Hi! I'm new here and I don't have GH2 yet - stutter/judder/strobe issues are what stops me from buying it. I'm shooting photo as a hobby, but I know nothing about video.

I spent several evenings reading forums, downloading video originals, etc., and basically most 1080p24 videos with lots of motion shot with photo cameras with video function look really bad to me, even when compared to 1080p24 "real" films. BluRay films also look bad ("robotic" motion, especially in rotating logos in the beginning), but not as much. DVDs seem to have a lot smoother motion. Still trying to find answers to that problem, what I've found so far:

1) MacBook Air display isn't good for video. If you take Sample Video 3 MTS file from this page:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicDMCGH2/page15.asp
, pause it, and start dragging on the screen, thin tree branches start to flicker. It's like tree disappears and reappears.

2) MPlayerX produces uneven motion on complex scenes. QuickTime doesn't. I used MPlayerX because it can open MTS files directly.

3) To watch MTS in QuickTime, you have to re-wrap it. Free utility (Media Converter) introduces really weird artifacts, which can be only seen when watching frame by frame. ClipWrap (commercial) doesn't have this problem.

4) Adjusting monitors/TV to 48/72Hz refresh rate is *really* hard. So far I haven't managed any monitors to switch to 72Hz, but will make another try with my TV (+XBMC/Linux) tonight. Could be one of the reasons...

5) The nicest (in terms of motion/detail compromise) video I've seen so far from GH2 was 1080i60 - but it has weird doubling effect on fast-moving subjects (I have deinterlacing turned on).

6) One guy mentioned on Vimeo that in ETC mode motion is smoother. If that's true, that hints that something might be wrong with the camera/sensor itself.

So, no solution so far, therefore I have a few questions:

- is there a way to make 1080p24 usable in GH2?
- is it something that has to do with CMOS, or perhaps number of sensor readouts? Is it a codec problem? Do much more expensive digital cameras have this problem when recording at 24fps? How do they solve that?
- can the problem be eliminated in post in reasonable time?
- is 1080i60 recommended on hacked GH2?
- is 720p60 recommended on hacked GH2?
- are there still stability problems recording at 80%/no sound on GH2?
- is there a significant delay after frame exposition is done but before next frame is starting to be recorded? If not, isn't 1/25 close to ideal shutter speed for 1080p24?

I've read many comments that the problem is because of high contrast/sharpness, but personally I think that can't be true, because panning should just blur objects.

@Dalefpf - I'm with you, I really don't understand people who are saying that everything is fine!

does it also make any sense that none of the other videos i read or write via usb have any problems?

@peterosinski USB3 on the asus?

Ive now read nearly everything about this strobe issue of the GH2.
My experience is that the solution is light.
Ive done some Paintball footage at 24p last week and compared it to footage of my room.
I followed a (very fast) player with the cam and there was a smooth motion blur in each frame.
But the footage of my room was total trash. Brighter parts inside the room have ghosts for about 4-6 frames (for example my monitor was there twice one solid and one transparent). Same for the door and other things that are white or similar. The result was a flickering of the whole scene.
For the Paintball player i used my 14-42 as well as my 50mm canon FD lens. No differences for the strobe effect in my opinion (The Canon lens makes a much softer image).
I think good lightning is the key here (Variable FD Filter helps a lot with this issue).

@viktors what settings are you looking at? I just shot about a half terabyte of footage with kae's extreme 3gop settings and the results are fantastic. Now with driftwood's new I frame settings and it is even better. I'd suggest you are looking at the footage in a different way than how you approach watching a film -- when you scrutinize anything you inevitably notice things that you don't like. When you watch a film, you are into the narrative, the beauty of the compositions and setting, etc, and you stop paying attention to those things. This may not be the right analogy, but for me, it is similar to handheld glidecam work -- a little sway is inevitable without a vest and heavy rig, I never notice it when I'm following a person because the attention is on the person, but as soon as I shoot a pov I immediately notice shifting horizons or horizontal lines.

