Panasonic G series video hacking
Any members use a Panasonic G series digital camera for video?
Do you use any of the available custom firmware hacks, using PTool?
I have a number of cameras i use for video, namely a G3, GX1 and a GF1, all running custom firmware, which trounces all over stock firmware, i'm hoping to get a GH2 soon.
The beauty of hack1ng using PTool is that you can't really brick your camera, if you load a custom firmware that doesn't work, just reload stock firmware.
Cameras status FAQ
Camera |
Body |
Firmware available |
Dumped |
Decrypted |
PTool support |
Panasonic G1 |
yes |
yes |
done |
done |
present |
Panasonic G2 |
yes |
yes |
done |
done |
present |
Panasonic G3 |
yes |
yes |
done |
done |
present |
Panasonic GH1 |
yes |
yes |
done |
done |
present |
Panasonic GH2 |
yes |
yes |
done |
done |
present |
Panasonic GF1 |
yes |
yes |
done |
done |
present |
Panasonic GF2 |
yes |
yes |
done |
done |
present |
Panasonic GF3 |
yes |
yes |
done |
done |
present |
Panasonic GX1 |
yes |
yes |
done |
done |
present |
Panasonic GH3 |
yes |
yes |
in progress |
no |
no |
Panasonic GF5 |
yes |
no |
in progress |
no |
no |
Panasonic FZ200 |
yes |
no |
in progress |
no |
no |
Panasonic LX7 |
yes |
no |
in progress |
no |
no |
Panasonic G5 |
no |
yes |
no |
no |
no |
Panasonic G6 |
no |
yes |
no |
no |
no |
Panasonic GF6 |
no |
yes |
no |
no |
no |
Panasonic GX7 |
no |
yes |
no |
no |
no |
Some video's
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjX7N-jyBs4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twsge4pTDiw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btdjpPMHvlk
Re: Panasonic G series video hack1ng
I've got a PTooled firmware in my G2. So far I think the only additional feature I've used is the NTSC/PAL recording capability (I needed to record some 720p/30 stuff for a YouTube video and my camcorder won't do it), but the firmware went on as soon as I bought the camera so I don't know what's extra and what's not.
One thing I've noticed and I don't know if it's related to the hacked firmware: sometimes the camera thinks it's in video mode instead of still mode, when it's not supposed to be, it usually seems to happen after being in the menus for whatever reason. Power-cycling the camera fixes it but it's an odd one.
Another thing I found is that it doesn't like mixed PAL/NTSC on the same card, whether that's a limitation of the AVCHD card layout specs I don't know, but if you need to record NTSC you need to clear out the PAL AVCHD stuff from the card first, and vice versa.
Re: Panasonic G series video hacking
I use Ptool on my panny's it's normal to not have pal and ntsc on the same card, it's one or the other, but not both.
Re: Panasonic G series video hack1ng
I guess normally it would be one or the other, just an observation if anyone else has a similar issue. The same PAL/NTSC mode switching will also trigger a "CANNOT RECORD. FILE NUMBER EXCEED LIMIT" error, resetting the counter doesn't fix it, but removing and reinserting the card gives you the more accurate and meaningful "CANNOT RECORD DUE TO INCOMPATIBLE FORMAT (NTSC/PAL) DATA ON THIS CARD."
I'll leave both error messages here for Google to find.
Have you bought a GH series yet? If so, have you tried using the HDMI port as a live viewfinder? A friend of mine was asking on Facebook the other day as he wants something that shoots good video in low light but needs a bigger screen. I tried it on my G2 but it was having none of it, only outputting in playback mode.
Re: Panasonic G series video hack1ng
I shoot weddings with my Canon 5d's, can't really justify spending £1200 on a GH4 for video, but would Santa to bring me one :) i've read the Panny LX100 at £700 which for me is much more affordable, has got decent video, with 4K footage UHD at 30 or 24 i may try one of those soon.