Thanks mate, you make my day. I was really worrying that my newly bought camera is faulty. And I was worrying about sending it back and forth, servicing, waiting for weeks - simply wasting my time...

Actually Corey, if I had read your post, really read it, I would've seen that!

I've been evangelizing about better svchd cards. I guess I'm trying to feel good about my purchase and looking for any excuse to justify it.

Well my friends, it is just great to have opportunity to listen to somebody else. I simply went nut and I was blind that I did not take into consideration my SDHC card as well as my poor graphic card... Tomorrow I will find out what is causing that pulsation. Thank you once again.

It's great to have a place to take these problems. I couldn't survive without this place!

Hi Waldi,

There are too many unknowns here. When I say "post processing" I mean what software/hardware did you use to import / view / edit your footage ? Lots of NLEs have problems with AVCHD footage, especially Final Cut Pro.

Downloading your source-file, I am not seeing anything unusual when I bring it in to Sony Vegas Pro. The footage is a little noisy, but that is likely related to your camera settings. Which I have no idea what your camera settings were...

I have no idea what lens? What color mode? What format? What white-balance? What lens? What shutter speed? What aperture ? that you shot your video with, so it's hard to make recommendations on how to improve your video.

Haha, no worries . . . the word "card" has about a dozen meanings when it comes to computers.

I've promised myself that I'll stick to only Panasonic cards . . . I'm too paranoid. I've only lately ventured into the realm of tapeless acquisition, and I have yet to shake that little bit of nervousness about not having tapes.

Chad, I agree. I've seen posts from folks that have had issueswith cheaper cards...things get hairy enough without worrying about the media I'm using.

Guy - many thanks for your attention, but finally my problem solved! First of all newest VLC plays it badly, causing pulsation. There was also a misconfiguration of my graphic card too (shame on me), so the other players could not play it correctly as well... You were looking at a source file that was correct, but my pc wasn't, so you did not know what I've been talking about... I have spent whole night on reinstalling and configuring my computer. Well, to be short: now the same footage plays as expected (except of VLC), even on Windows Media Player it goes smoothly. Just dark and noisy, because of such settings on a camera, but pulsation is gone (as it never existed :))

Oh men, I wouldn't resolve it without you. I was already sending back my brand new GH2 to the service center... You made my day. Thank you all once again. Waldi.

One more question guys - I find the LVF gives a bit... jerky image. When I move a camera looking at the viewfinder the image is a tad late to what you would have seen with naked eye and it stutters a bit. Is it OK? And does my settings of video (frame rate, format, resolution, quality etc.) affect the view in a LVF? It looks good on LCD, is butter smooth, but in a LVF looks worse. Or is it my impression as I am used to DSLR cameras with optical viewfinder..?

Hey Waldi.............
 

Plays good on my (antique) system even using VLC (still set as my default as I don't see a lot of that sort of footage), bit noisy and a lot of background movement which I take to be foliage in wind.

[Matrox AVPe Dual Head graphics card, Dell 24" 2000 X 1080 screen, DVI]

Tell me, what, exactly, is in the (mesh?) bag hanging from a branch, top quadrant right of screen?


CS

Waldi, I don't have my camera yet...but I wonder are you looking at the EVF while live view is on? Can LCD be turned off? Would that help? I don't know.

Chris, this is a fat-ball with seeds, feeder for the birds in my garden. I am a birder, addicted to birds :)

By the way - I am very impressed with a great video capabilities and stunning image quality of GH2. Finally can see it on my laptop... Awesome! Had no idea this tiny camera is so good.

Jeff, there is a sensor than turns off LCD when your eye is close enough to the EVF. You can also switch between LCD and EVF pressing a button. So probably both can't be turned on at the same time. There is also "CONSTANT PREVIEW" in a menu, I did not find out what it really does. I have to play with it a bit more as I am getting lost sometimes in a maze of the combination of buttons and menu...

I am sure you will love your GH2, despite of fact that the buttons are for dwarfs :)

I am sssso happy as all my crappy-test-footage plays now as I would have put a pint of grease to my laptop! And I think I deserve to get some sleep now... But stay tuned - I may encounter another problem soon :))))

I haven't had a chance to download it, but it sorta sounds like you're seeing the camera adjust to ISO, is the ISO set at "Auto"? If so, pick a fixed value and it might solve it.