ESGI Media

These images prove a few things about the NX1 and many cameras in general and I'm super happy you shared these to help me prove something I tell colleagues all the time.
1.) The secret to getting NX1 footage to look warm and or filmic to is first turn the sharpness down in-camera to -10. Samsung purposely uses sharpening algorithms in many of their products because their user research tells them that most people are attracted to it. It's the same for their tendency for bold contrast and saturation. While this is good for large screen 4k TV screens, it will make your footage look like video or broadcast quality. Even with sharpness essentially turned off, the NX1/500 image still is one of the sharpest images known to the entire industry. I implore anyone to test this assertion out against any Arri or RED.
There are times I will even put a fast blur on my on my footage in Premiere at .25/.5 just to give it that "emulsive" look. Some people may find the sharpening in the NX1/500 a turn off, but personally I like having the latitude. You can always reduce sharpness but it's very difficult to add sharpness to blurred pixels.
2.) The art of lighting separates amateurs from professionals. The sets of images above demonstrate this beautifully. This aspect has very little to do with the camera, if at all. Lighting your scene should be part of the narrative. It should tell it's own story while being a part of the bigger picture. In the whole high ISO craze Sony introduced to the industry, I feel many cinematographers or videographers have gotten lazy or simply forgotten the art of lighting a scene. It's more than just about proper exposure. Darkness is as much a narrative as light.
3.) Composition and setting the scene. This not only includes principles like the rule of thirds, but also wardrobe and even actor's micro expressions. Even in these stills you still get a sense of the character's motivation and persona. Trust me, even the crappiest digital cameras today can technically produce a better IQ than film cameras of even the 80/90s, but that means nothing if there's no story and art direction. It's not really all about the camera. It's about the narrative and everything in concert that supports that, which the camera is only part of.
I also wanted to add that no general audience would view this film (or stills) and think it didn't come from a camera the size and cost of a two-story house. If the movie is successful, the only thing they'll being thinking about is the emotional impact the story had on them. Good film quality is exactly what you DON'T think about.

Ricardo is always posting such gorgeous framegrabs in this thread, so I wanted to give his settings a try for myself on my latest project... I'm really liking the way these are looking. (Graded with DeLuts and filmconvert) 

I am more of the "old school" type, so shooting everything in manual, but I did a performance a few days ago, and when I was in the other side of the venue for some handheld shots, I decided I wanted to do a wide shot, but my monopod/tripod were a few minutes away, so I tried a few shots with DIS+16-50S IS and I had 100% success.
It is the second time this year that I am using it with very good results. Of course it is not a very reliable way for continuous shooting, but for smaller things it can be valuable, I guess, that was the 4th or 5th time I ever used it!
Also NX AF seems more reliable in video than a6300, this is from gimbal experience this year also (I wasn't using AF before at all).

Obligatory NX1 owner post, I'll admit, but that doesn't make it less true:
I shoot weddings, corporate, music videos, and other random things as a Ronin operator. The AF capabilities of the NX1 in this application simply cannot be overstated. The only thing I could possibly say it is lacking is 4K 60p, but then, that's an unfair gripe considering that wasn't a spec even on the radar for mirrorless cameras at the time of the NX1's development. Sure, the Sony claim to fame is shooting in the black of midnight, but on most other fronts you have to work hard to get what I would consider a pleasing image.
Until these next-gen cameras can match or exceed the NX1's AF capabilities, I have zero reason to upgrade. 
There are specs that matter, and specs that don't. Sure, it can vary depending on the application, but there's no replacement for skill behind the lens. Some features just make the job easier, and unnervingly good AF for gimbal work is one of those features.
I'll have to try Canon's DPAF, see how it stacks up. But I have other misgivings about diving into Canon's ecosystem, nevermind if Samsung's is now DOA.

They are close for image quality, not much point pixel peeping them really... in some situations Sony wins and in some situations 1DX II. Obviously low light is a bit better on the A7S II and you don't have a 1.3x crop to contend with in 4K. The 1080p is far superior on the Sony by the way.
The bigger differences are ergonomics, body size, body cost, lens support, and especially autofocus (which absolutely sucks on the A7S II).
Maybe wait for the A7S Mark 3, it is probably not too far off.
Of course the 1D X II is an upgrade from the NX1 but in some ways a downgrade... no articulated screen or EVF, much heavier and bulkier, 5x more expensive.

Exactly, the value is so little, that it is not worth to buy anything else right now, while I have a 3 camera setup able to video most things, and take pictures of most things.
The C200 is on my radar for sure, but until I have a similar setup in Canon M (a professional M camera, and a smaller 4K everyday camera at least), then I am keeping NX. The cameras are making their money, and then some, so no reason to rush and get something inferior that I will change next year. There is no way 3 cameras and 8 lenses loosing 80% of their value in one year.
I am looking forward to move everything Canon, until then NX check most of my boxes while others do not.

Hi there,
The Video Metadata clip is regarding the extraction of ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed etc data from the internally recorded video. Although the NX1 doesn't export it with the video file (stupid) if you playback the file in camera and then take a JPEG frame grab (internally) if will pull some exif data with it, so you can remember what settings you used for the shot. 
Regards.

