Pana GH6: problem with AF

[Ron Evans]

I cannot give you a firm answer Adriano as I cannot find detailed information on that product. I can see that is important for you with it being solar charge. Did you try plugging in the Panasonic charger that came with the GH6 instead of plugging into the camera ? I am sure you just want to charge the battery not carry around the powerbank with the camera when you shoot. Get another battery to backup while you shoot. I got a couple of aftermarket batteries that work fine. Don't seem to last as long as the Panasonic but close.

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[Adriano Moroni]

I write the specs:
Capacity: 800 mAh / 99.16 Wh
Input: 5 V/2.1 A
Double output: 5 V = 3,1 A (2,1 A max + 1 A)

[Ron Evans]

The GH6 requires 9v 3A PD output to be able to run the camera AND charge the battery. If the powerbank provides less than that it may run the camera with frame rates and resolution restriction and not charge the battery. I have another powerbank that is in this category. It will run the camera but not charge the battery and a screen pops up when the camera is switched on that informs me there are restrictions. Hence I bought the Anker.

[Adriano Moroni]

Please, can you tell me how many batteries your Anker charge?

[Ron Evans]

I have not tried so really cannot tell. But it has more than 10 times the capacity of the Panasonic battery . I did not get it to charge the battery. I want it to run the camera while a shoot a 2 hour show. I did a test for the 2 hours and hardly see a difference in the display level on the battery !! Of course I would still also have a full battery in the camera if I just pulled out the USB c plug. So fully meets my needs. For you on your trips you will need to use batteries in the camera or it would be a big weight to support while shooting. So the powerbanks for you should be to charge batteries. I will see how long it takes to charge a battery in the camera and let you know. Will be a day or two as all batteries now are full. Your solar powerbank would be great if it works even if it could not fully run the camera as well. Did you see if it will charge the battery ?

[Ron Evans]

Adriano. I let the camera record with a full Panasonic battery, 5.7K 60P recording to the SD card and it ran for 1 hour and 5 mins. Let it run to the end and watched it close off the file before shutting down. So good it did that. Then plugged in the powerbank. It charged up the battery in camera in about 1 hour 15 mins as indicated in the camera LCD so may keep topping up the battery for a while longer too. Faster than the Panasonic mains charger !! Indicator on the powerbank still showed full so I assume it will charge a few times more. Did you check how long your powerbank takes to charge the battery in camera?

[Adriano Moroni]

I also took a test. I took a completely discharged non-original battery and put it to charge with my PowerBank and Panasonoci charger. Charging lasted about 2 and a half hours (but I don't know exactly why I had to go out). Then when I got back, I saw the PowerBank shut down. I took the battery and inserted it into the camera. The icon that was shown was a full battery. But I honestly haven't tested how long it works.

[Ron Evans]

At least you now know you can charge the battery. The camera will also use your old batteries but only in selected resolution and frame rates.

[Adriano Moroni]

Out of curiosity:
when I put the clips shot in V-Log on the Edius 9 timeline and then apply the patch, the clips get colored. But if I shoot in ProRes with V-Log and then patch the clips, nothing happens and the clips don't color. What should I do to correctly patch clips shot with ProRes and V-Log? Thanks

[Ron Evans]

Why are you shooting ProRes. Out of interest? For what you do on your trips you want the best use of memory. So 5.7K 50P 4:2:0 10bit would be good or even C4k 50P 10 bit L. Since your computer can edit with Long GOP you will see no difference going to All i just use more memory.

EDIUS sees ProRes but does not know from that what is the colour space as it is just a carrier. In PCC select Panasonic Vlog/Vgamut as input colour space and it will change.

[Adriano Moroni]

Ron,
you are giving me very important info. I am eager to understand. I Now I'm doing some tests to check the best quality for my computer.
I'm testing ProRes because I'd like to use ProRes in future, I would like to ask you some specific questions to understand better.
1) You are suggesting me 5.7K 4: 2: 0 300 Mbps and because is it easy to manage in video editing? But maybe 4: 2: 0 won't be as manageable than 4: 2: 2, right?
2) Is it better to shoot in V-Log too with 5.7K?
3) Anyway I can't shoot 50p because Edius 9 Workgroup does'nt allow to choose 50p but only 24p. What a pity!!

[Ron Evans]

Answering you questions in reverse.

3) Yes EDIUS 9 does 50P. It is one of the presets you just need to select.

2 ) Frame rate and resolution do not matter. V Log gives you the option for greater dynamic range to work with when editing. However you need to take greater care when exposing when you shoot. If you find this too complicated use Cine D or Flat.

1 ) I use 5.7 to get greater resolution. That way I can crop in more than if I shot UHD. Allows greater reframing in a 1920x1080 project. No other reason. 4:2:2 10 bit is MORE difficult to edit on the computer.

Why do you want to use ProRes ? Do you think it is better ? Shoot some tests and see if you can tell the difference.

[Adriano Moroni]

I thought about ProRes only because I know it is easy to do video editing.

I don't see the 5.7K Preset with 50P in Edius 9. I see 4K 4096x2160 24p. Look at the first pic.

Could you check the second pic and tell me if I have to config. Edius 9 in this way and if it is the right config?
Thank you.

[Ron Evans]

That is the limit for EDIUS 9WG. EDIUS X does go to 8K. But why do you want to do that. For your TV surely you would want 3840x2160 and that is there at 50P in EDIUS 9WG. I would even see editing at 1920x1080. You can then always render at 3840x2160 if you want to do that. Beauty of shooting 5.7K is you can use layouter and move around the image or use the full image.

I do not think that recording ProRes is a viable choice for your trips. Example on my GH6 with 512G CFexpress card. ProRes 30P ( which I do not like motion) 57mins. With 5.7K h265 60P 3 hours 57 mins. What do you shoot on your trips in total? Also recording to the CFExpress card uses more power and gets hotter. Neither are things you want on your trips.

[Adriano Moroni]

Originally Posted by Ron Evans

I would even see editing at 1920x1080. You can then always render at 3840x2160 if you want to do that. Beauty of shooting 5.7K is you can use layouter and move around the image or use the full image.

Therefore what is your suggestion if I like to get the highest video quality? If I can edit in HD and then turn the project into UHD, I could I rec in 5.7K with the GH6 and to edit the clips in HD and then to export in UHD. Is it right?

In your opinion is it convenient to shoot with variable framerate (VFR)? I will get less heavy files but maybe does the video quality deteriorate a little?

On the variable ND filter that I applied to the GH6 lens (filter slightly larger than the lens), I put a lens hood. But when aiming the GH6 at the white ceiling, I have just noticed that the red light of the AF is half covered. In other words, the lens hood partially covers the projection of red light. Do you think it can create problems with autofocus?