Oliver Daniel

This is probably the most overlooked camera of the year. Would love to have a play. The MFT mount on S35 sensor is genius! 
You're better off renting RED cams at first to see if it fits your shooting style. There's a lot to learn with them. Cameras don't come as serious as this! 
Your ideal cam sounds like the FS5, if you fancy waiting for that needed firmware update. Ergonomics are excellent! 
 

This is probably the most overlooked camera of the year. Would love to have a play. The MFT mount on S35 sensor is genius! 
You're better off renting RED cams at first to see if it fits your shooting style. There's a lot to learn with them. Cameras don't come as serious as this! 
Your ideal cam sounds like the FS5, if you fancy waiting for that needed firmware update. Ergonomics are excellent! 
 

I'd wait until the FS5 matures over the year as there are currently issues with the image. 
FS7 is working, ready and is great in XAVC-I. 
Also, keep an eye on Panasonic this year as they have a major gap in their camera lineup. Announcement soon on that front. 

Yep, I love using the C-series cameras although I see their usage ideally for documentary type projects/run n gun. I don't do a lot of that. 
This year, I've got quite a big change in work type. Got quite a chunk of commercial work coming in, as well as music videos. As we want to showreel our footage so both go hand in hand, we're looking for a consistent, juicy and cinematic image rendition to round-off our "brand" look of the imagery. 
I liked through a lot of my archived footage, and I loved the R3D footage far more than anything else. Quite obviously. Maybe. 
So I'm going to try out a few different beasts for different scenarios, and see how everything falls in place over the year. I expect the Scarlet-W will be my most rented camera of the year. The content quality must increase, not decrease. I found using the Epic at the time affected the quality of the content negatively due to the increased focus on camera operating, but things are much different now. I have a team and much more experience now. 
On paper, how do you think it compares to Raven? Scarlet-W worth the extra £££?
p.s On another note, although entirely different... the JVC GY LS300 is overlooked as a cost effective "does the job" type of camera for bread and butter jobs. 

Yep, I love using the C-series cameras although I see their usage ideally for documentary type projects/run n gun. I don't do a lot of that. 
This year, I've got quite a big change in work type. Got quite a chunk of commercial work coming in, as well as music videos. As we want to showreel our footage so both go hand in hand, we're looking for a consistent, juicy and cinematic image rendition to round-off our "brand" look of the imagery. 
I liked through a lot of my archived footage, and I loved the R3D footage far more than anything else. Quite obviously. Maybe. 
So I'm going to try out a few different beasts for different scenarios, and see how everything falls in place over the year. I expect the Scarlet-W will be my most rented camera of the year. The content quality must increase, not decrease. I found using the Epic at the time affected the quality of the content negatively due to the increased focus on camera operating, but things are much different now. I have a team and much more experience now. 
On paper, how do you think it compares to Raven? Scarlet-W worth the extra £££?
p.s On another note, although entirely different... the JVC GY LS300 is overlooked as a cost effective "does the job" type of camera for bread and butter jobs. 

I've had this conversation at Reduser about C100mkII vs Raven/Scarlet. People who used both said that they're totally different beasts and you have to figure out what suits your shooting needs the most. Some of them actually own both for different scenarios. Basically RED is awesome when you have time on your side. Music videos, commercials, features. I'm hoping to save enough capital this year to have both in my arsenal as well since my work is about 50/50 music videos/commercial and run'n'gun.

The Ursa Mini 4.6k could be an absolute stormer of a camera. The pleasing colours and detail is not only a winner for narrative & music videos, but corporate clients will love it. They ALWAYS ask for "crisp" imagery with nice colours, something I find difficult on a Sony. 
I hope they improve the 120fps cropped mode, so far it doesn't look too great...but who knows eh? 

Probably going to be the Ursa Pocket or something. Maybe an ND adapter/module for Ursa. 
Whatever market gap exists now, Blackmagic are on it now - shipping in July. 
To be honest, it would be more respectful to not release any cameras and make the Ursa Mini 4.6k the best thing ever in cameras ever made ever. 

Probably going to be the Ursa Pocket or something. Maybe an ND adapter/module for Ursa. 
Whatever market gap exists now, Blackmagic are on it now - shipping in July. 
To be honest, it would be more respectful to not release any cameras and make the Ursa Mini 4.6k the best thing ever in cameras ever made ever. 

Welcome to the world of Zach. He has a way with words. 

Welcome to the world of Zach. He has a way with words. 

Welcome to the world of Zach. He has a way with words. 

I preliminary got myself in the "queue" for the BM Ursa 4.6k, the BMMCC and the Video Assist following promises that the product would ship "about latest September". 
If the cameras were available then, I would of had the money to buy them. Instead, I've had to spend the money elsewhere on other stuff based on the fact I need equipment that's working and ready today, and not "shipping in July or something". 
My interest in the cameras hasn't reduced, however their lack of transparent communication may have lost a few sales. I love what they do, but I'd just be up front and honest with your customers, and tell them when they are ready... even if they are embarrassed to say..."yes, shipping in July, but not in the same year!"

I've been trying out this rather neat LUT called Prime Time: https://vimeo.com/146809144
I like what it's doing so far. The correction seems minor but in a huge way. 
The guy said it's designed for Cine4, but I've used it on a modified Slog2 profile and got decent results: 
 
 

I have been using this:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?327893-A7s-S-log2-too-noisy-Then-underexpose-cine4
My Go Cuba vid was all shot in this setting...