Everything I said is true and is backed up with hard evidence.  There's no magic here - just good optics.  Perhaps you might actually read the white paper I gave you a link to?
Eventually, conservative established lens makers in Japan and Germany will wake up and realize the true benefit of the Speed Booster approach for designing high-speed short BFL optics.  With any luck I'll be retiring on royalties when they do
There are numerous examples of Speed Booster/lens combinations that beat native lenses.  For instance, a Voigtlander 90mm/3.5 plus S.B. gives a 60mm f/2.5 that is better than the latest Olympus 60mm f/2.8 macro lens:  http://***URL removed***/forums/post/51895542 .  A Sigma 35/1.4 plus S.B. gives a 25/1.0 that is much better than a Voigtlander 25/0.95:  http://***URL removed***/forums/post/55298481 .  And these examples use the old version of the Speed Booster.  The new ones referred to in my white paper are even better.  Finally, I defy you to find any f/1.0 lens with better image quality than a Zeiss Otus combined with a Speed Booster Ultra.

Here's the actual section of the email, there are no secrets here so I see no reason why not.
Does the camera output clean video in 4:2:2 or 4:2:0? I've been seeing both quoted and just want to know for sure.
4:2:2 Also, when it converts the sensor feed into H265 internally, does it use 10bit or 8bit colour depth? I noticed the ProRes app converts it into ProRes 422 so just wanted to check. Judging by the smoothness of the colour gradients in the video clips Samsung uploaded it looks like it could be 10bit, please confirm?
It's 8bit when recording internally.  The image quality is much smoother and better because of the new codec (H.265). It has much better compression ratio than H.264. Will Samsung release a benchmark app to test how long the conversion time is? For example, the user selects a resolution/ frame rate and clip length and it can predict how long it will take?
It will take about 5 minutes  to convert for 1 minute clip. Rumour has it that the camera can output 7K video at 30fps or 1080p at 120fps (in theory). The UHS-2 card slot has enough bandwidth to send that footage to a card so between those two thing it could happen. Maybe. In a future software update? 
This is not have been confirmed and we can't comment on this.

Well, now that everyone bashed the NX1 for its codec, it is not for sale anymore...
It was really easy to see that it was only a matter of time to see premiere handeling H.265, but no, everyone turned down samsung offer without understanding its value, or even trying the NX1 (I am not talking about you Andrew, but much more about no brainers playing "I know it all" like its ever been through history of technical evolution). I hope next H.264 DSLRs will be understood for their real value thanks to this codec.
Anyway, lets hope that thanks to this native editing possibility blackmagic, nikon, canon, panasonic, red and more, much more companies, will handle this codec for what it was trully averagely made for, I mean 16 bits 422/444 and 120i/s in full 4k rec 2020 (at least 35% more color space than P3/dci).
It is indeed the real game changing fact about filming. This codec was made for a united new generation color space from shooting to viewing, processed to handle preview, color correction, theater/tv/Blu-ray UHD/internet from hd to 8k and more diffusion at the same time with more powerfull color we have ever used until now in digital cinema. So, no more upscalling down scalling, changing codec through the editing process to the final render for a bit of time... untill better capapbilities come to use...
At least, it could produce the cleanest 1080p high framerate 10bit 444 ever seen in rec2020 in low prices DSLRs !
Raw is still in DCi at max to this day, so try to imagine the use of new rec2020 processors in big cinema cameras. It gives you an idea why the whole cinema industry prices for sony FS,red and others put down their prices in 2015. New generation is on its way. 4k was a good thing, Rec2020 in 16bit will be amazing. 
Try not to destroy camera values by saying anymore that you prefer crappy H.264 possibilities over it.

I have an email from Samsung (NX1 engineers) saying it's 4:2:2. The email is dated 03/10/2014.

...Is available, if you have the camera you know how to get it.
1. Still Photo Enhancements:
Improvements to the overall Auto Focus:
Enhanced AF performance in low light condition
Enhanced AF performance in backlit and spot light
Enhanced AF performance in the corners when utilizing 16-50mm PZ lens
Enhanced Face Detection AF performance
Enhanced AF performance in movie mode
Added Zone AF mode
Increased the size of AF to 5 steps in AF  Area Size
Increased the Face Detection Area of the sensor
Includes 4 most popular Pro Suggest presets (Cinematic, Memories, Gorgeous night, and High Speed)
Added Selfie as Flipped  mode
The image is flipped to capture as in the preview.
Improved Selfie AF function in Timer mode.
Continuous AF is default in Selfie Timer.
Simplified EXIF data preview
2. Video Recording Enhancements:
Added Pro mode in movie quality and increased the bit rates for movie size and quality (up to 70Mbps)
Movie Recording Time changed to 25 minutes at FHD 60P/50P
Larger sensor read out data size with improved FHD quality up to 60P
Remains in Stand By mode after recording
1280x720 (120P) setting in the Movie Size Menu for easy access
Sound recording is available
Capture individual 4K frame forward & backward with precision
Embedded EXIF data in jpeg
Added NEW MF Responsiveness mode
(Capable of setting to Low, Medium, High focus angle in manual focus mode)
3. Overall fixed minor bugs
 
 
 

Samsung have set the bar high with the NX1 firmware updates. Makes everyone else look lazy and more than a little stupid.

​I think I've been able to replicate this. The video feed appears skittish, oscillating back and forth on a 45 deg(ish) angle around a central point. I know the NX1 has a dedicated splitter chip, maybe the freq of the vid output with the chip is doing something. The rest of the HUD is stable right?

Released another video all shot in slow motion at the same location as the previous video, actually I shot this at the same time, just didn't cut it together until now. Some tech info is available in the vid description, although it's all essentially the same as that bird tracking vid I did (I shot this material on the same day).
Kept the video to under 2:30, as birds aren't that interesting lol