Teemu

1 minute ago, Fritz Pierre said:

Sorry I meant to type Lexar....that is bizarre as in order to allow you to preview your dailies in the camera, the info clearly was in the card...the question is then what happened to it...I've only heard of problems related to the Lexars related to the GH5 but in fairness I tend to pay attention to the Pannys...and less so to issues with Canons or Sonys

Yeah. Well only thing that pops up to my mind is that I turned off my GH5 and took out the card too early = was still "writing" or marking something on the card when shutting down. Or I took it out when the camera was on (not recording) and it was doing something with the card...

But for sure I can tell we played back shots all day long via camera play mode. Everything was playing back just fine. I remember saying to my friend just before popping out the card "oh, I should remember to take this with me. Don't want to lose this material..." Maybe that was the last bit for the card!

So I think it must be a human error. Me popping out the card just one second too early or something.

40 minutes ago, Fritz Pierre said:

Yes...your's is not the first bad experience with Alexa....I stick with Sandisk Extreme Pro....both in SD and SSD format...never a single failure....simply to much at stake when you do anything like you described in your opening post...or a wedding or anything professional for that matter!

Yeah that's right. I have one experience in past that one card corrupted on shooting when copied it to laptop. All other people in the crew was horrified and I was calming them down. Got Everything back from that card with data rescue software.

But this time it was strangest case ever. It was corrupted after that long shooting day. We even watched playback about the very last shot of the day via camera. After that everything was just downhill.

The card was corrupted so badly that computer/rescue software's only recognized it as 7,60gb drive... Even that it is 128gb card. Tried to format it with panasonic, canon and sony cameras, nothing. With computer and all formatting methods, nothing. So totally destroyed card. Just rubbish.

And I bought it from local camera store. Well now it is returned and I will switch to Sandisk or Transcend cards. Those haven't failed me.

After all, we have now scheduled re-shoots and recreating the practical effects... And this time even better than last time! So take that Lexar! You can't but us down so easily! :D

If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind material... – Charles Bukowski

23 minutes ago, tweak said:

Indeed, which witch is which? 

Haha. Nice typos I made there :D Well there definetly was some WITCH powers around.

14 minutes ago, JurijTurnsek said:

Anecdotal evidence cannot be a basis of overall brand reputation (I never used Lexar, but also never heard anything good/bad about them). In hindsight, you should've used the dual card slots for their intended purpose. Sorry for your loss, hopefully we can all learn a valuable lesson here.

Yes, should use dual card recording. Expensive lesson learned: Use dual card recording and spit over your left shoulder when you see a Lexar card.

25 minutes ago, tweak said:

I use Lexar CF cards and they work great... Maybe you got a fake card, I would send it back for a replacment/ refund.

 

Yeah I did send it back for refund. I will change brand. It's ordered from "official" dealer here in Finland. But who knows witch is fake and witch is not fake...

Hi!

I write short experience from last weekend. We had really long day studio shoots. We had this really huge practical effect build by our special effect guy, 50+ hours of work. Really awsome looking. I shot with my GH5 + my brand new few times tested Lexar 128GB 1000x memory card.

We had shot all we needed and I took out the card. In the beginning of this week I took the card and put it to my computer. It said needs to be formatted. Tried 7 different data rescue softwares, nothing. I went local service where they do data rescue. They inspected it for two hours, nothing. Now I am in the moment we lost everything, and I tried to format the card. Can't do it in any camera body. Not on my computer in any fileformat system (deep or quick format). It is just completely destroyed. I am afraid to cut the card half with scissors or machete, because I think those will brake apart first.

So my experience is now following: do not buy any Lexar cards ever, period.

@AaronChicago looks great! Definetly show the final video when it's ready.

How did you like SLR Magic Anamorphic primes? And did you use all three of them (35, 50 and 70)?

Did you have 10bit update already in gh5 for Anamoprhic mode and did you shoot in V-log mode?

--

I am still waiting for my V-log update and in end of this month going to shoot with GH5 + FM-lens with Kowa inside. As taking lenses I think I am going russian way. Some 50mm macro lens, Helios 58mm, Jupiter 85mm and Tair 135mm.

