Panasonic GH2 general and hack info base
- Thread starter MombasaFlash
- Start date
BorisS
Drone Enthusiast
Exact same setup as you 95 card manual mode etc. Sorry and dropped was not the right expression i get grey frame flashes. Maybe it just VLC just tried another time in low light and it worked.
Thanks
yeehaanow
Member
The grey frames in VLC are just playback issues. The hacked files are very CPU intensive to decode. I'm sure if you transcode you won't see it.
Sanity 60p is pretty solid, so you shouldn't have a problem. The subject, amount of detail, and movement definitely affect the performance though. I've tried patches that work fine inside but not on the copter.
Sanity 60p is pretty solid, so you shouldn't have a problem. The subject, amount of detail, and movement definitely affect the performance though. I've tried patches that work fine inside but not on the copter.
BorisS
Drone Enthusiast
guys got around playing with an HDMI converter, now its the case and i stumbled over something that p.... me off. Already posted in this thread i think, it seems to be the case if you use the GH2 HDMI out the cam automatically switches to 1080i ? Am I right any hacks to get around this ?
Thanks
Boris
Thanks
Boris
yeehaanow
Member
It will revert to 1080i only when you are in 720 60/50p mode and have the hdmi plugged in. And it gives no indication on the screen!
There is no way around it that I have heard of yet. It does this even if the hdmi is only plugged in and not even being used.
Such a pain. It seems they did not make provisions for it on the z15g either so I do t know what people will do...
There is no way around it that I have heard of yet. It does this even if the hdmi is only plugged in and not even being used.
Such a pain. It seems they did not make provisions for it on the z15g either so I do t know what people will do...
MombasaFlash
Heli's & Tele's bloke
Yes Boris. It does exactly that. After all that hassle to find a reliable HDMI converter I have resorted to using a separate camera for monitoring, precisely because of this problem. I am using the Sanity5 hack and use 720p50 as a default because I have found that ANY 1080 setting is unstable and invariably invokes the "... recording stopped because card is not fast enough blah, blah" error message, even with the ultra ridiculously fast, poxily priced 64G/95mbps Sandisk.
Note to Yeehaanow: In fact the internal automatic change to 1080i50 DOES get displayed on the screen, albeit without much fanfare. In 720p50 the little coded setting display top centre of the screen will show 'SH'. Plugging in the HDMI cable changes this to 'FSH'.
I did a full twelve hour day's filming yesterday to get footage for an upcoming film release trailer and the director chose to use the GH2 over an FS100 !!. He had initially wanted to use an FS700 - which tickled me because I was going to get to play with one on someone else's buck - but it was plain and simple just too heavy. It was swapped for an FS100 which tops out at 1.3kg with the 18-55mm NEX lens (useful for its OIS) and is comfortably within the AD-8 payload capacity. I took the FS100 a day early to balance the gimbal and test fly it and just for kicks flew some identical patterns with the GH2 for comparisons.
It was these test flights that the director saw that prompted him to choose the GH2 over the FS100 for the shoot. No surprise really because the GH2 footage is unequivocally superior at 720p50 with its crystal clear definition. Tests at 1080 were inconclusive because the GH2 kept on seizing up.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the guys on the FS700 thread. From what I have experienced first-hand with the FS700 I wish them plenty of luck! I would NOT be able to live with a 5 minute max flight time in a real world work situation. And what a perfectly ridiculous quantity of batteries (AND chargers) would be required. I am also a little shocked that the test footage that nobrainer has posted taken with the FS700 looks remarkably ... um ... unremarkable. I am refer only to the image quality.
I can't avoid the feeling that slo-mo is going the way of tilt-shift. I watch that test clip and experience a sort of rising bile as I realise it is yet another slo-mo job. To me, this manner of application of a fast frame rate is gratuitous and meaningless. But ... each to his own ... and that is a whole separate thread anyway!
Note to Yeehaanow: In fact the internal automatic change to 1080i50 DOES get displayed on the screen, albeit without much fanfare. In 720p50 the little coded setting display top centre of the screen will show 'SH'. Plugging in the HDMI cable changes this to 'FSH'.
I did a full twelve hour day's filming yesterday to get footage for an upcoming film release trailer and the director chose to use the GH2 over an FS100 !!. He had initially wanted to use an FS700 - which tickled me because I was going to get to play with one on someone else's buck - but it was plain and simple just too heavy. It was swapped for an FS100 which tops out at 1.3kg with the 18-55mm NEX lens (useful for its OIS) and is comfortably within the AD-8 payload capacity. I took the FS100 a day early to balance the gimbal and test fly it and just for kicks flew some identical patterns with the GH2 for comparisons.
