QuickHitRecord

In the race to 8K, 12K, and beyond, how much resolution do we really need to tell a story? I brought my trusty FZ47 on a little New Year's trip to Arizona, and I think that 640x480 might just be enough:

Technical: I scaled up to 1920x1440 (no "smart" or AI rescaling). I did not add any sharpening or softening to the image, and I resisted the urge to clean up the digital artifacts and just embraced them instead. I did however do a little color work.

I was actually shocked by how good this footage looks, probably because it's progressive and not interlaced. I think I'd put this footage up against the DVX100, XL1/2, or comparable camera. And as we've seen in the 8-bit grading tests that @kye shared with us, it's kind of shocking how much you can push the image around in post (especially if you are either okay with some macro-blocking, or willing to soften/hide it). I think that's part of what makes this camera so much fun.

Is there a unique aesthetic afforded by this low resolution? I'm not sure. I've degraded 1080P footage to have a similar level of detail in the past. The compression artifacts are definitely smaller and easier to hide. But in full motion, I feel like they add a nice texture.

On 1/3/2024 at 11:45 PM, MrSMW said:

And some things just do not make any sense such as for me, I have never been able to make any form of commercial photography or video work financially. Ever. Despite being surrounded by dozens of peers who can and do. 

Assuming you aren't making a living at this? A keen business sense goes a long way in this industry but unfortunately, I don't have one!

On 1/4/2024 at 1:30 AM, kye said:

Cool showreel, some nice shots in there.  I'd suggest uploading it in 4K - the 1080p upload had glitches and stuff that I think are YT compression artefacts.

Funny, I thought I had uploaded it in 4K. Thanks!

On 1/4/2024 at 6:35 AM, IronFilm said:

I've been wondering that too, how long until the rise of AI slashes down the relevance of my job by 80%. And what should I move on into instead?

This is the million dollar question. Do you have any top contenders? I can't think of too many other fields that are equal parts technical and aesthetic like production is. I keep staring at this graphic, and trying to see what puts me in the center:

On 1/4/2024 at 7:40 AM, Clark Nikolai said:

Wow! Very impressive reel. Bravo!

Thank you! That is much appreciated.

On 1/4/2024 at 10:13 AM, mercer said:

Sorry to hear about your troubles, but glad your wife seems to be on the other end of her cancer!

Well, your loss of work cannot be do to your skill set! That is some of the nicest work I've seen posted on this site! Really top notch!

I love the Super 8 film/emulations and the B&W baseball footage! Is the C70 your workhorse? I'd love to know every camera used for every shot because we all know it's all about the camera...

Btw, I'm pretty sure I still owe you a c-mount test. It's been a rough year for me and I have considered giving up on filmmaking altogether. I've definitely shifted a lot of my effort back to writing and I've been working on some audio dramas.

With that said, I did get a chance to go out and shoot a little over the holidays and I am getting the bug back, so we'll see. I have a bunch of stuff to sell... cameras and lenses but I'd like to do that c-mount test with the BMMCC before I sell it. Does the C70 have a S16 crop mode?

Also how do you like the Scarlet?

The C70 is my main workhorse, but a fair amount of my reel was shot with the original C100 and the C200. There's also some Red Komodo, 5Diii, and even something from my 7D.

I've got a nice collection of c-mount lenses too, but like you, I haven't actually shot anything with them lately. I believe the C70 does have an S16 mode but as far as I know, it's available in slow motion only. That, and I haven't worked up the courage to put a c-mount adapter on mine. I'm leaning on my EOS-Ms exclusively for their ability to be used with c-mount lenses (and to achieve a 16mm crop, which opens up a lot more options than S16). But I would love to see a test!

The Scarlet addresses so many of the problems that I had with the Red One MX, but the footage lacks the same "wow" factor in my initial tests. I'm not sure what it is. I know that I have to sell one of these two cameras, but I haven't made that tough decision yet. Definitely in 2024, though.

As a full-time freelancer, it was a rough year for me. I made about 2/3 of what I did in 2022; it was the worst year I've had since 2018. I'm still trying to understand why. It was probably a lack of focus as I helped my wife through her cancer treatments, the last of which was in April (as far as we know, she is cancer-free). Also, I lost a large account -- a relief for my mental health, but it did account for a double digit percentage of my income over the past two years. And I took two personal trips, which meant turning down quite a bit of work (as they say, "take two weeks off, lose six weeks of work"). But yeah, it just felt really slow, especially the Fall/Winter. I've been watching the rise of AI and big jumps in smartphone technology closely, and I am wondering how much longer my skill set will be relevant. It may be time for a change soon, though I can't think of anything that I would rather do.

