QuickHitRecord

The XLR attachment to go with the A99 is a bit unwieldy. I'm hoping that Panasonic can offer something more streamlined in the GH3 (perhaps built into a new audio-centric grip as rumored).

8-bit 4:2:2 can be recorded externally via the HDMI port on the A99; internally I am not sure (but there is an MP4 recording option): [media]http://vimeo.com/49262093[/media] The VG-900 and VG-30 are 24mbps AVCHD. If I am not mistaken that's similar the FS100, which puts it to good use. Still, I am not blown away by this.

[quote name='sfrancis928' timestamp='1347422557' post='17805'] The a99 has it. It's in the specs on Sony's a99 product page. [/quote] Apparently it only works with E-mount and Konica/Minolta AF lenses: http://vimeo.com/49262093

Impressive. But what happened to in-body stabilization?

The first picture of Sony's new full frame camcorder is up: [url="http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/first-pictures-of-the-fulll-frame-e-mount-vg-900/"]http://www.sonyalpha...e-mount-vg-900/[/url] Specs should be announced tomorrow. I wonder if it suffers from Moire like the VG-20. If not, it could be a force to be reckoned with -- I believe that it is the world's first full frame camcorder.

To make your decision a little more difficult, I am reading now that while the BMC-MFT will be retailing as a passive mount, the Lumix/Olympus connectors are built into it and that it may eventually be "enabled" via firmware update. That would open up the image-stabilized Lumix lenses like the 12-35mm f2.8 ...

The in-body stabilization would be great. Let's just see how good their codec is.

Some years ago, Philip Bloom opened my eyes to DSLR video. His work has helped pave the way for a lot of bigger and better projects for me. Most were lit. Some weren't. A successful image is a successful image. Back to the camera: Sebastian at Cinema5D posted that "full operability" for the MFT model will likely come at a later date via firmware update (probably after they iron out proprietary issues with Panasonic and Olympus; here is the link: [url="http://***URL not allowed***/news/?p=12831"]http://***URL not allowed***/news/?p=12831[/url] ). Put that together with projected firmware updates to allow file deletion-in camera and Ikan's cheap battery solution, and you're well on your way to a pretty shootable camera. Still a lot of variables, but there is hope.

You have a great eye, Karim.

I was just talking to a reseller and heard that the first shipment to the United States consisted of only 8 cameras. Apparently they are all coming through a single distributor.

[quote name='cameraboy' timestamp='1347045085' post='17555'] there is no big sensor 10-bit 4-2-2 camera below 14000$ except BMC ... [/quote] Not yet. ;-)

I am on the market for a 1080P, 10-bit, 4-2-2, MFT camera with at least one XLR input. The BMC is overkill for me, both in features and in price. If it had just one less setback, I might be able to justify the price. But a 2.3x crop factor and no possibility for image stabilization? That's pretty limiting.

This is a big deal.

This lens does not have the focal length to be used with most of the anamorphic lenses floating around eBay. It would probably work on the LA7200 or maybe the Century, but that's about it. However, the upcoming 35-100mm would probably work. And then you'd have a fast, image-stabilized micro four thirds lens to use with your anamorphic. In anticipation for this lens, I tried holding my Iscomorphot in front of the 12-35mm to see if it would flare. It doesn't (or it didn't in my test) and I think that it's unlikely that the 35-100mm will flare either.

Also, some of the camera bodies had significantly less noise at ISO 1250 than 640. But it's not an even spread of noise. There is significantly more noise on the right extremity of the frame. But the rest of the frame is much cleaner than 640. See example: [attachment=297:ISO_1250.jpg] This happened with one of the four unhacked bodies, and then with at least two of the bodies with the Vanilla 44mbps hack. I am not sure why this is happening. Must have something to do with the bug.

