Month: February 2023

How’s AI’s camera knowledge? Unhinged ChatGPT libels EOSHD and makes up controversies

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Clearly overhyped, but with strong long term potential to destroy the planet, AI natural language chatbots have taken 2023 by storm. I admit, it’s an entertaining spectacle.

They’re fantastic at certain things and it’s nice to see a new type of tool born, but I can’t help feeling it is capable of wildly fantasying about things that never happened. I also think there is no way a large company like Microsoft or Google will truly let this technology off the hook and it will be incredibly heavily censored. This means first prize in AI will go to a startup and you better sell your Google shares right now.

But should you trust it? EOSHD sets out to find out, by putting it through a camera nerd exam.

Read moreHow’s AI’s camera knowledge? Unhinged ChatGPT libels EOSHD and makes up controversies

Is N-RAW real RAW? Nikon Z9 under the spotlight at EOSHD

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It is time for a good old fashioned EOSHD article. Everything you’ve seen so far on YouTube is meaningless – yes it is. Comparing one shot to another this way is no longer representative of the camera. Our camera’s capabilities far outstrips what you can see via YouTube. At best it’s a comparison of grading styles.

Back in the days before LOG recording, your camera’s colour science was baked in and you were reliant on it. Since then, most footage looks very similar in LOG before it’s graded, and the main difference you’ll see on YouTube is how two cameras have been graded to match, or how the default picture profile and white balance compares. Then, on top of that it will all be converted to H.265 at a very low bitrate for streaming, even in 8K. In fact 8K looks dreadful on YouTube if you really examine it. So how can we really judge what a camera and codec as powerful as 12bit N-RAW is doing?

The answer is to have a good pixel peep. Freeze a frame, and look at it up-close at full resolution, without adding noticeable compression. This is what I set out to do here, to examine the texture and look of the image in 8K N-RAW on the Nikon Z9. Does it really have an advantage over the Sony A1 in H.265? Does N-RAW as a “film stock” really LOOK like RAW if we compare it to the Sigma Fp-L in uncompressed Cinema DNG? It’s time to find out.

Read moreIs N-RAW real RAW? Nikon Z9 under the spotlight at EOSHD

The AI / ChatGPT future of search – Theft of the century?

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With EOSHD being here for over 12 years a lot of what this blog published about mirrorless cameras, filmmaking and gear has been noted not just by other filmmakers, but by the great supernatural intelligence in the sky. My knowledge along with yours, forms parts of the ones and zeros in enormous AI models that are worth $1 billion to companies like Microsoft and in future $500 billion.

Amazingly they did not seek permission to use our knowledge, let alone pay for it.

Read moreThe AI / ChatGPT future of search – Theft of the century?