ntblowz

We just finished our cinematography reel from some of our favourite images that we have filmed over the past years. Some of the images were captured in the magic of the moment and some were staged with lights etc... SEE YA 2020!
 
 

I do agree, as someone who has actually built a few systems over the years, that doesn't sound like actually building a system up. You more or less got a fairly somewhat bare bones system, then threw in a few extra choice parts to super charge it up. 

To be fair, as I get older and value my limited time on the earth more highly, and as I grow more and more out of touch with the latest fine details of latest PC products, I too could see myself doing similar for a future PC "build". 

Just get a barebones build, then throw in the extra RAM / GPU / HDD / SSD that I source myself. As those things are easy easy to install yourself. 

Am actually right now using this very second a PC I completely bought from China:
 

That exactly mimic my experience, 8K runs smooth on high end Ryzen (if you got 12 or more cores), at least i can do jobs now without pulling my hair out or wait 2 years later.

Those are the same h.265 4k60p videos they used on previous video, where the 10 core intel mac just poop when try to play back but both ryzen n m1 playback smoothly.

Ryzen is still faster from max's new video
Wonder will M1X with higher TDP will unleash more power?
 
 
 

That pc he build a month ago is gonna be 20~100% slower when this build is done (waiting for PC case atm) 😁, can't believe a month can make huge difference.
 

Shot 70% shot the C70 and 30% A7SIII.  More coming soon! 
 

I think the Z4 was around $1600USD but it takes a lot of work to get it that low. HP charges ridiculous rates for their memory and addin NVME cards so I used a few tricks to end up with just the tower, CPU, memory and power supply, from there I sourced parts elsewhere, so I guess I did kind of still build it out.
- I always pick the Linux option when buying from HP so that I don't pay for Windows 10 since I already have a license
-I picked the cheapest SATA storage possible since I already had NVME sticks from my previous system
-I picked no add-in video card since I already had that
-No optical storage since I never use CDs or DVDs
-No keyboard or mouse
-The one thing I don't skimp on is the Power Supply, I got the 1000W version due to the video card and to power all of the internal storage
-etc etc, until it was almost barebones, I then called and managed to get a few more things removed and an additional discount over the phone. Many people don't know if you build a system on the Dell or HP website then save it, call them and ask for a discount then give them your build invoice a lot of times you can get up to 20% more off especially around the holidays, you can also get them to remove stuff you don't need like hard drives which the online system configurator won't let you do. You can also go to the outlet version of the online store and sometimes find good deals there on returns or canceled orders but when I got the Z4 it was too new to find any deals in the outlet store.
After getting the tower with 8GB of memory, no graphics, almost no storage, etc. I then got a 4 port NVME Dell PCIe controller card on eBay for $100.00 (HP wanted $1300.00 for only 2TB), 64GB of memory for $150 (HP wanted $1600.00!!), dual SSD drives, etc. I also got the RTX2080Ti used on NewEgg for around $700.00USD.
The main thing I've learned over the years is I don't want to deal with motherboards, picking out a tower, power supplies, and memory; these are usually the source of instability later on. HP's memory was so expensive that I went ahead and got that separate and even then I pulled the memory that it shipped with and used the part number to exactly match the vendor, bus speed, etc. online.

I think the total build to do it all over again today would be right around $3300.00USD.  I had a lot of the NVME and SSD storage from other systems, and the RTX3080 brand new is only $700 (if you can find one) which is better than my 2080Ti. I only buy/build a new system every 7-8yrs or so and so I saw it as a worthwhile investment. Since I use Davinci Resolve for video editing, I think my system is pretty much future proof, all I'll need to do is upgrade the video card again at some point once H.265 10bit 4.2.2 is supported on the chip. The system itself is rock solid stable, with enterprise class reliability which was my intent.
Another thing that a lot of people do not realize is how power can make their system unstable. I live in FL, the #1 place is the world for lightning strikes, so I have a line conditioner and two surge protectors between my system and the wall outlet. Slightly dirty power is the cause of so many system instability issues and people have no idea that's what's causing their problems; for a system that gets taxed like a video editing workstation I always recommend spending another $200USD or so for a good line conditioner and surge protector.
 
