GH2 Mega GH2 ISO Noise test w/ Quantum beta V9b. Interesting results.

Tim Joy

Tim Joy

Veteran
Doing some tests for myself. Here's a little video to share. Best to download so you can scroll frame-by-frame to really get your pixel-peeping on. :)

Info on the vid and vimeo page.
http://vimeo.com/35399159


Finally found out why iso 320 always looked so bad. It sucks!
 
Hmmm....640 actually seems to be quite good throughout the tests. I wonder why 320 ends up being so bad?
 
great test! thanks. would be interesting to see you do the same test but stepping down from highest iso to lowest with talks of noise being worse when you go up iso inc instead of going down. 640 is wow
 
Although there are a number of variables to consider, I can now see very plainly why I try to stay at 400 ISO. It's the most consistent throughout each and every setup.

I'm not sure if this is the proper way to really test it but it's the best I've seen so far.

Thanks Tim.

DevonH said:
Could 640 be the native ISO? Seems a bit high.
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Well, that's interesting to think about: F3's native iso is 800 right? RED's sensor is optimized at about 800... so the GH2 being 640 actually does not sound far fetched, but the noise in the mid test on 640 isn't as consistent as 400.

EDIT: Actually, 640 is more consistent. I'm on my Laptop and I had to tilt the darn screen a bit for the highs test. Hmmm. Having to use 640ISO to get the cleanest image isn't a bad thing, I always use NDs in broad daylight anyway, and being at 640 for interiors is grande.

Looks like I'll be testing 640 this weekend.

1600 has always looked good to my eyes, considering how high it is, this test actually shows it could be plenty usable with some denoising, but we already know that.
 
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Tim, I haven't said anything about this just yet because I want to go out shooting this weekend..

If you do a film mode test, use My Film -2-2-2-2 and compare it to Smooth.

My conclusion was that Smooth's extra sharpening and strange curve are what people are seeing as better roll off, but MyFilm is the most linear and basic image you can get out of the camera. oddly enough, at least in comparison to Cinema, it takes a bit more to get banding out of MyFilm and the noise is much more pleasant, shadow's don't get too noisy or crushed at all.

Highlight retention is about the same as Smooth if not slightly better when both are exposed similarly/properly.

But run some tests! For whatever reason I thought MyFilm was based on an existing Film Mode that the user sets, it's actually its own basic setup that you tweak with the four sliders.

It's winning for me right now, of all the film modes, but I'd like to see others try it out.
 
I'll give that a go as well Kholi. I don't have any issues testing and tweaking, but it would be nice to find solid starting points so that those who are newer could get out and start shooting, instead of spending weeks upon weeks trying to adjust their camera for results they can trust (tweaking takes place in every camera, but I think you guys get my point).

I have a shoot this next week that will be a good test of all of this, but un-orthodox (drag queen contest submission), but it should provide a variety of situations, and some amusement to boot!
 
This other ISO test seems to confirm the same: 640 appears to be the magic ISO. Very, very interesting. 200 and 400 look godawful.

 
Thanks guys. I see why the high iso's are not enabled in video mode. Anything above 4000 has a varied amount and brightness in the noise every few frames. 3200 seems pretty good to me.
I was shocked how clean 640 came out in the lows so I tested it again to make sure I didn't do something wrong. Same result.
One thing is clear. It's much better in a low light situation to expose as high as possible. The live metering is awesome to have for this.
I'll give the My Film mode a try.
I would like to try this with different hacks, white balance, film modes, and profile settings, but that's a lot of work!
Maybe ill do a select few iso's.
 
Tim Joy said:
Thanks guys. I see why the high iso's are not enabled in video mode. Anything above 4000 has a varied amount and brightness in the noise every few frames. 3200 seems pretty good to me.
I was shocked how clean 640 came out in the lows so I tested it again to make sure I didn't do something wrong. Same result.
One thing is clear. It's much better in a low light situation to expose as high as possible. The live metering is awesome to have for this.
I'll give the My Film mode a try.
I would like to try this with different hacks, white balance, film modes, and profile settings, but that's a lot of work!
Maybe ill do a select few iso's.
Click to expand...

I'd say, 400, 640, 800, 1600 are enough.

If 640 is the magic number then I'm actually very happy with that. I thought 800 might've been, and that was great for me, 640 is less exposure to run away from in broad daylight, my NDs will love me.

I agree with you as well, underexposing the camera is not a good thing, man.
 
I was also interested in the very different grain patterns. Some are very sharp and 'edgy' and others have a more rounded pattern.
Khoi. I think you're right but I would add 3200 to the list because I do have opportunities to use it in docu situations.
 
Kholi said:
Tim, I haven't said anything about this just yet because I want to go out shooting this weekend..

If you do a film mode test, use My Film -2-2-2-2 and compare it to Smooth.

My conclusion was that Smooth's extra sharpening and strange curve are what people are seeing as better roll off, but MyFilm is the most linear and basic image you can get out of the camera. oddly enough, at least in comparison to Cinema, it takes a bit more to get banding out of MyFilm and the noise is much more pleasant, shadow's don't get too noisy or crushed at all.

Highlight retention is about the same as Smooth if not slightly better when both are exposed similarly/properly.

But run some tests! For whatever reason I thought MyFilm was based on an existing Film Mode that the user sets, it's actually its own basic setup that you tweak with the four sliders.

It's winning for me right now, of all the film modes, but I'd like to see others try it out.
Click to expand...

But which film mode are you using as the basis for My Film? See what you do is select a film mode, copy it to My Film 1 or My Film 2, and then adjust the settings for it. I have My Film 1 as Cinema and My Film 2 as Smooth, then -2 -2 -2 -2 on each. The default basis for My Film is Standard I believe.
 
Mike@AF said:
But which film mode are you using as the basis for My Film? See what you do is select a film mode, copy it to My Film 1 or My Film 2, and then adjust the settings for it. I have My Film 1 as Cinema and My Film 2 as Smooth, then -2 -2 -2 -2 on each. The default basis for My Film is Standard I believe.
Click to expand...

That's what I couldn't figure out. It looked like it was just the plainest, normal Film Mode with no name. How do you copy it over? If the base is standard then standard it's gonna be.

Edit: JUST saw it. Okay. Then yeah it was Standard, which lines up with what I said in the other noise thread that Standard and Cinema looked like the most solid ones you could use if you do any grading or you aren't happy with the noise.

Thanks Mike.
 
Don't know why I gravitated towards Smooth, but I'll try some others with the sweet iso's.

Also did a 'real world' test outside with 640, 400, and 200, stopped down to achieve the same exposure on the meter. We'll see where that pans out. ha ha pun.
 
Here, here for Standard! Actually, it's Ralph who should get credit for first pushing this, as he used standard for all his older HDMI tests and that's when I noticed how clean it looks compared with smooth.
 
Hmmmm....@ about 1:20 into the video it seems clear to me that ISO 160 is the culprit for the "sky banding" issues others have been getting. Thanks for the tests Tim Joy.
 
Ian-T said:
Hmmmm....@ about 1:20 into the video it seems clear to me that ISO 160 is the culprit for the "sky banding" issues others have been getting. Thanks for the tests Tim Joy.
Click to expand...

I kept telling people this... don't like banding, shoot at a lower ISO.

We still need to see how 640 does with actual color (especially red) but it's a solid start.
 
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