richg101

Sony A7Rii / Sony A7S
Neutral creative style, sharpening dialled down to -3, contrast dialled down to -3, saturation boosted +1  
Auto White Balance with 2 points downwards (towards magenta) on the wb adjustment.  (important to allow awb enough time to adjust before hitting record)
0.0EV on the camera ev meter (multi mode exposure meter).  No matter what the scene is the highlights are always recoverable.
 
 
Premiere cc - use only 32bit effects.
 
import footage into 4k timeline (even if footage is lower than 4k) - scale up if required
apply ProcAmp - brightness -8, contrast +16, saturation +25 - allows easier visibility for curves adjustment below:-
RGB Curves - start on red.  lower or raise midtones until happy with overall hue.  adjust highlights and shadows to compensate for over warm darks/highlights.  move to green and adjust, move to blue and adjust.
Apply unsharp mask (1.4px) while viewing at 100%.  adjust until it starts looking graggy.  back off to half the amount it took to get graggy.
apply and overlay of film grain or monochromatic  noise (higher res than the footage).  adjust so it matches the prominence of the footage noise in the shadows, but finer due to the higher resolution than the actual footage. - tweek contrast/brightness of noise with procamp until it sits on the footage without affecting perceived contrast or shadow levels.
Nest everything.  then apply unsharp mask at 1px as before - this glues the grain and the footage together and creates the perception that the actual footage was aqcuired at a higher res than it is.  it also provides fine detail for vimeo and youtube to bite into and retain during their compression
 
export at 2560x1440 or 4k at a very high bitrate, 2pass, h264.  100mbs target, 200mbs max - as high as I can before reaching maximum upload limit.
 
upload to vimeo.  
 
delete big file knowing I can retrieve the original from vimeo at a later date if required.
 
drag project files into external drive for future, freeing up SSD system drive..
 
 
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

as superb as @Brian Caldwell 's glass is, I've found that on nearly every speed booster I've used or modified the optical cell is usually not perfectly concentrically aligned in the metalwork.  the small set screw that prevents the cell rotating pushes the optics off centre and also at an angle (skewed) meaning the projected image doesn't fall onto the sensor perfectly flat.  so centre will be sharp and corners will be out of focus.   - one side will be focused forward of the in focus middle and the other side will be focused behind the in focus middle area.
 
my fix has been to remove the set screw all together, remove the lens cell, and then apply a heavier grease which fills the threads more effectively - this means the set screw is no longer needed since the cell wont rotate or move unless you physically adjust it by hand.  
 
if you want to see what I mean, follow metabones's instructions on how to adjust the back focus of the speed booster: http://www.metabones.com/article/of/infinity-adjustment-speed-booster-only 
you'll see that when you untighten/tighten the setting screw the cell will shift sideways as the screw makes contact with it.  i think it's because the thread between the optical cell and the metabones adaptor metal work is a bit too loose allowing wobble/skew of the optics.  The application of a heavy silicone based grease fills the thread up so the optic is perfectly centred.  Only then do you obtain the best from the glass in these great adaptors
 
Obviously without a locking screw the cell is prone to adjust through hand contact if you regularly remove and fit the adaptor, but if it remains on the camera all the time the cell won;t ever change its optimal position. 

as superb as @Brian Caldwell 's glass is, I've found that on nearly every speed booster I've used or modified the optical cell is usually not perfectly concentrically aligned in the metalwork.  the small set screw that prevents the cell rotating pushes the optics off centre and also at an angle (skewed) meaning the projected image doesn't fall onto the sensor perfectly flat.  so centre will be sharp and corners will be out of focus.   - one side will be focused forward of the in focus middle and the other side will be focused behind the in focus middle area.
 
my fix has been to remove the set screw all together, remove the lens cell, and then apply a heavier grease which fills the threads more effectively - this means the set screw is no longer needed since the cell wont rotate or move unless you physically adjust it by hand.  
 
if you want to see what I mean, follow metabones's instructions on how to adjust the back focus of the speed booster: http://www.metabones.com/article/of/infinity-adjustment-speed-booster-only 
you'll see that when you untighten/tighten the setting screw the cell will shift sideways as the screw makes contact with it.  i think it's because the thread between the optical cell and the metabones adaptor metal work is a bit too loose allowing wobble/skew of the optics.  The application of a heavy silicone based grease fills the thread up so the optic is perfectly centred.  Only then do you obtain the best from the glass in these great adaptors
 
Obviously without a locking screw the cell is prone to adjust through hand contact if you regularly remove and fit the adaptor, but if it remains on the camera all the time the cell won;t ever change its optimal position. 

Leica are really going to after pro video shooters with the SL.
Meanwhile RED are persuading medium format photographers to use a 6K Dragon or Weapon.
A gap in the space/time continuum captain?!
Step forward the next specialised tool to turn camera-chameleon: the Fuji X Pro2.
Read the full review on EOSHD here

Did a side by side with my Pocket & Micro. BMPCC Speed Booster + Sigma 18-35mm. Here's what I saw. No earth-shattering differences but differences nonetheless. My feeling is that you would *have* to view them side by side to know which was which.

