Chrille

Yes, softer image = more filmic somehow.
 

So I've been using a bmpcc 4k for nearly 4 months now, and while I love the image from it, the braw codec, and the UI, it definitely has some limitations as a camera with a 5 year old sensor and lacks things I've missed from the GH5 and G9 like IBIS and the ergonomics (I'm not a fan of the P4K body/ergonomics). With the new S5 cameras being released, the used prices of the original have already gone down to tempting prices, so I've been thinking about getting the original S5 and using it with the BM Video Assist 12G. I figured that could be sort of the best of both worlds between mirrorless and cameras the p4k: ibis, braw, prores, bm touch screen UI, less processed/sharpened looking image, an XLR audio interface, options to use SSDs or SD cards, high quality monitor, false color. I was actually thinking maybe the Video Assist would be a worthy investment because I can always use it with different cameras if I decide to switch to something else later. It's almost like a cine cam brain but without being limited to one sensor or lens mount, you can basically use any camera (though not all offer raw, you could still record prores). It turns the S5 into a FF 6K braw cine camera/audio interface it ibis for around $2K. The only tradeoff is rigging and powering a separate device. I was hoping to hear of the user experience from anyone who has used this setup, or if there are caveats I'n not aware of, etc. 

I took this path more than a year ago for several reasons.
    1. BRAW. Using BMPCC 4K realized how good BRAW is  
            - various degree of compression and file size
            - ability to adjust white balance
            - great support in Davinci Resolve,
            - smooth playback, scrubbing and editing
One of the main reason I've choose Panasonic, instead of Sony or Canon was support of external BRAW recording. Only Panasonic and Nikon cameras had it. But Panasonic support is better as it gives you 6K and no line skipping, auto focus was not a problem for me because can use manual focus for 100% of what I shoot
The other reason was price. Even then Panasonic S5 almost new from the box but second hand costed me 1100 Euro. Cheaper than BMPCC 4K which new came at 1400 Euro. If we add speedbooster and monitor price is also pretty much comparable to Panasonic S5 + Video Assist
    2.     BMPCC 4K is great but it's difficult to shoot without external monitor. Maybe it's just me but without a good 1500+ nits monitor which sits at 45 to 90 degree to the top of the camera or camera + cage + top handle it was really difficult and painful to shoot. In general I find that the most convenient, practical and useful setup for professional or serious shoots is camera + cage + top handle + monitor. It adds weight which is good for stability and it makes shooting so much easier. If we add the monitor to BMPCC 4K, then in terms and weight and size Panasonic S5 + BM Video Assist, suddenly became almost identical to BMPCC + monitor and even more compact in terms of length. Panasonic S5 can be used on most gimbals, BMPCC 4K on just a few. If I stayed only with BMPCC 4K had to buy a new gimbal. Sometimes it is great to be able to shoot with one small camera and lens, similar to the reporter style of Henri Cartier-Bresson. But BMPCC 4K is not good at this. It lacks EVF and is too big in length. Panasonic S5 on the other hand is. For those shoots I can skip the recorder and use 10bit 4:2:2 internal codec which is also very good or simply put the recorder in a bag and have a small and tiny HDMI cable hanging on the side.
    3. BMPCC 4K sensor size. I used Metabones speedbooster x0.64 and in term of DOF and bokeh this camera and setup were great. However crop factor is kind of weird - 1.21, can't use my primes lens sets on their specific focal length. No big deal but still kind of problematic. With Panasonic S5 any vintage lens has exactly the same focal length / angle degree it was designed for.
Panasonic S5 + BM Video Assist 5'' 12G solves most of BMPCC 4K shortcomings like poor battery life, lack of EVF, IBIS and smaller sensor size. Plus it is a great photo camera on it's own. Plus it could be used without BM Video Assist 5'' and will still give great image quality.
Shortcomings of Panasonic S5 + Video Assist: Micro HDMI, always kind of problematic, needs special attention and mini cage with a clamp to hold it on place or micro HDMI to HDMI adapter clamped to a cage as well. You need a bigger bag in order to be able to put camera and recorder together as one piece but same is true for BMPCC 4K + monitor. You have to start / stop two different devices.
In general I find  S5 + BM Video Assist to be more convenient and enjoyable camera setup than BMPCC 4K + monitor + speedbooster. New S5 II solves the micro HDMI port problem and adds tracking auto focus. Can we call it cinema camera ? Yes, with BRAW it certainly is capable to deliver high picture quality.

