GH2 Cinema Mode is the GH2's best kept secret

You should make it it's own topic when you post it, so it doesn't get lost in another thread. I'd really like to know where I should be using this technique.

My plan is to do a full video review that shows my Opinion of what all of the best settings are to use. I had planned to do this back in January. However, I quickly realized that I didn’t know as much about the settings as I had thought I did.

After testing these settings for the last 10 months I am confident I can show why I think my opinions on these settings are correct now. I will definitely make the posts their own topic when I find the time to put everything together.
 
My plan is to do a full video review that shows my Opinion of what all of the best settings are to use. I had planned to do this back in January. However, I quickly realized that I didn’t know as much about the settings as I had thought I did.

After testing these settings for the last 10 months I am confident I can show why I think my opinions on these settings are correct now. I will definitely make the posts their own topic when I find the time to put everything together.

That is super helpful.

THANKS!!!
 
My plan is to do a full video review that shows my Opinion of what all of the best settings are to use. I had planned to do this back in January. However, I quickly realized that I didn’t know as much about the settings as I had thought I did.

After testing these settings for the last 10 months I am confident I can show why I think my opinions on these settings are correct now. I will definitely make the posts their own topic when I find the time to put everything together.

Awesome, thank you.
 
My son was still sick last night. However, he is feeling better today. I think I will be able to complete it tonight. Sorry just really busy right now.
 
Hey, kids come first. Take your time. We are just glad someone is going through the trouble to do something like this. Thanks!
 
Don't worry, if it has taken you ten month of research and gathering experience I think a few more days will be more than ok. Everyone will be grateful for you sharing your knowledge. I am just hopping that the idynamic is hackable. With the intra codec we have now, I think getting better DR will be the next big thing about the gh2.
 
This is interesting... this is another case where this looks too 'stroby' like it was shot at a higher shutter than 50 or 60.. is that the case?
For instance, when the little boy quickly moves his hands its very stuttery and doesn't have much motion blur

I notice the GH2, unlike the GH1, is still in some sort of auto mode when in movie mode as if it were in the Ai and you started shooting on the GH13.... how do you turn this off?
 
This is interesting... this is another case where this looks too 'stroby' like it was shot at a higher shutter than 50 or 60.. is that the case?
For instance, when the little boy quickly moves his hands its very stuttery and doesn't have much motion blur

I notice the GH2, unlike the GH1, is still in some sort of auto mode when in movie mode as if it were in the Ai and you started shooting on the GH13.... how do you turn this off?

Good observation Blackout. For the most part I do shoot at 1/50[SUP]th[/SUP] for 24p and 1/120 for 60p. However, there were a few instances where I shot between 1/80 and 1/120 for 24p. I wanted to sharpen the picture up a bit at the expense of the strobing motion that you described.

I fully understand that most people don’t want to do that. However, I am a big fan of the way 300, saving private Ryan, and Immortals were filmed so I played around a little with that affect on a few clips.

The interesting part is that you absolutely cannot go over 1/120[SUP]th[/SUP] with this type of lighting. It will produce a half dark picture from the rolling shutter and these lights. Everyone wants a global electronic shutter to remedy wobble. However, it has SOOOOO many more important things that it fixes or allows.

I think a global electronic shutter is the only thing that could convince me to upgrade from my GH2 to a GH3.


Here is one of the scenes that uses a faster shutter speed than normal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36vVE8s_gCE&t=0m38s
 
I am uploading a 17+ minute tutorial to youtube right now. It describes how to setup your GH2 to get the most out of stills and video. It also covers the I.Dynamic settings, color modes and has some slow motion examples. It will take about 4 hours to upload but I think you guys will enjoy it. I know I learned a lot making it and I am sure I will learn even more from your comments.
 
The file finished uploading but youtube rejected it because it was over 15 minutes in length! Arrrrggghhh! It looks like they have changed their rules. I have uploaded 20 minute videos before.

Oh well I know a few places where I can hack off about 2 minutes of the less interesting portions.

I will have to re-edit it tonight and re-upload it tomorrow morning.
 
I am starting to get a little mad at youtube now. This is the second time it has rejected my file. Hopefully third time is the charm.
 
Perhaps you could make it in two part or use vimeo.

Finally got it to work.

Here is a youtube video with GH2 stills and video tips and tricks. If you have any questions about the settings or have some tips or tricks of your own please post comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uROQbbiiO2I


Chapter Index:
0:19 Start of Basic Settings Discussion
1:28 I.Dynamic Discussion
2:03 I.Dynamic Movie examples
3:21 High Speed Burst mode with Live View
3:40 ETC mode Function 2 button
3:59 Auto ISO
4:12 Color Modes
5:01 Noise Reduction in RAW example
5:13 White Balance
5:26 Flash Adjustment Function Button
5:32 Touch Screen Auto Focus
6:35 My Menu Screen
6:49 I.Auto mode
7:05 "P" Program Priority Mode
7:55 "A" Aperture Priority Mode
8:11 "M" Manual Mode with Constant Preview Setting
8:54 1080p Movie Mode Custom Settings
9:25 Cinema Color Mode for Videos
11:18 720p Movie Mode Custom Settings
12:29 Camera Bag Demonstration
13:39 Lens Changing Demo
13:57 Slow Motion Videos
 
So is there a way to get a better highlight rolloff in cinema mode? I use smooth now because it rolls off so nicely, but if Cinema could duplicate this behavior, I'd switch over right away.
 
Finally got it to work.

Here is a youtube video with GH2 stills and video tips and tricks. If you have any questions about the settings or have some tips or tricks of your own please post comments.

I don't entirely agree with your findings. Some of them, like the use of Cinema mode, I think I agree with, for those of us that like to do CC to our videos. However, I think that you should dial both NR and sharpness right down to -2, and keep contrast and colour on 0 or take them down further if you want a really flat image for cc. The NR and sharpness are both very ugly on all film modes, in my opinion, but especially the sharpness. I will never shoot with sharpness above -2 ever again, and urge all others to do the same.
 
I don't entirely agree with your findings. Some of them, like the use of Cinema mode, I think I agree with, for those of us that like to do CC to our videos. However, I think that you should dial both NR and sharpness right down to -2, and keep contrast and colour on 0 or take them down further if you want a really flat image for cc. The NR and sharpness are both very ugly on all film modes, in my opinion, but especially the sharpness. I will never shoot with sharpness above -2 ever again, and urge all others to do the same.

My next video will be a deeper dive into the color modes, sharpness, and noise reduction settings. I am coming up with a way to scientifically measure those modes now.
 
I'm on the fence about -1 vs -2 for cc in post, but I use -1 unless noise is intrusive, so for me the settings relate to light, ISO and the presence of flat backgrounds which emphasize noise. Contrast has to come down at least to -1 for some noise reduction, but of course contrast relates a bit to the lens as well. With the Olly 45mm I have no hesitation in lowering the contrast slightly, other lenses don't yield the same terrific contrast across the frame at lower F stops. In any case, -1/ -1 is an OK place to start, new ppl to the cam have to start somewhere and many ppl will start with a kit lens that is slightly less sharp and contrasty. I'm hoping Panasonic will address the NR issue in the next firmware.
 
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