GH2 GH2 let me down this weekend :-( Need help also

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dtjohns1

Well-known member
So after constantly testing the GH2 in 24p and 720 60p using driftwoods quantum 50v1 in a bunch of different conditions (movement, extreme detail, high iso) I decided I was comfortable enough to use my GH2 on a paid shoot and finally part ways with my 7d with no problems. I shot some 24p performance shots on a glidecam with no problem. I switch over to 720p 60p mode and shoot some slow motion glidecam stuff no problem. We switch locations to shoot some more glidecam 720p shots and as soon as I hit record this time and I get some error message that says "The Motion..." and my camera freezes and even after turning the camera off it still stayed on. The only thing that would shut it off was taking the battery out. I changed three different cards and got the same thing (transcend 32 class 10, transcend 64 sdxc class 10, and sandisk extreme 16 class 10). Luckily the bts shooter had a t2i I used to finish out but man was the situation embarassing. What made it worse was when I pulled the GH2 out he seem kinda weary because he was used to other directors using canons but I assured him the GH2's image quality was superior to them. It baffles me because quantum 50 is suppose to be for poor cards?
 
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there is no 720 60p high bitrate patch that is stable. Especially if you're using panasonic lens. There's no way you should be using anything but sandisk 30mbsec at a minimun with quantum.
Using other cards is problematic at best.

At this point if you need 720p60 you should either use stock or one of the cbrandin patches or only prime lens.

This info is everywhere.

You need to test as best you can before using it on a shoot. And have a backup patch with stable settings on another card.
You cannnot rely on what driftwood or anyone else says their patch will do. he can't test for all situations.
 
Why didn't you just lower your settings? Switch from FSH to FH next time and see if that helps. I always test out the absolute worst a patch can handle by shooting my lawn in daylight. I do this with a shutter of 1/125 or more with my widest lens stopped down to as low as I can while maintaining correct exposure and make sure I have critical focus on the grass and that the entire frame is filled with in focus grass. I roll to see how long it takes the camera to crash or if it will be ok. I always carry two cards in my bag with lower and higher bitrate settings on them just in case I need to switch out for a shot. It gives you the knowledge that if the shoot is going to be in conditions which will put too much strain on your codec you simply switch to the lower hack (Which is still super clean and will be higher bitrate than the canon you switched from, although thats really not the only factor that goes into determining how the image will be rendered the codec and how efficent it is plays a large role as well) I use your 16gig sandisk 30mbps extreme III and I can say that I shoot Seaquake v2 and Cbrandons 44mbps hacks with pretty good results.
 
I agree, these extreme patches could cause problems. With that said, I'd probably do the very same thing... I will for an evening corporate event (Quan 50), late Feb!
But!!! I WILL throw a standard patch, something field proven on a spare card... Just in case!
I would never rely solely on JUST 1 patch. Also, i'll have a backup cam... my wife and I use. Her as a photography backup to her D700, and I as a video backup: The D7000.
 
@chauncythedog didn't know about the panasonic lens issue as I was using a 14mm 2.5 at the time. Now I know I guess

@HDkilledFILM didn't think of that at the time because I was panicking. Oh well.
 
One of the best tricks I ever learned in the industry was from a sound mixer named Phil Rush, he was recording sound on a movie my friend made and I got to see him in a total crisis mode. All the while he stayed calm, even when the producer was freaking out right in front of him. He let everyone yell and scream and he pulled out his Iphone and googled the problem. The producers didn't see him doing it but I was right next to him and he showed me what he was doing. He found the answer and calmly told the producers what was wrong and how to fix it and that everything was fine. Nice little trick. Google it and seem like you know what your doing. I do this all the time lol.
 
You didn't have any sort of backup camera? With GH2's being relatively cheap or even a hacked gh1 as a back saves a lot of headaches. One is none two is one.
 
i tend to have a reliable patch pre loaded into my bunch of cards when doing paid gigs just in case. hard lesson learnt i guess. ive had my hand full of hard lessons too ha.
 
tommyp said:
You didn't have any sort of backup camera? With GH2's being relatively cheap or even a hacked gh1 as a back saves a lot of headaches. One is none two is one.
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I have 2 GH2's - One hacked and one not. I don't shoot using extreme hacks because I don't see much of a difference once you go above 50.
 
Let's say you were taking the same camera on a spacewalk, and if the hack failed it would depressurize your suit, would you still go? I'm only saying this because after a similar experience, I use stock in the field and hacked in the studio. And I always carry small Canon camcorder.
 
I did some tests yesterday between 720p SH and H modes and I hate the look of H in comparison to SH. I bought a 32gb 95mps card yesterday in hopes that it will allow me to record 720p without hiccups. Will the faster card help you guys think? Buying a second body is a waste of money to me. Especially with newer models from panasonic, canon, and nikon on the horizon. Next time I will have either my 7D or 5N ready just in case tho.
 
