GH1 Banding or FPN below 800 ISO?

E

emory

Active member
This is my first posting.

I think I have read every thread on the subject of banding / FPN, but one point is not clear to me:

Hypothetical case: Studio portrait situation with dark grey background tapering off into jet black. Soft box to one side of subject so that shadows on the dark side taper off into jet black. In other words, adequate exposure on face and gradation from purest white to deepest black. Other examples: person at window of large room, light falloff to jet black in background; entertainer on dark stage lit by a single spotlight.

In MOVIE MODE (720), would one see banding/ FPN in the darker areas at say, ISO 400 ? ISO 800 ?

My reason for asking: It is difficult for me to get hold of a GH1 for testing and returns are nearly impossible where I live.

Thanks for any insights.
 
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If you're underexposed by 3 stops you'll get the FPN. Against a black or gray it would be tougher to see it, especially with a properly lit subject. If it was a beige background it'd be easier to see. At least in my experiences.

In scenes that have a higher contrast in general FPN isn't an issue and the best way to hide it is to have a nice soft OOF BG.

But the moment the little gh1 meter says 3 stops under then you're kinda hosed for the most part.

Any of the situations you mentioned I don't forsee you have issues since you plan on staying between ISO 400-800.

Some of the better examples I have seen that you should have a look at are posted by a fella on here who goes by dvbrother (Real Name is Todd Norris I believe). All of his videos are really nice and will give you a good overview of what the gh1 can do in different situations.
 
Best Solution

1. Buy brand new GH1 on amazon for $1200 bucks
2. Sell old body on ebay for $600 and the kit lens with your newly ordered GH1 and get around $650
3. Break even using extra cash to pay for paypal/ebay fees and enjoy your new banding free sensor:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
jeracravo said:
I have a brand new one and it has banding
1x1.jpg
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when/where did you buy it?
 
jeracravo said:
I have a brand new one and it has banding...
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all GH1's have banding if you're under exposed.

For the OP, I have shot in no light situations with just a comer 1800 as a spotlight. There is no banding in the black or fading to black (just some minor small artifacts in certain but not all scenarios) but if you are really peeping you can see slight vertical banding in the underexposed sections of the subject. If the subject is moving you will have a hard time seeing it unless you are really really looking for it. the average viewer will never spot it. they will be more distracted by the cleaner crisp lit up image instead =)
 
MR Fanny said:
all GH1's have banding if you're under exposed.

For the OP, I have shot in no light situations with just a comer 1800 as a spotlight. There is no banding in the black or fading to black (just some minor small artifacts in certain but not all scenarios) but if you are really peeping you can see slight vertical banding in the underexposed sections of the subject. If the subject is moving you will have a hard time seeing it unless you are really really looking for it. the average viewer will never spot it. they will be more distracted by the cleaner crisp lit up image instead =)
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again, I rented one and it was virtually non existent...I should've switched cameras LOL:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
MR Fanny said:
all GH1's have banding if you're under exposed.
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Once you recognize the geometric characteristics of the banding, it's easy to spot it, even in properly exposed videos that include flat dim areas. The problem is not with the overall light exposure on the sensor, it is specific to each and every pixel. I suspect its cause is an inconsistency in MOS sensor fabrication process control.

At low light levels, there appear to be fixed vertical and horizontal geometrical patterns of variation in sensor pixel response that are superimposed on the ever present random noise. Both effects become more noticeable in dim areas, but the fixed pattern noise (FPN) stands out as a ragged, stationary grid when you pan the camera during a video. If you use Optical Image Stabilization to smooth out minute panning jitter, it can emphasize the FPN even more by eliminating any random twitches that might have helped mask it.

I've found one particular post-processing technique to be effective in reducing the prominence of FPN: shoot in 720p AVCHD and convert the 60fps video into 30fps. The trick is to use a motion blur filter during the conversion, but NOT a frame averaging filter. If you average the frames, it will actually tend to make the FPN stand out even more.
 
Thats an interesting post production tip Ipowell. Can you still convert with the blur filter and keep the 60fps or does it have to be less in order to work?

Someone on vimeo posted this very interesting thread on dpreview and maybe some of you guys have already seen it but I was surprised at how low his banding was at ISO3200 after the user complained to panasonic that banding at ISO3200 was unacceptable and had it confirmed by pana and replaced. Granted the shots were during the day with adequate lighting, would like to see what his night shots look like. that said I don't think I will ever shot at ISO3200.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1041&message=35221454
 
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I still say that all GH1's have the same banding problem at the same level and until someone does a side by side test of the same scene using the same settings on two GH1's and shows a difference in banding levels, I think that it's a myth that people are wasting a lot of time with.

Randy
 
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lpowell said:
shoot in 720p AVCHD and convert the 60fps video into 30fps. The trick is to use a motion blur filter during the conversion, but NOT a frame averaging filter.
Click to expand...

Interesting find, can i do it with Premier CS5? if not then which program?
thanx
 
To get rid of fpn you'd have to shoot a black frame with it to get the FPN signature and subtract it from your footage, however for some reason FPN doesnt show up in complete darkness.
 
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