Michael Ma

From this test, it sounds like the a6300 S-Log2 only has about 11-12 stops of dynamic range.

https://***URL not allowed***/sony-a6300-vs-sony-a7s-ii-how-good-is-it-really/

Although Cinema5D has never tested GH4's V-log (they only tested CineLikeD which measured to be around 10.9 stops), people say GH4 had 12 stops of dynamic range with vlog, but due to noise in anything other than good light, plus banding due to 8-bit color, made it very limited in use.  

https://***URL not allowed***/gh4-vlog-l-footage-shooters-guide-colors-of-new-zealand/

GH5 is said to have slightly better dynamic range if you watch the interviews from the Panasonic engineers.  But whatever the case, it's sounding like the GH5 will have better dynamic range than the a6300.  With 1 stop better noise performance than the GH4, 10 bit, for log shooting in harsh lighting conditions, it might be the better camera for shooting log.

13 hours ago, Chase560 said:

Do you have sample footage on youtube or anything?

I haven't played with it for a while, but it would work better with one of those giotto or oben mini ball heads to create some distance from the hotshoe to the camera.  In that picture above, if you look down on the test footage, the camera looks ginormous.  stabilization wise, its excellent....although, the operator of the gimbal is very visible in a very uncomfortable way unless you hold it up really high.  The lines on the ceilings really meet seamlessly when the 2 cameras are blended together, although the lighting doesn't always match up.

Thanks for providing the files.  Since Premiere Pro CC is having a problem with the files, I exported frame, and graded it in Lumetri Color in Premiere Pro.  It seems like that Panasonic color is still there, even though you nailed the white balance.  

I made some changes to the red-green range in Secondary HSL.

6 hours ago, mercer said:

Thanks, but it looks like Adorama already took that down. Even with the bad link, you must assume the price will hold true.

The taking down of price is a bad sign.  It show me that the MSRP is not 100% finalized by Panasonic.  Considering just how much buzz is around the GH5, Panasonic might bump up from their original estimate, like they did with the GH4.

On 12/31/2016 at 4:47 PM, Davey said:

I remember those videos. He was getting tens of thousands of views with 200 dislikes for every like but whenever you searched, his videos filled the first page.

In some bizarre coincidence, it looks like that channel got shut down literally the same day I made my comment.  Saw the channel stats.  Had raked up 8 million plus views....8 million views of fake sample footage and stolen videos from manufacturer's official youtube channels.  

17 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

6K setting on the top-left dial.

Joystick on the back, nice touch.

Redesigned d-pad / click wheel but I'll be using joystick instead.

Full size HDMI port rumoured.

I hope Speed Booster XL still fits the mount, and ridge above it seems lower?

I hope an speedbooster is released to take full advantage of cropless 4K....I think a lot of people are expecting too much from the 6K branding.  That icon looks exactly like the 4K Photo Mode icon already present in the GX85 and G85.  Not terribly useful unless you shoot action sports that you want stills for, and you're hoping to nail the lighting.

Best thing about this holiday season, GH5 leaks!

Also, 2 different lenses are pictured.  One is the Leica 12-60 f/2.8-4.0, and the other is Lumix 12-60 f/3.5-5.6.  Neither all that terribly exciting.  Would love to see a surprise announcement of a Leica 25mm f/1.2 with an dedicated aperture ring.

6 hours ago, sanveer said:

If ANY of these rumors are true, the GH5 is going to be one monster of a Mirrorless Camera. For Video alone it will be super camera. If it does good photos too, it would be great. As a video camera it may actual signal Panasonic offering some good and healthy competition to Sony, especially for people willing to soend in the ballpark of $1999 and above. Except low light it might have all other necessary tricks up its sleeve.

 

http://www.43rumors.com/ft4-additional-gh5-specs-180fps-225-focus-points/

All rumors so far have been great but it highlighted that Panasonic needed a better autofocus system and higher fps in 1080p.  I really hope this these rumors are true.  It's shaping up to be the ultimate camera.

There was a channel that would make slight variations to colors and upload videos of fake comparison videos such as "A7s vs GH4" weeks before the A7s prototypes were getting in the hands of journalists.  And since they were the first channel to post comparison videos with the highest view count, they would be the top video for that search engine for months.  That channel was especially disgusting because no one would check the fine line to realize the video was fake.  I'm sure most people here would see the video was fake right away but for most people who don't have that kind of acuity, they were probably basing their purchase decisions based on these videos.  I'm glad to see that channel is gone.  Probably what got them was they would rip videos from Nikon's official channel and reupload them.

Just now, Cary Knoop said:

Until  we find a way to indicate where we want to focus at any time there won't be a perfect auto focus. 

Video deals with moving things and people, how can a camera know where it needs to focus on at any time?

