GH2 GH2 - favorite hacks?

G

Greg_E

Veteran
Yes, a long dead camera to most of you, but I'm still playing with it. I was wondering if people would take the time to list their favorite hack and why they chose it. If you still remember the camera settings that would be great too.

I have Flowmotion v2.02 installed but I'm thinking of the Driftwood/CBrandin Apocalypse Now 444 hacks to see what kind of difference I can see.

Having some problem playing back the Flowmotion on my slow computers so I might just choose a lower bitrate codec for now while I'm messing around. Even 24L comes out to fast with the Flowmotion on my camera, and I haven't tried spanning clips on my C10/UHS1 30MBps cards yet.
 
I ran Sanity 5 and then Flowmotion 2.02 on mine for months before the GH3 came out. I saw no real difference between those two but settled on Flowmotion 2.02 because of it's reputation for reliability. The most important thing to me was reliability and brand of media cards can have a great effect on this.

SanDisk is about the most dependable card on the market and if your C10/UHS1 30MBps cards are SanDisk you should be OK. If they are other brands that could be part of your problem. Transcend are probably about the best of the "bargain brands" but I've seen just enough problem reports on them that I won't even try them, I stick with SanDisk, pay a bit more, swallow hard, and march on.

Panasonic does not offer a "low level" format option so every 3 to 5 use cycles it is a good idea to low level format your media in a PC using SD Formatter, a free application you can download and put to work. Follow that immediately by formatting in camera.

You may need to acquire a new computer, I wind up doing this about every year and a half or so. Right now I'm using a 4th generation Core i7 processor based Dell (brand isn't important but processor is) and playback, editing, and rendering just "fly" along.
 
Oh yeah - +1 for MOON T-7. Unreal. Really nice. Makes a HUGE difference.

Flowmotion 2.02 by our hero LPowell is so good it can be considered GH2 Firmware V.3 because it's so much better than stock and it's really solid. No complaints.

But MOON T-7 will actually make you go "woah"... but it's a huge bit-rate. Roughly 150mbps and it's all I-frames so it really does put the GH2 into a whole other level of performance. Stuff I've shot on MOON T-7...man, I often don't even color correct - It's just DONE. (Yeah, I do the old SMOOTH -2-2-2-2) The detail definition is FAR beyond stock and the color holds up way better. The image is very cinematic to me, more so than my Canon 6D, and every time I shoot with it I'm glad I hung on to my GH2. Crazy.
But it doesn't span. You do hit the 4Gig per file limit. It just stops at 4Gigs. But that clip length is entirely long enough for "controlled" or narrative type applications.
You have to use the high end Sandisk Extreme Pro cards too, that huge data rate requires it.
I know those are expensive, but they have come down a TON in price in the past 2 years, and they really make life easier. You can just shoot crazy-awesome hacks and not worry about the stupid SD Card that way. I hated spending the cash when I bought them, but I've been really glad I did ever since.

Now, if you want to back down a little from MOON there is DREWNET T-9 (I think 9 was the latest...maybe 8.) and that is a long-GOP version of roughly where they were with MOON. So it hits a lower bit rate for longer shots. It has a lot in common with the look of the final and most advanced hack patches.

I was going to try Apocalypse Now 444, but I installed MOON T-7 and that just impressed me so much I left it at that. Pretty sure MOON T-7 was one of the latest hack patches ever developed.

The 3 hack patches I keep on hand at all times are Flowmotion 2.02 for general purpose and MOON T-7 and DREWNET T-8/9 for stuff that can be shot in shorter clips.

I've got some stuff I shot at the Phoenix Botanical Gardens with MOON that I did NOT color correct at all - gorgeous. I should go pull a still frame or two and post it here.
 