A nifty device on eBay from orpheus_c, it uses the cage's handgrip as a large battery to power your Sony camera. Allowing for much longer run times than what you'd usually get from your FW-50 batteries alone. Curing one of the big complaints about this series of cameras, their poor battery length.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kovacam-18650-battery-handgrip-DC-coupler-for-Kovacam-A7s-II-A7r-II-Cage-/121822159604

Now that I've had over a years use of 4k 8 bit 4:2:0, I find very little benefit to overall image quality compared with true 1080p. Images seem to be getting more and more digital, artificial, brittle. Lacking in soul. Even TV's are set by default to take out the magic with those horrible "True Motion" settings. 
Point is, what on earth happened to 1080p? The camera companies can't be finished with it yet. 4k is still very much an infant, screaming at customers for market share. 
Canon and Nikon have the most "pleasing" images, but progress in video features is slow. Oh well. 
If Nikon had released: 
- 2.5k compressed raw video and 10 bit ProRes, full readout.
- 120fps HD on an 8 second buffer (decent bitrate).
- Articulating LCD. 
- Peaking, zebras, log (standard video stuff)
..... it would be very very very very popular. Probably. Likely. I'd get one. 

Now that I've had over a years use of 4k 8 bit 4:2:0, I find very little benefit to overall image quality compared with true 1080p. Images seem to be getting more and more digital, artificial, brittle. Lacking in soul. Even TV's are set by default to take out the magic with those horrible "True Motion" settings. 
Point is, what on earth happened to 1080p? The camera companies can't be finished with it yet. 4k is still very much an infant, screaming at customers for market share. 
Canon and Nikon have the most "pleasing" images, but progress in video features is slow. Oh well. 
If Nikon had released: 
- 2.5k compressed raw video and 10 bit ProRes, full readout.
- 120fps HD on an 8 second buffer (decent bitrate).
- Articulating LCD. 
- Peaking, zebras, log (standard video stuff)
..... it would be very very very very popular. Probably. Likely. I'd get one. 

Well, seems like my experience on the FS7 with XAVC-L is indeed the same with the FS5! It's definitely the quality of the codec which is the offending element, as XAVC-L is pretty terrible on both cameras. 
I think Alister is a fantastic resource for Sony cameras, and I don't think he should be protecting the FS5 when the A7 cameras offer better codec performance for less money. 
I'm not a scientist or technician but.... I do think he is right about Slog and low light though. It's true you can get a smoother curve with Slog from shadows to highlights, however I picked up that Alister is reflecting on how much data is being thrown away in Slog in low light. You are stretching information in scenes where there is actually little information to record (such as very dark shadows) thus amplifying noise and artefacts.  Squashed into an 8-bit codec. So it makes more sense to put this information on a gamma curve where more data can be recorded. 
A huge lack of understanding for many A7S enthusiasts is they think that scenes can be lit by just bumping up the ISO and shooting in Slog for higher dynamic range. They are just amplifying information that isn't there, which greatly affects colour rendition, resolution, noise etc. This is the reason for bucketloads of very poor footage from the camera on Vimeo.
Instead of focusing attention on camera tech, more people should focus on how to use light. This alone is the single, biggest quality difference between one image to another. Many of us are forever chasing the resolution/bit rate/HFR race with ignorance towards more important pieces to the craft. 
Buy one body, learn it, stick with it and spend your other money and time on lighting/composition and how to use it. 

I think it's more wise to choose your camera and stick with it. Ignore the other releases, it's just distracting (but a bit fun of course!). 
I spent a significant amount of funds on a new lighting setup, all battery operated. Lenses too. Both of these are much more important than the camera. Last much longer and have a bigger impact on the image (than a camera). 
If too much focus is going on operating the camera on a shoot, then things won't turn out so good. The real beauty happens when the tools become second nature and 99% of your attention is on the subject matter. 
 

I personally don't give a monkeys what anyone looks like. 
If you want to have a swirly beard, wear a banana suit, grow some horns and have a tail (or any kind of fashion combination) then that's fine by me. Let people be who they want to be  

I personally don't give a monkeys what anyone looks like. 
If you want to have a swirly beard, wear a banana suit, grow some horns and have a tail (or any kind of fashion combination) then that's fine by me. Let people be who they want to be  

For these reasons: 
- To see the difference compared to XAVC-I. 
- When there hasn't been enough card space for XAVC-I. 
On the Ebrahim vs Andrew debate:  
- Canon C cameras are awesome. They are popular for a reason. The focus peaking and usability is BY FAR the best I've used on any camera. 
- Sony have more bang for buck such as HFR/10bit.  Great to see them innovating. 
- Canon cameras are underwhelming but work amazingly well. Sony's are spec monsters but need a year to mature. Depends what's important to you? 
- The FS5 is not a cinema camera (yet). 
- No camera makers are crappy or garbage etc. Just different. It's great to have choice and see what works for your style.  

I personally don't give a monkeys what anyone looks like. 
If you want to have a swirly beard, wear a banana suit, grow some horns and have a tail (or any kind of fashion combination) then that's fine by me. Let people be who they want to be  

For these reasons: 
- To see the difference compared to XAVC-I. 
- When there hasn't been enough card space for XAVC-I. 
On the Ebrahim vs Andrew debate:  
- Canon C cameras are awesome. They are popular for a reason. The focus peaking and usability is BY FAR the best I've used on any camera. 
- Sony have more bang for buck such as HFR/10bit.  Great to see them innovating. 
- Canon cameras are underwhelming but work amazingly well. Sony's are spec monsters but need a year to mature. Depends what's important to you? 
- The FS5 is not a cinema camera (yet). 
- No camera makers are crappy or garbage etc. Just different. It's great to have choice and see what works for your style.