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More people looking for that better image should focus on other things. I'd stick with your current gear and pay attention to other areas... lighting, composition, grading, ideas, style, feel. As this sounds like a business choice, ultimately the purchase needs to increase your ROI. If your current gear is fine for your business purpose, stick with it. Get something later when there is a demand. If it's an emotional thing, you need to have the disposable income to feed it. A lot of the time, my emotional relationship with certain cameras doesn't necessarily mean they are the right cameras for the business. That's why i haven't got a Digital Bolex. I can't justify the purchase at the moment when I have other more important business priorities. If it's just too overpowering, I'd sell the lot and go for a 1DX ii. Great stills, great video. Done!

The colour is very much like the 1D C / 1D X Standard JPEG profile and the files seem to feel nice and chunky this time round.

Die Hard is great at any time, but especially during xmas.

Doubt it. Sharpening has nothing to do with the debayer, and there was only one such pattern in the kernel that I saw, and if you were right, there would be only 2 settings. However the most common (and seems here is no difference) is the USM (hence the halos). And yes, even debayer is done in software. ; ) imho to avoid the USM use -10 cheers

Léon A.K.A 'The Professional' is not only my favourite Action film, but probably my favourite film all round. Young Luc Besson at his finest, drawing upon his real life admirations from an illegally young girl...add guns, Portman, Reno and a crazy ass Oldman performance all in glorious Anamorphic, you have a winner right there.

Me when randomly switching TV channels and Die Hard has just started...

If your monitor only has VGA, get a new monitor if you are doing color work. Or trust only the scopes.

tbh for general video use your a7s and a7rii are gonna be hard to beat. I'd suggest rigging the cameras to add weight and maybe length too - this will drastically affect the motion of the cameras. the a7rii with the ibis set correctly for the focal length you;re using and some added weight will help motion a great deal. here is a pic of my a7rii in a birdcage and a chunk of aluminium billet as a riser - perfect height for a 15mm rail mount I made. for out and out stills image quality.. you're not gonna be able to improve on the a7rii. it is single handedly the best stills camera (other than modern phase one MF cameras) currently available.

I run an NTG-2 into a Tascam DR-40. When I bought it I was lusting after the NTG-3 but couldn't justify $700 at the time for one as I only infrequently use a shotgun. As others have said, the NTG-2 doesn't put out the hottest signal, but after some research I bought a FetHead xlr booster thing for it, and now it's awesome! You let the NTG-2 use it's own battery power and the FetHead takes the phantom from the recorder and supercharges the mic with an ultra-clean +20db boost. Basically, I went from having to have the Tascam's gain cranked past 75 to 80 all the time get good sound, now I rarely take it past 20. It's been a real game-changer for me, and really takes care of pretty much all of my audio needs. GAS averted!

Of course you can, I've shot several documentaries all manual. All single operator. Are you guys kidding? Never heard of a "cameraman"?

I shoot some music videos at 30p, with the synch music sped up to match, and edit at 24p. It gives everything a little more "weighty" feel. Moving hair gets a little more float to it. I also tend to do steadicam shots at 30p if there's no dialogue - not every single one but if the feel of the edit calls for it, it makes things feel a little more "floaty" or adds some gravitas or emotion. Subtle but there. You can always speed it up since you're throwing frames away vs. creating from scratch. Timewarp and Twixtor - when they work they work, and when they can't do it, it hurts. Great slowmo and suddenly someone's hand or hair turns to a deformed alien morph-thing. If you shoot specifically for those plugins, you need fallback just-in-case takes as well. I've gotten better results with Timewarp (I don't own twixtor) with 4K footage - more pixels for the software to chew on I suppose - it's all about detail with those. Motion blurs can be a huge problem, too. So figure on more light for those shots and up your shutter speed. The micro cinema cam does 60p which slows down nicely, you might look into that, especially if you already own a pocket-specific speedbooster.

i must say that i prefer the colours form the Yi

I'm sure Andrew will do more comprehensive tests and show some artistic footage later. All I have time for right now is little tests. To users of the G7, this may be kind of old news. But I'm finding with 4k and the improved processing compared to the GH4, you can raise shadows more cleanly than ever before on a Panasonic mirrorless camera. In this test, I shot at ISO 200 and exposed to just before the 105% zebras started showing. The first clip is the raw footage, the second is with raised shadows and the third is graded. With this method you can easily get a shot with the same tonality as what your eyes see and have absolutely minimal noise.