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OK, here are some freeze frames shot using MOON T-7 with a Mitakon Lens Turbo speed booster, and a vintage manual Nikon 35-70 zoom lens with a UV filter on it. I did ZERO color adjusting. None. I just lowered the gamma to .90 because I like to expose the GH2 to just below where you get the "blinkies" indicating highlights are blown out. Sometimes that says "0" on the exposure meter, but frequently it says I'm a little above the "0" mark. As long as the "blinkies" don't show blown highlights this has always given me better exposure on the GH2s. You just have to remember to back the gamma down again in post to where you remember it or where you like it.

These are full 1920x1080 jpegs. I don't know if posting them here directly on the forum will show them to you at full resolution or not.
[Edit: nope, it cuts them down to 1000x563 pixels. Oh well, you get the idea. Maybe I can make a download link or something if anyone wants that.]

MOON Flower 1.jpgMOON Flower 2.jpgMOON Flower 3.jpgMOON Flower 4.jpgMOON Flower 5.jpgMOON Garden 1.jpg
 
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I use Flowmotion for everything. I shoot a lot of events (weddings) so Flowmotion is very stable for that. I still have my GH2 as a b-camera and it still rocks!
 
Thanks, still need to do a pile of reading. Starting to wonder how good the mjpeg can be and wondering if the camera can be forced to do a jpeg sequence (no audio) instead of the mjpeg, this might deliver a slight bit of quality over mjpeg. I've been seeing references to 2k mjpeg and this got me thinking about a few things that I want to try.

I've decided I just need to order one or two of the 64GB Sandisk cards to make sure I have the speed I need. Right now I'm using Sony C10/UHS1 cards that are rated for 40MBps, but that might not be enough to span the files and I'm certain I will need to span things sooner or later. I think I also need to pick up some cheap 4GB cards to hold different firmware hacks so I might load up a different hack if shooting conditions dictate (Intra, short GOP, etc.).

What's kind of slowing me down is I need to either buy wider lenses, or break down and buy a speed booster. Looking at tests the only real choice is Metabones and that's more than the camera and two of the lenses cost me. And I know there will be a bunch of used speed boosters on the market once the new .64 XL is on the market, and the XL won't cover the GH2 sensor or interferes with the shutter cover (not sure which condition prevents the GH2 from being listed). Also still need to buy a 24mm lens, anything good is going to cost me $400+ so I'm not sure which mount to buy. I have 35, 45, 55, 80, 110, 150, and 210 in Mamiya 645 that seem to produce good images with nice gentle characteristics, but even for bare super 35 I would need a 24mm to get a slight wide. The only real reason to keep building the M645 lens system is I know it will fit on pretty much everything for the foreseeable future (they have about a 70mm image circle if my math is correct). They are mostly f2.8 (t3.x ish) for the common lengths up to 150mm (or 200 APO) though 35mm and 24mm is f3.5 and f4 respectively. Giant lenses with large flange distance on a tiny camera with tiny sensor. The Veydra sure would be nice right now.
 
I like the Flowmotion, I use 5DtoRGB and Clipwrap, I transcode to ProRes for ease of use when editing, AVCHD is horrible when you use the hacks and the files are over 90mbs. I think the GH2 with the hack still holds up for a stellar 24p1080p camera. Always use the 64GB Sandisk Extreme Pro cards, these hacks need them. If you ever find playback issues with the video in camera, and even when you play the card back on you computer, and can't play the footage? Don't worry use Clipwrap or 5DtoGRB and on transcode the footage will show up. These problems happen if you plug in a monitor while recording, and if the battery dies in the camera, so these little things make using and the camera a bit of a pain along with the noise ISO issue! you can read more about that on these forums, but when you use this camera with the hacks it really does make a difference. One last problem if you go straight to Premiere Pro and don't transcode before, you can run into another problem with digital rain? you can look that up here or on Personalview.


Broatch Berry

Venice CA
 
Greg_E said:
What's kind of slowing me down is I need to either buy wider lenses, or break down and buy a speed booster. Looking at tests the only real choice is Metabones and that's more than the camera and two of the lenses cost me. Also still need to buy a 24mm lens, anything good is going to cost me $400+ so I'm not sure which mount to buy.
Click to expand...

