Sage

OUCH!!! :-o
 

Phew!! 
 
 

Its probably the cheapest working Alexa ever sold, at $7800 for the body only (best offer). With shipping and minimal accessories, there was another 1.5k added on.
The seller neglected to mention (or didn't know?) that it had a history of salt water damage (I called Arri about the serial number). What this amounted to is that the SD card slot wasn't working when I received it. I got creative and cleaned the contacts in there, and it worked (the electronics in the cam are water-sealed after all). The upside of this is that it is a very recent model, with only 536 hours on the body.
I intend to make a reference quality color conversion for a variety of cameras, with side by sides to document the conversion. And then, I'll probably use it for close ups and 120fps slow motion for a narrative thereafter

Hey Jeremy; It can be a matter of taste, as technically there is no correct way at the moment. If above 4500, it is closer to daylight, and below, tungsten. And each tube will differ in it's spectrum, so the most fitting conversion may vary from it's proximity to one end or the other. Go with what feels most right ; )

A year ago, I was contemplating picking one up when it hit the 12.5k mark. I priced it out at time, and looked at what I would need to get it in motion (all that I shoot), and decided to hold off. That decision ended up setting in motion the conversion idea for a somewhat smaller camera ;). I will still likely get one eventually, as I am a nutty fan, but it won't really be practical for personal shooting for me, because of the weight (the motion tools and crew needed for them etc.). It would still be nice to have one however, and I spoke to Roman Alaivi a while back about it (someone who ended up getting one when it hit 12k). Here are his thoughts:
Hey man, yeah I did get a classic Alexa last December. I've loved it so far. Basically, in terms of functionality it is a beast and not quite as simple as the URSA logistically. It's big, uses lots of power and can be a bit of a pain in terms of getting up and running smoothly once you buy the camera.
Here's what I had to get off the bat to make it just as useful / practical as the URSA. 
- 6 * 155WH Anton Bauer batteries. Each battery giving me approximately 1hr 15m. 6 batteries was the minimum to run a normal shoot for me. $1600
-O'Connor 2060HD head used $6k. O'Connor sticks, $1500. I suppose you could skimp out here and get another head... but man... this thing is no joke lol. You need a serious head. There's older versions of the O'Connor you could probably use though
-4 * 64GB SxS media: $1k. This was the dumbest purchase, because I could have literally gotten a Gemini with an ARRI Raw licence for about that much, and multiple 512GB cards... so silly. Either way, look to spend about that much to make it useful media-wise
-Hot swap battery plate, to run 2 batteries $300
-Good telescoping rosette arms. With other cameras, I could care less, but with how big the Alexa is, I pretty much needed exactly the right length of arm to make handheld feel as natural as URSA or other cameras. I got the shape handles for $1k. Might sound like overkill, but other rosette handles just don't hold up with how much weight you're bouncing around. The solid Tilta handles I had eventually wore-down and the rosettes didn't even lock into place properly because of the bumps and jolts they'd get tossing the camera around sometimes.
There's a few more things for sure, but those were the main purchases.
In the end, once I had everything I needed, it wasn't bad at all. Takes more time to setup for shoots, but less time in post. Footage looks so good, and just the ARRI REC709 LUT looks like a movie every time lol. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't worth it just for the look and how consistent it is no matter what I shoot. I've been loving it so far.

A year ago, I was contemplating picking one up when it hit the 12.5k mark. I priced it out at time, and looked at what I would need to get it in motion (all that I shoot), and decided to hold off. That decision ended up setting in motion the conversion idea for a somewhat smaller camera ;). I will still likely get one eventually, as I am a nutty fan, but it won't really be practical for personal shooting for me, because of the weight (the motion tools and crew needed for them etc.). It would still be nice to have one however, and I spoke to Roman Alaivi a while back about it (someone who ended up getting one when it hit 12k). Here are his thoughts:
Hey man, yeah I did get a classic Alexa last December. I've loved it so far. Basically, in terms of functionality it is a beast and not quite as simple as the URSA logistically. It's big, uses lots of power and can be a bit of a pain in terms of getting up and running smoothly once you buy the camera.
Here's what I had to get off the bat to make it just as useful / practical as the URSA. 
- 6 * 155WH Anton Bauer batteries. Each battery giving me approximately 1hr 15m. 6 batteries was the minimum to run a normal shoot for me. $1600
-O'Connor 2060HD head used $6k. O'Connor sticks, $1500. I suppose you could skimp out here and get another head... but man... this thing is no joke lol. You need a serious head. There's older versions of the O'Connor you could probably use though
-4 * 64GB SxS media: $1k. This was the dumbest purchase, because I could have literally gotten a Gemini with an ARRI Raw licence for about that much, and multiple 512GB cards... so silly. Either way, look to spend about that much to make it useful media-wise
-Hot swap battery plate, to run 2 batteries $300
-Good telescoping rosette arms. With other cameras, I could care less, but with how big the Alexa is, I pretty much needed exactly the right length of arm to make handheld feel as natural as URSA or other cameras. I got the shape handles for $1k. Might sound like overkill, but other rosette handles just don't hold up with how much weight you're bouncing around. The solid Tilta handles I had eventually wore-down and the rosettes didn't even lock into place properly because of the bumps and jolts they'd get tossing the camera around sometimes.
There's a few more things for sure, but those were the main purchases.
In the end, once I had everything I needed, it wasn't bad at all. Takes more time to setup for shoots, but less time in post. Footage looks so good, and just the ARRI REC709 LUT looks like a movie every time lol. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't worth it just for the look and how consistent it is no matter what I shoot. I've been loving it so far.

