“Cinegraphy” posted this very first 133 Mbit video shot with the hacked GH2 on Personal-View.com: “The name says it all: a 133 Mbit Mjpeg Clip, straight from my [shoplink 16254]GH2[/shoplink], not edited / graded / transcoded before upload…
Of course watching it on Vimeo doesn’t make that much sense, since it’s only interesting from a technical point of view; you’re welcome to download the source file…
Following settings were used (regarding Mpeg tweeking): Quality 400/300/250/188; Table 4/4/4/4 (as far as I know these are some settings, Modulr developed for the GH13 Firmware hack 1-2 years ago)…”
EosHD posted another video with the hacked GH2: “A preview of my shot film shot using the GH2 hack in 4:3 MJPEG mode with a LOMO 2x anamorphic lens. For the first time we can shoot as intended with a 2x anamorphic lens on a DSLR. 4:3 converts to true 2.35:1 cinemascope with such a lens. Anamorphic lenses were used on some great all time classics, Blade Runner and Alien for instance.” See a lis of anamorphic lenses on [shoplink 23850 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink].
Please follow that topic to read everything you need to know about the GH2: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/332/ptool-3.60d-topic
Thanks again Vitaly for your amazing work!
Click those direct search links to see the GH2 price and specs: [shopcountry 16254].
19 Responses
they need to hack the ep3
yep, i hope they can hack in an evf
So, are these GH2 hacks only for 720p MJPEG? Or can they increase the bitrate of 1080p AVCHD as well?…
What by also hack to K4. 😉
What kind of user who hacks his camera needs 100+ Mbit video.
I wish all that impressive brainpower went into G3 and GF2 video control and tracking improvements.
anybody who wants to use the camera on a professional level. it means you suddenly have an incredibly cheap and small broadcast quality cam for using in any scenario, underwater, arials, car mounts, explosions etc
there are lots of productions where these high bitrate ‘disposable’ cams are being used.
but yes, not many non-professionals would need so much bitrate if they just want to shoot their kids or dogs etc, as the files sizes are huge and the recording times are very short – 2 gb files max so a couple minutes record times
I second the question about 1080p. From what I remember the problem with it is that it isn’t in AVCHD codec for 60 fps, which would be the main thing I’d want to use the higher bitrate for. But even 30 fps would be nice. The 24 fps is just not smooth at all.
With respect to bitrate, I would prefer to have the option of having too much than too little. 24fps is not for all applications, but some people need it (actually 23.976). Others need 30 (29.97), 25, or overcranked like 60fps. Again, it is nice to have more options than not enough.
I wouldn’t call 60 fps “overcranked”. I’d say it’s the new standard, and one to stay with us for a long time. The reason is that our brains don’t notice that there are separate frames. 24 fps is a limitation that’s outdated (if not in practice, it’s only because of lack of flexibility but there is no real reason). I’d say that going from 24 fps to 60 fps is ten times more important than, say, going to 90 fps.
It is a bit early to call it a new standard as there is absolutely no content currently commercially released that is in fact 60fps. It is almost all 29.97 or 23.976.
I wish I could help these guys.. it is fun seeing them progress they have been working on this for months… How people come together for the greater good and sticks it to pana. I think they should hire these guys.
definitely have pushed the boundaries and advanced the technology. made the platform a bit more appealing for a lot of cinematographers. bravo…
Would be nice if it has an MJPEG 1080P setting, this will be much easier to edit.
An option 25 or 30 fps would be very nice indeed 🙂
Could someone briefly explain the hack and how it improves on the video properties? Sorry, I’m not exactly very well versed in this field.
@ Bimbo: If Vitaly and his worldwide group of software testers are successful, the firmware hack will enable the GH2 to record video that is less-compressed. In general, the less each video frame is compressed, the better it looks.
The challenge is accomplishing this without making the camera unreliable: Depending on how the lower compression is achieved, the camera can fail to record (“drop”) some frames, or record distorted video, or stop recording after a relatively short time (even a few seconds), or “crash” (requiring the battery to be pulled to restart the cam), and so forth.
Vitaly’s firmware hack software allows the user to adjust a wide variety of settings not normally available in the GH2’s factory user interface. The testers are working to determine which combination of hack settings yield the most useful and sustainable results, and document them for the rest of us. This testing process can take many weeks to determine “recommended” settings. Of course, sometimes positive results are achieved quickly. It’s both a matter of skill & luck.
Also, because the new GH2 firmware hack software is in an early state, it inevitably has some bugs, including at least one which can “brick” (kill) a camera. These issues are documented, but require care to avoid.
I recommend most GH2 owners wait until experienced testers have time to identify any remaining “dangerous” bugs so Vitaly can fix them. Fixing these bugs will take additional time, perhaps many days or weeks.
Meanwhile, Vitaly & testers will discover and document many useful settings which yield much-improved GH2 video recording. It’s likely Vitaly will release additional versions of his GH2 hack software with further improvements, just as he did for the GH1.
There’s a donation page on Vitaly’s site for making financial contributions to support his work.
http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussions
It’s important to note that in competent hands the GH2 is already capable of recording fantastic-looking video without it being hacked. For example, refer to Uli Heckmann’s superb GH2 video:
http://vimeo.com/25474377
Assuming Vitaly’s GH2 hack project is successful, the GH2’s video capability will continue to get better and better. But as always, it’s the camera operator’s skill which determines the final result. Cheers.
Peter – This was exactly the type of comment I was looking for, very helpful. Thank you for explaining this a bit more to a hack novice. I ultimately plan to try my hand at a bit of anamorphic lens hacking myself… just now starting to drown in the idea of somehow using an f-adapter on an old projector lens : D.
Hack is still in its infancy. Currently there is no major breakthrough in regards to 1080p avchd…in a few weeks,months who knows?
I feel personally some are getting distracted by trying to get high bitrate/framerate via hdmi (not everyone has a hdmi recorder)…or high bitrate around 100mbs
All some of us want is just decent 25p.
The 24p cinema mode is already decent enough. i just hate thers no 25p…yet.
Looking good chaps, carn’t wait till its all stable and ready with patches. That will take some time and I won’t firmware hack my GH2 till im sure its all been tested.
http://www.creatingdvds4u.co.uk
How do you use Anamorphic lenses on the GH2? Does the hack correct the image automatically or do I have to run it through a converter?