Ivar Kristjan Ivarsson

With Sony you never know, they breed like rabbits but in the end you can't wait forever, if you are planning to get the a7s tomorrow and it does what you expect from it just start using it and don't visit the internet anymore so you won't be disappointed if the a7sII is announced in 2 days.

Just know that lenses have a focal length measurement (millimeters) and it doesn't matter what camera you try to attach it to, that number is what it is.  
the distance between the center of a lens or curved mirror and its focus. No reputable lens manufacturer is going to put inaccurate "equivalency" numbers on their lenses.  They're going to put down the number that represent the actual physical measurements.  The no reason to do it any other way 
It's kinda odd how any notion otherwise got stuck in your brain, but I know for someone starting all this imaging stuff and jargon, it can be discombobulating.
FWIW, I've been shooting motion images and still for decades with cameras of all "sensor" sizes.  8mm up to 4x5.  
This FOV stuff is so second nature to me now that I just kinda visualize the FOV in my head based on the glass-mm/camera-format-size and carry on.
 

I really hope people dont go up in arms about the video on this camera. This camera is clearly directed at photographers. So video guys 

​"These are not the cameras for video you're looking for."
"These are not the cameras for video we're looking for." 

FCPX vs Premiere is the new PC vs Mac debate isn't it!?

I say go for the gini rig if you want durability and customization. It's a great starting base. You will find out what you need to add to the rig to your liking and as cinegain says it's easily customizable with other 15mm rod based accessory's. I have had mine for 2 years, one series all shot on a small boat at sea(small rust in screws cause of salt but no biggie, very easy to replace) travelled with it alot. Never failed me, solid. I like that  
Used it with 5D, Gh2, C100 and C300.

One thing, the distortion on faces comes because of perspective not because of distortions of the lens. Just try to close one eye and get close to the face of someone, your brain corrects any distortion but the perspective is still there and it will look akward. This is why some people say that wideangle closeups are "intimate".
Let's say that the most natural perspective is with the 50mm. A shot done with a 50mm on FullFrame will be natural because when viewed in a normal sized screen/viewing-distance relation it has the same perspective as your eyes watching the scene through a rectangle and being  at the same place where the camera is placed.
When going above 50mm it gets a closeup, or the way you would remember something where you concentraded on details while sitting away in a confortable distance.

Here's a pic of my rig as it is today.

​I own this one. I like it a lot, well made, strong. It's a bit heavy since everything is metal no plastic. Did not like the shoulder pad however. I got this one instead and I love it: http://www.shapewlb.com/en/product/products/accessories/shoulder-pad/adjustable-composite-shoulder-pad_53.aspx?id_page_parent=132 with the counterweight: http://www.shapewlb.com/en/product/products/accessories/shoulder-pad/counter-weight_55.aspx?id_page_parent=132 
With my other accessory's I have perfect balance on my shoulder, I can let go of the camera and it stays.
But yeah, I can recommend the gini rig

​Thanks Andrew, and all the other members who took the effort to give me advice..I decided to buy the Sony A7S and will start with my old (FD, 28, 35, 55) lenses.
I have a good feeling that I made the right choice, maybe someday I will film in 4K, but for now I will use the 1080. Happy!
 
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It's incredible how many people ignore the importance of lighting when making "filmic" images, or any images for that matter. Lighting is more important than the camera, it can make the image of a "sub-standard" camera look much better than "the best camera ever" that was used without additional lighting.  Obviously. 
Sony A7S is the best choice IMO (for your needs). Regardless of its's high sensitivity, don't ignore a set of lights either  

​Interesting, because his name is often involved as an example what you achieve with this or that cam, no matter which brand or forum. :-)
Just saying (and keep the good stuff comin', Brandon)

​That's so funny Ivar, I know you sent you're NX1 back, so did I.. and we are looking at the same footage from the A7s, I also like a lot what he does. Did you already decide?
Thanks,
​5D3 raw.I think not an easy workflow, and that's what I need..The BMCC could be interesting, I think it's also available with a M43 mount (2.3 crop factor?) But the media it writes on.. .mmm I don't know. Battery life, screen refelections..although I will use it most inside. But you do not mention the A7S, why? Thanks.

