Mark Holmes

Well, this is the one thing I was afraid of, and the one deal-breaker for me. I use my EOS-Rs for interviews and live theater. They record literally for hours, 4k 30p, without even getting warm. Looks like my wallet, and spouse, will be happy I won't want to upgrade. 

Andrew, I’ve been following and reading your site since you started. So so so excited if this is all true. And excited to see the site once again celebrating its roots and its name. Woohoo!

I sold off all my Samsung gear, as soon as it was clear they were killing the line, to switch to Fuji. I love my Fuji gear, but sometimes regret selling my NX1. Looking back at my dog pics; nothing compares. The detail was just astonishing, there’s something about the way the NX1 renders fur.. call me crazy but if the NX line is resurrected I’ll be taking a close look.

In these days of diminishing journalistic integrity, it's refreshing to read this article. Kudos, Andrew, for practicing journalism as it was intended, and for the reminder of why this is one of my most visited sites. Happy Holidays!

This looks nice - the Fuji colors seem to be translating well to the video as well.

Nice work Fredrik - I love the colors of the GX85 - it seems that Panasonic finally got their colors right with this generation of cameras. I had sold all my GH bodies but luckily held onto the best Lumix lenses and am now glad I did. Very happy with my GX85 and looking forward to picking up a GH5 next year. Fredrik - one question - what kind of lights did you use?

Hey Lothar, I used two Audio Technica shotgun microphones - 835b's - running to a Tascam DR60D synced up in post with hand claps. Nothing fancy.

Another test with the X-T2. 4K, Acros simulation. I like the look the black and white gave our scene. 

9 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Nice write-up.

I just bought an X-T2 (in a small shop in Venice where I am shooting and holidaying!)

We'll see what it can do here, as it's a pretty photogenic place, quite demanding on dynamic range with all the narrow walkways and bright sun.

I find Pro Neg Std does seem to lift the shadows nicely and sharpness all the way down + using 180 degree shutter helps with cinematic motion candence.

The footage out there so far hasn't been very impressive as not many people are buying it for video.... yet?

The only annoyance I have so far is that they removed the video record button and to switch between video & stills mode is now on the drive lever, which is an awkward bastard of a dial to say the least - not sure what they were thinking ergonomically with that one!! You cannot assign video to a funtion button or enter video mode in the blink of an eye. It takes a fiddle with the lever and an accidental turn of the ISO wheel...hmm.

Am shooting via a passive Canon EF adapter at the moment, don't have my NDs or Fuji glass with me but at night I'll be shooting wide open at 1/50 anyway.

What this thing offers over the Samsung NX1 appears to be a few advantages -

- Fuji glass

- Not discontinued

- Better at high ISOs

- Better EVF

- Smaller

- Speed Booster compatible (although a third party one is in the making for NX I've yet to see what the performance is like)

That last point is very important as it turns the X-T1's 1.74x crop factor to 1.23x - similar to the Canon 1D C, with a huge range of full frame glass - A Mount, Nikon, Contax Zeiss, Canon FD, etc.

So if we consider the X-T2 as a near-full frame A7R II replacement with the colour science and ergonomics fixed, for half the price, I think it's looking like a front runner.

I'm off to shoot and find out!

So glad you're going to see what this camera can do Andrew - I visit your site daily and have much respect for your work and opinions. I traded in my NX1 and Samsung lenses, and some older Nikon gear to go all Fuji, at least for stills, but see real potential for the video out of this camera. Nothing impresses me the way this X-T2 along with my 35mm F2 and 56 1.2 do - everything is built like a tank, and the image quality, at least for stills, is unmatched, imho.

The Acros film simulation looks impressive.

Hey all -  a quick test of the Fuji X-T2 - shot in 4K - no color correction - Classic Chrome. 

I was considering this for event videography work, but the specs on B&H list a 29 minute clip limit, making it useless for my 1-2 hour unattended wide shots. 

Can anyone confirm whether this is true? Seems a shame if it is.

Canon (and the 5D3) has the nicest color processing in the price range, especially for skintones. In good/bright light, the 5D3 H.264 sharpens nicely and looks really good on a large HDTV at a normal viewing distance. It's very important to use sharp lenses and to nail focus. The 24-105 F4L is ok for closeups, but not so good for anything else (sharpness). The 16-35 F2.8L II, 24-70 F2.8L II, and 70-200 F2.8L II are very sharp and really help the 5D3 H.264 look its best. Nikon and Zeiss primes are also very sharp; the new Sigma 50mm should be spectacular.

Canon L lenses with H.264 (IPB): looks good on HDTV:

I also shoot with the Sony FS700 and Speedbooster. The FS700 is sharper and has greater dynamic range (at least 2 stops) along with smaller H.264 files. When white balance is set properly, color processing is decent but still can't match Canon, especially for skintones.

The Odyssey 7Q (haven't used one yet) takes the FS700 to another level, though from footage posted so far the color processing is still not as good as 5D3 14-bit raw.

The GH4 has resolution to spare but falls short on color processing and DR and has a tiny sensor (only S35 with a Speedbooster- an issue if needing full frame FOV). The A7S looks to have excellent color processing and DR though has a fair amount of rolling shutter.

For run and gun, the 5D3 is better than the FS700 as it's lighter and easier to focus when using a quality viewfinder loupe. The FS700 can use autofocus lenses but they are slow and don't always focus on the desired object.

5D3 14-bit raw is spectacular, especially when processed with ACR. The tradeoff is card and disk space and processing time. For the price, this is the closest one can get to an ARRI Alexa/Amira- the best cameras in most people's eyes.

(GH4 can't compete with this color; processed with Resolve- ACR wasn't used)
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?322289-Wedding-(RAW)&s=6bee780c6bd52fdfdd928bcee7cec245 (Low light raw, processed with ACR).

I would agree that current GH4 clips can't compare with this or much of the 5D MK3 Raw stuff. 

But I'm very curious to see professionally shot GH4 4K 10 bit ProRes, graded in Resolve. I don't believe this will be possible without the new 4K recorders, but it might be some stunning footage that will compare well with 5D stuff. Time will tell.

Yes, let's just keep posting until we hear something!

I guess posting part 2 was an April Fool's joke too  :D !! Andrew, were dying ova here! Dying I say!!

 

If I can just see some 10-bit 1080p at ISO 6400 before I take my last breath, it would have all been worth it...

I'll second that - been clicking on EOSHD since Sunday night (California time - I'm used to Andrew's schedule with him in the UK) and am going mad waiting... And of course this is a great indicator of what a great site you run!