still getting acquainted.

The streaking stuff is weird, but it seems like it's just from under-exposing the camera by a stop. You can see it at 0:12 then it vanishes when I open up seconds later.

You can download the X264 encoded file. Heavily compressed but surprisingly stout! From 500MB down to under 30 and I think that it still looks good.
 
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I checked that, the link is broken but...also.. there's a lot of grading etc going on, according to the info.

I'm working on nabbing a camera as soon as possible... just need to get over it and figure this thing out. Hah
 
Hey Kholi, you're saying you're doing your own tests - could you please report on what you find? I am very interested in the GH2 and unfortunately my project requires tons of night photography and dark interiors. I'd love to know what you find!
 
OldCorpse said:
Hey Kholi, you're saying you're doing your own tests - could you please report on what you find? I am very interested in the GH2 and unfortunately my project requires tons of night photography and dark interiors. I'd love to know what you find!
Click to expand...

You and me both. This is exactly why I'm inquiring. it's not very hard to make a camera look good with a lot of light available, but I want to see how it works in moderately lit scenarios. Like, can I walk around with a 3K lighting Kit for every scenario and be okay on a nano-budget production?

I'm trying to get my hands on a set of Zeiss Super 16 T1.3's -- If I can lock it down I'm gonna start testing tomorrow.
 
Koli, can you tell a difference in motion between the motion of the gh2 compared to the canon line. Is it me or does the motion on gh2 seem to have a more reality motion cadence to it. i've noticed the same effect on the videos I see from the af100 as well. please tell me I'm not crazy. I know shutter speeds, etc. have a lot to do with motion but what's your opinion since you've worked with both. sorry to get off subject.
 
Kholi,

This low light footage (of course) is only as good as the amount of light that hits the sensor. You made no reference of lens, field of view, or aperture, shutter speed (I can assume 180 deg, shutter for 24P)
If I shot real low light at ISO640 with the 14-140mm lens set to 14mm focal length and at its minimum f4.0, it would look like crap. But, if I used the 20mm 1.7, or the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95........................

I know you know all this stuff :) I've been following your posts for years. Always great.

One thing I can tell you is that using driftwoods latest hacks SeaQuake GOP1 160Mb/s or Aquamotion V2 (GOP1 100Mbps), The low light detail is no longer smeared by macroblocks. Also, the noise appears finer. This is due to less compression resolving finer detail. Also, the GH2 is reasonable for noise levels. I'd say better than anything less than the 5D.
But having said that, one thing that's unique is the RED channel is the nosiest. Normally, (as you know), the BLUE channel tends to be the worse in cameras, but it actually looks good. (GREEN is no issue)

Also, if you do choose to use noise reduction in post, these i-frame (GOP1) only hack settings allow post noise reduction to make a better model for removing noise.
The quality is quite amazing. I have and have used cameras that have more knobs and cost a lot more $$ but fall short of this camera with these hacks.
The motion looks great with GOP1. No motion vector frames.

I'm also hearing the Sandisk 64MB 95MB/s cards allow driftwood's SeaQuake setting to span for continuous recording. SeaQuake steals about 1GB / minute.
Well worth it though. Even Aquamotion 100Mb/s looks great; although the i-frames are smaller (of course since less datarate).
 
reem12 said:
Koli, can you tell a difference in motion between the motion of the gh2 compared to the canon line. Is it me or does the motion on gh2 seem to have a more reality motion cadence to it.
Click to expand...

Here's the weird thing, I feel like the GH2's motion looks more like "cinema" than the 7D or 5D. It was the same thing I "felt" when watching HVX200 footage versus other flavors of 24P out there. But, you can get close to that if you throw the Canon cams into 1/3 Step, which'll open up the 1/45 Shutter option.


i've noticed the same effect on the videos I see from the af100 as well. please tell me I'm not crazy. I know shutter speeds, etc. have a lot to do with motion but what's your opinion since you've worked with both. sorry to get off subject.
Click to expand...

You aren't crazy, I think some people are hyper-sensitive to this stuff; I'm one of them. It's a pick and choose deal, and mostly preference. If I had to choose a DSLR, though, 5D or hacked Gh2 all the way: I don't think you can go wrong with either of those for low budget work.
 
Stevet said:
Kholi,

This low light footage (of course) is only as good as the amount of light that hits the sensor. You made no reference of lens, field of view, or aperture, shutter speed (I can assume 180 deg, shutter for 24P)
If I shot real low light at ISO640 with the 14-140mm lens set to 14mm focal length and at its minimum f4.0, it would look like crap. But, if I used the 20mm 1.7, or the Voigtlander 25mm f/0.95........................

