My procedure:
1. Ensured full battery.
2. Formatted card in camera.
3. Removed card from camera.
4. Inserted card in PC.
5. Dowloaded PTOOL3.EXE from https://www.personal-view.com/faqs/gh2-hack/ptool-software into card root directory.
6. Downloaded GH1__132.BIN from http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/download/fts/dl/gh1.html) into card root directory.
7. Downloaded SETA.BIN from http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?249355-100Mbps-Max-Latitude-Native-24-25p-Patch into card root directory.
8. Ran PTOOL3.EXE.
9. Loaded firmware GH1__132.BIN.
10. Checked “Version increment”.
11. Put “10” under “Enter version increment:”
12. Checked “Prevent version compare”.
13. Checked “New body”
14. Clicked “A” button at the bottom of the PTOOL screen (A button automatically checks necessary boxes for you).
15. Changed nothing in “Patches for testers”.
16. Clicked “Save Firmware”
17. Saved as GH1__135.BIN in card root directory.
18. Deleted all files in card root directory, EXCEPT: PTOOL3.EXE, GH1__135.BIN, SETA.BIN
20. Removed card from PC.
21. Inserted card in camera.
22. Put camera on table - allowed no movement during update.
23. Pressed play until camera asks to update firmare.
24. YES to firmware update.
25. Waited for the green meter to fill the red box.
26. Reformatted SD card in camera.
27. End of procedure.

Thanks for all the hard work Vitaliy.

Zcream (or others), what gives the GH1 the best recorded image of any camera under 10k? What sets it apart from other DSLRs like the d60 or 5d mkii?

The problem with HD video cameras is not image quality but compression. IQ is deeply affected by reducing 100-120 MBps of digital data into 17-24 mbps (thats 2-3 MBps). So the compression is 33-60 times. With the compression, comes artifacts like blocks or mud. With ptool, these artifacts are non-existent.

Read Barry Green's article about moire here - http://www.dvxuser.com/articles/article.php/20

The video resolution of the GH1 is also more than the DSLR as it does not do line-skipping. I was able to put the GH1 with the hack next to the EX1. The EX1 has about 900-1000 TVl resolution. With a good lens, the GH1 matches this resolution. Thats the most you will ever get. Lookup sampling theory to see why.

The main advantage of the DSLRs is the soft gradient across edges (a more filmic look) due to the internal 12-bit processing. The Gh1 can only process 2^8 colors, while a DSLR can do 2^10 or 2^12 colors.

Having said this, the magic lantern hack allows the T2i to give higher bitrates, and a really cool auto focus rack feature. I just bought a T2I kit just for the focus rack feature.

IMHO, a DSLR kit would include a 5D Mark II (for extreme low light), a GH1 for most conditions and a T2i (for smooth rack focus shots)

After the 100mbps hack this gets reduced to the Gh1 (for ALL shots) and a T2i for smooth rack focus shots. Just use CColton or Emory's Standard low fpn settings for ultra low light on the Gh1 (Standard 2,2,0,-2)

I prefer Standard 2,2,-2,-2 for ultra low light.

Either hack a c-mount 25mm 0.95 lens (about 500$ on ebay) or buy the m4/3 25mm 0.95 lens for about 1000$ as the low light lens.

I don't have a card reader. Should i get one, or can i put the ptool .bin file onto the card when the camera is attached to the computer? Figure it wont be a problem, but as things seem a little pernickety, i just wanted to check!

@2liz
>Is it possible re-hack it?

Asm many times as you want :-)

Sure, I hacked my JP GF1 as well.

It works the same way as for GH1. Download newest PTool 3.56d and newest fw for GF1 from Panasonic website (v1.22). Load the fw to the PTool, check Version increment, Prevent version compare and New Body. Change the Version increment to 10 (!). Check "All interface languages" under Patches for end users->Interface. Save the firmware as GF1__123.bin

Format the SD card in your camera. Put it in the reader and copy GF1__123.bin to the root of the card. Put the card back to the camera and press Play button. Don't forget the battery has to be fully charged. Press OK to install an update and wait until it's finished. Enjoy you camera :)

Try to charge battery first. And use other SD card.

Look at http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/2311#Comment_2311 post.
It has step by step instructions.

My question goes to zcream, Well, I’m trying to understand here: 3 SD Cards, 3 patches. So, you say “I use 3 cheap SD cards, (…). Format them in the camera and load 1 setting per card …”,
You mean I need to hack the camera three times, of course once for each patch. And after that as soon as I introduce the SD card in the camera, it will be set for the settings that correspond to the patch being in that SD?
I hope I made myself clear. I’m not a native English speaker.
Thanks

Crystal Clear! Thanks a lot

@DrPhoton From what I've read it's a hardware limitation on the GH1 but HDMI output while recording does work on GH2, although somewhat crippled (but still better/cleaner than the competition, HDSLR wise): http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?237584-HDMI-Capture-Problem-SOLVED-AviSynth-RULES!

Looks like you won't notice the crippled HDMI if you need it for monitoring.

Hi GF1 Hack gurus,
I have a newbie question. I am trying to hack a GF1 using the step by step information given above. When I try to Save Firmware, using a name GF1_132 (increment of 10 above GF1_122 firmware I am using) , I get a error "Bad file name, Camera won't be able to read Such a file". Please let me know what I am doing wrong here.

Thanks for your help.