Yes, the CPU and video card is always the most expensive parts. I've never understood how motherboards can be so cheap; to my eyes they look way more expensive than the CPU let alone the video card. 

Hallo dear friends,
I wish you all happy holidays! This is a music video from a winter short we did this summer, which I dped with a friend of mine.
A charming journey of roughed up singer Stella who is rushing through the city on Christmas eve, with Schmalz and Pathos of German Schlager music.
I wish you all a peaceful time. It is family and friends we find most comfort in. But also some campy fun and vintage lenses in these harsh times. Lens used with my S1 is a beautiful and cheap Unitor (Soligor, Hanimex) 35-70 2.5-3.5.  C300 performed with conventional Walimex lenses. Love from Germany. Stay save, dear friends! best, Marty
 

S5 with Voitglander 35mm 1.2 @ 1.2 and DJI Focus
 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfdaF9VfxQ5PPJ0PXOFygTKcnzbUHqjq/view?fbclid=IwAR18VZmAs2U24wxr0-3UnFtwKCxlr0mnmzgp3imrbngTKoN7CcwKqrM97zc
 

S5 with Voitglander 35mm 1.2 @ 1.2 and DJI Focus
 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfdaF9VfxQ5PPJ0PXOFygTKcnzbUHqjq/view?fbclid=IwAR18VZmAs2U24wxr0-3UnFtwKCxlr0mnmzgp3imrbngTKoN7CcwKqrM97zc
 

S5 with Voitglander 35mm 1.2 @ 1.2 and DJI Focus
 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfdaF9VfxQ5PPJ0PXOFygTKcnzbUHqjq/view?fbclid=IwAR18VZmAs2U24wxr0-3UnFtwKCxlr0mnmzgp3imrbngTKoN7CcwKqrM97zc
 

S5 with Voitglander 35mm 1.2 @ 1.2 and DJI Focus
 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfdaF9VfxQ5PPJ0PXOFygTKcnzbUHqjq/view?fbclid=IwAR18VZmAs2U24wxr0-3UnFtwKCxlr0mnmzgp3imrbngTKoN7CcwKqrM97zc
 

S5 with Voitglander 35mm 1.2 @ 1.2 and DJI Focus
 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfdaF9VfxQ5PPJ0PXOFygTKcnzbUHqjq/view?fbclid=IwAR18VZmAs2U24wxr0-3UnFtwKCxlr0mnmzgp3imrbngTKoN7CcwKqrM97zc
 

C70 just got netflix approved

https://ymcinema.com/2020/12/08/canon-eos-c70-now-netflix-approved/
 
 

Hey all - I've been using the R5 extensively on a variety of shoots the past couple of months and have absolutely loved it. The AF is spot-on, the HQ 4k modes are gorgeous, the user experience is amazing, the 120fps is the best I've used outside of the C300 III.
So far, I have had zero overheating issues. The timer in 4k HQ has gone down from 25-minutes to 20-minutes a couple of times, but have never had any issues. 
Just released last night is a music video I directed, shot, and edited. Outside of some tripod shots, I'd say 90% of the shoot was shot on the R5. Youtube compression sucks so there seems to be some artifacts, but they aren't present in the 4k ProRes export.
Enjoy!
 

Have loved the Panasonic G6, such a big upgrade from the original Panasonic GH1 which I started this filmmaking journey with (although technically it was my girlfriend's Nikon D90 or my sister's Canon T2i that I borrowed for the first handful of shoots), but in recent years I've been considering an upgrade. First to the Panasonic G7, simply to get 4K, but as the price of the Panasonic G85 kept on coming down on eBay that tempted me instead for the better low light, the live HDMI out, and of course the IBIS! But this is a slippery slope, because as I wait... then the Panasonic G9 got that big 10bit firmware update, and their prices were coming down with time too. (& more firmware updates came out too, such as better AF for the G9, and being a USB webcam for the G9)