I know you know all this stuff :) I've been following your posts for years. Always great.
Click to expand...

Yes! Exactly. I could go around shooting high ISO all day, but indeed it's not about the lowlight, but how much light's actually being consumed. That's also why I feel 10,000 ISO is completely unnecessary (but cool lookin' for black and white applications). There's not a single situation I would be caught shooting over 1600 ISO, and even that's beyond comfort zone for a DSLR.

One thing I can tell you is that using driftwoods latest hacks SeaQuake GOP1 160Mb/s or Aquamotion V2 (GOP1 100Mbps), The low light detail is no longer smeared by macroblocks. Also, the noise appears finer. This is due to less compression resolving finer detail. Also, the GH2 is reasonable for noise levels. I'd say better than anything less than the 5D.
Click to expand...

This is the kind of stuff I need to hear, and definitely see for myself with raw footage. If the seaquake and driftwood hacks are smoothing out the nasty mud in dark areas then it's far-far and away from what I got when I used it on the feature. Which wasn't bad, but only looked good in daylit settings.

Here's hopin.g

But having said that, one thing that's unique is the RED channel is the nosiest. Normally, (as you know), the BLUE channel tends to be the worse in cameras, but it actually looks good. (GREEN is no issue)
Click to expand...

Isn't this weird? I noticed that immediately (without any post peeping) when shooting GH2 for the first time. Red Channel looks rather nasty, but I've got a little test I want to run on this.

Also, if you do choose to use noise reduction in post, these i-frame (GOP1) only hack settings allow post noise reduction to make a better model for removing noise.
The quality is quite amazing. I have and have used cameras that have more knobs and cost a lot more $$ but fall short of this camera with these hacks.
The motion looks great with GOP1. No motion vector frames.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the hints on noise removal. I figured the fine pattern would create a better base from which to start. I also agree with you on larger contraptions being sub par in comparison... weird things happen, but man it's pretty strange. I remember seeing the first GH2 footage and shaking my head--while laughing, at how incredible it looked.
I'm also hearing the Sandisk 64MB 95MB/s cards allow driftwood's SeaQuake setting to span for continuous recording. SeaQuake steals about 1GB / minute.
Well worth it though. Even Aquamotion 100Mb/s looks great; although the i-frames are smaller (of course since less datarate).
Click to expand...

I think I am going to find a 95MB/s card for Sage's "GH2-X" back. I'm just waiting for a yes or no on the super 16mm primes before I go and take a hike to get it!
 
reem12,
I'll give you my 2cents...
IMO all of these cameras that are not intraframe have a slight smeared look to motion. Of course, this is dependent on bitrate. The higher the biitrate, the better the (b,p) motion frames and of course the i-frame.
The GH2 with the hack using driftwoods settings I mentioned above are all ii-frames (GOP1). There are NO motion b,p frames. The motion quality is as good as it gets for a given framerate / shutter speed.
 
Great news. Let us know how the super 16mm primes works out!

I'm going to dedicate some time and set up some tests dedicated to GH2 noise tests.
BTW, the GH2 does have a bug with its ISO settings. All you need to remember is to target your ISO setting from above, not below.
So if you wanted ISO 800, step down from ISO1250, not up from ISO640.

No big deal, just as long as we are aware of this bug.
 
Thanks koli, and you are correct as I was using a canon 7d that wasn't mine and by default was set to 1/45 and my 5d was set to 1/50 and wondered why the 7d looked more filmic than my 5d motion wise so this explains it. thanks for your insight man. I also think the hyper sharpness of the gh2 may be messing with my brain as well, reason I say this is because I just watched some gh2 footage that was graded and seemed to have been made softer in post that looked close to canon footage in terms of color and motion. Odd.

Oh, and thanks stevet for the heads up concerning the I frames. Guess that explains some of it.
 
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Hey Kholi! I know that the GH2 (hacked) has some SERIOUS mojo....I've been watching closely from the side-lines debating too. I still have my hacked GH1 (doesn't have nearly the low light mojo), but still incredible stuff....

Seeing as you are bringing up low-light shooting, I wanted to make sure that you've seen the NEX5N's low light abilities. The grain is very fine and it's SICK how clean it is at ISO3200. It ticks me off that they "capped" it in video at 3200. I would be happy to shoot 6400 if needed and probably even 12800 with NR software.

It doesn't get the CRAZY SHARP images that you get from the hacked GH2, but you do get full 1080/60P. I haven't shot mine enough to be able to talk to the "overheating" issues (hasn't happened to me yet), but others have complained. (FYI) I'll also say that if you are shooting a tripod wide angle without much motion, this thing will allow you to shoot video with a shutter as low as 1/4th!!!! Nothing like shooting with nothing but moonlight...lol. It also has built in peaking that's hard to live without for focus.