By the end of the week it is probable that the new patch tool will be out, I would hold off on patching until we see what the wizards brew up with it.
 
The problem with the hack is that it's not something that is failsafe. People expect the hack to simply make your camera better when in reality it only is a means to an end which has it's own set of flaws. The key to getting the most out of the hack is putting the time in to figure out what settings work on your camera, with your lenses and how to cope with crashes and lock ups if and when they do occur. Shooting hacked GH2 on a pro job is still for most a no go without it being a second b roll cam because they can't risk having a take ruined. Having said that I've shot two features on hacked GH1's, GH2's and magic lantern hacked 60D's, and T2i's and I didn't have more than three lock ups with the cameras total. Should you have a back up cam on set? Yes. Just in case. Coming from someone who's had more than one camera eat it on set, being able to keep shooting is critical. It won't stop you from freaking out when your baby is at the bottom of a lake because a 1st AC tripped and dropped it... But it will make it not a total loss of a day where you've paid every crew member (The 1st AC included) and cast to drive up to the Adirondacks when you can pull out your second cam. Murphy's law.

The hack can and will cause problems if you don't know how it works and how to work with it... Even then it still might cause problems. The best way to prevent this is to test out which hacks will work with your set up, and learn how they work in the first place so you can avoid the problems before they happen. A sandisk 95mbps Extreme III 64gb card seems to be the go to card for higher bit rate hacks. It's been talked about at length on these boards but the smaller cards 16, 32 gb aren't as fast and can't span on the ultra high bitrate hacks where the 64 gb card can span. I think that this thread should be renamed btw, a better title might be:

GH1 and GH2 hack can cause lock ups.

That way people who haven't seen this side of the hack can get a better understanding of what the risks are (Although there are a ton of threads on the dangers already) before they decide to shoot something with it. Even if it's just so that they can know how to deal with it if it does (Underexposing the scene a bit to lower the amount of stress on the codec, making sure you have other firmware loaded on back up cards and having a b cam just in case are a pretty good start). The good news is that you were able to keep shooting and finish the day, I'm sure it taught you an invaluable lession about gear so in the end I'd say it was something that you were better off having happen to you sooner rather than later.
 
I'll echo the above post. Whenever you're planning on using a new hack... test the s**t out of it! In every scenario. Take your camera with you all the time, shoot all sorts of random junk. Your pets, your friends, your backyard, your city. Shot long takes, short takes, every mode etc etc...

I haven't used it on a big shoot yet, but I've shot enough random stuff w/ Aquamotion V2 to know that it's pretty rock solid at 24p since I've yet to have a single lock up.
 
Part of the problem is that some people test the hacks on the highest detail most ridiculous charts or trees and say it is stable if it works. There are a lot of very simple scenes with no motion that can cause write errors.

If you want a hack that has been tested in every situation with almost every lens then use the “no adverse affects” settings. They simply won’t fail. Even the stock firmware can fail with certain cards in the right situations.

If you are shooting for reliability then there are no settings above these that are stable.

http://www.personal-view.com/talks/...ault-most-popular-patches-in-one-place#Item_5
 
I have used Quantum v7 and v9b on two shoots so far and had zero issues except for cards that could not keep up with the super-high bitrates. The SanDisk Extreme Pro 95MBps 64GB has had zero issues with Quantum on the highest settings.
 
Yeah I guess I'm to blame. I've used the T2i for a while with the ML and had never had it freeze on me the numerous amount of times I've used it. I had tested the GH2 out with every lens I owned in scenarios that I would find myself shooting in and everything worked out fine. My 2 weeks of testing mixed with how the hacked T2i never failed on me gave me confidence to step out and shoot without a backup. Big mistake. Now I see why you don't see a lot of complete projects with the GH2 on youtube and vimeo. It's usually just BS still landscape shots and peoples kids.
 
dtjohns1 said:
Now I see why you don't see a lot of complete projects with the GH2 on youtube and vimeo. It's usually just BS still landscape shots and peoples kids.
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I think your connecting things that aren't related. Reliability has nothing to do with it. (I could easily propose 5 reasons for the content that are more probable)

I have never had issue with my GH2 in the field (reliable 44mps patch) anymore than I have had a 5D overheat in the summer while shooting or had an EX1 that had an issue writing to an SxS card (turned out to be an issue with the camera not the card). Things happen. I understand you are sour because you felt embarassed when issues came up in the field but it happens to lots of cameras. I wouldn't connect the two things. **** happens. If it always happened then it would be an issue but it doesn't.

Live learn and become a better shooter because of it.
 
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