How do I know if my GH1 is NTSC or PAL?

B

BhambuNath

Well-known member
Hello Friends,

I just got hold of the GH1 from Singapore through a friend and I always assumed it to be PAL since Singapore is a PAL country. Right now I'm trying it indoor under normal lights(household bulbs and tubes) and I'm getting lots of flickering except for the shutter speed of 1/30, 1/50, 1/100.

Is it possible that this could be a NTSC model?

I have not yet transfered the footage to the computer as I'm yet to get the software for editing so I have no way to look at the footage on the computer to determine what is the frame rate.

Is there anyway to determine if this camera is NTSC or PAL by looking somewhere in the menu?

Thanks.

Edit: OK, I finally see in the menu where it says about the recording specs and it is a PAL model. Any idea about flickering that goes on non 1/30, 1/50, 1/100 shutter speed?
 
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Is India PAL?

I tried a PAL GH1 here in England today and even this PAL cameras flickered under lighting when the shutter speed is other than 1/30, 1/50 and 1/100. The shop must have strange lights.
 
What's the model number?

CMOS sensors interact poorly with magnetic-ballast fluorescents at all shutter speeds except multiples of 1/50.
 
Yes, India is PAL.

Finally figured out that it's a PAL model, but now I'm wondering why the flickering is happening...

Thanks.
 
Barry_Green said:
What's the model number?

CMOS sensors interact poorly with magnetic-ballast fluorescents at all shutter speeds except multiples of 1/50.
Click to expand...

Model No is DMC-GH1

Made in China.

I've tried the multiple of 1/50 but it still flickers.

Though there is no flickering at 1/30 or anything below 1/30.
 
What Barry said is true. Try it under a few different types of lighting and see what happens.

There is a lot of confusion around this issue. I am still trying to clear up if:

A) You can use 1/40, 1/60, 1/80 and high speeds like 1/320 on a PAL camera under most standard 50hz PAL lighting, i.e. street lighting.

B) You can use a PAL camera without flickering at 1/60 in NTSC regions.

There answer must be out here sooner or later, since people seem to be getting the PAL model all over the world.
 
In general the answer should be that you can use multiples of your line frequency, and only multiples of your line frequency, in order to avoid the scrolling bands that happen with CMOS sensors.

So, for 60Hz users, that means you can use 1/120, or 2/120, or 3/120, or 4/120, or 5/120. Which works out to 1/120, 1/60, 1/40, 1/30, or 1/24.

For 50Hz users, you should be able to use 1/100, 2/100, or 4/100, meaning (of course) 1/100, 1/50, or 1/25.

Now, this may or may not affect "flickering". What I'm talking about here is the scrolling bands that can occur. If you don't know what I mean, try shooting with 1/500 under fluorescents -- if you see great big thick orange scrolling bars in your footage, then you've got the problem and you need to stick to one of the prescribed shutter speeds. If you don't see a problem at 1/500, then you probably don't have a problem at any of the other shutter speeds either. Some lights (like high-frequency electronic-ballast fluorescent or HMI fixtures) shouldn't cause the scrolling bands at all, regardless of shutter speed.
 
Yes, I guess I will try it under different lights and see what happens.

I was only worried that it might be a NTSC model due to this issue(which it is not as the manual says).
 
Barry_Green said:
In general the answer should be that you can use multiples of your line frequency, and only multiples of your line frequency, in order to avoid the scrolling bands that happen with CMOS sensors.

So, for 60Hz users, that means you can use 1/120, or 2/120, or 3/120, or 4/120, or 5/120. Which works out to 1/120, 1/60, 1/40, 1/30, or 1/24.

For 50Hz users, you should be able to use 1/100, 2/100, or 4/100, meaning (of course) 1/100, 1/50, or 1/25.

Now, this may or may not affect "flickering". What I'm talking about here is the scrolling bands that can occur. If you don't know what I mean, try shooting with 1/500 under fluorescents -- if you see great big thick orange scrolling bars in your footage, then you've got the problem and you need to stick to one of the prescribed shutter speeds. If you don't see a problem at 1/500, then you probably don't have a problem at any of the other shutter speeds either. Some lights (like high-frequency electronic-ballast fluorescent or HMI fixtures) shouldn't cause the scrolling bands at all, regardless of shutter speed.
Click to expand...


You are right, I do see a pulsating greenish/orangish light at 1/500 shutter.

So is there any workaround for this thing(using some particular type of lights etc).

Thanks.
 
Barry_Green said:
So, for 60Hz users, that means you can use 1/120, or 2/120, or 3/120, or 4/120, or 5/120. Which works out to 1/120, 1/60, 1/40, 1/30, or 1/24.
Click to expand...

Hopefully, I can get a definitive answer here. Seems that almost everyone refers to 1/120. Are you guys just rounding things off? Because I have an NTSC GH1 and have only seen 1/125 as a setting - not 1/120. Just making sure I'm not missing something. Makes me wonder cause you guys are usually so damn precise. :)
 
I think Barry was using mutiples of 60 to make a point.

Indeed the GH1 (NTSC) has 30,40,50,60,80,100,125,160,200,250,320,400,500,640,800,1000,1300,1600,2000 all the way up to 4000.

Phew that took some reading didn't it :)
 
commanderspike said:
I think Barry was using mutiples of 60 to make a point.

Indeed the GH1 (NTSC) has 30,40,50,60,80,100,125,160,200,250,320,400,500,640,800,1000,1300,1600,2000 all the way up to 4000.

Phew that took some reading didn't it :)
Click to expand...

That's exactly the shutter speeds I have available on my GH1.

Does it mean it's NTSC?

Though in manual it clearly says that it's 50i in 1920x1080 mode and 50P in 1280x720.
 
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