GH2 GH2 ISO blockade - any chances to take it down?

maarek said:
I just took a great shot of an explosion where the initial amount of ISO was quite wrong (hard to judge before it actually explodes) but I managed to save a good chunk of it by manually going down very quickly. With the GH2 I would've gotten an unusable shot.
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You would have in Shutter Priority with Auto ISO. I seriously doubt you can adjust the ISO manually faster than the camera can with Auto ISO. It is also a smooth transition with Auto ISO. It goes through each 1/3 of a stop instead of just stopping down instantly 5 stops.

Try it. You will like it.
 
ed_lee83 said:
Isn't AUTO ISO not good due to the ISO bugs (e.g. 320/640)? Or have they been solved since? Been off the radar...
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Yes the so called ISO bug does happen. However, the difference in real world applications is negligible.

Not using a feature that works because of the possibly that another condition might produce unwanted but insignificant issues is not logical in my opinion.
 
Per Lichtman said:
@HotConductor Okay, ISO is now a verb. Got it. :)

Since you are a fellow audiophile (I can relate, most of my speaker systems are custom made by engineers I know personally and respect professionally) I have to ask if you have had any experience with one of my old clients, at http://www.blumenstein-ultra-fi.com?

On the recording side, I definitely get where you are coming from in terms of both the ideal (personally, I am used to recording in the studio with a mixture of Neumann small and large diaphragm mics or a Telefunken ELAM 251-E, mixed with a Royer ribbon) but also in terms of the practical. It is that latter part that made start patching the AGC settings back in October. Have you been using the newest settings, either from my site at http://www.pasadenapulse.net or as incorporated in Driftwood's Sedna and Mysteron?

I find the new patched settings helpful both for metering and for being able to reduce digital gain almost entirely (or add a lot without getting into AGC level changes throughout the recording).
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I have never worked with Blumenstein but I love the design! Never heard of them but from a quick glance at the site they look solid! Mad props of the ribbon mic btw... The only problem is when they've been moved around alot, or used in a ton of different environments and not tuned up. They definitely need to be well cared for!

Just visited your site and it looks like you have addressed several key issues. For me, the biggest deal was to bring AC3 up to 320. Since PCM 48kHz 24bit is out of the question, its nice to bring the quality up a bit. And yes, the new settings are nice. Driftwood's work is the main reason I viewed the hack as a viable solution. I jump back n forth between several hacks, including a custom one modified of Cbrandin's old setting that is kindof a nice solid 'go-to' patch when it comes to long record times. Its such a joy to record an entire concert while just changing batteries every few hours. The ISO block is the ONLY reason I'd actually have to stop filming, aside from a battery change!
 
Film cameras never had a variable ISO stock fillms and yet people have made gorgeous films without this option.
This is not an issue and will never be "fixed" in any pro cameras that I am aware of (RED, Sony F65...). So I don't see why GH2 should have this option.
 
@mpgxsvcd @willturner Actually, based on my testing with AUTO ISO and manual lenses yesterday, the answer lies somewhere between the two of your comments. No, AUTO ISO does not exist when exposure mode is set to Manual in video mode. But if you set your exposure mode to shutter priority, AUTO ISO still kicks in with an old manual lens. I watched it brighten and darken as I panned from light areas to dark areas and vice-versa.

@HotConductor Glad the hack is helping some!

As far as the designs (long story coming), I can tell you from working with Clark Blumenstein that he is someone that eats, breathes and sleeps his craft. Years ago, Feastrex (the companies that makes the drivers used in his highest end designs) heard of him through his previous work and brought him over as the first non-Japanese person to ever work on the drivers. He spent months there as part of a team that made the driver cones by hand, with each pair of the highest end taking weeks to manufacture. He used that experience to build cabinets that made use of the depth of that understanding of the drivers.

Then he lived in his workshop to be closer to the manufacturing for years. He favors a very natural sound as opposed to another engineer that I use when I want a more clinical sound. With Blumenstein Ultra-Fi the concert pianists that heard themselves on his systems said things like "that's the closest it's ever been to hearing myself play". They also loved his woodwork, and he's done carpentry as long as audio.

Clark's the sort of guy that I had to convince to charge enough for his speakers to expand R & D. He was so intent on improving the sound that everyone got that he was selling some of the speakers that out-performed the competition for less than a 5th of the price, even though it left him with nothing to spend on R & D. That was years ago and he's married now, so I am hoping he's moved out of the workshop and is charging more now. :)

That probably sounded like an add, so I am not putting up the link to his site again this time. I just don't get enough chance to talk to audiophiles on the video forums. :)
 
Per Lichtman said:
@mpgxsvcd @willturner Actually, based on my testing with AUTO ISO and manual lenses yesterday, the answer lies somewhere between the two of your comments. No, AUTO ISO does not exist when exposure mode is set to Manual in video mode. But if you set your exposure mode to shutter priority, AUTO ISO still kicks in with an old manual lens. I watched it brighten and darken as I panned from light areas to dark areas and vice-versa.
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Double check that. I will do the same tonight. Shutter priority does not function properly with Auto ISO and MF lenses. It will allow you to set it to that. However, it is not truly metering properly. I will have to do a video to show this.
 
I believe that. The overexposed areas seemed to stay too over-exposed. But it seemed to handle the underexposed ones properly yesterday.
 
@Per Lichtman... I just have to give you 'and your team' huge props for the audio settings you developed. I am really digging Driftwood's Quantum-X Pictoris (v5c) and decided to plug in your settings last night on a shoot. The results are very noticeable. I have been irritated by the meters forever, and you have definitely solved that. To answer your question on your site, I agree with your metering. Secondly, the staging... To have it set on level 1, and know that it is actually set at the lowest threshold possible, is great. Outstanding work.

Substantially less distortion was the most noticeable factor. I use a field recorder for all serious audio, but it is great to have usable on-cam audio. One less field recorder to bring to a gig.
 
@HotConductor Thanks, it always means a lot to hear that the things I work on help people. So thanks for taking the time to mention it. :)
 
Phenixone said:
Film cameras never had a variable ISO stock fillms and yet people have made gorgeous films without this option.
This is not an issue and will never be "fixed" in any pro cameras that I am aware of (RED, Sony F65...). So I don't see why GH2 should have this option.
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It's a doc and event shooter thing. Makes no sense for narrative work, but I can see doc situations where it would be handy.
 
Exactly! I'd love to have a controlled shoot but sometimes it truly is run-n-gun. This is where something like a traditional HMC/DVX type of camera is ideal, but the image coming out of the GH2 just destroys those options.
 
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