Don Kotlos

9 hours ago, Savannah Miller said:

From what I understand there are some problems with it.  Firstly, I believe it's 12-bit linearly encoded which is awful.  12-bit linear encoding is what the original REDONE caputured.  Log encoded raw or 16-bit linear is much better for preserving color information.  Secondly, a lot of color science stuff is contained within the CinemaDNG format which likely doesn't translate over to ProRes raw.  

It has been reported that ProresRAW bitdepth depends on what the camera sends. So for example it can be 12bit like with the FS5 or 14bit like the Varicam. While the linear 12bit signal is limited to 12 stops of dynamic range, one 12bit ProResRaw example from the FS5 looks great:

It appears that ProresRAW is very efficient both in the data rates and the playback performance. I am sure Resolve will implement it at some point and when that happens we will probably see an update of all BM cameras to support it as well. 

As Atomos said, currently there are no HDMI RAW capable cameras and that is the reason it doesn't include it. The ninja V is capable of ProresRAW and once companies implement Raw through HDMI, then Atomos will add it. 

While getting a cinematic image requires a variety of things, getting the camera settings correct is an important aspect of it. 

RAW (or a proper highbitrate codec) just takes fighting with the camera out of the way, and thus it is easier to get a cinematic image for example with the pocket. 

Haha sorry I don't know why I had felt so strongly about that one. So the comment was mostly self-reflexive. 

And about the mount, I would actually love to see an F mount mirrorless. I still have a bunch of manual Nikon glass that would be tempting to mount on a new camera. But unfortunately companies usually go for the profit. And Nikon can just easily rehouse all their long (>50mm) lenses like Sigma did for the FE line. All the new rumors point to a new Z mount. 

Also I have started using the A7rIII & 35mmf/2.8 combo a lot and I can definitely see the potential of small wide angle lenses on FF. 

I don't know if you have seen some fuji/olympus inspired fake mockups of the new Nikon mirrorless, but I would love to have one of those. Nikon should just steal his designs  

5 minutes ago, mercer said:

If this is true, then it’s quite possible the entry level models may have this new X mount and the pro FF will retain the traditional F mount?

While F mount will be convenient for all the people that have Nikon lenses, and for Nikon to make sure there is a large selection of lenses already for their new camera, I find it unlikely for two reasons:

1. It unnecessarily increases the size of the camera. Both due to dead space in the camera and because it cannot reduce the size of the wideangle lenses.

2. Camera companies make a lot of money from lenses, so I doubt they will miss on a huge opportunity to sell a ton with a new mount.  

5 minutes ago, mercer said:

I was waiting for my GF yesterday and had a minute or two to look at the camera section at Target... it was bleak, but they did have a Nikon D3400 on display. I was surprised to see it has the Flat Profile. And the kit lens’ VR was rock steady, with a great little zoom ring... seemed sharp and clean too. At $300, not a bad little pocket camera. The damn thing was TINY too. So if their entry level mirrorless cameras can offer the Flat Profile, zebras, and focus peaking on an aps-c sensor... even at 1080p... they’ll have a little winner in my books. Hell, I may go out and buy a D3400 for some inconspicuous shooting... it looks like a lot of fun. 

More fun than a Canon 4000D  

Don't confuse criticism with dismissal. I haven't seen anyone here saying the BMPv2 is not great. Especially for the price. It is hard not to advise anyone to get this camera.

But it is not ridiculous to claim that for handheld vlogging there are better solutions. Making such a big deal about the front facing button while there is little to no AF or a front facing screen is effort misplaced in my opinion. Of course you can use it as vlogging camera. Zone focus, use a lens with OIS and you can get excellent color as well. 

It looks like A7sIII will have the color science of Venice:

I agree that button made little sense for that camera. They could have made it a function button which can be assigned to start recording among other things. Does anyone know if it is possible?

The BMMicroStudio unfortunately needs an external recorder. Of course if you can wait the new pocket would be your best choice. 

Yeah I think with stock footage you want to get the best possible quality since it will allow for much wider compatibility with other systems. 

If you go through the trouble of shooting stock footage then 10bit 4K 4:2:2 is a good start. GH4 is fine, but GH5 or even GH5s should give much better colors. Another possibility is the BM micro studio with an external recorder. 

8 hours ago, Axel said:

It indeed is. I call that crap. Can't work with this behavior all day. 

Well if you have to adjust exposure by more than 1 stop all day then something is really wrong with the footage 

Joking aside, I don't think anyone disagrees that at least as far as color grading goes Resolve is the best tool. But FCPX with their latest big update went from useless to workable. 

That video just shows the flexibility of RAW and how easy is to edit ProResRAW with a laptop. ProresHQ with about the same bitrate is going to be obsolete very soon. 

Pimping out your camera can help as well. You will also get footage with interesting looks as a bonus.

