GH1 Dynamic Range Results (in video mode) & other stuff

Robert Altman said:
Who shoots movies on Ektachrome?
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maybe, just maybe, the guy you "disagreed" with when he said he loved reversal film? :-) film doesn't clip though, you need several more stops with video to recreate the reversal look. at least a couple of stops are compressed into that last piece of range.

/matt
 
mattsand said:
i'm sure some people need a camera that makes coffee too, i mean some supposedly need in-camera scopes desperately, which for me is just as ridiculous. ;-)
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Yeah, just because all of these eng videocamera type features have crept into motion picture cameras doesn't mean you actually need them to make a movie. People seem to have done fine without them for most of the past 100 years.
 
hunter richards said:
We did a Dynamic range test (thanks to Ryan Walters) on the GH1 in video mode @ Iso 200 and 400 Using Sekonic Profiling software. (also set to lowest contrast setting with Noise reduction at minimum)

Here is what we found:

In video mode, the camera has about 6 stops usable dynamic range, there are about 2 stops in the blacks that you can eek out below that but because of the compression scheme going on- they get compressed out. ( In still photo mode, there is probably 8-9 stops total)

This is a conservative test and you may experience more DR in real world scenes. This same test puts the RED at 8.5-9.5 usable stops.


What does this mean?

Well first, dont believe some of the dynamic range values people throw around about X camera having Y- stops dynamic range. Most of the time you wont actually get those results as they are extremely optimistic! Its been my expeirence so far that in video mode, the GH1 has about the same amount of usuable dynamic range as an HVX200- which isn't great but its certainly workable.

The great news is that middle grey is perfectly balanced in the middle of the dynamic range (unlike some cameras which clip way faster in the highlights than in the shadows) So you can expect to get an image with a pleasing contrast and middle tone that wont need a lot of work to get looking pretty. The saturation of the tones on the camera are also very "panasonic like"- so the Reds and yellows look great.

Based on what I have seen so far, and if the audio quality is good with an external mic, this is quite possibly the most perfect low-profile documentary camera ever made. The images look great, the manual control works like a charm, the auto focus works amazingly (even in video mode), and heck I even like the 14-140mm! Even using high ISO's in video mode look great- something about the compression really cleans up the noise at high ISO levels. Did I forget to mention the EVF is HD res? And the camera has 24p!?... OK I WILL STOP.

I can see this camera being used so many ways for corporate, documentary, and indie gorillas (like Mr. SABI).

Bottom line I dig it! HANDS DOWN Best "Video DSLR" out yet, other camera manufactures should take note on this cameras dedication to its video feature... There is really way too much I like about this camera- Especially the ability to put nearly ANY LENS on the camera (because of the m4/3 mount).

Below are a few grabs- Some with the 14-140 and some with a canon 50mm f1.8 with a m4/3 adapter. (pardon my MUGSHOT by the way I just thought it was good to see the detail for you pixel peepers) these are second generation from prores and then JPEG compression... so its a worst case scenario- but still, they look pretty darn good to me!

I will shoot some footage later- I dont want to post crap! ; )
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Was there any footage ever posted from these tests. I know Hunter decided to go buy the 5D Mark II after the manual control update; however I thought his 1080P frames looked quite good from the GH1...


1080/24 GH1 frames:

Frame:1
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/attachment.php?attachmentid=10791&d=1241039195

Frame:2
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/attachment.php?attachmentid=10789&d=1241039195

Frame:3
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/attachment.php?attachmentid=10788&d=1241039195

Frame:4
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/attachment.php?attachmentid=10790&d=1241039195


Thread about the above:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=1623056&postcount=1



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Thats just my hair- I have acute JPEG damage. ; )

The footage from the dynamic range test is not exciting. Its just a static shot of a special sekonic chart that is made for the test. I would love to buy another GH1 once they become readily available too.
 
hunter richards said:
Thats just my hair- I have acute JPEG damage. ; )

The footage from the dynamic range test is not exciting. Its just a static shot of a special sekonic chart that is made for the test. I would love to buy another GH1 once they become readily available too.
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Any chance on seeing the footage from the guy on the phone, or you in the mirror?

