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leeys

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  1. Like
    leeys got a reaction from sunyata in Desktop for Editing: Hackintosh?   
    Well, more CPU speed never hurt, if you ask me. With 4K workflows it's definitely good to have more, along with faster GPUs, the latter of which is underpowered in comparison in an iMac.
     
    If you're just using it for backups, a USB 3.0 drive is plenty fast.
     
    I hate hate hate hate using any OS from Apple. It always does my head in; I'm guessing there will be people who are on the opposite end.
     
    There's always that one Linux guy... :P
  2. Like
    leeys got a reaction from jonpais in GH3 / GH4 'in camera corrections'   
    And don't forget the 35-100mm as well.
  3. Like
    leeys reacted to Quirky in The Economist talks mirrorless cameras   
    What that article shows is that the Economist doesn't know much about cameras, and their view is a typical US-centric at that, borrowed from some other site or publication, and edited slightly. Looks like typical copy-paste journalism in action, or just another meaningless filler story. 
    Next story, please.
     
     
    That sentence has a strange logic. It's a bit like saying that if, for example, you don't buy the official 911 story, you must also be a 1969 moon landing and a holocaust denier, UFO nutter, and a rabid home grown terrorist nut job. And so on. Or that if you don't write about the Fisker Karma, Chrysler Volt or whatever geeky car designed by some South African tycoon, you can't know anything about motorcycles, either.
     
    I believe the Economist do know a thing or two about a number of issues, but mirrorless cameras just aren't one of them. Which is hardly surprising.
  4. Like
    leeys got a reaction from sunyata in The Economist talks mirrorless cameras   
    Ah, I loved Cibachrome back in the day. Still, modern inkjet techniques come pretty close for me. What I really miss is working with a master Cibachrome printer. Thanks for reminding me about it.
  5. Like
    leeys got a reaction from Daniel Brown in GH4 Guide: Master Pedestal Causing Banding and/or Red Rainbowing   
    I did say to light your backgrounds better. :P
     
    I've seen this happen when the first time photographer (or seasoned photographer gets lazy, don't ask me how I know) uses only one or two lights and doesn't adequately light the background. This gives a shadow that when pushed in post gives ugh results, even in raw.
  6. Like
    leeys got a reaction from Christina Ava in Gopro 4 coming when the summer is over?   
    The 3+ was announced in October last year, so not surprised they'll do it again this year. I agree the timing could be better...
  7. Like
    leeys reacted to fuzzynormal in Gopro 4 coming when the summer is over?   
    Indeed.  I just finished a production for a client who entertained the notion that his quad flying shots were appropriate for his film.  It was incredibly difficult to diplomatically try to inform him how to fly his toy.
     
    Ultimately, he just liked to fly the damn thing high to the point where the landscape basically looked nondescript/static and then he would just pan and tilt the camera around randomly.  Augh.  
     
    Some people would rather hang a painting of Kincaid in the house than a Wyeth.
     
    I just had to accept it.  Lots of folks just don't get it.  Their subjectivity skews toward tacky.  With flying shots it's typically low, slow, and in a straight line.  It's really that simple.
  8. Like
    leeys got a reaction from maxotics in Nikon V1 - shooting 4K 60fps raw for $200   
    Yea, it will. The camera doesn't care what memory card you put it - that high speed burst is all written to the camera's buffer at first. The V1 has a 256MB buffer that accommodates 30 raw files, while the V2 has a 512MB buffer that stores 40. I'm not certain about the V3 as Nikon are not releasing the camera where I am. After that the buffer flushes to the SD card. Thus the only difference a fast SD card makes is the time it takes for the buffer to empty. On a V2 the fastest I ever got was ~20 seconds, or about 25MB/s. The Sandisk Extreme Pro, Extreme Plus (or Extreme 80MB/s), Lexar 600x and Samsung Pro (2014) can achieve this, based on my testing.
     