 

Of course you would have to provide it some information.  It can't read your mind.  After we tell what we to focus on, it should at least keep track of it.  Even if leaves the frame.  Even if a person's body becomes a face, which then becomes an eyeball.  Right now, it's not there yet.

I think we are a generation or two away from Canon having perfected autofocus for video where we will see a shift where most people will start relying on the quality of autofocus for video.  And they will start releasing STM L lenses with better performing glass.  So whether you buy Canon or Sony, buy the lens that will get the job done now.  And whatever the case, you will be upgrading the lenses regardless when they come out, especially for video.

On 12/16/2016 at 2:09 AM, jonpais said:

And yet - everyone in the world owns a Canon!

I have an 80D.  I love the colors.  Somehow, the Canon hides the dark circles on people's faces.  Panasonic accentuates it.  It's hard to color grade it out when the dark circles are very similar to the color of that person's lips.  How Canon achieves this is really a mystery.  But it's so much more camera to carry around.  The GX85 has spoiled me.

The best feature I like on a mirroless camera vs a DSLR, aside from the size is the silent shutter.  And on the GX85, even when it's off to avoid the fluorescent bulb flicker, it's hard to hear outdoors.  I'm pretty sure the M5 doesn't have that.  M5 could have at least that going for it and it would have been a good reason to buy for some people.  Right now, it's mostly pointless.

Nocticron, check

Night, check

Lots of sources of light, check

Bokeh balls, ????

5 hours ago, jonpais said:

Michael, Did you try using the little gizmo that comes with the Crane that screws into the baseplate and fits under the lens to hold it steady? 

Ah, that gizmo.  Thanks for the tip!  I've never tried it but with some tweaking, I think it has some potential of pushing the weight back on a front heavy camera.  I'll try it when I need to mount the Nocticron + GX85 on the Crane.

I think the gyro on the tilt is bad.  It doesn't know that the pitch has changed, so it's just using the power to hold it's current position.  Have you tried knocking the motor gently with your knuckles?  I do that when the gyro on my smartphones get stuck.  I've never seen it on a gimbal.

1 hour ago, jonpais said:

Thanks, Michael. So, you're saying your footage also exhibits some jitter when trying to hold the gimbal absolutely still. If that's the case, best not to use the gimbal for static shots. Actually, I only just started to use sticks again for video work, since I recently purchased an amazing carbon fiber tripod, and believe it or not, I love working with it. I also shake quite a bit, but I did try to hold as steady as possible for the video clip above. Did you send your 42.5mm in for repair, or are you holding off? Also, I'm curious how you ever managed to balance the Nocticron on the Crane - first of all, it is heavy as hell, secondly, the barrel of the lens is so large, I couldn't even mount it on my Crane.

Yes, it's me trying to hold the GH3 as still as possible.  The weight is definitely a factor, and the shake is definitely the result of my struggling arms to hold it very still.  I just tried with the GX85 as well.  It was much harder to balance because of an additional base plate as a spacer, but to my surprise the IBIS although it seemed better on the 12mm only improved it slightly.  The 42.5mm....it felt like it did worse as I started seeing very rapid micro tremors at times...might be because it's so front heavy.  Anyway, my tests were relatively short and not thorough but something I'm gonna have to keep in mind if I ever put the GX85 on the gimbal with the Nocticron.

As for the GH3 in my original tests, I had no problems balancing the Nocticron on the Crane.  I'm on the old firmware as well (much before the Canon firmwares were released.  I haven't updated since).  The edge of the barrel does hit the base plate of the gimbal just a little bit, so it might not be completely flush, although, it mostly looks like it is.

Thanks for asking at the lens.  I looked at the first images that I took before the fall from the desk did not change the lens at all.  It was not sharp at the very center from the first day.  The funny thing is the lens is so much sharper at the extreme edges than it is at the very center at 1.2.  I'm actually very pleased just how well this lens performs at the very edges (on all 4 corners) at 1.2, and disappointed at how it is not sharp at the very center.  Off center, it's fine.  I think it could benefit from some adjustment.  I'm still planning to take it in, but not in a rush to do it.

BTW, if you're wondering about the spacer plate, here's what I use:

http://copter-rc.com/en/accessories/69-pilotfly-balance-plate.html

It's not perfect, but gets the job done.  I'm sure you can find better though.

I just fired up my Crane with my 12mm and 42.5mm on the GH3 and I my footage looks the same, but I can also confirm that at least for my footage, it's me shaking it.  A 3-axis gimbal is not stabilizing the vertical and lateral movements and as much as I think I'm holding it still, I am not.  It is also a fairly heavy setup which is harder for me to hold so that's why it shakes more.  At least for my case.   If you put the gimbal on a tripod, I'm sure it would be rock steady.  If it's not, then it'd say it's definitely a hardware/firmware issue.