Equipment-wise, I bought a second C70, two RF zooms, a Red Scarlet-X, and an M2 Mac Studio + BenQ monitor. I sold about 50 items that I just haven't been using. I probably have another 10 that I can let go of too.

My new reel for 2024:

I'm a career DP/videographer mostly working in the commercial/corporate space and this is my current kit:

• 2x Nanlite FS300B lights
• Two cheap "Travor/Fositan" bicolor 1x1 flex lights
• 2x Nanlite Pavotube 6Cii
• 36in and 48in parabolic diffusors + one fresnel

I also have a round LED/lantern kit for travel, similar to this kit.

This setup has done very well for me and I have rarely had to rent anything else. It's also important to me that my entire kit for a shoot can fit onto my cart. If more is needed, then I'm going to need to work with a gaffer.

However, if I were starting over from scratch, I would probably get:

• Aputure 300x
• Aputure Amaran F22c
• Aputure LS 60x with Spotlight Mini Zoom
• Parabolic diffusors & large 5-in-1 reflectors

This would be a very versatile kit that would cover most situations that I could think of. Nanlite also offers comparable lights at even better prices, but they currently don't have anything quite like the F22c. Godox offerings look good. Two years ago when I last updated my kit, I took a long, hard look at them and concluded that their big COB lights had a magenta hue that I did not care for. The B&H house brand GVM lights also look great for the money, but I've never used them.

One other consideration: when shopping for COB lights, it's important to get a sense of how far they can be dimmed down. For instance, my buddy's Aputure 600c lights are great but even at 0.01%, they are too bright for some applications. This is the reason that I've stuck with 300w fixtures, and shooting at my camera's native ISO of 800, I've very rarely encountered any interior shot when I've wanted more light than what I can get from a 300w fixture.

32 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

Where exactly do you live in the World where it’s 2024 already?

Must be one of those remote Pacific islands? 🤔

I'm offsetting my timetable by a month. I allowed myself to take advantage of Cyber deals through the end of November. If all goes according to plan, I'll be able to hold off on purchases until Cyber Week 2024 -- I wouldn't deny myself that opportunity!

1 hour ago, Marcio Kabke Pinheiro said:

Probably this will be a (almost) no gear for me too. Have to work out my personal finances and prepare for to future (and my daughter is in the last year of public school, probably will have to pay - a lot - for education next year..).

For me, it's a kitchen remodel and some new clothes. Your reasons are much less selfish.

I'm two weeks in and still holding strong! Lol.

I have so much (including cameras and lenses I've never actually even shot anything with) and yet how many narrative short films have I worked on in the past year?

ONE.

Something has to change!

2 hours ago, IronFilm said:

The demographic which owning "a RED" appeals to them are low/no budget music video directors and indie features. And there is no money in those, are those really clients you want to be targeting? 

You're right, there's no money to be made. At least not in 2023. I don't even bother mentioning to my existing clients that I have two older Red bodies. If I do, it's basically to sell them on my C70s. And honestly, if hired me to use them without a crew, it would be a pain and more stressful to me without the conveniences of modern features.

Also, I don't want to be hired for a passion project based on my camera. So I don't bring it up when networking with people in the local indie scene, unless they specifically ask.

All of this being said, I enjoy owning the camera that produces footage that just looks right to me. And it will be ready to go when I finally helm another of my own passion projects.

17 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

Why was this so difficult and expensive? Just need a setup for V lock to lemo power ? 

Such as:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1597736-REG/indipro_tools_vmrdk_v_mount_plate_with_15mm.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1470774-REG/hedbox_unix_0b_v_mount_adapter_power.html

There is an proprietary triangular mounting point on the back of the DSMC1 brain that requires a Wooden Camera Quick Back to act as an intermediary between the brain and the actual v-mount plate which usually has to be purchased separately -- between the two components, this could easily end up in the $400+ range. Of course, it's always an option to mount with rods instead, if you can find a 4-pin lemo v-mount plate instead of a 2-pin. But the WC option is tidier.

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Interesting... more prone to failure than the Scarlet-X?? That's curious

I've read that there is a component within the Epic is that often fails and since Red won't service them anymore, it could turn your camera into a paperweight. The design was improved in the Scarlet-X, which was released after the Epic. DSMC2 bodies are supposed to be built even better, but they are also quite a bit more $$$.

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Isn't the Dragon sensor a bit better at low light? As well as a stop more dynamic range? Thought Dragon also has more naturally accurate colors and better skin tones?

Ryan Walter of Indie Film Academy did a great three-part comparison between the MX and Dragon sensors. It's still on Vimeo. The Dragon has several advantages, but low-light noise performance was not one of them (unless paired with the low light OLPF, which negates the boost in the highlights). The Dragon originally shipped with the new skintone/highlight OLPF and was not designed to have interchangeable OLPFs, but there were a lot of complaints about the noise performance so they started shipping the other two OLPFs alongside a kit for user replacement.

