GH2 official discussion thread

Its not the best! but Panasonic have given these cameras out far too early IMO before the f/w is robust, Strobing could be because he wasnt "locked-down" on exposure and was at very high shutter speeds? who knows.
 
Anyone concerned about getting one of the first batch of GH-2s? With Bloom having to return his GH-2 without posting any footage due to camera problems, and the imminent release in Japan in a little over a week? Maybe this first rushed out batch of cameras will need a quick hardware fix? Not just a bump in firmware? There is an obvious engineeering focus for Panasonic on their much more costly AG-AF100? I find it interesting that Panasonic marketing hasn't giving the camera so far to any Pros that would have done a thorough workout of all the key features. We were hoping Bloom could have done that. But can't. Maybe that is why these early review models got in the hands of such a mish-mash of users?
 
Picturequest said:
Anyone concerned about getting one of the first batch of GH-2s? With Bloom having to return his GH-2 without posting any footage due to camera problems, and the imminent release in Japan in a little over a week? Maybe this first rushed out batch of cameras will need a quick hardware fix? Not just a bump in firmware? There is an obvious engineeering focus for Panasonic on their much more costly AG-AF100? I find it interesting that Panasonic marketing hasn't giving the camera so far to any Pros that would have done a thorough workout of all the key features. We were hoping Bloom could have done that. But can't. Maybe that is why these early review models got in the hands of such a mish-mash of users?
Click to expand...


Having worked in the design field for years and having sent out prototypes for users to test, I'd say that they are looking to use these users as real-life testers to get feedback in real world situations. There is only so much you can test in a lab and have any certainty of robustness. You need real people testing in real situations and a majority of those people need to be representative of your intended customer base. A professional might instinctively know how to work around problems that might arise, without even thinking about those problems. A consumer might complain about the most simple things, which are the things that might get cameras returned more often.

Other than that, I'd say that these testers got a late version of hardware but an early version of firmware. As they report their problems back, panny will fix these issues in firmware. It has been too late in the game to change hardware for months now. Unless there is some kind of catastrophic failure of hardware, there won't be any hardware changes except for value adjustments or some other BOM change.
 
I have been a beta tester before. And they give you a list of features, and various setting at least as a suggestion to test. Like try out daylight, indoor, and night photography with all ISOs. Or try all your AF lenses with the new faster AF. Or try the new Live HDMI out with various monitors. I know Vitaliy has seen some, but no one has yet tested the Digital Tele feature, first reported as VARIABLE, but I believe Vitaliy has reported that it was fixed. Now it will really suck, if after the release in Japan in a week or so, we STILL won't have a thorough workout and comparison. Maybe by December.
 
Spectra said:
You are far better off waitng for the GH7 due out in first quarter 2018....it has 1080 @500P FPS and apparently comes pre-hacked so you can increase bit rate to "11".
Click to expand...

From what I hear the GH 7 (Pre-Production-Release 2.05) also can repair your socks and guards the fridge with a tomahack ... eh, hawk....

Having said this I think I am much too unprofessional to understand the real, real cinematic 24 p mode that automatically transforms everything I shoot to the real cinema material that I want to screen in the next theatre .... and conforms with blu-ray. I am, in the end, only a little tv-guy. So: time to say good by GH's ... we had a really good time. And "Hello AG-AF". Btw: Have you published your article and where can I find it? And best wishes from Germanistan....
 
omnidecay said:
You'd probably get a better response if you stated what you wanted to use the camera for. Any production quality camera can record for hours so if thats your only requirement I'd say your options are pretty open...How can the GH2 be hacked? Its not even out yet...I trust the hack 100% and would gladly buy a qualifying GH1 again right now if I had to make the choice.
Click to expand...

i shouldve been more specific. i said i dont trust the gh1 hack. haha i know the gh2 isnt hacked yet let alone released. Im assuming a gh1 with the 14-140 lens is about a grand while a new gh2 would be about 1500 Cad after taxes and all
 
It really goes too far judging the reliability on a pre production unit. Who ever said these were final units? Nobody. The first batch of units may have issues just like any product would but again, we shouldn't be judging the reliability on unfinished products. This is no different when talking about the AF100 since the cameras that are out are unfinished. I bet the more finished versions are still with the engineers.
 
Last edited:
tipota said:
Btw: Have you published your article and where can I find it? And best wishes from Germanistan....
Click to expand...

