jgharding

I see no truly compelling reason here to upgrade from our current C100s for corporate/event work. Unless of course the image is significantly better, which is possible, but not likely. The FS7 just makes more sense as a future-proof device, even though colour-wise it just doesn't match the Canons. I think the big C are on the verge of pushing the conservative upgrades too far for their own good... The only odd positive side-effect is how long their kit holds value for, since they don't trump their own equipment every five minutes like Sony. But unfortunately they'll soon be lagging a long way behind competitor specs...

Also, if i remember rightly, the dynamic range shifts about as you change gain. So at the native ISO your range is the centred reference. If you pull the gain back, you end up with less highlight room but more shadow detail. IF you push it up you have even bands used in highlights and less in the shadows. I'm remembering this from a chart, and if I can locate it, I'll post it!

Of course the biggest bonus here is the track record of the Magic Lantern developers. I was only able to use a 550D/600D for so long because of their ingenious free firmware hack. It's surreally brilliant, and if they can do the same in a commercial context they'll have it made! I shall follow this very closely...

That's typical of overexposure in a proper log mode, so you won't find it on 5D or GH4 for example, because they don't have proper logarithmic curves, just approximations. Your middle tones have been captured up on the flatter part of the log curve where highlight rolloff should be. As a result, when you recover them, your highlights clip very hard, like the forehead on the left. This can be useful in situations where you don't need such a smooth rolloff, you can expose to the right and push everything down to reduce noise. As you've found here, it works in emergencies too!

Haha oh yep it's here already! Dell and Apple always share the same panels it seems. Bonus being the Dell ones are usually not glossy so you can see your work, not your reflection... Ah so 4K is maximum resolution in Windows at the moment? I'll just wait then, no rush and time yields a bargain ;)

Hmm I wonder when this display will appear on its own? The 1440p iMac panels appeared as Dells pretty quickly I prefer the idea of having this monitor and a Cuda beast 780 Titan or GTX980 PC ;)

It's pretty high tech in here! :0 I found these official Sony LUTs for more simle conversions, if they're any use: http://community.sony.com/t5/F5-F55/NEW-3D-LUT-s-for-F55-and-F65/m-p/135617

The interview with Mr Neve is for Sound On Sound, we've been collecting interviews for them recently, do keep an eye on the site next year ;) Rupert Neve designs kit is great too, check it out!

It's so close it looks just as cinematic really. It's mostly convenient for shooting in 50hz countries, so I use it in the UK for example. TBH I sometimes use it in the US too, at 150-degree shutter ;)

iPhone 2? :lol:

That looks like the effect of chroma subsampling to me, not moire. There's also compression artefacting there on the tie at the borders of colours. Remember this is 4:2:0 internally. Colour channel resolution is reduced. Try recording a sharp red edge in focus against a white backdrop for a harsh example... It could also be an interlaced container error, but i don't think that applies to A7s, plus it'd be more severe. I don't have an A7s so bear in mind this is judgement from available information and experience.

P.S. Here's someone else's review of A7s from a similar perspective to mine: http://eriknaso.com/2014/07/16/sony-alpha-a7s-hands-on-review/ And his little bugbears about using it: http://eriknaso.com/2014/07/20/things-that-drive-me-crazy-about-the-sony-a7s/

Here's some comparative prices: http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/canon_eos_c100 http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/sony_a7s_xlr_kit So taking this as an example site, you're looking at about 800 quid difference with XLRs on the Sony. The answer of which you get depends on what you want to do with it. I have no experience using an A7s, but I've played with footage and it's excellent and has a great unique look in S-log 2. It looks really good for low light and cinematic colour, so for indie film it's got a lot going for it, since lighting set ups are often minimal, and it's a good geurilla cam. From a working perspective however, I use C100 a lot: We have two C100s and I was considering a Sony A7s too. As the Ebrahims say, since these C100s are used to make money etc. simplicity helps and the slightly higher initial cost pays off. We also already had glass from using Canon SLRs, which aided the decision. The C100 means you never have to f*ck around, but it costs you some more up front. You pay for convenience in bucketloads. You get a ton of footage in a 32GB card and it looks better than it should at AVCHD... voodoo. Voodoo, but not magic. There are limits to what you can do with 24mbps. Wide DR profile grades brilliantly. C-log is indeed available and grades very well IF you're careful, but can go fudgy in AVCHD. Add a Ninja 2 for ProRes HQ C-log happiness. a Ninja 2 gives you better footage than internal C300 plus an external monitor. Quite an upgrade... XLR and internal stereo mics are included on the top handle, ergonomics start brilliant so rigging is minimised. You can now run without top handle and side handle for ultra small setup if needs be, since the newest firmware allows more control remapping. Three built-in NDs are a godsend for working at high speed, I love them. Battery lasts hours and hours, I was in LA shooting recently at a show, and I think we got something like 2 and a half hours from one battery. It could have been more. Madness! You can forget about it, unlike with the SLRs. Also you can plug it in to the wall with the stuff you get in the box. I'm not worried about it being obsolete to be honest, because good footage doesn't become obsolete, and I know I can make good footage with this. Good footage at very low res does, but no one is yet demanding work in 4K as a rule in my experience. They will start to soon, but it won't be the majority for a while, and when it is we can hire in the transition, then buy something new. By then it will be available. Almost all films are 2K (a little wider than HD) at the cinema. It's damn good. I do not make decisions based on rumors, as Andrew rightly says, it's no basis for a financial decision. Yes, Canon could release a 4K C200 in NAB 2015, but if they do, my C100 won't suddenly be rubbish. My 600D isn't rubbish! I still like it. It's more likely Sony will obsolete/depreciate the A7S first though, they release a lot of cameras. Still, all of this paragraph is just conjecture really, and shouldn't influence you: you buy from what's available now. You do not need the latest camera to make a good film OR to make money from talent, knowledge and ability. So why am I considering an A7s? It has a some good toys that aren't in the workhorse C100: High speed footage - goof for music promo S-log/S-gamut look is very Kodak and I like it, I think it'll be nice for drama and music promo. It's a great stills camera, with extreme low-light sensitivity. Option of 135 frame (vistavision/still full frame) video recording What don't I like about A7s on paper: The blue channel hard-clipping issue - problematic for blue LED light especially. No internal NDs (expected). 4K requires very expensive external recorder. I pretty much ignore it as a purchase-decision specification. Slow motion is pretty fuzzy compared to true 1080p. Recording time limit precludes use for events etc. That pro's list is pretty small for the price of investment so I've cooled off a bit on the idea. I figure I'll hire an FS700 for high speed shots as 200/240fps is sharp, plus you can hire with external recorder for 2K raw slowmo... I make decisions like this with mostly logic and not too much heart, since it's investment in a tool. Also, since it's a depreciating asset in a business context, return on investment is directly related to how well it works on deadline under pressure, also known as convenience. So there's one experience with the Canon and my reasons for purchase decisions. As usual, your own situation may nullify one or all of my points as far as your own decision is concerned, but I hope this constitutes useful input. This typing isn't helping my jetlag though ;)