Hi Eoshd forum community and Mr. Reid I remember days when there were new articles at least two times a week. What happened ? I miss those days. Mr. Reid please continue, I am confident there are many who are eagerly waiting for anything you publish. Don't get demotivated by trolls and jerks, they just need to do something with their free time and jealousy. Don't leave us hanging. Thanks

I just found out that a new Predator movie is being made. It's supposed to be a reboot of the franchise so I'm somewhat excited. The original is easily in my top 3 action movies ever and I still find it fun to rewatch every once in a while, as opposed the new crop of action movies from Marvel, DC and the likes which were fun to watch in the theater once but soon forgotten after. Is it just my nostalgia at play i.e. it was the movie I grew up with or is there really something special about classics like Predator, Terminator 2 or Die Hard that make them still enjoyable to these days? Please also tell us what your favorite action movies are and, if possible, what you think make them stand out?

Yes, 1DX keeps stuff in focus, in slow motion. The 1DC shoots flat.

Kung Fury is 31 flavors of awesome!

Action comedy: Big Trouble in Little China and Hot Shots 1 and 2 - all of them hilarious. I got fond memories of Beverly Hills Cop too, although I haven't seen those films in decades. Action: The Alien films, Predator ("If it bleeds, we can kill it"), Terminator 1 & 2, Tim Burton's Batman. I also have a passion for the cheesy 80s B movies, like the films featuring Chuck Norris, various Ninja movies, films produced by Cannon Group etc. Something about the silly productions make them innocent and fun, bringing back memories from the 80s. Hence I really loved the retro mood of the new Swedish indie short film Kung Fury. Probably a lot more great ones out there, but those are the ones that I immediately think of!

If you enjoy color grading, get a better monitor. Preferably something with DisplayPort.

@kidzrevil Here's a grab from the G7 with Voigtlander. I think I shot that natural with -2 contrast, -5 sharpness, -5 nr, -3 saturation. Graded with FilmConvert

Always hard to pick just one. For me action (or any other) films don't work without sympathetic characters. Ones that are flawed, vulnerable, and nuanced. This is why for me The Road Warrior, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Die Hard work so well, and to me are a definitive trinity of 80's action. Even the antagonists were interesting. There have certainly been other memorable action films before and after. La Femme Nikita, Hot Fuzz, Hardboiled, The Matrix, 13th Warrior, Big Trouble in Little China, Terminator 2, Aliens and Fury Road are a few others that really stand out in my book. Cameron, McTiernan, and even Carpenter were unrivaled in their heyday. Police Story gets an honorable mention for the relentless awesomeness of Jackie Chan's stunt work. I think action loses a lot when it is overshadowed by CGI. While the current deluge of comic book heros provides entertainment for the eyes, most of these films lack any kind of compelling characters and are ultimately forgettable. If I had to settle on just one to call my favorite, I can't decide. Probably a tie between Raiders and Die Hard.

Heat

Maybe, but consider this from The Great Train Robbery, 1903 "The final shot of a gun being fired toward the camera had a profound effect on audiences. As cinema was in its infancy, many people who saw the film thought that they were actually about to be shot."

4k Raw at 24fps would be amazing, if even for a few seconds. edit:.. since the nx1 can shoot raw at 15fps burst mode, would it be possible to get 24fps out of it with silent shutter?

@kidzrevil that's too bad, mine works perfectly and I've never had any problems with it, I guess their quality control must not be up to snuff! But either way, @Mattias Burling that's a really good idea I never thought of before! It seems like you're always after the quickest, most efficient ways to do things (I bought both the edelkrone quick release one and the xume magnetic filter system based on your videos)

Ronin is a masterpiece that few appreciate because of it's length. Car chases and gun fights are great and shot wide. Die Hard is Die Hard, but I also love Die Hard with a Vengeance. Mission Impossible 4 (Imax was incredible) Still to this day LOVE The Matrix. Amazing action, great pacing.

Its nice that they are getting 4K, but imo, an old 5Dmkiii with ML still beats A7sii/rii, GH4, etc and probably will trump the GH5 as well. So there is a big chance the new 5Div will get its ass kicked by its own predecessor.

Yes. Die Hard all the way.

I just watched this video that I thought some of you might like regarding video compression. most if not all of you will already know this but it a cool video demonstration none the less. Side note I like it when he throws his coat out of the Ae screen. Cool little effect lol.

Probably the Bourne Identity, purely for the style of directing. Die Hard was good at the time, but probably because Alan Rickman was on top form.

