GH2 hacked
- Thread starter brianluce
- Start date
Just a quick note: you can make aliasing and moire worse on these Canon cameras knowing what the weak link is, but you can also minimize it. There are some notable people, including Philip Bloom, who own all of these cameras and still choose the 5D for many applications. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.
I used to own the 7d, there is no workaround that I was ever able to find. What's maddening is that it's very difficult to see the moire and aliasing when you're shooting so you usually don't discover until after the talent has gone home. Very frustrating. The best thing, if you really want to use a Canon, is buy a pro monitor, at least that way you'll have a fighting chance of catching the aliasing or moire before you record it and then take steps to mitigate it.
Cannons (note the three n's) have cred because they work and produce great images. The GH2 does not have this credibility. The GH2 may be a better camera technically, but that's not translating to usage. Id say it would catch up in the years to come, but I think the DSLR erra is about over, so cannon will reign as the "best" DSLR for video as the era draws to a close. Companies are getting it now, everybody and their mom's coming out with interchangeable lens camcorders, or something similar. So... the religious war will end in death and destruction and a new "reformed" community of film making tools will rise..
EDIT: Can I get an AMEN!
EDIT: Can I get an AMEN!
Haha! Well, actually yah. Damn! You are a Republican!
Bring on the camera war? I'll eek out of this and attempt to tell a story. Panasonic devils are invited despite their aggressiveness.
It's all good, Wheat. I'm not trying to argue that point. But on technical terms, the Panasonic is better than all the Canons. Res charts don't lie. The DVX100 has produced far better content than the Canons or Panasonics, but I don't think anyone would argue the DVX is superior technically.
I'm only discussing these cameras on their testable merits, not what they can do in the right hands. In the right hands, an iPhone can create awesome content, and likewise, I've seen some embarrassingly bad stuff shot on Red ONE.
There's loads of information out there about this if you know where to look - it's not even remotely secret.
I completely agree, but even as someone greatly interested in the technology side of cinematography, nobody goes to the cinema to watch resolution charts. The Canons produce great pictures and (perhaps more importantly) are widely available. It's quite sad to see on other forums people pouring thousands of pounds into gear only to use it shooting test charts and colour grading tests - it's nice to come to IndieTalk where people actually make films
As a little aside, I saw a great music video on YouTube shot on a 550D/T2i a week a go - someone had posted underneath - "how does this look so good on a T2i? my 7D's much more expensive but doesn't always look like this".
I understand. We're just talking about it. One thing Canon could have done is limit settings so it can't be pushed as easily into trouble in movie mode. Maybe I'm just more forgiving when remembering what was available 10 years ago for the average person.
Absolutely wow, this video really shows it.
well with that being said, I still think my t2i was a good investment.What we all need is a camera that acts like a dslr but doesn't have a CMOS nor a mirror - basically like a RED, but as cheap as DSLR.
Absolutely wow, this video really shows it.
What we all need is a camera that acts like a dslr but doesn't have a CMOS nor a mirror - basically like a RED, but as cheap as DSLR.
RED cameras use CMOS chips. Also, m4/3 cameras like the Panasonic GH2 have no mirror.
And still behaves as a CMOS does, right down to the Epic. First hand experience.
Alexa is the only digital image acquisition system that begins to defeat the rolling shutter effect, and with great results.
As far as GH2 being superior, well, subjective. Even great resolution doesn't always win out. It's also fairly muddy in lowlight from my experiences, forcing you to shoot wide open which doesn't look pleasant.
To me, GH1, Hacked GH1, Gh2 all look better than Canon's on a large source, talking 60" Screens to 40ft screens. I've seen 'em all personally.
GH2 also cuts well with RED, we shot a portion of our feature on a GH2 + PL Mount and Cooke glass, looks a-okay to me.
The hack should make the camera a bit better if we can get a 4:2:2 color space out of it and gamma controls to remove a lot of contrast. Those are my only two personal gripes.
Really do want to see a 5D MKIII without moire issues... though. That would probably be the last camera I'd buy!