It was these test flights that the director saw that prompted him to choose the GH2 over the FS100 for the shoot. No surprise really because the GH2 footage is unequivocally superior at 720p50 with its crystal clear definition. Tests at 1080 were inconclusive because the GH2 kept on seizing up.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the guys on the FS700 thread. From what I have experienced first-hand with the FS700 I wish them plenty of luck! I would NOT be able to live with a 5 minute max flight time in a real world work situation. And what a perfectly ridiculous quantity of batteries (AND chargers) would be required. I am also a little shocked that the test footage that nobrainer has posted taken with the FS700 looks remarkably ... um ... unremarkable. I am refer only to the image quality.
I can't avoid the feeling that slo-mo is going the way of tilt-shift. I watch that test clip and experience a sort of rising bile as I realise it is yet another slo-mo job. To me, this manner of application of a fast frame rate is gratuitous and meaningless. But ... each to his own ... and that is a whole separate thread anyway!
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Vojec
Member
Yes, because default GH2 limitation. Read a lot discussion on that topic - http://personal-view.com. Vitaliy explain everything... maybe in the near future... till then I use small cam to view my GH2 LCD...
This hack business is seriously doing my nut in. I will soon be found squatting in a corner rocking, tapping my ears and dribbling.
Just getting to the point where I can actually LOAD a hack seems an insurmountable task.
Can someone Please point me in the right direction?
I use a Mac - have downloaded the latest 1.1 official Pana firmware. I have downloaded the PTools app, though as I have to put it through this Wine application, it becomes unclear.
It seems to be working as I have PTool v3.66d beta running through 'X11' app, whatever that is.
Starting off easy I am going to try the 'No Adverse Effects' group of hacks. Have downloaded the No Adverse Affects setj Final.zip from http://personal-view.com/talks/disc...lt-most-popular-settings-in-one-place#Item_41
...but contrary to the video by mpgxsvcd it has downloaded as setj.ini instead of a zip file. I've saved it in the same folder as the Pana 1.1 firmware, but when I try to load firmware from PTools, all it shows is the Panasonic firmware.
When I try and open it with Wine, it gives me 2 options - 'Run Directly in Wine Files folder' - this takes me to a group of folders which bear no resemblance to what I am looking for (presumably setj something...?) - or to 'Convert to Simple OSX applicaion' which opens Wine Bottler and gives me some bullcr@p about prefix templates. When I try and install it thinks about it for a while, then starts moving and eventually comes up with a lot of code on Console, and says 'Prefix creation exited with error'.
At which point I decide that jumping out of the window might be a better way to spend my afternoon.
Can someone please help me??
thanks
Just getting to the point where I can actually LOAD a hack seems an insurmountable task.
Can someone Please point me in the right direction?
I use a Mac - have downloaded the latest 1.1 official Pana firmware. I have downloaded the PTools app, though as I have to put it through this Wine application, it becomes unclear.
It seems to be working as I have PTool v3.66d beta running through 'X11' app, whatever that is.
Starting off easy I am going to try the 'No Adverse Effects' group of hacks. Have downloaded the No Adverse Affects setj Final.zip from http://personal-view.com/talks/disc...lt-most-popular-settings-in-one-place#Item_41
...but contrary to the video by mpgxsvcd it has downloaded as setj.ini instead of a zip file. I've saved it in the same folder as the Pana 1.1 firmware, but when I try to load firmware from PTools, all it shows is the Panasonic firmware.
When I try and open it with Wine, it gives me 2 options - 'Run Directly in Wine Files folder' - this takes me to a group of folders which bear no resemblance to what I am looking for (presumably setj something...?) - or to 'Convert to Simple OSX applicaion' which opens Wine Bottler and gives me some bullcr@p about prefix templates. When I try and install it thinks about it for a while, then starts moving and eventually comes up with a lot of code on Console, and says 'Prefix creation exited with error'.
At which point I decide that jumping out of the window might be a better way to spend my afternoon.
Can someone please help me??
thanks
MombasaFlash
Heli's & Tele's bloke
You have my total sympathies. I started this thread because I was rather confused about the whole 'hack thang' and was disappointed in the complete absence of helpful suggestions from some of the bigwigs around here who were happy to post all sorts of meaningless words like HBR, Driftwood, GOP, Orion between themselves and would not bother to respond to requests for clarification.
So, it is therefore incumbent upon me to at least respond, even if I cannot answer ALL points.