Never really seriously considered the Panasonic GH5 or GH4, as they always got the most attention, thus I felt they always kept up the highest prices on the secondhand market, compared to the value that the Panasonic G series offered instead. But I still kept half an eye on the GH4/GH5 sales, just in case. Even considered a few alternative options such as Fujifilm, or for instance the Panasonic S1 that I bid on last week until the price shot up far too high for my tastes. In the end I kept on coming back to Panasonic MFT as offering by far the best value for money. (& the fact I already owned MFT lenses helped too)

However, today I won an action for a Panasonic GH4 for only NZ$417! (less than US$300)
That was a price too good to ignore (but I doubt I'd have bid a penny higher), thus to my surprise I find out I've settled with the old Panasonic GH4 as the upgrade from the G6 I'm going with. Even though I'd like the IBIS / better high ISO / etc of the G85 or G9, it isn't such a bad thing to have settled for this cheap deal of a GH4 because it is just going to be for casual vlogging usage to create simple content for my YouTube channel. 

One very small benefit of going with the Panasonic GH4, is that when the price of the Panasonic G9 finally tumbles down to sub US$300 (right after the Panasonic G12 gets released?), then I'll be able to use the same Panasonic DMW-BLF19 batteries in both! (which wouldn't have been possible if I'd got a G7 or G85)

Now, how many more years until I upgrade my "big camera", the Sony PMW-F3? The F3 is a truly fantastic camera! I still think there isn't a better 1080 camera at this price point (but the world is moving onto 4K). Had it a fair few years, unfortunately the F3's popularity didn't last too long because the Canon C300mk1 got released shortly after and the C300mk1 just *dominated* the low / mid end professional work for that generational cycle. (interesting how the secondhand F3 has seen a bit of renaissance in 2019/2020 thanks to Caleb Pike & others)

Been wanting to do the natural upgrade to a Sony PMW-F5 for a while now, but can't justify it because as a Sound Mixer I don't do a high enough volume of camera work. The FS7/FS5 or even a secondhand FS700R might very well make more sense! (I like for instance all the work done with the FS700R by this guy: https://vimeo.com/paulbates However the FS700 isn't as nicely ergonomic as the FS5! That compact size is fantastic)

Just keeping my eyes open for the right secondhand deal, in absolutely no rush whatsoever. (as I'm still primarily by far a Production Sound Mixer, as what I do day to day)

Try run Unreal Virtual wall on Apple.. wait they couldn't 

I would thought the 24-105 will be better? 70mm is a bit short for me.

I would thought the 24-105 will be better? 70mm is a bit short for me.

I would complain

I’ll let you guys see this. I had the chance to try out the C70 and A7SIII side by side on a very simple shoot. 
Using 4k100fps and 4k50fps. 
I have more interesting projects to show soon! 
 

Panasonic 85mm f1.8 has turned up.
First impressions, it's light, compact and well built.
Second impression is that the AF seems marginally better than the kit lens that was 'OK' and much (MUCH) better than the Sigma 56mm f1.4
In fact, I am cancelling my order for the Sigma 16mm and 30mm f1.4's and probably returning the 56mm f1.4
I'm going to do some more thorough tests tomorrow but it seems that it's true that the L Mount Alliance may share a lens mount, but they don't all share their protocols as much as they might.
I don't need ultra-amazing AF, but there are times when I need it to work and it 'seems' at least, that Panasonic glass with Panasonic bodies is the way to go.
So back to my original plan and will await the announcement of the Panasonic 24, 35 and 50mm f1.8's and work with that set instead.
Maybe even 1 less body as I am actually quite impressed with the IBIS and it's only a total of less than 10 minutes I actually need a monopod for dual photo/video at the same time and that will save me the cost of one full body.
But the new 85 is looking good. But then I thought the Sigma 56 was...but I have done a little more testing before opening my gob this time 😉

AMD 5950x can do 3 stream of H.265 422 4K60P from R5 full resolution without dropping frame, current M1 capped out on 2 stream of H.265 with dropping frames, so more like 2X more performance, it can also playback 1 stream of full res 8K from R5 fine in Premiere, none of the Intel CPU can do it like 5950X can do atm.