mercer

I had the G7 for a while and had a lot of fun with it. I really learned that I was horrible at color grading by owning that camera. Here’s a frame grab from one of my more successful jobs with the G7 and an old Cosmicar 25mm c-mount lens...

But have they? It seems that only 18 months after release, a lot of GH5 users are abandoning the camera for other brands. At $2000, it was very expensive for a m4/3 camera, no matter how much they gave you. And I still don’t really know if they have made any profit from the GH5? Instead, I see a FF Panasonic as a, me too, attempt to get into an increasingly competitive market and if the rumors are correct, it won’t be a cheap cover charge. And then this jump to higher MPs which I assume is for their silly desire to bring 8K video to market. A 12mp a7siii killer with IBIS and lowlight video would have been a way better foray into FF in my opinion. As the rumors suggest, no IBIS, no PDAF, no retro fitted FF lenses (well maybe some Leica if they use that mount) and no existing Professional photographer user base and I just don’t understand what a high MP FF camera from Panasonic is supposed to accomplish. Now if it has internal Raw, it will have my attention. At $3000+ it may just be a double take though.

Being a cabinet maker by trade, I can tell you first hand that that statement is not entirely true. A craftsman will make any tool work. Sure better tools are always helpful, but a master at his craft will improvise and make any tool work. I often reference Kendy Ty and what he did with a t2i and the OG Sigma 30mm lens. It was truly astonishing work and holds up today. I actually prefer the look of his t2i films over his a6300 films. Technically, the a6300 image is better but there is something missing. I often muse about getting a second camera and I instantaneously gravitate toward a GH5 or a Fuji or even a C100 or FS5 because they give me something I don’t have with my 5D3, but deep down, I really just want one of the cheapest cameras I can find. Something that will require me to massage the image. In the end, that improvisation will make me a better craftsman... I think. A year or so ago, myself, @PannySVHS and @mat33 discussed a short film challenge involving 8bit 1080p cameras. As most challenges usually die, so did this, but I often think about going back to the idea of challenging myself with an entry level camera. The D3400 has a Flat Profile. The EOS-M has the ML bitrate hack, obviously the GH1/GH2 hacks. The E-M5ii has some of the best IBIS around with a nice Flat Profile and an all-i codec. Or maybe a GX85 hacked by @BTM_Pix for CineLikeD used in conjunction with @Sage ‘s brilliant emotive color could be equally appealing. Anyway, I appreciate the sentiment by the OP and as my end of summer GAS calls out to me, maybe I’ll once again explore one of these options instead of dropping thousands of dollars on a new system I don’t really need.

I wonder how many people will buy an UMP now along with the P4K? If I had that kind of money, I may consider it. Yup and that’s why I think it will be interesting in the BMVAs... C200, FS5, FS7. I’ve been watching some FS5 videos lately and I really like internal 10bit and the external ProRes Raw looks good as well, if a BMVA gets BRaw, the FS5 could be a better option than even a UMP with 14 stops and sLog3. Btw, when were you planning on comparing BRaw with Canon RawLite? I’m really looking forward to seeing that.

I was wondering the same thing. That would open it up to the C200 as well because it outputs a 2K 10bit Raw signal through its SDI.

I thought I read that it has the same sensor as the BMPC4K but I could be wrong. And I don’t know if it’s a fact that BRaw will end up in that camera. Someone on BMCuser said they “thought” or “learned” that BRaw was coming to the entire Mini line before it will be implanted in the P4K. But maybe it’s just the 4.6 line... IDK. The Micro is dropping in price on the used market as well, I’m almost tempted to buy one of those and hope BRaw gets in there. With the unique multi-use function of the Micro, for drones and crash cams, it may be something worth doing for BM... unless they are planning a M4K in the future.

It looks great! And maybe a little sharper? Do you use LUTS, I always really like your grades, muted earth tones, really organic look. Oh yeah, did you test BRaw with SD cards?

Just gorgeous! Such a fan of your work, ever since your ML Raw days. I’d love to know more about this. Which shots were which? I have a couple ideas but I’m not a hundred percent sure.

Hey, this is slightly off topic but I was curious of your input. With a lot of cameras being released with 10bit 4:22 coming to the market, the lines are blurred as to what is considered a professional cinema camera nowadays. I know you were a big Blackmagic fan but then went EVA1 instead of UMP, is there a reason why you decided to go that route?

Well, I think there is a notion that you have to shoot in 4K... look Netflix has a page that says it’s a requirement, I have a movie idea... 1+1= Netflix sale. So I think a lot of people feel their project can definitely get onto Netflix especially if they follow their guidelines. As a screenwriter first, do you know how many people who aren’t even creative at all pitch me movie ideas and tell me they are thinking about writing a screenplay? Point being, a lot of people think this stuff is easy and they just need a script or the right camera and BAM BOOM BANG... Hollywood deal.

