EOSHD Review of GH2

[Ben_B]

Being a PC/Edius user ProRes is alien to me. From what I've read it seems not much different to MJPEG @ 100mbps 4:2:2. Is this an oversimplification?

Do you think there really would be a visible advantage of using an external device to capture (8 bit?) ProRes via HDMI from a GH2 vs the 100mbps 4:2:2 MJPEG out of a GH13. After all, ProRes is still a lossy intraframe codec...

The careful tests I've done with my GH13's have convinced me that when tweeked carefully MJPEG can be made to look "nicer" (color rendition) than AVCHD @ 60mbps...

ProRes is 10-bit so if the camera outputs 10-bit you'll get 10-bit. It's technically lossy but its designed to be (and is) visually lossless...and you can keep encoding and reencoding with no degradation in quality.

GH13 MJPEG doesn't do 1080/24p.

Anyway, being able to use a recorder like the Atomos Ninja that uses ProRes with the GH2's HDMI out should be (if all goes well) a perfectly fine method of image acquisition for mac and PC users alike. You can edit in ProRes on a PC if you have quicktime installed, you just have to output in something else.

I use both macs and PC and I usually just use my PC for visual effects so my workflow is to bring my ProRes files into After Effects, work with them there, export as PNG sequences, and re-encode to ProRes on the mac side, or bring in the fils as PNG sequences initially (Maya likes them more.) That said, a PC or Mac only workflow wouldn't need to be so complex.