    Also, if you're not interested in AF, you can do 60 FPS with *any* Nikon 1 camera. If you want exposure controls, then you want the V2.
  9. Like
    leeys reacted to Jip-Hop in Nikon V1 - shooting 4K 60fps raw for $200   
    Wanted to share my first video shot with the V2's burst mode. I used in camera JPEG for this video. My girlfriend and I are on exchange to Singapore for half a year and I had to leave my desktop workstation behind. My 4 year old MacBook Pro doesn't have the power to cope with raw burst sequences and since I'm on holiday at the moment I didn't want to spend too much time editing this. Premiere Pro already crashed on me enough times during this project xD Next time I'd like to make some more 'longer' shots using e.g. Twixtor.

    I rendered a 4k ProRes proxy and uploaded the 2gb video to YouTube so 4k is available for people with a 4k monitor.
  10. Like
    leeys got a reaction from sanveer in I think DXO labs should reconduct its A7S test   
    DXO has rarely been wrong with their measurements - Sony's probably doing some pretty clever tricks on the image processing side.
  11. Like
    leeys got a reaction from EeeCeeGee in New Fotodiox focal reducers   
    Eh, this is the kind of thing I'd spend more money on. It's kind of an investment, and it's one that'll pay itself off, especially if you have multiple lenses.
  12. Like
    leeys got a reaction from Axel in Why crop sensors are better than full frame   
    That depends on the lenses, doesn't it? I switched to m4/3 for photo work and the Panasonic zooms are a treat. I could do with shallower DoF on the wide angles, but that's just about the only thing I'm missing.
     
    I think this is where many people are missing the forest for the trees: Sure you can shoot at ISO 400k in an area lit by two candles, but as a long time photographer, I find that this results in crap images.
     
    Good images (be it stills or video) need good light. The current crop of sensors can do at least ISO 1600 competently, with ISO 3200 being workable as well. I find I don't really need more than that most of the time. Certain people might need more, like photojournalists, concert photographers, or documentary shooters, but if you can have a say in the lighting, what're you doing chasing after super high ISO cameras?
  13. Like
    leeys reacted to jcs in Quick review of A7S and GH4   
    Quick Review A7S vs GH4
     
    Where the  GH4 is better:
    Build quality Viewfinder Flip out screen User interface (by a mile) Battery life (by a mile) Color science Skin tones Rolling shutter (by quite a bit) Detail (internal 4K and 4K to HD) Noise grain (mostly pleasing monochromatic) Built-in flash for stills When lens size is included, a much smaller package Can shoot best quality on < 64GB Class 10 UHS-1 cards (A7S requires >=64GB cards for XAVC-S) Price Where the A7S is better:
    Low light (it's very good however the noise grain is colored and multi-spectral; not as pleasing as GH4's mostly monochromatic fine-grain noise) Shallow DOF (add a SpeedBooster/focal-reducer to the GH4 and this isn't much of an advantage) Audio (no buzz; not tested thoroughly yet though) If a 5D3/full-frame owner: can use existing lenses with a non-focal-reducer adapter (with similar DOF) Super 35 mode allows use of many NEX lenses (some aliasing) Auto ISO After having worked with 5D3 14-bit RAW and RED RAW, where the unmodified RAW looks pretty good straight from the camera, Slog2, Cinegammas, Cine-D/V, etc., start looking like gimmicks. None of those gamma curves are providing a real increase in dynamic range. In certain cases they may provide more information for 8-bit compression, however they can be tricky to use and must be exposed carefully. I've had the best luck shooting Natural with the GH4 (and no crazy curves), though iDynamic is helpful sometimes (appears to be local pixel group based processing vs. a simple curve. The A7S has a similar feature (disabled if any picture profile or effect is active, though)).
     
    Rolling shutter is very challenging on the A7S in full frame mode (worse than the 5D3): not very usable for handheld without a lens with IS and/or a solid rig. The A7S menu and button system is a mess. The FS700 has a better design! (many folks find the FS700 non-intuitive to use).
     