@HockeyFan12 yes you are correct it is wrong to assume based on my budget and that’s why I was assuming based on his last 20 some odd posts. I was adding my experience with like minded people (if my assumption is correct) I think you may be assuming based on your experience working in LA on bigger productions but I can count on one hand how many forum members that may have access to that kind of “less than a million dollar per episode budget” so I am guessing he’s somewhere between our two worlds.

Haha, no I’m not waiting for that but I could see how you might think it by my post. My point was I don’t need 4K Raw right now. So even though 1080p Raw would be a crop of the sensor by nature, since I don’t need or want 4K Raw right now, then the inherent crop is a negative of the camera for me. Although I may be interested in 4K Raw with B-Raw... if implemented.

I would assume from the nature of his posts, he may have a project he’s working on that is a micro-budget or less and he wants to swing for the fences. I work with a small group of friends that are also filmmakers and at least one of those friends wants to follow the Netflix guidelines as close as possible even though we work with zero budgets... meaning filmmaking is not our full time jobs and we self fund our projects. I’ve decided to shoot with ML Raw and they are going 4K.

Well I think there is a notion that if you are planning a spec project that you’d like to eventually sell to Netflix, that you may have a leg up if you follow the guidelines that Netflix uses for their original content. With the GH5, and possibly the P4K, being readily available at near consumer prices, it isn’t necessarily a bad idea to use one of those cameras, but in the end, the quality of the spec film will trump the camera and codec it was shot with.

Yup. I’m still keeping the P4K as a possible option for me in the next 6 months or so. But I have no interest in being an early adopter. And I’m unsure if I am going to get one at all. As I’ve said, the 1080p Raw crop is really bugging me. So for me, I need to know how the footage looks when more units are in the wild, what growing pains the early units have, if B-Raw is going to be implemented, and finally ML’s progress with the 5D4. Needless to say, I don’t need a new camera right now and I am a few projects away (6 months to a year) before I would use the camera for a film. So hopefully all of my questions will be answered by then.

I would argue the issue is with the electronic/camera companies pushing tech that align with their television sales. Unless you are an SFX firm, I see absolutely no reason why any camera company would be pushing for 8K. I honestly don’t see why a television manufacturer would either.

Well I already have EF lenses. And when I wrote that, I thought the Ursa Mini 4K had an SD slot because supposedly they are getting the 4K 12:1 Raw to work with SD cards used with the BMPCC... which is huge for the P4K but the Mini 4K does not have an SD slot and instead uses CFast cards which are considerably cheaper than CFast2 cards... so that’s not horrible. But you are right, the prices could rise on the used market. There are also some theories that the processor in the Micro may be able to handle B-Raw... which would be great if implemented. According to members on bmcuser, B-Raw has improved FPN issues on the UMP, so it may help with the UM4K as well if implemented. Along with Gen 4 color they are also claiming a better noise floor and more organic noise overall.

I just read the entire thread on B-Raw on bmcuser. According to some of the posters over there, it should be in the P4K as Grant said they are working on it, but it seems it will be down the road... whatever that means. They also are under the impression that the entire Ursa Mini line will get it before the P4K. If the Mini 4K gets B-Raw, I may have to pull the trigger on a used one. I really like the image out of that camera without B-Raw, with it... it becomes one of the cheapest S35mm Raw cinema cameras on the market at $2000 used.

@Jonesy Jones don’t you have an Ursa? It does look really good, I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite, but it’s up there. The Alexa is still untouched in my opinion.

Well obviously I missed that part... ah doy

Crap, for some reason I thought that video was going to be Ursa footage. When I saw Fujifilm X at the end of the video, my jaw dropped.

@Sage can you post another link to the manual? I know it is somewhere in this thread but I can’t read through the entire thing again and I don’t see it on your website. Kern’s are Swiss, but as a general rule anything over 25mm SHOULD cover the sensor. It gets a little more complicated when you try TV lenses, then you need to look for ones that are for 1” sensors. With the G7 and GX85 I was able to get full coverage with 12.5mm Fujinon and Canon 1” TV lenses but those cameras had a slight 4K crop.

They probably will but a little skepticism isn’t the worse thing in the world. I believe I am buying a camera based on the definitive given specs, if I get anything more out of it, then great, if not then I knew what I was buying... which was an issue with the Micro when it was released with the lack of global shutter that was promised at announcement.

And this is exactly what I find ridiculous about what the “dslr revolution” turned into. I am fairly certain that the owner of that rig could have just gone out and bought an FS5, an Ursa Pro, an EVA1 or a C200 and saved some money and pride. When I had the Micro, I hated myself for rigging it up this much...

Nah, what they may have done is forced Apple to go a step further with ProRes Raw but I doubt Apple will abandon one of their products because a small company in Australia made a competing product.