GH1 Conspiracy Theories

B

BVX

Well-known member
I was close to buying a T2i until the hack hit the fan and now I'm sold on the GH13. But one thing is bugging me - why was the GH1 hiding capabilities that could be unleashed by tester 13?

-- A marketing ploy to gradually release features in stages for added sales?
I'd think the DSLR market is so competitive and Panasonic so far behind the Big 2 that it would throw everything it could at us as soon as it could.

-- Incompetence in the Panasonic labs?
Doubt that.

-- Tester 13 is actually authorized Panasonic staffer(s) releasing the hack for viral marketing benefits without the responsibility if a feature is not quite 100% ready for prime time?
Love that one.

Any insights or theories appreciated.
 
Consumer division making the camera work consistently with cheap SDHC cards so their users won't return the cameras and talk about how bad they were because they locked up when using some cheapo knock off class 6 card at class 2 speed, giving Panasonic a bad name, and losing a ton of sales?
 
Total conjecture. Sorry. I'm paranoid for a living, and tester13 did not strike me as any of the above... Though searching for a "unhacked" firmware update for the GH1 in google is pretty tough due to all the bloggers.
The news of the firmware hacking on the GH1 reached Engaget and others, people think that yet still they could get away with not buying a RED ONE, so no only did the second hand PL lens mount market become overpriced (see USA economy)
but now you cannot even obtain a cheap GH1 Body from Japan like one used-to for $600. If a complete toolkit addressing most of the issues with the GH1 is not made available, the buying spree will die down, and at some point the secondary market
will be filled with "updated" cameras that have a voided warranty and come back to equilibrium. The current fad with the firmware is just making waves in the internet public eye, hey when GH1 was first released the Times did an article on it, my friends called me asking me about this thing (without the firmware hack even in place) , so no.... this is utter conjecture. I think Panasonic Consumer treats this event with equivalent response as Apple treats OSx86. So I await the "kill firmware hacking" firmware update from Panny in the future after all the hoopla and noise dies down. Unless there is some official statement from Panny about this, which is read-between-the-lines type of statement, then their position is to say nothing, but alleviate the potential liability the firmware patch causes after everyone and their mother bought a GH1 confusing it for a RED ONE.
 
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ATL Media Group said:
Consumer division making the camera work consistently with cheap SDHC cards so their users won't return the cameras and talk about how bad they were because they locked up when using some cheapo knock off class 6 card at class 2 speed, giving Panasonic a bad name, and losing a ton of sales?
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+1

Actually, +1000000000.
 
ATL Media Group said:
Consumer division making the camera work consistently with cheap SDHC cards so their users won't return the cameras and talk about how bad they were because they locked up when using some cheapo knock off class 6 card at class 2 speed, giving Panasonic a bad name, and losing a ton of sales?
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+ 9001


The camera was originally designed to target consumer users that wanted a DLSR, a decent lens, and video capability at a cheap price. If they're spending aprox $1k now on the camera, they sure as hell don't want to spend $250 on a good class 10 SD card, especially if they don't know the difference between that and a cheap class 2. I know....from experience (bought a Rebel Xs as a gift and got a cheap SD card with it that said it did 30MB/s but was actually rated as class 2...fml.)
 
We are using the GH1 as movie camera with high performance cards. Panasonic has to accommodate users who mix in stills (potentially causing fragmentation), have lower performance cards, etc...

If panasonic had decided to market the GH1 as a movie camera that requires class 10 cards they probably would have programmed it with these higher bitrates.

Even if Panasonic loves what we are doing - they probably can't offer this higher performance themselves.

Chris
 
Originally Posted by ATL Media Group
Consumer division making the camera work consistently with cheap SDHC cards so their users won't return the cameras and talk about how bad they were because they locked up when using some cheapo knock off class 6 card at class 2 speed, giving Panasonic a bad name, and losing a ton of sales?
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Simple and logical explanation. What is it so hard to understand about what Panasonic did? What Vitaliy is doing now is optimizing and fine tuning it for more sophisticated use, thats all. Vitaliy you have really improved a great product for our benefit.
 
John Caballero said:
Simple and logical explanation. What is it so hard to understand about what Panasonic did? What Vitaliy is doing now is optimizing and fine tuning it for more sophisticated use, thats all. Vitaliy you have really improved a great product for our benefit.
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yes but the question is, if panasonic was truly capable of doing this why not just release it in 2 modes where consumers/hobbyists can have it set in mode A that works fine with cheap crappy class 2 cards, and us more serious guys can put it in mode B that works only on fast class 10 cards etc...why is that so hard
 
John Caballero said:
Vitaliy you have really improved a great product for our benefit.
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That's really an understatement. The improvement is just plain shocking. As I understand, John, you haven't even done the hack yet. I understand why, but -- if you haven't experienced it for yourself, you just can't really appreciate how amazing the improvement is.
 
Homunculus said:
yes but the question is, if panasonic was truly capable of doing this why not just release it in 2 modes where consumers/hobbyists can have it set in mode A that works fine with cheap crappy class 2 cards, and us more serious guys can put it in mode B that works only on fast class 10 cards etc...why is that so hard
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Because the more complex you make something, the more support hassles you have.