Couple more great stills from David:

Couple more great stills from David:

Excellent, please do. With current progress, I think it is reasonable to say that there may be some exciting news later this year.
Here are stills shared from David L'Abbée:

Its that motion that I really like. I put together a 12lb shoulder rig for non IBIS cameras just to get that 16mm shoulder cam look. IBIS retired that rig, and there has been less back pain.
Then again, I have a religion whereby the camera must always be moving; I don't even have a decent tripod

Its that motion that I really like. I put together a 12lb shoulder rig for non IBIS cameras just to get that 16mm shoulder cam look. IBIS retired that rig, and there has been less back pain.
Then again, I have a religion whereby the camera must always be moving; I don't even have a decent tripod

IBIS is important to me. Very much so

GH5-Alexa Conversion.
Perfect rolloff, tailored to GH5 sensor clipping

Yes, all exposure adjustments should follow the conversion. Technically speaking, exposing to the right will maximize signal to noise ratio, resulting in less noise. With native color, there is a penalty to ettr because rolloff is problematic. With GHa, there is no rolloff penalty, so you can center the choice around protecting highlights as need be. Practically speaking, it will interact with GHa Soft for a different starting look. An underexposed image will be more saturated, and ettr will be less saturated and cleaner. Overall, the Main and Soft profiles were made for middle gray at 40 IRE.

Yes, the native GH2 color (with Smooth -2 and Flomo 2) is better than the GH5s native color. I will never sell my GH2, just because of its significance to me. Maybe I will do a GH5 > GH2 conversion for a bit of fun & nostalgia haha
 

Yes, one of the biggest advantages here is that those without VLog can effectively get it for free. Also, those with both can experiment with both formats on the same project with full confidence that they can match them perfectly in post. They both store the full dynamic range of the sensor, HLG more linearly than VLog (which curves shadow noise). HLG uses a bit more bit depth, because VLog L is conformed to the Full VLog curve for workflow compatibility with full VLog. Because the color spaces are different, the resulting native color is different, and I find the native color of VLog to be a bit better than the native color of HLG (for skintones especially). With color correctives, such as Leeming or Driftwood, the color of either can be significantly improved.

Its a solid grade starting point; simply a matter of how much/where to add contrast, and whether to add a color cast. For me, Arri's 709 in general starts with a little too much contrast for wide DR shots, and a bit anemic saturation. With static starting points, it is an interesting question as to which 'one-size' palette will be ideal

I quite highly doubt it will lack IBIS.

But we will all find out very soon!

No IBIS would be a huge step backwards, after you've used it its hard to go back

@Sage Awesome. Yeah there are a lot of amazing vlog samples in this post!

That looks really good @jsmorris_,
What do you think of Soft? It is something of a dream starting point for me, as compared to Arri's 709.
I took a minute to dial in the grade on top of the EC Soft component applied to your LogC shot, attached are the shifts I made to LGG and the color wheels:


For our purpose, I recommend V-Log. The conversion to Alexa space is more direct via the VLog route, which minimizes translation error. Technically, HLG uses a bit more bit depth and stores shadows linearly, but in practice they are both effective storage formats for the core sensor data and will get you to the same place (extremes of range preserved).

Been trying out this conversion for the past few of days. I've only had the GH5 for a few months but I really am enjoying the color response and the highlight rolloff of this profile. I used the LogC conversion LUT, LogC to Rec709 and some temperature adjustments on this one. I've got the original V-Log to LogC frame below. I have not had the pleasure of using an Alexa but your conversion gives the GH5 a better starting point for grading in my opinion. Great work!

*Starting today, I am offering the HLG/V-Log conversions for free. You can enter a donation if you'd like
Enjoy!
"Precision conversions to allow the interchangeability of Hybrid Log-Gamma and V-Log L, for the Panasonic GH5. There are 3 variations of each conversion to accommodate the interaction of white balance with color space: Daylight, Tungsten, and an averaged conversion (4300k)."
EmotiveColor.com
PDF Download
HLG Converted To V-Log L (Tungsten)

Indeed, the image quality of the GH5 is much better than the GH2

*Starting today, I am offering the HLG/V-Log conversions for free. You can enter a donation if you'd like
Enjoy!
"Precision conversions to allow the interchangeability of Hybrid Log-Gamma and V-Log L, for the Panasonic GH5. There are 3 variations of each conversion to accommodate the interaction of white balance with color space: Daylight, Tungsten, and an averaged conversion (4300k)."
EmotiveColor.com
PDF Download
HLG Converted To V-Log L (Tungsten)