Andrew Reid

You can bet your house that when we have 8K 120fps, people will be disappointed. Fundamental human flaw! Never happy with what we have, always want what we can't. I suppose in a way it drives progress and innovation... the restlessness... but it also creates a relentless pace in the world, where we don't for one moment stop to enjoy what we have. Full frame sensors have only just become fast enough to do 6K readout at 24p, or Super 35mm crop for 4K/60p. A remarkable achievement, let's remember that. I agree... Should be more funky RAW stuff around for artists to play with... Although the technology has always been around, the desire from major manufacturers hasn't. And perhaps it should tell us something that Ikonoskop and Digital Bolex both went out of business! It's not easy.

On the Sigma Fp it is definitely worth shooting 12bit RAW to a USB C SSD drive, if you want to make full use of the dynamic range. If you don't need to boost the shadows by 3-4 stops, or under expose by 3-4 stops to prioritise a particularly bright part of the frame, the 8bit RAW to SD card offers beautiful results too. Read the full article

The crop to my eye (not scientific) is about 1.2x or 1.3x crop in full frame mode with EIS activated. You also have an actual 4K Super 35mm crop mode as well (1.5x). You can only enable EIS in MOV 4K mode not Cinema DNG. When I use the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 in full frame EIS mode, it still vignettes a bit in the corners at 18mm but fine at 35mm. You'd need to crop a bit more in post to get the wide end to look ok.

LOG profile, headphone jack, articulated screen, phase-detect AF would all have been welcome. But it is clearly not enough for some people that it shoots 4K RAW to SD cards from a full frame sensor, in a camera little more larger in size than a pack of cards, for under $2000!

Don't be disappointed. Shoot.

F8 for portraits indoor? Seems fishy to me. I doubt they are testing the cameras at all. Seems like clickbait.

Did you see any puffins? I very much enjoyed Iceland myself last year. Great place to hire a car and go out to explore, and some of the bus tours were wonderful as well. I see you found the plane wreak. I didn't see that. Also went at the wrong time for the Aurora!! Ooops! Some nice shots in there, well done.

Hoping Sigma will stick to this form factor, there is something magic about it - but future version does need an EVF and articulating screen, much like the RX1R II managed, in the same small body as the Fp. So it is possible. Oh and phase-detect AF on the sensor please. For first gen model, it is very complete... and I can probably sell my Pocket 4K now as well as the Leica Q.

I really rate the Sigma colour profiles. They have carried over some Foveon skills into this image processor. The standard profile looks very natural, and the main thing Vivid does is give you a warmer look, a more Canon-like look - rather than just increasing the saturation of standard. Uniquely you can dial up and down a profile overall from -5 to +5, blending with standard at -5 and increasing the difference at +5 The teal & orange "Hollywood" profile is not overdone and nicer than the cinema profile. The cinema profile suits very specific shots. The T&O looks good on almost everything. Beautiful. Although there is not yet a LOG profile, the Sigma Fp product manager is from Samsung - I don't expect their run of firmware updates to hold back on new features!! NX1 owners will know what I am talking about! The nod to Magic Lantern with 8bit Cinema DNG is as much a statement of intent, as it is a beautiful image. I am in love with this camera.

Good point. Not a scientific test, just booting these frames out there. Needless to say, downscaling 4K CDNG 8bit in post to 1080p or 2.8K should result in less noise and cleaner shadows than the pixel binned 1080p CDNG internal 8bit, and maybe even 10bit.

I am happy to stick to 8bit internal 4K RAW. Why raise the shadows so much? Depends on the grade but I am not usually aiming for the "HDR sick" look I doubt it is only 8 stops in the MOV files, but not seen their review so can't comment. Measure your dynamic range after grading. That's what the audience sees

Downscales as well. https://www.slimraw.com So 7:1 compressed Cinema DNG at, say, 3.5k is just a transcode away with the Sigma Fp. Going to give it a go. Perhaps I can give you some Cinema DNG frames out of my camera. Here is a 12bit 1080/60p frame off the SD card, and same shot but 8bit 1080/60p to give you an idea of how that holds up. Also included a 4K 8bit shot. I recommend opening in Photoshop, push it around a lot. You will see the difference especially in the shadows. I think this camera is also unique in that it is doing 120fps 1080p in ALL-I. Usually Long-GOP compression is used for high frame rates. By the way the MOV 4K quality is VERY good indeed. They did not compromise on the codec. It's like a pocket S1. Don't think it is doing 10bit MOV H.264 but it looks damn good. PS CDNG 12bit 1080p at 24p = 633Mbit/s CDNG 8bit 1080p at 24p = 422Mbit/s Still quite large. Get the big SDs ready. 4K_8bit_A001_037_20191028_000005.DNG 2K_12bit_A001_035_20191028_000005.DNG 2K_8bit_A001_036_20191028_000005.DNG

That would be great, it's just the file sizes are absolutely enormous. Uncompressed RAW vs compressed RAW... That is the discussion I want happening at the next Sigma engineers meeting

Yeah, sure does.... It has the look of RAW. It grades like RAW. It quacks like RAW. It is RAW! No need to shoot LOG or have a View Assist is a bonus, although I would like to see those in later firmware update Something else that would be nice is full frame 2.8K RAW 10bit or 12bit internal with 3:1 compression. Bring the file sizes down some more.

