teddoman

I really like the D750, did a little review as well.

Hi all,
since a few months I'm using a Sony a6000 - and so far, I've been very happy with it. The stills are great – especially the RAW files - and the video is also quite good. However, I haven't found yet the best colour settings for video. FYI, I particularly like film-like colours, but not overdone. I also like Arri colours.
I suppose a lot of you are either using Canon RAW files, Blackmagic stuff or Sony S-Log, but I'm a beginner and not doing this for a professional purpose, and the photo IQ and portability were also important for me.
I would like to know what settings you are using, and if possible also what your thoughts are about other settings. Regarding the grading, I've a reasonable good screen (LG IPS), but it hasn't been calibrated yet.
- Picture profile: I figured out that the profiles with the most DR are the standard, neutral, portrait and night settings, dialed down to -3 of course. Portrait seems to change the colours more than the other profiles. Currently I use neutral -3 -1 -1 (like Philip Bloom...).
- Saturation setting: I use -1, I don't think it's useful to drop this to -3 as long as there's no colour clipping? Or are there colourspace issues?
- Sharpness setting: I use -1, and haven't yet used sharpening in post. I read some people use lower values, which results in some softness, which doesn't seem very correctable (without artifacts) in post.
- DR Optimizer: for low ISO's I set it to lv5 (maximum), but for the higher sensitivities I turn it off (or set it lower) due to noise in the shadows.
- White balance: I found that judging the WB with my eyes doesn't work at all as regularly the WB of my left eye differs from that of my right eye... I currently try to set the WB by pointing the camera at a white object and then setting the kelvin value in such a way the whites (real and LCD) do match. Is this a good way? I also read about using a diffusing filter and pointing the camera at the sun. Haven't used this method yet (don't have that filter), is it much better?
- There are also two other colour settings with coordinates, is it necessary to use them too? Haven't used them yet.
- There exists an app that gives more in-camera grading possibilities – and a flatter profile - called 'live grading app' . Anyone using it? Does anyone know whether it's possible to use the extra profiles together with another app, e.g. the timelapse app? Does someone also know whether the XAVC-S issue (http://***URL removed***/forums/thread/3906687#forum-post-56586577) has been fixed?
- Does sRGB or AdobeRGB make much difference, as the colours for video are maybe always REC-709 (or so...)? I don't have much understanding of colourspaces – just that not all colours are possible in certain spaces and that most non-pro displays are also rather limited in this regard.
 
Here are some before and after grading frames. Some feedback about the grading would be really apreciated.


 

 

 

 
All footage was shot with neutral -3 -1 -1, custom or auto WB, 25p XAVC-S and the two kit lenses. Sometimes I used my variable ND but in other cases I just dialed down the shutterspeed (I know this isn't cinematic). For the editing, I enabled the full luma range and I used bezier curves for the luma values and a slight technicolor effect to make the colours more vivid.
In the future I'll use some very old Nikkon S-mount rangefinder primes (50mm F2 and 35mm F3.5), but I have yet to make an adapter (I think I will 3D print them) as available ones are too expensive (60-250$ + taxes). If I succeed, the designs will be made open source. I'm also looking at Canon FD lenses. From what I've read, it seems that in the US these lenses are available in shops everywhere. This doesn't seem to be the case in Europe however. Anyone tips on where to get them, apart from ebay and the like?
 
Regards,
Arne
Note: I just noticed that when the images above are clicked to enlarge, the enlargment has slightly other colours than the in-text image (which looks identical to the one in my files). Maybe the problem is on my side, but could someone do a quick check?

Been to busy filming this past week, heres a few shots, this will probably be not the final grade, but its getting there.
 

Wide angles work very nice with large format causing less distortion. Worked great with the camera movement too. 
Natural light was captivating, one of the advantages of digital:
http://www.videomaker.com/videonews/2015/12/epic-western-the-revenant-shot-using-only-natural-light

I'd agree if you want a hybrid system like discussed in the other thread but if you want to use the body for video with adapted glass (or are cool with shooting stills with manual focus), I think the NX1 is a great thing. After all the BMPCC is really popular and that is even less "system" for 990€.

The combination of the 2.2 crop factor in 4k and the Nikon F mount makes for a really uninteresting camera in my opinion. It's like shooting a GH4 with adapted DSLR lenses but no option of a speedbooster. I see it as a pure spec sheet gimmick for marketing.
I went from "omg I need it!" to "why would anyone use that?" in the time between the anouncement and people posting the specs.

It will cost 2000$, this is not a camera for anyone on this forum.
Oh LOL LOL, the D5 crops to DX.
http://chsvll.nikon-image.com/products/slr/lineup/d5/pdf/d5.pdf

Maybe they do take after Samsung after all... D500... NX500...

More info is available in this PDF on Nikon's website: http://chsvimg.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/d500/common/pdf/technology-digest.pdf
Strangely enough, the D500 can record up to the full 29:29 in 4K mode, but on the D5 it's limited to just three minutes!
EDIT: On further inspection, it seems that the D500 does full-pixel readout from a 4K area in order to get the video. Definitely better than line-skipping, though it's going to leave the effective crop quite near the m4/3rds level.

