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mercer

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Everything posted by mercer

  1. mercer

    Camcorders

    Yeah, it's definitely parfocal, so a crash zoom should work great. If you keep it at 5.6 and then attach a follow focus lever to the zoom ring, you can probably get some smooth zoom pulls. As far as IBIS, I have really shaky hands... I smoke too much and drink too much coffee, so my hands are all over the place and it was completely steady. I never used an Olympus, so I couldn't say for sure. One of the reasons why I wanted the XC10, is because I briefly had the Panny FZ300 and prior to the XC10, it was the funnest camera I ever owned, but unfortunately the IQ wasn't that great. Well that had the 5-Axis ibis in 1080p and the xc10 is just as good. I assume the 5-Axis in the fz300 1080p is the same as the 5-Axis in the GX85 4K, and from reading that thread, it seems they're comparable. I am going back out on Monday, so I will probably post some screen grabs or a small video by mid week.
  2. Very cool @PannySVHS I need to sit down and watch some tutorials, because every time I color I just go at it blind... Sometimes I think I literally have my eyes closed. Lol. i know what you mean about lenses. I've had a few mint lenses that I felt bad taking them out of their box. I've even bought duplicates sometimes. Yeah I noticed the FDs love greens. If you like cooler colors, you should give Minolta MCs a try. The 35mm f/1.8 is the most gorgeous lens I ever used. The bokeh is crazy creamy smooth. This was a couple years back with the 35mm 1.8 and maybe a couple shots with the 50mm 1.4 on my eos-m. The sound is horrible so don't leave the volume too high. BTW, you like that Hula Girl, don't you... What would Bobby say?
  3. mercer

    Camcorders

    Plus I must admit, I did miss the option for some shallow depth at 50mm, but I was able to go to the long end and get some. The bokeh is a little haphazard, yet creamy... Kinda strange but not bad.
  4. mercer

    Camcorders

    Build quality is superb. As Mattias has said a couple times, everything's in the menus but everything is right at your fingertips, so it's pretty simple. The twisting hand grip makes it really comfortable on the wrist, but my index finger naturally wants to sit right at the record button so I accidentally hit it a couple times. Am also not used to exposing c-log. I thought you were supposed to ETTR with c-log but with zebras set to 100, when I ETTRd I found it easily overexposed and I wasn't able to pull it back down in post. A few of the shots, I ettc and they looked great with a decent amount of latitude to open or close the image in post without any noise. The 1080p c-log is gorgeous, traditional canon colors with way more DR. The lens' sweet spot is around 5.6, like most lenses, and the aperture closes down to 3.7 by 35mm, at 50mm it's at f4. The built in ND is good but on a real sunny day you need a little more. I will probably look into getting one of them xume adapters so I can just put a fader nd on it quickly when necessary. The ibis is awesome. I was able to get in so many places and positions and it held tripod steady. With slight movements you can get some pans, tilts and if real careful you can walk a little but any type of normal stride and it becomes Jell-O shots... And not the good kind.
  5. mercer

    Camcorders

    Took her out this morning and the manual zoom is so nice, you don't really miss the power zoom. With a quick flick of the wrist, you can go from 24-70mm. The focus ring is better than I thought it would be after hearing all the horror stories about it. It's decent on the long end to get some shallow depth. Apparently, it also function in auto mode, where you slightly turn the focus ring and then it automatically finishes the rack for you. Haven't tested it yet but it looked great on the videos I've seen.
  6. Yeah that FD looks nice. If you ever come across one, pick up the Canon FD 35-70mm. I think it's a 3.5 constant aperture. Internal zoom mechanism. Little focus breathing. Beautiful little lens. I sold off most of my FD lenses, but I kept that one and the FL 35mm f/3.5... Another hidden gem with nice warmth. How did you do that hula hoop in the dark trick? So far, so good with the XC10. I took her out this morning for a spin. And I'll tell you what, it's nice to have the 4K, but the 1080p is so nice on this cam, am not sure how often I'll use the 4K.
  7. This looks great!!! I should take color finale lessons from you, because this is the look I have been trying to get and usually come up short. Do you uses LUTS, curves, vector?
  8. Hey Panny. Look at you surrounded by all the ladies. Good on you. I really liked the hula hoop girl colors. Those shots are pretty psychedelic, they remind me of some scary, trippy horror movie.
  9. Yeah, you ain't kidding. I added two ticks of the sharpen effect in FCPX to c-log and it was so sharp, I disabled it.
  10. Got my XC10 last night. Took it out this morning. Cool camera. I noticed in c-log, with zebras set at 100 and ettr, I wasn't able to pull back the highlights. It looked beautiful ettc. Just wondering if there are any c-log exposure tricks I'm unaware of?
  11. Yeah, that the new Adam Wingard film. Supposedly everybody knew he was making a found footage film but nobody knew it was the sequel to Blair Witch.
  12. mercer

