Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation since 02/19/2024 in all areas

  1. The final line up for the 2024 season. From left to right… S1H with battery grip, 70-200 f4 (not shown, Rode WG2) permanently on tripod shooting static full length ceremony & speeches, manual focus, 4k 25p. Z6ii + adapted Tamron 70-180 f2.8 (not shown battery grip arriving tomorrow) with option Tamron 20-40 f2.8, stills only but can do video in an emergency. Sling on shoulder. S5ii + cage + Sigma 28-70 f2.8 + Rode Micro as my all day run & gun, gimbal ready, 4k 50p unit (so 42-105mm equivalent). Right hip. Zf + 40mm f2 candid stills but can also do video in an emergency. Left hip. Single backpack with all lighting, all other audio, all spare batts, cards, power bank, chargers, gimbal etc, but actually lives in my cart along with the 2 big light stands, 40m extension reel and 500W portable power bank.
    7 points
  2. PannySVHS

    Nikon buys Red?

    I think I know the reason, why Nikon bought Red. I'm very sure they did it just to piss this guy off. He sounds like someone just cut his mullet off. 😊 I like Mike. But seeing and especially hearing him was hillarious. "I am pissed."😂 He just bought an Epic btw.
    5 points
  3. PPNS

    Nikon buys Red?

    Now nikon gets to be the patent troll. Red will probably get to pretend to remain a company for 2 years and then nikon will probably fire the entire workforce, and we get to hear about “the constantly changing landscape of media” in some press release justifying the gutting of the company.
    5 points
  4. As I'm sure you know and you just misspoke, you need an external drive for 12bit 4K, not an external recorder. You can shoot internal 12bit 1080p, but ML Raw has an undeniably better IQ, in all respects, than the FP's FHD. I agree about the IBIS, but I don't really see a point for ML Raw with the R5? You can already shoot internal raw. But all of the Canon IBIS cameras are Digic X, so it will be a long time before they break that code. It will be interesting to see what they can do with the EOS-R and hopefully the M50. I'd actually be really happy if they were able to enable continuous MLV raw on the 5D4. But I'm still really impressed with what the 5D3 with ML Raw and a Canon IS lens is capable of handheld. So maybe I'm just easily impressed.
    5 points
  5. I'll chime in with my usual advice about colour grading. The simple fact is that colour grading has a much more significant role in getting great looking images than the camera does. I'll also re-enforce the points above that what you point the camera at is more important than anything else. When we look at something shot on ARRI or RED or the high end Sony cameras, the reason they look great are 70% the scene, 25% the colour grading and 5% the camera. I know this is a bold statement, but I stand by it. Colour grading is the elephant in the room of all online discussions about cameras. Everyone is looking at sample videos and going "wow, this looks great - I want to get that look without doing any colour grading or work in post at all!" and it's just not true. If you need more convincing, here are a few things to look at: The BMPCC 4K can match the Alexa almost perfectly... So, why don't all P4K videos look as good as Netflix shows? It's not the camera! The image from the GX85 is more flexible in post than you think... @John Matthews I haven't forgotten about doing a follow-up with skin-tones in it. Simple colour grading > Camera colour science... I compare a few examples of the 709 version of some professional grade images with the final colour graded image, and it's pretty obvious that the 709 version looks quite plain - a lot like the images we get when us mere mortals shoot The best film-making advice I ever got was to do with colour grading, but it helped me improve my shooting, editing, sound design, etc etc, the whole lot. Here are a bunch of GX85 shots SOOC that I took in Korea last year.. this just goes to show you that not only is the GX85 a very capable camera, but that it's the subject that you put in front of it that really makes the difference. Of course, colour grading will elevate these beyond that level. High-end TV shows and movies look nothing like the standard images out of a camera... In this thread I compare some standard images from ARRI with real images from TV shows and movies and it's pretty obvious that not only are the colours significantly changed, the real images aren't sharp and clean like the videos that camera YT seems to idolise. The goal isn't technical purity, the goal is creativity, and this means taking your sharp and clean images and giving them some character. I could go on (many will wholeheartedly agree on this!) but long story short... the camera is a minor part of the journey that the image takes from finding / creating something cool to point it at, to all the work done in post. Also, learn to edit. Well edited bad-quality clips are better than boring high-quality images every time.
    4 points
  6. Django

    Nikon buys Red?