Products are designed and marketed to a specific audience. The GH1 was targeted towards its audience. Filmmakers aren't its audience. The AF100 is designed, targeted, and marketed towards filmmakers, and it won't have any of these compromises, and its 24mbps codec will outperform the GH1 at its best.

It's not a case of Panasonic not producing what you want, it's a case of us wanting to use their product for purposes it wasn't designed for.

I think Vitaliy's hack is a pretty ideal compromise -- it lets us buy the dirt-cheap consumer-oriented GH1, and then take our own responsibility for upgrading it (for free!) to a high-performance GH13, and we acknowledge and accept all the potential shortcomings and hassles involved in doing so.
 
Barry_Green said:
That's really an understatement. The improvement is just plain shocking. As I understand, John, you haven't even done the hack yet. I understand why, but -- if you haven't experienced it for yourself, you just can't really appreciate how amazing the improvement is.
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Agreed 100%.
 
We also have to remember that when the GH1 came out originally, class 10 cards either did not exist, or they were priced out of regualr people's price ranges.
 
That's really an understatement. The improvement is just plain shocking. As I understand, John, you haven't even done the hack yet. I understand why, but -- if you haven't experienced it for yourself, you just can't really appreciate how amazing the improvement is.
Click to expand...

I know, I know. I am impatiently waiting for Vitaliy to finish the next version. I already purchased the Panasonic Gold Class 10. I have always appreciated the quality of the 1080p on the GH1, even with its limitations, and used it extensively. I can't wait for the improved version of my camera. In the meantime I have seen so many good looking footage from others that I can really grasp the importance of Vitaliy's work. Amazing.
 
Honestly, I don't buy the 'more complex you make something' or targeted for idiot consumers argument, because right off the bat, the GH1 was completely too complex and unfriendly in 1080p mode on ANY computer even for ADVANCED computer users and video people. The only way to play it was to hook up it's mini hdmi to a monitor and if you wanted to see it on a computer you were sh&^ out of luck because it wouldn't play on Wndows xp, nor vista, nor would it play on mac... WTF were they thinking with THAT idea? The software that came with it to import the video was also GOD awful.

Thank god win 7 came along and played back avchd beautifully and then the hack came along and doubled or tripled the quality of the images... but the camera was a complex nightmare for any amateur video user right off the bat. You expect to hook it up with your USB and see your videos, and you couldn't... so how it was targeted for 'consumers' is beyond me cause I had a hard time with it and I'm a tech head... consumers are supposed to know they are going to need Neoscene cineform (another $130.00 cost) to do anything with their video? Consumers are supposed to know they not only can't EDIT it but they can't SEE it on any computer?

Thank God for win 7 and thank God for the hack. I love it and love the 24p native avchd and I have not been getting camera freezes or anything.. knock on molded plastic... I played it on a 10,000 lumens HD projector on a cinema screen and I wanted to cry holy joy.
 
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Blackout said:
The only way to play it was to hook up it's mini hdmi to a monitor
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That's not true. I've been playing GH1 MTS videos directly from the SD card for many months using a Panasonic Blu-ray DVD player that has an SD card slot. Plays both 1080p and 720p formats from the GH1, also plays GH1 photos on the SD card. DVD player cost $99.

This is also a great way to double check that when you are playing the GH1 MTS videos on your computer, that it isn't adding artifacts that are not on the original MTS files.

Randy
 
I played it on a 10,000 lumens HD projector on a cinema screen and I wanted to cry holy joy. This descrption was WAY too short-please expand on the how,why and wheres! Thanx!
 
Cavemandude said:
That's not true. I've been playing GH1 MTS videos directly from the SD card for many months using a Panasonic Blu-ray DVD player that has an SD card slot. Plays both 1080p and 720p formats from the GH1, also plays GH1 photos on the SD card. DVD player cost $99.

This is also a great way to double check that when you are playing the GH1 MTS videos on your computer, that it isn't adding artifacts that are not on the original MTS files.

Randy
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I guess but how many people had a Panasonic Blu-Ray player? Would it work on any blu-ray player? All my home theater systems run off PCs.
 
Brian I played a few clips I had done both pre hack and post hack at a party in brooklyn in an old movie theater on a panasonic projector, I believe the projector was the PT-DW10000U but I could be wrong. The screen size was a smaller movie theater I don't know the exact footge but we are talking a big picture here and it was gorgeous... my friend recorded me playing it let me see if I can get the footage not that would really help any you would have to see it for yourself but pre hack and post hack footage is night and day at that size.
 
atl media group said:
consumer division making the camera work consistently with cheap sdhc cards so their users won't return the cameras and talk about how bad they were because they locked up when using some cheapo knock off class 6 card at class 2 speed, giving panasonic a bad name, and losing a ton of sales?
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+1000000001
 
I think the idea of projecting footage on a movie screen is a dream we all probably secretly harbor (I know I do!) and the fact that you did with great results is a testement to A. The GH-1 B. The filmmaker C. The Hack, so congrats and continued prosperity for all the users of this forum!
 
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