jlev23

I just sold my a7s.
I'm skipping this one and waiting for the a7sII.

1080p full frame, 4k 1.3x crop (between full frame and super35), 1080p super35 crop are the options. they're all decent, maybe super35 is better than full frame, but the 4k is easily the best

so, checked out the XC10 in depth at NAB, i went there having preordered it with high hopes for a lightweight 4k camera that was cheap and easy enough to just whip out on scouts and do some tests.
we were all let down pretty big on this one.
first of al it just feels cheap, granted a lot of people playing with them at nab but while i was holding it the viewfinder just popped off so easily it literally fell off the camera. as well it sucked, it might be the worst view finder i have ever looked through, i had to ask, why does everything look purple on this view finder. i went through all the settings, WB, ISO and matched them to the canon c300 next to me and still everything look purple.
The camera had one built in ND, that you have to literally go through about 4 steps in the menu to get to, its electronic, not glass as far as i can tell, but NOONE on the floor could tell me how many stops it was, seemed to be at least 3 to me, one person told me it was 1 and i just laughed at that.
The lens is parafocal, which is good news, and the front didnt rotate which was great news, so i was still intrigued. then when i checked to see when the aperture started to ramp, um the answer was, immediately! i mean, right away, its only 2.8 from 27mm to about 30mm, but then the horrible thing is that from that point it doesnt change incrementally, it moves 10ths as you zoom, so for example it starts going: 2.9, 3.1, 4.2, 4.5, 4.7, 5, etc….
its absolutely horrible, so much so i put the camera down after that and said thank you and walked away. the only way to shoot with this camera is to probably put it in some automatic iso setting, or set it to a 5.6 permanently. still , what i thought it would be good for is a ready to go, whip it out and shoot, possibly doc camera, nope…you have to dig into the menu for every setting with this tiny joystick thing, it was a pain the ass. i wouldnt even recommend it to a beginner because its so confusing, hopefully no one tries to learn on that camera.
i cancelled my preorder 10 minutes ago...
my favorite cameras of the show, the arri mini and the black magic micro! the smallhd monitor was also sweet, the clearest eyepiece i have ever looked through. put that on the micro(that does 60fps now) and i have a nice b-cam that shoots 10bit pro res. as well you can choose global shutter up to 30fps.
oh as well, the new ursa view finder is also horrible, it looked really green, but i was told it was a demo model, but i went around to each one and they all had different shade of green tint but all looking at the exact same thing with the same settings. i kept asking why doesnt this match the monitor on the camera and i kept getting the same answer, oh, this is not the production model, hopefully we fix that. i would personally skip the BM view finder and stick  a small hd on it, if i was at all interested in an Ursa. You CAN have external power on the small HD too, you just need the canon battery to wired power adapter, simple.
hope this helps!