• Noise is mildly reduced on the Micro and a touch more monochromatic.
• Moire is also slightly less aggressive on the Micro. Maybe 20% less?
• Micro exposes a hair lower than the Pocket. An adjustment of -.15 on the exposure slider in DaVinci on the Pocket footage brought them in line. 
• Slight color difference between the two. An adjustment on the tint slider of about 6 or 7 points evened them out.

That's great news.

Welcome to my rolling review of the Sony A6300. Like the rolling shutter of the A6300 this review takes a long time to get from the top to the bottom so grab a hot drink (be careful not to overheat) and enjoy the ride...
Read the full review on EOSHD here

From looking at the sensor manufacturers website they list the new version of the bmpcc sensor with switchable global shutter and capability to do 60p.  It would be my assumption that the sensor within the bmmcc is definitely this new unit - capable of doing 60p, so will likely also have the global shutter, but not enable-able.  I expect rather than a problem with physically implementing the global shutter to work, they're probably not happy with the hit it takes on low light and dynamic range when enabled and have been working on ways to process the readout.  I see no other existing camera that makes use of this sensor (in consumer or industrial camera applications) so I assume bm are the guinea pigs.  Lets hope they work it out and enable the gs function at a later date.  the moment it's confirmed for the future I'll be back on the potential customer list! 

Will this update actually affect anyone drastically?  No.
Have even one of the complainers even pre ordered an Ursa Mini 4.6k?  Probably not.  If I;d have pre ordered I'd either cancel my order or continue with it based on whether the new news affected me.   None of the resellers are taking full payment - most don;t even charge a card until they have stock.  We're lucky BM cameras even exist.  if you want similar images you need to invest in a RED Scarlet W, pay 3-4x as much, and no doubt have to wait for firmware fixes.  these are not consumer products.  They're professional ones with consumer pricetags.  That's the main flaw with BM - their pricing allows entry for consumers who have the time to make things into a soap opera rather than actually using the things they already have.
 
I hope the bmmcc has the gs enabled either on shipping or later.  if it doesn't I'll not order one.  if it does, I'll wait for samples to be made available and decide from there.

This looks like the best image you can get under 10K without buying into Red's ecosystem. This, coming from a former Red owner and operator - and I sold that once I saw how the very first blackmagic camera handled low-light noise. 
The Rolling Shutter, oh so what. Hey look, I'd rather have a company that tries to do something really amazing and fall short, rather than a company that intentionally cripples cameras to sell you the next model 6 months later, or are trying to protect their tiered market strategies. 
There is no false advertising or bait and switch. Because you technically didn't buy anything. It was a pre-order. And BM was upfront about the issue and now they're releasing the camera. They're actually pretty damn responsive without the attitude (RED). 
Yeah there was a delay - like other small companies in any industry. That's what happens when a company is driven by innovation and don't have billion dollar resources. A world without RED and Blackmagic would be immensely damaging to the independent film community. They've changed the market for the better.
The crazy sense of entitlement, construing this as some unethical business practice is hilarious. "I will never again buy a blackmagic product" - Ok, enjoy your hacked 5D or franken dslr, or whatever you shoot with. Because blackmagic doesn't owe you anything. If you sat in front of your computer hitting refresh for the past six months, you have every right to be angry. But not at blackmagic. You sad, sad little man.
I hope everybody cancels their pre-orders, so please! Keep complaining. 
 

beautiful images there.  Love that little puppydog
I can't help but wonder whether it might have been the variable ND throttle device that might have been causing some of the colour problems.  I highly doubt fotodiox are using top quality glass  - I've yet to find a flawless product of theirs where there hasn't been at least one major pitfall to the design - usually due to keeping costs down. 
did you do any tests with the nd throttle not in the signal chain?  
 

Will this update actually affect anyone drastically?  No.
Have even one of the complainers even pre ordered an Ursa Mini 4.6k?  Probably not.  If I;d have pre ordered I'd either cancel my order or continue with it based on whether the new news affected me.   None of the resellers are taking full payment - most don;t even charge a card until they have stock.  We're lucky BM cameras even exist.  if you want similar images you need to invest in a RED Scarlet W, pay 3-4x as much, and no doubt have to wait for firmware fixes.  these are not consumer products.  They're professional ones with consumer pricetags.  That's the main flaw with BM - their pricing allows entry for consumers who have the time to make things into a soap opera rather than actually using the things they already have.
 
I hope the bmmcc has the gs enabled either on shipping or later.  if it doesn't I'll not order one.  if it does, I'll wait for samples to be made available and decide from there.

