Proud new owner!
 

Hi, all! After wrestling over the decision--and many visits to the various DVInfo forums, I ventured forward today and picked up a GH2! I will add this to my compliment of gear which appears on my sig line. I will be on "browse overload" for the next few days learning about all I can do with this great camera--especially in video mode, where it really excels, I'm told. One question I have is regarding the various "hacks" out there. If there are any that are particularly noteworthy, please let me know.

Batteries are charging...I'll be shootin' soon!

Cheers,
TW

Re: Proud new owner!
 

Welcome to the club Terry.

Your question about hacks is the same one everyone asks. There isn't a simple answer
It depends on what you plan shooting, if you work in post, what SD cards you have and lots more.

I suggest you leave it unhacked until you get your feet wet. The stock firmware is very good.,

Read about the proper method of hacking. Done wrong you can brick the camera.

You may want to look at Sanity 5 and Flow Motion V2.1. They are both very good general hacks, use 45mb cards and aren't real fussy.

Re: Proud new owner!
 

Congratulations Terry. May your GH2 adventure be enjoyable.

No hack is required to produce outstanding GH2 video.

Good luck.

Re: Proud new owner!
 

Congratulatamatations

Enjoy your foray into the world of "EVIL" video and using every other systems' lenses, and knowing you have a ~$700 camera capable of some of the best 24p HD available for even 100x that cost.

Caveats: move the camera slow and steady. Support it when possible. Don't worry that you don't have the shallowest DOF possible (you never will until you get a full frame camera) - instead revel in the fact that you can get exposure with a useable DOF, pleasing selective focus when you want, and the crispest deep focus images of any DSLR available (watch some of Dan Carter's stuff for incontrovertible proof)

As for hacks... The best site for finding information is Personal View, and the worst organized site for finding information on them is also Personal View. Some tips, from the bit I've messed with them:
- ONLY USE A FULLY CHARGED PANASONIC BATTERY. CHEAP CHICOM BATTERIES USED FOR FIRMWARE UPDATES WILL EVENTUALLY BRICK YOUR CAMERA AND RUIN YOUR LIFE.
- most hacks from Driftwood or LPowell are good. Other hacks aren't very dependable, in my experience.
- The three I've settled on are ISO limit removal only, FlowMotion v.2, and Orion v4b. Stock gives great footage with greatest dependability and duration, FlowMotion gives slightly greater footage with dependable spanning and reasonable file sizes, and Orion gives borderline orgasmic footage at stupidly huge file sizes.
- You don't have to settle on just one hack! Collect some cheap 2GB cards (not ancient or borderline broken cards, though... you want them to be dependable lest corrupted data destroy everything you hold dear). Load a different hack onto each, label them with sharpie, and write-protect them. Switch whenever the mood strikes without going into your computer.
- ONLY USE FULLY CHARGED PANASONIC BATTERIES. Just in case I wasn't clear before.

Re: Proud new owner!
 

Thanks, guys! Can't wait 'till the weekend to give the new gadget its first test drive. As many have pointed out, I like the small(er) form factor as it's less obtrusive and you can be quite discrete while using this camera. I also like that the GH2 doesn't get trapped in the shorter shoot lengths of comparable Canons. Most of my gear--clear back to my F1 days (anyone other than me that old??) has been Canon, so this foray into Panny-land is a bit of a first. But based on all the info here, it's definitely a road worth traveling!

Quiet on the set........action!!

Cheers!

Re: Proud new owner!
 

Yep...probably a little older.

It is nice and small...until you get the Mic and Viewer on, then to make room for l
LED's you have to add rails, that gives you a little extra room for the H4N to hook the mic to instead of the camera...need I go on <G>

OH...Did I forget the cup holder?

Re: Proud new owner!
 

Terry, there are plenty of idiosyncrocies with the GH2 awaiting your discovery. I't a great camera, but not without some very irritaing shortcomings.

LCD does not always come close to what you are recording and is the single biggest gripe I have with the camera. All is not peaches and cream, but once you learn how to adapt, which can take a minute or two, you will be fine.