If you want, I can put it on the GX85 which has IBIS.

Cut out any footage where the camera movement doesn't make sense, such as when you are trying to frame your shots.

You need to colorgrade so that your shots have the same white balance, but more importantly grade for skin color and lightness.  Majority of the shots are underexposed.  I'd elevate the exposure, then push the blacks back down to brighten up the image.  Add a little warmth as the lighting there is very cold.

Try to develop a message.  People gather, then prepare/warmup, then race, cool down, go home.  fade to black on empty stadium.

M43 at ISO 200 in optimum lighting is still very noisy if you look at the raw files at 100% crop.  A lot of micro details are lost due to noise removal.  Lots of room for improvement.

40 minutes ago, jonpais said:

Very sorry to here that, Michael. I can assure you, this is not normal. I wouldn't describe the Nocticron as tack sharp wide open, though it gets spectacular results when stopped down to F/2.8. I don't shoot stills, but if you check out my video, most of the shots of the woman getting her hair done were shot at or around f/1.2. There is also a video  shot wide open on YouTube of military exercises in Poland, but I don't know if sharpening was added in post. You can also check out LensTip's sample images at f/1.2 for comparison.

Thanks for the reassurance Jon!  I will take my lens to Panasonic asap and see if I can get it serviced under warranty.  The more I think of it, I don't think Panasonic would be selling too many of these at this price with that kind of performance.

My wife accidentally knocked my camera with the Pan/Leica 42.5 f/1.2 Nocticron attached from about 100cm (3.5ft) to the floor.  It was carpet so there was no signs of physical damage.  I originally thought the camera and lens were OK.  However, I'm starting to see that the center is not "tack sharp" at f/1.2.  Actually, quite the opposite.  It is still tack sharp at f/1.8, but as for right now, this lens behaves like a $400 lens, not a $1400 one.  Because this lens is fairly new, and I never got a chance to test it at f/1.2 at any controlled settings, I'm not sure if I'm overreacting, or if it certainly requires servicing.  I'm wondering if any owners could chime in?

Here is 100% crop from the center of the lens, touch focused in a small box at about 1/250s with stabilization enabled (same results with stabilization disabled).  This is the sharpest I can get anything in focus at the center at 1.2 on my GH3 or GX85 at the center.  But when I stop down to 1.8, it's very sharp.  Any comments would be appreciated.

4 minutes ago, Cary Knoop said:

In my opinion those settings will completely botch the video quality.  The idea that compressing luminance values will somehow increase dynamic range is completely wrong in my opinion.

That has been the case with some of my older Panasonics with these settings.  But you'd be surprised how recoverable the image is when you try to grade it.  I've been playing with it and some shots are completely usable with these settings.  Yes, that's pretty hard to believe.

10 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

 

Hey Michael,

got my GX85 last week. Still trying out stuff. Not as much as I want too due to lack of time at the moment. What are your exact settings?

On my G6 I usally shot all on -2 but color on 0 on Natural. Nice gradeable image with adequate WB and amount of light. Very strong in the midtones.

On GX85 this setting still seems contrasty. Looking good on ISO 1250, 2500 in low light is already too much. 1250 has broken gradation in the lower

parts of the shadows in very low light. Cannot say, if it is an advance compared to the G6 other than the UDH. Stabilization is beautiful, just put

the right focal length into the settings, if speedboosted take that into account as well. Oh, don´t track and pan at the same time. Not sure if additional

electronic stabilization comes with additional artefacts.

cheers

II haven't found the optimal settings yet.  I put it on -5 highlights, -5 shadows, -5 contrast/-5 saturation on natural, iDynamic high just to see how much I can break the image by maximizing dynamic range and then try to recover it.  Definitely there is loss of fine details, but the overall colors of the image can be recovered and usable even under harsh settings.  As for now, I'm happy enough with it that I plan on putting this as my C1 when shooting in the worst light possible.  And then I'll turn it down a bit for c2, and c3 to use when it's not as harsh.

Even with those settings, you will find that the image corrected for detail and color will yield a contrasty image.  But it seems to respond well to RGB curve adjustments to make the image look flatter.

17 hours ago, DPC said:

I was surprised how good a job it did of optimising dynamic range, keeping detail in the highlights and shadows whilst maintaining decent contrast.

The biggest problem I have with the "turn everything down" method is that it's really hard to restore decent mid-tone contrast in post (I find).

The GX80 is a contrasty camera, even "dialled down". iDynamic seems to mitigate this.

I haven't touch the iDynamic since the GH3 when it was terrible and useless, but on the GX85, I'm surprised how well I can bring back the image even with iDyamic on high, with a negative S curve, and -5 contrast.  This camera is so fun.