    I think if we look at the Komodo which is around the price of a C70, uses RF mount and has AF, it gives us basis to speculate that future entry level RED cams with Nikon tech and Asian manufacturing could venture out of the high-end cine market and compete with Canon & Sony C/FX line. And reverse wise Nikon high-end cams will benefit from Redcode and other ciné savoir-faire like color science, anamorphic support, open gate etc.. it also finally gives Nikon users an upgrade path to a cine line and creates a more viable ecosystem. That is great news for consumers and further increases my desire to switch to Nikon.
    4 points
  7. EspenB

    Nikon buys Red?

    Patents expire after 20 years. The basic "internal compressed RAW" patent expires in april 2028. Or the end of the same year, I'm not sure. In any case "the patent" only has four years to go. https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/to?msg=RED.com RAW patents expire&p0=840&ud=2&year=2028&month=4&day=11&hour=0&min=0&sec=0&fromtheme=party
    4 points
  8. Al Dolega

    Nikon buys Red?

    I just hope Nikon pulls the reins in a bit on Red's tacticool/bro marketing. It's 2024, we don't need any more RAPTORKILLERXXXXTREME NOW WITH BOMB-MAGZ being put out there.
    4 points
  9. What I'd like to see is a tiny OLED viewfinder that would connect with HDMI and 12volt DC. There are a few nice EVFs that connect to proprietary hot shoes such as the Canon EVF-DC2, FUJIFILM EVF-GFX, Sigma EVF-11, Sony FDA-EVM1K, etc. however they aren't able to be used with other cameras. I'd like to see something like this, or an adaptor from the hot shoe connectors to HDMI and D-tap. Then if you have a cinema camera you're not left with only huge EVFs (which are really just small monitors with a loupe.) The one that seems to have this potential is the Sigma EVF-11. In pictures it shows what looks like a USB-C plug, two pins, then what might be a micro-HDMI. It might be possible for there to be an adaptor to use this.
    4 points
  10. This is veering somewhat off topic so all I will say is I operate within a niche within a niche. I have worked very hard for over a decade to be in this position. I'm not being bigheaded about it, but I'm not going to give or piss it away for either nothing or a fast buck. And I have no obligation to share that knowledge, paid or otherwise. As above, way off topic so I'll shut up about it 😘 But no John, it's terrible!
    4 points
  11. I don't know what's going on in your world, but I can tell you it doesn't matter how you fiddle the menu on a camera that leads to good shots. All the real work that happens with a good shot starts outside of the camera. The camera is honestly one of the LAST things you should fret about. I swear to God, you can be a better shooter by visiting a museum full of Romanticism Artistic movement paintings. Study how light affects a scene, and you'll become a more sophisticated videograper that way. If you can't train yourself to "see light" you're always gonna struggle. I'm not being flippant here. It's the cheat-code. Skip all the tech BS and learn light. Take a classic art appreciation class. Learn composition skills. These are the things that actually make a difference. Train your eye to be a shooter and a person that can paint with light. Sure, you can be a pixel nerd, but that has a low ceiling of accomplishment and, honestly, advanced tech makes those acomplishments not a big deal to begin with. And look, when you study art, you'll learn more about the human condition along the way, maybe even some philosophy. Win-win.
    3 points
  12. FYI, I've started a GitHub project to create a repository for sensor readout speeds of all cameras, for both stills and video, using a standardized measurement method that involves a $17 USD Arduino board. The project's homepage is: https://github.com/horshack-dpreview/RollingShutter The project has a link to the current database, a primer about rolling shutter artifacts, source code, and collection details for those who would like to contribute their camera's images to be measured and added to the database. Direct link to current results: https://horshack-dpreview.github.io/RollingShutter/
    3 points
  13. newfoundmass

    Nikon buys Red?

