is the GH2 a waste of time in PAL land?

tired

tired

Well-known member
I shoot weddings with 4 GH1's (hacked), I've got a couple of small commercial jobs coming up and I've got a SmallHD monitor I've love to start using again. I can either grab a GH2 or the AF100 - but which?

My problem is PAL, I shoot 25p with the GH1's and I can match that with the AF100 (AF101) but it's much more expensive that the GH2 - which can only shoot 24p - I'll have to convert the footage using cineform (I don't think I can drop 24p & 25p into EDIUS and work with it) or do I convert all my hacked GH1's over to NTSC and 24p?

the GH2 isn't available here in AUS (the AF101 is) but that really doesn't matter if the GH2 only shoots 24p, I may as well get an NTSC model. (I'm still confused over the 50Hz Vs 60Hz in regard to HD footage - does it still apply?)

I think I'll change my user name to TIRED & CONFUSED
 
Yes, 50Hz vs 60Hz absolutely definitely still applies in HD.

And no, the GH2 doesn't have 25p. It has 50i, and 50p. Well, I'm not sure about the MJPG mode, maybe that's 720/25p in PAL, I don't know. But in AVCHD, it has 1080/24p, 1080/50i, and 720/50p.
 
tired said:
I shoot weddings with 4 GH1's (hacked), I've got a couple of small commercial jobs coming up and I've got a SmallHD monitor I've love to start using again. I can either grab a GH2 or the AF100 - but which?

My problem is PAL, I shoot 25p with the GH1's and I can match that with the AF100 (AF101) but it's much more expensive that the GH2 - which can only shoot 24p - I'll have to convert the footage using cineform (I don't think I can drop 24p & 25p into EDIUS and work with it) or do I convert all my hacked GH1's over to NTSC and 24p?

the GH2 isn't available here in AUS (the AF101 is) but that really doesn't matter if the GH2 only shoots 24p, I may as well get an NTSC model. (I'm still confused over the 50Hz Vs 60Hz in regard to HD footage - does it still apply?)

I think I'll change my user name to TIRED & CONFUSED
Click to expand...


My question is what format are you delivering the final product in? If you are using DVD then just use 1080i @ 25 FPS since you are downconverting anyway. Even 720p @ 50 FPS is plenty for DVD. If you are streaming it then use 720p @ 50 FPS. The compression the streaming site will use far outweighs any loss in resolution.

If you are burning Blu-rays then just use 1080i because most PAL Blu-rays use a form of that anyway.

I suspect what you are really asking is "Can the GH2 shoot high bit rate 25p". The answer is no. If you absolutely must have that then you will need to convert 24p to 25p or wait for a hack.
 
Ja - die GH2 ist nicht gut für ein PAL-Land - Yes - the GH2 is not good for a PAL country

Die GF1 (13) ist hier besser, auch aufgrund des Hacks von Vitaliy.
 
That's what he's saying -- don't try mixing both. If you used an AF100 (or a GH1) you could shoot in 25p and avoid trying to mix them together.
 
For Broadcasting (DVB-S,T,C), these are the "standards" in Europe:

SD:
transmission 576i50, source was 50i or 50p (TV-shows, daily soaps, news etc.) -or- source 24p (cinema) speedup to 25p

HD:
transmission 1080i50, origin 50i or 50p (s.o.), -or- origin 24p (cinema) speedup to 25p
transmission 720p50, origin 50i or 50p -or- origin 24p speedup to 25p and doubled to 50p

As you can see, there never was a real source of 25p content.
99% of all progressive content was originally 24p. AFAIK all the other stuff was recorded with 50i or 50p.
If you know a production which really starts with 25p please tell.
 
glause said:
If you know a production which really starts with 25p please tell.
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For one example, most (pretty much all) of the BBC's documentaries/dramas are filmed in 25pf, which is 25p in an interlaced wrapper. No different really, as I think TVs detect that it's progressive and show it as such.
 
glause said:
99% of all progressive content was originally 24p. AFAIK all the other stuff was recorded with 50i or 50p.
If you know a production which really starts with 25p please tell.
Click to expand...

Not true. I'm a UK based broadcast documentary maker and most documentaries are (and have been for a while) mostly shot 25p.

Early on in the production the decision is made on whether to go for the 50i look or the 25p look. Reality type programmes tend to go for the 50i look whereas docs at the quality end tend to go for the 25p look. Certainly I would always want to shoot 25p.

As far as I know 24p is never used for TV production in the UK (or other Pal areas). Obviously feature films are different.

So I'm sticking with my hacked GH1 until they sort out this ridiculous issue.
 
Matthew P said:
For one example, most (pretty much all) of the BBC's documentaries/dramas are filmed in 25pf, which is 25p in an interlaced wrapper. No different really, as I think TVs detect that it's progressive and show it as such.
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Well actually they're filmed in true 25p, but broadcast 25pf (which as you say is effectively equivalent to 25p)
 
Exact said:
We shoot everything at 25p. Panasonic basically lost a customer here by not including 25p.
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Four.

I shoot 25p for web production, the easy route to DVD delivery when clients request that, and potential for broadcast use in PAL land.
 
Hmm, Ok sorry, then I was wrong and you are somehow screwed.
But it sounds weird for me that someone does not shoot with the motion friendly 50p (or 50i) which looks IMHO more natural.
So he must like the "film look" so much but does not shoot in cinema-24p what would give him THE best possible cinema-film look!?
 
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