@Neumann Films That was really nice! Good work. I have been waiting to see more serious anamorphic footage out of GH5. And now they released even the 10-bit option which is great. Only if it could shoot a little more slowmo than 50p. Like 100fps in anamorphic mode would be great.

You used IBIS in those handheld shots, right? How did the camera work with IBIS and anamorphic lenses. Did it make any weird shifts or corrections it shouldn't because of the anamorphic glass? Or did it just work perfectly? I assume you used IBIS setting as 35, 50 or 75 depending which lens you used.

Those SLR Magic lenses definetly focuses quite close. Or did you use some diopters with them?

11 hours ago, AaronChicago said:

You can shoot 60p with the 4K anamorphic mode on the GH5, with VLog, but it's currently 8 bit.

Okay, thanks Aaron. That is big news for me. Just hope it will be 10bit, maybe after the summer updates... It's not even possible to get it 60p 10bit when recording externally?

51 minutes ago, Sebastien Farges said:

This is my first test of using the 6K 29,97p 3:2 ratio on the new GH5.
I'm happy with the results, please tell me what you think.
But I want to share my teething troubles working with the GH5.
1- The first question was which focal lens setting did I have to choose for the stabiliser. My prime lens is a 35mm, but did I have to include the 1,75x factor of the anamorphic, that is influencing only on the width ?
My first impression is that the internal stabiliser is not really the friend of anamorphic lens, some distortions or rolling shutter. There is some small moments in the movie that you can notice, but most of the strongest were unedited.
Because of the prime lens which is 35mm, and maybe the wildest I can use with my baby Hypergonar anamorphic lens, I had to zoom in the image sometimes, when it's in movement for example, to avoid moving vignetting in the frame. I did up to 17%.  
2- the H265 codec that is used for the 6K mode
I had problems editing the 6K mode video. I have Premiere CC2017, but even when it downloads the H265 / HEVC codec, I couldn't really import the original files. Some of them were working, but most of them had strange result on the timeline with green colors. And not to mention the lag with playing the video, on Premiere or VLC.
I test it on two different iMac, mine that is a end 2012 with 24 Go of RAM, and at the university that is a 5k iMac with 8 Go. 
So I transcoded the video with Handbrake, which surprisingly accept the 5184*3486 with H264 5.2 level. Then I decided to export directly in anamorphic without the black bars, in 5184*1976, then doing a same dimension sequence in Premiere.
Badfully I couldn't export the same dimension when I finished my edit on Premiere, so I did it in the maximum that my version of Premiere accept at my home : 4K (4096 maximum on the width).
When I will find the solution, I will export it in its original dimension 5184*1976.
Having troubles with a new camera and a "new codec" and new dimension "6k" is not new for me and I accept it I remember when a long time ago when I bought the GH1 I had to switch from Final Cut Pro 7 to Premiere to be able to edit the H264 clips directly on the timeline. 
Thanks for watching the movie and do not hesitate giving me your opinion and your experience with editing 6K material from this new beast named GH5 !
GH5 6K 5184*3486 3:2 29,97p export to 4k 29,97p anamorphic 4096*1560
prime lens : Qioptiq 35mm f1.6 wide open most of the time
anamorphic lens : baby Hypergonar 1.75x
focus module : SLR Magic Rangefinder Imperial
ND filters : Hoya 32x, 4x and 2x
slight black and white levels / no color correction
cropping due to vigneting of the anamorphic due to the stabiliser from 0 to 17%
Thanks to Virgil for his GH5

Hi Sebastian!

Thanks for the video. Downloaded it in 4k from Vimeo to see results more accurately. Looks good.

But that IBIS is definetly giving some bad effects for the censor. That is a thing I am a bit worried. Did you try to shoot also without IBIS and what focal length did you tell for the IBIS to use?

I haven't updated my GH4 to GH5 yet, but soon will. Anamorphic mode and how the GH5 handles it is my top priority thing.

Few questions:

1. I am quite sure it isn't possible... but is there any chance to shoot 4:3 aspect in slowmotion = anamoprhic slowmotion possiblity?

2. You didn't try to shoot in "anamorphic mode"? I understood that you shot in 6k photomode only? That would be in h.264 format and 10-bit, right?