I couldn't find the test that I mentioned earlier so I just did one myself with four different GH2 bodies (two hacked and two unhacked). I can report that the bar of death seems to show up at ISO 2500 and will make your video unusable at ISO 5000. Because the unhacked cameras only go up to ISO 2500, you may be convinced that it is not a problem with them. But it is still there. What surprised me is that my camera had this issue start to become a problem at ISO 1250 when I was running the Unified setting. But now that I am using Flowmotion 2.02, it only shows up (and less obtrusively) at ISO 2500. At any rate, I would only recommend shooting at ISO 160 or ISO 320 with the GH2. Anything higher is just ugly. Here are some screen grabs of FlowMotion footage shot with the lens cap on (noise has been enhanced for visibillity with a gamma shift and 3-way color corrector; file sizes compressed for posting here): [attachment=296:ISO-160.jpg] @ ISO 160 [attachment=295:ISO-320.jpg] @ ISO 320 [attachment=294:ISO-640.jpg] @ ISO 640 [attachment=293:ISO-1250.jpg] @ ISO 1250 [attachment=292:ISO-2500.jpg] @ ISO 2500 [attachment=291:ISO-5000.jpg] @ ISO 5000 I have ISO 10000 too, but it's a bigger file because of the additional noise. I'd have to compress it beyond being a useful comparison to post here. With regard to the ISO bug: I started with the higher ISOs and worked my way down to 160 when I was capturing just to be sure. Panasonic really needs to address these problems with the GH3.

[quote name='Axel' timestamp='1346916978' post='17426'] New rumors from a broadcast engineer who talked to a fellow engineer from Japan (however reliable one finds such rumors): > definitely AVC Ultra @ 1080, Panasonic tries to make new implementations the standard > probably 4:2:2 > possibly (though not likely) 10-bit, because AVC-U aims at 12-bit for the pro-cameras The reported data rates are no hint to the bit depth, frame rate or color sampling ratio, because AVC-U is even more efficient than AVCHD, and it is typical for Panasonics to reduce data rates as much as possible. New sensor may use an entirely new scanning method, which is way faster, behaving like a global shutter. The technique may produce a new class of artifacts though, and one has to wait where the pitfalls are. Banding will be eliminated. This is what I gathered. Don't blame it on me if it's wrong, this is the nature of rumors. [/quote] I really hope that this is true.

ISO bug and workaround: [url="http://youtu.be/N21mzRjJG74?hd=1&t=2m46s"]http://youtu.be/N21m...74?hd=1&t=2m46s[/url] I came across a GH2 test a while back in which someone filmed a black surface (or just left the lens cap on) and enhanced the noise in post, which confirmed that the top line (ISO 160, 320, 640, etc) will result in less noise than the other ISOs. I'll post the test if I can find it again.

You'll get less noisy results if you stick to the top line of ISO options (i.e. 160, 320, 640, etc.). I get those lines too. I think that most if not all GH2s do. Mine start showing up at iso 1250, so as a general rule I only shoot at 160 or 320. Here's hoping that the GH3 resolves this.

Tony, While we are talking about Hypergonars, how does [url="http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Twentieth-Century-FoxHenry-Creitien-Hypergonar-lens-/110943840229"]this one[/url] made for Twentieth Century Fox stack up to the HiFi-2? Looks like it might be a 1.33x crop...

I have never seen one on eBay. It's dual-focus (not necessarily a bad thing). Definitely could use some cleaning. Does the focus ring turn smoothly? You should hold it in front of your camera lens and see if you can focus with it before you buy it.

Moiré! Well, that makes it a simple decision for me. Thanks for the comparison.

Hollywood uses Panavision and Hawk anamorphic lenses. For indie films, you'll see more Lomo round and squarefronts or sometimes Kowa anamorphics. The next step down are the Iscorama adapters. And then you have Kowa, Moller, Sankor, LA7200 and a couple dozen other lenses which are better suited for budget filmmaking. Zeiss has new anamorphic lenses on the way. Supposedly SLR Magic is developing one for Micro Four Thirds as well. The example above has a 2x crop, a glamorous "washed out" look, and some crazy flaring that is prevalent in Lomos, though these look more purple than what I have seen with mine. But that might be from the color correction. If you're interested in learning more about anamorphic lenses, Andrew's e-book is pretty useful.

Looks like Lomo squarefront to me.

I can't speak for the Tamron but the [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM was my favorite when I was shooting with my 7D. This was the last piece that I shot with it before I sold it:[/font][/color] http://vimeo.com/43008797 Simply a fantastic lens.