jgharding

I'd like to get two files from somewhere: A high dynamic range image, shot both at 15-235 and 0-255, to see the difference in post.

Premiere will interpret supers correctly, so you can pull back illegal data without clipping. If you bump up the setup level in the C100/300 you can go way beyond legal, and just pull it back after import with Speedgrade or similar tools. That way you can record peaks way off the graph and get them back. If the GH4 allows 0-255 and 15-235 as options, I can't see how wrapping in 15-235 would give you more data. Surely it'd just squeeze the data into "legal" values and give you less? All the level shunting in the world in camera won't save it if the sensor or the whole pipeline together can't... Perhaps it's a consumer/pro thing, they still need to pay lip service to standard HDMI practice and so on

Hmmm perhaps this range setting in camera could indeed be something vital. I'd very much like to get hands-on myself and try it out through the full pipeline, so to speak. Certainly the shot around 28 seconds on grades well shadow wise, though it still exhibits that hard-clipped highlights. Interestingly that shot has 16 to 255, which is raised shadows but full range highlights... perhaps 16 - 235 is indeed the most important setting for getting rid of the contrasty feel

You need to produce chemicals. Lots of chemicals! And they're incredibly environmentally unfriendly. Here's a report on some horrible health problems suffered by those around the very big old Kodak factory: http://www.alternet.org/story/16030/kodak's_toxic_moments Of course, toxic chemicals are also used to produce modern technology, but under looser regulation in the far east. A modern giant factory in the far east could not easily be repurposed to produce film stock. It's now a niche market and it's dangerous and hard to make, and the profits are smaller than making mass electronics.

Of course, there's still a chance the YAGH or using the HDMI out could help, though I have a feeling it's at sensor level, but I'm sure we'll find out... Generally taking a feed out doesn't change the clipping characteristics, it's just allowing lower artefacting and codec noise, sometimes it can alter setup level and so on if the camera allows super-whites and the recorder does not, for example.

That is well bondage

I've taken some of Andrew's clips, Phillip Bloom's, a few others I've found online and users have been kind enough to give me. Despite the high bitrate there is a lot of codec blocking at higher ISOs or when using iDynamic, the noise level is pretty disappointing, both from the sensor and codec. I feel the clipping hard is a sensor-level issue. there's nothing to be done for it in camera settings or post. I've seen plenty of footage as flat as can be, nowhere near the top or bottom, and stil it looks contrasty once you expand it. The stuff that isn't shot flat starts contrasty and stays there. I try to lift the low end of the shadows or high end of highlights, but there's just no rolloff at all. lift the low end and it goes washy and flat, drop the high and it goes dead. It's disappointing :/ Dynamic range figures alone are not really helpfull, the distribution of this range is very important. I really love grading, I don't desire the sharpness or resolution, so I don't think this camera is for me. I feel you really do need to get it very close in-camera with GH4 Yesterday I directed a green screen shoot with C300 recording to Sound Devices Pix 240i with ProRes HQ. The quality is lovely, rich with super clean colour. Makes me even more excited to try C100 and Ninja!

Here's a test where film gives a kicking to Alexa and Red, certainly in the dynamic range tests for the scene in fornt of the projection The Red especially get beaten down http://www.cinematography.net/valvula.html

On the original question I don't think it's a bad investment. Don't fuss over capture resolution, when it comes to making a features i's the least of your worries really.

An interesting test here, with lots of scaling up and down of Red Dragon and Alexa footage. The debate is whether you need 6K or 4K at all http://blog.gunleik.com/2014/03/11/dragon-and-alexa-looking-at-resolution-part-4-resolution-does-it-matter/ The first three parts are good and, if you don't mind looking at charts, are quite informative. My two cents: even with sharpness dialled down to -10 on C100 and C300 I still add a slight blur to the whole image in post. I'm just not a fan of excessive sharpness. It's quite sad that sharpness is so high on most cameras even at minimum settings. 4K captures really works on some jobs, on others it's not really necessary, horses for courses. I'm much more a fan of dynamic range than resolution, but then I don't often shoot landscape and so on. Of all the new footage types I've playing with, BMPCC raw is wonderfully freeing in terms of grading, I'd like to get one, but need to await the C/Y or EF speedbooster for BMPCC