I found this little video: http://vimeo.com/116044343
A7s, Canon 24-105 EF, Metabones Adapter(Not Speedbooster). Shot with Autumn Leaves creative style, contrast -3, sat 0, sharpness -3. Dynamic Range Optimization (DRO) Level 4. Some CC done, he does not specify how or with what.
What a great little piece, I like what this guy does with the A7s.
 

that is funny.
​Yes I have. The A7s has arrived but not the lens(Sony FE 24-70 f4). Will get it around the end of this month. The NX1 just was not for me, I guess it was an impulse buy. I have been thinking/reading/looking at footage about/shot with the A7s for some time. I had a small hope that the NX1 would fulfill my needs cause the price on that camera is so sexy.
But it makes more sense for me to go the Sony path. Cause there is another cam on the market with a sexy price: Sony Fs7. And I can get good support from Sony rep's here(Iceland). And those two make a very sexy combo(I think! Have not shot with these cam's yet)

 

Haven't seen Birdman yet, watched the video above here, reading about it now. Awesome cinematography. Love the wide angle combined with the shallow focus. Have to see this!
It's shot on Alexa with a Leica 16mm T1.4 and Master Prime 12mm T1.3 mostly. That's some crazy stuff, if they shot wide open, that's even less dof than you'd get on fullframe usually - or you would have to be shooting with a 18mm f/2.0.
http://www.cinematographydb.com/2014/11/cinematography-birdman-emmanuel-lubezki-asc/
I also loved the cinematography of The Grand Budapest Hotel. Crazy combination of anamorphic wide shots and 4:3. Really suits the film.

What a bunch of overgeneralizing statements, just to try to proove a point that you already decided on.
Photography has never been this alive.
People said the exact same thing about painting when photography came up.  People said the exact same thing about music when MIDI was invented.
This is lazy arguing at best.

Well, I'm withdrawing from the discussion, this is getting too wild for me. ND Filters? C'mon, sure I know about filters, this has nothing to do with filters. Enjoy the camcorder.

IMHO it would not, no. Every half-decent camera should be able to handle this. At least everything else I've used before can.

​Just look at the second video Ed posted on the first page of this thread, there it is very obvious. For Ed this was just blooming and "normal" but it isn't, the camera is compensating, just like in Agolex example. I didn't even need to see another example to know this wasn't normal behavior of a camera in full manual mode.

​Amen. This is not acceptable performance. 

Let's wrap this up. This is not bloom, it's the NX1 doing what it wants to do if it doesn't like the exposure. Would be OK for a cell phone, but in a camera with a fully manual video shooting mode I'd rather not have it. It doesn't do it under low exposure.
Sure, might be that not every camera has this issue (though I'd really like to have one that is supposed not to have the issue in my own hands), but apparently lots of units do. So, as has been stated before, this should be a top priority for the software guys, not 1000 new features (that might work as sensationally as the histogram).
Here's the comparison featuring a Nikon D800, a Blackmagic Cinema Camera and the NX1:
Settings of the NX1 definitely all manual, no guides, no auto anything, I spent 5 minutes making sure of that. Firmware 1.10, though. With the other cameras I did what's usually to be done: throw 'em into manual and roll.
 
Hope I'll manage to get the Vimeo in here, can't seem to get it to work intuitively. Sorry for the bad quality, only one HD upload per week.
To everyone who doesn't see the drifting: I envy you, I'd love not to see stuff as well, life probably would be bearable at last.

I only watched the first minute and saw that this definitely looks like a exposure compensation made by your camera, it was most clear at that door around 00:30. That " light blooming" you are referring to is that exposure shift. That is absolutely not normal behavior for a camera in manual mode. Weird thing is the camera overexposes once it hits a brighter area, if it was in automode I would expect the opposite.

every scene in this incredible looking movie will have been lit to accommodate for the film dynamic range.  The lighting/power and associated transport will have cost more to rent than the camera and film costs.  Setting up/lighting the scenes will have taken 20 times longer than shooting the scenes that made it into the movie. each scene will have looked flat and dull compared to the actual end results.    
i'm about to invest in some arri lighting.  assuming I have 1 stop less dr on a camera, I'll light the darker areas so they're exposed 1 stop brighter to compensate.
 
dynamic range in the context of discussion on this site generally relates to its importance when shooting in natural light.  If i can't afford to add fill to a dark area,  or mask windows with nd, an extra stop or 2 is going to help me out.  getting a smooth image in a fast paced documentary shooting environment is a valuable asset the added dr affords.  

Do any of these fixes address to exposure drift issue we've been struggling with? Why isn't that front and center?