24mm is ultrawide without rectilinear distortion on full frame but on m4/3rds sensor size it is NOT wide. FF equiv is 48mm, so close to 50mm which is normal perspective, neither wide nor telephoto. With a speedbooster it will come very close to FF equiv of 35mm or 36mm which used to be one of the photojournalists favorite perspectives when telephoto was not needed. Kind of "wide normal" but not quite real wide angle.

How do I know? I used a 24mm EF f2.8 with my Canon 7D, T3i, and 60D. It gave me just short of wide angle but a useful wide normal for working in "close" quarters. The next widest I had was the 18mm end of the "kit" zoom, 28mm FF equiv which to me was kind of a "workhorse" wide angle without distortion.

I have a 1960's era Nikkor 24mm f2.8 (Nikon F mount) that I'm testing with Nikon to m4/3 adapter and with an RJ Nikon to m4/3 focal reducer. Gives me 48mm equiv and about 35mm equiv but neither is wide.

When you need wide perspective you have a couple of native m4/3 options. The Lumix 14mm f2.5 (pancake) is fairly inexpensive used and is a very good inexpensive wide performer (about 28mm equiv), with pretty decent low light capability at f2.5 if used intelligently. The other alternative is the Olympus m.Zuiko 9-18mm f4 to f5.6. While it lists for $649 at B&H I've seen it at around $400 used on mu-43.com. I got mine used on that forum for about $450 and it's a great compact ultra wide zoom.

Greg_E said:
I have 35, 45, 55, 80, 110, 150, and 210 in Mamiya 645 that seem to produce good images with nice gentle characteristics, but even for bare super 35 I would need a 24mm to get a slight wide.
Click to expand...

Again, 24mm will not get you a slight wide. Even with a speedbooster, well, that would get you down to 34mm. The manufacturers used to call 35mm wide angle, but those of us who worked with it didn't, we considered it maybe wide normal.

Well, that would get you wider than anything you have. So it wouldn't hurt to watch ebay for a used "legacy" 24mm in whatever mount adapter you have.

Good luck and I hope some of the info I've given here will be of use to you.
 
My still camera is APS-C (1.5x) so I'm very familiar with the crop factor. I've been watching one lens and it has finally dropped from nearly $800 to $400, I think it is finally in the area where I'm comfortable purchasing it and probably where a fair price is located too. It will be much more useful on the next camera, be it a super 35mm or a "full frame" sensor, especially with a speed booster on the s35 (APS-C). I'll keep the m43 wides in mind if I need something that is really a wide and just use it without matte box and follow focus.

On the subject of crop frame, I've read that in the HD modes that the GH2 is more like a 1.8 crop factor (wider than GH3 and GH4) at about 19mm, is this true? Does it remain true with the mjpeg modes or do those go down to 1:1 pixels (ETC mode)? ETC mode would be even worse for my lens selection right now.

Going to grab a few hack files tonight and start looking at the actual settings in the .ini file to see if I can start to make sense of what they did. Might end up with some kind of hybrid or just drop back to Flowmotion and maybe one of the Intra (GOP1) hacks.
 
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the GH2 is actually not as small a crop as the GH3 and 4. I think something around 1.8 or 1.9 is more accurate.

For saving a bit of cash keep the Mitakon Lens Turbo on the table. It might not be 100% as good as the Metabones, but the Nikon to M4/3 one that I have does not degrade the image at all like people say the 'non-Metabones' boosters do.
i have a shot of a mural on a brick wall I have posted here before with a sharp Nikon 50mm 1.4 lens that shows that there is only the most minimal sharpness falloff at the edges and that center is actually a little bit sharper with it on.

