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VLog L converted with Cineon LOG to Linear LUT. A mixture of 4K 24p and HD 96fps. Things I'm loving about VLogL: Dynamic Range, and Color Things that aren't so great: Banding, and noise. I'm hoping that using an external recorder at 10 bit 4:2:2 will help with the latter.

Putting together an edit of V Log clips from downtown Chicago. Here are some stills till I can finish. I tried finding scenes with extreme DR (alot of shadows, and sunlight).

Hey - I'm no Blackmagic lover, but even I can see that if you expose your shots properly both cameras are entirely usable. All cameras have their flaws, and let's be real - the Epic is (or was) $30k just for the brain versus the URSA which is what - $6k? (can't keep up with BM's pricing these days) So you'd hope there's going to be a difference. All I'm saying is - despite the fact that REDs have been used on countless high end productions over the past 8 years, it's not like the REDs are flawless. RED have suffered immensely from corrupt files, camera crashes, high amounts of noise (especially early releases of Dragon), and overall unreliability - not to mention overheating and the noisy fan, boot up times on the RED One, buggy firmware releases etc. etc. I once ACd on a RED that had to be re-booted about every 3 hours because it would just shit itself. Then there's the REDs that wouldn't boot up unless you plugged the VF Lemo cable in, pressed the red button, pulled it out, pressed the red button again, and then plugged it back in... You can get great images out of a RED, and many of its bugs have been ironed out over firmware and hardware upgrades... But to suggest that it hasn't had its problems is disingenuous - especially when they've been out in the wild for about 8 years... unlike BM

I used one of James Miller's new V-Log LUTs (AA20) for a moody look. This was shot at ISO 1600 because I wanted to see how bad it would look, given all the complaints about noise. To my surprise, this LUT does a fine job of suppressing it. It's a darker grade but there is more going on than that. A pass of the same clips with the Varicam V709 LUT follows for comparison. That's also the LUT I had loaded into the Odyssey 7Q+ while I was shooting. GH4 + Helios 44 + Metabones Speed Booster + ISO 1600 + V-Log L (-5, -5) + Captured in 10bit ProRes HQ + LUT AA20 by James Miller GRADED V709 So while Vimeo compression has hidden half the noise, I gotta say I'm kinda okay with how the noise looks. It gets pretty disgusting when you move NR above -5, in my opinion. But leaving NR all the way down let's the noise be fine and detailed, which I prefer to murky and glompy. I rarely shoot above ISO 800 but given the right context, the right kind of movie, I think it works.

Jup. Almost as if they tricked people. It's like you're in a mall and walk into this one store and they've got a little promotional stand to sample something... you like it so much, you come back again a little later for another free sample at the end of your shopping spree hoping the lady doesn't recognise you from earlier. Still leaves you wanting more... you know you can't keep showing up for free samples forever and finally just give in a buy the damn thing to enjoy it in abundance and all its glory. Does make sense just to pay for it. In some way everybody that's serious about their video gets the real NLE deal too, I guess you could probably download a cracked version from somewhere, but if it's something you actually have to work with... you just want to keep it legit and furthermore: with the least amount of hassle/worries about functionality. Anyways, they've got my 103 or so EUR already. Just would appreciate it if they'd ship out those keys already, really don't see what's keeping them. In meanwhile it can't hurt to leave 2.3 on there with the workaround V-LOG already sampling it. Already having some experience with how to shoot & process the footage will save some time having to figure it out later.

I would think so but maybe someone else can confirm. If anyone is interested in downloading a 4K VLog file from the camera I put one up on Dropbox:https://www.dropbox.com/s/dqt77smrousu9vk

Half life mf!

10 bit 4:2:2 in camera would be game over. I couldn't see using any other camera for a long time.

From the info that has been shared here and in the article linked on the other page, shouldn't it be enough most of the time to ETTR using zebras at 75% (or 80% - need to test this) almost all the time and then pull down as needed? Shouldn't that do the trick as well or even better than the 18%/42 IRE/greycard/waveform with external recorder thingie majingie magic? Anyway it will be fun to figure this all out. Can't wait for the 2.4 firmware update with 4:2:2

God, I hate their design style... Not enough to put me off, but that whole military thing is so crude and dated.

I'm on the mailing list of a site called Desktop Documentaries and recently received an email recommending a documentary kit for $1000. Uh oh! It included a Canon T5i and an H4n as THE basics for a cheap large sensor video camera package. So with as much tact as I could muster, I replied and informed the site owner I didn't think it was very fair to be recommending this particular set of items in 2015 to people who don't know any better (the site is mainly aimed at filmmaking begginers). I expected to receive either a dismissive reply or at best be ignored. What actually happened was I got a reply from Faith (the site owner) offering to pay me to write a better-informed article! So I did. Here's my article, in which I discuss the evolution of hybrid cameras (from the 5D MkII to the latest 4K models) and recommend my own gear package for $1000 (including all the very basics you'd need to shoot a documentary): http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/cinematic-documentary-gear-package.html I'd love to hear what you guys think of the list I put together (and my article in general!) and what you might have done differently ... PS: You can also see a few films I shot a while back with the camera in question here: http://lintelfilm.uk/blog/affordable-cinematic-video

I tried a little, at home, nothing serious, but using my GH4 next to my BlackMagic Pocket, the difference is huge. The GH4 with V-Log gave me far more noise with similar setting and lenses. I normally prefer the easy (and long battery life) GH4 for everyday shooting, reserving the BlackMagic for shorter work or for work with no rush, but this time the GH4 disappointed me a little. The long awaited V-Log looks awful next to the flat Pocket's ProRes HQ.

