GH1 (Unhacked) - Shooting an action sequence

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pmk396

Well-known member
I am doing a short film soon and there are one or two action sequences in it. However, I read somewhere before that when shooting in SH mode that I should raise my shutter speed to 1/125. Is this correct?

What would be the recommended settings on an unhacked GH1 for shooting an action sequence?
 
That's correct. 1/125th is just 60p at about 180 degree shutter. The faster your shutter speed, the more detail the camera will capture, but it will loose that film look. Personally I like shooting at high shutter speeds for action sequences because they give the video a very "Saving Private Ryan" or war movie type look.. Not sure if that is the best way to describe it or not.. haha. But it's something you can try. I would also try to close down your aperture as much as possible to something like f5.6-f8 so that you can get a big enough depth of field to keep your subjects in focus while they are moving quickly in and out of frame.
 
No, my camera is hackable but I just haven't gone ahead with the hack yet. I think I read somewhere that once it's hacked, I can't play filmed footage on the camera's LCD screen. I know the hack is a great thing for enhancing the quality of footage but I found it daunting regarding what settings to change/use on the hack. I'm probably being a chicken sh1t about not going for the hack yet but if I had some guidance about what settings I'd benefit most from, then I consider it.

Just for the record, when shooting an action sequence, I should shoot with 720p but is that in the avchd format or the mjpeg format?
 
pmk396 said:
No, my camera is hackable but I just haven't gone ahead with the hack yet. I think I read somewhere that once it's hacked, I can't play filmed footage on the camera's LCD screen. I know the hack is a great thing for enhancing the quality of footage but I found it daunting regarding what settings to change/use on the hack. I'm probably being a chicken sh1t about not going for the hack yet but if I had some guidance about what settings I'd benefit most from, then I consider it.

Just for the record, when shooting an action sequence, I should shoot with 720p but is that in the avchd format or the mjpeg format?
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I've had the hack since it came out, and I do not regret it one bit. You are able to play back what you have recorded in the newer versions on Ptool without a problem.

There is a lot of good information on the forum on how to set your camera up for the hack and guide you through it.

Trust me, you will be glad you hacked it when you do.
 
pmk396 said:
No, my camera is hackable but I just haven't gone ahead with the hack yet. I think I read somewhere that once it's hacked, I can't play filmed footage on the camera's LCD screen. I know the hack is a great thing for enhancing the quality of footage but I found it daunting regarding what settings to change/use on the hack. I'm probably being a chicken sh1t about not going for the hack yet but if I had some guidance about what settings I'd benefit most from, then I consider it.

Just for the record, when shooting an action sequence, I should shoot with 720p but is that in the avchd format or the mjpeg format?
Click to expand...
AVCHD for 60p... I've heard it isn't true 60p and that frames are repeated, but meh. I'm not that technical to argue the specifics so much.

I recently hacked mine. I don't regret it - you can play footage (even the "Native 24p") back inside your camera just fine. All the footage from it looks great, most of the "omg some tiny minor thing caused my camera to crash on a Class 4 card" stuff should be taken with a grain of salt. You don't sound like a huge camera specifics junky, so I'm sure you'll be 100% pleased with the results.
 
hi , i have just bought a new Gh1 and luckily it is hackable. I have hacked it successfully but at present only ticked the native 24p setting. i was concerned that that was not what was recorded as I could play it back on the camers. are we confirming here that you can play back the native 24p. can you suggest some other settings that I can test to up the bit rate and what would be a good way to check and analyse the video I capture. be very grateful as I am getting a bit bogged down in all the old posts.
 
Here is an action film (with heavy compositing) shot with an un-hacked GH1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ROpRnB5I6k. If I recall, the majority of the indoor shots were done at 720p 1/60th and outdoor shots mixed at 720p 1/60 and 720p 1/125+. I can't remember and it's hard to tell from the footage.

I've read arguments about 1/60 shutter vs. 1/125 shutter and personally, the difference becomes negligible if you drop a 60p -> 24p timeline. There's a very small chance that pixel peepers will notice the cadence difference, and also remember that pixel peepers a very tiny and minuscule niche portion of your audience, so anything about 1/60th will work fine. The main rule is not to drop below 1/60th, as that will start repeating frames.
 
Having a PAL GH1, I'm guessing that where you talk about shooting at 1/60th, that would mean 1/50th for me in PAL world? Just so I know, when shooting an action sequence in 720p, does it make any difference whether it is in the AVCHD format or mjpeg format?
 
Why are you intent on shooting action at 720p? Just to make it clear the following benefits:

1. 720p will have a lot less "jello/skew" so that if you're running around with the camera it will mitigate that

2. 720p is shot at 60 frames per second, which at 1/125th shutter will have a very videoish looking cadence (not filmic) however it is the only real way to do smooth slow motion.

So only real reason you should be using 720p is for slow motion or if you plan to do a lot of shaking of the camera. Otherwise stick to 1080p
 
Having a PAL GH1, I'm guessing that where you talk about shooting at 1/60th, that would mean 1/50th for me in PAL world? Just so I know, when shooting an action sequence in 720p, does it make any difference whether it is in the AVCHD format or mjpeg format?
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1/50th for regular motion, 1/100th for slow motion, though it's fine to up those figures for your own taste. AVCHD gives you 720 50 which can be used for slow motion. MJPEG is 30p, so not quite as good if you intend to shoot slow mo.
 
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