mercer

You get what you pay for, luckily there are some great inexpensive options. I swear by Bower Variable ND filters. They’re very neutral and only affect sharpness a little bit. They have hard stops and they cost $30 or less. I also like B+W Vario ND. It also has hard stops, is very neutral, and has a great dust repellent coating on it. The one issue is that it only gives 6 stops of ND but that also forces me to stop down the lens a couple stops which usually results in sharper images and deeper colors. I recommend owning a good cheap one and a good higher priced one. I shoot a lot at the beach and I often use the Bower vnd because I know saltwater and sand could end up damaging the filter... that’s much better on a $30 vnd than a $150 one.

No point, really. Just curious. I use a little slow motion, mostly on close ups, so although 4K 60p is cool and definitely helpful, it’s not a dealbreaker for me. But as I’ve said a thousand times... everybody has different needs. On a different note, I recommend the Micro. It’s an awesome little camera and you seem to be a pretty good colorist, so you can probably make it sing. I’m hoping the FP comes in at a reasonable price but I think it will be too rich for my blood... for what it is. Once these cameras reach a certain price point, I often feel I’d be better off saving up for something in the mid-tier, specifically designed for cinema.

Just curious... do you use a lot of slow motion in your films?

Do you shoot narratives?

From their website, they have some kind of cinema profile. But with Raw, you don’t really need a log profile since it’s most likely uncompressed linear Raw. You can put it in a log space in post. Also the 8 bit is only for internal recording... 10 and 12 bit Raw records external to a SSD.

Unfortunately, they’re a crap shoot. The first 28mm 1.8 I had was in beautiful, new condition and the focus ring felt horrible. I eventually sold it and the next one I bought, was a little beat up but the focus ring was smooth as silk. That’s one of my favorite lenses of all time. The 50mm 1.4 I had was pretty good.

They’re nuts if they think will sell a lot of those at that price. I’m only half kidding about the Komodo at those prices.

Yikes... maybe I’ll just save up for a Komodo.

Did you laugh when you heard the price? I suppose there’s more to the L-Mount alliance than just sharing a lens mount. So I’m assuming it’s the same or pretty damn close to S1H prices.

Slightly OT, but how do you like the GH5s? The prices on used models are starting to get to a level that interests me and I have seen some really nice stuff shot with them. External recorders are a hassle but I have seen some ProRes 422 from the GH5s and a Ninja V that looks great. The weight of the image seems way better than the internal codec gives... although I like the internal MOV as well.

I assume you can’t really say but I also assume it’s a lot more expensive than we hoped?

Based on the cameras chosen... the C300ii and EVA1, it seems that a Raw export is required for the BRaw process to work... or it’s the simplest for now. I could be wrong, but I don’t foresee the major camera manufacturers giving too much access to BM, a competitor, so I assume BRaw, in these recorders, will be limited to cameras that already have a Raw export feature. The FP could be interesting since the CDNG files will be exported through USB-C to an SSD. But those recorders are so huge, it makes the design factor of the FP being the smallest FF camera, kinda pointless. I wonder if BM can transcode CDNG files into BRAW in a future Resolve update. It wouldn’t make production media storage smaller but for post and archiving it could help.

Exactly, so BRaw for the GH5 wouldn’t be as simple as BM making a profile, in fact it’s probably impossible unless they’re working on HDMI Raw signal as well. I wonder if BM has to work with the manufacturer to do this. Do they need approval or can they just make any camera that exports Raw compatible?

I assume any camera that’s compatible will have to output a Raw signal. I wonder if braw is only through SDI.

When it gets caught.

Yup, that’s my understanding. Now I do not have a C200, so that information is second hand. But I’m sure it’s in the manual as a footnote.

Just a heads up... it is my understanding that DPAF does not work through SDI to external recorder.

I always love your ambitious posts and plans, Kaylee! I wouldn’t even attempt something like this at my level but I always believe you’ll pull it off. Are you using your 5D3 for this or is it part of the iPhone project you’re working on?

AF seems like an odd feature on these higher end cameras (Canon and Sony) because who is buying a $15,000 cinema camera and putting a $400 lens on the end of it for AF? I guess speedboosters (is there one for FF E-mount) open up some medium format lens options but that’s a category that only a very few will get into. Interesting time for cameras though. I almost wonder if there is going to be a new market for sub-$3000 cinema cameras... not including Blackmagic.

True... that would require some creative art direction... “In a world where the colors yellow and blue do not exist...” ?

I’m waiting for Canon to give me a reason to shoot with their cinema line. Eventually, I’ll buy a C200 because a lot of the pitfalls of the camera will be irrelevant for me, especially once the price gets at/below the $3000 mark. However, their lower tiered cameras and the features they do, or do not offer, just doesn’t make sense. In fact, the specs are so odd, they almost seem arbitrary. I hope they do and deep discount the current models. The FS5ii with its Venice color and external Raw would be pretty damn tempting at $2999. That would allow them to price an FS5iii at $4999 and the new FX version at $6999, give or take. That’s a really good upgrade strategy. Probably not with the FX series since they’ll most likely be priced for different shooters but I’m sure the FX cameras will have something obvious that Canon should have included into a $16,000 camera.

@deezid Can you shoot with a warmer WB to compensate, or even tweak the WB Matrix like you can with Panasonic MFT cameras, then correct in post?

Well... the C500 is pretty well featured and pretty affordable for what you get. Look at any reality show or documentary show on Discovery channel and they’re all using a C300 Mark II. These two new Sony cameras will have the same price tag as the C500ii and C300ii or if they’re cheaper... it will be a minuscule difference. I wonder if they’re going forward with the FS line and will they discontinue the current models or price reduce them.

? I can’t wait to hear more. After spending a half hour on their website the other day, I was floored about this camera. I just hope the price isn’t what I suspect.

I’m definitely the odd man out here and I wouldn’t recommend my methods to many but I don’t do this for a living and I don’t presume to, so I can move at my own pace with the little equipment I need to tell the stories I want to. Want vs. Need has become an importantly simple concept in my decision making regarding filmmaking. When I stopped chasing equipment and put need in front of want, I found that my wants and needs are actually pretty similar. Eventually I’ll need to upgrade to 4K or 6K but until I can find a tool I am comfortable using, that helps me tell my stories, I am perfectly happy with what I have. To be honest, I never thought I’d ever get as good of images that I am getting. And... if 2K is good enough for the Alexa... then who am I... Are you looking at the S1H as well? I know this is a thread about Canon but man does Panasonic piss me off just as much sometimes. Every time they release a camera that I want, the price is just too high for me to justify for a hobby. And to keep this on topic... I don’t even care why Canon has omitted 24p... they did... so these cameras are now a non starter. Which is a shame because I have always loved Canon’s soft look.