Panasonic LX7 topic

JohnMFlores

I recently used the LX7 along with a Pentax Q for NewMotor, a publisher covering electric, hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles. The LX7 was used for the interior and the Q for exterior. Both mounted on RAM suction mounts.

Here are some samples:

Production notes can be found here: http://www.whatblogisthis.com/2013/05/the-day-in-which-panasonic-lx7-and.html

tetakpatak

The Panasonic will have to release firmware update for the LX7 soon, not for to help Vitaliy but to fix some bugs of the first stock firmware.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@tetakpatak

How do you know?

tetakpatak

@VK how do I know what?

The stock FW has bugs / help by Panasonic for you would be very welcome / only birds know how soon exactly the FW update is to come

eyeBOX

@stevens37y: Thanks!

Here's an interesting little finding..

After using a card that was previously in my GH2 that recorded 720p30 mjpeg footage, I found that the lx7 would play back that footage. If it reads it, does that mean it writes it?

stevens37y

@eyeBOX : "720p30 mjpeg" play back and writing (codec) a format are 2 diff things they have nothing to do with each other. Sad thing is that even the NTSC has the 30min limit. Now I have both versions. I also noticed that when it starts a new file the recording is not continuous. So it's better to stop/start the video before reaches the 4GByte if possible.

Vitaliy_Kiselev

After using a card that was previously in my GH2 that recorded 720p30 mjpeg footage, I found that the lx7 would play back that footage. If it reads it, does that mean it writes it?

Nope. But some code could be present.

tinbeo

Mr Pana haven't released any new firmware for lumix LX 7. Is that because He worries about VK will hack it?

Vitaliy_Kiselev

@tinbeo

Nope :-) They don't give a fuck about us, unfortunately :-)

stevens37y

I uploaded some nature video samples. All were made by the NTSC version: highest video quality - manual mode.

nosh

Some more video and finding the dynamic range really useful.

Daniel_R

I haven't been back to share in a while, mainly because I haven't done a whole lotta video with the LX7.

I did this a few months back, the LX7 was my dedicated "wide" shot for a few of these videos. This was before I had spare batteries, so once the LX7 finally died (after about an hour of filming) I had to replace it with my trusty Canon HV30. I've since bought spare batteries and retired my old HV30.

Rachmaninoff

Very nice Daniel...Excellent. But what camera is the LX7? I have a LX7 and FZ200.

Rachmaninoff

Or better, what is the image of the LX7? Are same cameras?

Daniel_R

The LX7 is the wide shot, in the middle. The other two cameras were the GH1 (left, static) and GH2 (right, slider).

Rachmaninoff

Thank You, Daniel. But... what is the lens in GH2 and Gh1? the LX7 seems less noise ...but also less sharpness. What is your assessment of the video between the 3?

Daniel_R

GH1 had a Fujian 35mm f1.7, settings around ISO 100/160. The GH2 I used a Pentax 50mm f1.7 stopped down to 2.8 or there abouts at ISO 160.

The LX7 is indeed a lot less sharp than the GH1/GH2. It's really my only gripe with it, but seeing as it's a pocket cam... I can't really expect it to be better than/on par with the GH2. I don't see the noise you speak of with the GH1 and GH2. The GH2 has a bit of flicker, due to my incorrect setting of the shutter speed... but there is no noise.

They tend to mix well in some environments, but not all. The LX7 burned me recently on a shoot, letting me down with it's lowlight image... so I'm moving it to "C cam"/wide cam from now on until I decide what I'm doing with it. It's a great camera, I welcome it to my kit for sure... but I'm not going to be using it as a primary/secondary camera anymore. I will leave all my important multicam shoots in the capable hands of my GH2 and GH1. LX7 is my crowd cam from now on.

Daniel_R

I just went back to the original footage/edit... as the Youtube videos are highly compressed and downrezzed (which bugs me). I do see a little bit of 'noise'... which I did not notice before. The GH1 seems cleaner than the GH2, which surprises me most. The LX7 does look noisy, though.

(Image 1 = GH2 footage; Image 2 = GH1 footage; Image 3 = LX7 footage)

PhilVid

Hello - I am a new member and use the LX7 very frequently for video. Please forgive my inserting this question which is a little outside the current discussion...

Has anyone yet succeeded in obtaining a live view of video while recording? This has been discussed by many people, of course, but surely someone has now discovered the secret...? I often use the camera at the end of an 8-foot jib, so a live view on a small monitor at the tripod mount would be a great tool -- currently forced to "eyeball" and guess the composition. That is not such a bad thing when the jib is set to maintain a fixed angle, but when using the tilt lever, luck has to be on your side.

By the way, if you have not yet tried a jib or dolly -- mine are low cost DIY affairs -- you can get some really outstanding and very dramatic results. Well worth the effort. Thanks Phil

Daniel_R

Hey Phil;

I don't think a preview is really at all possible. But, a low budget option would be connecting a small cheap ebay camera to the monitor and pointing it at the LX7's LCD screen to get a better idea of the composition.

They can be had for around 30 bucks, output SD to TV screens and such.

markr041

A preview is very LIKELY: Panasonic makes an av cable for the LX7 (fits all the compact cameras). It gives you composite out and mono sound (640x480 or 720x480). If you turn on the camera while holding down the play button you get live view through that cable. This works on the FZ200, and I am almost certain it works on the LX7. The live view stops when you start the recording - so it is preview only.

PhilVid

Thanks guys! Actually, mine has no trouble at all in preview mode for both stills and video -- just works with NO pressing of Delete or Play or any other buttons (maybe I lucked out with an odd LX7 - Ha). It is only the "while recording" at issue.

Daniel - Wow, now THAT is thinking outside the box! I see the video here is showing one of those little key fob cameras that sends out a live signal as well. Excellent solution, and I can leave the little cam on its bracket since that is the only place it will be used. I had no idea they have a live video-out plug. THANKS for the suggestion!

Phil

Daniel_R

Glad to be of help Phil. It's not ideal, but if basic framing is all you need, that camera will do it for sure.

tinbeo

@Daniel_R Were those singer footages color corrected in post? They looks so closed together? Would you share your white balance setting of them? I had Gh1, Gh2s, Lx7 and used them together like you.
@all keep dreaming and waiting for this little camera be hacked.

jojoen

I REALLY need this hack... Today I used the LX7 as a plain videolink camera for a huge screen on a consert. I had a few issues: 1. I can not take picture or video while I stream video from the video port 2. It is only in auto mode I can get a clean screen without stuff on overlay. That is a problem in low light conditions as this setting have not enough frames per second. 3. it goes into sleep mode after 5 minutes even though I set the menu for not sleeping or even 10min..

If I could use the manual video mode it would be fantastic as a low light video streaming and recording camera for multicopter flying. More pictures here (all is edited) http://www.jojoen.no/div/trollrock/torsdag.htm

WE NEED that hack... :-(

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