The jerky motion could be caused by lens stabilization, especially since you say it's not dependent on shutter speed.
As for the sharpening, that is kinda the normal behaviour of simple spatial sharpening. If you take a blurry picture and apply x amount of sharpening, the effect seems to be small. Take a sharp picture and apply same sharpening and the effect seems very strong.
Therefore the jerky motion + sharpening will accentuate the jerkiness even more.

Another re-edit :

I realized, I stopped taking pictures almost completely, and instead use only framegrabs...The quality is simply outstanding, and quite honestly, the gap between photo and video has become so thin, its barely noticeable.

The first of several short films I shot on the NX1. Let me know what you think

An old favourite, also GH3:

Proof in the pudding that "specs" don't mean much. We've probably all seen it.. but this was shot on a GH3. 

Make sure "Framing Mode" (entry in menu) is off, it holds the brightness steady.

The smartphone idea might not work for me. Looking at mics on B&H's awesome website, I could see that the mid-range $60 lav mics require phantom power through the mic jack, and unlike the recorders, smartphones don't provide any phantom power through their mic jacks.  
I'm def learning that preamp is in the secret sauce. My Rode Videomic has zero preamp, and apparently part of the trick with AGC is to preamplify the signal so that the camera's AGC doesn't try to boost the signal because it'll also boost the noise...creating the low hiss I hear all the time despite turning on the high pass filter. Apparently this is the trick on the Rode Videopro microphone. It preamps the signal before it ever reaches the camera, which helps trick the in camera AGC into not trying to boost the sound. 
But that's really just a hack. Without being handicapped by a camera's AGC, a better strategy seems like a recorder with decent microphone + good preamp + manual gain control + lossless recording format. 
This review and this review were helpful because of the commentary on the quality of the preamps in various under $400 recorders. Now all I need to do is find the right microphone preamp recorder combo as my first upgrade from a Rode Videomic without dropping $3K on a Sound Devices 552   

It was also used on Kingsman: The Secret Service. But i don't think bmpcc is for weddings and doc space of the file and all but where it shines is controlled environment and DOP using lights and all a movie set
Here is one of my fev videos shot on bmpcc
And Short film
 

here's some screengrabs from a short film I'm making for Bernie Sanders using the A7S ii with leica 35mm lens in 4k mode. Click on them to see full-size.
Pro Gamut, sharpness at minus 5.  CINE4.  
in post color chart, then to 500t lut and also adding in an alexa rec709 lut from film convert and some film grain.
 
I'll make a lut to download if anyone is interested.
I feel that even at minus 5 sharpness it feels too sharp of a camera.  I'm really impressed by the quality and the stabilization on the sensor is great.  Walking with the camera, well it's not going to look smooth unless you use a steadicam or a gimbal.  Interested in the Nebula 4200 when it comes out.
Also now I have to do a test with the Sony F35, F3, and A7S ii and see which ones I'll sell onto ebay.  
 

4 hrs later...

But on a more serious note... indeed good job on listening to the feedback and make amends.

nor really,  I'm still shooting with mine:-)

The smartphone idea might not work for me. Looking at mics on B&H's awesome website, I could see that the mid-range $60 lav mics require phantom power through the mic jack, and unlike the recorders, smartphones don't provide any phantom power through their mic jacks.  
I'm def learning that preamp is in the secret sauce. My Rode Videomic has zero preamp, and apparently part of the trick with AGC is to preamplify the signal so that the camera's AGC doesn't try to boost the signal because it'll also boost the noise...creating the low hiss I hear all the time despite turning on the high pass filter. Apparently this is the trick on the Rode Videopro microphone. It preamps the signal before it ever reaches the camera, which helps trick the in camera AGC into not trying to boost the sound. 
But that's really just a hack. Without being handicapped by a camera's AGC, a better strategy seems like a recorder with decent microphone + good preamp + manual gain control + lossless recording format. 
This review and this review were helpful because of the commentary on the quality of the preamps in various under $400 recorders. Now all I need to do is find the right microphone preamp recorder combo as my first upgrade from a Rode Videomic without dropping $3K on a Sound Devices 552   

You should submit a takedown request under Youtube's More Actions, Report, and then Infringes My Rights. It will automatically disable the video anywhere it is embedded if your request is approved.

I'll let you know across the net couple weeks. Always loved Nikon's color, since the D7000. But my 7100 sensor gets noisier every shoot - ugly horizontal crap.
That's more like it:

For that kind of money they could have made it autofocus , those fancy guys.
Meanwhile in China. http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/this-is-the-new-zonlai-25mm-f1-8-e-mount-lens/

Just finished a re-edit of my first wedding the NX1 (fortunately, wedding season is over !), I didnt re-grade, just made it smaller. Hope you guys like it :
https://vimeo.com/148642940
C&C are always wellcome !