The GH13 - Interim Solution

A while back I picked up a Tweet mentioning someone had hacked the Panasonic GH1 HD-SLR firmware to allow the camera to record at a higher bitrate, capture 4:2:2 color sampling, and a host of other enhancements. This camera was retailing (with a lens) for $1100, and EBAYing without a lens for $650! I managed to get ahold of two of these little cams (body only) a few months ago, and quickly installed the hack.

First impression - meh! The camera is a dinky little body with nothing special about it, even in the market it was intended for (que soccer mom). It has a 4/3rds sensor, but a Sloooow one, because this thing CANNOT be used off of a tripod without exhibiting some MAJOR rolling shutter wobble. My setup is a little funky as well. I am using an adapter (made in China) that allows my cheap but good Canon FD glass to mount to it. This effectvely nullifies ALL automatic control (which is a good thing). It's all manual everything, however... the viewfinder (even in Camera shooting mode) will auto gain/exposure until you hit record, then it locks... so it's a little difficult to lock in an exposure before you hit record. Solution is to get into position, set exposure, and do not move until you hit record.

I set my cams up identically with a low contrast, slightly desat, -2 sharpening, +2 noise reduction custom film profile. The hack is set to max out at 60Mbits/sec , avg 45MBit/sec. The 4:2:2 ONLY works on MPEG, not AVCHD mode. Here is the issue! I have to abandon the 4:2:2 because the MPEG 24fps hack literally discards every 4th frame, resulting in Saving private Ryan skippy as hell (with Motion Blur) footage. SO, I am back to leaving the cam in AVCHD 24p (23.98) wrapped in 60i, just like the HV20. This is not such a big deal, because Cineform can do all that reconverting to real 24p (23.98) on the fly when ingesting, and it does a great job of it, even resizing back to 720P in one click.

So, what does this bitrate enhancement get me? I am not really sure. I never tried the cam without it. The footage looks pretty nice @ ISO 100 in decent lighting. Low light and you get some really ugly "striping" noise, which looks like film scratches, but more "video" looking. This noise is not really that noticeable when displaying on a 42" flat panel TV, yet you can really see it on my 30" HP Desktop monitor. But the bitrate enhance does produce footage that does not have "mud" in the high detail/high contrast areas (like bushes and trees and grass), which is very cool.

My goal in getting these cameras was to be able to shoot at my leisure to produce backdrops or scenes for my CG projects (game cinematics), as well as get behind the cam and start getting "muscle memory" working for a real shoot that may come my way. There are so many things that work or don't work, depending on the situation, and the ONLY way to get good at working behind the camera is to go out and shoot in public. For now, my setup represents the bare minimum required to actually shoot and produce a professional result, even if I am cutting some major corners. I have put money into things that directly impact the image - tripod, mounts, lens, sensor,codec - but did it at the lowest cost possible. The idea is that producing professional looking material will lead to paid work, which funds equipment upgrades, which - step-by-step - starts to smooth out those corners I am cutting.

My Equip so far:

(2) Early model Panasonic GH1's - After April 2010/hack does not work!
Manfrotto 501HDV fluid head (mounted on Slider)
Manfrotto tripod - with older Manfrotto fluid head (lightweight)
Igus Slider (1000mm), mounted on two $40 tripods
IndiRails mount - mounted on my own CinéRods (14.5" 15mm rods)
H4n Recorder
Sony wireless Lav kit
Canon FD 135mm/f2.8 , 50mm/f1.4, & 28mm/f2.8 - $400 for all 3!
(2) Lightcraft Fader ND Variable Neutral Density filters- MUST HAVE!
Various accessories/reflectors/bags

Cineform Neo 4k - Ingest to perfect 24p, 16bit Color Correction in Metadata anywhere in the pipeline!
Singular Software DualEyes - OMG! Dual system sync in one click - MUST HAVE
Edit in Edius - realtime everything, great understanding/interpreting to proper online formats.
Sound mastering in Vegas - its just easier there and I can write 5.1 surround deliverables.

Want:

Next generation HD-SLR w/minimum rolling shutter artifacts
Leica Glass
LED lighting kit
Another wireless lav
Boom Mic and pole