    People keep talking about the patent, but I really don't think it is the reason behind the purchase at all. Nikon wants to get into the video/cinema market. Their recent releases are evidence of that. They have very little chance though of getting a foothold in the market on their own. Purchasing RED, even though it lags behind ARRI and probably even Sony, makes a lot more sense than creating something on their own from scratch that will likely fail. Major blockbusters and shows are filmed using RED cameras. Tons of independent films are shot on RED cameras. It has a loyal user base. Those are reasons enough for any company looking to get into the cinema/video market to purchase them instead of starting from scratch. Will it work? Who knows, but it's a better building block than what they had to work with. Better to own the company whose camera was used to film blockbusters like Guardians of the Galaxy and Aquaman than to release a cinema camera that will see minimal adoption,
    3 points
  14. kye

    Nikon buys Red?

    Announcements like this are just wonderful... All it took was a pair of press-releases and all of a sudden dozens of people with no training or experience instantly turn into patent attorneys and corporate lawyers specialising in mergers and acquisitions and market strategists etc, and not only that, they also instantly gained insider knowledge about market caps, sales figures, product strategies, etc, and just when you'd think that it couldn't get any better they also become R&D experts in both hardware and software design! With a shift so radical in capability, even the hardened skeptic must believe there is a higher power involved.
    3 points
  15. Tim Sewell

    A couple of firsts

    First finished piece using the FS7, first live band video. This was a bit of a nightmare, to be honest, but it taught me 4 very valuable lessons for next time: 1. Get to the venue before the soundcheck. Set up and crucially... 2. Get the band to do a run-through of the song you're covering, ideally with the stage lighting as it will be later. 3. Get a second static view that you can just leave rolling. 4. During the gig, start rolling and don't stop until the end. You can probably guess from the above that my major problem wit this piece was lack of coverage, which is why some of the cutaways don't quite fit. Having said all that, it was a great experience and the band are happy; so on to the next one!
    3 points
  16. Tim Sewell

    A couple of firsts

    The biggest thing for me, using it, is the realisation that a huge proportion of the features we pay extra for in hybrid cameras are really just workarounds for the problems caused by using a completely inappropriate form factor for shooting video.
    3 points
  17. BTM_Pix

    Nikon buys Red?