3. There isn't desqueeze in camera, right?

GH4 still gives nice images and with external recorder + 10bit AND RIGHT GLASS it can still give really nice results. But still I am too sold over the GH5 can't resist

One of my Anamoprhic 4:3 videos with GH4+external recorder:

This anamorphic is my choice for quick and charracterfull shootings. It's size is so good paired with mirrorless body.

In this video I wanted image to look really dreamy and hazy. So this anamorphic was a good choice. 

So this lens definetly has it's places and some real charracter but many times it's just too much of charracter for the context.

Nice shots and interesting looking shortfilm. Problem was as mentioned above that we didn't see why and what she is actually hiding. In trailer we just cut to hiding and sneeking without telling/revealing a bit why she does that.

Just make me think if she was on normal running route and sees something scary wouldn't she just turn around and go back same way?

Maybe trailer should just build up tension towards revealing what she finds from her routine running track one day. And that's it. It would build up tension more.

In this trailer there was maybe too much material from different moments of movie cut together like mashup of everything.

Also mentioned earlier that it is missing sound effects. I wished trailer to build up tension with those. If we think we are on running route: just nature sounds, footateps and breathing. And slowly building up towards the reveal and exploding soundtrack at the right moment  it would make also the soundtrack much more important.

15 hours ago, Neumann Films said:

We also have a set of SLR Magic 2x Anamorphics for a 6K video (assuming Panasonic wants us to go forward with it).

Good looking video Neumann! Keeping up the good work

Please shoot some anamorphic tests also. Really would like to hear more about anamorphic mode:

-is there stretch preview (and what options 1.3x, 1.5x, 2x?)

-option for slomo rates on anamorphic modes?

-peaking, vectorscope & waveform working in anamorphic mode also?

2 hours ago, Alex Uzan said:

Thank you al for your answers.

But is overkill mean unusable ?

I don't mind to pay more for better I dont' need today, since my needs could be different tomorrow. But as suggested webrunner5, if the head doesn't work well will small weight, I can't consider to buy it.

All I want is the perfect "true fluid head" for,my mirrorless, since the one that came with the Manfrotto Befree Live is only a simple "fluid head".

Alex, the S8 definetly need some weight on it to work better. So for m43 size cameras you are maybe better with lighter head. I have manfrotto 502ah for slider and jib use. It has non adjustable drag but for most stuff it's okay. But there is plenty of options out there.

I have Benro S8 head with Benro topline carbon fiber legs. The legs are really nice and can handle a lot of weight! Those I'll be keeping several years in future. The S8 is overkill for my GH4 set that I use mostly. But I also use it with jib and with my huge anamorphic single focus set. Those things make weight a lot and also I can easily slap a FS700 now and then on it.

So it depends on your needs a lot. If using it just inside and with light setup don't waste money for overkill head. But if you are upgrading your kit in near future or need flexibility for other cameras it might be one to consider.

Wanted to try out new lens combination on GH4 anamorphic mode:

8 minutes ago, DBounce said:

Recently,  I have been exploring the pros of using a matte box. I like the idea of dedicated NDs and flags to control glare. But for as simple as a device as a matter box, is there seems to be a huge variance in price. So my questions are as follows:

1. It's a matte box needed at all? 

2. Given the huge range in price, what is good enough?

3. Do flags matter in a controlled studio?

4. Are dedicated NDs really that much of an advantage over variable NDs?

Feel free to share your knowledge or experience.

 

I have looked matte box options quite a while. For long time been keeping my eye on Tilta MB-T05. But also Fotga DP500 mark III matte box is interesting. Those are in the price range I think, is ok investment. Sure if you want top quality and best materials you most likely have to use a lot more. But I don't need that.

Here is my thoughts on your questions:

1. It's a matte box needed at all? 

It depends what you prefer and how you shoot. If I have crew and time I like to use it. But if I am alone and in hurry, no it's just extra weight and bulkiness...

2. Given the huge range in price, what is good enough?

For me I can get everything I need from matte box around 200-500€ price range

3. Do flags matter in a controlled studio?

If I am in studio usually have better and bigger flags + c-stands around. So no, I don't need flags.

