Vitaly Kiselev is collecting the money to buy two Panasonic GF2 cameras. His goal is to hack the GF2 camera. You can support him via personal-view.com. The GF2 hasn’t been a popular camera but with the recent massive rebates on that camera it became far more appealing. And if Vitaly will also give us a hack for it than this could be a damn good deal!
Panasonic lowered the price of the GF2 in all countries. Here some examples:
GF2 body only now for $314 at Amazon (Click here). With kit lens for $400 at Amazon (Click here).
GF2 w/14-42 in Canada for C$289.99 at Newegg.ca
Red GF2 with 14-42mm lens for 298 Euro at [shoplink 27204 ebay]Digitalkamerprofi on eBay DE (Click here)[/shoplink].
P.S:: Our US readers can still enjoy Cyber Monday deals in most stores. Some deals will last the whole week: Amazon (Click here), Adorama (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Cameta (Click here) and J&R (Click here).
55 Responses
Kudos to Vitaly. His hack intents will drive sales to the GF2. I actually have/like the GF2, and there might be one or two others who like it. But Vitaly can really get this thing goin’!
Lets hope the upcoming GX1 is hackable!
+1
Admin, yet again very wrong:
“The GF2 hasn’t been a popular camera…”
GF2 – Amazon N1 seller, just look for the link in one of your previous articles posted here.
It is not all about enthusiasts market, people like GF2.
Panasonic must be doing something right, well – a lot if you ask me.
Yet again? It has been a short time number one seller because of the 299$ deal for camera+lens. When you sell a camera for that cheap of course it will sell well. For the normal price the GF2 didn’t sell well at all.
Admin, any news on the Olympus 12-60mm? Specs? Announcement date? Pictures?
Yes, because you mentioned it for second time – which is not correct.
Price is below normal and it is market price.
It is successful product, not too dumbed down body compared to GF3 and good value for money too – all on the positive side.
This is great for all of us, because many people will get into M4/3 this way – including me.
Give me GX1 for similar money – and I will buy few of them, but something is telling me it is not gonna happen any time soon…
@EASY
actually most people do not buy their cameras off Amazon, so their sales rankings mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
I have NEVER EVER met anyone or heard of anyone buying their camera (of any type) off Amazon (amazon is more last resort/long tail).
@ YouDidntDidYou
Maybe – but on this web-site popularity of the cameras was judged previously by Amazon ranking.
I find it ironical that after that Amazon #1 selling camera is rated as “…not popular camera.”
I am just looking for consistency of reported material here.
New article from today – all about Amazon rankings.
So it must not be me…
I do not see that GF2 does too badly – especially for 1 year old camera.
Japan #3 camera – great!
Some other markets – not so good, probably due to local pricing.
Here in the UK the price is very competitive, beats Olympus.
Yeah… tjats what im waiting for! never understood why no one likes this nice little cam!
+1
I also own a GF2 and really like it. Most people whining about it actually don’t have it.
It has a solid build and all features of the GF1 while being a bit smaller, only the mode dial has been removed. I understand that some people use the mode dial, but for most people the dedicated video and iA button will do the job, and selecting modes from the menu is not that big of a deal. Also, the touch screen is a great addition that you don’t have to use but that can be very handy, e.g., for focusing. Quite a few features of the GX1 where already in the GF2, but no-one noticed.
The real pity is that it never shipped with 14-45mm and 20mm as kit lenses.
Agreed.
Dinosaurs can’t touch screen focus.
Why no Olympus hacks? Too hard?
What’s the point if hacking an olympus camera? They all use the same sensor, but it’s just been tweaked in firmware!
Olympus is already pushing their hardware as far as it can go! Hacking won’t help anything!
Umm … for video perhaps?
No interlacing and variable frame and bitrates?
2FPS video for instance is great for time lapse so you don’t have to wear your shutter out.
+10000…. and lots of other things can be done too 🙂
Agreed.
+1
Maybe there’s a Yakusa – Russian Mafia connection that would make it risky on a very personal level to be hacking Olympus. 🙂
Thrilling news! Tomorrow is payday and I’m plopping down a nice chunk of change. I LOVE my GF2 but I need better video settings, if this hack works out it is much cheaper than buying a GH2.
complete newbie here…. but.. what are the benefits to hacking anyways?
You can get some extra video features such as high ISO and frame rates at the risk of destroying your camera. Little if any advantage to the still photographer.
I looked at Personal-View with the idea of buying something but it is one of the most confusing websites I’ve seen. If that is an example of his attention to detail, I’d think twice about the hacks.
lol – I think his website has very little to do with his hacking ability… You’d go for the guy witht he matching stationary evey time… but you know what… they are all image…
The hacks do not do anything bad to your camera – if you don’t follow his instructions you can brick your camera – but that has nothing to do with his ability to hack and even less than his site appearence!
Do the hack right and set it with recomended settings and you have just upgraded the features and ability of your camera for free – whats not to like?
@PEN
you mock what you don’t understand
the features that will be unlocked will not be trivial, and anyone with a reasonable level of competence should be able to install it safely
Your loss if you dismiss it because you don’t like the site design.
@kenn
Many video cameras are capable of much higher quality (at least on paper) than the camera manufacturers allow the end user to access. The manufacturers limit what the cameras will do via firmware. Hacking can allow some of those firmware limitations to be removed.
The reasons why these artificial limitations are placed on the product are not completely understood. The more cynical say it is marketing driven and that camera bodies without these limitations can be subsequently sold as “upgrades”. For all we know, though, there may be valid technical reasons as well.
