Walter H

10 hours ago, jhnkng said:

 Even without F-Log I find that the Fuji cross cuts just fine with my C100mk2, I think my X-T2 is going to be the perfect on gimbal b-cam for me.

As another C100mk2 shooter, totally agree.

@everyone   Here is something interesting - http://colorizer.net/

I will contact them about possibly creating an Eterna LUT. Would be great if others did as well. Regardless, really hits the mark of having a film sim LUT without the heavy contrast curve I dislike in the official Eterna LUT. I am certainly buying them a coffee.

3 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

I don't think its out until next month.

 The low light limit for AF being extended and being able to use it up to f11 should be simple pass/fail though.

The other two changes are subjective and will need someone who tracks oncoming birds in flight at varying focal lengths to test !

Fujirumors believes there will be an announcement tomorrow but that the firmware will not be available till May - https://www.fujirumors.com/leaked-full-details-of-upcoming-firmware-udpates-first-images-of-gf-250mmf4-and-gf-1-4x-teleconverter/

19 minutes ago, Trek of Joy said:

You can shoot Flog internal and use the Fuji Eterna LUT, which is the next best thing.

I wish it were that effective. I find the curve imposed by the LUT to be too harsh. If there was an Eterna color / mild-curve LUT that could be further refined, I would appreciate that a lot.

2 minutes ago, frontfocus said:

I think it will. I suspect, that the Slow motion is line skipped and not downsampled and that results in moire and lower resolution. 

Interesting. I may not be the first to upgrade then. I'm not crazy about inheriting one of the image issues that would keep me from holding onto the X-H1. 

5 minutes ago, mkabi said:

BTW, I wonder if the X-T2 will show the same aliasing/moire issues in Slow motion.

We will find out soon, but I and others have noted already that what is the X-T2's image is nice at 1080/60p and the X-H1 trips up. Will try to post what I have noticed the past few days later this eve. 

@Attila Bakos Are you shooting with the X-H1 now?

56 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Internal F-LOG is a big winner for me personally.

Would've been nice to have Eterna internal as well but as Fuji have released the F-LOG > Eterna LUT for it in their last update its not a major issue.

So if we couldn't have both, I'm glad they chose the internal F-LOG !

 

 

Yes, I've been desiring internal F-Log as well and with the hopes of the Eterna LUT... But in playing with F-Log from the X-H1, the bummer about the LUT is that it applies a REC 709 curve which crushes shadows far too much for my liking. I wish there was an Eterna LUT with a much milder curve. When I simply applying a curve to F-Log pushes, blues push toward teal or purple (depending upon initial WB), i.e. more fiddly color correction, whereas the LUT just nails the color in a click. But that curve...

I currently have an X-H1 which I am debating to return. This is tough - trying to determine if it brings enough benefit.

I LOVE the shutter, the Eterna, relative ease of switch between photo and video, internal stabilization, quickly grabbing both photo/video with my Fuji lenses.

The body grip is GOOD but I'm very happy with the X-T2 plus external battery grip. Either work well for lenses such as Sigma's 18-35. The X-H1 plus battery grip does appear larger to subjects - it's more noticeable - than the X-T2 and that's a bummer for the lower-profile event shooting that I do. I like to blend for candids. I would likely shoot the X-H1 w/o the battery grip at such events. 

I am MEH on the performance of the internal stabilization. It is great to shoot stabilized footage with my 23 or 56, etc. But there is jumpiness that I don't care for and at wider angles, there at times appears to be a "warp stabilizer" effect that I really loathe - I think it happens with a slight change of pitch rather than pan or tilt motions. I have been spoiled with the lens stabilization of Canon's 17-55/2.8 on my C100mkII. I've just picked up Fringer's Smart Adapter and now I really like that lens on the X-T2. It's just large, doesn't go to 1.4, etc.

I DISLIKE the amount of additional aliasing I am seeing in the X-H1 footage. We all know about the 120 slow-mo but I see it in the 60p in circumstances where the X-T2 has none. Need to look more at the 24p in both HD and 4K to compare.

