GH2 Raw?

roxics

roxics

Veteran
Just out of curiosity, what stops the hackers working on the GH2 from taking that camera to raw recording like the ML guys are doing with the 5D mk3?

Maybe I'm wrong but I was under the impression that because the GH2 was a firmware hack there was more control over the camera than what the ML guys could do with the Canon cameras.
 
The first question you should ask yourself is why do you need raw video?

The second question should be do I have the necessary tools (and they are extensive and expensive) to deal with raw video?

And the final question should be, what camera today will provide raw video if the answer to the first question is an emphatic yes.

Hint, it's not the GH2.
 
Why or why not is another question in and of itself. My question is, could the hackers working on the GH2 potentially get raw recording out of it? If not, why not?
 
roxics said:
Why or why not is another question in and of itself.
Click to expand...

You are right.

The point I was trying to make is that having raw video is not the final panacea for having great images (although it does help as witnessed in Andrew Reid's early footage from the 5D mk III). The related costs in equipment and workflow are heavy and may or may not be visible in the final product.

I'd have to reread the whole issue, but I believe the ML hacks works with the photo burst mode, not the video stream (I will readily admit that I may have misunderstood this). But if that is the case, I doubt the GH2 could do a similar thing.
 
First, I have never used the Magic Lantern hacks and have only followed it from a distance, so take this info for what it's worth. I see the ML hacks as actually more robust, and more of an accomplishment. Not to take ANYTHING away from what Vitally did with the GH hacks. But just from a technical standpoint, the ML hacks have added actual new user interface to the camera, new modes, new features.

The GH hack has upped bitrate, made new matrices for better processing video, messed with audio levels and enabled and disabled features that the camera already had.

I am forever greatful to the team for what they have done with the GH cameras and I still think they produce some of the best images out there, but from my point of view, the ML hacks have gone beyond what has been done for the Lumix cameras. But the GHs are better video cameras to start, so ML has just now (possibly) surpassed the GH on the 5DMIII with their raw hack.

As to the original question. Possible? Probably with a ton of time and effort. Will it happen, I can say with 99% certainty, no. There is just no need. The quality of the compressed footage is so good, and while raw MIGHT be able to get a TINY bit more dynamic range, the actual demand is not high enough.
 
One thing stopping them is that the GH's use SD cards, which supposedly don't have a high enough continuous write speed to be able to record the raw stream (at 1920x1080, that is). Even if SD cards get faster, the camera's card writer might not be able to write tthat fast. The 5D3 uses CF cards, which can write much faster, and has a speedy card writer... and even then, you need the fastest CF cards available for the hack to work. You could record a lower resolution of raw though, which is what the hack does on the lower-end Canon's that use SD cards (and the 5D2, which uses CF but has a slower card writer).
 
aldolega said:
One thing stopping them is that the GH's use SD cards, which supposedly don't have a high enough continuous write speed to be able to record the raw stream.
Click to expand...

Actually they do: Lexar makes them

And Amazon sells them.

These have a write speed of 90MB/s - fast enough for HD RAW.

The question then becomes is the GH3 SD slot up to UHS-I spec?
 
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