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Perhaps all that extra weight and processing power gives it a little extra magical something?

I was actually shocked by the weight of the Scarlet-X. It is 6lb lighter than my R1MX setup but it doesn't really register when I pick them up; I just know that I'm holding a heavy camera. The biggest improvement that I can see if the shape of the body. In my opinion, the only reasonable place to mount the battery on the R1MX without creating an extremely top-heavy camera is at the rear behind the LCD, and that makes for a very long camera. The Scarlet is much shorter:

The R1MX sensor appears to be a different shape than the Scarlet-X's MX sensor. So while they're both "Mysterium X", I think that they must be a little different. I also think that the OLPF of the R1MX probably plays a role in the differences in image.

7 hours ago, TomTheDP said:

I have been considering the Scarlet as well. I do prefer the Epic image. But Scarlet's are so cheap these days. 

Is the Epic image actually different? Lower compression ratios and a wider field of view but it's the same 5K MX sensor, right?

I've often heard about the magenta shadows the Epic-X but in my comparisons, the Scarlet-X has more neutral shadows than the magenta-leaning R1MX.

11 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Maybe slightly over $2K-ish for a more complete RED Scarlet package that you just need to add lenses and V Mounts to. 

I just bought a Scarlet-X that I am looking forward to working with. So that's my answer to the question posed in this thread. I already had lenses, batteries, and a monitor, so I purchased:

Scarlet-X brain with mini mag side module with dual fan replacement 2.0 (important!)
2x 480GB mini mags
Side grip
Red Pro top cheese plate
Red aluminum EF mount
V-mount battery solution (pretty difficult to find at a workable price!)
Nitze top handle and monitor mount

All in all, it set me back just under $3K.

I did a lot of research on the other legacy Red cameras before making this purchase. The Epic-X brains seem prone to failure. The Dragon-upgraded Epics and Scarlets have three OLPFs to choose from: Low Light (which is basically the same as the OLPF in front of the MX sensors and offers clean shadows but more limited highlights), Skintone/Highlight (nice highlight capture but noisy shadows above ISO 200), and the "Standard" OLPF which seems to fall somewhere in between the two extremes. Ultimately, I decided that clean shadows were more important to me than extra highlight range so I opted for the older MX sensor/OLPF.

Regarding crop, the more budget-friendly Scarlet-Xs are in the same boat as the Raven. The max resolution (disregarding the 12fps at 5K) on the Scarlet-X has a 1.14x crop when compared to 3perf Super35 film while he Raven has a 1.12x crop but is limited to a wider aspect ratio at that resolution. So they are pretty close in this regard. One thing to consider is that the Raven requires the ~$1K IO module if you want to plug a non-Red monitor into it, while the Scarlet comes with both SDI and HDMI ports standard. This pushed me over the edge and I decided to go with the older camera.

I did some side by side shots of the Scarlet-X with my Red One MX and have to say that I slightly prefer the image from the older camera (which is softer, cooler, and less contrasty). My original plan was to sell the R1MX, but now I'm having second thoughts.

1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

How do you find which ones to reach out? How do you word your messages? This is something I absolutely need to do too.

I figured I would just go down the list of the local directories and check out people's websites, and then reach out on LinkedIn. I already have the coveted "500+ connections" status and I hear that it makes you harder to ignore.

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Surely it's an easy choose to keep the smaller and lighter one? It's a massively more practical setup when it comes to shoot on a set with. 

Unless that is perhaps the Scarlet MX body?? Then fair enough, the shooting options for that is rather crippled vs the RED ONE MX. 

But even so, I think I'd personally rather have the smaller lighter but crippled Scarlet MX vs the more fully featured RED ONE MX. 

That's a Red One MX and a Red Scarlet-X. I picked up the R1MX at the start of the pandemic at a really low price. I think I feel the same way about it as people who own classic muscle cars -- I don't use it often, but I love it. When two of my four cheapo v-mount batteries died, I realized that it might actually be more economical to exchange it for a camera that didn't have the same power requirements as the R1MX (80w) rather than shelling out for a whole new set of v-mounts.

The Scarlet can be had for about the same price these days, and it only draws 60w. It also has a 12sec boot time (vs 90sec for the Red One), a lot more customizable buttons, lower compression ratios, and the ability to use a locking lens mount (I love these). I bought it with the idea that it would replace my R1MX.

But when I shot them side by side, I found that I liked the R1MX image more. So now I am going to see if I can get the Scarlet to look like the Red One, and maybe create some kind of LUT.

Great thread idea. Maybe we can all hold each other accountable as we strive towards our goals.

