itimjim

Oh dear. :D At least it can see in the dark.

For my particular needs, which is amateur film making, I find the look of GH3, GH4, A7S too sterile. You can add Sony's F range in there too. Now, I know we can pop these through something like FilmConvert at the end of the workflow, but I still find having it done in post doesn't quite beat done in acquisition.

 

Aside from Blackmagic, I've not seen a single camera that rivals the hacked GH2 in terms of what I deem mojo. Mojo being intra cadence and tight noise (grain like) structure. Oh it'll clip all right, so you have to be careful, and neither is it a low light monster. I tell a lie actually, the ML 5DIII RAW has the same look. But nothing else does.

 

So for me, there's only a few cameras on my list. Canon 5DIII, Panasonic GH2 and BMPC/BMCC.

 

I really want this A7S to be able to give us that look, but I think it's going to be sterile like the F5. Wonderful ground breaking technology, clean and accurate, but....ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz. At least full frame has an interesting look of its own. For me it makes great emotional cinema, with the subject completely knocked out of any clutter. For a whole movie though? No. Unless it's some kind of 2 hour dream sequence.

 

Sony. Gimme some mojo please :)

Looking at the ergonomics, I don't think it's really meant as a shoulder cam. Sure you can put it up there, but designed for it, no. With built in scopes I think 10" is fine. Yes it's a bit big, but I think it's useful. If you want to go mobile with this camera, it's going on a big steadicam.

You can control the aperture in body. Do you need an aperture ring? Stepped apertures aren't great on SLR lenses for video, so there's not much advantage between controlling in body or on the ring except a little convenience.

Tokina 50-135 2.8 is internal zoom and focus.

I've used tokina 28-80 with my GH2 and Bolex 16/32 1.5.

That's a fair assessment Andrew. I see a few clouds on the horizon for BlackMagic cameras too. I'm currently using a BMCC 2.5k eagerly awaiting the low-end sound roll off issue fix and the blackhole suns. I'd quite happily pay for an upgraded 2.5k with VU, scopes, but I just want this existing product fixing.

 

If I were a studio. Would I trust their brand with the journey I've been on? Quite simply no.

 

I honestly don't think updates are coming soon. If they were, surely they would have been released pre-NAB, like the day before. You're not going to have firmware updates in your back pocket and then release them after you've just isolated and pissed off your entire existing customer base are you?

 

What I will say though, and it's totally subjective, but I still haven't found an image out of a camera that matches the RAW output of the 5D3 and the BMCC/BMPCC, or the 422 out of the blackmagics either. The only thing that's come close is the Intra hacked GH2 for me. All the rest are just compressed to death.

One other thing, the URSA comes in a version with no sensor or lens mount. It uses the front 15mm rails to house a mounting plate for DSLR and you plumb your DSLR into the 4k HDMI Input of the URSA body. So you get the URSA workflow, but with any clean outputting HDMI camera you want to use.

 

So for instance, mount the Sony A7s, Panny GH4, etc on the front of it. No idea of pricing, but what a clever little idea.

Noise. They should be shipping these cams with a copy of neat video, not resolve.

 

LOL, Have you never used Resolve's temporal noise reduction?

Gadzooks! They're about £750 ($1150) for 256GB.

Great price too. Although I've not looked at the price of those cards yet.

Woah!!

 

 

Introducing Blackmagic URSA, the world’s first high end digital film camera designed to revolutionize workflow on set. Built to handle the ergonomics of large film crews as well as single person use, URSA has everything built in, including a massive 10 inch fold out on set monitor, large user upgradeable Super 35 global shutter 4K image sensor, 12G-SDI and internal dual RAW and ProRes recorders. Because the sensor and lens mount assembly can be changed, you can choose EF or PL lens mounts, or even a broadcast video sensor with B4 mount. This means you can upgrade to the latest sensor technology in the future and keep your investment in the camera body!

 

EF Mount: $5,995

PL Mount: $6,495

 

http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagicursa

Wanted a BMCC update....

 

 

...got the head of 'Dog' from Half Life 2  :o

Which anamorphic attachment?

The A7s is exciting in many ways, but I think the inconvenience and cost of an external recorder will be a deal breaker for many.

If you're using the A7s in a pro capacity where post flexibility is key, then I don't think it's too much of an ask.

8-bit output from the A7s regardless of Atomos.

Hands up if you thought Atomos had got into the mic business?!

I've only ever compared 8-bit 420 vs 10-bit 422, so I don't really know how much difference there is on 8-bit 422 to 10-bit.

If he's using the BMD Ultra HD then I'm sure he's recording to a 422 (HQ) at 10-bit. The camera will be outputting 8-bit, I'm almost positive.

According to Den Lenie, it does do 10-bit 4K:"The sensor reads out fully at 4k and via micro HDMI you can record 10 bit uncompressed to a 4k recorder. We used the Blackmagic Design Ultra studio Pro that records Ultra HD." http://www.fstopacademy.com/blog/sony-alpha-7s-first-hands-on-shooting-review/

Spec sheet says 8-bit. It's quite easy to feed 8-bit acquisition into 10-bit ProRes, which is probably the case here.

http://www.fstopacademy.com/blog/sony-alpha-7s-first-hands-on-shooting-review/

Isn't 8 bit 4:2:2 to external recorder a bit disappointing?

Not so much. There's a little trade off between 10 and 8 bit with 422, but nothing huge to right home about. Still, for the most demanding customers, i.e. cinematographers, it may be.

720p @ 120fps is only APS-C crop.

That's still pretty good though. Not stellar, but still very usable.

Clean HDMI is only 422 8-bit.

First FF non-pixel binned sensor. Positive though.