B0043ve26u-224x99Programmer Vitaliy Kiselev recently got ahold of a leaked firmware update for the Panasonic GH2 and has now hacked it successfully. This could lead to new features, as we saw last time around with the GH1 hack. While this brand new GH2 firmware hack is very much in beta, features that are at least working partially include the 30 minute clip length limit being removed (for PAL versions), a PAL / NTSC menu function, new audio bitrates, AGC selection, 720/25p, 1080/25p, and 1080/60p (the latter two currently freeze the camera). If you're feeling adventurous or want to help with the further development of the hack, here are the installation instructions for PC users (Mac users are instructed to use this):

  1. Place ptool3.zip and GH1__V13.zip inside one folder
  2. Extract both archives and delete zip files
  3. Now you must have two files - ptool3.exe and GH1___132.BIN
  4. Run ptool3.exe, check help hints or FAQ and manual threads

Donations to Vitaly can be made here. This firmware is very much in development; stay tuned as new features are added and it becomes more stable.


Link: PTools + GH2 Firmware, Instructions

[via EOSHD]