I've been getting all kinds of raw GH4 footage using all kinds of settings from kind donors and searching online, and I'm finding it kind of "contrasty", like the actual contrast is very baked in, whatever the settings in camera, and whatever you do in post. You can lift blacks and wash them out, but you can't pull up the detail. Highlights and darks clip out hard, and as a result you can't do as much look tweaking as I was expecting, everything bunched at the bottom or top just kind of sticks there look wise.... Despite the much higher bitrate it's not as flexible as even C300 footage I don't think. Does this balance with other peoples' experiences?

I just got L758 Cine cos I knew it'd work! Bought second hand on ebay I don't always need it, but it can be great. Obscenely complex to use though, the interface borders on retarded

It's as good as it sounds! Being able to adjust raw settings native in Premiere is ace too

I'm quite determined to shoot something on 16mm this year, directing not operating. I will make it happen! I love a bit of gritty 16mm

I'm unendingly impressed by the fact you've built such a wonderful thing yourself! Congratulation! the footage causes joy

In truth though, it's most likely that the colloquial use, which is related to Apple's marketing will become 'what it means' regardless of science or terminology. So even though it makes no difference at 6 feet away, a retina display will be one marketed at a certain DPI. Eventually the marketing term will die it's own death I'm sure... There's not much point marketing these things though, most people won't buy them for the stats, but they'll buy one if it's all that exists come upgrade time...

I was trying to play this back on a dual Xeon 12-core with a GTX780 and it can't play it smoothly in suggested players... Either it's not yet optimised for all systems, or it's very very intense on decoding...

I love the look of film, sadly I've never been able to make a production with it. I've put countless hours into digital production and post processes, just to try and emulate the look and feel, because I love it's non-linearity, spirit and heart. I do shoot still photographic film though and love it. One hopes that somehow, film motion picture will have a resurrection outside of Hollywood, and become more convenient to use somehow, by way of new technologies...

Don't drive yourself mad with codecs, tech and lenses. The RX100 or RX10 are great cos they're all in one and very light. give one a blast. screw a little handle to the bottom and let the stabiliser turn your arm into a steadicam! I used an RX100 and added a screw on filter for a little fader ND and it was awesome. I sold it as i didn't use it enough, but it was great when i had it. Sure, you can't grade it as much as some other cameras and it's not the best in low light (the RX10 is better for that) but it is really fun and easy to shoot with. Focus on constructing completed pieces more so than technical tests etc. Use you cat/kitchen table tests to learn but be sure to actually make a satisfying and complete piece at some point. Better off, start cold by making a whole piece on pure instinct, look at what goes wrong or could be improved, and use that to decide your next learning stage. Contextualising knowledge is very important, abstract figures or ideas are just that: abstract. By putting them into practice we learn very fast indeed.

I think it's retina style screen that'll lead to 4K adoption. When all screens just are retina screens, we'll all have a 4K screen without a choice.

Fast secure internet connections for all need to be a priority! This codec, being open, is good news for small innovative camera developers. Perhaps a truly modular camera will come our way soon?

You can do this in Neat Video too, by creating profiles for different white balances and ISOs and so on For FPN you could get a noise sample with the lens cap on. It's tru that it'd best to do it in the camera though.

What's the price you've found?

For nature, you can't beat 14-bit colour, no compression. If you have the kit to handle processing it all, fire away. You could feasibly upscale then lay 4K grain samples over the top to interpolate it nicely.

My favourite was the C100 + Ninja in this particular test, though as I say, I think they could have got more dynamic range from the GH4, but here GH4 looks really sharp and contrasty and is blowing out all over the place with very hard clipping. I do like the way the C series record super whites, you can setup levels to record a quite a lot of detail over to pull back if needs be, that's a way to great rollofs