I'm a career DP/videographer. I'm 14 years in at this point. In 2024, I want to:

• Finish updating my reel (always a struggle)
• Finally put profiles up on Mandy, StaffMeUp, and IMDB
• Reach out to a different producer every other week
• Write and direct at least one short scripted narrative
• Not spend any money on camera gear (unless something breaks and needs to be fixed)
• And shoot a couple of projects with each of these two old MX bodies, so that I can decide which to keep and which to send back out into the world

Thanks. That worked. Funny how not all BRAW files are measured equal.

8 hours ago, seanzzxx said:

No I’m talking about the raw footage that you can download here: https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/nl/products/blackmagiccinemacamera/gallery

This is a great resource. Thanks for sharing. However, my version of Resolve 18.5 Studio cannot see the BRAW files. I click on the folder in Media Storage, but it appears empty in the browser. Has anyone else been able to get it to work? Or are these files just too new for the latest version of Resolve?

Initially, I was disappointed that it wasn't a box cam. But watching some of the demo footage, this might be their first sensor ever that I really like the look of. I just bought an old Red Scarlet-X and that is going to keep me busy for (hopefully) a few more years. But I am looking forward to seeing more footage from this camera. The included OLPF is a big deal and can have a major effect on the look of footage in either a good or bad way. I'm thinking that it might be a good way here.

My guess is a new modular Pocket-style box camera with built-in NDs like the 6K Pro.

How about renting a Canon C70? If the sun is out, shooting in a forest can require a lot of dynamic range, and the C70 will deliver on that end. Also, it has long battery life and with a relatively small file sizes. Since you are working alone, the built-in NDs and dual pixel autofocus will make your life a lot easier and your "keeper" rate will be higher.

Of course, the C200 covers these bases too, but is either a bit soft (H264) or will require denoising (raw) in post.

I made a living with two C100s for five years, including several shoots in the forest. I loved that camera, but it didn't have the dynamic range necessary to capture pools of light as well as shadow detail in the woods. Of course, it's possible to work around it:

Otherwise, you might look at the FX30 or S5ii/x -- but I haven't used either of these cameras.

I ended up ordering a Leofoto BV-30M, which has the distinction of being one of the few flat-base fluid heads with an continuously adjustable counterbalance. The caveat is that there aren't many reviews (I only found one) so I'm going to be a guinea pig on this one. It looks like they have a good return policy and a 10-year warranty, so I'll see if it works for me.

Do they even exist? I think it would be great to have one for the versatility. And to be clear, I'm not talking about the giant studio heads with weight capacities of 33lb+, or Mitchell heads. My camera payload is around 10lb and I don't see that number going up.

Also, before anyone suggests them, I don't consider Manfrotto or Benro to be smooth enough.

The only totally flat base head I've found from a top-tier company is the new Miller ArtX line. These are basically an à la carte version of the CX heads and by default they are flat base. I could configure the lowest entry of that line, the ArtX3 with a 17.6lb capacity, with a 501PL plate receiver and a pan bar. I think that this would work for my ~10lb payload. The only problem is that it's around $1500 to get a base model configured the way I'd want it, and they do sit a little high for my liking.

There are some well-regarded bowl heads that can be flat-mounted using the flat space at the bottom of the bowl:

• Miller DS, Compass, CX, and Air heads
• Sachtler Ace L and XL
• Libec HS, TH, NX, RS, and any of the older heads that end with a 'D'.

But with these, you're basically stacking two 75mm bowls on top of each other and again, it just seems unnecessarily tall.

Then there are the emerging companies:

• Sirui
• Leofoto
• iFootage
• SmallRig
• E-Image

I have never used any of these, so I'm wondering if anyone else here has and can comment. Are there any standouts? I'd ideally like a head that can give me smooth pans, tilts, and (importantly) diagonals with little to no backlash. Counterbalance is not important to me for this head which is just as well because most of these do not have one.

6 hours ago, kye said:

Great job!  This has that quality where everything seems to flow nicely and the film-making doesn't draw attention to itself, which is a lot easier said than done.

Much appreciated, Kye. I had fun with this. I do my share of corporate talking heads but THIS is what I like to do. I even added a line to my website about offering a special rate for conservation and climate-related projects.

One of my favorite projects from 2022 (I just wish they used a better thumbnail):

That's exactly what I needed to know. Thank you.

I have a question for @Matt Kieley (or any other owner) about the Angenieux 8-64mm mentioned earlier in this thread. Does the filter thread on this lens rotate when focusing? Also, I see the filter thread is 46.5mm, which is a very uncommon. Pro8mm sells an adapter to 58mm but it's $50. Have you had any luck with, say, a 46mm step up ring?