I just purchased a GH1, made in August, and although I don't shoot video I heard that the hacked video is a lot better.
Btw, why would Panasonic put a lock on something that makes their product better...
Cheers!
There is Ver 1.32, which is hackable, but 1.34 which is not.
May 2010 is Ver 1.32, while July 2010 and later is 1.34
June has both Ver 1.32 & 1.34, so you can't tell by date.
So your GH1 has a serial number like xx0Gxxxxxx ? (August 2010)
Your's is NOT hackable.
Thanks!
I hope that at some point down the road Panasonic will provide us with a firmware that unlocks the potential of the camera. It just doesn't make sense to me that Panasonic will cripple their own product.
Why would they have any interest in allowing people to hack their products in the first place? Their interest lies in maintaining complete control over the brand and over their products, not in allowing others to make up their own modifications to those products.
Why would they have any interest in allowing people to hack their products in the first place? Their interest lies in maintaining complete control over the brand and over their products, not in allowing others to make up their own modifications to those products.
"their products" are no longer their products after we purchase them. Manufacturers locking their products in any way from their owners is wrong except when safety is an issue.
It's not wrong, it's a business decision. There are no ethical issues with that business decision.
If a company wants to maintain control over their brand and marketing message, then they won't allow any modifications to it. Lots of companies do that, including the likes of Apple.
Other companies thrive on open standards that invite tinkering.
Neither is right or wrong, it just is.
I think that most people including myself would disagree. All business decisions have ethical ramifications, increasingly in a world where so many aspects of everyone's lives are affected by corporate conduct.
There's also not a lot of incentive for them to provide free upgrades via firmware.