The noisy red channel is one of the GH2's few negatives. It will be interesting to see if it's improved in the new firmware.

Yes, I see noise at ISO 160, and it's annoying... so you are not alone.

The problem doesn't occur in evenly lit scenes, but if you are shooting dramatic scenes with well exposed areas alongside shadow & deep shadow areas, the shadows have noise.

Not a problem for straight talking head interviews, but narrative work often contains scenes with dramatic lighting for effect... well noise isn't the effect I'm going for.

It wouldn't be so bad if the noise was fine, consistent, grain like patterns, but it's not... at least on my GH2.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great camera for the money, and you can't expect $60K results at this price point.

Unfortunately the noise my camera generates is moving blotchy patches, which some may consider acceptable, but I don't. Its very distracting and in my opinion will ruin a dramatic scene.

Again, inexpensive camera, I can't complain too much, but it is basically useless to me for certain types of projects.

I am looking for a solution, whether it be hacks or settings. I have read some possibilities here, for which I am grateful and will try ASAP.

Any additional advice is certainly appreciated.

Hello Sam,

I am not familiar with ptool yet as I'm just starting my research, and I'm not using any patch. I am using the latest firmware from Panasonic at the moment.

Also, I can see the noise in my viewfinder so I know that that isn't part of any compression artifact. However is the noise changed to look more blotchy after it is recorded onto my memory card??? I don't know, maybe??

Any ideas?

Thanks for your help!!

AM