    Camcorders

    Very good points and I totally agree with you. The images out of even entry level DSLRs offer the shallow depth of field that is associated with modern cinema. Of course, you can get a little bit of shallow depth with a small sensor camera, if you compose your shots accordingly... always keeping something in the foreground. But also lighting can be used to add that depth if needed. But, by no means am I advocating for people to sell their dslrs and cinema cams for camcorders, I am just excited... surprised to see how far they have come and with their current feature sets could be an amazing tool for the run and gun filmmaker that just wants to tell a story and is not a cinematographer.
  13. mercer

    Camcorders

    But for really young filmmakers just starting out in video and they want to make short films with their friends, it seems like a camcorder is a no brainer. Of course, people are making feature films with iPhones nowadays, and they're getting released in theaters, so a small sensor camcorder must be a step up from that. Btw, my XC10 finally showed up. I didn't have much tim to play with it, but I did go through the menus and fiddled with it a little... definitely the nicest camera I ever owned... well built and insanely ergonomic... the ibis is stellar... even on the long end.
  14. mercer

    Camcorders

    I only shoot narratives and the last thing I want is a fully rigged camera... but I'm obviously in the minority... but yeah I think you;re probably right. I just have a new feeling about a lot of this stuff... I just don't know how much some guy watching my short film on youtube will really care about depth of focus or shallow depth of field.
  15. Nice sentiment Helsinki, but iamoui was in the thick of it, following the entire thread, and commenting accordingly. I agree with you though, Ed_David is "fucking nuts" and I'd rather have him with me than against me. Him and his Hipster Mafia gets shit done. Btw, I coined the phrase Hipster Mafia and I think it would be a hilarious short for Ed to make deep in the bowels of Williamsburg. I only ask for a "story by" credit.
  16. mercer

    Camcorders

    I hear you, all this talk of camcorders makes me want the G40... of course i just watched a few videos from the AF100... so I kinda want one of them too... especially since they can be had for less than $800 used.
  17. The BMMCC never got the global shutter. It was canned last minute. Like I said, I love the picture quality, it's beautiful. It made me realize I don't really need 4K, it's just the form factor that I dislike. The camera is literally the size of a Rubik's Cube, but when you add a 5" monitor and cables and a small rig, it's basically the size of a prosumer camcorder without the ergonomics of one. I haven't sold it yet, my XC10 is supposed to arrive today, so I am waiting to see how I get along with it before I get rid of the BMMCC. Since the XC10 has a fixed lens, I may pick up a D5500 or the GX85 so I can use my lenses... Probably the GX85 since it will give me more lens option plus IBIS.
  18. mercer

    Camcorders

    Yeah, 1500 bucks is a great price... now I'm pissed I paid 2 grand... The 5-Axis is what sold me on it. Sure it's only 5-Axis in 1080p, but my time with the BMMCC has taught me that I don't know how much I really need 4K... but I didn't want to spend that kind of money without having it... so it's a win, win. I just look forward to attaching my Rode to the top and shooting hand held again.
  19. mercer

