squig

The BMCC could do with a replacement. Something in a 1kg C100 like body with an S35 sensor, global shutter, 14 stops, 3200 ISO, and 2.5k for 2.5k would be great.

BM cameras give the best bang for buck, and I think they'll be making cameras for a long time. Certainly they have some design issues; to be expected from a small company. The BMMCC is pretty good, if it wasn't for Magic Lantern it would be my go to camera for narrative work.

I don't factor resale value into my camera selling or buying decisions. It's all about the image and which camera can consistently deliver, or which camera delivers for a particular project. If the A7sII consistently delivers and the 1Dc is just gathering dust, then there's not much point holding on to it. It sounds more like a case of whether or not you should abandon the EOS system and invest in E-Mount glass. 2 things to consider: 1) There may be a 1DcII in the pipeline. 2) If Magic Lantern happens on the 5DMk4, it might make it something worth getting. It won't be 4k raw, but it may produce a 2k raw image better than everything short of the Alexa (the 5DMK3 arguably already does that) I'm thinking mostly in terms of a potential dynamic range boost and lower high ISO noise, two things we have no data on at this point which may or may not happen. I just don't get this 4k obsession; my dream camera is an Alexa Mini spitting out 2k raw. It really shits me that every DSLR manufacturer went for 4k 8bit instead of 2k raw. Photographers shoot raw, as do most professional filmmakers who want the IQ only 14bit raw can capture. Something like a D750 with 2k raw video would be awesome. I haven't worked withe the 1Dc, but if I couldn't shoot raw I'd prefer to work with 422 MJPEG in post than that Sony 420 XAVCS rubbish I've been getting from the A7s. MJPEG is still the next best thing to ProRes when it comes to 8bit compressed codecs.

Best to put time into writing scripts and shooting instead of obsessing about cameras. On that not my feature script just made the quarter finals at Shreikfest

5 hours ago, Ty Harper said:

Thanks, really appreciate all your advice! Did you have issues adapting the lens to your 5D and was there a particular K-mount to Canon EOS adapter you'd recommend? I've been seeing conflicting reports about the K mount lenses and its ability to fit on a Canon EOS camera.

I just use a cheap Chinese adapter with mine. You sometimes have to buy a few of them to find one that fits well.

11 minutes ago, Ty Harper said:

Cool, just saw one for about $150 and am really considering going for it. Any experience with the Zeiss C/Y 35-70mm f/3.4 and how it might compare to the Pentax and Nikon? 

Not that particular lens no, but as far as I know it's not sought after.

Be sure to check the Pentax is free of fungus, and that there's no oil on the aperture blades. A bit of dust is ok. Light cleaning marks on the glass aren't usually a problem either. $150 is a good price if it's in good shape.

38 minutes ago, Ed_David said:

the least we can do is stop him from posting on these camera sites -  Squig can you let them know about him?

 

I told him he has 7 days to repay James before I have him exiled from the forums. I know it's highly unlikely, but he's got until the weekend to contemplate life without his precious soap box. No forum will want to have him once they hear what's transpired here. Cutting himself off from communities that are obviously important to him is really fucking dumb. I guess he thinks it's not going to happen. Yeah well, he didn't think he was going to get caught either.

25 minutes ago, Ed_David said:

ES is right, again.

As long as it does not hit his real world, the internet world is just fantasy.  His name also isn't really ES.

He cares a lot about the attention he gets posting stuff about cameras. The avenues he has to do that are about to be shut down. If he tries to create a new identity it's not going to be very hard to spot.

5 hours ago, AaronChicago said:

That's why movies are so popular. It's an escape from the norms of life.

I was a Dj/Producer for 15 years. When I started out I didn't think my job was very important in the scheme of things. Over the years I came to realise how important it was. A night in a club is a tribal gathering. That few hours a week debt slaves get to escape from the capitalist dystopia means everything to them. Reality sux. Without music, dance, and film the world would be a much darker place.

5 hours ago, Ty Harper said:

Which one do you think would give better overall video IQ on a 5D MKIII?

I'd go for the Pentax, it's got more range and smoother bokeh. I haven't done a side by side test with the Nikon for sharpness, but I did test the Pentax for sharpness against my Leica primes and it was right up there, hence the nickname "stack of primes". Nikon ais zooms weren't as sharp as the primes. Photographers rave about it.

1 hour ago, Ed_David said:

Vs film - a good film - it takes you on an emotional complex journey - a window into characters that are interconnected and with emotions and ideas that matter.