The IBIS irregularities and the aliasing dissuade me. Now with this firmware update for the X-T2. Hmmm....

There is no "easy" laptop hack. It's one thing to get OS X working and quite another for it to run fluidly and optimally. 

I have built three HackPros in the last six years and am using the third as my daily editing machine. No issues. 

I am nursing my late 2011 15" MacBook Pro and will continue to as long as possible. 

Tonymacx86 is a good resource. 

23 hours ago, jasonmillard81 said:

Walter, you're right.

 

I have a GH4, and despise the ISO performance and colors.  I was looking for a stills camera that I can print fairly large photos, do timelapses, get great night shots without a flash etc.  I was suggested to look at the 80D as a companion to the c100 II due to the interchangeable lenses and decent b-cam for video.

But the X-T2 seems like it could potentionally be a better b-cam and stills camera...just not sure of the ISO performance.

Totally reasonable to consider BUT this is a thread about the XT-2, not what best compliments the C100mkII as a b-cam. *wink face*

I brought that is as another comparison for the XT-2 base upon how I work and what I hope to do with the camera that I couldn't with the XT-1. In fact, I was agonizing over wanting to stick with Fuji for stills but needing a b-cam. I was considering switching back to Sony for stills and a second camera for video. I was considering a D750 too.

I posted this bit with the C100 since the XT-2 can now viably, it seems, play that role and I'm pretty pleased about it.

I do think the XT-2 is clunky for video in the way that all these cameras with this form factor are. It reinforced for me my move to a proper video camera for video. I'm glad tho that Fuji now provides rather than precludes.

(p.s. sidenote: I also couldn't get right with the GH4 in part for colors but mostly due to DR and the roll-off to the highlights was just too harsh for me.)

10 hours ago, jasonmillard81 said:

Any thoughts on making this the companion to a c100 II instead of an 80D?

Clarify?

2 hours ago, Lothar said:

You're talking about CLog with 4.2.0 sampling? If you are satisfied with this combination, I can have high hopes, that internal F-Log is usable. I know that some people don't use SLOG on Sonys when recording internally, because of the compression. Now, that FW 1.10 is around the corner, let's see if we can try it soon. Besides the costs, an external recorder makes the system bulky. So, I really hope that internal F-Log will be usable (besides available).

Yes, we'll see. The C100's isn't your average 4.2.0. I was one of those "purchase a Ninja Star" people until I realized that it's improvement over the Canon's internal AVCHD was negligible. I don't do extreme image manipulation, green screen and I've never had a concern with CLog and the internal codec.

As I mentioned, Canon's Wide DR profile had more flexibility than the XT-2 profile (blacks crushing more easily) but the XT-2 is quite good - perhaps very good. We'll see how this translates to internal FLog. I agree - the bulk is a greater turn off than the $. Not how I want to use the camera.

54 minutes ago, Lothar said:

I little bit of topic, but how do you like the new Color Finale Pro? Did you match the shots with ColorChecker? Thanks, for the video. Looks really good.

If if weren't for Color Finale and Neat Video, I don't think I would be using FCPX. CF was very good and I'm still getting on top of the new features of CF Pro which is much improved - a lot of streamlining to repeat corrections and looks, great integration of LUTS, etc. I really like it - love the curves and and the wheels are a breeze, etc. (Now if only there was a proper sharpening plugin for FCPX...)

I didn't use a ColorChecker. I recently purchased a Passport version but am not accustomed to it in my workflow - need to start!

"Back to topic," after I set exposure and white balance on both cameras, I merely looked at the two screens (man - amazing how much better the C100mkII screen is vs mkI) and then went into the XT-2's custom WB to take out a bit of green that I saw on the XT-2's screen compared to the C100. Once in Final Cut, I made no further color adjustments to either camera other than take an almost equal amount of red out of the mids. I made separate exposure adjustments but otherwise, no color adjustments to get the XT-2 and C100mkII "talking" to each other. I'm pleased it was that easy.