It's better than any of the other 4K hybrids. By a mile. Looks like the GH4 still shows those weird blobby artifacts around point light sources at high ISO. I really hope they work on that for the GH5. It's so wacky-looking and impossible to correct in post. Otherwise, great vid! Even though it's a throwaway test, your skill shines through in the editing, atmosphere, and music choice. Speaking of which...anyone who's played a Valve game should find the music familiar. It's from Half-Life, but now plays over Valve's studio logo when loading any of their titles.

I think I'm having a dejavu.

I'm not sure it won't not, but if it doesn't, it might not be because it's not user error. Or the opposite could be true.

A user at Personal View pointed out that the Cineon Converter in Premiere is only 8 bit, instead of 32 bit. That is what causes the banding in the sky. The same shot with a 32 bit LUT applied gets rid of the banding.

'I wish I could just stop using the forum but I know I'll get drawn back in' ~ you 9 months ago. I guess you're reborn? Do you feel differently about the 'I think 70% of the users here are fucking stupid'? Or is that the reason you're plugging this site aimed at filmmaking begginers (and you want to be kept on as a paid writer and need to gather some readers)? You did say 'I'm not going to change my tune'. But hey, time changes people and I guess everyone deserves a 2nd chance. OT: Yeah, there are many different set-ups one could opt for that are better than a T5i with H4n. The one you suggested could work for someone. Depends on what they need.

Tried this test with a harsh backlight, mainly iso1000, 1250. See any noise people? I can't assess the image properly at the moment, my eyes are going funny with all the pixel peeping today

this looks great!!

Loving the colours - seems like V-Log has an inherently cinematic look. Very impressed, already I much prefer this to Sony's S-Log2.

Yes I thought the same thing about being similar to Blackmagic. To my eyes the DR seems the same as the BMPCC, and BMCC. I'm dying to test it via ProRes HQ but I don't have an external recorder. I might have to rent one this week.

v-LOG Varicam v-LOG to REC709 Modified v-LOG to REC709 (as posted in this thread by Marshal Davis) Varicam v-LOG to REC709 followed by a 709 to FUJI LUT ISO 400, Speed 50fps, f5.6 - it was very overcast when I shot this and "original v-LOG to REC709" looks pretty accurate to what I was seeing when shooting... No additional curves tweaked, colour correction, etc.

Pretty much every scene from Die Hard. Makes for a good drinking game - every time you see a lens flare, drink two fingers of vodka. You will be on the floor after 30 mins.

Wow so many comments and posts about how to do it after a night's sleep. I feel like I released the monster out of the cage.. But see, my hint is much more useful than Apples hint for the 6S, isn't it?

From my quick test it appears I need to really ETTR. Perhaps this will also help with everyone's noise? I did a quick shot of my parrot since nobody else is here and I look like hell. ;-) BTW, this wasn't exposed to the right so it appeared really dark when I tried Cineon Converter. AaronChicago, does your footage appear dark when you add Cineon, or are my defaults out of whack?

There's some horrible banding/colour artefacts going on in that video (as with my graded image on previous page). I'm going to make an early call and say V-Log is a ProRes friendly profile that's a danger zone for internal shooting.

Yeah I thought about that. I wanted to write something though - not just list gear. And most of the audience is completely in the dark about Panasonic as far as I can tell.

haha. I'm guessing it won't show banding if it's a 3D LUT

Again you failed to read what I said. I said she didn't want used equipment listed. I talked about the GH4, NX1 etc. I don't remember praising them particularly. In fact I said 4K is unnecessary. I don't think it's misrepresentative to say those cameras broke Canon's near-monopolising of hybrid video though. They did. Outside of a few forums like this Canons are the go-to cameras for cheap large sensor video. How do you see the current camera landscape? And enough with the crap about rules. I came here asking for your opinion. I'm not looking for validation. I know the package I put together is good. I just thought I might get some sensible suggestions of other packages that fit the brief from intelligent, mature people. How embarrassing. As english is my native language I can (unfortuneately) sail through life completely ignorant that other languages even exist I just assumed it was Spanish because of the Venezuela thing ... Look forward to seeing the subtitled version though. If you send me a link when it's done I'll try to include it in my next article on Desktop Docs: (matt at lintelfilm dot uk)

Don't you have a 2x anamorphic Zak? LA at night in anamorphic with vlog might make for a sweet vid.

