jbCinC_12

Since its a smaller improvement from what we expected, a price cut would be nice.  How about the old $500 summer special.

8k is the cost to replace each cartridge.

I tested out the natural profile today with everything dialed down. 
 

I’ll admit it, I use camera forums a lot.  Too much, probably. I use them to check out the latest cameras and lenses and lights and accessories. I waste about two hours a day on them.  Time I could spend watching “the View.”
When I started out shooting part-time in 2005, I got a DVX100 because a juggler who was a featured extra on a tv show called “Sons of Saddam” told me to.  “Cause it does 24p.”  I didn’t know what that meant, but I plunked down $3,000 - all the money I had in savings on this camera.  
The camera could have been a bust.  But I did it because a juggler who played one of Saddam’s sons goons said so.  That’s how easily influenced I am.
Then I bought a HVX200, not even testing it first.  “Cause it can do HD.”   I bought the Redrock micro adapter because I watched the work of MacGreggor and some other DPs back then do stuff on a Gorilla 35 lens adapter that hadn’t even come out.  I hadn’t even tried it first.  Just sent in my credit card info.  
Rinse and repeat.
All these periods of time I bought things just based on videos I saw shot on them. No tests - I didn’t understand tests.  Just videos shot with them and the opinions of people I respected.  I could look at screen grabs but just scroll down to their opinions.
Well finally 11 years later, I am seeing what I was doing - buying based on people’s emotions.  Based on the emotions of people whose work I liked.
This is fine to do, but it’s not always the smartest thing to do.  
There are several, maybe twenty influential figures online in the cinematography world.  David Mullen, Shane Hurlbut, John Brawley, Art Adams, Geoff Boyle, and of course Andrew Reid, come to mind as leaders who people follow and listen to.
Even the opinions of the above people and the other influencers are, in the end, just their opinions.
When someone says, “this to me screams filmic” or “this looks digital” - again, that’s all an opinion.  If they say, “that grade is terrible” or “man you nailed the skin tones” - again, that’s all opinion.  Even looking at test charts and camera tests, the results are subjective.  Aesthetic is subjective.  There are scientific tests, but they lead to opinions.  This isn’t pure math - this is an art form.
There is no such thing as filmic.
Everything is digital.  Film emulsions see the world differently, but they go through a digital intermediate.  They become digital .  And I think that’s probably about 99.9% of all films shot on celluloid.  Maybe a few hipsters shoot film and use a steinbeck, but they still upload their results to vimeo, which converts this to a h.264 file.
I have very strong opinions, and a lot of people have very strong opinions.  That’s why we work in film.  It’s an art form that is full of passionate people.  But I also have low self-esteem.  My whole nature of existence is based on others approval.  I’m getting better at trusting my own self, but this is my basis.  
I think maybe most artists have low self-esteem or why would they want to share their art?  Is it ego?  Or the attempt for others to connect?  Yes that’s part of it.  But whether you want to admit it or not, we love when people love our work.  We live off the feedback, or why would we check vimeo 5 times a day to see if someone commented?  Why else would we have awards?  Especially in an art field where awards are just based on opinions of a community who may or may not get your work?
Something is beautiful if you think it is.  You don’t need an oscar in cinematography to be happy with your lighting or camera movement or angle, or have your opinion mean anything less if you aren’t in the ASC.  Everyone brings something unique to the art form.  Everyone brings a new perspective that is needed, especially now, when everything feels pretty much the same.  

Seems like SLR magic will soon make available their new anamorphic lenses. I was pretty excited about these and was looking into ordering one. But after noticing the price, it seems I'll be staying out of anamorphic for a while longer. Just can't really justify it for what is pretty much a hobby for me.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1233201-REG/slr_magic_slr_ac50133pl_anmrpht_lns_1_33x_50mm_lns_cs.html

Cutting the top & bottom off is certainly cheaper...
(that's my approach)

I think you're doing an excellent job nailing your coloring down.  I do agree, trying to work on skin tones can be a challenge all in itself.  Also in agreement with RenaissanceMan and the LeemingLUT, if you're ever with reddit, there's a Panasonic G7 group, and I'm trying out a LUT that can mimic BMCC flat color profile.  Lemme know if you're interested.  I'm learning too as well, so learning from here at eoshd and similar sites are great.

I think you're doing an excellent job nailing your coloring down.  I do agree, trying to work on skin tones can be a challenge all in itself.  Also in agreement with RenaissanceMan and the LeemingLUT, if you're ever with reddit, there's a Panasonic G7 group, and I'm trying out a LUT that can mimic BMCC flat color profile.  Lemme know if you're interested.  I'm learning too as well, so learning from here at eoshd and similar sites are great.

Spgreen65 thank you!
I've been using my Bell & Howell 2x in 4:3 4k photo mode and slowing the footage down to 80% to match 23.976 fps.  I wish Panasonic would just update the firmware and allow us all to shoot in 4:3 mode @ 23.976. Maybe when the GH5 comes out and the price/feature gap between the G7 and GH4 becomes less relevant... wishful thinking.

jbCinC_12 , will you go with the 2x SLR Magic or the 1.3?

All this raises a dilemma... Blackmagic Pocket (£696 in UK) or wait for this...
I have a BMCC (too big for holiday travel), A6000 (used mainly for stills), rx1004 and A7s/shogun (used only for aurora filming).
I do enjoy "fiddling" (any other term would be to overstate my competence)  with the Blackmagic image so the Pocket is still number 1 but it's tempting to replace the A6000 with the A6300...
Pocket is possibly over-priced now? (It's ridiculous to say that, I know).
Pocket 2 @ NAB? (but delivery "in May" not soon enough...)
I head to Oslo for a long-weekend in March (wonderful light) and want something pocketable. So either I use the rx1004 (and ? buy the A6300 later) or get a Pocket now. Thoughts?
Tim

I'm interested to know about that too.  It's my first time with doing 4K, which mine's is only UHD and I downscale it for 1080p for processing.

