TheRenaissanceMan

They also don't know how to use the Xyla chart correctly. To properly utilize the chart, you adjust the exposure until the first chip is just barely clipping; then, you count each chip down to find your DR. But they consistently count from the third chip, leaving the exact starting point of each camera's DR up in the air.

Panasonic does usability and reliability better then any other hybrid. Most real shooters are willing to trade 2/3 of a stop for a tool that gets out of the way.

If I wake up every morning, go to set, and make a living doing it, that's enough for me.

I generally use my brain to make judgments, just like everyone else.

Also, keep in mind these are OoC JPEGs, not video frame grabs. Different sampling, processing, and compression applies.

Ironically, it takes powerful lights to create the contrast ratio necessary for a traditional "dark horror" look. Horror sets aren't dark at all to the naked eye.

I had a similar issue, and got a lot of help from this thread: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?323095-Sony-F3-Resurrection-The-New-Chapter

My results grading with this new workflow have been consistently natural and pleasing.

Keep in mind rolling shutter can be an issue even outside of action and handheld. If your vision for the film involves quick pans, complex camera moves, or any objects that might move quickly through frame (cars, trains, a running person, etc) it'll be a noticable problem. Imagine something like Boogie Nights or Shaun of the Dead with huge rolling shutter skew. It would ruin half the movie.

Overheating can be a real thorn too. When you need to wrap a location because they need you out at a certain time, but you can't get the shots you need because the camera has a flashing temperature warning, you might wish you'd forgone the better DR in favor of a camera that would run steadily through the day without hickups. Or when you're on your fifth take of a Ronin shot, everything's finally going perfect, and then your camera ruins the take? Your operator is going to be pissed, and rightly so.

You'd better have an AC on set with an organized charging station too, or batteries are going to be an issue. A6300 burns through them like a mother. You either buy 3-4 and keep them charging, or buy 8-10 and make damn sure they're 100% before you come to set. Even then, you should bring two wall chargers. 

To me, Panasonic is just less hassle. Plus cheaper, so you can spend more on lights, lenses, art, locations, crew, and talent. 

8 hours ago, cantsin said:

Yes, but not with a focal reducer.

With the BMPCC focal reducer, it's around 23mm, which would be reduced to ~14mm by the booster.

Regardless, the equivalent to Fincher's 27mm on your BMPCC is ~14mm. 

20 minutes ago, Geoff CB said:

Purchased a Rokinon 24mm Cine Prime...don't know if I'm keeping it, not very satisfied with the look and it looses a ton of micro-contrast below T.3. Wanted to build a low light kit to offset my voigtlanders, any other options anyone can recommend for lenses in the sun $1200 range?

Sets that are ~$1200, or just for the single wide angle?

Get some cheap redheads and buy/make some diffusion to go in front of them or bounce boards to fire them against. Otherwise, if you have the money to invest in something a little nicer, grab a used Source Four Par off eBay. Excellent build, beautiful light quality, and more output for the wattage than comparable tungsten fixtures.

If you're fine with 1080p and the SLR form factor, the D750 is an excellent hybrid.

It's since been mostly debunked. There's a slight benefit in grading latitude because of the extra data, but 4K does not replace high bit depth.

Fuji X-T2. The A6300/A6500 has so many compromises (RS, overheating, battery life) that the handling issues become distracting during shooting.

10 hours ago, Laurier said:

 

 

That camera is gigantic and heavy , you also need an external recorder, and pl glass only . 
Sure it as global shutter but no slow mo at all .

This camera is still overpriced as it s very hard to use if you don t have a full crew with you , they should go for 2k not 4/6k , I d rather for for a red one if I had to pick one of the two.

People have definitely found ways to mount other glass on it. Besides, there's plenty of affordable PL lenses these days. It can shoot 48fps iirc, which is half speed, and I've talked to people on DVX User who use the camera completely solo. The F35 gives you a much better image then the RED One--just not better specs. Hollywood films are still being shot on F35, not RED One.

Buy tungsten. 

Focus by wire, sadly. You'll have to go manual for proper focus pulling.

Instead of redheads/blondes, look at Source Four Pars. They can be had for $60-80 each, produce excellent light quality, and are extremely versatile. Used Mole fresnels are great too--an industry standard, and so easy to work with.

A lot of people will steer you toward LED, but the fact is that tungsten is cheaper, produces better light quality, and is generally more robust than its LED equivalents. Supplement a few larger lights with paper lanterns and clamp lights, and you should be set up for a wide variety of lighting situations/styles. 1-2 small LED panels can be nice for some run and gun or accents, but most production lighting kits are 90% tungsten.

EDIT: I broke down a lot of my favorite lighting gear in this topic a while back. Most of it is budget-oriented, as I'm writing from the perspective of a student filmmaker.

47 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

You could get TWO of *both* and still probably manage to squeak in under budget!

And spending less on your camera means a bigger budget for support, lenses, lights, etc.

You could always get an F3 and an A6500. It'll still cost you less than any of these other options.

I just ingest, edit, and grade directly in Resolve. No issues whatsoever.

6 hours ago, jonpais said:

I didn't buy the kit lens, but I have watched a ton of videos and read bunches of reviews, and I don't recall a single one mentioning a problem with it either. Glad to hear the lens is working for you now.

Most popular review of the X-T2's video functions. 12:42. And the manufacturer's website.

I guess I'm just confused. Do people not update their firmware when they buy new gear?

13 hours ago, Django said:

 

Indeed, and you'd think reviewers or even Fuji would mention this rather major issue with it's kit lens.. i didn't even know lenses had FW updates tbh.. speaking of which i found the following page rather cryptic (only a .DAT file and zero instructions?):

http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/firmware/lens/xf18-55mm/download.html

 

 

Both Fuji and a video review of the X-T2 mentioned it. Maybe a little more research might be in order?

It absolutely has a histogram. Not sure about zebras.

An example of clean, sharp, smooth footage with nice colors, and a test between the F3, C300, and Epic. Even with a generation newer sensor than the MX, you can see that the RED can't compete with the F3 for exposure latitude; in fact, the F3 is the only camera in the test that holds up at +3 overexposure. The Canon and Sony both do fairly well with underexposure, although the F3 comes out with a less noise and softness once corrected. The Epic, on the other hand, goes crazy with blue channel noise and loses color information very quickly.

The MX can't touch the F3's low light performance, and falls far short of its 13.5 stops of dynamic range. With an external recorder, you get 10-bit 4:2:2 ProRes, which is a robust codec that flows like butter in the edit. The Sony is also less power hungry, lighter, and much faster to operate. Sony even makes their own SxS -> SD card adapters, making media costs a non-issue.

For almost a third the price of an MX, the Sony would be my pick every time. Hands down.

EDIT: I almost forgot to mention: that Convergence video was the launch film for the F3, and came out before the camera got the S-LOG upgrade, meaning you'll get even more DR than what you see in the film. Pretty impressive!