GH2 How stable is the GH2 hack?

A

andrew00

Well-known member
Hey there,

My 5dmk2 has gone up the fritz, producing weird colours and needs a service, or something! (You can see here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/44388193@N06/ - if curious)

I was thinking of picking up a GH2 and using one of the 176mb/s hacks to do a test short I've coming up.

I was wondering if it is stable - I know it looks great but does the codec continue to work and not over heat and cancel itself or anything? Esp when it's moving.
 
No overheating with the GH2. EVER!
The issues you can get with the hack are different and can be avoided by selecting the right hack depending on you project.

You can refer to this chart to see the most common hacks and their results.
http://goo.gl/zkQ6f
And download the hack themselves here
http://db.tt/9D4MF8uQ

The worst that can happen is a corruption in the encoding forcing you to reshoot the scene or there is no spanning stoping the shot after a minute or so, but there is no possible damage to the camera itself.
(Some high nitrate hacks require you to cover the lens to record pitch black for a few seconds before your take)
I would just suggest to test your selected hack to see how it works.
 
No overheating with the GH2. EVER!
Click to expand...

Not according to a Panasonic rep at Photo Plus who said the engine on the GH2 will eventually fail because is not meant for what the hacks are doing. He said that is just a matter of time. That if it was safe to run at higher mbits they would do it. We will see.
 
I somehow trust more lpowell than pana. My guess for pana not making higher bitrate is the writhing speed to the cards and the encoding errors.

Worst your camera dies on the long run after 4 years (which I doubt will happen) . What's the big deal, it's still four times cheaper than a 5DmkII. and you will buy the GH3 in about a year...
 
Question.... I want a driftwood hack for very high end stuff and then a more usable 50 to 75 mbit max hack..... I am not familiar with the GH2 hacks that much as all the other GH2s I worked with were not my own camera and now finally got one. Does it work the same with increasing version numbers like it would on the GH13? Meaning have have various sd cards with different hacks...... so you could go to a high bitrate hack for some shots then reload a more stable lower bitrate on another card? still use ptool?

Looking at the files and seems very different.... I have to play ketchup or mustard quickly. What's the best link for GH2 hack install and swap out procedures?
 
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Yeah, you can swap settings on the go just like you can with the GH1. Though, just like the GH1, you'll need a battery with full bars. There's a thread called GH2 Patch Vault at personal-view.com with all the best settings at various bitrates. With the Driftwood 176mbps GOP 1 settings, each frame is equivalent to the size of a jpeg compressed at 97%.
 
The latest high-bitrate hack is Seaquake. For cards that choke on Seaquake, use Terraquake. For 30P and smoother motion (the 80% setting) and EX Tele, use Aquamotion V2. For spanning, use SpanMyBitchUp. All of the preceding are from Driftwood. For full stock functionality and rock-solid reliability, use CBrandin 44mb/s. The Panasonic guy is full of it.
 
Phenixone said:
I somehow trust more lpowell than pana. My guess for pana not making higher bitrate is the writhing speed to the cards and the encoding errors.

Worst your camera dies on the long run after 4 years (which I doubt will happen) . What's the big deal, it's still four times cheaper than a 5DmkII. and you will buy the GH3 in about a year...
Click to expand...

If anybody's camera is going to croak, it would be driftwood's camera. If he doesn't say it, then everybody else's cameras should be fine.
 
Blackout said:
Question.... I want a driftwood hack for very high end stuff and then a more usable 50 to 75 mbit max hack..... I am not familiar with the GH2 hacks that much as all the other GH2s I worked with were not my own camera and now finally got one. Does it work the same with increasing version numbers like it would on the GH13? Meaning have have various sd cards with different hacks...... so you could go to a high bitrate hack for some shots then reload a more stable lower bitrate on another card? still use ptool?

Looking at the files and seems very different.... I have to play ketchup or mustard quickly. What's the best link for GH2 hack install and swap out procedures?
Click to expand...

What lenses are you using? The higher end hacks are more failure prone with the native m4/3s lenses and especially with the native m4/3s zooms. With the legacy primes they are much more stable.

I recommend shooting the exact same thing with stock, 42 mb/sec, and anyone of the higher end hacks. If anyone can tell the difference between them it will be you. Let us know what you think. I bet you will be satisfied with the GH2 this time around though. The issues you cited before have all been resolved.

Keep making those great videos. I think they are hilarious! :)
 
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