I too am a Mac user and have to suffer the Wonderful Windows World environment in order to adjust all the various helicopter/MR/CARVEC/Picoc etc. related parameters, and now including the GH2 hacks. I use Parallels to run Windows and therefore am in no position to comment on the Winebottle programme. However, assuming that the Wonderful Windows World environment is up and running, read on ...
Refer to the attached screenshots and the following explanations.
1. the Windows folder containing all the necessary bits for ptool3 and the hacks to work. I have labelled mine 'Hacks' and the contents are:
GH2_V11 is the original GH2 firmware
GH2_V12-14 are my hack infested substitutes
ptool3
seta - sete - setf - setj are the hacks that have been downloaded and unzipped. They mean Set A, Set E, Set F etc. and refer to the ten hack positions available within the pTool3 programme
2. Double Click on the ptool3 icon in the 'Hacks' folder to open this window and then click 'Load Firmware'
3. This dialog opens, navigate to the 'Hacks' folder and select the original GH2 firmware, i.e. GH2_V11
4. This is the ptool3 window that opens. In the main window are the various parameters that can be messed about with - labelled 'Patches for end users' and 'Patches for testers'.
At the bottom is a row of ten circles. Those that are coloured green correspond to the seta, sete, setf etc that reside in the 'Hacks' folder and which have been recognised by pTool3.
5. A patch is loaded into the programme simply by clicking the relevant green circle. Whatever adjustments and changes have been made to the original firmware by the author of the patch are now loaded into the pTool3 window for viewing, or changing parameters if you so wish. Whether you just use the pre-configured patch, exactly as downloaded, or make changes to things the process of transferring the data to the camera is the same.
6. Click 'Save Firmware' and choose virtually the same name as the original firmware but advance it by one (GH2_V11 is the original, so save the new one as GH2_V12).
A new file will now have been added to the 'Hacks' folder. Copy that file GH2_V12 to a blank SD card and then watch the video at the end of this and follow the procedure as explained to load it into your GH2.
FYI I am using the Sanity5 hack and it works great in 720 but is choosy about whether to crash or not with 1080. Most bizarre is that it is more reliable at 1080 on a Class 10 regular SD and the 45mbs Sandisk Extreme SDHC than it is on the stupidly expensive, supposedly fast 64GB/95mbs Sandisk Extreme Pro SDXC.
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yeehaanow
Member
That's a good tutorial mombasa.
Skyhook, once you get it you'll slap yourself how easy it is. I had trouble at first too.
Wine will just open the Ptool program when running under mac environment, so just click Run when prompted then follow then directions above.
What I do is have each downloaded hack in separate folders with the name of the hack, because setj.ini isn't very descriptive.
Then I just MOVE the ptool program to the folder/ hack that I want to use. Then I save that hack in that folder, each with a unique name (number really) For example, my sanity hack is GH2_V17, so when i look at a card or that file, I know it's Sanity by the number, because I don't use ...17 for anything else. I've gone up to 25 or so with no problems. It's a good way when you're testing not to get confused.
I have not tried out the latest ones, but see my post in this thread somewhere with a download of the Sedna/ sanity combo, made especially for aerials. On the $$ 64 GB sandisk card it has been flawless for me and has amazing detail for aerial work. I mostly shoot 24p 1080 though, so if you are using 25/30 there might be others that will work better. There are quirks though!!! You must do a short recording before turning the camera off or going to play mode. It's only necessary after a long recording that has "spanned" on the card, but I do it always just to be sure. Otherwise, the camera will refuse to record anymore until you reformat the card. Also, these spanned files will never play on the camera. Keep your recordings short if you can. Best of luck.
Skyhook, once you get it you'll slap yourself how easy it is. I had trouble at first too.
Wine will just open the Ptool program when running under mac environment, so just click Run when prompted then follow then directions above.
What I do is have each downloaded hack in separate folders with the name of the hack, because setj.ini isn't very descriptive.
Then I just MOVE the ptool program to the folder/ hack that I want to use. Then I save that hack in that folder, each with a unique name (number really) For example, my sanity hack is GH2_V17, so when i look at a card or that file, I know it's Sanity by the number, because I don't use ...17 for anything else. I've gone up to 25 or so with no problems. It's a good way when you're testing not to get confused.
I have not tried out the latest ones, but see my post in this thread somewhere with a download of the Sedna/ sanity combo, made especially for aerials. On the $$ 64 GB sandisk card it has been flawless for me and has amazing detail for aerial work. I mostly shoot 24p 1080 though, so if you are using 25/30 there might be others that will work better. There are quirks though!!! You must do a short recording before turning the camera off or going to play mode. It's only necessary after a long recording that has "spanned" on the card, but I do it always just to be sure. Otherwise, the camera will refuse to record anymore until you reformat the card. Also, these spanned files will never play on the camera. Keep your recordings short if you can. Best of luck.