Yes, softer image = more filmic somehow.
 

Thanks : ) also to you and everyone too!
- EAG

Merry Christmas to the whole EOSHD Forum crew!
i shot this little christmas film on the blackmagic pocket 6K pro with the Sigma 16-35 and the laowa probe. As it borrowed all the Lego models, the camera (thanks to Impossiple Filmproduction in Hamburg) the probe it was a whole lot of production time. Also it took quite long to set the whole thing up. Of course i wanted to tell little stories with the lego figures, but time became tooooo tight and it took me several attempts to find a lighting situation that would work. Of course the scene would have also been much greater if i had more of the practical lamps.I looked for small lights around the house and now there is a variety of lamps inside the houses.  You can fiddle around with the lighting for ages! i definitelely had the feeling i had to stop when i was just getting started. This might also be a fun thing to just shoot on an iphone.. Hopefully next year...
And of  course i would be happy if you would show the film to your children, share it and like and comment and follow my channel on youtube...
 
And to show the improvement i am also putting in the first LIL chilltrain Christmas movie from two years ago.
 

Merry Christmas to the whole EOSHD Forum crew!
i shot this little christmas film on the blackmagic pocket 6K pro with the Sigma 16-35 and the laowa probe. As it borrowed all the Lego models, the camera (thanks to Impossiple Filmproduction in Hamburg) the probe it was a whole lot of production time. Also it took quite long to set the whole thing up. Of course i wanted to tell little stories with the lego figures, but time became tooooo tight and it took me several attempts to find a lighting situation that would work. Of course the scene would have also been much greater if i had more of the practical lamps.I looked for small lights around the house and now there is a variety of lamps inside the houses.  You can fiddle around with the lighting for ages! i definitelely had the feeling i had to stop when i was just getting started. This might also be a fun thing to just shoot on an iphone.. Hopefully next year...
And of  course i would be happy if you would show the film to your children, share it and like and comment and follow my channel on youtube...
 
And to show the improvement i am also putting in the first LIL chilltrain Christmas movie from two years ago.
 

Merry Christmas to the whole EOSHD Forum crew!
i shot this little christmas film on the blackmagic pocket 6K pro with the Sigma 16-35 and the laowa probe. As it borrowed all the Lego models, the camera (thanks to Impossiple Filmproduction in Hamburg) the probe it was a whole lot of production time. Also it took quite long to set the whole thing up. Of course i wanted to tell little stories with the lego figures, but time became tooooo tight and it took me several attempts to find a lighting situation that would work. Of course the scene would have also been much greater if i had more of the practical lamps.I looked for small lights around the house and now there is a variety of lamps inside the houses.  You can fiddle around with the lighting for ages! i definitelely had the feeling i had to stop when i was just getting started. This might also be a fun thing to just shoot on an iphone.. Hopefully next year...
And of  course i would be happy if you would show the film to your children, share it and like and comment and follow my channel on youtube...
 
And to show the improvement i am also putting in the first LIL chilltrain Christmas movie from two years ago.
 

