GH2 Is the hacked Gh2 seriously not blowing people away!!?

Im the DP on this feature film www.momentoftruthfilm.com we just finished shooting on set for our first shoot day. Had a great crew of about 15 using all britek lights we had to replicate day for half and moonlight for the second half... EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE, Producer, Director, Make-up dept. WAS BLOWN AWAY at the footage coming off my camera, I was even amazed. Im shooting GH2 (Driftwood reAQuainted 176mbit GOP1(best patch imo)) Sandisk Extreme Pro 45mb/s 8gb cards(ONLY card that works with NO issues but only the 8gb though becuase they are still SDHC, once you get the 16gb cards they turn into SDXC(GH2 non compliant)) with a set of LOMO Primes 28 f/2, 35 f/2, 50 f/2, 75 f/2 and Jupiter 135 f/3.5 ( all the LOMO f/2's act like f/1.8(based on testing) and the panny 14-42 for one pick up shot.

In short, YES the GH2 IS THE CINEMA CAMERA for the low/no budget, or even big budget film maker... P.S. for 1080p Delivery I choose it over RED based on workflow...
 
L1N3ARX said:
Since I got this camera a few weeks ago, I feel as if I have this secret weapon that nobody knows about. Talking within the "cinema" realm of planned / scripted shots, where achieving the "cinema" look is definitely on your short list, this camera is absolutely unreal. I showed a couple friends and family who are film buffs raw footage with a Sigma 30mm 1.4 and 176bit hack, and they thought they were actually looking something shot on film stock. I am so oddly satisfied by the GH2, that I find myself smirking when I see people spending 5-10k on higher priced cameras and arguing which one looks more like film (totally subjective of course). I can't help it, this camera is just too good, and it's not even a price thing, I could see myself trying to buy this camera at around 5k if I saw what I'm shooting now. Obviously, the right tool for the right job, and many people need a real camera and not a picture camera that makes amazing video, but seriously... after seeing some of this footage.. good lord. You'd almost think people would be chomping at the bit, to get close to what this camera is doing now that it's hacked. Maybe I'm just way too excited about the the potential of my new toy, anybody feel the same?
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Everyday!
 
kevin baggott said:
I shot a very low budget indy feature with this camera in ireland about 6 weeks ago. I was in the boondocks - and really had not budget for a dp - so I would set up the shots, get my exposures and have my wife hit record. I was playing the lead in it. It's rough - sure - but when I throw the image up on my projector - s**t.... it helps shooting in ireland mind ya :) Below is two very rough trailers I banged out on fcpx - learning it - I'm no editor :) but thought I would share.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxgE7U4Y5_s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTXqUwGbMJo
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Kevin - watching your trailer, I didn't care what it was shot on or what the bit rate was -- it is brilliant. Where can I see the full version? I'd pay to see the rest.

Bill
 
Here's a music video I just directed/DP/edited with the GH2...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gh2v4lFu6c

It's pretty ridiculous... but just look at the shadows and underexposed areas. This look would NEVER be possible with the stock GH2. I tried when I first got my GH2 (stock) and I almost sold it out of frustration with lack of underexposed detail and shadow mud. I love low natural light shooting... and the stock GH2 was just sadly not capable of what I wanted. Also, the stock 24mb/s is just not gradable at all. It's terrible, seriously. As much crap as the Canon h.264 50mb/s codec gets... it's MUCH better than the GH2/AF-100's stock 24mb/s. Softer, for sure... but holds up better in coloring. Needless, to say the hack fixed the crap out of this. The GOP1 175mb/s is truly something to behold...

The 60fps in 720p is also pretty amazing. There is a little bit more banding... but the detail is GREAT. The detail in 720p mode looks like 1080p on my 7D or 5D.

Then there is also the motion factor. Long-GOP just looks bad. It's doesn't look like real 24fps, as there are frames being used to "build" other frames in each sequence. This creates weird motion where some parts of the frame look as if they are moving at different shutter speeds or something. I don't know all the technical details either... but it's essentially temporal-compression. The all-I mode has the same motion as Red or a film-DI would. One frame is one frame. No "interpolation" or any of that other crap they claim is more "efficient". Sometimes, less is more...


I don't even tell people what I shoot on anymore. I just say "just some camera". If people want to think that big bulky cameras with XLR inputs somehow make a better image... then let them. It's better for us. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

Cheer's GH2ers... it really is a secret weapon. :kali:
 
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I've spent the past week researching if I should buy an AF100 or a GH2. I've even attended a presentation by Barry (Green) a while back where he pointed out the strengths of the AF100. I'm an experienced videographer so I'm all about "purpose built" cams. Prior to this, I was close to buying an AF100 when RED said they'd release the Scarlet on Nov. 3rd. That turned out to not be to my liking because of features, price and workflow. So I was about to pull the trigger (again) on the AF when I heard about the GH2 from a coworker. "But it's a DSLR," I said. "So what? It get's the job done," he said. And after seeing the results of hacked GH2s the "bang for the buck" part of my brain is shouting at me to give this some serious thought.

