Oliver Daniel

Thanks Andy, the "look" for me is way more important than the housings for cine. I've been recommended to look at the Rollei QBM lenses for a very organic character. Do you have any experience with these? Also really looking for a wide angle macro type vintage lens for that beautiful look you get - shooting on S35 sensor. Sirius 28mm a goer?

Canon FD glass is great.... I spent very, very little on a set of these and make a living, just proves you don't need 'luxury' lenses to wow a client. I fully recommend them, much better than the modern Canon glass for narrative/stylistic video. Has anybody used the Rokinon/Samyang cine lenses? How are these for "character"? I hear very good things about them, with cine housings and great quality for the price, but if they have that modern lens high contrast look, I'm likely not going to bother. Vintage lenses are flattering for talent ;)

I failed to point this out in my last post, which is why I asked. I do personally find most modern zoom lenses to be far too sterile, brittle and rather electronic. So wondered what was special about it? I actually only own one vintage zoom, Canon FD 35-105mm. (others I have are never used push pull). This lens is very useful, got it for £50. My goal is to build up set of various vintage primes and zooms, then mod the set I prefer. Also keeping sets for special stuff such as crazy flares and weird bokeh. I'm attracted to the Rokinon/Samyang Cine DS line because of the declicked/filters threads/gears... but having never used them, have no idea if they have the personality I crave from lenses.

I have some solid gears from Shoot35 - any recommendation on the metal hoods? So what's so good about this Nikon 'Bourne' lens? What makes it special in your eyes? Yashica ML remind me of the Zeiss but much cheaper - I have loads of Canon FD primes, guess the Yashica has more of a pop? Sorry for all the questions - I love vintage glass.

Andy, how are Yashica ML primes for character? What is the best solution to get a set of primes like this cine modded? (I have a new triggered follow focus).

Be careful of Andy Lee! He makes you spend spend spend ;) The only thing that attracts me to the Rokinon/Samyang DS lenses are how the gears are perfectly matched, declicked aperture, same filter thread size across the range (besides the 85mm)... but they seem pretty light on the "character" aspect. I have a huge interest in Contax Zeiss lenses like the Hollywood - where you can get really close to the subject and have a wide view. I'm just after lenses that can bring personality to the image - lenses like the Panasonic 12-35mm is the complete opposite (for example) The "Bourne" Nikon lens sounds interesting.... the old manual primes are very popular with filmmakers. Someone I know puts a prime set of old manuals with their Phantom Flex rental package! Andy... will be getting that Tokina, that's for sure. What's your favourite Helios? :wub:

Thanks Andy, always a great help. I love lenses that flare - Canon FD's can produce lovely flares with a bit of work and they are really cheap. Have you used the Contax Zeiss "Hollywood?" I love the look a wide angle can produce when focused on a very close subject. The SLR Magic 12mm is almost a macro in that respect!

I love lenses with character. I prefer to use vintage lenses as they come with some character, whether that be weird bokeh, lens flares, distortion or close-focusing wide lenses - a lot of this stuff you don't get on modern electronic lenses in exchange for AF and IS. I love lenses that flare like crazy such as the Helios 44-2, yellow coated Super Takumars (like the 55mm) and the strange Mir 1B 37mm - all very creamy, odd and unique looking. I absolutely love wide lenses that have a very close focusing distance, so you can get this rather intense, beautiful close-up with a massive, shallow background. The SLR Magic 12mm is a favourite and I believe (although not used) Contax Zeiss 28mm 2.8 "Hollywood" achieve this. Modern lenses such as the Samyang/Rokinon Cine DS line are fantastic for having gears, de-clicked apertures and almost the same filter thread size across the range (very useful stuff I want) - but having never used them, are they worth the punt for a guy who much prefers some personality in the glass? What lenses do you use that have some kind of "character"? Speak up!!

Don't know what all the squabbling on this thread is about. You get a lens, a camera and some very advanced features for not much money. :P

If I had to guess, I think Andrew is always slating Canon because he loves his gear and the technology - and Canon have held back when everyone else hasn't. Because his site is named EOSHD and he owns lots of Canon lenses, he is frustrated with the company who were a great influence in starting this blog (I might be so wrong). The C100 MkII seems awesome for it's purpose. Anything more and you are looking at an FS7 (much more suited to my type of work). Cameras like the A7S and the GH4 are not 'alternatives' or 'better' than the C100 MkII because they have more impressive specs. The C100 MkII is a totally different tool for a people who need it's features and nothing more. I still make a living from my GH3. Nobody ever asks what camera I'm shooting on. They comment on the ideas. Just make stuff and use the most appropriate and helpful tools you can get your hands on. :D

It's a sexy looking camera that's for sure. I expect the C300 Mark II to be 10 bit 422, with 4k and 120fps at 1080p. I would also hope that the C100 would receive a firmware update after the C300 Mk2 release to enable 4k (but at 8 bit only, HDMI out maybe). This hope is rather pointless right now - my business is saving for the new FS7 which looks to be an outstanding product, a great investment for the long term. Paired with an A7S, it's all systems go (further!). B)

