Setup - In order to achieve the higher bitrates I had to use M from the dial atop the GH2. The camera icon with the M would not allow this. The tradeoff was Auto ISO with M, and adjustable ISO with the camera icon with the M. I use mostly Canon FD lenses.

1a) Bitrates - I have tried a few hacks with varying success. The best I have got is about 100MB with Flow Motion v2.02, however, most of the shots I got with this hack seem to be from 70MB-90MB. I tried Flow Motion, Driftwood's Moon T7, and two Driftwood hacks (176MB & 220MB) from a pack made by the user Sohus on this forum.

Is it common to be well below the stated bitrate amounts?

1b) AVCHD vs MJPEG - I never seemed to get very high bitrates when using 1080i, despite the hacks stating to be much higher. They would range from 15MB-40MB. To achieve higher bitrates with Flow Motion, I used MJPEG which boosted them much higher.

Shouldn't I be achieving high bitrates with AVCHD?

2) Auto ISO - Whenever I use M (from PASM) the ISO would always be set to Auto ISO. I could adjust the ISO when using the camera icon mode (with the M), but then the bitrates would suffer. I tried changing the ISO before shooting, but Auto ISO would kick in no matter what.

How do I change the ISO while in M mode?

3) EV - I know that EV depends upon shutter, aperture, and ISO, but I can see the EV when I push the Display button so I was hoping there was still a way to change it.

Am I correct to assume that because I am using Canon FD lenses I cannot use EV? Even if using a Panasonic lens, how do I change the EV (I tried, but failed).

4) Modes - I have only been able to use the hacked bitrates - and only to a certain degree - by using M with MJPEG.

What modes should I be using to use the hacked patches? The camera icon with M? High Bitrate? 24P? 1080i?

Sorry for all the questions. I am not unhappy with the camera, but I really want to know why the bitrates are not working? And moreso, why the Auto ISO can't be changed (as I don't like the amount of noise it can introduce)? Thank you!