Question: can the camera be reverted back to the default settings? I'm not too concerned about warranty issues. But I don't want to brick it.
 
So the 176mb patch is basically the equivalent of of hooking it up to an external recorder, right?
 
Gargravarr said:
Yes. I don't think there comes a risk with patching the firmware at this point.
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Thanks Gargravarr,

With all due apologies to Barry. I think I'm going to pick up a GH2 this week. I already have audio gear so shooting double system sound isn't an issue for me. Also, couldn't someone hack an AF100 and reduce the need for external recorders? I'm sure it's probably not as easy as all that...but to me that seems like the best of both worlds.
 
JMZ said:
Also, couldn't someone hack an AF100 and reduce the need for external recorders? I'm sure it's probably not as easy as all that...but to me that seems like the best of both worlds.
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The guy who hacked the GH2 actually said that a patch could be released quite easily for the AF-100... but he doesn't want to do it. Apparently, he doesn't like the way Panasonic is holding back the tech and basically up-selling cheaper technology or something like that. I basically agree... it's in the best interest of the market and consumers to just drop the video division and just start building hybrids with XLR "modules" and such. All the waveform monitors, color profiles, "pro" features, and ect... are all just software... which the GH2 is also capable of.

It's the natural progression of imaging... and all the manufactures are adamant about holding it back.
 
okay I'm attempting to answer my own question and posting what I've found from digging ... its like talking to oneself which I do anyway !
Please add or rip into this post if I've posted inaccurate or outdated stuff

AF100 (barry greens test) 10.5 stops of dynamic range LINK
FS100 (barry greens test) 11 stops of dynamic range LINK
FS100 (blog.abelcine.com) 10 stops of dynamic range LINK
GH2 (dpreview) shows a chart of dynamic range as tested from a jpeg still LINK
and I can count about ~ 6 stops (17 one third stops) on my laptop screen,
however, maybe you can count more.
I've been unable to find a DR test for the GH2 from movie mode, hacked or otherwise.
 
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GH2 (dpreview) shows a chart of dynamic range as tested from a jpeg still LINK
and I can count about ~ 6 stops (17 one third stops) on my laptop screen,
however, maybe you can count more.
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I thought DR on the GH1 was around 8.5 stops in movie mode. I would imagine the GH2 is slightly better, but perhaps someone else could chime in. I'd be interested to know.
 
From the footage I have, I dont see it being under 8 stops, but again this isnt tests, this is just sampled footage based on previous footage from other cams comparison...
 
I'd say 7-8 with Lumix lenses and 10-11 with Canon, Nikon, or Ziess.

There's no way the GH2, under optimal conditions, has less than 10 stops. The GH1 in the first Zacuto shootout was measured at 9... Having under 10 stops would be really bad for a modern sensor.
 
Thanks Ipowel, I had actually seen those results before ... they got them from here.
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Pu...xOMark-review-for-the-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GH2
Unfortunately they never posted their test - they only published the results. For this reason I had trouble with the credibility of it.

GH2user said:
The GH1 in the first Zacuto shootout was measured at 9...
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As problematic and debated as the zacuto shootouts were I loved the spirit and effort they put in. Thanks for reminding me of
their findings as I had forgotten.
 
GH2user said:
The guy who hacked the GH2 actually said that a patch could be released quite easily for the AF-100... but he doesn't want to do it. Apparently, he doesn't like the way Panasonic is holding back the tech and basically up-selling cheaper technology or something like that. I basically agree... it's in the best interest of the market and consumers to just drop the video division and just start building hybrids with XLR "modules" and such. All the waveform monitors, color profiles, "pro" features, and ect... are all just software... which the GH2 is also capable of.

It's the natural progression of imaging... and all the manufactures are adamant about holding it back.
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Well, as a former employee of a Panasonic reseller I can *sort of* see why they'd hold back. However as a user I would love to have the visuals from the 176mb Drifwood hack along with the form-factor, timecode and XLRs of the AF100. If they really took the time to consider how many new users they would win over they might end up making more than they think. But what do I know.

Hence, I can totally see why an independent would draw the line and say no to developing that particular piece of software. Why should they help Panasonic sell more expensive gear. It's all one really crazy game. Even I had to ask myself if it was worth an extra $3800 to have on those extra features when I still have to buy lenses. After some really intensive thought I said no.

And now I don't know that Panasonic would really endanger the whole 160, 170, 250 line. They're really nice cameras. I got to play with some of them last week. But I can buy my GH2, a couple of lenses, media and some other toys for less money. Plus get a stunning image.

I am so gonna' hack my camera.
 
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