mercer

The problem I have always had with zooms is that I was either compromising the shot for the luxury of not moving my setup, or I kept moving to get the sweet spot (pop) of the specific focal length I was zoomed in/out to... so the old saying about primes... Zoom with your feet... was still necessary to hit the sweet spot. Of course, time was still saved because I didn't have to change lenses, but I also found that I was mostly using a small portion of the zoom range... usually between 40-65mm. At that point it's easier to split the difference and swap out the heavier zoom for a 50mm, and use my feet to zoom. But then I was losing IS, so I needed a monopod or I wasn't able to hit that lens' sweet spot, so I started going a little wider, but then I'm compromising my specific style for the mechanics of the shot... Point being... there are always compromises with run and gun.

I know you're in school, but is it your end goal to be a videographer or a filmmaker? Camera choice aside, if your end goal is to make films... either as a cinematographer or a director, or both, you may want to consider building a collection of manual focus/aperture lenses. The Nikon F mount is a great option with a long history of amazing lenses. I recommend trying to get the fastest lenses you can. They're a bit more money, but in the end, when you've decided you need them, you'll be happy you didn't waste any time with the slower lenses. To start out, the 28mm f/2 and 50mm f/2 are great lenses that can be found pretty cheap if you go with the non-ai or ai versions. If you decide not to stick with Nikon cameras, Nikkor lenses will adapt to any camera you may upgrade to. With that said, if you are considering filmmaking (narrative or other) you may want to look for an inexpensive camera that you can experiment with for short films, music videos, docs, etc... perhaps an OG BMPCC or even a P4K as it seems the prices for them are coming down on the used market. Good luck with your choice.

Just get an R7, if you're in the US, they're on sale now.

I've been running some tests over the past 6 months or so with different cameras and lenses trying to simplify my entire workflow and gear. Over the years, in search of the perfect camera/lens(es) combo(s) I've become a slave to the gear that collects dust in my closet. Anyway, I feel like I know which direction best suits me, but I figured I'd share some of my results. Here are a couple frames from the Sigma FP and Nikkor 24mm f/2 ai-s lens. I've never really been a huge fan of wide angle lenses but there is a good reason to have one in my kit. On other cameras, I have found the Nikon lens to be lacking and it's flaws show, but I could always recognize that there is something funky and great about the lens, especially wide open. It wasn't until I shot it with the FP that I saw its true potential... My color work probably needs some tweaks, as they look a little too contrasty for my normal tastes.

I just picked up an old Pentax DSLR for stills, film is just too expensive to keep shooting regularly. Hopefully, the magic of CCD will give me a little of that filmic image quality I fell in love with while shooting negatives. @Andrew Reidare you still planning on starting a photography sister site to eosHD?

Nice, those look good. Subtle. For some reason I was imagining more negative fill like some kind of film noir interview.

Hey sorry I just noticed this. I still have a few Minolta lenses. I can't use many with my 5D3, but there are a couple that can be easily modified. I believe the one you're referring to from the harbour is the 58mm 1.4. It's a great lens, especially what I paid for it. It's an older model so the coatings aren't as good as some of their MD lenses, but it has a specific look, like most Minolta lenses. I started shooting some film stills and got a great deal on an old XD11 that had a 35mm 1.8 attached to it. I recently used the lens with the Sigma FP and got some pretty good results. I think the older MC version may be a bit better but the MD versions are so tiny and light that they're hard to not like if you can find one for a good price. Another one I always liked, but don't own anymore was the 28mm f/2. I had the new MD version and it was excellent. I like a lot of the new MD version for their smaller size and more modern coatings. With that said, I have been building a set of Nikkors so my Minolta obsession has been put on hold. I also don't know how much longer I'll have a camera that can use my MDs. Here's a shot from the 35mm 1.8 MD on the FP...

Idk, as much as I like the idea of putting the camera facing portion in shadow, for a corporate interview, it may be a harder sell to clients?