    Both cameras have aliasing and moire in slow motion. Perhaps similar to the FS700 in 240fps mode (not as bad as FS700 480+fps modes). I haven't done a direct comparison, however the FS700 120fps and less slow motion is better than the GH4 and A7S (all slow motion modes).
     
    While the A7S isn't quite a one-trick-pony (low light), the GH4 is a much better all around camera. I haven't had the A7S as long as the GH4, so there may be other elements that make the A7S more compelling, yet to be discovered.
  14. Like
    leeys reacted to Andrew Reid in New OK Go music video shot on Panasonic GH4   
    There is some dodgy stabilisation going on (presumably all part of the charm) but it isn't rolling shutter you're seeing.
     
    Creatively I think the video succeeds. Give the pixel peeping a rest on this one guys.
  15. Like
    leeys got a reaction from Zach Ashcraft in GPU + Quad Core Question   
    If you're not rendering on the laptop, then I think the 13" is perfectly fine. I mean, there's no point in buying the 15" if you're going to loathe carrying it, however powerful it might be.
     
    The main advantage for me would be the screen on the 13" rMBP. It's so much better than the screens on the Airs. The denser resolution helps in photo editing too. The new CPUs aren't much faster however. A 2012 is an Ivy Bridge model, right? The current models use the Haswell CPUs, which offer little performance gain, but increased battery life (20-30% increase). The main increase in speed will be from the improved integrated GPU, which helps when editing.
  16. Like
    leeys got a reaction from Zach Ashcraft in GPU + Quad Core Question   
    I edit photos and videos on an 11" machine when on the road. It's all about being what you're comfortable with, and my eyes can perfectly take the load from my shoulders in this regard.
     
    You didn't mention the 15" with the nVidia option, so I did forget about that - whereas the difference between the integrated Intels aren't much, the nVidia is a different animal. Does your iMac have a switchable integrated graphics solution? If so you can switch to the integrated one and see how your favourite editing programs perform.
     
    EDIT: Didn't notice you had an Air. Hmm. If you find that slow, then maybe you don't have much of a choice. 15" it is for you!
     
    Personally, I'd just go with the 13" rMBP. Can't stand 15" laptops, though I'm willing to concede that this might be a cultural thing as well.
  17. Like
    leeys got a reaction from andy lee in Set Me Straight: Math For GH4 Crop Factor & Lenses   
    Focal lengths are focal lengths. The sensor size they cover is independent of that.
     
    EDIT: To be clear - always calculate based on the focal length. To base FoV equivalent calculation on the projected image circle is like saying a pound of feathers is lighter than a pound of iron.
  18. Like
    leeys reacted to andrgl in Would you still go Ivy Bridge today?   
    Yes about Resolve, and the 290X is sorta? Workstation cards seem to net better results. Plus DualGPU cards and crossfire/sli setups run laps around one card.
     
    Anyway, it's not unusable by any stretch. I leave NR on its own node and disable it, until I need to render the clips. Then it's pretty much real time, even with secondaries on.
  19. Like
    leeys got a reaction from andrgl in Would you still go Ivy Bridge today?   
    Doomed. Isn't Resolve OpenCL enabled? The R9 290X is pretty much a high-end card.
  20. Like
    leeys reacted to fuzzynormal in YouTube to start removing videos with indie label music (Radiohead included)   
    Ha ha.  As if Americans have any monopoly on unethical business practices!  
     
    Welcome to human nature, where people exploit other people.  There are no boundaries in this regard.
     
    And, point of fact, Americans barely even rule themselves much less the world.
  21. Like
    leeys reacted to maxotics in YouTube to start removing videos with indie label music (Radiohead included)   
    There are close to one million books published globally, every year.  There are over 40,000 full-length audio releases.  If you want to check each one out it would take your 53 hours per day (weekends included).  Want to watch every movie?  32 hours per day.  In short,  artists produce more content then anyone can keep up with.  Again, that's just listening/watching once to see if you like it. Then there are magazines, TV, art shows, lectures, etc.  All this content has a simple effect on many people--it makes them anxious.  Big companies grow on the back of that anxiety.  They select a few (if even using political methods) which gives people MORE time to enjoy that art, and less time trying to keep up with all the artists vying for their attention.
     