Merry Christmas to the whole EOSHD Forum crew!
i shot this little christmas film on the blackmagic pocket 6K pro with the Sigma 16-35 and the laowa probe. As it borrowed all the Lego models, the camera (thanks to Impossiple Filmproduction in Hamburg) the probe it was a whole lot of production time. Also it took quite long to set the whole thing up. Of course i wanted to tell little stories with the lego figures, but time became tooooo tight and it took me several attempts to find a lighting situation that would work. Of course the scene would have also been much greater if i had more of the practical lamps.I looked for small lights around the house and now there is a variety of lamps inside the houses.  You can fiddle around with the lighting for ages! i definitelely had the feeling i had to stop when i was just getting started. This might also be a fun thing to just shoot on an iphone.. Hopefully next year...
And of  course i would be happy if you would show the film to your children, share it and like and comment and follow my channel on youtube...
 
And to show the improvement i am also putting in the first LIL chilltrain Christmas movie from two years ago.
 

Merry Christmas to the whole EOSHD Forum crew!
i shot this little christmas film on the blackmagic pocket 6K pro with the Sigma 16-35 and the laowa probe. As it borrowed all the Lego models, the camera (thanks to Impossiple Filmproduction in Hamburg) the probe it was a whole lot of production time. Also it took quite long to set the whole thing up. Of course i wanted to tell little stories with the lego figures, but time became tooooo tight and it took me several attempts to find a lighting situation that would work. Of course the scene would have also been much greater if i had more of the practical lamps.I looked for small lights around the house and now there is a variety of lamps inside the houses.  You can fiddle around with the lighting for ages! i definitelely had the feeling i had to stop when i was just getting started. This might also be a fun thing to just shoot on an iphone.. Hopefully next year...
And of  course i would be happy if you would show the film to your children, share it and like and comment and follow my channel on youtube...
 
And to show the improvement i am also putting in the first LIL chilltrain Christmas movie from two years ago.
 

Merry Christmas to the whole EOSHD Forum crew!
i shot this little christmas film on the blackmagic pocket 6K pro with the Sigma 16-35 and the laowa probe. As it borrowed all the Lego models, the camera (thanks to Impossiple Filmproduction in Hamburg) the probe it was a whole lot of production time. Also it took quite long to set the whole thing up. Of course i wanted to tell little stories with the lego figures, but time became tooooo tight and it took me several attempts to find a lighting situation that would work. Of course the scene would have also been much greater if i had more of the practical lamps.I looked for small lights around the house and now there is a variety of lamps inside the houses.  You can fiddle around with the lighting for ages! i definitelely had the feeling i had to stop when i was just getting started. This might also be a fun thing to just shoot on an iphone.. Hopefully next year...
And of  course i would be happy if you would show the film to your children, share it and like and comment and follow my channel on youtube...
 
And to show the improvement i am also putting in the first LIL chilltrain Christmas movie from two years ago.
 

Merry Christmas to the whole EOSHD Forum crew!
i shot this little christmas film on the blackmagic pocket 6K pro with the Sigma 16-35 and the laowa probe. As it borrowed all the Lego models, the camera (thanks to Impossiple Filmproduction in Hamburg) the probe it was a whole lot of production time. Also it took quite long to set the whole thing up. Of course i wanted to tell little stories with the lego figures, but time became tooooo tight and it took me several attempts to find a lighting situation that would work. Of course the scene would have also been much greater if i had more of the practical lamps.I looked for small lights around the house and now there is a variety of lamps inside the houses.  You can fiddle around with the lighting for ages! i definitelely had the feeling i had to stop when i was just getting started. This might also be a fun thing to just shoot on an iphone.. Hopefully next year...
And of  course i would be happy if you would show the film to your children, share it and like and comment and follow my channel on youtube...
 
And to show the improvement i am also putting in the first LIL chilltrain Christmas movie from two years ago.
 