The balance of gain and sensitivity in the channels and the design of the photo-sites gives a lot of the colour look I'm sure, then there's the debayer at 4K and dowscale to 1080p and the firmware colour science. A lot of variables, and very few of us who don't work in Camera frimware/DSP know what's going on. I can't really explain it, they just look great. Stick a Ninja 2 in it and it's even better, but the AVCHD is way above normal for the spec. Lack of higher frame rates at 1080p though? That's the only let down. Shameless market segmentation.

Some elements of this are definitely "the future" so to speak. The ability to write third-party apps, modules and so on... I've twice cancelled BlackMagic orders when things ran late, or (numerous) unfavourable bugs were discovered. I tend to use the lower-spec Canons because they have fewer quirks and are stable, and I can replace them on another continent in a few hours. Because of these two things I'm no longer willing to early-adopt. It even happened with A7s... I held out and then the blue-channel blow-out bug surfaced. I really hope it does well as I have a huge respect for what they're doing. I shall wait and see though!

I love our C100s. I still resent Canon for making anything faster than 30fps a premium feature and lower resolution. No excuse!

It's a shame not all Windows apps can 2x scale, as I'm a committed Windows man. Apple do have advantage here with the closed hardware loop.

Very interesting! It moves pretty slowly but as worth persevering for the great information. I found the LED one particularly interesting.

An interesting discussion! I use masses of negative fill and LED too. I also use a C100 in AVCHD most of the time! It's better than most people thing. a 4K sensor doing 1080p, that's a good look...

I think it could be something to do with sensitivity to blue plus the large amount of gain applied at high ISO in this camera. I think it tends to be true that as signal to noise ratio worsens at higher gain levels, clipping characteristics become uglier and the most sensitive channels top-out first. Canon red channel clipping can be really extreme, and of course Canon are known for exaggerated (but pleasing) red tones. At lower ISOs there's a load of red headroom in the Cxxx cameras, but the clipping and saturation is harsher higher up. So my psuedo-scientific judgement is that the camera with clip harder at high ISOs in its most sensitive channel. The Sony loses out here, as lenses tend to fringe purple and green. Purple has a lot of blue... It's just a guess though.

If I meet nasty colour casts with the C100 I often use the individual sensor R/B gains to adjust, not just the white balancing matrix. For some reason it works slightly differently. I'm not sure if you can do this on A7s as I don't have it, though may hire one soon. It seems likely blue sensitivity is just part of their sensor system.

Great stuff! With stabillisation, fast speed, small size and 4K. SOLD! I know there's no log mode unfortunately, but is there a contrast curve?

One of my adapters went wonky on shoot recently, but with no client over the shoulder dealt with it and the result looks great. It was a $10 adapter though ;) Ideally the FS7 should have a changeable hard mount, like the Epic.

It seems blue-channel clipping makes the A7s go bananas! Spiky LEDs are evidently a pain for it... Perhaps this explains the Sony cool look, blue sensitivity in their sensors?

Looks ace! Me want buy please. I'd love it if Canon did something similar to better match Canon Cxxx footage colours but LOL that will not happen. Here's a writeup with some negative points to make: small buttons, weak battery, he doesn't like the EVF http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/15/6152781/panasonic-lx100-micro-four-thirds-camera-photokina-hands-on It is really small! I don't really care though, it's 4K with OS, gimme!