    Camcorders

    To me it almost seems like the XC10 is a bridge camera... but it's a bridge between a camcorder and a cinema camera. I think it is cool how far these camcorders have matured, especially since I haven't even looked at them for 5 years, but I am not really a buyer. If I could get an insane deal on the G40 refurbished or something, I might pick it up as a B-cam to my XC10, but let me see how I get along with that first. It was kinda hard pushing "purchase" on the XC10 due to my small but adored lens collection. I still have the BMMCC. but I am probably going to sell it and pick up a small mirrorless or dslr, just to get my lens fix. The BMMCC is an amazing cam, with an absolutely beautiful image, I just couldn't stand the form factor. If anybody reads this, I may be selling it soon if anyone is interested. Actually, Aaron I have a question for you... you had a c100, so I'm sure you're familiar with the profiles, I am working on a short that has a section that is supposed to be POV camcorder footage. I am planning on shooting the regular narrative in c-log, and then maybe using one of the other profiles for the "camcorder" look? I was going to use Wide DR, since I have noticed that a lot of found footage movies, that Hollywood makes, usually film it with a high end camera and then dumb down the image to give it a more camcorder look. Does that make sense to you, or should I keep it simple and shoot in standard or cinema eos, instead? This reminds me, last year I had to use some footage I shot 15 years ago on a little ZR60. It was so weird getting out the firewire and rewinding the tapes... I almost forgot how to work it... but I do remember how fun and simple it was to shoot with it. Throw her in Shutter Priority mode, +/- your exposure a few notches and hit record... hell even the audio I was getting back then with my cheap Azden microphone was better than I was getting when I got my t2i... Simpler days.
  20. mercer

    Camcorders

    Yeah, there's absolutely no reason why someone cannot make a good short film with that G40. Like I said, if it was a one inch sensor or $500 cheaper, I would probably pick it up. Talk about run & gun... even with a microphone, nobody would expect you to be anything but a tourist. I really liked everything about the camera ever since it came out, but it was way out of my price range last year. Over time, as more images emerged, I fell in love with the thing. Luckily I can afford it now, just when I need a simple run and gun cam.
  21. mercer

    Camcorders

    That's the camera I ultimately went with... am sitting here attempting to write while I wait for it to arrive. But I didn't mention that one because I think the XC10 has enough features to be considered high end prosumer/low end pro. Whereas these cams seem to be more high end consumer/low end prosumer. So, probably more in line with a young filmmaker who has no interest in lenses or tech and just wants to record an image with a tad bit more flexibility.
  22. mercer

    Camcorders

    To be fair, both Sony and Panasonic each have equivocally priced models that offer similar feature sets. The Sony CX900 has a larger 1" sensor and offers a lot of the same features as the Canon, minus the 5-Axis IBIS and instead has their optical steady shot function. The Panasonic model, the 991K comes in $400 cheaper, and has a smaller sensor but offers 4K resolution. All 3 have microphone and headphone inputs. I know this topic is probably not too interesting to the majority of readers, but I find it exciting and would have drooled over half these feature 10 or 15 years ago.
  23. There's a whole post about the eoshd community that was born from recent events that came to light, but I think it's these smaller gestures that show how cool this forum is.
  24. Sorry, I accidentally quoted one of your posts last week and when I returned to comment to a different post, the site wouldn't allow me to get rid of your quote... or I don't know how to do it.
  25. mercer

    Camcorders

    On my never-ending quest to find the right camera, for me, I came across some of the consumer/prosumer camcorders that have hit the market recently and i must say I am pretty impressed. For instance the Canon G40, although over priced at $1200, that line is well on its way to having a nice feature set. Even though it maxes out at 1080p, the G40 has full manual controls, with zebras, peaking and focus assist. It shoots in 24p and 60p. And has a fast 1.8 to 2.8 lens with a 35mm equivalent of 28mm on the wide end and 576mm on the long end when the 5-Axis IBIS is implemented... oh yeah and it has 5-Axis IBIS!!! They've also implemented the Wide DR profile commonly found in Canon's professional C series cameras... Plus Highlight Priority. Obviously, the small sensor is the major downside of this camcorder and makes the camera have zero interest to most readers and members of this forum. But it is pretty interesting to see high end features filter down the chain. It's also proof that Canon has little interest in too much intermingling between their video and camera divisions, since their consumer camcorders are getting high end picture profiles and IBIS before their Rebel line is. But if you're a beginning filmmaker with a story to tell, this camera could be perfect... HELL... if it had a 1" sensor, or was 5 or 600 dollars cheaper, I may have considered it... it seems like a great run & gun camera for people who are more interested in telling stories than the technical specifications used to tell those stories.
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