I was wondering if anyone elects to shoot in 4K DCI over UHD. I know there has been some pretty conclusive stuff for UHD actually having more resolution than the DC1 4K mode of the camera. Also, UHD has 23.976 fps which for things not to be later transferred to film is the desired shooting method as opposed to DCI's 24p only option. My question is... does anyone actually shoot in DCI or is everyone shooting UHD and cropping to the desired ratio after the fact?
Best,
Bradley

For the test shots I did are untouched CineD - meaning all contrast, sharpness, nr, saturation are at 0.  I may try out a bit of a -2 or -5 for constrast, and maybe a -2 for saturation in regards to post/color correcting.  I try to go a little bit by bit as I don't want anything happening to the shoots I made (and been reading up the possibilities via indep. filmmaking sites); so I may dab at said settings if I can learn to do custom settings.  I been using a luminance level at 0-255, I think my levels are only at 0-255 and 16-235 (I don't know, I'll check again), but without a doubt, I love it.
Here are some shots after correcting them via Resolve 12.  I managed to get some corrections made, and sometimes it gets pooped out which means I have to re-boot my system, so...
Corrected and applied Oleg's Kodak Kodachrome 200 lut.

Wow, I'm jealous... just kidding.  
Really, these look really good.  I wish I can master something like that, as I am getting used to mine.  My settings were said profile untouched, while trying to set the right white balance.
I don't mean to hijack, but I did some shots on CineD as well, tweeked with the color of Davnici Resolve and the end results.   Two sets (before and after)

The G7 actually looks quite good in this test.  Good DR. 

I say give it a try since you have the option of shooting in 4K and shooting 4K photo mode be it 4:3 (for anamorphic).  I snag one which was on sale in the US, I wind up getting the German version (dmc-g70), and I like it so far.  It was well worth the money.

Nice shots you did there.  I too have a Canon EOS-M, and had tried the ML 2 years ago, and I couldn't for the life of me wrap my head around the process of doing the raw.  I still like the camera though, despite it's cumbersome (IMO) correcting on h.264

I felt the same way too, even on my Dell Inspiron 660s -- now that they support OpenCL 1.2

Don't know if this is relevant to you, but Resolve 12 is now running without special 3D graphics cards as stated above. 11 didn't work at all on my Lenovo with HD Graphics 4400, but it now does.

So far, with the Beta 2, it seems to run smoothly (fingers crossed) on my end, it was slow in some parts, but I did played with editing (not fully) and grading, and a chance to render - even on Intel HD Graphics, 1GB physical memory with OpenCL 1.2, so who knows...

Now we're talking! that is an affordable price 

Eh - I mean, who really cares? There are people who own RED cameras who have no clue how to expose an image, let alone light an interesting scene. There are people who started shooting on Super 8mm, or Hi-8 video who are now making quite good movies (even Hollywood ones!)
Whether or not someone is taken in by the marketing ploy or not - does it really matter? Sure none of the Canon cameras can really compete on a price vs spec level. But does that mean you can't get a great image out of them? I've seen 7D and 5D stuff blown up onto the big screen and intercut with Alexa footage. Does that mean my A7s couldn't give a better image than both of those cameras? Of course it can. So what? I like the way the A7s works, and I like the image I can get out of it. I love that I can use it as a B-cam for an F5, or Alexa or whatever. I prefer the ergonomics, the usability and the image to the Blackmagic pocket (and honestly, even the Blackmagic Cinema Cam). Many would think me stupid for having such an opinion ('haven't you seen the colours from the A7s?!!) and yet there are plenty professional filmmakers (even Hollywood filmmakers) using the camera day-to-day and producing beautiful images.
Yep - the lines of cameras they are trying to push are outdated, and outspecced by any of the current DSLMs. Doesn't mean one can't get a decent image out of it - and it doesn't mean you can't tell a good story with it. Look at Tangerine. While everyone here was busy arguing over which camera had the better dynamic range, or colour rendition, a bunch of filmmakers went out and shot a film on an iPhone, told a great story and got into Sundance, and is now opening in cinemas across the world.
And you laugh at someone who buys a 70D...
 
 
 
Maybe Canon are having their Kodak moment - though Kodak never had cinema cameras to bolster their line up... Pretty much every camera company uses this kind of marketing to push their cameras. You can laugh at the fact that their cameras are overpriced, but can you blame them for trying to push their product (which may or may not be declining in sales) as much as they possibly can?

This is a poorly done satire tbh. I think you will alienate some of your readership with this as it seems too serious. But I am loving the canon bashing. Working in a big media hub in Manchester I'm continually amazed by how many people are carrying around Canon cameras (and not even a 5d3 most of the time)

Holy shit get a grip of yourself! If this is truly what you are willing to say and not just some misscarriage of a message written in a short period of anger, then YOU are whats wrong with a WHOLE lot of people on this planet.
Write all the opinion you want about products and companies and call them names and whatever, but please let other people decide on their own what to buy with THEIR money and dont call them names. How entitled do you have to feel to write shit like this!?
I really do enjoy some quality content from you Andrew and am willing to deal with some weird attitude to a lot of stuff from you, but this really takes the cake for biggest fuckup. Please stick to informing people about stuff and giving your opinion about gear/companies/weather/whatever, but NOT on consumers that buy stuff. Its everyones own decision for gods sake.
PS: I had a little vomit in my mouth when I read "If you buy this bundle you are not an artist and never will be, because you too do not care." Do you even read the stuff you wrote here?!