One thing I noticed tho is that the C100 seemed to have more information to push around in the file. If I needed to be more aggressive, the C100's image seemed more robust. Particularly with the black levels as the XT-2 wanted to crush blacks with less adjustment.

I'm a CLog person mostly and I soooo want to work with FLog to compare. No desire to dump another $850-$1200 on a 4K recorder, however.

8 minutes ago, Inazuma said:

Nice. Looks quite natural. Regarding the focus hunting on the Fuji, I heard that when Face Detection is On that the camera stops using Phase detection and resorts to contrast detection, which might be the reason it keeps hunting like that? Could you test this out?

Face/Eye AF was OFF in photo mode. As far as I can tell, I don't have the option of enabling it for video even if I wanted. Fn button is unresponsive and option is greyed out in the menu during video mode.

Here is my first attempt to intercut the XT-2 with my C100mkII. I had hoped to have the XT-2 as a companion in this way and I'm pretty happy about it already.

Camera settings in the video and more info in the description. Short report is that I used Wide DR and ProNegStd dialed down. I shot the XT-2 in 4K.

pswd: twocam

 

 

1 hour ago, toxotis70 said:

cant you change exposure while shooting video ? (ISO - Speed - Aperture) 

Actually, you cannot change ISO while recording, but I'm referring to things like zebras and histograms, etc.

I spoke with Billy at the Fuji booth at PhotoPlus (NYC) on Friday - compliments and feedback on the XT-2. He asked how the XT-2 has changed my work and obviously I talked with him about video and that the camera was "almost" to the point that for certain events, I could use it exclusively for photo/video vs. always bringing my C100 mk. II and using the XT-1 for stills.

I emphasized the shortfalls for me was the lack of exposure tools in video to which he was very acknowledging - "That's a priority for me too." I also mentioned the desire for internal FLog - "We are hearing that from everyone..." He will be in Tokyo next month and said he would be bringing two months of feedback with him. His tone was appreciative and optimistic. It was clear to me that they don't feel at all complete with camera's video as it currently stands.

Also frustrating to note that FLog is apparently only available as 4K output, not available in 1080p HDMI out. That's what the menu told me but outputting to my Ninja Star just now confirmed it. Wish it weren't restricted to 4K only. Firmware, Fuji?

Nice to note that the 422 HQ 1080p wasn't a marked improvement over the internal recording using @Lothar's settings. I will do a few more comparisons of 1080p internal/external this afternoon. Wouldn't claim it yet but could be another Canon C100 scenario in which the ext recorder is redundant unless needing Fuji's flat profile.  

27 minutes ago, Inazuma said:

Not quite right. I didn't use the same shutter speed and aperture values between the cameras because I let the Fuji them decide for itself. It just so happens that the Fuji seemed to expose much more brightly than the Nikon, so I in turn had to use manual exposure values on the Nikon that read +1 2/3 stops on its meter.  

The 1.43 firmware was an update for the preproduction model and as far I'm aware that firmware is 1.0 in the release model

interesting. thanks. 

@Inazuma Interesting tests, thanks. Notable that you had to raise the exposure of the Nikon 1 2/3 stops to match exposure at each ISO value, is that right? 

On another note, my XT-2 is still firmware 1.0 and beta testers were using up to 1.42, which we don't have access to on the Fuji support website. I imagine they are waiting for a complete 2.0 firmware before releasing an update to us? 

This direct engagement "from the horses mouth" is always assuring, particularly from a company the size of Fujifilm. It's worth noting that this FLog is their first iteration.

I wonder what the limitation/choice between 8-bit and 10-bit is? If they are already doing the HDMI out at 4:2:2, why not raise the bit-rate as well? It's certainly not that they have another camera they are worried about undercutting (cough, Canon.) But I've no idea about the hardware and processing requirements.

