Oliver Daniel

Cheers for that, I'll note that one down. What is your opinion on the G-RAID hard drives?

Thanks the pointers here guys, appreciate it. I'm set on the new MacPro and just need more well paid bread and butter jobs to raise the cash. Will the Promise Pegasus be worth it? They are expensive, but when you consider it will be used professionally for years.... hmmm. Sounds viable. I'm stuck on the display options though. I don't have the budget to ALSO grab an expensive 4k monitor. I'll be delivering in 1080p, if I had a 4k monitor that would be for my own pleasure, plus the price will be bound to be cheaper once I actually need 4k for delivery :). Any monitors you would recommend?

What version of the Zeiss Contax lenses do you prefer? Is it the AE coating or the MM coating?

I personally thought that test footage was a little bit rubbish. Always the case with test clips. Why don't these testers use a bit of imagination and do a wider variety of shots? Why do testers hardly ever film peoples faces for skin tones? Is it a lack of time.....? Who knows. The DR does look better than a GH3, but I wouldn't know for sure unless I used the camera myself. I never base any opinion from a test clip, only when a skilled user has actually put the camera through its paces.

I own all types of lenses for different uses, depending what look I'm after. I'll use vintage primes for narrative/music video work, as they are more organic than clinical electronic lenses. For run 'n' gun or corporate video, I'll use the two Panny zooms, 12-35mm and 35-100mm. I find these too 'electronic' looking for a filmic look. Too sharp as standard. Fantastic lenses though. MFT is loved for both its small size and ability to adapt pretty much any lens. I personally future proof first, and purchase the odd MFT lens here and there, as they are incredibly useful for certain jobs.

Blackmagic + Speedbooster would do the trick, with a 14mm Rokinon. Only there isn't any EF Speedbooster out for MFT yet. For what you want though, waiting for a 4k camera won't cut it. You need more dynamic range and a higher bit rate for your images. By the time you are ready to buy again though, there will probably be an affordable camera out that can do all of the above brilliantly.

I find them all pretty terrible to be honest. None of them give you that true control over dynamic range that a decent and dedicated video camera does. Hopefully this will change with the GH4. I've used Technicolour Cinestyle, thought it was a nice idea, but felt it made the relatively soft consumer Canon DSLR image too soft, and too drained of much useable information. To truely get the colour you want, on a budget, you'd have to go Blackmagic.

Wide angle on The Panasonic GH4..... its an MFT mount and costs quite a bit more, but the SLR Magic 12mm. It's quite unique because it has this weird macro ability, making 'close-ups' with this lens very interesting. Awesome for a riff shot on a guitar! (I do many music vids.) I picked one up for 350GBP on eBay. Thanks to this topic, I'm now going for a bunch of Carl Zeiss vintage primes and zooms. Always wanted them before, so why not?

I hope that you are also able to edit the profiles, any idea if you can? Or any indication of how far you can push the custom profile? (As I know this camera has Master Pedestal, something I haven't used since the Canon XHA1!). As a GH3 owner, the more I see of this camera the more my GH3 is likely to be on eBay!

Oh crap yeah! I get mixed up. Would you recommend the 28-70mm? Also for a cheap macro lens which is absolutely stunning, I picked up a Canon Fd mount Vivitar 55mm. Unbelievable lens for about £70!

Found a 24-70mm CY mount here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ext-Contax-Carl-Zeiss-Vario-Sonnar-28-70mm-F-3-5-4-5-T-MMJ-MF-Lens-C-Y-Yashika-/271417767169

Cheers. Need the advice, as I'm more camera/lights than computer! You are exactly right, its worth pulling the trigger on the beast if business is at stake. I've been told that I don't need a Mac Pro for what I intend to do. I think this person failed to see I need a machine that will blast every project. Massively. No hiccups. I think I will probably wait to til top 4k monitors reduce in price. What do you think are the best alternatives? As for external hard drives, do you recommend any other than the Lacie 2big?

I'm sure I've seen the 24-70mm in a Contax mount, although it may of possibly been modded? I have a bunch of nice FDs, but I do much prefer the Zeiss. Not used the Yashicas yet.