    I’m not sure as a hardcore fan of any sport how you could be lukewarm about systematic cheating as, well, it doesn’t seem very, erm, “sporting”. From my personal point of view as a pro sports photographer covering Tour de France in that era though I’m far from lukewarm about having sat in press conferences being lied to by him and watching him ridicule and soil the reputation of David Walsh and Paul Kimmage. Or Emma O’Reilly. I’m also sore that in Armstrong’s case, unlike all the other ones I’ve covered, that I get zero residuals from my “winner of stage x” or “winner of TdF x” images 🙂 I might be being old fashioned here but I’d give it to the highest placed cyclist that wasn’t using PEDs. I have some sympathy with the “well they were all at it” aspect so, fine, let everyone do it and have a special event. Just don’t call it sport when it’s only being used by some of the field.
    3 points
  18. With today's news, I feel like I made the right choice going with the Z9s, not just for now, but for the future.
    3 points
  19. Well, I was a m43 user, but moved on since I saw the writing on the wall (until now, my predictions are 100% accurate). My 2 cents is my current camera: Fujifilm X-S20. A EVF hump bigger than the GX85 (which I had, and loved), IBIS (not amazing, but better than none), very good AF (much better than the Gen4 Fujis, and there is a firmware update on the way to improve it and give touch-tracking in video), 10 bit 4-2-2, and using Flog or Flog2 the DR comparison to a GX85 is enormous. Size of the system is a bit larger than m43, but lenses still smaller than FF. The Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 is almost glued to my camera - very good image, diminutive size (shpuld be the blueprint for future m43 zooms, but...).
    3 points
  20. Oh, I've imagined all kinds of things for it, but in the spirit of this type of camera itself (i.e. practicality), I don't expect to ever see them realized. I don't think they sell enough units to have multiple models in this space, so I doubt the XF400/XF405 will ever get direct similar-size replacement; the XF605 seems to be the replacement for both the XF405 and the bigger XF705. Raw and global shutter would probably land flat on their face in terms of attracting the buyers of these types of cameras, who probably would be more interested in better battery life, better stabe, a longer and wider focal range, streaming and broadcast hookups, etc.
    3 points
  21. The new 28-200 is roughly the same size and weight as the 20-60mm so it is a lot more balanced to the Fp. It has a a great range and having the OIS offers an interesting proposition of it turning the Fp into a very compact Cinecorder. However, it is very, very slow on the long end though, particularly for only 200mm. Not that ultra shallow depth of field is the be all and end all of course but f7.1 is a bit of a stretch. Of course the swing to that particular roundabout is that you don't have to worry so much about the camera not having sentient AF !
    3 points
  22. I think I droned out these exact same thoughts in the G9ii or some similar thread about MFT but I'll repeat them anyway 🙂 In terms of a new camera, I honestly think its time to give up on Panasonic producing that specced up GX85 that everybody knows they could make if they wanted to. In the absence of the "new" Olympus not doing anything to move the MFT story along either in terms of a compact then something like the A6700 is that camera now. As well as being a larger sensor, it ticks every box of what is being asked for in terms of being dual native ISO, 10bit 4:2:2 internal, IBIS, class leading AF, LOG and a very good out of the box profile in S-Cinetone. Very flexible mount in that it can even take your MFT manual focus lenses and has very good options like the Meike EF>E which will give you full AF of Canon lenses with the bonus of variable ND. In terms of native lenses, there are a lot more E mount options now compared to when, say, the GX85 launched and it is seeing more releases every month unlike MFT which is slowing now. The writing was on the wall when Sigma expanded their compact f1.4 prime lineup with the 56mm and didn't release an MFT version. Their two compact contemporary f2.8 zoom lenses are also not available in MFT of course. Size wise there isn't anything in it from the front and the GX85 is actually a fraction bigger. The A6700 is deeper but most of that is attributable to the chunky grip which, to me, is no bad thing as the GX85 is not chunky enough for me and the A6700's incorporates a dial too. Price wise, it is a lot more expensive than the GX85 was on launch but so is everything else now and it is significantly cheaper than Panasonic's latest MFT camera, the G9ii. The virtual shark jumping price of the G9ii makes me suspect that even if Panasonic did produce a new specced up GX85 that it would likely be at least as expensive as the A6700. If you want to be closer spiritually to a combo of the GX85 and OG Pocket then, if you embrace the quirks, the Sigma Fp is well worth a consideration particularly as the used prices are dropping. Personally, I'd add the EVF-11 as it is so much nicer to shoot with whilst at the same time you can remover it and leave it in your pocket if you need to go smaller. The tilt action of the EVF enables you to press the camera to your chest to offer a lot more stability when handholding. That is important because you lose IBIS of course but you gain RAW and, as with the AF of the Fp, the internal 8 bit 4K is far more serviceable than people give it credit for and if you only need HD then its 12 bit internal. As with the EVF, the modularity means that if you want more capability in terms of bit depth then you can add it easily and discreetly. The Fp has largely been forgotten/written off by an awful lot of people around the world but in Japan, in particular, there is some absolutely lovely imagery being uploaded to YouTube every week from it.