I had heard it has a 1.5x crop mode but I'm just investigating it right now. As far as ProRes... sure LT would have been nice, but I'd probably end up shooting HQ anyway because why not? You'd still have to use a CF Express card probably, so I may as well get the most data possible at that point. It does C4K and 1080p, up to 60p, in ProRes... what other modes would you want it in? With the dropping price, I must say I am thinking about pulling the trigger on it.

Haha! Adding cinematic helped a little. It's a shame what YouTube has become and that Vimeo is barely even used any more.

Good to know, thanks. Yeah, I suppose. I've always liked the idea of good AF, but it has never been a make or break feature for me. And I think the videos that I'm missing, those filmmakers wouldn't care about AF either. This look wicked. Thanks for sharing!

Hey Kisaha, I've been shooting full frame ML Raw on a Canon 5D Mark iii for the past 6 years, or so. I've also had a Sigma FP for about 6 months. Yeah, this makes sense. Blackmagic offered a lot of features and a compelling image for the price.

After watching at @Andrew Reid's entertaining new YouTube video discussing m4/3, and more specifically, the GH6, I decided to look for some videos on YouTube and Vimeo. Strangely, I had a hard time finding many videos. I am mostly interested in the internal ProRes features of the camera, especially in 1080p and DCI-4K. 5.7K is not really something I would need right now. To my surprise, I had a real hard time finding many samples. The lion's share of the videos were ProRes Raw samples, which look very nice, it's just not what I find intriguing about the camera. I know times have changed and with that interests have as well, but when I saw a c-mount lens attached to Andrew's GH6, I was dying to see some footage of it. And I thought there would be a bunch of samples on YouTube of people experimenting with different optics on the most advanced m4/3 camera ever made... But nope. Obviously, a lot of videographers/filmmakers have moved on from m4/3 to the greener pastures of FF. Being a FF shooter, I understand the appeal, but I still find it sad. So that brings me back to the title of my post... what's the deal with the GH6? I heard there were some issues with pink streaking... has that been solved or has it been discovered why it happens? With all that said, are there any good or creative videos floating around? Have the Nick Driftwood's or anamorphic shooters moved on from GH cameras? I haven't owned a Panasonic camera in a while, but I really enjoyed the ones I have owned/used and I find it sad that the interest is waning. @Andrew Reid can you tell me your experience shooting c-mounts/s16 lenses with it? Do you have any samples you would share?

Interesting post. I really like the GX85 shots. It's a shame that Panasonic hasn't upgraded the GX85 and G85 with 10bit. But I think the biggest takeaway is that Canon sucks.

I'm still using my 5D Mark iii with ML Raw as my main camera for hobby narrative filmmaking. I recently bought a Sigma FP which I like okay enough. I also have a BMMCC all rigged out but I never use it. I think I'll sell it soon so I can hold onto the FP for a bit longer. I'm still unsure about the FP. I like it, but it doesn't feel like an extension of my arm like my 5D does. Here's a frame from the FP with the Nikkor 35mm 1.4 ai-s lens that I took recently while working on a short film... Otherwise, I have a few film cameras I enjoy walking around with when I'm out and about.

This was one of the films I watched right before I bought my 5D3! Great look!

I know a guy who has a film on Tubi and it cost him a few grand to make. I believe he has/had a distributor, so I don't know what kind of deal he has/had.

Regarding no budget features... I've heard of projects made for less than $10,000 that will get a streaming deal but I cannot imagine there is a lot of money to be made? What does the average filmmaker/producer make for getting a steaming deal with Tubi, etc...?

