I'm going to bump the Bitrate some tonight. I have everything downloaded and am just waiting for the OEM battery to fully charge.

Pretty mild patch but I want to walk before I try the high jump.

AVC-HD High settings. 42 mb/sec 1080p AQ = 4 and 36
mb/sec 720p AQ = 2. Gop default. No other AVC-HD
changes.

AVC-HD Low settings. 32 mb/sec 1080p AQ = 4 and 24
mb/sec 720p AQ = 2. Gop default. No other AVC-HD
changes.

MJPEG 720p = 1280x720 highest bit rates with no write errors.

MJPEG 480p = 1024x768 highest bit rates with no write errors.

All settings are 100% stable with all memory cards.

If you're using firmware V1.1 and pTool 3.64, make sure to save a version of the V1.1 firmware , unaltered. The original firmware will not install after you use a 3.64-made hack.

I have it saved in a master file.

OK...how do I tell if the hack took?
It upgraded but the version says 1.1
The hacked file was named 1.3

Whoo hooo....never mind...the bit rate went from 16 o 58.........

Don.
The firmware version will always be reported as the original Panasonic firmware number. The number you applied, when you saved the firmware is still firmware 1.1 but with hacks applied.
A quick check to see if the hack is in, is to check the LCD readout on how many minutes you can record to card. It will be less than that quoted in the handbook. Or simply check the bitrate.
Hope this helps.

It does Colin...thanks.
I figured i out looking at in GH13 Stream Parser.

I'm really enjoying this little thing. I'm going to check a few of my Bear Dens today and see if we have any cubs this year. I'm going to take the GH2 along with the XA10 and see how it does in the real world.

Bear dens with cubs, that sounds tricky, but very exiting. The most dangerous animal we have here in Cornwall is the fox lol

I have 6 resident bears on my farm. At least one has cubs every other year. No one home today though. Tey are either raiding my deer feeders or across the river somewhere.
I did run across a pregnant Bobcat but couldn't get the camera up in time.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa57/peternap/baby%20bears/baby-bears.jpg?t=1330457686

Don, they look like Black Bears? (no relation) You should get some nice detail in their coats now, especially when you show 'em you've got a higher bit rate.
I don't like the bit rate of Grizzleys, we met some in Alaska, mean SOBs.

Cheers.

Yep, Blacks.
No Grizzlies in Virginia.

That was just a cheap camera, I have some good closeups with my 7D and 5D that are just stunning. They let me get close but I try to stay 50 feet or so back, I'd hate to have to shoot one just because I was getting too close.

I've been doing some serious testing the GH2 this afternoon and I've never gotten this quality video with anything.

It's just amazing. Post work with high bit rate video is a little over my head right now. I have a lot of reading to do tonight..

Don, you must have some amazing wildlife on your doorstep. I took my GH2 out on our shoot a couple of times over winter, found it difficult trying to get decent video, and work 3 dogs at the same time, but did manage to get a few pretty impressive shots of the dogs flushing and retrieving. As you say, amazing video can be shot with the GH2

I've been doing some serious testing the GH2 this afternoon and I've never gotten this quality video with anything.



Don,

Is any of your bear video online?

D

No Video's but I have some stills scattered around.

Hmmm....the upload isn't going too well...Got one anyway

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=25978&stc=1&d=1330589621

Don,

Nice. That's when a good, long tele comes in handy!

D

A 44 magnum helps to steady it too.
I think took that with my 100-400L

Well...the No Adverse Affects settings work beautifully. I'm 38MB.

Not being one to leave well enough alone, I'm going to load Driftwood's Spannybitch up this evening to try to bring out some more shadow detail. That should max at 100.

Here's some timely advice for hackers, adventure and bear lovers ..

Cheers.

I'm not sure if anyone's following the hacks I'm doing. I suspect most of you have already been through this.

I;m looking for a stable patch that boosts the IQ and bitrate, but not necessarily one that gives the ultimate IQ at the expense of reliability.

I've looked at a ton of them and tested the one's that seem to fit.

The No Adverse Affects Patch worked and looked good. Nearly all of Driftwoods patches crashed because they require the top end SD card which I don't have.

LPowell seems to have a better grasp on reality than Driftwood and I don't mean that as an insult. I have a tendency to build and use the biggest, most powerful guns, and make them bigger and more powerful....just because.....I think he does the same with these patches.

I've been testing his 100mbps Flow Motion patch all weekend. Most of the test results are way over my head but the IQ is very good, I got the bitrate up to 95 last night using the death chart I made and it didn't even blink, it just keeps on recording. Even the 720p-60 records in the 30ish bitrate.

I used it yesterday to record my granddaughters birthday party. I can't think of a more challenging set of situations than a dozen running 7 year olds, inside under low light but with a window in every direction backlighting the scene....or outside in a light drizzle watching kids hit a pinata.

Except where I fouled up on a few shots, my uneducated evaluation of the.videos is that they are breathtaking.

More testing...and reading today. There is still a lot I don't understand about the patches. It's kinda enjoyable though.

This for GH1 or GH2 doesnt say??

Sorry, GH2.

Yesterday I pushed lPowells Flow Motion as hard as I could and recorded running water for 47 minutes to see if I could get it to fail.
It didn't and spanned perfectly on a Transcend class 10 card (That really surprised me).