Hello. I'm looking for some advice regarding the purchase of a new Mac setup, and I have my eye on either the highest spec iMac or a 6-core Mac Pro. I understand the Mac Pro is more expensive as you need an extra monitor, and it looks like a powerhouse investment that could last many years. Saying that, will the highest spec iMac be enough? (by enough, I mean that I want the machine to rarely lag and operate like a bullet.) External hard drives is all good. (Lacie 2big Thunderbolt). I currently: Edit in FCPX (a lot of multicam music videos.) Mostly edit in ProRes 422 or H264 natively. Perform simple to medium graphics in Motion 5, occasionally After Effects. Edit RAW stills in Lightroom. Use Photoshop and Illustrator for occasional graphics work. My small business is attracting higher end work, and we have been working (and will be working more) with cameras such as the Blackmagics, F5 and F55, 1DC, plus the workhouse GH3s. The higher budgets mean we have more time to work with higher quality applications, such as RAW, downsampled 4k and serious colour grading. The vision is to have a machine that will last and perform near enough faultlessly. (Our current machine can't cope!). We intend to: Transcode RAW files when needed. Watch 4k footage without a hitch. Apply serious colour grading through DaVinci Resolve to both RAW and ProRes HQ files with high performance. Run FCPX like a dream. Speedy read/write for saving footage quickly. Will the top end iMac fly with this? Or should we gulp and get the super duper trashcan? Many thanks

Think of picking up a bunch of Zeiss Contax lenses myself..... the 45mm, 60mm, 85mm, 24-70mm... any experience with those? I've used a 50mm before and it was the creamiest lens I've ever used. Another prime getting a lot of hype pre-release is the Sigma 50mm ART lens. Looks like it could be a powerhouse prime!

I would never base a purchasing decision from footage you have seen online. 90% of the quality is down to the operator and how they have edited it. Try first, then you will know for sure. Whenever that will be.

I'm not going to pull the trigger until NAB has passed and I've seen a bit of footage, such as the 10 bit HD recorded with a Ninja compared to downsampled 4k internal, see how much of a difference it is to 1080p on GH3. Even then, I might just sell my GH3 and get this anyway. And I bloody wish Metabones would hurry up with this EF Speedbooster!

Well, from the promo reels it seems to be targeted mostly for documentary and stock footage purposes...... although you could also say its a "Production Camera", with the YAGH. For cinematic purposes, the GH4 wouldn't be my choice as there are more suited tools available... but its still possible to be cinematic with the camera in the right hands. (GH2 - Upstream Color).

Awesome! When can we expect it?

I'm not at all bothered that Canon have a much different camera structure to everyone else. There are other cameras out there now more than capable of providing the tools needed for a professional , so I'm more bothered what ideas I can come up using them then how a camera manufacturer wants to market their products. That said, I think Canon are waiting on the market to develop before they come back with something big.

Honestly, one of the best films I've ever seen is a 1985 film called Ninja Terminator. Its that good, the cameraman sometimes zooms in and misses the actor, or frames a speaking actor almost out of shot. I love it and it influences me greatly.

How does this camera stack up against the new KineRAW Mini 4k? I thought there would be more chitter chatter somewhere. That camera and the GH4 will be the closest competitors.

All the questions I asked above I now know the answer to from doing a bit of research. It does everything internally. At 2k, you can capture in Cineform RAW and when you transfer the files onto your Mac/PC, it can transcode the files to an intermediate codec such as ProRes at the same time it saves the footage. You can shoot at 96fps in Cineform RAW. (100fps in 1080p) The KineStation is software, which is included with the camera. I've read somewhere they were working on a fix for IS on EF lenses, and also the playback lagging issue which is running at 25fps. I'm very surprised that there isn't many people talking about this camera.... I find it far more exciting than the Blackmagic cameras! (unless they have another NAB surprise!)

Hi Freewill, Do you work for Kinefinity on any level? ;) As a full time shooter, I mostly work on cameras such as the FS700, the GH3, Blackmagic Pocket, GoPro for example. I find that my work is becoming much more cinematic and I have much interest in the Kinefinity cameras as I believe they could be an awesome tool for my type of work. (lots of music videos, fun business videos, narrative.) I love grading, and I can only go so far with the above cameras (The FS700 handles highlights very poorly.) I'm curious to see how the Kinestation works, as a lot of work I do wont necessarily need to be edited in RAW. Some will, but i like the idea of transcoding to ProRes 422 HQ, LT or .H265 when saving the footage. Is this just a software package that installs on your Mac/PC? For recording 4k on the MINI version, do you need an external add-on? I think the images I've seen coming out the cameras are beautiful, do you know of the best examples?

This isn't the place for political debates.