so, checked out the XC10 in depth at NAB, i went there having preordered it with high hopes for a lightweight 4k camera that was cheap and easy enough to just whip out on scouts and do some tests.
we were all let down pretty big on this one.
first of al it just feels cheap, granted a lot of people playing with them at nab but while i was holding it the viewfinder just popped off so easily it literally fell off the camera. as well it sucked, it might be the worst view finder i have ever looked through, i had to ask, why does everything look purple on this view finder. i went through all the settings, WB, ISO and matched them to the canon c300 next to me and still everything look purple.
The camera had one built in ND, that you have to literally go through about 4 steps in the menu to get to, its electronic, not glass as far as i can tell, but NOONE on the floor could tell me how many stops it was, seemed to be at least 3 to me, one person told me it was 1 and i just laughed at that.
The lens is parafocal, which is good news, and the front didnt rotate which was great news, so i was still intrigued. then when i checked to see when the aperture started to ramp, um the answer was, immediately! i mean, right away, its only 2.8 from 27mm to about 30mm, but then the horrible thing is that from that point it doesnt change incrementally, it moves 10ths as you zoom, so for example it starts going: 2.9, 3.1, 4.2, 4.5, 4.7, 5, etc….
its absolutely horrible, so much so i put the camera down after that and said thank you and walked away. the only way to shoot with this camera is to probably put it in some automatic iso setting, or set it to a 5.6 permanently. still , what i thought it would be good for is a ready to go, whip it out and shoot, possibly doc camera, nope…you have to dig into the menu for every setting with this tiny joystick thing, it was a pain the ass. i wouldnt even recommend it to a beginner because its so confusing, hopefully no one tries to learn on that camera.
i cancelled my preorder 10 minutes ago...
my favorite cameras of the show, the arri mini and the black magic micro! the smallhd monitor was also sweet, the clearest eyepiece i have ever looked through. put that on the micro(that does 60fps now) and i have a nice b-cam that shoots 10bit pro res. as well you can choose global shutter up to 30fps.
oh as well, the new ursa view finder is also horrible, it looked really green, but i was told it was a demo model, but i went around to each one and they all had different shade of green tint but all looking at the exact same thing with the same settings. i kept asking why doesnt this match the monitor on the camera and i kept getting the same answer, oh, this is not the production model, hopefully we fix that. i would personally skip the BM view finder and stick  a small hd on it, if i was at all interested in an Ursa. You CAN have external power on the small HD too, you just need the canon battery to wired power adapter, simple.
hope this helps!

Seriously, why would you use a hacked old camera that shoots below 1080p res when working with a client? This is great news and very interesting as a curiosity, but that would be a quick way to lose a paying client.

with the new firmware and clean hdmi out, my assistants are complaining about a lag in the video now which makes pulling focus a little harder, any word if that is really a consequence of the new firmware upgrade, or has it really been there all the ime, ive never noticed it until the last shoot.

as a professional DP for about 17 years, i do understand and agree with you that the talent of a DP and the work arounds for the lower end consumer cameras really can make much more out of prosumer cameras such as a GH2 or 7D. I have shot many popular music videos and commercials mixing epics and alexas with 5Ds and no one can tell the difference in the footage, of course these are mostly on big productions with every thing lit very well. this brings me to say, environments not lit very well, or too dimly lit, or too brightly lit, all fall apart in quality on the prosumer cameras, especially the GH2 and the 7D. this is built on many many years of experience. not only have i seen this in comparison but i have first hand experience with when the GH2 was first hacked, i had a pl mount, put on the best lenses in the world, and man, in a nicely exposed environment i was shocked how sharp and clear it was. i decided to do a handheld scene with it that moved through different environments, some perfectly lit, but some, still at exposure, were more dramatically lit with more dark corners and shadows...to my surprise, and i was embarrassed, mainly because i sold production on this camera for b roll, that as soon as i entered any more dramatically lit environments the image completely fell apart, banding, grain, the works. i wound up doing the scene with the RED MX camera, epic wasnt out yet... needless to say i wound up selling the camera on ebay. this is not only what i found with this camera but its with all dslr or consumer products. i had an alexa, a 5dMK3 and a 7D on a job this year, and the alexa and 5D cut together beautifully, but the 7D's operator decided to get artsy and shoot from a less front lit area, needless to say, it had artifacts all over it...again this year with my 5DMK3, i have done about 12 jobs with it, 11 in hugely lit sets, green screen, etc, and the vfx and post companies were all extremely happy with the footage. one job however, well, it was a short film, the director wanted it darker and more dramatic then i had it lit, which looked beautiful in our monitor, so we made a few changes and basically just removed the fill, the monitor was still looking ok, but when we went back to the computer to look at the footage, it was grainy as hell, at 320 asa, all i did is put back in the fill light and the footage was grain free. my lesson is that when i am asked to shoot on a pro-sumer camera, i know the job is going to be a little tougher and you have to be a little more precise on every single shot, you cant just light the environment beautifully and go.