Merry Christmas to the whole EOSHD Forum crew!
i shot this little christmas film on the blackmagic pocket 6K pro with the Sigma 16-35 and the laowa probe. As it borrowed all the Lego models, the camera (thanks to Impossiple Filmproduction in Hamburg) the probe it was a whole lot of production time. Also it took quite long to set the whole thing up. Of course i wanted to tell little stories with the lego figures, but time became tooooo tight and it took me several attempts to find a lighting situation that would work. Of course the scene would have also been much greater if i had more of the practical lamps.I looked for small lights around the house and now there is a variety of lamps inside the houses.  You can fiddle around with the lighting for ages! i definitelely had the feeling i had to stop when i was just getting started. This might also be a fun thing to just shoot on an iphone.. Hopefully next year...
And of  course i would be happy if you would show the film to your children, share it and like and comment and follow my channel on youtube...
 
And to show the improvement i am also putting in the first LIL chilltrain Christmas movie from two years ago.
 

I recently completed a music / band performance video project where I was asked to shoot 3 videos in 2hrs without even seeing the venue. To make it even better, the audio was not pre-recorded so I had to record it live during the band performances. The venue was actually a junkyard with a rehearsal stage in one of the buildings, so definitely challenging all around. Below are the first two videos, I haven't released the 3rd video yet.
The stationary A camera was the Canon C70 shooting 12bit Cinema Raw LT at 30FPS with the Canon EF 24mm F2.8 lens because there was no room to get the camera further back from the stage (very small venue). The B-cam was the Canon R7 with the Canon EF 24-70 F2.8 lens and lens adapter; all shots with the R7 were handheld with IBIS enabled and digital IS disabled. The cover photos were taken with the Canon R7. Both cameras were set at ISO800, CLOG3 Cinema Gamut.
The audio was captured by the C70 using an Azden SGM-250MX shotgun mic. Everything was edited in post with DR and managed color. A light creative LUT was placed over the top at the end. The lighting was all over the place, I did not bring lighting because I thought we were shooting outdoors so I just had to make do with what the venue provided.
Fun fact; the venue was about 90F during the recording so blazing hot and we had to turn the fans off to capture the audio; definitely would not have trusted a camera that overheats for this shoot.
 
 
 
 

Well done! @Chrille
Edit, rhythm is on spot, fitting concept, to the point, just like the artist. Pleasure to watch and listen to.

Well done, this looks really good. Can you tell us about some of the technical details? What lenses at what focal lengths and apertures did you shoot, and what ISOs and compression settings did you use? Thanks.

I am really wondering why all these films showing the fuji have these muted colours. This  look was supercool when the XT4 arived but has been used extensicely by the instagram crowd. I would love to see an example of a classical high key shot such as the "classical family on the beach at full sunlight commercial look" . It's all about the skintones.
 

I am really wondering why all these films showing the fuji have these muted colours. This  look was supercool when the XT4 arived but has been used extensicely by the instagram crowd. I would love to see an example of a classical high key shot such as the "classical family on the beach at full sunlight commercial look" . It's all about the skintones.
 

Thanks, that's a great idea and might have even added to the summer feeling of the song - even though i was happy that i got some nice summer colours out of the fX3 - that would not have been possible with the a7iii i used before.

love it. wondering if dv cam look or at least 480p from a ccd would have worked as well. Content is queen n king in your video. Of course with DV or any old school camcorder format the highlights would have been really ugly but some HD scanlines in Post would work.:) Anyway, nicely shot and edited. Sommer, Sonne, Kaktus! 🙂

Check out this Music Video i shot on the FX3.
The Camera is a massive upgrade to the A7iii. In Postproduction it was pretty easy to improve the lighting due to the 10 bit and it was finally possible to shot nice summer wether with Sony. But then you upload it to Youtube and the compression messes it all up...
Check it out! Looking forward to your feedback!
Of course it would really help the artist if you would comment or like on youtube.
 
 

Check out this Music Video i shot on the FX3.
The Camera is a massive upgrade to the A7iii. In Postproduction it was pretty easy to improve the lighting due to the 10 bit and it was finally possible to shot nice summer wether with Sony. But then you upload it to Youtube and the compression messes it all up...
Check it out! Looking forward to your feedback!
Of course it would really help the artist if you would comment or like on youtube.