I don't think this has been established one way or the other yet.

Awesome!

For what it's worth, I'm now in the habit of navagating to an ISO from the middle row and then going up to the top row from there (which is the next lowest ISO of course). It's such a great tip because it's easy to remember.

You can get stunning low noise out of ISO320 as long as you remember to go there via the middle row. The one time I forgot to do it (for our band) I ended up having to denoise all the GH2 footage because it was way noisier than my old Canon XHA1s which were the other two cameras I was using on the same gig. Doh!

Do I have to actually set the ISO to one in the middle row, and then click the ISO button again, and move up to the top row?

No, as long as the image changes in brightness you’re good.

Or if I hit 1280, is the whole thing ruined and I have to set it to something in the middle row and start over?

You’re overthinking this whole thing. Just remember to switch to the desired ISO through the one 1/3 step higher. Always. Period. And forget about “rows,” if it’s too confusing.

I was under the impression that 160/320/640 was the "native" ISO range of the camera? Is that true? Does 200 have the same noise as 160? or 320?

It’s a bit more complicated than that. Take a look at this thread: http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/37438#Comment_37438

@cosimo_bullo God bless you! I was already to give up to this camera before to read this thread. Now, magically I have a clean video under any circumstances and finally I can enjoy the great work Vitaly & Driftwood have done. Thank you very much.

Would this simulate the middle row "crossing"?

Press the Q.Menu button instead of the ISO button. Browser to the ISO setting. Use either up or down button to select a desired ISO.

Going from 640 to 320 would select 500, 400, then 320. Going from 1250 to 320 would select 1000, 800, 640, 500, 400, then 320.

As the ISO value changes, the camera's EV reading and histogram change on the fly.

Wasn't this ISO bug supposed to be fixed in Fw 1.1?

@duartix - the ISO bug that was fixed was that the recording ISO wasn't being properly displayed (I believe it said "auto ISO" instead of the set ISO) - it now works as expected.

RE: haribabis Video

Hello,

You say to watch the video at 1080, but it isn't in 1080... is there a place to upload the original file at full res?

When I view this compressed version at full screen, even your foreground has blotchy noise, and that's in well exposed areas. So where exactly is the noise reduction? Surely before and afters would be more helpful.

I have personally run WB tests and found no significant improvement in noise level.

However, B&W mode seems to eliminate noise I normally get in any color/WB mode, so I know that there is something to your theory, just no solution for me.

also, I feel that Panasonic's QC must be horrendous because so many people report different miladies that aren't consistent across all cameras at the same firmware version.

I for one do not get any band at 3200 or 2500, but others do. I don't have the ISO Bug, but others evidently do. So I think this wide variation points to bad QC on Panasonic's part.

And I don't hear any signs that there's a fix in the wings??

What Say You?

questech-> consider yourself the luckiest gh2 owner I've heard about:) I get banding if underexposed in everything above iso800. hell, even at iso800 I start to notice banding creeping in if seriously underexposed (3 stops and more). not to mention the iso bug... and that's my second gh2. the previous one was very similar.

but yeah, Panny's QC has always been horrible. My GH1 had some really serious FPN problems, prolly more serious than what the majority experienced...

RED channel noise - "custom white balance" versus "interior white balance" to reduce RED channel clipping.

Not sure if it is permissible to extend the discussion on RED channel noise here but seeing as how the "noise reduction tips" thread has been closed due to cross posting...

I've tested both approaches in a difficult setting wherein the lighting was dim, shadows deep and lighting so bad that auto white balance couldn't deal with it. At the same time Interior WB provided way too much red correction. The GH2 patch was Nick Driftwoods "FINAL CLUSTER v4" (all 6GOP). GH2 settings were HBR 30p, SS 30 and auto focus.

Custom white balance was set to 2500K with 3 steps toward the green. Interior white balance was factory default. There are 2 shots of each WB setting - 1 each at ISO 3200 (abt 2/3 stop under exposed) and again at ISO 4000 (properly exposed). It was obvious to me that Interior WB produced way more noise (looked like RED channel being over driven) than the proper WB as selected in "Custom" with added GREEN correction.