Nice. I find that the 12bit is quite a big step up from the internal 8bit if you raise the shadows. More dynamic range. But for the uncompressed 4:4:4 look, with no big exposure changes in post (got it right in cam and lit it right), the internal 4K 8bit looks amazing and as good as 12bit.

Although 4K is not the be-all and end-all of image quality.... There's no argument when it comes to Netflix, as why would Netflix NOT have a 4K minimum standard for resolution when they are in the business of streaming 4K to fancy OLED TVs!? They other point is... You can shoot over 90% of an entire Netflix show on an S1H. They think it is good enough as an A-cam. Whether anybody does or not is besides the point. Netflix judge it to be of A-cam picture quality and not any of the Sony mirrorless cameras.

Netflix is in the business of streaming 4K They attract customers based on high streaming quality, not just the content itself. Why the hell would they settle their business model around 1080p, such an old standard? 4K is more future proof and will last longer

Well done!! Will watch it soon.

Looks good, but wish it were for the Mac and OpenCL AMD cards. PC and NVidia only. Might give it a try on my RTX 2070 Super gaming PC My work rigs are all Mac OS with AMD graphics.

You are missing the point. S1H form factor is unique amongst the other approved Netflix cinema cameras. If an Arri is your A-cam, It could be used as a B-cam. And not rating an S1H's image highly or using an S1H yourself just because an Alexa Mini exists, is the most stupid reason ever to dismiss a tool. For a start, it is $54,000 cheaper. Do you personally have a Netflix size budget for your work? If so, your opinion is first hand. If not, you're a speculative sofa surfer, basically trolling. Throwing rocks at something which plays in the same league as an Alexa Mini for $4000, which doesn't seem very clever to me.

I'm digging into the 8bit 4K DNGs on the Fp, comparing single frames in Adobe Camera Raw to the 12bit SSD recordings and some 14bit stills from other cameras. Curiously both the 8bit DNGs in video mode and the Fp's 24 megapixel DNGs in stills mode report as 8bit in Adobe Camera Raw, using Adobe RGB colour space. You have the choice between 8bit and 16bit. Why does Adobe default to 8bit colour space for raw? Where is 12bit, 14bit?

The only thing I wish the Fp had was phase-detect on-chip autofocus. And maybe an articulated screen like the RX1R II It is an amazing, unique camera as it is, and an absolute blast. Last time I had this much fun was when I first picked up a GH2 all those years ago. 60p in 12bit 1080p RAW. 4K 60p RAW Cinema DNG file sizes would be astronomical. Like 6 min per 128GB or something crazy. Yes, I wish it had 4K/60p full frame 10bit but we are not in year 2022 yet Not even S1H can do it. Super 35mm mode.

It's a special Brexit price.

I'll have to have words with the FedEx driver. Clearly he is going over some serious speed bumps on the way, resulting in the plastic lens cap slamming into the metal lens mount, causing the metal to crumble and the plastic to remain pristine. In fact the lens cap was the only pristine part of my camera. Blackmagic are very good at lens caps. Maybe some of them were battered by the think PVC plastic of the box interior... You know how that stuff can cut diamonds. Happens all the time. Remember the Pocket 6K is only a polycarbonate/carbon fibre composite, I'm surprised the cardboard did not cut in half. I also noticed some sawdust type stuff in the lens mount which would explain the scuff on the sensor... There was clearly a mouse in there, deposited by the crazy FedEx guy.

No need to buy a faulty Blackmagic Pocket any more. And this pocket cinema camera actually ships on time. Cinema DNG is real raw, the results are incredible. Full frame... can't do without it. Very adaptable lens mount, more so than EF on Pocket 6K. Screen is visible in daylight...always a bonus Autofocus can sort you out a quick shot in RAW but is not bullet proof... I am looking forward to putting manual focus Leica M lenses on my Fp, personally... More cinematic than autofocus material will ever be. It has a very good E-stabilisation mode. Locks down an image. Crops-in quite a lot, but makes nice alternative to a Super 35mm mode Colour profiles are cinematic as hell. Orange & Teal is not "overdone", it's very sexy indeed. Ergonomics are almost Leica-like in simplicity and responsiveness. Very good menus. Very snappy and responsive to use. It is the size of a Sony RX1 And about as heavy... weighs nothing!! The build quality however leaves absolutely nought to be desired, it is as solid as a rock and feels expensive. All the controls have a camera-feel to them, unlike the RX1 Is a bit smaller than a Leica Q but feels even better made. Mounting holes on side of the body are nice pro touch. And there is no consumer junk in the menus, and no mode dial. Does not feel like a toy, feels made for artists. No mechanical shutter, so it's completely silent. Uses same battery as our favourite GH2!! Keeps the size down. Amazingly, it shoots 4K RAW on the GH2's little battery... Think about that The 40mm F2.8 has the rendering of something faster, looks more like an F2... Very well made, lovely metal casing and manual aperture ring, yet keeps the size down to RX1 / Leica Q proportions when attached. Not tried my EF lenses on the MC adapter yet. Will be interesting to see how the IS handles. Oh, and it has a Sensor Temperature readout in the Info menus... Mine's at 31 degrees Celsius ?