I hate coming as such a Canon basher/Panny Koolaider, but it's true, the m43's VF is electronic and exceptional -- very easy to determine focus, and maintain focus while recording. That was an issue for me with my 7d since the VF disabled in Video mode and the LCD was fixed. The GH2's LCD articulates but it's nothing to get hot and bothered about -- not especially sharp.
Okay so here are bad things about the GH2
-lousy ergonomics. tiny buttons all over the place that are easy to accidentally hit.
-It's smallish. If you do paid work, you have to pimp them out to create an illusion of value. Well you don't
"Have to" but I think it's good politics. Smallish size also makes it easy to drop.
-Underwhelming build quality, good enough perhaps but nothing like the robust 7d or 5d.
-HDMI out intentionally crippled. There's a clunky workaround with AVsynth, and it will improve image quality, but it's too many hoops to jump through. The Russian hacker will likely fix this.
-Confusing menus, seemingly infinite variations on menus depending on which mode you're in.
-No XLR in. As with all DSLR's.
-World's worst Owner's Manual.
-Extremely difficult to find. Scalpers get ahold of them and sell them at premiums on ebay.
-To the best of my knowledge, perhaps because of lack of supply, there is no GH2 Guru or reliable user knowledge base. For example to this day, no one can decide the ideal ISO's. Despite what was intimated in this thread, there hasn't really been much pixel peeping and res chart obsessing with the GH2. With the Canons there's a rich supply of information and guys like John Fairhurst with vast technical knowledge to give advice and tutoring. Things are pretty desperate when a rube like me has to start disseminating technical information on them. I guess there's the brilliant Russian hacker, but he is prickly and probably wasn't a nursery school teacher in another life.
Presumably the R1 and Epic have less Jellovision than the GH1/2/13?
I used to own an EX3, I thought it had less wobble than my GH or 7d. Hard to remember though. Just wondering how much of an issue it is with RED.
For me, the Jellovision is most problematic during handheld work, I have no issues doing slow tripod pan, I'm good with that, but handheld has be challenging, especially if I have to walk or run. Now, the ETC mode seems to virtually eliminate the jello, but you need a very wide lens, I use a 7mm and it's giving equivalent 30mm FOV (approx)
Thought it was said that the optimal ISO to shoot at at all times, day or night, was 400?
Did someone test that as wrong?
It's rarely ISO effecting an image in DSLRs from my experience, but overall exposure and equally important light temperature. Tungsten is going to make your image a bit more noisey than you want, but IMO it also creates the most pleasing color reproduction... and daylight fixtures make things look flat and pasty.
My DP Matty shot this on the GH1 pre-hack, where it was supposedly the worst image.
http://vimeo.com/13237339
Most of the light is tungsten based. The high res version is pretty amazing looking @ 40Feet.
Did someone test that as wrong?
It's rarely ISO effecting an image in DSLRs from my experience, but overall exposure and equally important light temperature. Tungsten is going to make your image a bit more noisey than you want, but IMO it also creates the most pleasing color reproduction... and daylight fixtures make things look flat and pasty.
My DP Matty shot this on the GH1 pre-hack, where it was supposedly the worst image.
http://vimeo.com/13237339
Most of the light is tungsten based. The high res version is pretty amazing looking @ 40Feet.
I think it's about the same, from working with both extensively. The difference is that the GH-2 is lighter, so it appears to produce it much easier than the Red One MX
To me, the most important thing you can do with these DSLRs is add weight. It's sort of hard to realize, but when you think about camera movement in cinema from its existence, all of the cameras weigh several times more than DSLRs.
Depending on how you view things, if you're comparing it to traditional cinema then the crop factor's about 1.4, 1.5x
So a 7mm's like a 10mm on a RED.
I haven't found that test yet. It's good?
There were some early tests with lens cap on that suggested 160 -320 multiples, then some other guys said 200-400- 800 because the 160/320 created issues in the mid tones and shadows. Then one guys says 160 is the "Native ISO" and therefore ideal then someone else says "No such thing as native ISO". I've just read a lot of conflicting information, personally I've been trying to go with 400 or 800. It'd be great if someone came out with a user guide/dvd such as the ones Tim Dashwood has done.