Honestly, I don't even know what we're talking about anymore. I am just a hobbyist who has been using a 5D Mark III with 1080p ML Raw for the past 5-6 years as I attempt to make a few short films in my spare time. I'm hardly chasing cameras. I picked up a Sigma FP a few months ago, on a whim, and I like it. It has a nice image, I can't say for sure that it's a better image than the 5D though. I assumed the 14bit color from the 5D may be evening out the playing field, but what do I know... as I said... I'm not a professional like you guys are. I've always been a writer first, so story is the most important thing to me, but I'm not delusional enough to think I am going to sell a screenplay or make a film that will have any impact on anything. I enjoy doing it, though and I suppose there are worse things I could spend my money on. Next year I may buy a camcorder, making movies was a lot more fun back when camcorders were the only option for zero budget filmmakers. I will end with this, though. Since we're all being so brutally honest... none of these cameras look that good. If you're shooting with a P4K and a Sigma zoom, or a 5D3 with ML Raw... they all look amateurish. So when you guys attack other people for their choices... remember your choices probably look questionable as well. Then again, I've never seen any of your work, so maybe you guy's are artistic geniuses, but how could anyone know... only a few people share any of their work on this forum and when they do, the posts about the next best camera gets way more attention... Good luck to you.

Yes, I believe uncompressed raw is true raw no matter how it gets down to the final resolution. Look at the difference between 1080p raw from the 5D3 and 1080p raw from the Sigma FP... there's no comparison. That said, I don't really care how it gets there, all I know is it is the purest image I have ever used... absolutely no noise reduction or sharpening added. You can change the WB from 2800 to 7500, in post, without any degradation whatsoever. It's as pure as it gets at this price point, especially considering it's full frame. With that said... since you have shown zero interest in the 5D3, then why do you care either? And finally... It's more raw than compressed BRaw.

1080p raw video with 12ish stops of DR is hardly an obsession in IQ. Isn't the goal to get more DR, more bitrate, more color information? I, believe, @TomTheDP 's point in this post is that a group of part time coders were able to unlock, and write, a fairly stable firmware which opened a zeitgeist of cinema settings and 14bit raw video on a prosumer camera, so surely official firmware from one of the manufacturers could easily match their efforts from 11 years ago 12bit video can display up to 68 billion shades of color, 14bit can display up to 4 trillion. Surely, those numbers will be closer when the image goes through the pipeline to an eventual rec709 delivery, but to say it will have zero effect on the final image just isn't true. If it doesn't matter to you... cool! It doesn't mean it isn't important to someone else. That said, I agree that story is king. But as you suggested, any aspect that supports the story and the director's vision is a worthy goal.

To be honest, probably 90-95% of the people on this forum should not shoot with the 5D3 and ML Raw. It obviously causes a strange behavior and response. There are so many other cameras out there that are probably more practical. For most people on the forum, I would suggest a camcorder. The experience will be much more enjoyable and the results will look beautiful on YouTube. You can even add a LUT and you'll have instant cinema. Turn the camera sideways, press record and you'll be the envy of TikTok.

I may have shared these frames before somewhere on the forum, but I'm in the middle of finishing this short film all shot with the 5D III, using a nightly build in 1080p and with a Canon FD 50mm 1.2 L lens I had modified by Simmod so it will work with EF mount...

The workflow is so simple now. MLV App is straightforward for correction and "CST" and you can export to ProRes so you can edit in any program you want. Or you can use MLVFs and open up the files right in Resolve as if they were any other video file from any other camera. Btw, I loved your B&W short film. I watched it on Christmas morning and it brought a smile to my face. I've been meaning to comment on it, but now I'm so far removed, I'd like to watch it again. The mouse was a whacko, cool idea that was done so well and made me think of the old Bass and Rankin Christmas cartoons.

Yeah, the 5D Mark III. Haha. I haven't checked the used prices, but I assume you can find one in great condition for around 1000 USD... maybe more, maybe less. I bought mine new, 5-6 years ago for around $2000. Now if you're referring to a new camera you can buy today that will look similar... I don't know. The Sigma FP has a nice image downscaled to 1080p and its full frame, but not 14bit. The R5 and R5C both have nice images, but I've never used them. I guess it depends on your needs.