    There are only so many hours in the day.
     
    Art hasn't changed since the dawn of time.  From my favorite poet on the subject of the artistic way of life, from H. S. Mauberley, by Ezra Pound (1920)
     
    Here are a couple of selections:
     
    MR. NIXON
    In the cream gilded cabin of his steam yacht
    Mr. Nixon advised me kindly, to advance with fewer 
    Dangers of delay. "Consider
              "Carefully the reviewer.
    "I was as poor as you are;
    "When I began I got, of course,
    "Advance on royalties, fifty at first," said Mr. Nixon, 
    "Follow me, and take a column, 
    "Even if you have to work free.
    "Butter reviewers. From fifty to three hundred
    "I rose in eighteen months;
    "The hardest nut I had to crack
    "Was Dr. Dundas.
    "I never mentioned a man but with the view
    "Of selling my own works.
    "The tip's a good one, as for literature
    "It gives no man a sinecure.
    "And no one knows, at sight, a masterpiece.
    "And give up verse, my boy,
    "There's nothing in it."
    ...
    Beneath the sagging roof
    The stylist has taken shelter,
    Unpaid, uncelebrated,
    At last from the world's welter
    Nature receives him;
    With a placid and uneducated mistress
    He exercises his talents
    And the soil meets his distress.
     
     
    Yes, no one at sight knows a masterpiece and most artists' work is pissing in the wind--I can tell you mine is  ;)
  22. Like
    leeys reacted to Shane Essary in YouTube to start removing videos with indie label music (Radiohead included)   
    That's shit, though.  Part of the reason I got into filmmaking is so I can make videos for my band without having to worry about some flakey videographer/filmmaker (and I'm shooting one tonight and another in the morning).
     
    I want to make music, not promote.  I want to perform, not worry about distribution.  I want to get in the van and ride to bumfuck Indiana so I can play in front of 8 people for no money, because it's what I enjoy doing, not play phone tag with the venue or two dudes putting on the show with a couple local bands that no one locally cares about.  Same thing with films, right?  Do you want to make films, or do you want to spend all your time trying to sell them?  It's like that dude with the script.  He's so busy trying to sell it, he forgets to write another one.

    If your band is already well-established, like trent reznor, for example, going the full monty direct distribution route is feasible.  If you're joe blow just trying to make it, having a good label behind you can be the difference between going "somewhere" or just spinning your wheels.  There's an art to it.  

    From a consumer perspective, I like labels because they curate their music collection.  I can be assured that music coming from a specific label, while I'm not guaranteed to like it, at least is in the general ballpark of the stuff I do like.  That's the value of the label to me as a consumer:  They listen to 10,000 shitty bands and pick out the couple that have potential, so I don't have to.  
     
    From a band perspective, the label gives us good/reliable contacts in other towns to help set up shows.  They handle the pressing and distribution of the recorded product and I don't have to have 100 boxes of 7" records laying around my tiny apartment.   The label sends out the records to the various fanzines and college radio stations, and all we had to do was get in the van and drive.  We sold a lot of merch, but with gas at $4.50/gallon, that was a break-even proposition.  

    I don't know what the actual answer is other than to try and weather the storm and see how it shakes out on the other side, but direct distribution isn't the 100% answer 100% of the time.
     
    EDIT:  I will add that we also don't pay to record our music because our singer is an audio engineer in his day job (I'm a software dev).  He has a nice recording studio built in his backyard, but that wasn't free to build or maintain.  It doesn't cost the band anything to record, but it's far from free and is typically subsidized by charging other bands to record there, as well.
  23. Like
    leeys got a reaction from Damphousse in 4K for $899 with the Panasonic FZ1000 - but beware the quirks!   
    I'm astounded. How can you absolutely know for sure? I've been using cameras for 20 years, and reviewing them for the past few, and I'd *never* make assumptions like these until I actually have spent some time with either the camera, or a substantial number of sample files.
     