It's early days but I do think narrative VR will emerge as a new genre that someday may even become the dominant one. We're still in the early stages. Sort of like when radio shows were first adapted for television and you just had folks reading in front of microphones. The design language that needs to be developed is how do you direct attention in the narrative and how do you help people have the experience when they are in an environment where they perhaps can't move around that much. I think there are ways around some of the production limitations, at least for mid-size and big productions with virtual sets, 3D environments or even the stitching together of environments that are shot conventionally, based shooting and relighting an entire room while only capturing 120 degrees at a time for example. I think the next big breakthroughs in this space will be VR narratives that supplement traditional storytelling. Imagine a bonus section of House of Cards where you could explore the White House for example or imagine a move like Inside Out where you could sort of go on the journey yourself. If you really want to bend your head imagine what it would be like to attempt to tell narrative stories with augmented reality. Or leveraging the potential social aspects of this technology to create shared narrative experiences. Think a virtual version of Sleep No More, an interactive theatre experience. http://www.sleepnomore.com/ I'll be paying a lot of attention to both of these realms, I think they will be huge and I highly recommend that if you ever get a chance to try these experiences that you should. Even Google Cardboard is fantastically cool.

If you have video graphics card that can store a LUT or are on a modern Mac you can use Xrite ColorMonkey to calibrate your monitor, which in my case made a great monitor much more accurate. That said nothing wrong with checking it on a TV style LED monitor to see if the calibarated monitor translates. Part of the calibration is to compensate for ambient light which can signifcantly change the perception of the image. I like checking it on my Mac Book Pro as well, as a second reference. I am editing and color correcting on PC and doing the audio on Mac in Pro Tools or Reaper.

@sanveer Here's a link to the one I ordered, I got it from ZenPro: http://www.zenproaudio.com/triton-audio-fethead It works perfectly with the NTG2, I've also played around with boosting other common mics such as a shure sm57, works great for that too. I went with this one because the other model you mentioned, (FetHead Phantom) is the one that I heard doesn't work right with the NTG2's battery, plus you sacrifice quite a bit of gain. The one I got, which takes phantom power from the recorder to power itself (thus leaving the mic boosted but needing to run off it's own AA for power) gives a clean 27 db boost! The phantom one passes the phantom on through to the mic to power both, but supposedly has problems with the NTG2 and is reduced to an 18db boost instead of 27. So my recording setup is the NTG-2+FetHead (it's so tiny, just goes right into the back of the mic, only adds an inch or two) but I run it into my Tascam DR-40, on a rode micro boompole with a rode ws-6 windscreen. Admittedly I'm really not much of an audiophile, but for me it sounds great, even indoors. I use it for interviews a lot, just throw the boom on a C-stand above the talent, and it sounds way better than my lavalier setup. Much richer audio. The DR-40 has super handy dual-track recording also, so you can set one a bit higher and one a bit lower and not worry too much if audio happens to peak. It's definitely a 'poor man's setup' but like I said it really satisfies just about all of my audio needs for whatever I'm shooting.

Yeah, a wide angle lens, set to infinity will probably give the best results. I would imagine pans would be best with you feet planted and your elbows glued to your side... Then just twist your waist as opposed to moving your arms.

What exactly is the problem? we shoot lots of 4K content with the GH4, A7RII, DVX200 and various other cameras. In Super35 mode I don't have any issues with the A7RII video image quality. The new Sony 24-70 f/2.8 G-Master lens is very nice, although I use the 28-135 f/4 cinema lens a lot due to the motorized zoom. The camera needs several refinements, including fast switching in/out of Super35 mode, about 3x the writing rate to SD (needed for raw stills), etc. but it's pretty good as is. The ability to use Canon L lenses on the Sony E-mount cameras via Metabones adapters is handy.

Perhaps RawTherapee the default settings/algorithm is not optimized for the GX80, or perhaps its defaults are just a little laid-back in regards to sharpening, saturation and contrast, so some tweaking might help. As I mentioned, I am happy with Darktable's presets as a starting point. I would guess that Iridient Developer uses open source DCRaw, if it already has GX80 raw capability. Many of the open source raw developers/processors are multi-platform, so you can use them on OSX, Windows or Linux. As open source software is usually free, it can't hurt to try other raw processors to see if you like their defaults.

I've got nothing against FCPX... love what I can do with it and the plugins galore! I'll take another peak at Kdenlive myself. A quick note about RawTherapee, it lets me "see" the raw file, but I don't think it's optimised- "supported" would be too strong of a word. I think I'm just going to have to be patient until software catches up with cameras. I did have a look at Iridient Developer 3 (officially supporting the GX80, along with Silkypix) and it's been amazing. Too bad it's OSX only, costs $99, and workflow would need to be changed. Thank you so much for your help and I'll keep you posted on where I go with this. One thing is for sure, I'm moving from Lightroom and I won't be joining Adobe CC.

I truly don't understand why everyone is so adamant about having C-Log on the 5D4. I've got it on the C100 mk 2 and rarely if ever use it. Its just a massive pain in the but when shooting and grading. Images are just great using Wide DR, or even some of the more basic profiles.