For a truly wide lens without tons of distortion look at the Rokinon/Samyang 16mm f/2.0 lens.
that will give you two great usable lengths - with and without the speedbooster.
it seems to be the best lens for this purpose without spending $1,000. I hope to get one next week.
Forum member 'maranfilms' here did a video with this lens on a Panasonic G6 and it looks really good.

I picked MOON T-7 by reading through all the Personal-View forum posts about the hack and by looking at videos folks made along the way. I wanted what they seemed to agree was the pinnacle of the hack developement and MOON seems to be it.
 
I use Sanity 5, never had any problems.

Well - "use" isn't quite the right word, as I don't use the GH2 at all anymore. ;)
 
Okay, here's the brick wall mural shot with a Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens and the Mitakon Lens Turbo speed booster. I probably had it at about f5.6 on this shot. There's no degradation from the Mitakon.

Downtown Murals 1b.jpg
 
The Mitakon is much easier to swallow, especially when I was going to go with the EF version. Maybe I'll still grab a Metabones speed booster when everyone starts selling them for the XL version.

Sanity was one of my other choices, just to have a safe hack that definitely spans.
 
Greg_E said:
Going to grab a few hack files tonight and start looking at the actual settings in the .ini file to see if I can start to make sense of what they did. Might end up with some kind of hybrid or just drop back to Flowmotion and maybe one of the Intra (GOP1) hacks.
Click to expand...

When "installing" any of the "hacks" on your GH2, be sure you do it with a fresh charged genuine Lumix battery known to be in good condition. There was one fellow on this site a year or two ago who was installing a "patch" using an aftermarket battery that failed suddenly without warning right in the middle of the process.

"Bricked" his camera.

He had to send it in to Panasonic and they had to replace a system board in the camera to get it functional again. Expensive as I remember.

The battery was fresh charged, he said, and it just failed on him. I had two Wasabi batteries for an Olympus E-P3 that went bad, one simply died on it's 4th charge cycle and the other swelled up inside the camera at about the same time.

I don't mess much with aftermarket batteries.

Good luck. The "hacks" mentioned all do enhance the GH2 video.
 
DPStewart said:
Okay, here's the brick wall mural shot with a Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens and the Mitakon Lens Turbo speed booster. I probably had it at about f5.6 on this shot. There's no degradation from the Mitakon.
Click to expand...

That looks super good to me!

I was shopping for one of those but everyone is out and waiting new stock, so I snapped up an RJ focal reducer from a forum member who offered to sell it to me at a price I felt was reasonable for both of us. Initial tests with a 24mm Nikkor f2.8 look about like what you have here on looking at detail. Next I'll test with the 50mm Nikkor f1.4.

I don't doubt the Metabones is the sharpest focal reducer and I came close to springing for the $429 for the Metabones nikon F to m4/3 version, but thought I'd try the Mitakon or RJ first. I've seen at least one posting from a guy who ordered a Roxsen and was pretty disappointed with it.
 
DPStewart said:
MOON T-7 will actually make you go "woah"
Click to expand...

That was exactly my reaction when I first saw my footage with that patch.

I also have it spanning just fine on the oft recommended SanDisk Extreme Pro 64 GB card, as well as the 128 GB Extreme PLUS card. Only one write error in at least 100 hours worth of footage, with some clips well over an hour long and spanning more than half a dozen files.
 
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Jim Simon said:
That was exactly my reaction when I first saw my footage with that patch.

I also have it spanning just fine on the oft recommended SanDisk Extreme Pro 64 GB card, as well as the 128 GB Extreme PLUS card. Only one write error in at least 100 hours worth of footage, with some clips well over an hour long and spanning more than half a dozen files.
Click to expand...

Hey Jim!
you get MOON T-7 to span? My Flowmotion spans fine, but for me MOON just exits record mode when the file hits 4Gig. As if you pushed the stop button. That's with a Sandisk Extreme Pro 32Gig card though, not a 64gig. But would that cause that? It has always done it consistently so I just figured MOON didn't span.

Thanks man.
 
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