Either way, the hacks allow the user who feels the extra functions are important to enable them. The downside is that this sort of activity voids your warranty if a problem arises as a result of the firmware change.
> For all we know, though, there may be valid technical reasons as well.
Direct external buttons (lots of those in pro eqiopment) for various settings are one thing but official bitrate limits of AVCHD specification are marketing limits to make sure quality stays below higher priced equipment.
24Mb/s is just low compared to Blu-ray’s max 40Mb/s for same stuff surely using also more efficient multi-pass encoding and AVCHD 2.0’s 28Mb/s isn’t real improvement when 50p/60p doubles amout of image data.
There are things like the artificial 30 minute time limit on videos in the EU.
Speaking video, does anyone know a of a good Mac-based AVCHD converter that doesn’t mess them up?
does VLC Player not do it? you can get that for mac for free…
Im guessing this would be video only?
Why is this the only guy who can hack cameras, and why just two cameras? Well three if you count this one. Anyway why can’t Panasonic just “hack” their own cameras with legit firmware, or if nothing else just pay this guy to work fore them.
I’ll only consider a hacked software if there is improvements on image quality not functionality or flexibility in operating a camera . Not worth to take the risk !
Let’s say GF2 after hacked still produce same IQ as before , what is the point doing it ?
might make it slightly easier to obtain maximum quality more regualy… depending what the hack offered of course 🙂
any update on the AF100 hack? love to see how that’s coming…
The factory settings are good enough. But the hack is simply better in layman’s terms 🙂
BTW thanks admin!!!
Non-interlaced 1080P, higher bitrates, and an NTSC-to-PAL option? I’m down.
How about a hack to make the jpgs better? I’d be more interested in a hack to change the jpg engine profile to a Fuji or a Leica. I know that’s too difficult a hack to do but it would be awesome. Panasonic is too stupid to try something like that. They would be able to outsell all the other manufactures combined as Panasonic has the technical skills to make the best performing cameras but they always lacked the artistic skills to make their jpgs look like film and not video.
Yeah, better JPEGs would be great. Adding bulb/manual shutter mode would be a nice touch as well.
I’d rather see a ‘hack’ to add focus peaking in…
Does anyone know if a GH2 can be set somewhere to use half f/stops instead of 1/3 increments? That’s another hack I’d like to see…
And finally, if hacks were magic, one to make the thumb wheel not feel like crap. (Sorry.. just got the GH2 during the $800 B&H sale and I can’t get used to the wheel – even the LX5 wheel feels much smoother)
Why are you people making feature requests here? If you want them to reach the developer try going to his site.
WHY THE G3 IS ALWAYS THE LAST AND LEAST FOR VITALY?!
+1 for G3
It has the same Venus FHD processor as GH2 and a pretty good sensor as well
Agree about the G3…Id of rather see the efforts in releasing the full potential as its a gem of a camera and panasonic missed a winner there.
Panasonic in their infinate wisdom crippled the video mode in what could of been THE killer all round camera (G3)they need to stop being scared of not selling other models..Take a leaf out of sonys book,The newer sony cameras have all the same features for video yet it does not effect sales if its 5n,7,a65,a77.
The hacks do Panasonic more favours than they appreciate.
I have to agree…The GF2 with its “dumbed down” interface doesn’t seem (to me!) like a worthwile camera to hack. I’d rather see a hacked G3 than a GF2. How many GF2 users would be interested in hacking their cameras??? Its not precisely an “enthusiast” model…
I’m really hopping that someone will hack the gf3 too.
Wonder if he can be convinced to work on the gf3. i’m wiling to donate 50 usd for the hack. Would other Gf3 users be interested.
Me… I know that advanced photographers hate GF3 but when you share your camera with someone less experienced than this camera is a good choice. I hope we will see GF3 hack. Price already dropped to 2/3 in 3 months.
The GF2 has the same Venus FD processor as GH2? Although it doesn’t have the GH2 sensor which seems really good, but it has the same sensor as GF1, it still can do full hd video unlike GF1 which can only do 720 (the hacked GF1 can do full hd tho).
Vitaliy has already hacked at least GH1, GF1 and GH2.
This sounds potentially very good. Think high bit rates in a small and cheap but sturdily built camera. For day filming when you don’t need the GH2 sensor.
+1 Especially if you can pickup a GF2 for the cost of a 14mm lens.
My GF (female version 😉 ) needs a new camera and I wouldn’t mind getting a 14mm pancake lens. I was also thinking about getting a second body for my 20mm. Those 2 lenses and a GF2, for dirt cheap, isn’t a bad little kit. It’s pretty much a no-brainer.
Do any of his hacks help still photography?
I would love to have greater range of exposure on auto bracketing on my GH1.
Only video get improved, jpg is still the same
I’d go for a hack that turned off the iA blue LED light when iA mode is on.
I’d be all about this if he’d add flash EV correction. Maybe let us reprogram the iA and video buttons to do something more useful for still photogs, too.
Please hack it so we can make non-Panasonic batteries to show power gauge.
what features can we expect to gain from the hack?
As previously mentioned, a hack can unlock possibilities for a wider range of video framerates (e,g full HD progressive rather than interlaced)and also higher ISO capabilites. The current ISO limit with the GF2 is 6400, but if this can be lifted to 12800 or higher that would offer image capture possibilities in darker conditions. Personally, if Vitaly can produce a stable hack that will enable 720/50p at over 30Mbps then I’m interested.