    3 points
  23. 10-bit is always better than 8-bit, and 4:2:2 is always better than 4:2:0, but the question is if that difference is actually visible / meaningful. If you're doing very little grading in post then 8-bit vs 10-bit and 4:2:0 vs 4:2:2 probably doesn't have any visible or meaningful difference. But I suggest doing a test. Just find a bunch of scenes around the house (or not out of the way) and shoot the same composition in each mode and then just load them up side-by-side and look at them. If the 8-bit 4:2:0 shot doesn't make your stomach turn then just go with it. In the end, if you can lessen the impact or eliminate overheating, that you can lessen or eliminate the impact of running out of SD card space, then that means you can relax more while recording, you could shoot more, you can have extra time and energy and headspace that was previously devoted to worrying about or managing these things. If you can have more headspace and be more relaxed while shooting then the way you use the camera, and the way that you behave while recording will be better. If you behave better then what is in front of the camera might also be better. So, realistically, the option is potentially of having a very slightly worse recording of potentially much better material.
    3 points
  24. Wow thanks@PannySVHS! Never thought my stuff would be brought up here. The S5IIX, to be honest I haven't been shooting much this year so not a ton of time with it yet, but a bit of a mixed bag so far. Love the new AF, the intraframe codecs are nice to have as my stuff has so much motion in it. Other than that it's mostly the same as my S1, which was/is great (other than the AF). On the negative side, my X has had a problem with looseness and glitching in the mic jack since I got it. Wasn't bad at first as I customized my cage to put a little bit of pressure on the plug, which worked for a while, but now it's gotten worse and I have it boxed up to go to Panasonic for repair. I'm not a fan of the new processing for the linear profiles, I shoot entirely in V-Log so it actually doesn't affect me, but... gross, looks like cellphone footage. I'm eagerly awaiting the S1Hii or S1X or whatever comes next, but they'd better fix that processing. The piece you posted was almost entirely Cine-D, a couple of V-Log L shots from when there was that "hack" to install it on the GH4 for free- and I'm glad I didn't just pony up for the official upgrade, because I couldn't get around banding in the sky (you can really see this in the shot at 0:17, and it's not just YouTube's compression), would have been a waste of money. For post I just used the Leeming Cine-D LUT, and then his "Rich Velvet" Quickie (look) LUT, pulled back a bit. I liked the density and saturation this gave me, reminded me of some HVX200/HPX170 stuff that I'd seen years ago. Past that just some selective Neat-ing and a bit of unsharp mask. I appreciate you noting the detailed/not oversharp look, that's what I've always gone for. Lenses, for fisheyes the GH4 had a cheap "manybrand" (Samyang/Bower/Rokinon etc) 8mm f3.5, on a 0.64x Metabones BMCC booster that the shutter would crash into if triggered so I had to remember to WB with a different lens. Then on the G85 I had the native-mount manybrand 7.5mm f3.5, much easier to work with, smaller/lighter/cheaper/sharper, but not as wide of a FOV. The booster/8mm shots are the ones with the slight vignetting in the corners. For regular lenses it was about half adapted Minolta MD/MC stuff, no booster as I couldn't find an affordable one that didn't flare/blue dot like crazy, and half Nikkors on a Metabones 0.71x booster. No Panasonic lenses as I couldn't get good results with manual focus or AF. Thanks @kye, the truth is that I really struggle with editing and rely heavily on beat/music/rhythm for structure and flow. So that means a lot. The B-roll shots are actually a bit sparser in this piece than usual, this is a reaction on my part to so many other video profiles of female rollerbladers often being padded out with too much slo-mo, B-roll, and second/third angles of tricks, usually to cover for a lack of clips of actual tricks. Chynna is arguably the best in the world at this style of skating so I wanted this to be a bit more "all killer no filler"- 35 tricks in 4 minutes- typically the better men in the sport will have about 25-35 tricks in this length, while the aforementioned female pieces have 15-20, plus plenty of slomo of them tying their hair up and putting their skates/helmets on 😄
    3 points
  25. ac6000cw