What happen to your first GH1?


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PappasArts said:
What happen to your first GH1?

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Cool story, I had a fellow contact me who was DP on a low-budget indie feature called "Caught in the Crossfire" starring 50 cent and Chris Klein. (I think they just completed photography in Grand Rapids actually)

Anyway, He wanted the GH1 asap to do some action POV shots (He was shooting with Panavised f900's and didnt want to run handheld with them!) The coolest thing though is he has a set of Panavison Ultraspeeds with PV mount adapters for the EOS mount- so he bought my camera and a m4/3 to EOS adapter and threw some panavison lenses on it. He also used the 5d mark 2 for some night scenes as well but because of the jello, he used the Gh1 for the high action stuff. Im really not sure how much of the Gh1 or 5dm2 stuff will make it into the final cut, but its there if the editor wants it.

I just googled it and got this link:

http://woooha.com/2009/05/video-on-set-of-50-cents-new-movie-caught-in-the-crossfire/

Those two frame grabs are actually from the 5D mark 2's video mode interestingly enough.


I hope to buy a US version of the GH1 soon and pop on the PL mount from Hot Rod Cameras!
 
hunter richards said:
Cool story, I had a fellow contact me who was DP on a low-budget indie feature called "Caught in the Crossfire" starring 50 cent and Chris Klein. (I think they just completed photography in Grand Rapids actually)

Anyway, He wanted the GH1 asap to do some action POV shots (He was shooting with Panavised f900's and didnt want to run handheld with them!) The coolest thing though is he has a set of Panavison Ultraspeeds with PV mount adapters for the EOS mount- so he bought my camera and a m4/3 to EOS adapter and threw some panavison lenses on it. He also used the 5d mark 2 for some night scenes as well but because of the jello, he used the Gh1 for the high action stuff. Im really not sure how much of the Gh1 or 5dm2 stuff will make it into the final cut, but its there if the editor wants it.

I just googled it and got this link:

http://woooha.com/2009/05/video-on-set-of-50-cents-new-movie-caught-in-the-crossfire/

Those two frame grabs are actually from the 5D mark 2's video mode interestingly enough.


I hope to buy a US version of the GH1 soon and pop on the PL mount from Hot Rod Cameras!
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How cool! This is funny; about a month ago I was searching for some Panavision info, indirectly came across this guy that was shooting with f900' on a film, however he also did a side by side of the GH1 and MkII for fun. That's your GH1 he was using.

I think the one biggest issues for the 1080 on the GH1 is more to do with the ingesting of the material into the computer correctly to reassemble the 24 from the 60i. Your stills exhibit a nice image extraction. The latest Taiwan at night in 1080/24 is very good too!


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I am sure once a proper and effective procedure to remove pulldown for the 1080p is established and implemented by many this isuue will be forgatten and there won't be any problems with it. It is usually like that with this new implementations, after a while the procedure becomes routine.
 
John Caballero said:
I am sure once a proper and effective procedure to remove pulldown for the 1080p is established and implemented by many this isuue will be forgatten and there won't be any problems with it. It is usually like that with this new implementations, after a while the procedure becomes routine.
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I agree,

However why was this 1080/24 over 60i AVCHD mode different from all others before it?


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hunter richards said:
Cool story, I had a fellow contact me who was DP on a low-budget indie feature called "Caught in the Crossfire" starring 50 cent and Chris Klein. (I think they just completed photography in Grand Rapids actually)
!
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OOhhh...so that was YOUR GH-1 he borrowed. I saw some of his tests on Vimeo a month ago. This is one of them:

http://vimeo.com/4805254

I haven't checked back in a while but i see that he did end up using it.
 
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