Hi Tipota,

I only do one article a month for Digital Rev and the article will be submitted at the start of November (i havent even begun it yet) and probably come out around the middle of that month at which time I should be sitting on a beach in Thailand ;-)....I will keep you posted when it does come out.

BTW I saw you had a post regarding using your GH1 for timelapsing and the issues with FPN and banding even at base ISO settings...I have found that if you can use shutter speeds of at least 4 seconds you can then use the internal long shutter noise reduction in the "REC" menu and this improves the quality a great deal...as most of my shooting is done at night I have been using this method the last few times and the results are way better....also shooting RAW can help too as you can batch process files with the Silky Pix software and use NR in the batching process.
 
Spectra said:
Hi Tipota,

..also shooting RAW can help too as you can batch process files with the Silky Pix software and use NR in the batching process.
Click to expand...

Used all that, still have some strange structures in the shadows at times..... problem of balance me thinks. That was one of the reasons I waited for the GH2 to arrive. Would have ripped one of the dealers table immediately, especially with the digital zoom function and other niceties it has, but even more in the hope this banding thing would have been dealt with.

In danger to repeat myself: It's definitely a great camera. It just seems not to be able to do what is most important for me and I am in no mood to sit around watching my computer to transcode, de-interlace, shift pitch and remove pull down menu. That just makes no sense.

Wait for your article. Have a good time in Thailand. May the light shine on you...... ;-)
 
Looked at footage captured using BlackMagic.

Good news:
I don't see dropped frames, but more testing is required.
All info is scaled down appropriately (not ugly huge icons ala GH1), so you can see audio levels, histogram, etc, and do not have blocked view.
Yes, audio levels are available on screen during liveview and during recording.

Not so good news:
Resolution in liveview mode is lower than 1080p.
Absolutely acceptable for focusing on HD monitor, etc, but lower.
Something like 1300x800, may be.
Plus you could see color moire in LV mode.
As soon as you hit record, resolution starts to be proper one and color moire no longer present.

We'll try to shoot resolution charts to be more precise.
 
Last edited:
Vitaliy Kiselev said:
Looked at footage captured using BlackMagic.

Good news:
I don't see dropped frames, but more testing is required.
All info is scaled down appropriately (not ugly huge icons ala GH1), so you can see audio levels, histogram, etc, and do not have blocked view.
Yes, audio levels are available on screen during liveview and during recording.

Not so good news:
Resolution in liveview mode is lower than 1080p.
Absolutely acceptable for focusing on HD monitor, etc, but lower.
Something like 1300x800, may be.
Plus you could see color moire in LV mode.
As soon as you hit record, resolution starts to be proper one and color moire no longer present.

We'll try to shoot resolution charts to be more precise.
Click to expand...

They let you have a GH2? Uh oh. Lol. :)

When recording if you cycle display settings the only thing left on screen on HDMI out is the flashing record icon in upper right, yes? So in post you could always just crop that out.
 
Is the HDMI output 8 bit or 10 bit? 422? and if you are recording in 720p/50 what is the HDMI output, 720p/50 or other?

Many thanks.
 
Thanks for the info Vitaliy

I donated for the Gh2 body only two days ago as I missed any message on the issue .
Maybe better put it somewhere else ...
I hope you'll have a GH2 body asap !

Can you shed some light on the 720p50/60 format ? on paper it has the same specs as the GH1 720p50/60, 17mbps, no B-frames !
720p50 on pre hacked GH1 would break on some occasions !

On another note ,
This is a suggestion to one of the moderators ( Isaac ??)

Why not start a new sticky thread, with a first post that can be edited occasionally (like this one) by the moderator .
we can call it "Requests for the upcoming GH2" and when the GH2 will be available we then can change the name to "Firmware request for the GH2" .

Logic here is that Panasonic obviously listened to us customers at the past (without us knowing of it), if somebody from Panasonic is ever going to read through this forum it would be much easier to go directly to the thread and read the first post instead of going through 1000+ posts !

Now, this first post should be readable , summarize the request by groups ,( I can think of "Easily implemented ..." versus "Wishes..." ) and if needed explain the logic behind the requests.
 
Last edited:
Adventsam said:
Is the HDMI output 8 bit or 10 bit? 422? and if you are recording in 720p/50 what is the HDMI output, 720p/50 or other?
Many thanks.
Click to expand...

I have only 1080p footage.
But output switches to proper resolution and fps as soon as you hit record.
So, I expect this to be the same for 720p50.
I'll try to provide more detailed answer soon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top