MombasaFlash
Heli's & Tele's bloke
A quick note to update the posts about the GH2 720p50 setting automatically reverting to 1080i50/60 when the HDMI cable is plugged in. It does NOT do this when set to 1080p24 setting.
I like Tim's method of keeping things tidy. I have a text document with details of each downloaded 'set' and saved 'hack' but separating all related files into named folders is good and logical.
re: the short 'safety' recording ... I have been using the 720p50 setting and have not been doing this short recording to secure the previously recorded data before turning off the camera. It has not done anything horrid yet, like make the SD card unreadable due to a corrupted file. Is this because 720p50 does not require this 'safety recording' procedure or simply because the recording has not been long enough to create a span? How many minutes recording is it before a second file (span) is created?
Last weekend I did a shoot at a theme park and for several of the locations the flight time was the maximum the batteries permitted and the camera was recording for the full length of those flights.
I like Tim's method of keeping things tidy. I have a text document with details of each downloaded 'set' and saved 'hack' but separating all related files into named folders is good and logical.
re: the short 'safety' recording ... I have been using the 720p50 setting and have not been doing this short recording to secure the previously recorded data before turning off the camera. It has not done anything horrid yet, like make the SD card unreadable due to a corrupted file. Is this because 720p50 does not require this 'safety recording' procedure or simply because the recording has not been long enough to create a span? How many minutes recording is it before a second file (span) is created?
Last weekend I did a shoot at a theme park and for several of the locations the flight time was the maximum the batteries permitted and the camera was recording for the full length of those flights.
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Thank you both for your suggestions. You saved a life!
I'll let you know how it goes.
Quick question - which is the hack for getting a high frame rate? From what i've read it is Flow Motion at 50p. Are there any that go higher than this in PAL? I have the 64GB Extreme Pro 95 MB/s.
cheers
I'll let you know how it goes.
Quick question - which is the hack for getting a high frame rate? From what i've read it is Flow Motion at 50p. Are there any that go higher than this in PAL? I have the 64GB Extreme Pro 95 MB/s.
cheers
MombasaFlash
Heli's & Tele's bloke
I did some more tests and the GH2 with Sanity 5 does not like recording ANY variety of 1080 onto the mega$ 64G/95m Extreme Pro card. As soon as the camera is moved the Error Message pops up saying ".. recording stopped because card is not fast enough blah, blah .." ! It will only do 720.
But, stick in a Sandisk Exteme 45mbs or even a regular old Class 10 SD and it records all varieties of 1080 i.e. normal (FSH/FS) and HBR (High Bit Rate). The regular Class 10 SDHC card ALSO records 720p50 without problem. A ten second clip of the three settings results in the following file sizes:
1080i50 HBR 15mb
1080i50 FSH 14mb
720p50 SH 33mb
So what's that all about? How come the stupid $$ card doesn't work properly?
But, stick in a Sandisk Exteme 45mbs or even a regular old Class 10 SD and it records all varieties of 1080 i.e. normal (FSH/FS) and HBR (High Bit Rate). The regular Class 10 SDHC card ALSO records 720p50 without problem. A ten second clip of the three settings results in the following file sizes:
1080i50 HBR 15mb
1080i50 FSH 14mb
720p50 SH 33mb
So what's that all about? How come the stupid $$ card doesn't work properly?
MombasaFlash
Heli's & Tele's bloke
Time to dust off this thread and air it again.
Most of the hacks (that I know of) claim that they will not span in 1080 with Panasonic lenses. So, if Panasonic lenses don't work, which ones do? More specifically, which 'wide angle' lenses do?
Most of the hacks (that I know of) claim that they will not span in 1080 with Panasonic lenses. So, if Panasonic lenses don't work, which ones do? More specifically, which 'wide angle' lenses do?
yeehaanow
Member
There's a little trick you can use...
Either cover the electrical contacts with some thin tape, or don't screw the lens on all the way so it's not connected to the electrical contacts.
That being said, I have no problems with the 14-42 at 24p, sedna-sanity combo hack. I have had issues at 30p (which is the 'same' as 25p), but I didn't try a dumb lens.
Although, I find the image stabilizing to be helpful with the panny lens.
Either cover the electrical contacts with some thin tape, or don't screw the lens on all the way so it's not connected to the electrical contacts.
That being said, I have no problems with the 14-42 at 24p, sedna-sanity combo hack. I have had issues at 30p (which is the 'same' as 25p), but I didn't try a dumb lens.
Although, I find the image stabilizing to be helpful with the panny lens.