Andrew Reid

Last year Sony showed a prototype hybrid stills / 4K video DSLR along with a modular-looking 4K cinema camera. Now a few more clues have come around.

Some are saying the 4K DSLR will have an interchangeable lens mount for E-mount, A-mount and PL-mount. And yesterday US cinema gear rental / sales shop AbelCine teased the shot above, which may or may not be related - only confirming it's from Sony.

So what exactly do Sony have coming?

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TowerJazz who make this sensor recently partnered with Panasonic.

Was looking to get the GH3 Shooters guide but the price is up to 29.99 in the link from 19.99 that was listed on the pinned thread. Is this a misprint? 

 

Temporary experiment, now it's back to 19.99

Why?

Aimed at the broadcast market but just as well equipped for high end cinema, the VariCam 35's secret weapon is an efficient codec developed afresh - AVC Ultra 444 - and an industry standard Super 35mm sensor with PL mount.

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Move on now guys, thanks.

You can't generalize. It depends on the bargaining power.  In this case Nikon doesn't really have a video market (to protect), and Sony does. 

 

It's nonsense and you only need to open your eyes to see that. GH3 sensor was labeled "Sony", no crippling in that, it was better than Sony's own interchangeable lens video camera (NEX-VG series) for heavens sake!

I'm thinking, Pentax Q sensor? Super 8, probably quite fun to use, hope it is c-mount not d-mount!

Seb Farges (see his work on Vimeo) pointed out this rather interesting looking "Bellami HD-1" on his Facebook page earlier. OK this camera may turn out to be rubbish or it may be great fun!! Who knows - nothing is released beyond the picture. The real Digital Bolex is something I'd love to get my hands on sooner or later, since I've used the same CCD sensor before in the Ikonoskop and found colour to be completely beautiful and unique, totally different to a CMOS sensor.

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As I said this was a personal test, more to compare overall aesthetic qualities rather than specific technical ones. 

 

... With the problem being that the overall aesthetic qualities of the G6 and D5300 are nothing like what you portrayed in that video.

90% I watch videos on my TV which I downloaded from Youtube, Vimeo or other web services in HD and I got way better quality that from terestrial broadcasting or cable. My home made program playlist looks way better than offical one. Especialy music videos stations broadcast most od SD in shitty quality so I use it only like a reference what to download because I can stand their mushy pixel blocking shit  :)

 

So what's the point is it that you're making, that the acquisition format should be as shit as the delivery format? :)

The D4S has 1.5x and 2.7x crop modes for video. I guess the latter is a 1:1 pixel crop at 1080p?

Probably it's pretty good in low light. But well, this is definitely not for the average video shooter.

 

Quality in 2.7x crop mode was very good on the old D4, I am sure it will be nice on the D4S too. Low light not so great, as it's a 1:1 crop. This is always much noisier than a scaling down of the whole sensor.

 

For me what is important is the full sensor image, and I am sure it is going to be more of the same.

 

We're in a new era now. The old style stuff just won't do.

The Nikon D4S is a professional DSLR with a pro stills specification but only a consumer video specification. Nikon are marketing that consumer video spec as "professional video" when it's nothing of the sort.

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To really test sharpness you need to use a wide lens, stop down for a very deep DOF and focus to infinity. Close ups of plants sharpened in post hide the resolution issues of the D5300. Also for the next test make sure clouds in the sky don't make for your shots being lit completely differently from camera to camera. In one of your shots practically the entire scene is in the shade, whilst in the other shot most of it is in bright sunlight.

A resurgence of camcorders... I think 4K and 1" large-ish sensor are a way to go about it, as is great stabilisation and they're good for run & gun shot grabbing in a documentary form, journalism and interviews... but artistically I will always prefer the look of interchangeable lenses, so I can't see them gaining any real traction with the broader filmmaking community again.

Nikkor 85mm f2 AI-s on both cameras (G6 with Speed Booster). All shots graded. This is a personal test, it is not intended to be an objective comparison. Please Download the original .MOV file on Vimeo.

 

How much sharpening in post on the D5300 and how much on the G6?

 

Why is the roof felt out of focus on the G6 shot?

 

Hmm.

This probably won't be the choice for many here, but as I'm sitting here at the press conference, there are a few interesting tidbits, like ProRes support, 42Mbps at 50/60 FPS and finally, aperture control during movie live view! There's also a silent still mode that does 24 FPS at HD resolution. Could be useful if there's some form of lossless storage.

 

My appetite for putting down $6500 for this is absolutely zero.

 

The video spec is barely any better than their $700 camera and it cannot match the GH4 for video quality, ergonomics or overall features.

 

Pro stills cameras with an afterthought video mode are yesterday's news guys... we have so much more to look forward to in 2014.

Despite what you'd think coming to forums like this, it's not actually a requirement that digital video looks like film.

 

The forums are not all about some cliched 'film look' and ultra shallow DOF actually.

The FS100 is underrated. Ergonomic design is not bad. It just has too many buttons (which you can ignore) and a dopey gain switch with 3 assignable ISO levels rather than direct ISO control, and it lacks built in ND... but I always went to mine for convenience and all-round performance, great in low light, when I didn't want large file sizes or small sensors.

 

Check it on eBay... going cheap

The 5D Mark III is a good option but have you considered the GH4 as well? The slow-mo would be a nice artistic flourish for weddings. It's small and unobtrusive. You can roll for hours in 1080p and it shares one of the C100's features in that the HDMI output is uncompressed 4:2:2. 4K if you choose to shoot it will give you better looking 1080p and the ability to crop in post, all with file sizes less than for 5D Mark III raw when you really need the extra quality.

 

However you may need to invest in new lenses to suit the smaller sensor.

Panasonic (Europe) told me the sensor in the GH4 is based on the GH3 sensor (so probably Sony?) and that it's definately not the sensor that is published in the pdf on the Panasonic-site...

 

It definitely isn't a Sony. They told me it was a Panasonic sensor. It's definitely the one on the website or a close variant of that spec, because you wouldn't go to the effort of making a 4K capable sensor yourself (at huge cost) only to buy one from Sony. Panasonic are one of the few companies with their own CMOS manufacturing capabilities. Also physically the chip in the GM1, E-M1 and GH4 looks the same from close visual inspection.

Monday.

Like I say not trying to censor, feel free to put it all in a separate topic. Cheers

Does anyone see the title of the thread, something about 4K footage from the new Blackmagic camera?

 

Feel free to start a new thread for the grading discussion. Otherwise I will have to delete further off topic posts.

 

Thanks!

This is what happens when you have too much science in a technique not enough artistry. She's a lovely subject, the victim of hyper revealing grading. You're supposed to flatter her looks. You do realise that right?

Softer, less contrast, opposite of what's technically perfect.