I do not think that G6 is old hat. It is still very capable camera. This adventure movie from Venezuela Ayuan Tepui was all shot on G6 (except of some GoPro shots):

A video game....... Also there's some really bad rolling shutter in those shots, that wobbly footage imo is one of the worst things I see in "amateur" footage.....

Thanks Mattias. I'm a total groupie of your youtube channel by the way. Did you see I linked to your BMPCC/Zoom H1 video in the article? Without that setup you're restricted to cameras with headphone jacks for doc work (GH3 with RodeLink or VMP was my other idea).

I don't think it's necessary if you get used to LOG and how to judge exposure. Using zebras, and the exposure meter on the screen helps get a good starting point.

Looks fantastic. I was doubting the practicality of v log because all the images thus far seemed like there was too much noise to deal with, but it looks like with the right settings and lighting situations, it's fantastic.

What I like about this video has little to do with the look... Even though both versions look cool. I like the mood... It almost feels like you are going to turn a corner and find a dead body in one of those alleyways.

I do wonder if the reason it's a paid upgrade isn't so much about making money but that it's tricky to use well and if they gave it to everybody there'd be lots of people saying bad things about the GH4. Hence this way they restrict it to people who might have a vague clue what they are doing... I do like the free trial option though, as I was very 50:50 on whether to just stick with Cinelike-D. Also it looks like there are some things needing sorting in another firmware version (e.g. histograms, zebras) so they should be able to charge all the people that seriously want to use it at some point and as a bonus not leave people who don't like it feeling slightly ripped off.

Announcement Friday 25th... Actual product to be delivered early 2018 with a bunch of firmware bugs..... Stable firmware release and bugs fixed by sometime in 2019. I joke... But only kinda

Speaking of Die Hard, American Cinematographer just posted a podcast with DP Jan De Bont, in which he goes in depth on the cinematography in that film. http://www.theasc.com/site/podcasts/die-hard-1988-jan-de-bont-asc/ A must for any serious Die Hard fan. Anyway, here's my choice. The opening of Marketa Lazarova. A marvel of widescreen B&W telephoto photography:

Yeah I heard vlog is meant to be used only at iso 400, and with log and an already noisy camera, exposing properly is very important too. Have seen great stuff from it though. keep trying it out and posting more, because I have nothing else going on in my life

Very noisy too for me. Also some kind of color clipping. I need to run some more tests...

1: V-Log straight from camera (800ISO; tungsten WB). 2: Panasonic's GH4-specific 709 LUT applied 3: Curves tweaked a little in Color Finale I'm in the same place as Ebrahim - finding it very noisy but the sun was going down when I got a chance to shoot so light was poor and ISO was up at 800 (is 400 native?). However the Panasonic LUT is currently making my V-Log footage look way better than I am managing grading from scratch. Not surprising really ... One thing we need to know is if the histogram is calibrated properly for V-Log. Otherwise it may be necessary to set zebras at about 70% (and stay away from the left as well?). edit: dr_john just said the same Yuck I've just noticed the banding and colour artefacts on the wall in my final, graded image. They are there in the original video too. Guess it's time to start saving for a 10bit recorder! Anyone want to buy a BMPCC so I can buy a BM Video Assist and get a high-dynamic-range, 10bit HD image out of my GH4. Wait a minute ...

If I were Panasonic I'd be tempted to do a 2.4 firmware with some nice goodies in and locked-down V-Log, some of the stuff Olympus just announced for their next firmware upgrades would be nice. Giving people their money back would be tricky, but the stable door is still wide open and the Horse already in another time-zone... dwijip - Where did Panasonic admit their mistake?

They went to all of the trouble to update through a physical key, and it's already hacked. Someone is getting fired today.

I used the Sony AS7 in SLog2 for 1 year. I shot two 52-minutes documentaries for French TV. 4 months ago, colorists using Da Vinci Resolve (they are 3 in Chanel 2) all said "PLEASE stop using the Sony A7SII, the colors are horrible! Calibration is a headache for us because skin tones are infamous 9 times out of 10, and it seems it lacks colors in each image ... ". I love my A7SII because it is compact, convenient, and that images always appear Detailed me. I yielded to their request: this summer, I rented a Canon 1DC. And surprise, I seem to have discovered what a palette of deep colors! The tones are warm, bright and the result after calibration is staggering beauty. I sulked Canon for 2 years. So, I kept my A7S to film my kids and take some pictures sometimes. Ok Canon is a company that is not listening to its users. Ok Canon provides only the minimum. But Canon has realized that the most important, beyond the technical advances, it is the science of color.

If they do, it would be so dumb of them. Boxster aside, Porsche would be so dumb to release a car for "everyone." It would dilute their brand as a desirable high end car. It would put the car in the hands of people who don't care enough to drive it well, and they'd burn out their transmissions. Red dodged a bullet by giving up on the 3k/$3,000 camera. No one takes the Scarlet seriously except as an owner/op camera... I can see them lower the price and capability of the scarlet, making it more of a true C100 competitor, but man. If Red does this... DUMB.