We have some FLog to download:

In FCPX, I was able to pull down the highlights so that the roll-off seemed less harsh, but no detail recovered. Even after bringing the blacks down and applying a curve, shadows remained quite noisy.

This is a fairly extreme dr scene but I am struck by the amount of shadow noise at base ISO. My C100 is my baseline.

Curious what others think.

17 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

In decent light and with a human subject, you'll be surprised at how close the X Pro2 and C100's images are.

Ergonomics wise, of course the C100 can do longer takes, massive battery life, easier to manually focus, a tad easier to expose with zebra, waveform, etc... but the X Pro2 is smaller, lighter, more simple, more direct, and has a MUCH better EVF. So again it's not quite so simple as writing one off because it is mainly a photo camera.

Biggest difference is on the audio side... Obviously if professional onboard audio and XLR is a priority then C100 is going to give you that.

This is quite interesting to me. I've been using a C100 for video and Fuji - an XT-1 - for quite a while now. I've been lamenting the isolation of the systems and the inability to use the Fuji's as a second cam to the C100 and that might be able to change soon. I'm not in a rush and will wait a bit for an XT-2 unless I have a compelling project that forces my hand earlier.

I have switched to CS6 from FCPX in recent weeks and I am generaly pleased. I however also developed a stuttering with the 50mb mov files from my GH3. (I have a CUDA enabled GTX 660, 3770k, 16 gb RAM, ssd, raid for scratch disks, etc.)

 

I wish the renaming to mpg would have worked but it did not. Transcoding to 442 via MPEG Streamclip has been my fix. Downside is the resulting larger files.

 

Curious that others have no troubles with their GH3 files. Leaves me scratching my head...

@John (and all others)

Thanks for that statement. The rash, reflexive bashing become difficult here (and in other forums) to weed out from the reasonable critique/conjecture which is ostensibly why we come here: to thoughtfully discuss a camera we are all interested in.

I have been working with the strengths and weaknesses of the 5n for several months now. You can do a lot with the camera considering its weaknesses - handling issues you can adjust too. The sensor is fabulous and I would take it over the any of the hacked gf models for sure - better ergonomics than the gf's, the sensor performance, very good codec, 1080 60p, incredible stills when you take them (dynamic range, high iso, etc.)

I like the video from it better than from the Nex-7. Yes, I have also seen that blochy video noise at 1600 and 3200 iso when I have pushed it. Sunset seemed a better than portrait profile in those instances. I've shot at 3200 in b/w with contrast and sharpness ramped down and it looked gorgeous. Also shooting primarily with FD glass.

Protect your highlights when shooting with the 5n - they blow-out fast. The type of shooting I, overheating has only twice been an issue. I generally shoot short clips of interviews, scenes, etc. But the few times I have had a shot cut short due to overheating, it was a major bummer and I wanted a gh2 right then and there.

All that said, the gh2 is a much more capable, all-round camera for video and I am definitely purchasing one now that I've worked with the 5n for these months. I'll still use the 5n, but the gh2 quality even with basic hacks is so impressive. There are folks hacking and making solid improvements to the audio:
http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/1152/gh2-audio-hacks/p5

I've spent hundreds getting good audio for the 5n which I then have to sync later. Quality is great but it is extra steps and all the money adds up. I very much understand being on a tight budget. Depending what you want to do, you may spend the difference between the 5n and the gh2 on an external recorder alone... (ps. do not get a h4n. for the price, there is better equipment now.)

Even without the gh2, Andrew's book has been very helpful, fun, inspiring.

Axel said so much that I learned from here that I'll only reinforce one point - get ND filters as soon as possible. They make [i]the[/i] difference shooting outdoors. I was choking a bit to drop the coin on a variable ND (I bought the Fader) rather than several separate filters I could stack. I am so glad I spent on the variable. The tune-ability for exposure control is very helpful.

Grab a 77mm or whatever size of your largest lens diameter and inexpensive step-up rings to fit your other lenses.