Andrew Reid

No rubber ducky yet, I think it may arrive by the end of the month still though. Latest email doesn't mention actual shipping date still, which is frustrating as I need to fly back to UK to pick mine up and plan trip around it. It is still the licensing issue which is delaying the camera rather than any manufacturing problem.

I will not allow links to Vitaliy's site from this forum as I don't want the community to fork whilst donations are still being collected only on this side. I also disagree entirely with Vitaliy's unpleasent remarks and anti-EOSHD, indeed anti-West stance. At the same time, I am not the Internet Police. If Vitaliy wants to split the community and set up his own site and help Someone1.00 with his hacking knowledge he is quite entitled to do that. As for EOSHD it is only right I maintain control of what I think is best both for this community and for the hacker. Now I want to concentrate on the hack project, so no more comments on the political bullcrap please.

There was an issue with Facebook and Twitter connect last night. This has now been fixed.

After only 2 days of donations I felt it a little early to be buying the first camera bodies. Someone1.00 and I had a chat today and now we agree a way forward - will be buying the first camera today! This is despite rather being poisoned by some Vitaliy Kiselev lies about me - a guy who has made this process 10x more difficult than it should be.

NEX-Hack.com now open The interest in the NEX and Alpha hacks has been HUGE! Therefore I've decided to setup a dedicated site for Someone1.00's project at NEX-Hack.com You can login with your own existing EOSHD forum username and password. And if you haven't already donated please do so now! The more donations, the more types of camera Someone1.00 will have at his disposal to make his Linux based patcher tool compatible with. Donate here Read the full story here

Very interesting. So it is 5:3 inside a 16:9 box. What would you say the usable resolution of the image is when the black bars are cropped, something like 1440x1080?

Initially we all thought removing the filter was a good idea. It wasn't! The increase in image quality was actually very minor. It took me a while to do a comparison and actually realise the truth. Second, the procedure as a DIY mod was a nightmare. Very tricky and high risk so I don't recommend it. Third, the filter is also an IR-cut. So you get IR contamination and purple blacks in your shots with certain subjects and lights. Even in normal daylight conditions the colour balance changes. Some would say for the better ;) There are companies that replace the filter with a clear piece of glass to avoid the Fourth Problem - the damned back focus issue. In the end it really is best to keep the 5D Mark III in stock condition, and sell it when the Sony A99 comes out if you're not satisfied with it as a serious video tool. Personally, it is well know I am not.

The top handle is a good idea! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151101399957402&set=a.10150303972982402.361983.110306207401&type=1 [img]http://www.eoshd.com/comments/uploads/inline/1/5029ac17c66ed_Qwpa.jpg[/img]

That donate link again - http://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/1096-donate/

Thanks to the first donator - Rich. jdv - I am not limiting discussion, but we need to focus on what is technically achievable and if Someone1.00 wants to go about things in a certain order, with a specific structure for technical reasons, I need to facilitate that in the community. The VG20 thread will be alive and well in the NEX Hack Forum so those who want that camera to be hacked like yourself will get a say. To my knowledge the VG20 is very similar in terms of hardware and in terms of the firmware encryption used to the NEX 5N. So I fully expect the patches to port over, once (if) the new breed firmware encryption is overcome by Someone1.00. At the moment, the first gen encryption is overcome so we must concentrate on patches and testing on the A55 until the new cameras arrive at his door, thanks to generous donations like the one Rich just made. Please everybody donate. I can't stress this enough! Even if you don't have a Sony camera. The hack could make a NEX, VG or Alpha so desirable you will want to buy one. This was certainly the case with the 'GH13'.