Well this should be an interesting topic, but kind of got killed off by all the geeky stuff some of us don't bother to know :D I shoot with my GH3 still, and I regularly shoot my stuff on Canon FD lenses (more organic, not too sharp). Some clients are still telling me to soften up the image as the resolution is too high, too clean, "too HD." A client asked me today "the quality is too high" - and this was for a teenage pop video. Those DP's are spot on in my opinion. I personally like 4k but only as a post production tool to crop, reframe, stabilise and move images. Most of the 4k on Youtube looks awful on my monitor (very brittle, moire galore). On a TV it reminds me of The Hobbit in 48fps - hyper-real. Hyper-real is on the majority not the best way to do things. 4k is an exciting format - but dynamic range and colour beat it to shreds. :ph34r:

Apple didn't fuck up Final Cut Pro. They re-designed it from scratch and built a superior editor for the future. I understand at first it was like "WHAT THE HELL!!!!" but after a few hours, I realised they were onto something amazing. Now - with many of the features ironed out - it's a blast to edit with, loads of support, incredibly intuitive and some very nifty tools. I use it all the time for music videos - the multi-cam is outstanding. Depends what your end product is - all the editing platforms are great - the rest is up to you :)

I was gobsmacked at the quality of the fishing video with the D810, very talented stuff - but show the latest Nikons are very capable. I'm still shooting most my work on the GH3, and being very patient in upgrading to another model - clients are still happy and paying :) Still prefer the A7S from what I've seen. Nice colours on that Nikon though, would like to try it out! Vimeo videos are never enough for a buying decision :D

I don't understand what the obsession is with Canon "holding back" - sure the C300 is lacking compared to the FS7 and the 7D Mk II isn't great for video - but the C300 has been available for 2 and a half years, and the 7D II is for photographers. Canon will bring out their 4k cameras next year - so in the meantime, just use the other options and keep shooting. If a company is holding back on features, it doesn't stop anyone using another tool or shooting something interesting. :D

I was referring to the 'stills specs' debate previous to my post, so we can leave it there. My own very mini (and slightly dumb) review: The 7D Mk II is a DSLR camera aimed at stills shooters with a video mode, in which you also get the added benefit of 60p. While the camera doesn't offer much more for video shooters, photographers will find plenty to do using the wide range of EF glass available - now with dual pixel AF, making it ideal for sports and wildlife. Video shooters graduating from the original 7D will be better off looking at the other options available, such as the A7S and GH4, which offer far more features for better video capture (4k, slow motion, low light). If changing from Canon hurts too much, be prepared to stump up some major cash for the C line. Even so, you'd be best looking at the 'ticks every box' beast from Sony with the FS7. If that is still too far out your reach, be prepared for a long wait in the Canon line. Patience is compulsory. Did someone say Blackmagic? ;)

Rather than argue, can we all just say the Canon 7D Mark II is for stills shooters who need AF with EF glass and all the other cameras are for everyone else? It's whatever suits you - there is technology for everybody's taste :D

This is a very interesting camera. I would take it everywhere. I will buy it.

I've been interested in these SLR Magic adapters for a while. Did they mention a price? Also, like someone else said above, most of the images in the footage look bent. Was this user error (since you've hardly had any time with it) or do they need to make some adjustments?

Your rental house guy needs his head feeling - no offence. E mount is the most versatile mount on the market, you are not stuck to one brand of lens - loads of modern and vintage lens options. Don't take his word for it - E mount is awesome and there is nothing wrong with using adapters.

The UK pricing has been announced at £5599 + VAT. The C300 is £3000 more. The C500 is £7000 more. I can't see the logic of purchasing any C-line camera now, unless you can't go without Canon colour science. People interested in buying the URSA tank/microwave I'd expect to save more money and get this. Sony are crazy. Loving them this year!

This from RedShark News: http://www.redsharknews.com/business/item/2038-canon-7d-mark-ii-debuts,-but-what-does-it-mean "The reality Canon's 5D Mark II kicked off the HDSLR revolution, but it wasn't planned. In fact, it could be seen as a mistake, as the advanced (at the time) video capabilities of its DSLRs made those cameras popular amoung shooters, which likely ate into its pro video profits. With this latest version of the 7D, Canon refocused on the action photographer, all but ignoring the video advancements of competitors with similarly-priced cameras. When you take a step back from it, it makes sense; Canon sells far more equipment to photographers than video shooters, and why should its DSLRs compete directly against other Canon product categories like pro video? The big take-away may be that Canon is quietly removing itself from the DSLR video revolution that it accidentally started." I don't tend to get into this whole Canon and Nikon are Video Grandpa's when it comes to video, but the above makes sense. Can't some of us just accept Canon's business decisions and move custom elsewhere? At this rate, it sounds like some people would actually go into apocalyptic meltdown if the Canon 5D MK IV didn't have 4k video and that Canon have "lost the plot."

Is it just me or is the online footage for this camera just not very good? The compositions are great, but the actual rendering of the images look very artificial and brittle. Is this Youtube's fault? When watching in 4k the moire and aliasing is absolutely shocking. If the translation to web is this bad then this isn't the camera for me. But cool to see another option! :D

As I recall, it was Sony and Panasonic who put "DSLR technology" into a video camera form factor way before Canon (with the FS100 and AG100 teapot). Then Canon came out with this state of the art Cinema line and did very well, and still is...... ....Technology has developed since, and again, Panasonic and Sony are the ones currently innovating. Canon will be back, they are just waiting for the right moment to hit the market with a "groundbreaking" advance in their line up. To be honest, I don't think they will ever bring anything out to compete with the A7S and GH4, and all the later models. Eventually they will, but not for a long time. For video, it's all about the Cinema line. They will hit the market hard and it will be very popular. Nikon, who cares? :P

The above is a much better approach. Good luck.