Will this update actually affect anyone drastically?  No.
Have even one of the complainers even pre ordered an Ursa Mini 4.6k?  Probably not.  If I;d have pre ordered I'd either cancel my order or continue with it based on whether the new news affected me.   None of the resellers are taking full payment - most don;t even charge a card until they have stock.  We're lucky BM cameras even exist.  if you want similar images you need to invest in a RED Scarlet W, pay 3-4x as much, and no doubt have to wait for firmware fixes.  these are not consumer products.  They're professional ones with consumer pricetags.  That's the main flaw with BM - their pricing allows entry for consumers who have the time to make things into a soap opera rather than actually using the things they already have.
 
I hope the bmmcc has the gs enabled either on shipping or later.  if it doesn't I'll not order one.  if it does, I'll wait for samples to be made available and decide from there.

But that's your choice to make isn't it ?
The real takeaway is....
Don't plan for anything that you can't buy today and have in your own hands to test for your own needs.
Don't plant to shoot with anything you haven't tested and can't get your hands on.
Then you'll never be disappointed by a product being delayed.
Yeah they shipped a camera that said RAW on the box and enabled it a month later (the 4K).  Pretty sure they hardly had actually shipped any actual bodies but it was poor form.

JB
 
 
 
 
 
I agree and around this time of year with NAB everyone's always like...whooo wait and see what XXXX will show up and do and it STILL hasn't happened because no one's even touched their very first camera.  Who else TODAY does an internally recording uncompressed RAW / ProRes / DNx camera with such high DR ?  No one has actually matched it !  STILL  !!  That camera was launched in 2012.   
They even added features they didn't really plan to ever add.  When they made the first camera, they were just like, let's see if anyone buys this.....They dind't know it would be as successful as it became.  They started a whole new division.
The Ursa is a great evolution.  Look at how far they've come with the form factor.  They have done their own EVF....They've continued to add functionality, and they've still not really crippled any of their cameras for the sake of other tiers.  That's impressive for a small company in such a short amount of time.  
Look at the Cion.  They even are rumoured to use the same 4K sensor.  And they supposedly had the better form factor.  All the reviews were, Oh this is what BM should have done yet it's failed almost as miserably as Dalsa did.
Why ?  I mean yeah BM are infuriating with the way they operate but I don't see anyone else coming close to doing what they are doing.
JB
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

bit harsh don;t you think?
I don't know.  From the looks of it, they spent quite a few hours driving around the streets taking an awful lot of effort at night risking arrest and personal injury, for an artistic/political cause.  I expect at the time the shooter was under a lot of pressure to get the shots while keeping a look out for authorities. At least he's made a finished piece!  
 
I personally enjoyed the film.  looks nice.  well edited. serves the purpose.

I find it amusing that label themselfs as professionals (I guess if you get paid you can call yourself pro) don't see the difference. If you read articles about 65mm film on ASC you will hear real professionals talking about the differences and qualities.
Ever since I found the actual proof, I just lean back and laugh.

Nice shooting Gpanazio
By the a tip for anyone trying to avoid rolling shutter...
Wide angle lens reduces it a lot.

on paper the f3 has less dr than the a7s and the a7rii, but imo I'm seeing more usable dr from the f3.  the roll off of blown highlights feels more gradual.  shadows also feel cleaner and more refined- even on the 35mbs internal - which I happen to think is more durable than the xavc-s 50mbs of the a7 range.

on paper the f3 has less dr than the a7s and the a7rii, but imo I'm seeing more usable dr from the f3.  the roll off of blown highlights feels more gradual.  shadows also feel cleaner and more refined- even on the 35mbs internal - which I happen to think is more durable than the xavc-s 50mbs of the a7 range.

Well, I couldn't find a reason not to take a punt on a f3 that was going too cheap.  ended up getting a fully unlocked, rgb/slog PMW-F3 for just under £1400 with a full rig/riser setup, and a few different mounts.  I have to say, I'm blown away by how this camera captures light.  gonna be taking a 3g sdi out into a pix240 for 444 uncompressed, or into a a newer recorder for prores 4444.  

hahahaha.  I saw on the youtube title 'P+S' and assumed you;d used a P+S 35mm adaptor, and was amazed by the image quality - i've not seen much dof adaptor stuff that comes close to Forbes, but I was impressed and thought about looking for a cheap one to pull apart and see what they were doing with theirs, see if i could learn some tricks.  then I realised it was infact a 'point and shoot' rather than a P+S 35mm adaptor.  Regardless, each camera looked lovely.   

If you want 444 I suggest a Video Devices PIX-E5 
 
But I'm a cheapskate....  which is why I got the F3, so I'm happy with 10bit 422 for now :-)

Well, I couldn't find a reason not to take a punt on a f3 that was going too cheap.  ended up getting a fully unlocked, rgb/slog PMW-F3 for just under £1400 with a full rig/riser setup, and a few different mounts.  I have to say, I'm blown away by how this camera captures light.  gonna be taking a 3g sdi out into a pix240 for 444 uncompressed, or into a a newer recorder for prores 4444.  

Oval aperture on the 80mm xenotar...

Yesterday I was browsing through your flickr and when I saw the latest images, I was all like -what kind of invention has that bastard come up with to make the helios look like medium format-, but then I saw it they were in fact medium format