Please note: Download and install at own risk Donate now! It's real. Sony A55 owners rejoice, for Someone 1.00's first hack is now available and can be downloaded from the EOSHD forum. The patcher app is able to overcome the A55 firmware encryption and is the basis for adding bitrate patches and new menu options later on. The NEX 5 patcher I believe will also be offered down download soon. Now Someone 1.00 is looking for A55 testers (view relevant thread here) to test new features and find their way as a team with the firmware, plus donations for NEX 3, NEX 5N and A77 bodies for testing and opening up for analysis. The firmware will need to be dumped and decrypted, for that he needs the actual camera hardware in his hands and more than one body. So the more people who can donate, the better!

Quick update. Looks like we have found a member of the Magic Lantern team to oversee the donations. Big thanks to Malcolm for that. Once that is set up at PayPal, I'll put a donate button on the forums and once the funds reach the required amount our hacker will be getting his test bodies to sacrifice on the alter of NEX hacking :)

Here's my understanding of it in a nutshell and it is really quite simple. Bitrate is measured per second, so the more frames per second the more compressed and muddy each will be unless you use I-frames and higher bitrates. B frames and 'magic' can only get you so far. Sure you cam shift the bitrate allocation about, right down to even macro blocks within a single frame but eventually you will run out. Plus H.264 has a habit of shifting too much allocation away from areas of the image like the sky, causing banding. GH2 hack really helped with that.

Why does each frame in 1080p/60p look more compressed than the same frame in 24p then? It's not just about motion estimation but the amount of detail per frame, and more frames = more data.

Any news on this? Does it work with the Ninja and is 5:4 clean?

The FS100 has an implementation of AVCHD that is as good as it gets, for better you definitely need to double the bitrate no question. By the way it isn't so much 24p at 24Mbit which is the problem on the FS100 but 60p at 28Mbit, because bitrate is allocated variably per frame. The more frames the more the available data is thinly spread across them.

Hi Greg the camera isn't even finished or out of the factory yet so you won't find a review yet anywhere. Stay tuned.

Less megapixels don't equal more DR any more. Red confirmed this with the new Dragon sensor. 6K and 15 stops of DR! That is a similar megapixel count to the 22MP of the 5D Mark III or 24MP of the A99. It all comes down to pixel design not pixel count. And of course the way the data is read off the sensor and the way it is downscaled for video. And nobody would claim raw stills from the 22MP 5D Mark III lack for dynamic range.

There is a lot more work to do, yes. It was someone else who claimed the 46Mbit, so far not much more info is out about that. I prefer to concentrate on needs of the project, and achieving goals as laid out by Someone 1.00 so please keep the topics on that...

[img]http://www.eoshd.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/nex-5n-canon-samyang-and-sd.jpg[/img] [url="http://www.eoshd.com/comments/forum/12-sony-nex-hack/"]I have set up a dedicated forum for the Sony NEX Hack here[/url] A guy named Someone 1.00 is able to hack the NEX series of Sony mirrorless cameras for higher bitrates in video mode and more. [url="http://www.eoshd.com/comments/forum/12-sony-nex-hack/"]Discuss the hack here[/url] and support Someone 1.00 in his efforts. The video after the break shows the hack in action, and proof that it can be done.

What you list is pretty amazing, when you have all that (inc. peaking, etc.) what 'cinema quality features' are you referring to that would improve a DSLR? Raw codec? We have Blackmagic for that. 10bit colour, etc.? It doesn't make a huge difference. I'd be very happy with that list alone.

[quote name='RichST' timestamp='1344583553' post='15257'] Very interesting, I wonder just how Sony will improve its video capture ability? Best case scenario is that they do a full sensor scan and downscale it. But I just don't think that's possible at that price point. A c300 type readout would also yield excellent results but again I think that's too high end. Perhaps they've figured out how Panasonic grabs the video capture from its GH sensors and will use something like that. [/quote] My speculation: They won't do a full sensor capture or C300 readout because the 24MP count is too high for stuff like that, instead I think they will do something similar to the GH2 which samples intelligently on the sensor, outputs something like 4MP, then downsamples that to 1080p on the image processor side. Leica R: Good tips Samuel I have some of the same glass and it's great. Prices are steadily going up but you can still get some bargains, mainly outside of eBay in 2nd hand stores along the high street.