    Motion Cadencemo

    I bought a used OM-1 a while ago, and it's slowly turned into my favoured camera for video since then (despite some of its annoyances). I think part of the reason for that is because it has a very fast readout stacked sensor, with rolling shutter time around 5-7 ms in FHD & UHD, which seems to give a 'solidity' to the video combined with fluid motion handling (I normally shoot at 50p), compared to my G9 with about 12-15 ms rolling shutter. If my liking of the OM-1 video is due to low rolling shutter then maybe I'm subconsciously sensitive to the picture distortions created by rolling shutter (including interactions with the IBIS behaviour). But then I'm often filming subjects like trains which readily show up rolling shutter distortions, so maybe that's sensitised me to it?
    3 points
  26. After owning a variety of consumer/prosumer camcorders (starting with VHS-C in 1995, then several DV then HDV), I skipped DVD-based ones and decided that the memory-card based ones (that I could afford) were getting too small and light to hand-hold with reasonable stability. Also viewfinders were becoming rare other than on the higher-end camcorders. Having noticed that reasonable video was starting to appear as a feature in 'photo' cameras, I tried a Pana TZ7/ZS3 compact, then a Sony HX9V compact and Pana FZ100 superzoom. Decided that I preferred the form-factor/handling so moved on to a Pana G3 MILC - nice and compact, good to hold, with a decent viewfinder, video, audio and stills. Upgraded after a while to a G6 with 14-140mm lens (probably my all-time favourite lens) - much larger sensor than any consumer camcorder but still a fairly compact setup for something with a 10:1 zoom lens. As I'm very much a hybrid shooter, I prefer the m43 'compact MILC' form-factor (and the IBIS). The only 'icing on the cake' that I'd like is a quality power-zoom lens with a decent range - the (now obsolete) Oly 12-50 is about as close as m43 has ever got to that. So no, I wouldn't buy a 'camcorder' form-factor camera again. (When I look at some of my old VHS-C or DV footage, it just reminds me of how far consumer/prosumer video capture has improved over time...from less-than-SD resolution, interlaced, noisy, smudgy video to pristine 50p/60p UHD from a pocket-sized camera - wow!)
    3 points
  27. Perverse. AI images over deliver in this situation. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/willy-wonka-event-uk-chocolate-experience-meth-lab-1235837133/?fbclid=IwAR1S4lRs2eTLuenEEGro-pOVC1BNUteDcNJ_AQYMinJmgFe1GCRU49eNALI_aem_ASDqmkSsZecQEbJvnJb6b7eJ9ftjr6U3ZFS23kqlN2eNEXUKvv9sfDvgFIOAkrHGi74
    3 points
  28. Hello everyone, just wanted to share a little travel film I shot in Valencia on my first trip with the S5IIX, hope you're gonna enjoy!
    3 points
  29. This is a ridiculous post. What is the context? There are some situations with some camera/lens combinations in which AF is undoubtably superior. Indeed, AF can make shots which would be hard if not impossible with MF straightforward. There are, equally, some situations when MF is perfect. I prefer MF lenses but I regret that preference time after time - there are things I’d like to do but don’t have the talent or skills or resources to do with MF. To make a blanket statement about your experience with no context is nonsense. Your scoop is possibly better used to serve mashed potato.
    3 points
  30. Tim Sewell

