How many of you have hacked your GH2?

Bill Bruner · January 9th, 2013, 08:45 AM

Kevin - thanks for the honest and clear explanation of the pros and cons of the best hacks - and the overview of "hacked workflow". I am personally still very nervous about running out of batteries in the middle of a firmware load - or putting in SD card "A" when I meant to put in SD card "B" :)

...so I just went ahead and bought a GH3. I am not ordinarily tech-adverse, but I have a mental block when it comes to treating my camera like a computer (maybe that's because I have a stack of dead computers in my office - and yes, officer, I killed them - I killed them all ;))

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

Kevin McRoberts · January 9th, 2013, 10:02 AM

I suppose I've been blessed/cursed with more tech skill than income ;)

To address your two concerns (should anyone else have them):
- Always use Panasonic batteries during upgrades (it won't even start the process if the battery is depleted). Generic batteries lie worse than gov't spokespeople, and you should trust them just as much.
- I put a sticker (from my stack of old MiniDV labels, cut to fit) on each of the hack SD cards, because my memory is terrible.

It'll do for now until I can justify a GH3... but like I said, I'm cheap... my ancestors were Scottish and German Jewish, for goodness' sake.

Ethan Cooper · January 9th, 2013, 11:09 AM

Bill - now that you've got the GH3 it would be a perfect time to hack the GH2. Seriously, there's nothing to be scared about.

The hardest part of hacking it is digging around on the personal-view website trying to find the right files. The second hardest thing is convincing yourself to drop the cash to get one of those fast Sandisk cards.

Kevin McRoberts · January 9th, 2013, 02:56 PM

FWIW, I tried Transcend's UHS-I 85/Mbps SDHC cards... they worked as well as the SanDisk cards and only cost about $1/GB

With FlowMotion, standard Transcend Class 10's have worked fine (and are even cheaper)

Chris Duczynski · January 10th, 2013, 12:20 AM

A hack 'may' look better when all variables are the same.
Same lighting, same lens, same location, same settings. So, whats the point unless you're looking at these same pics side by side on the same screen, edited in the same way, graded the same way and exported the same way.
A bitrate hack has so little percievable difference from a unhacked set-up after edit, as to be negligible.
For example if I use a kit 14-42mm with a vanilla HBR hack of 44 mb/s, will my footage look better than a standard set-up with good glass from Nikon, Leica, Olympus - No!!
If you are actually doing a test (eg.shooting at 12,800ISO), yes it may be great. In reality would I shoot at 12,800 - No, never.
If I'm shooting complex scenes such as moving water or lots of fast motion and action, for me, 100-150 mbs is not what I need and the last thing I want to do is go from hack to hack.
I know people that buy a camera and hack it - they don't learn to use it manually or investigate lens quality, or the best post-production workflows - they just hack it.
I have one cam hacked with a portrait lens and one unhacked with a wide and they cut together fine. No-one can tell.

Bill Edmunds · January 11th, 2013, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Bruner

...so I just went ahead and bought a GH3.

Where did you get a GH3? I didn't think they were available yet!

January 9th, 2013, 08:45 AM	#31
Bill Bruner Major Player Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Sunny California Posts: 513	Re: How many of you have hacked your GH2? Kevin - thanks for the honest and clear explanation of the pros and cons of the best hacks - and the overview of "hacked workflow". I am personally still very nervous about running out of batteries in the middle of a firmware load - or putting in SD card "A" when I meant to put in SD card "B" :) ...so I just went ahead and bought a GH3. I am not ordinarily tech-adverse, but I have a mental block when it comes to treating my camera like a computer (maybe that's because I have a stack of dead computers in my office - and yes, officer, I killed them - I killed them all ;)) Bill Hybrid Camera Revolution

January 9th, 2013, 10:02 AM	#32
Kevin McRoberts Major Player Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 700	Re: How many of you have hacked your GH2? I suppose I've been blessed/cursed with more tech skill than income ;) To address your two concerns (should anyone else have them): - Always use Panasonic batteries during upgrades (it won't even start the process if the battery is depleted). Generic batteries lie worse than gov't spokespeople, and you should trust them just as much. - I put a sticker (from my stack of old MiniDV labels, cut to fit) on each of the hack SD cards, because my memory is terrible. It'll do for now until I can justify a GH3... but like I said, I'm cheap... my ancestors were Scottish and German Jewish, for goodness' sake. __________________ Freelance pudgy bearded lighting camera operator www.mcbob.tv

January 9th, 2013, 11:09 AM	#33
Ethan Cooper Trustee Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Houma, La. Posts: 1,400 Images: 5	Re: How many of you have hacked your GH2? Bill - now that you've got the GH3 it would be a perfect time to hack the GH2. Seriously, there's nothing to be scared about. The hardest part of hacking it is digging around on the personal-view website trying to find the right files. The second hardest thing is convincing yourself to drop the cash to get one of those fast Sandisk cards. __________________ ∅ -Ethan Cooper

January 9th, 2013, 02:56 PM	#34
Kevin McRoberts Major Player Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 700	Re: How many of you have hacked your GH2? FWIW, I tried Transcend's UHS-I 85/Mbps SDHC cards... they worked as well as the SanDisk cards and only cost about $1/GB With FlowMotion, standard Transcend Class 10's have worked fine (and are even cheaper) __________________ Freelance pudgy bearded lighting camera operator www.mcbob.tv

January 10th, 2013, 12:20 AM	#35
Chris Duczynski Major Player Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: sydney Posts: 304	Re: How many of you have hacked your GH2? A hack 'may' look better when all variables are the same. Same lighting, same lens, same location, same settings. So, whats the point unless you're looking at these same pics side by side on the same screen, edited in the same way, graded the same way and exported the same way. A bitrate hack has so little percievable difference from a unhacked set-up after edit, as to be negligible. For example if I use a kit 14-42mm with a vanilla HBR hack of 44 mb/s, will my footage look better than a standard set-up with good glass from Nikon, Leica, Olympus - No!! If you are actually doing a test (eg.shooting at 12,800ISO), yes it may be great. In reality would I shoot at 12,800 - No, never. If I'm shooting complex scenes such as moving water or lots of fast motion and action, for me, 100-150 mbs is not what I need and the last thing I want to do is go from hack to hack. I know people that buy a camera and hack it - they don't learn to use it manually or investigate lens quality, or the best post-production workflows - they just hack it. I have one cam hacked with a portrait lens and one unhacked with a wide and they cut together fine. No-one can tell.