[quote name='Rungunshoot' timestamp='1344547920' post='15234'] How bout IBIS? It would be amazing if the camera offered sensor-shift stabilization with little or no crop factor. [/quote] Good point, that would be great on legacy M42 adapted lenses if it worked with non-Sony stuff like the Olympus IBIS does. I am sure we will see IBIS as Alpha lenses don't have optical image stabilisation as standard.

[quote name='mike_tee_vee' timestamp='1344545168' post='15232'] Why mess around with the Alpha Mount? Sticking with it is extremely limiting, and just another example of Sony's insistance on proprietary products. It's a legacy mount. Traditional DSLRs are at a saturation point, while the mirrorless market share is growing. I can easily see Sony placing the Alpha mount on the backburner much like Olympus and Panasonic have with the original Four Thirds mount. In terms of workflow, many of the lenses used on the FS100 will not be usable on an A99. [/quote] Hmm it isn't really a proprietary thing, it is something they inherited from Konica Minolta. It is simply a short straw that's all. Because of all the mounts ONE has to be biggest doesn't it? As I said before, way for Sony to fix this is offer completely non-standard mirrorless full frame mount and create hot swappable mount which you can change. They already have the Alpha SLT mount hot swappable, you can use it on the NEX mount and FS100. You will never see an E-Mount sensor size larger than APS-C. The sensor will not physically fit into that mount circumference and the flange distance is too short to get decent optical performance in the corners. The Leica M flange distance is larger than E-Mount for same reason...optical performance in the corners.

[quote name='tungah' timestamp='1344520414' post='15200'] The "problem" I see with the Sony is the mount. Forget about using inexpensive Nikon AIS glass... and Alpha lenses is hard to come by here in Brazil, at least at reasonable prices anyways. Andrew, what do you know about the GH3? Any info on that? [/quote] Sure Nikon AIS glass is good value, but you know what - I don't have any. Prefer Contax Zeiss. Sadly those will have to be converted to work on the Alpha mount, rather than adapted. Yes the mount will be an issue for people heavily invested in non-Sony glass because they can't adapt it. Maybe Sony have something up their sleeve with the A99 to allow that. So far they have been very supportive of adapting lenses on NEX cameras, even showcasing third party adapter rings in the official Sony Centre here in Berlin and selling them alongside the NEX lenses. For those with smaller collection of lenses, well the solution is to do a bit of eBaying. Here's what I do if the A99 is the hit I think it will be for video. I'll sell my Samyang EOS mount stuff and replace it with Samyang's Alpha mount versions for same price, possibly the Cine editions that were announced today (14, 24, 35). Another lens I use on full frame is Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 at the 16mm end and that is available for same price as EOS mount version in Alpha mount too. Next up I will likely sell my 85mm Contax Zeiss and upgrade to the newer ZA Zeiss version, though of course it will cost £300 more. For those on budget the Samyang 85mm F1.4 is great value for money and in Sony mount too. Then we come to the Alpha glass, there might be some nice choices there (they have a telephoto lens optimised especially for awesome looking bokeh for example that I thought about using on my existing cameras) but really unless you want AF and some zooms you can save money and stick to non Sony stuff. As for ultra affordable, what about Minolta primes on eBay? See, there are options and it isn't the end of the world because of the Alpha mount unless you have tons of L stuff that you can't afford to swap out for the Alpha equivalent. I do agree that the biggest obstacle to Sony's success in the pro market for photography is indeed that people are locked into vast investments in Canon and Nikon glass. If I were Sony I'd make the SLT assembly and Alpha mount detachable from a new mirrorless full frame mount. Essentially imagine the NEX SLT adapter as part of the camera, and it comes off when you need to put on a Canon or Nikon mount instead.