It all matters in there.

A good film can be better than life itself, just like a good book, a good video game - an experience that elevates you to another place.

Alien on acid elevates you to the Nostromo.

I made the mistake of leaving the comfort of the living room on a munchies mission to the kitchen.

The corridor was pitch black. In the distance, white light emanated from the galley. I headed towards the light, triggering a motion sensor. The corridor was bathed in a red glow. I froze. I couldn't move. My eyes darted around, scanning all the voids where a zenomorph could hide, ready to attack. I knew if I stayed there I was done for, so I made a run for the galley. Beyond the galley was a darkened void, it was the perfect hiding spot. I grabbed the Doritos and ran for my life. I entered the living room, I was white as a ghost.

Roomie: "What happened"

Me: "Don't go out there".

Rode make reasonably priced, good sounding mics. I bought an NTG1, an NT3, and a Rode boom pole 7 years ago; since then I bought an NTG3 and a video mic pro. The NTG3 is my go to mic for exteriors; the Sennheiser 416 is the gold standard, but it's quite a bit more expensive. I've got a couple of custom modified AKG C460Bs for interiors; nothing in the Rode range comes close to the sound of those, they're almost Schoeps good. I'm planning on getting a video mic X to record ambience on my feature.

It amazes me how people piss away all their money on cameras and record sound with cheap arse mics and noisy pre-amps.

I don't storyboard my shorts. Instead I pre-shoot the scene, sometimes multiple times, until I'm happy with it. I get crew to stand in and I shoot the scene with a DSLR so I can figure out blocking, angles, tracking, and lensing. Obviously this method won't work with a cast of thousands and Mad Max type stunts, but when you have to do camera and lighting tests anyway, it's well worth the extra effort. 

"random guy" my new stage name

44 minutes ago, Django said:

I'm not that familiar with MJPEG but the more i research it, it kind of sounds like it's RAW video concept except uses JPEGs instead of RAW files..?

Canon first implemented MJPEG on the 1Dc; like ProRes it's intra-frame compressed, but it's limited to 8bit and is known to cause banding on the 1Dc. Unlike raw, white balance, exposure, highlights, and shadows are all burnt in. Without c-log the dynamic range takes a significant hit recording to MJPEG, whereas raw records the full dynamic range of the sensor with good highlight recoverability.

4 minutes ago, Ehetyz said:

I love 5D raw but this is kind of untrue. Having used both, BMCC definitely has the edge on 5D RAW when it comes to DR (unless you're using the dual gain hack, in which case they're neck to neck), but overall I think 5D RAW looks much more pleasing.

I did extensive tests, the 5D had more recoverable dynamic range in every single test: high contrast daylight, streetlight, low key light etc. And no I'm not talking about dual ISO mode, it has too much aliasing to make it usable for video. How you process the CDNG files in post is the key. I think it comes down to the difference between a high quality full frame sensor designed specifically for professional photographic use vs an S16 sensor designed for industrial applications. And yeah the 5D color is much better, it's less noisy, and it has little more resolution.

8 minutes ago, Mattias Burling said:

 

Oh how refreshing, a sensitive fanboy doesn't agree with someone else's decision and calls them an idiot

I do try to stay out of these Nostradoofus 'discussions', but it can be quite amusing. It's a camera: you point it at stuff and magic happens; or doesn't. 

Ebrahim Saadawi: you've got 7 days to return the money you stole from James Drummond. If payment is not made in that time I'll contact Sebastian at cinema5D. When I was a cinema5D forum moderator we banned a guy for much less brazen offences. I can't imagine Sebastian allowing a fraud and a thief to continue posting on his site. I meant what I said Ebrahim, pay up or I'll have you banned from every site. I happen to be a respected member of all of them, and I'm friendly with a lot of the mods. We're a global village; people from all nations, races, religions, and sexual orientations are accepted. What we don't accept is thieves stealing from other members of any filmmaking forum. One way or another you are going to pay for your crimes Ebrahim Saadawi. Don't forget Ed's threat to out you to your friends, family, and school either. Me and Ed have put a lot of time into trying to put you on a righteous path. Don't fuck this up son, you will live to regret it.

4 hours ago, swithdrawn said:

Lol, I think he was comparing the a6300 to the 5D3 h264. Congrats, you are one of the few crazy enough to stick with MLRaw. It is beautiful footage. I've shot about 15 weddings and events with MLRaw and the workflow has driven me to near insanity and added days and days of transcoding to my production schedule (and forget next day edits). So, with all I've invested in Canon I'm annoyed they will once again not be providing the tool I need. 