Last night I added the 12800 iso patch. The noise is pretty bad at that iso but I suppose it would be better than missing a run and gun shot.

I did all of yesterdays testing with the 14-42 kit lens because the electronics and zoom stress the camera some and I wanted to look at reliability under the worst conditions. I really hate this lens.

I'm going to a political party one of the Senators is throwing tonight, and professional equipment makes everyone nervous at these things, so I take small un-intimidating cameras, even GoPro's. I think the little GH2 will work fine without running everyone off, so I'm going to try it out and take a Replay HD as a backup.

Ive been using the Driftwood Cluster V1 patch. I like it and its about 77mb and no problems yet. It runs off of his Orion matrix and the image quality is incredible. Approx 55min on a 32gb card

Also there is a 44mb patch called Vanilla which is supposed to be completely stable with the new 1.1 and everything works as it should, spanning etc. Plus saves your card space. He also has color profiles that work good too.

Im new to the GH2 and have only installed the 1.1 update patch from Panasonic.
Id like to try the Driftwood or the other patch, but afraid I might screw up and cant get back to 1.1.

Newbie question: What exactly is "improved" in the image quality...resolution,color etc, and does the patch affect both video and stills?. Where can I download?

Thanks,
Jeff

Hi Jeff!
Make sure you save a copy of the Panasonic Upgrade you use. You'll need it to return to factory original and future hacks.

I haven't noticed that the stills are improved but the improvement in Video is considerable.

Thanks Steve, I'll give Driftwood's settings a try. There are so many to try.

Well Steve.....I tried the Driftwood settings and have to tell on myself. First, I couldn't get it to lock up or crash. A first for Driftwood.

I shot the screen of death then the real test. Tele extender+High ISO+Television. That's a killer.

It looked like slow motion so I tried higher ISO, same thing, took the tele extender off, same thing then I declared it a DOG.

I put Flow back on then noticed Instead of the f stops being highlighted, the shutter speed was active and I'd turned it down to 6 FPS....Stupidity knows no bounds.

I reloaded the hack, got ALL the settings right and re-did all the tests. Beautiful picture, low noise evven at high ISO and averaging 50 MB.

I'm going to give it a real workout today with the Canon L Lenses.

I really wish you could load two patches and switch between the two.
That way I could have either a long GOP for slow or locked tripod work and a short GOP for faster work.

I gave the patch a workout today and I think I like it. Defiantly the wrong lens for the day. It was very bright and a lot of harsh shadows. By the time I'd get the tripod up, focus and get the exposure right using the ND filter. the target had moved. I was shooting way too shallow..

zoo2 GH2 TEST CANON 100-400 l on Vimeo

The little 24mm 4/3 was working fine though.

zoo1 on Vimeo

Hey Don....was the No Adverse Affects one the first you tried?? I've got a shoot coming up I'd like to try to up things a bit....haven't tried any hacks yet. But going to try later this week.

Mark
(a fellow Virginian)

I really like it for low light also.

Hey Don....was the No Adverse Affects one the first you tried?? I've got a shoot coming up I'd like to try to up things a bit....haven't tried any hacks yet. But going to try later this week.

Mark
(a fellow Virginian)
Yep, that was the first one Mark...and it's a darned good one, especially if you're going on a shoot without a lot of testing.

The other I'd recommend very highly is LPowell's Flow Motion. It has a higher bit rate, is very stable even with lower end cards, excellent IQ, Etc.

I really like it for low light also.

I've been playing with some of Driftwood's high end settings tonight Steve and to be honest, I don't see a big gain over this patch.

I'm rapidly forming the opinion that everything much over 60MB is a very small gain and the 140+ MB settings are only an improvement for the pixel peekers.

I agree, and I believe quite a few people who use the Cluster patch probably see the same thing. Its pretty awesome for what I use it for (lower light settings) and I don't really care about spanning etc.

So you load the hack onto the cam....fill up a chip and have to put in a new one. Does the hack software have to be on that new chip also or is it all in the cam??
Sorry for the dumb question but I'm just now getting into the hack....

Mark

Its all in the cam! Really cool.

Its not as cumbersom as the 5d or 60d hacks.

What Steve said but I have started taking two cards with me. Right now it's Driftwood's cluster and lPowell's Flow Motion.

That gives the most versatility I can come up with (Until something else comes up).

The only two things to be careful about are..

1. Keep a copy of the hacked firmware.

2. DON"T TOUCH TH CAMERA while it's flashing the hack.

2.5. Use a fresh battery every time you flash it. Don't try it on a partially discharged one.

I think I found my low light patch (for now anyway)
Driftwood's Orion Ver 4C with Dark matter V3 test

720p 60
vivid
Overcast and fog

Vimeo butchered it but you can get the idea

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa57/peternap/pinecone-parser.jpg?t=1332261806

It does not span on my 45MB Sandisk Extreme cards, but will continue recording until it runs out of battery or card. Really no biggie joining the files. I have to do that on my 7D and XA & G10.

Same Driftwood patch but I did some color correction and got my presets right (I know I know, should pay attention the first time)
Watch for the fly.

2nd Driftwood Orion test watch the fly on Vimeo