    Fuji X100VI - Released

    I'd be interested to know what feature or capability Fuji could have included that would have prevented the OP from being beyond disappointed and let down.
    3 points
  31. What disappoints you, what were you hoping for? 40MP and IBIS seems very cool! And for the video geeks, 10-bit 6.2K 30p, 4K 60p, or FHD 240p video recording. Built in 4 stop ND filter is nice too. Being able to work with Frame.io is another new thing too.
    3 points
  32. I spent a lot of time testing different configurations to make the FP more ergonomic. I finally found the best cage and drive to keep it, relatively, compact without going down the Dark Labs rabbit hole... With that said, out of the box, the camera isn't much bigger than the original eos-m, so when you add a cage, the ssd, lens adapter and lens, it morphs into a much larger camera that isn't much smaller than my 5D3 but much more cumbersome. The screen is pretty nice on the FP and excuse the pun, but with the 5D3, you can see the "magic" of raw on the LCD. With the FP, although it's a better screen, the image has a very flat, dimensional look. Battery life isn't that great with the FP either, compared to the 5D3... I'd say you can get about 45 minutes, or so. In some ways, the FP would probably work better if fully rigged out or if the barebones camera was on a gimbal with the SSD attached to the gimbal's handle. With my current setup, I'd say @BTM_Pix 's approach using M mount lenses would probably be the most compact route. I've been looking at some LTM lenses, so we'll see. In a perfect world, I'd have the money to buy an R5C or R5ii when it gets released, but that doesn't seem likely, so I'll decide what to do with my FP. To tell the truth, if someone offered me a good price, I'd consider selling it right now. I got OpenAI for video now.
    3 points
  33. Perhaps the critical concept is that AI is calculators trained with only human input data. This whole thing is like when people learned anatomy. At first people thought that we couldn't possibly understand how the body worked because it was made by God. Over many hundreds of years we've basically worked out more and more of the organic chemistry and various principles etc, and now no-one who is familiar with modern medicine would question our ability to understand the physical body. Now comes AI, and we're back to saying that we couldn't possibly understand or replicate what it is to be human, because we're etherial magical special and knowable only to God. I think that line of thinking will suffer the same fate, and will suffer it at thousands of times the pace.
    3 points
  34. I inherited my grandfather's 16mm Bell & Howell last summer. It was a great piece of equipment back in the day. I filmed my daughter on a miniDV camcorder and this week I picked up a Panasonic VX980. It made me suddenly consider ditching everything else as it's so much fun to shoot on with its glorious 400g body, auto features, and 31-626mm equiv. (1800mm digital is usable in 1080p) lens. I might find myself wanting more later, but for now I'm loving it. Amazing, for an "old" Panasonic, it has great AF. There's no real fussing about with Picture Profiles either. You just open the screen and record 1080p 50fps at 50mbps. Shooting inside? Sure it's noisy but cleans up nicely with Topaz. I just throw Film Convert on it and it looks great, with a clear, sharp, rather detailed image with nice color. Anyone else shooting these?
    2 points
  35. Theoretically I agree, but in practice no box cameras have built the required ecosystem of accessories to create compact camcorder ergonomics. The two missing pieces are are the side handle, and the monitor. There are plenty of "dumb" side handles, but to match camcorder ergonomics it needs lots of buttons. The FS7 handle with its multiple function buttons, joystick, etc. is a starting point. There are very few good monitor options under 5", and you need bulky batteries or lots of cables. By that time you've got a cinema rig. We could really do with some more open standards for camera controls, video, and audio. Lots of vendor lock these days in terms of accessories.
    2 points
  36. Oh, I'm dreaming of even more. I'm thinking of internal raw recording in a camcorder. (It would likely have to be uncompressed raw because of Red's patent but if I'm dreaming here it would be ProResRaw and/or BRaw.) I'm thinking of the type of narrative filmmaking where you have actors and all but the filming situation is such that you don't have much control over the setting (or much time with the location). You need to set up fast and get the shots and move on. A camcorder is perfect for that. It would need some type of timecode jam sync for any external audio recorder(s).
    2 points
  37. Modular. That’s my answer! Start with a cube and build everything off that. Want a battery grip, add that option. Want a side (either or both) or top handle, add it. External SSD, top, side or below, you choose. External monitor, top or rear. Some kind of rifle stock? Add it. Then if the camcorder thing is your jam, a power zoom. The only thing about the available box style cameras is the lack of IBIS. Are there any? I really wanted to build a hybrid set up off the Lumix BS1H but quickly discovered that for hybrid use, too many compromises. I could probably live without the IBIS as OIS lenses are available, but the number available already limits things massively. Add the monitor OK, but then no mech shutter which with Z8/Z9 sophistication is OK, but not with 4-5 year old Lumix. Ditto Sigma FP. Not quite a box, but so close and yet so far from my needs which to this day, are still best served by the MILC. I really would like to see more innovation in this regard rather than ‘spec’ and the MP arms race.