There's no transcoding required with the MLVFS app.

The 5D Mk3 raw image is more solid than the Sonys (I own an A7s) and the BMMCC/Pocket. 4k on the Mk4 will give it a resolution edge over all those cameras but without c-log it's unlikely it will have the dynamic range of the 5D Mk3 raw. None of the aforementioned cameras can match the 5D MK3 raw for dynamic range. The A7s comes close but it has too many issues that have relegated it to production stills and BTS only use. As mentioned the 5D Mk3 H.264 is a bit soft and I expect the Mk4 1080p will be just as soft. Canon could have switched from pixel binning to downsampling but I doubt they would bother improving the 1080p image.

The Magic Lantern crew are working on the digic 6 chip cameras now. There's no way to know if they will succeed with firmware for the Mk4. 4k raw won't happen because Canon chose not to include a fast enough media slot. 4k MJPEG should satisfy the needs of wedding/event videographers, but for narrative filmmaking I'll be sticking to 1080p digital negatives. 62Mbps 4k is size wise roughly equal to 2.39:1 1080p raw. If Magic Lantern happens on the Mk4 and there's slight dynamic range and high ISO improvements, great, otherwise I'll stick to the Mk3 (and pick up a second body cheap) to keep me going until the film Gods bestow an Alexa Mini on me; even then the Mk3 raw will make a great b-cam.

As for Saadawi: he's got 7 days to return the money he stole from James Drummond. If payment is not made in that time I'll contact Sebastian at cinema5D. When I was a cinema5D forum moderator we banned a guy for much less brazen offences. I can't imagine Sebastian allowing a fraud and a thief to continue posting on his site. I meant what I said Ebrahim, pay up or I'll have you banned from every site. I happen to be a respected member of all of them, and I'm friendly with a lot of the mods. We're a global village; people from all nations, races, religions, and sexual orientations are accepted. What we don't accept is thieves stealing from other members of any filmmaking forum. One way or another you are going to pay for your crimes Ebrahim Saadawi. Don't forget Ed's threat to out you to your friends, family, and school either. Me and Ed have put a lot of time into trying to put you on a righteous path. Don't fuck this up son, you will live to regret it.

On 09/08/2016 at 4:31 PM, kaylee said:

^ me directing

Lulz! I've never had a meltdown on set, but I've been there to watch a few. Not cool.

If that guy can make a 'movie' and get distribution there's hope for us yet.

16 hours ago, no_connection said:

"Noticeable aliasing/moiré in some situations while shooting in 4K. In full HD/60p, it is more evident."

It doesn't have an OLPF. The aliasing is pretty bad on the videos I've seen.

5 hours ago, mercer said:

This looks great. The lighting, IQ, sound design, and acting are top notch. Good on you!!!

Thx.

A concept short I shot for my upcoming feature GAMMA The Years of Darkness with a 5D Mark III (pre raw), Leica 35 and 90mm Summicron-r, and a Sigma 20mm f/1.8 for the first shot. I've upscaled it to 4k for the best playback quality.

November 23 2019: the cull order is initiated. Six billion lives sacrificed in a cataclysmic nuclear war. Hunted by merciless eradication squads, a lone rebel crew must atone for man’s sins, and face the enemy within.

Please share on youtube.

My choice for my indie feature is the 5D MkIII raw. Other options I tested were the A7s and the BMMCC. Other options I seriously considered were the F3, the C100 MKII (with external prores recorder), and the C300. I didn't give the GH4 or G7 a lot of consideration because dynamic range is more important to me than crispness, but honestly I think any one of these cameras can look amazing in the right hands.

1 minute ago, Phil A said:

There are no smart adapters for Fuji X, therefore the lack of aperture control with Canon EF probably makes the market unattractive.

I don't need aperture control; I've got a set of Leica-Rs with screwed on Leitax EF adapters. But I'm thinking of selling the A7s and getting the X-T2 and the 23mm just for shooting production stills and BTS footage. 

I'm really interested in this thing. The A7s isn't up to scratch for my film work, but it's not too bad for stills. The X-T2 sounds like a good replacement choice that can do both. Love the retro film vibe, and the Fuji 23mm f/1.4 looks great. Metabones don't make a Fuji X to EF speedbooster; what's with that?