4. Are dedicated NDs really that much of an advantage over variable NDs?

There is certainly differences on variable ND's and hard ND's. With variable ND's I have ruined some face shots, got some bad colour shift and weird glares. With good hard ND's: never.

---

Even that I am looking for matte box set and nice hard ND's, I definitely are not going to lose my variable ND. Has it moments and places for me, always.

But I definitely want quality ND's without quality loss to be found at edit table. It sucks.

IF you don't want to use matte box and decide to invest in hard ND filters. I definitely recommend XUME adapters. I use 77mm XUME adapters on my all lenses and Variable ND + Polarizer filter.

12 hours ago, squig said:

I'm not sure it is more powerful than the 60w Chinese fresnel. Sure it draws more power, but there's other factors besides power draw that contribute to illuminance. We'll know for sure as soon as it arrives. There's a 100w version of that Chinese fresnel with a 24v input; if the 60w is close to the brightness of the Pixapro, I'm thinking of getting one and powering it with a 24v LiPo ebike battery. Works out a lot cheaper than v-mounts and should power the light for a few hours.

Sending it back is a hassle but it's just not that great as a hard light (which is what I really need it for), with a fresnel lens it's hard but the beam is very narrow. With the reflector it casts wonky shadows. I think that might be due to change from a rough to a smooth reflector surface on the rim of the reflector.

@spuig: please tell us how you like the Cihenese Nanguang CN-60F light if you decide to order it. I am interested to hear opinions now after you have tried out the Pixapro 100D. 

On 22. kesäkuuta 2016 at 2:40 AM, andy lee said:

if you are going to get a Speedbooster get a Metabones they are the best construction wise and optically plus  no lens shift on any on mine and Im using 8 X Metabones XLs to shoot a feature film right now ( 4 in Nikon Mount and 4 in Canon EF mount )- they are outstanding and I love them , I wouldnt shoot without them , they are essential on micro 4/3 cameras plus follow focus works really well as there is no play in the lens mount plus I cable tie all my lenses on rigs to the lens support so there is no movement at all of the follow focus - Im using Gini Rigs follow focus as its very big and smooth Im 38 days into a 45 day shoot and they are all performing superb NO issues at all

 

5 Metabones XLs on my rigs (Gini Rigs)  with Nikon Bourne Lenses for the feature film Pandora I'm DP on .

Looks like a great solution those cable ties + lens support. So you shoot film with nikon glass and canon glass? My problem with nikons has always been that those focus different way. And when my other lenses focus same way it's just too confusing. Are you just used to that or does gini FF unit have reverse gear possiblity?

Also could you tell what mattebox you recommend with lumix camera. I see you have some kind of mattebox with two filter trays. Rotateable? And what filter size you like to use 4x4 or larger?

22 hours ago, DPStewart said:

Yeah, nice piece of kit there Teemu!

Hey mate, does the PixaPro light have an umbrella mount on it? 
I can see a little tube or bracket on the bottom-front of the light, but the pictures are too small to tell if that's an umbrella mount.
Any luck on this being what it is?

Thanks~

Great guys that I got your attention with this! It really is great light for great price! And definetly check out Nitsan reviews on other stuff too. He has really good eye and opinnion on many stuff needed in film making...

DPStewart, yes there is umbrella mount. You can just push it in and it stays. No screwing needed. So it has that also. S-mount and umbrella mount. Very versatile.

My lighting kit at the moment for many shoot is 1x pixapro 100d with soft box + 3-5x dedo lights. I like to mix tungsten on background lighting with gels a lot and in hair light, etc.

I have also found chinese knockout prices on similiar looking lights on amazon. Or maybe it was ebay or something else... Just couldn't find those again now. Anyway, those looked like exact same lamps with different name and maybe half the price of Pixapro 100d. Could be worth to try if those are fake or not... 

1 hour ago, AaronChicago said:

What's the wattage equivalent on that one? 

I have one of these lights, but just the mk II not the + version (+ version means v-lock battery option). I really like it and can also recommend it. It's about 1k at full power. Definetly get the mkII version. It's a lot more silent and a bit smaller than the first version.

