GH2 official discussion thread

Extremely big thanks for AKED for this work at Photokina!
So many question answered!

As for Panasonic representatives. Same as Pro devision.
Looks like they fired marketing department and started saving to hire AKED. :-)

P.S.
Panasonic, don't be afraid! We promise not to press you about your next $70 Lumix compacts. Seriously!
 
Vitaliy Kiselev said:
It won't have any compression, don't be afraid. No one will be implementing compressor->decompressor->output solution.
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Do you think getting an HDMI capture device like the Ki Pro mini will yield much better results than going direct to the camera.

Also what is the longest file that the GH2 can shoot?
 
itsdonny said:
Do you think getting an HDMI capture device like the Ki Pro mini will yield much better results than going direct to the camera.
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Yes.
I like upcoming Atomos Ninja.
And cam primise you that we'll have $300-500 solution within just one year.

Also what is the longest file that the GH2 can shoot?
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Depends on SD card size.
Euro versions are limited to 30min.
Others can record as long as you have card space.
 
Vitaliy Kiselev said:
Yes.
I like upcoming Atomos Ninja.
And cam primise you that we'll have $300-500 solution within just one year.



Depends on SD card size.
Euro versions are limited to 30min.
Others can record as long as you have card space.
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Thanks Vitaliy. the Atomos Ninja looks great. I'm wondering why this unit and the Ki Pro mini only use Pro Res 422. Would be great if they had a codec that I could use with Premiere.
 
AKED said:
I have been at the Photokina today.

I was about 3 1/2 hours at the Panasonic GH2 stand trying to get most of the questions answered, that you all have asked.


Greetings
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Thanks for your effort.

However, given that Panasonic are launching a major new camera I'm surprised that they don't send people who at least know what a B frame is...and whether their product's codec is fully implemented or not.

This is not an obscure esoteric question that you asked (requiring emails to Japan!) ...but one of the key questions about this products video acquisition performance.

Also...why should Pal users need to request 25p? Surely, that's a default requirement of Pal specifications.


Sorry...I also have to comment about:

"Panasonic is listening for the wishes of the customers. But intentionally not communicating these wishes in forums."

Ha ha...yes they did indirectly...the gift of version 1.34.
 
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Skeptikal said:
However, given that Panasonic are launching a major new camera I'm surprised that they don't send people who at least know what a B frame is...
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Maybe because 99.9% of the population has no idea what a B frame is? :)

Actual technical knowledge of the inner workings of the product is probably limited to a rather small group of engineers within the company. It would be wonderful if they had someone with real technical knowledge on hand at such a major expo to answer detailed questions from customers who are really knowledgable, but I guess those engineers are probably busy working on developing new products instead.

In the end the GH2 is really a product aimed at the mass consumer market. Creative and professional cinematographers/videographers are doing some wonderful work with it, but lots of people are just using their GH1s to take videos of their kids and cats. Yours truly included -- alongside the occasional professional job, of course. And I have to admit that I don't really know what a B frame is either. Never felt compelled to get that deep into knowledge about codecs and video encoding.

Just excited that the GH2 should give better video quality because my GH1 (unhacked) has let me down on a few important shoots.
 
Even many of their managers have no idea about many technical sides :-)
And you are asking small representatives. They are good at answering common questions.
And they are usually 90-95% fo all questions (and about 100% with any press).
 
AKED said:
PAL Version in 1080 24 or 25 frames
Sorry, no 25fps possible or planned right now. Only true 24fps, which was requested when there were wishes for a GH2. I never saw a request for 25fps..
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Thank you AKED !!

Then , we need PANASONIC to here our request as soon as possible , better that request should be from a person that can represent a big community like dvxuser .

If the camera processor yields 1080p50 outputting 1080p25 is easier than outputting 1080i50 !

Also a 50% slomo is possible easily.

Sassi
 
Thanks for the report AKED, very thorough - good job!

AKED said:
PAL Version in 1080 24 or 25 frames
Sorry, no 25fps possible or planned right now. Only true 24fps, which was requested when there were wishes for a GH2. I never saw a request for 25fps..
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Well, why would we PAL users request it? It's there in GH1 so no reason to assume it would be removed. To bad, this makes GH2 a no-buy for me. I do need 1080 25p for my work, my clients have seen it from GH1 and simply just expects it now.
 
Skeptikal said:
However, given that Panasonic are launching a major new camera I'm surprised that they don't send people who at least know what a B frame is...and whether their product's codec is fully implemented or not.
Click to expand...

I had similar experiences at Canon Expo with no one around capable of explaining anything about new products other than what was on the web site, and not able to navigate menus to demonstrate newer features with any facility.
 
Martti Ekstrand said:
Thanks for the report AKED, very thorough - good job!

Well, why would we PAL users request it? It's there in GH1 so no reason to assume it would be removed. To bad, this makes GH2 a no-buy for me. I do need 1080 25p for my work, my clients have seen it from GH1 and simply just expects it now.
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Well and for me the 1080 with the doubled 25 fps in the 50i was unusable due to the not smooth flow of the motion (I film martial arts).
In the end, 1080 is defined as 50i and I am quite happy, that the GH2 has a smooth 50i now.


Also, I listened to a talk between 2 customers who have the Panasonic TM700, who can record in 1080/50p:
The asked about the frame rates of the GH2. They asked: "Is the 1080 smooth now?"
And the Panasonic manager told proudly about "cinematic film look" in 24p and that the motion in 24p then is just like in the movies while the 50i is only like vedeo.
They said: "We are not interested in choppy footage. We want video". And I think this is true for most of the normal GH1/GH2 customers.
And this is what they got with 50i now.
I am sure that on 100 buyers of the GH1, only 1 at the most would want 25p.

But this is only my guess.



Additional info to the GH2, that I forgot yesterday:

Now new is, that the silver button is only for stills (also in movie mode as far as I remember) and the red button, that moved up on the camera behind the still button, is only for video.

But the result is, that you can take still pictures while you are filming. There is no clicking sound during the picture taking and the video continues.
Great feature I think.


Also a talked about the rather low bps rates compared to the hacked rates and the production manager said, that Panasonic has to watch the compatibility chain to the TV sets. You shall be able to put the SD card fro the camcorder into the Panasonic TV and it shall just work.

The Camcorder TM700 record in 1080/50p if you want and uses 28 bps then.
Already this cannot be reviewed on Panasonic TV sets.
So the will stay rather conservative with their bit rates to keep everything compatible and consumer friendly compared to us "freaks", who just want to get the best out of the cameras.
 
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Also a talked about the rather low bps rates compared to the hacked rates and the production manager said, that Panasonic has to watch the compatibility chain to the TV sets. You shall be able to put the SD card fro the camcortder into the Panasonic TV and it shall just work.

The Camcorder TM700 record in 1080/50p if you want and uses 28 bps then.
Already trhis footages cannot be reviewed on Panasonic TV sets.
So the will stay rather conservative with their bit rates to keep everythin compatible and consumer friendly compared to us "freaks", who just want to get the best out of the cameras.
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I fully agree here.
Movie freaks are rare.
But I suggest them to add special "For nuts" option enabling 24Mbps in interlacing modes and pushing 24p to 30-40Mbps mark. It is not hard. It won't add value to ordinary customers. But it is extremel effective from marketing standpoint.
And yeah, Panasonic managers, do not forget for secret key combination to remove 30min limit.
 
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