I was posting the same "walking video" (clearly not a... music video ) a certain PTA shot for Radiohead, but I saw in this page @kaylee posted it Why a music video should stick to rules? Come on, it is 2016, we saw some millions playback videos! If someone has a nice idea and can skip the "performance video" I can only say "bravo!" First af all the images are in the same mood of the song (which I like very much), they go hand in hand with the music. Then the cinematography serves perfectly this kind of story. Beautiful spontaneous images! I really love this MUSIC VIDEO (or call it as you prefer, you could call it "geppo", "sarchiapone" or google a name for it, but it remain a great MUSIC VIDEO) and I think Jonatan really made an amazing piece of art! p.s. @Jonatan: I have more or less the same combo (Micro Cinema, Video Assist and a magic arm), but until now I had not the confidence to shoot with this camera and I'm still shooting with my trusty GH4. Of course I like the Micro's file 1000 times more then the GH4's one, but I still have more confidence with the GH4 (I'm faster on it, when I have to change shutter angle, WB etc...). Have you some advices to use it "run and gun"? How do you deal with histogram, peaking etc? And, last question: how did you shot the beautiful night shots? They are really awesome to my eyes! Thank you!

I swear Panasonic have tweaked the colour since the GH4. I am getting much more Canon-like results from the GX85. New image processor? What short cut would you propose? It's just stupid to have to go into the menu and set 18mm, then go into the menu and set 35mm right at the critical moment when you're trying to frame up a shot. And if you're doing regular zooming, forget about it. Just take my advice and use the Canon version! If you set the camera's stabilisation in the middle of the range for the Nikon version, say 25mm, it wouldn't work optimally at 18mm or 35mm, you'd get jitter.

If its going to have DPAF then why would anyone pay double for a 1DXii? Doesn't sound like a Canon move.

Great stuff kidsrevil. Sorry to go against your name with this one, grab from a quick film parody I shot yesterday. Voigtlander 20mm 3.5. Color is right off the NX1, just added some grain.

Bulbramping (minus the need for a "bulb") just keep in mind, that NX500 when in rolling-shutter mode will not do longer than 1/15 exposures have fun

Yeah, those laid back and charmingly goofy reviews by Philip Bloom were really something. I remember downloading one, so I wouldnt have to be bothered by internet buffer. Then back with a big cup of hot chocolate and a pile of cake and apples I relaxed with this warmhearted, amusing and charming presentation, and outside it was winter in Berlin. Your reviews and videos are awesome, masterful vignettes. Your digital Bolex footage and GH4 review are my most remembered pieces from you, your Tokyo Storm and FS100 anamorphic my EOSHD starters. Your blog plus forum is a dictionary of love for the craft, technical knowhow, treasures and rare gems of knowledge, hey- rare gems of people too! Keep it up, Andrew, this is awesome, you´re awesome!

24mm F2.8 sounds nice enough to be boosted to f2:) so far the 28 has been a favorite of mine, so light and nice to handle, a pretty one for very low money these days.

It would be nice if this blog/forum became a place for hobbyists like myself to discuss the art of making a good film/video rather than a place where people bicker over gear choices. I know there's a subforum for that here already but to post there would be like posting in the Video forum at DPReview. If you're tired of gear, why not shift the focus to what you can do with it?

Didn't mean that to be unsupportive or negative towards you. You're right though - if the blog writing and gear purchasing isn't paying dividends for business or pleasure, that's when it's time for a change. By my own personal experience, this year I've had to spend A LOT of time completely re-doing my entire operation. Before, the time wasn't worth the money so I've had to reinvent to make circumstances more positive and fulfilling. A great avenue for you could be to focus on your shooters guides, custom LUTs, 4K stock, anamorphic overlays, grain overlays... Bit like a shop for editors and colourists. Sell packages by camera model and brand, plus some neutrals. You have a lot of cameras, like to grade and travel a lot, so could make sense. Just an idea. Another idea is to setup an Instagram account and take photos of yourself putting lenses down your pants with a cheeseburger in your mouth and topless models slapping their ass. You will be a guaranteed Insta celebrity!!

Andrew, How do we get access to updated guide if we already purchased?

Wait, Are you implying artistic imaging skill matters more than what particular sensor is used? Because that sort of rationale isn't going to get much traction here on the 'ol interwebs.

Agreed. I'd also say that unless you;re shooting on an external recorder, 100mbs simply aint enough for a log profile and the associated hassle. With so many 'LUTs' being made by people with no understanding of what they're actually meant to do I see most s-log footage being 'lutted' to the point where the original dynamic range could have been 7 stops and the delivered result would look the same. I don;t think I'd ever select one of the log profiles. I;d rather shoot in Neutral with the contrast and sharpening dialled down and actually feed the in camera compression algorithm with something nearer the final result so more information is dedicated to detail that'll make it into a rec709 crush down. Let the zebras protect highlights and pull shadows up in post if required!:)