Also good cheap fresnel adapter for the light is this:

https://www.amazon.com/Nanguang-NG-10X-Studio-Light-Filter/dp/B011HTRTUG?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B011HTRTUG&linkCode=as2&linkId=TOJXOS6VGXPT3Q6T&redirect=true&ref_=as_li_tl&tag=nitsapictu-20

Nitsan has reviewed same lights and recommended very much it.

14 hours ago, jaquet said:

50mm pancake on FF
35mm on APS-C

Really good looking images! Some very precise flarePORN! That's what I like! :D

in that gear image... You use extra glass/plastic filter for odd light effects on the image, right? Is it some kind of expensive filter or just cheap piece of clear plastic?

I'll be waiting for the final piece

On 12. huhtikuuta 2016 at 0:45 AM, Pyriphlegethon said:

Has anyone else here had experience with Flolight's Bladelight? I have spent some time with it during a couple shoots now and been quite impressed. Color rendering is good and form factor is pretty unique. The flat panels have their place I suppose, but, after purchasing several a few years ago, have rarely actually used them. They seem like the type of thing I most often see used atop a camera hotshoe from the guys who bring their cameras to document NAB

I wrote up a fairly long review of sorts here if you're interested in the Bladelight.

A field-power option would be nice, but, at least the one I have, is only AC power.

 

Well written and detailed review. Thanks for that. I have been eyeing this one for a while. Seems like really versatile light.

Would you consider making a little video demo on using it in different ways.

53 minutes ago, Mattias Burling said:

Not exactly useless imo since on a Sony its probably 1% of the time I would need to do that. And changing the adapter is 10 times faster and easier than unscrewing a filter.

 

But the fastest way to use some ND is this:

http://www.xumeadapters.com

But you have to carry those filters with ya.

I have used Xume adapters on field very much. In really rough conditions and heavy run&gun stuff. Yes, I have knocked off my filters few times, but those bumps/knocks been HEAVY. But my filters have survived until this day. And if the day comes that I broke a filter, well I can buy a new one not a big deal. Really recommend.

I like ND Throttle idea but it's quite useless on my situation, because I keep always my Speedbooster on my camera. Is the ND Throttle technology same as inside the FaderND filters (two polarizing filters on top of each other)? I use faderND a lot in quick and fast situations. But if I demand to keep quality and don't want to mess with reflections and weird artifacts then the normal ND's are the only option.

...

Actually now that I watched the video in the beginning of the topic, I saw that you are talking about Xume adapters. Also saw that you have reviewed those

Have you Mattias noticed some weird reflections changing with the ND Throttle? That's one big minus with ND Faders. Been sometime in a bit trouble after shooting some faces and used ND Fader. It may cause some serious issues with skin tones. So hard ND filters is safe bet.

29 minutes ago, Spgreen65 said:

Teemu, Thanks for the great response.   I love the Cinemascope banner

 

Good that you like it  I wanted it to be quite cheesy.

2 hours ago, Spgreen65 said:

The Rectalux footage looks much better to me,. The fm seemed to have barrel distortion on the sides.  Beautiful shots from the Rectalux.  Can you tell me more about the kowa 8z?

Rectilux is a tad sharper than FM Lens. My story between these two is following:

I first ordered the Rectilux. I was in the line for the first patch. Well when got it there were some quality check issues in first patch. So the focus wasn't as smooth as should and there was few screws missing... So I was a bit disapointed after the long wait and for the focus quality. So I returned it and bought FM Lens instead. 

But I ordered the FM Lens from one German guy who customs FM lenses.
anamorphic-germany.com
And here is the guys Vimeo profile: vimeo.com/user37855100

He makes possible to mount Kowa 8z inside the FM Lens, but I had to send it for him to but it insde. So it's Kowa lens only now. But I don't mind. He made it focus as close as possible (40cm), installed focus gears on it and made possible to mount very good quality ND fader infront of it.

SO the conclusion. Both have goods and bads. Rectilux is a tad sharper which I regret a bit. But FM Lens was so much betterly assembled straight from the box. Also mine focuses extra close now that I asked that option to be added.

Kowa 8z by itself is one of the best glass investments. Really like how it performs.