    Also, don't be surprised if the sensors are the same.
     
  24. Like
    leeys reacted to jcs in Panasonic GH4 Review   
    Nice review Andrew! The GH4 deserves the positive feedback after Panasonic listened to filmmakers and delivered what was asked for at a reasonable price!
     
    I've been looking for a camera to supplement or replace the 5D3 for video for a long time. The first attempt was the FS700 + SpeedBooster. The idea was find a camera which has true 1920x1080 resolution and full frame compatibility with my Canon lenses. At the time I had not studied the math and physics and wanted to maintain the mystical and oft-hyped FF "look". You mentioned "
    5D Mark II and III raw from full frame sensor a formidable cinematic look vs the smaller sensor in the GH4".  The "formidable cinematic look" is a myth. Perhaps a better way to say is that the full frame format has more affordable and flexible options for shallow depth of field- as that is all it really offers in absolute terms of sensor size. Canon's color science is still a formidable challenge. In low light, the GH4 has a nicer noise pattern. 5D3 RAW has some fixed pattern noise and the general noise itself gets downright ugly in low light. The newer GH4 does a better job with noise once it shows up. If I find the time I'll post tests comparing the 5D3 RAW with the Canon 50mm 1.4 at F2 to the GH4 with a Voigtlander 25mm F.95 at .95 (same as the 5D3 at 50mm F1.9 per the math here (which isn't anything new; I finally took a look at it after the Northrup video was posted on EOSHD: '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> ).
     
    The GH4 looks fantastic straight out of the camera when set up and lit correctly. This is something I find valuable and useful. 14-bit 5D3 RAW offers far more options in post, especially when using ACR vs. the comparatively fragile GH4. The RAW workflow might be called "Really Awful Workflow" due to the extra time and storage requirements. That said, for some shots and projects, the extra work is worth it.
     
    Regarding GH4 10-bit luma and 444 for 4K scaled to 1080p: the 444 is real, the 10-bit luma is not in practice. 10-bit color processing doesn't take place in the GH4 unless 10-bit 422 is enabled for HDMI output, otherwise processing for video is 8-bit.  In order for the 10-bit luma to be real, we'd have to do special encoding in the camera which we could then recover in post (while reducing luma resolution 4x). Otherwise we're just getting a nice, useful, low-pass filtered, noise reduced luma in the same way as the C100/C300.
     
    When comparing to the Sony A7S- the example A7S videos appear to produce excellent, detailed, color accurate, high-dynamic range footage straight from the camera. The bitrate is only 50Mbit/s, however as we've seen with 100Mbit/s GH4 4K, which is 4x the pixel data(!), these bitrates are OK as long as motion is smooth. Even the 24Mbit/s FS700 footage compares very well when the motion is smooth. As many of us have noted, even with large, cheap storage, efficiency is important in the long haul.
     
    As I'm sure future tests will show, 50Mbit/s A7S in-camera 1080p will compare very well to the GH4 4K scaled to 1080p in post. The A7S appears to have a dynamic range advantage, and the color science so far is very competitive, even against 5D3 RAW. The GH4 with fast micro 4/3 lenses has a size/portability/stealth advantage. In the event 4K material is needed (vs. 1080p scaled in post), the GH4 has the advantage (including reframing in post). Neither camera 'wins'- they have complementary features. The A7S compared to the 5D3 RAW- that's another matter: the A7S will best 5D3 RAW in resolution, detail, dynamic range, and workflow. What remains to be seen is final color science (rolling shutter will likely be a wash between the two).
  25. Like
    leeys reacted to fuzzynormal in Hands-on preview of the powerful 4K shooting Panasonic GH4!   
    For what it's worth, this is one punk that's more than willing to stay away from a toxic work environment.
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