Double your GH-1 bit rate with firmware hack

Alright, people say the quality is a huge step up. I have not tried it yet. Pretty exciting stuff!!!

Links and all the information:
http://43rumors.com/now-you-can-adjust-the-avchd-bitrate-on-your-gh1-up-to-34mbit/
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=206788
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=213082

If you don't mind four minute clip restrictions, 1080p MJPEG mode at 40Mbit is even better. Some have been enabling MJPEG 720p at 100Mbit! That's double the Canon 5D Mark II's bitrate. Amaaazing!


UPDATE 11. June 2010:
Some more links.
http://www.eoshd.com/content/250-50Mbit-1080p-MJPEG-on-the-Panasonic-GH1
and Mr. Bloom: http://philipbloom.net/2010/06/11/3rd-party-firmware-transforms-wimpy-gh1-into-optimus-prime/
I think I'm gonna try this out over the weekend. Excited!!!

Summary, what is means for the none-techno-geek

* Hugely better image quality. 50MBit MJPEG shows zero compression artefacts, zero mud and much more photo-like gradients, tones and textures

* It’s better looking than the 5D Mark II’s H.264 and less compressed

* MPEG 50Mbit shows low noise and the noise is of a finer grain, more film-like

* The workflow improvements are immeasurable. The 50Mbit MJPEG, this can be edited directly, no transcoding required. As for AVCHD, thanks to Tester13 the native 24p can go straight into Log & Transfer without pulldown or deinterlacing work. Before I was waiting around 6 or 7 hours per project for Voltaic to transcode and deinterlace the GH1’s AVCHD to ProRes. Now the same amount of footage can be done in one step in Final Cut Pro Log & Transfer and takes 30 minutes.

* Non-native 24p 32Mbit AVCHD can be played back in-camera. Focus assist works in both AVCHD and MJPEG mode. It’s expected playback of native 24p AVCHD can be fixed in the near future once a patch is released by Abed.

* A JPEG is saved containing shot EXIF info, shutter speed, ISO, etc.

* The image is smoother looking and better scaled from the 12MP CMOS compared to the 5D Mark II which has 22MP to deal with. Pixel binning is in action, not line skipping.
Check this video: vimeo.com/12472000 (download it)