Andrew Reid

Well, we threw them into the night and this is how they came out. Maybe it just shows the GH3 needs more sensitive handling and that the D5200 can be thrown in there and get results. I know this is something a lot of people look for in a camera, and one of the reasons the C300 has been so popular.   The GH3 needs to be followed by a high performance GHX in my view.   With the cheap APS-C sensors getting so advanced, and the lens ranges of Nikon and Canon so comprehensive, Panasonic need to recognise a slight change in the game I'm afraid. The Blackmagic too sets a new benchmark. The main worry for Panasonic now would be to wonder who is going to shoot stills on a GH3? The lens range is expensive and more limited than Nikon's. The sensor just isn't as good. It also has tough competition from the OM-D because that camera has the internal stabilisation system with adapted glass.

  Yeah - I kind of agree with you on this one. I will do this for the next test.   But the lens was by no means that great on the Nikon. $60 pancake!   I need to invest in some more Nikon glass since I only have the 50mm F1.8 and the 85mm F2.0.

  The D5200 is clearly better at high ISOs. I used identical aperture and shutter speed on both cameras at ISO 1600 and 3200, and even with the crush applied for a punchy image with the D5200, the shadows are at a similar level of exposure but much noisier on the GH3. The main issue I feel, was that the GH3 produced unappealing muddy colours at these high ISOs. I graded almost all the shots you see in the video to get a balance. With the D5200 it was easy, with the GH3 I had to make much more dramatic changes. I don't think I have yet got the in-camera picture profile spot on with the GH3.   With the GH2 we took years getting used to the picture profiles, then they go and sweep them away for the GH3. It is completely different.   I am also kind of angst at the use of a Sony sensor in it. Panasonic should be putting their own technology in flagship products.

Please reserve judgement on the GH3 until my final review next week. One bad test result doesn't make a season :)   PS - nice signature Charlie.

http://vimeo.com/59832019 The Nikon D5200 is the best mid-range Nikon yet for video. What is more of a surprise is the relish in which it takes on the much more expensive 5D Mark III, Panasonic GH3 and Nikon's own flagship the D800 and D4.   http://www.eoshd.com/content/9653/nikon-d5200-review

New in this update   Robocop 2 Sony FS100 Isco 2x anamorphic with support system for 15mm rails Optex 1.33x anamorphic lens http://www.eoshd.com/content/2777/rare-ebay-finds-eoshds-latest-picks

Letus Talon rails, quick release plate and shoulder pad.

I've mostly shot with adapted lenses on the Blackmagic, so not so much EF stuff and hardly used the 11-16mm.   Though 90% of this video is Samyang 35mm, I used the Tokina 11-16mm it for a few shots here and infinity was not exactly very sharp.   http://vimeo.com/53340005   I also noticed that there's a bit of flex in the mount of the camera but not sure if I should be worried about it yet.   The Tokina has a shim which you can remove to fix the infinity issues https://dl.dropbox.com/u/3464747/Tokina_Shim_Removal_v2.pdf   I need to do more tests with my camera before truly deciding if it has a fault or not. All I have at the moment is a strong suspicion.   Why didn't the beta testers catch this?

Thanks Bruno but I have edited your post. Main topics cannot consist of just an URL leading people away from the forum to find out what the topic is about. You have to put more effort into the post and put the info in, along with your opinion of it if you have one.   Dan's site was the first to run this article so I have changed the URL to point at him. Only fair the source gets the credit.

  Tried the Helios 44-2 with it, looked pretty much the same as the Nikon and Olympus OM. I didn't use it in the end, partly as wanted to try something new and partly since the pancake is short and stocky, bringing the weight of the lens closer to the mount with less leverage.

Set the brightness to strongest setting and turn it off auto brightness.

Still would rather take the benefits of OLED technology than this slight disadvantage.   It is more like a colour temperature shift to cooler tones than a green shift. I do see it, more like at 30-45 degrees than 10 but it hasn't really bothered me because I use the screen for composition and exposure not colour correction!

Most affordable for locked down shots like in Zen (if you don't mind missing a moment with the focus) is the Kowa 8Z. As good an image as an Iscorama but without the single focus barrel ability.   You are looking at 10-20 second shot set-up time with the punch-in focus assist with one but the patience is worth it. The lens can be had for $300!

It isn't a defect.   All LCDs shift colour and contrast when viewed from an extreme angle.   Since it is an articulated screen just angle it straight to your line of sight!   An articulated OLED... Want better? Wait till the 2020 technology comes out!

  Thank you Robin.   Also great to see a profile pic and real name - how it should be on the forum.   I have tried the Leica R glass but the 35 2.8, 50 2.0 and 90 2.8, not yet the 35mm 1.4. But on S35 with the Iscorama 54, I have no trouble with vignetting at 35mm with most glass I've tried.   Go for a small front element on the prime. The Voigtlander pancake lenses are worth investigating. The smaller the front element of the prime lens, the more it seems to avoid a vignette at the same focal length to a lens with a larger front element.

No the cinema look doesn't depend purely on an aspect ratio, but for me - personally speaking as ever on EOSHD (my own site) - I prefer the wider aspect ratio to that of a television. Also I have no problem with 1.33 (4/3) if you stick an anamorphic on it. I want this on the Blackmagic Camera desperately. The GH2 in 4:3 with the hack is basically upscaled VGA!!

http://vimeo.com/59539071 The Lens Whilst Canon L lenses are like a fleet of company Lexus cars. This isn't really what I want in my films. I need something different. Something with character. For this reason I've long been using anamorphic lenses. I recently shot some test footage with the Iscorama 54 anamorphic. This is essentially an Iscorama 36 but instead of a 36mm rear element it is 54mm. Even though the whole lens is double the weight, not as sharp and almost triple the size I like it because it has character.  

There's a lag of 1 second from when record button is pressed and recording begins. More worryingly there's a 1.5-2 second curtailment at the end of the clip so if you stop recording a stopwatch on 10 seconds, the end of the clip will show the watch on 8.5 seconds.   This was in the pre-production model too and I told Panasonic to fix it.   Seems they did not do this.

I very much doubt raw is coming to a Canon camera circa $4000!

  Coming very soon.

That was in a different CR post.   "Canon will be announcing new cinema lenses and a new cinema camera for NAB 2013 we are told. The camera will sit somewhere between the EOS C100 and EOS C300, but will not be a direct replacement for the EOS C100. It will have both a PL and EF mount option. At present, no specifications for the camera have been given. Canon may also show a prototype that would come above the C500, but apparently that has yet to be decided internally."   http://www.canonrumors.com/2013/02/new-cinema-camera-lenses-for-nab-2013   I don't think it is possible to fit something in-between the C100 and C300 since they are already so close, so for me the C50 rumour is more plausible.

The Cinema EOS range for pros seems to be a blazing success. It isn't that the C300 has the best image or the best technology, it is one of those products where the yin and yang is so perfect it 'just works'. How can Canon bring the same magic to the prosumer market?

Indeed, this is why the GH2 is underrated in low light. I'd rather have a lot of fine grain / noise at ISO 1600 than a lot of blocky noise reduction and less detail at ISO 3200!

It isn't moire. I'd invest in a good vari-ND filter and put the shutter speed to a more optimal 1/50 or 1/100.

  We only really tested the dynamic range from the middle down into the blacks. We didn't do a latitude test or overexpose the scene. Since we only had 2-3 hours for this test, that was an oversight. I'd really prefer next time to do a real world test and a comparison with the Alexa, since that takes the issue of 4K, 5K out of the already complex task of comparing the cameras.