But from my experience, the problem with candence/strobing comes down to not having good sticks, a good fluid head, a proper sense of how fast or slow to pan/tilt, a proper sense of limits of exposure with the camera.

If you're a hobbiest and not interested in producing docs, shorts or features with film look, but don't want to break the bank, I'd suggest investigating the sony dslrs. They don't support 24p, but it sounds like you don't like it anyway, so why convince yourself to buy a camera you don't want?

Also, as mentioned above, no one should even shoot moving video without an ND filter screwed on or dropped in. If your a serious enthusiast, shell out for a black frost and see why almost every big budget film is shot with one of those bad boys dropped in.

Smiley: I think that is an optical issue, more than an issue with the camera. Hence the ND filter helps.
I guess you used a wide lens? (I've had the same issue with a 20mm fd in certain lighting conditions for stills)
Mixed artificial light and natural light can be really hard to control (shooting indoors during the day) - daylight is much stronger than the artificial light, although the artificial light often sets the tone of the scene.. (both in terms of exposure and white balance). The result can be that daylight bleeds through the image.

@viktors If you are worried about 24p motion already then I would stay away. If you're going to shoot 60p or 60i then you're fine. I don't have an answer for the motion issues with the gh2 in 24p mode. I spent a lot of time looking into it but then just decided to let it go. I don't care what causes it or if other people see it or not. The gh2 is not for me. Sucks because I really like Panasonic. I did pick up a couple of nex5n cameras and they look fine to me. I actually like them a lot and I have no issue with 24p mode. We shot a few scenes the other day

Then please make a short comparison video. Nex5n and GH2 splitscreen on a scene where you see that strobe effect on the GH2.

@Smiley Sorry, I'm out of this game. No more testing or comparison videos. Enjoy your GH2 and good luck. This community here is great and the work being done here is fantastic. I think there are a few great patches here that make the GH2 look fantastic. I can't get past my gripes with the motion issues. Just my opinion.

@killagram That sounds awesome. I hope it works.

@PublicHerald did the original MTS file have this judder or did Vimeo's encoding compress the everliving shit out of it and make it stutter? Have you tried using driftwoods IntraPure hack on your GH13 (if it's compatible)? If you pan too quickly you're always going to have some sort of encoding byproduct rear it's ugly head. Doing it gradually as demonstrated in your video should be fine as long as the sensor and recoding codec are up to snuff.

If the judder isn't present in the MTS file then the camera or settings isn't to blame, it's your export transcoding from Final Cut Pro. Try using ProRes or another algorithm to prevent this from happening.

Using driftwoods IntraPure settings will give you more latitude while grading within an NLE as well as a much smoother appearing frame rate (all while keeping a high level of detail). If you have a fast enough SanDisk or Transcend class 10 card w/enough space, go for it. Just render the result in another format.

Hi,
I work in the film business and I own a GH2 too. I also noticed the strange 24P behaviour when you are panning. I have made many tests and read many postings in a lot of forums. Believe me, no solution will work or solve this 24P problem. You are not able to get useful pannings in the GH2 24P mode. Any further discussions are senseless. I know that under some circumstances pannings seem to be O.K....But there are also a lot of situations where panning looks really awful. Sorry, but this is a GH2 problem only Panasonic can solve. By now I pan with 80% speed (unfortunately without sound) and interpret the footage in After Effects or Premiere as 30P-Footage. Then you will have smooth panning, Thats the only possibility. To get 25P, use After Effects and slow down the clip to 80%. After that you have a 25P clip without stuttering. 30P to 25P conversions works only in After Effects without stuttering. Many other editing programs promise to do the same...But I get always very bad results.
I know that it is hard to realize. But if you want a professional panning in 24P you should try another camera. For me it is ok. I know what I can do in 24P and what not. For necessary pannings I use the 80% mode.