Just a few short days ago, news came out that the firmware for the Panasonic Lumix GH1 got hacked. Now typically, you’d think that was a bad thing, and typically, you’d be right. However, in this case, that is far from the truth. Instead, the firmware hack for the GH1, made by Tester13, allows it to take MJPEG videos with a bitrate of up to 50 Mbps. That’s right; 50 Mbps. This is a higher bitrate than even the Canon 5D Mark II can take right now, with it’s average of 35 Mbps meaning cleaner footage with less artifacts. With the ability to shoot at 50 Mbps, video on the Panasonic Lumix can come out with almost no visible compression at all. The gradients in the footage look smooth and natural, and the detail is, for a lack of a better word, astounding. As an added bonus, since the GH1 scales and processes data by binning individual pixels rather than using line skipping, giving it a cleaner image than a 5D when downscaled from its 12 MP sensor. Also with this hack comes some groundbreaking workflow improvements. Using the 32 Mbit AVCHD mode with this hack, you can edit the native 24p footage natively on a Mac and PC in a fraction of the time.

All this comes at a small price however. First, the camera will often have card read/write errors due to the high bitrate and of course, fills up a CompactFlash card really fast. Also, playing this high bitrate footage will cause many computers to choke. Of course, as a firmware hack, there is at least a small potential that your camera’s hardware could be adversely affected by allowing it to do something it shouldn’t. Lastly,  the sensor size of the full frame 5D compared to the smaller APS-C makes for a greater chance for noise.

Nonetheless, hacks like these do effect one thing: they show camera companies how badly their users want these functions in their cameras. You sometimes have to wonder why they don’t just outright develop these same hacks into upgrades that their users can have. It would be a great chance to score some points with consumers that want to get the most out of their cameras and wouldn’t be of any harm to those who would never use the feature. Other cameras such as the Canon 1D Mark IV could also benefit from a small upgrade too. I mean can somebody tell me why Canon still hasn’t gotten rid of the auto gain control in the 7D and 1D too? Hopefully these companies will take a hint and start providing the relatively easy features that users want out of their cameras so that they can feel good about their purchases and feel good about staying loyal too.

Every once in a blue moon, a technology announcement goes from the usual to the revolutionary. When recording moving pictures became possible on magnetic video tape, it revolutionized where producers could film, allowed them to view their footage right away, and most of all saved filmmakers a great deal of money. The problem was that it also changed the look and “feel” of film that many audiences and producers had grown to love. Instead, video had low resolution, bad color reproduction, recorded at 30 fps instead of 24, and worst of all, virtually no depth of field. This gave video a completely different look and unfortunately a distinct ring of low quality to most audiences when they viewed it. Since that time however, much progress has been made toward achieving that “film look” again. Over time color space improved in video, 24P shooting modes were introduced, and picture resolution increased. Even with all of these improvements, filmmakers realized that there was still one vital thing missing in the pursuit to achieve the look of film: interchangeable lenses.

With Sony’s announcement of their tiny AVCHD high-definition camcorder with an interchangeable lens system, the revolution of interchangeable lenses has begun. It finally appears that camera manufacturers are taking interchangeable lenses seriously. While some might say it’s silly to manufacture a camera that’s smaller than its lens, I think that its results speak for itself. All one has to do is look at the beautiful depth of field in the footage that a camera with interchangeable lenses can produce, and it’s hard not to be sold on the idea. With a shallow depth of field, even small camcorders can draw your viewer’s attention to the area of the screen that is in focus – eliminating distractions in the background. This is the reason why interchangeable lenses are so revolutionary. In fact, I would go so far as to say that even cell phone cameras, which can now shoot in 720P, would be better off with an option for a small interchangeable lens system. Just imagine how much money it would save, and the artistic possibilities you could have if you were able to shoot footage on a cell phone that was similar in quality to footage shot on film. It would truly be a revolution.

With that being said, I can admittedly see one thing that could spell doom for the interchangeable lens revolution: compatibility. It would be great if camera and lens manufacturers could agree on making a standard for lens mounts on all cameras. I know this is wishful thinking here as companies make a lot of money off the different mounts they sell, but quite honestly, I think these manufacturers should be competing on lens quality and not compatibility. Plus, without a standard, many people would be forced into buying lenses and cameras from just one manufacturer which could put them in a real bind when newer and better equipment comes out from an entirely different manufacturer that does not have a compatible lens mount. Even with these problems though, the ability to shoot on both consumer and prosumer cameras with interchangeable lenses will no doubt have a huge impact on both amateur and professional cinematographers alike. With the ability to shoot with interchangeable lenses, camera manufacturers will have finally won the battle of making video look like film.

VHS, NTSC, and 8mm film are all technologies that I’ve been happy to see the back end of. They’ve been surpassed by newer technologies that have vastly improved motion picture image reproduction. No one is pining for the days of VHS anymore, or artificially degrading their pictures down to 240 lines of resolution to achieve that “VHS look.”

There is however one ancient technology that is still seriously impairing the quality of video these days and that is 24p. Frankly 24p deserves to die and be buried in the obsolete format graveyard where it belongs.

The problem with 24p, isn’t the “p” part. Everyone agrees that all things being equal, a progressive scan gives you better resolution and detail than an interlaced image. (Interlaced video is also one of those ancient video relics that deserves to be beaten to death, and I’ll be the first one in with a baseball bat.) There’s just no reason for interlaced video anymore in a world of flat panel displays.

No the problem with 24p is the 24 part. 24 frames per second is just to slow and juddery for good motion reproduction. We need to collectively make the jump to 60p and do it now.

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