    2 points
  38. I've been saying this for years. The DVX100 had the best ergonomics/size of any camera I've ever owned and was a joy to shoot. And it had a global shutter.
    2 points
  39. I loved old camcorder ergonomics. Large battery on the back, flip out screen on the side, nice slot for your hand on the right. The Sony NEXVG900 was a neat concept, but I guess it didn't sell because it was a one off.
    2 points
  40. Cheers mate! 😊 90% of the shots is the Lumix S 50 1.8 and I've used the 20-60 kit lens for the wide angles.
    2 points
  41. Nice compositions. What lenses did you use?
    2 points
  42. Jesus Christ these youtubers are insufferable! The thing hasn't even come out yet but it already destroyed stuff? Gets a click I guess.
    2 points
  43. 2 points
  44. Yes I see that, but I can also see these types of jobs only being viable long enough until AI makes another leap and renders them obsolete. Pretty much a race to the bottom where the jobs that are paying/viable have little to do with being creative.
    2 points
  45. Here's my Panasonic 2024 travel setup: Generic bag Panasonic HC-VX980 (integrated 31-626mm lens), 2 batteries, USB power cord Panasonic GX800, 3 batteries, lenses (Panasonic 12-32mm, 17mm f/1.8, and 45mm f/1.8), USB charging cord Variable ND + CPL that fit both cameras Olympus LS-P4 audio recorder with wind muff 3 x SD cards The total weight: about 1650g. This setup is significantly less than my FF setup (especially considering I'd need a bigger bag, NDs, lenses, etc.). With the release of the new Panasonic 28-200mm, I thought I might get away with that but have since reconsidered. I like the idea of having two devices, one for video, one for photos and b-roll video. At $900, the 28-200mm's a decent deal IMO, given the size, but I'd probably need to sell the remainder of my M43 stuff. Also, I'd probably end up wanting more lenses for lower light with a FF setup.
    2 points
  46. I think people brushing this aside are being a bit short-sighted, bordering on naive. I'd say that what we've seen so far from text-to-image from machine learning has been - Quick developing. One month it's all fuzzy, the next month it's all smoothed out. One month there are 11 fingers on each hand, a year later there are only 6.😅 In other words - it iterates fast. Unpredictable. As even a tech-savvy person, it is really hard to predict what 'AI' (I don't like using that term) is going to be good at, and bad at - 🖐️! Far reaching. Useful. I'm not a particular enthusiast, but I have used Adobe's AI tools on around 75% of the projects I have delivered as a freelancer over the past 6 months or so. And that's just casually discovering things that make my life *tons* easier. I also believe them to be reasonably ethical, or I wouldn't be using them. Similarly, I think the impact of this will be quick developing and unpredictable. The biggest threat I think, may be that unpredictability itself. It's going to be very difficult developing a workflow, without knowing whether it will become undermined by a much easier AI pathway at some not-so-distant point. Example - I recently decided to really lean into doing 2.5d and true 3d animations from flat artworks as a client offering (for context, a lot of my clients are museums). To really develop skills in this using tools like Cinema 4D, Projection 3D, DUIK, etc. will take a couple of years of learning as I go. I very much doubt that AI will explode into use in that time, but certainly at some point just beyond that horizon I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a turnkey AI tool that offers very professional bespoke 3D animation from still images. That's very up AI's street. Aside from some very obvious things, like news gathering, I don't see anything that machine learning could not potentially impact within the foreseeable future. This includes - editing a corporate film from start to finish from supplied footage almost instantly, with several versions to choose from; writing a compelling and original television series (yes, I honestly believe that machines will be doing this); creating photo-realistic footage of any location in the world that has been photographed more than 3 times, etc., etc. Of the course the nature of unpredictability is that just as equally, none of this might happen. But I think the main point to make is that the scale of the threat (to professional livelihoods) is so profound, that anybody just blithely ignoring it has their head in the sand to my reckoning.
    2 points
  47. Next to nothing, there is one listed right now for a buy now price of US$825.99: https://www.ebay.com/itm/276260362267 Also, if this is working for the AJA Cion, then I wonder, the Blackmagic Production 4K Camera and the URSA 4K / URSA Mini 4K all share the same sensor as the AJA Cion, could the same process work for them too? They're even cheaper!
    2 points
  48. I suspect you've fallen foul of the "y" being adjacent to the "t" on the keyboard there.
    2 points
  49. Allthough you need an external recorder. (something I don't like because it makes the setup too big and defeats the joy for shooting for me). + the IBIS is not to be underestimated. But the sigma FP does have an nice image.
    2 points
  50. It's called a Sigma FP and I assume it's due for an update soon.
    2 points
×
×
  • Create New...