Panasonic GH1 just got RAW!!!

I like all the DSLR cameras honestly :) I even like the GH1. The biggest problem with the GH1 is the automatic functionally of everything.

However RAW as I understand it can often takes less processing power. Because compression is an extra effort, Raw information can be dumped directly to the card. Depending on how the camera is wired. I was investigating this in relation to the elphel camera which uses open software. http://www3.elphel.com/index.php

If you understand how the human eye/brain works though, you realize how unnecessary 4:4:4 footage is, unless you are greenscreening it can be a plus.

I really don't see what the hype is with RAW, you wont upload RAW to P5 or any other site any time soon... You will have to compress it. Size wise it's HUGE, and huge is a PITA to work with, to upload, to any thing really. Visually like mark is saying you really can't see the difference at a certain point. So why are so many people getting there shorts wet over RAW?

GH1 is exactly the opposite of Automatic..... its strength is in the multiple manual configurations.

I agree, if you are National Geographic and capturing nature for in-house use then it may have benefits. For stock it is a long way from useful. Heck the USA has such slow internet speeds compared to many other "third world" countries, RAW video transmission without a super commercial link will not happen.

Wow.... it's like looking at 3k video. The MJPEG is like 10 times the quality of AVCHD. Like 3 times as good as 5Dmk2.

Hope they get the kinks worked out.

I said "automatic functionality" not that it was automatic ;)
What I mean is the AF is reportedly slow, and you have to go into the menu to change stuff like the M P A Thats more firmware though, that could be fixed.

lol no one broadcasts in raw, no one watches TV from 3 inches away. 3k wont matter trust me ;) Our eyes are more sensitive to black and whites, when its really dark everything we see in black and white. The cones in our eye (for color detection) dont need as much clarity. Thats why color space like 4.2.0 is 1/4 of 4:4:4 The black and whites are preserved and the color is stretched out because humans cant see the difference (unless you zoom in like 400%) which isnt going to happen when you watch TV.

The truly disturbing thing is why Panasonic crippled the firmware.

Its like looking under the hood and finding you have a 4GHz CPU that has been under-clocked to 1GHz.

Hehe, the "experts" like Philip Bloom are convinced something is gonna go wrong and are waiting before they try it...

The only advantage you'll have with the higher bitrate is in post processing. However, with stock you shouldn't be doing too much in the way of post processing anyway.

Phillip Bloom is the king of DSLR. Deal with it Dave.

Blooms a Blowhard...

Of course he'll jump on the band-wagon if it works.