I decided to put the Sony A7S and Atomos Shogun to use shooting some of the snow over Christmas. Shot in Derbyshire (North of England) in 4K with family and at Chatsworth House. Music by singer-songwriter Anne Haight of Berlin!
Minimal handheld Shogun rig with the A7SMonth: December 2014
New iFFmpeg Samsung NX1 H.265 transcoding app for the Mac is the best yet
Samsung NX1 user? I strongly recommend you try this.
Read moreNew iFFmpeg Samsung NX1 H.265 transcoding app for the Mac is the best yet
Canon 1D C used price slips under £5000 – and why I decided to take the gamble and get one
Psst! There’s another one on eBay (in the UK) for £4899 with two batteries here.
The 1D C is a camera that has been the source of both great wonder and bafflement for me since it was released but it is time to bring it into the EOSHD family and shoot with it!
Read moreCanon 1D C used price slips under £5000 – and why I decided to take the gamble and get one
Canon hint at mirrorless future “global shutter makes sense”
Canon are finally on the move. They have given the strongest hints yet that they see mirrorless as the future and have several mock-up designs in the lab.
This is great news for video. How long before DSLRs are phased out?
Read moreCanon hint at mirrorless future “global shutter makes sense”
Atomos Shogun Review – Part 1
This is an early look for now, my unit has only just arrived!! I will be posting some ProRes samples in 4K from the A7S later this weekend.
This is a device that’s set to unleash total magic from the Sony A7S in 4K. It also offers a way for Panasonic GH4 users to record 4K in 10bit to ProRes rather than heavily compressed 8bit 4:2:0 H.264. For the Samsung NX1 it is also compelling, offering us a way to bypass the compression of H.265 altogether (and the lengthy transcoding stage), instead going straight to 4K ProRes in various flavours.
It’s also an IPS 1920×1200 field monitor, so detailed you can nail focus on without even having to dive into the focus assists. The monitoring function is ably assisted by one of the best touch screen user interfaces on the market and recording can be triggered from the camera (the A7S does this already while the GH4 awaits a firmware update in January for it).
It’s a tantalising prospect, so let’s take it out of the box and get acquainted with it!
Fuji X-T1 version 3.0 firmware now available – 24p video mode – and full frame with Speed Booster ULTRA
Well hell has officially frozen over and Fuji have full manual control in video mode along with 24p.
You can download the V3.0 firmware for the X-T1 and X-T1 Chrome edition here. It adds a lot of improvements.
Let’s see what the Samsung NX1 is REALLY capable of – shooting 4K in sunny Lisbon
The light in Berlin is dreary during winter, so I took the NX1 off for a break in the Portuguese city of Lisbon last week. This place has the best weather in Europe and the best light. A magical place.
It gave me a perfect chance to get under the skin of the NX1 – and see just what it can do in the real world.
Read moreLet’s see what the Samsung NX1 is REALLY capable of – shooting 4K in sunny Lisbon
Atomos Shogun sneak peek and EOSHD review coming soon
Three of the most exciting cameras of the year, the Sony A7S, Panasonic GH4 and Samsung NX1 are about to go into a different league as far as video quality and monitoring go. The Atomos Shogun 4K monitor / recorder is now shipping ($1995 / £1220 + VAT) and one is on the way to me, scheduled to arrive this week. I plan to put it to use with all 3 of the aforementioned cameras. I’ll do a shootout comparing them. We’re unlocking as yet unexploited features like 4K mode on the A7S and 10bit 422 on the GH4. For the NX1 it will be useful to record straight to an editable format for a quick turnaround rather than having to transcode from H.265. I’m also expecting image quality gains across the board.
Read moreAtomos Shogun sneak peek and EOSHD review coming soon