Anyone using the HLG should be aware that the Rec2020 is skewed the same way the sgamut2/3 are. So unless you intend to feed the footage into a HDR monitor that supports the rec2020 space, then a proper LUT has to be used, and at least I could not get the footage to look good straight out of the camera into a normal monitor. Even Scott from the videos above admits that shooting with HLG requires a good amount of grading.  

Unfortunately, if you are using any of the HLG you almost have to use the rec2020. I wish Sony would allow us to use the sgamut3.cine which is far easier to grade.

So again, unless people are using a HDR monitor I would advise them to use either the Cine profiles or slog2 with Pro/Cinema/Sgamut3.cine colors. Definitely avoid slog3, since it is the worse gamma for skin tones. 

An easy way to check for balanced colors in camera is to shift exposure from -3 to +3 and see how colors change. 

Yeah the dynamic range numbers are of little value. He measured the absolute dynamic range and since you divide by something extremely small, it is very sensitive to measurement error as well. Something like the Xyla 21 would be more useful. GH5s should be ~13stops with a usable dynamic range even less than that. 

5 hours ago, scotchtape said:

Come on guys at least be accurate with your info.  Older Nikon lenses have the apeture lever.  The recently (last year or so?) Introduced e-type lenses (still f-mount) have the aperture electronically controlled like everyone else now.

Anyways technology moves on. Compatibility would be nice but I'm sure plenty of people would buy into a new mount if the lenses were lighter and better with better af.  

The vast majority of Nikon lenses are non-E. So there is little point in making an adaptor just for the E version. I said that if they release a new mount, an adaptor would be expensive. If they do not release an adaptor then they are going to loose a lot of Nikon customers that would have to sell all their lenses making a potential switch to either Canon or Sony far easier. 

3 hours ago, Tone1k said:

Haha, they could do a revival and call themeselves US⚡BC

And their hit song would be Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunderbold 

54 minutes ago, Mokara said:

Really? That is a throwback to the 80s, lol.

I believe they developed this system for aperture control back in the 60s  

On the positive side, it allowed very easy & smooth control of the aperture with cheap adapters...  

Here is an illustration with some footage from FS5. It looks great. 

8 minutes ago, Mokara said:

Why would you need motors in the adapter when aperture is done by the lens in the first place? All it would be is a tube with pass through electrical connections to compensate for the loss of the mirror box, it would be very simple.

Because the Nikon lenses have a manual lever that controls the aperture. So the adaptor needs to move that lever. Here is a Vello adapter that does that and costs $400:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1349066-REG/vello_lae_se_nfv5_nikon_f_to_sony.html

17 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

But, seriously, USB C is not a pro connection, for anyone on the field it will be a gamble to use such a solution on a permanent basis, but I am sure some will, and they will be solutions to that as well, but unfortunately we can't test those, because we have no cameras on our hands!

Thats what I believe as well. It is a flimsy connection, with well used ports I have drives that you touch the cable and they loose connection. It should be fine on a tripod but unless someone makes a locking version for both the camera and the drive itself I would be willing to spend more money on cfast cards just to be on the safe side. 

That was impression as well but I think I was wrong.

DSLR sales for ILC are still higher than mirrorless. And most of them are for Canon/Nikon. Again there is a huge number of people, greater than the number of mirrorless ILC users, that haven't made the switch to mirrorless yet. And when Canon/Nikon produce a DSLR replacement that at least matches the 3 points that I made above, most of the DSLR users are most likely going to switch to them. They didn't need to innovate or be fast in order to get those sales. They just had to wait for the technologies such as very good EVF, PDAF, fast sensor readout be mature enough.

 At the same time they can still sell cameras like the D850 to the same people that next year will sell their new mirrorless body. While Sony has come long way and currently has a very good lineup, there is still great room for improvement even with the same technologies. For example a mirrorless version of D5/1DxmkII would instantly make the A9 look like a toy even if they don't add the 20fps with no rolling shutter. And I say that as a satisfied Sony user. 

I think "Guerrilla shooters" describes most people that are here and use cheap mirrorless and dslr cameras to create an image  

Canon/Nikon have a huge market share in digital cameras. They can take their time to release an actual DSLR replacement for all the Canon/Nikon DSLR diehards which is a huge crowd waiting to drop their money. 

As far as features, they need to at least match what their top DSLRs offer so 1.Great EVF 2.Fast PDAF 3.Very good handling/operational speed. If Nikon makes an adapter they will have to add electronic aperture control which means motors inside the adapter --> expensive. Of course if you have the glass then it will be worth it but I am guessing something ~$400-500.  

In any case, I doubt they will target the video market. 

As far as I understand the charging only works while the camera is off. If you want to power the camera while running you have to use a battery adapter. 

Thus the USB-C can easily be used just for saving. That being said, I find the USB-C connection at least as loose as the HDMI especially after some time of use. So I would try to make a locking solution for both the camera and the drive ends.