Anywho....I have some ISO3200 footy if you'd like to see some... Cheers! Look forward to seeing footy!
 
@Kholi You're probably sure of this already, but last time I checked with some Super 16 primes, they couldn't cover the gh2's sensor size (vignetting etc)--this was with some Optar illumina t1.3 primes I recall.
 
LoganMackay said:
Nice! You shooting EXT mode I assume? Hope you post some tests.
Click to expand...

Yeah, gonna have to roll EXT mode, but after seeing that footage of Senor's in EXT mode I'm a little more confident about it! Very impressive stuff.

And, of course, I'll be putting up some footages.

Stevet said:
Great news. Let us know how the super 16mm primes works out!

I'm going to dedicate some time and set up some tests dedicated to GH2 noise tests.
BTW, the GH2 does have a bug with its ISO settings. All you need to remember is to target your ISO setting from above, not below.
So if you wanted ISO 800, step down from ISO1250, not up from ISO640.

No big deal, just as long as we are aware of this bug.
Click to expand...

Noise tests are pretty important. I'm not all that interested in what it's doing above 1600, but below that I want to see exactly what I'm gonna get myself into in a night setting. I've also got some low contrast filters to toy with.

THanks for the tip on the ISO thing. So do you mean I need to go up to 1250, set it, then go back into the menu and go down to 800 to set it again?

Weird.

reem12 said:
Thanks koli, and you are correct as I was using a canon 7d that wasn't mine and by default was set to 1/45 and my 5d was set to 1/50 and wondered why the 7d looked more filmic than my 5d motion wise so this explains it. thanks for your insight man. I also think the hyper sharpness of the gh2 may be messing with my brain as well, reason I say this is because I just watched some gh2 footage that was graded and seemed to have been made softer in post that looked close to canon footage in terms of color and motion. Odd.
Click to expand...

Ah! Yes, that will DEFINITELY explain it. I don't like the look of 1/50 on any of these cameras. I think the GH2 only does 1/40 or 1/50 though? I'm about to check.

Do some tests with the shutter to make sure you like it. Most of the stuff on my vimeo that's done with the canon's is at 1/45, especially the spirit hood videos.

HHL said:
Hey Kholi! I know that the GH2 (hacked) has some SERIOUS mojo....I've been watching closely from the side-lines debating too. I still have my hacked GH1 (doesn't have nearly the low light mojo), but still incredible stuff....

Seeing as you are bringing up low-light shooting, I wanted to make sure that you've seen the NEX5N's low light abilities. The grain is very fine and it's SICK how clean it is at ISO3200. It ticks me off that they "capped" it in video at 3200. I would be happy to shoot 6400 if needed and probably even 12800 with NR software.

It doesn't get the CRAZY SHARP images that you get from the hacked GH2, but you do get full 1080/60P. I haven't shot mine enough to be able to talk to the "overheating" issues (hasn't happened to me yet), but others have complained. (FYI) I'll also say that if you are shooting a tripod wide angle without much motion, this thing will allow you to shoot video with a shutter as low as 1/4th!!!! Nothing like shooting with nothing but moonlight...lol. It also has built in peaking that's hard to live without for focus.

Anywho....I have some ISO3200 footy if you'd like to see some... Cheers! Look forward to seeing footy!
Click to expand...

Post up some of the NEX footage. I may have a chance to fiddle with that cam as well. More options ze better.

qwerty123 said:
@Kholi You're probably sure of this already, but last time I checked with some Super 16 primes, they couldn't cover the gh2's sensor size (vignetting etc)--this was with some Optar illumina t1.3 primes I recall.
Click to expand...

It does suck. The 25mm Zeiss just barely covers it, which is cool but it vingettes so it's definitely an "acquire" taste. ETC mode will be employed.

The 5.8mm is SUPER wide, even in ETC mode... like... insanely wide. Pretty swift, too.
 
The sony fs100 footage seems to have the same motion cadence to it in the footage I've seen as the gh2. Does any one know if this cam can do a shutter of 1/45. I think I would like this cam more. If this cam can do a shutter of 1/45 can someone post a sample.
 
I checked. Sadly, there's no 1/45. Only 1/40 and 1/50--so I'll be using 1/40

One thing's for sure... ETC + Super16mm Superseeds ... you'll never have to worry about your wide end. Good grief.

These things are insane, and I am looking for distortion on the 9/T2.4 Superseed, can't find any. Close focus is like two inches.
 
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