Panning 'mud', reasons why and firmware update

Well, just came back with a shiny new Sandisk Extreme III 30MBps edition (8GB).

No sign of artefacts in 24p mode yet, but it's dark outside and within four walls there isn't a great deal of detail for the GH1 to handle even when panning. But still a positive initial outcome. I couldn't reproduce the artefacts which came so easily the other day, in just about every 2 minute segment of footage I created.

The true test will come when shooting in bright light around the city centre tomorrow!

Thanks for everyone's input on this so far. The Sandisk is indeed a lot faster than my AData 150x 8GB, which is supposed to have 22mb read and 10mb write. Good job it was only the equivalent of 10GBP!! Also continuous shooting does have the long write times as was previously evident, so clearly the quality card is making a difference.

Maybe the extra fine detail and large sensor output demands much higher write speeds than a consumer grade camcorder such as the SD9 or HF100, et al.

Looking at AVCHD from the HF100 on a large screen reveals that it doesn't make full use of 1920x1080's worth of resolution due to quite excessive noise reduction. Handles motion blur well, it's true, but so does the GH1 when it doesn't break down. Fingers crossed for tomorrow...
 
Must be careful about read/write rates listed as "gospel" by these companies. Only certain ones really produce the specs they claim and that's honestly why cheap knock-offs are the worst thing you could do for your image performance regarding solid state.

Some people may think that RED overprices the cards they re-badge and perhaps they do, but you know they WORK with your footage and that's a guarantee you kind of have to have when your career hangs on this little two by two inch square of plastic and solder.

Don't skimp on cards. And not saying that anyone has, just some advice. Spend the money on them and be safe.
 
This is EXACTLY the type of breakdown I've been seeing, and the reason why I keep harping on it.

Here's another example:

Camera still:
GH1_01.jpg


Camera in motion:
GH1_02.jpg


Source file: http://vimeo.com/4825706

I've seen it in multiple files from multiple sources. It would be great to know if this is simply a matter of a slow SD card.
 
I'm willing to bet it's a slow SD card. I'm looking through 1080 lowlight footage with an AIC to Compressor pulldown applied, going frame by frame during some quick pan and tilts looking for it and I can't find a frame like that.

I'll let you know if I see one.

But honestly, now that I remember, I've got ONE slow SDHC card that I got when I first bought this camera, this was what I was seeing as far as breakdown went. Then I bought two SanDisk extremes and haven't really seen it since. I could be wrong, let me scrub.
 
thanks for the test!! we are waiting... :)


may be the GH1 is very picky about mem cards, really its strange that panasonic release the camara with this big flaw knowing it, so it makes sense if it happens only on some cards due to an incompatibility.
 
Extreme Motion, LowLight, 400 - 500 ISO (if I remember right), dark detail, GH-1 @ 1080/24

SanDisk Extreme III SDHC 4GB card

This would be the case that the compression would show up. It's a very quick tilt up then tilt back down to catch the peak of a high kick and the landing.

GH1HighKick.jpg
 
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kholi : your site ask for a password when entering in the forum



I've seen the mud on horizontal and vertical panning, but also occasionally when not panning, it seems also when focusing.
 
may be the GH1 is very picky about mem cards, really its strange that panasonic release the camara with this big flaw knowing it

Exqueeze me but how does this compute in your mind? Lets break it down in steps:

1. Panasonic clearly states the specs needed for cards to be used in GH-1.

2. Some random card makers puts out cards on the market that are not up to snuff.

3. Image gets artefacts when using such cards and it's then a big flaw of the camera?

What should Panasonic (or any other camera maker) do to make sure it works with any and every card out there in the world? Have the cam only output 360x240 files? Just 10 fps? No colour? Or just stop in mid-take and throw up a error box ala Windows "This card is mushy-mushy. [Yes] [Cancel]"?
 
As I stated earlier Panasonic is making their own cards. So, wouldn't they test them to make sure they work properly with their equipment? They want to sell cards but that is why they are in business for, right? I am not saying that theirs are the best but at least come from the same manufacturer as the camera. They are the first ones I am going to get when I get my camera. Aren't P2 cards an array of SD cards? So Panasonic should know a thing or two about their cards. At B&H a 16gig card is about $80.00. And to think that I paid $875.00 for a 16gig P2 card! The 4gig Pana is about $30.00.
 
That did it :-)

Looks pretty clean, overall. But since it's mostly black, wouldn't that help the compression?
 
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