mercer

After purchasing a Sigma FP a few weeks ago, I realized that the SSD route is really the only viable option with the camera. Sadly. As cool as the camera is with its tiny size, I think most users would have preferred internal recording to a larger memory card solution. I know I would have. CFExpress or whatever the newfangled cards are, couldn't have added too much to the size of the camera. The internal 12bit CDNG 1080p isn't any better than the video quality from my 5D3 w/ ML Raw and I don't think the Dual ISO for the internal CDNG modes share the same 3200 ISO rating that makes the camera so appealing to me. That said, I do like the camera and the 4K image, so I've been testing a few SSDs and it seems that the popular Samsung T5 drive is either to0 difficult to get now, or is too expensive. According to the internet, the T7 doesn't seem to get along with the FP as well as the T5 does... which doesn't make much sense to me since it's a faster drive, but either way, that leaves only a few Sigma recommended options... the LaCie Rugged... and the Sandisk Extreme. The LaCie Rugged is an orange monstrosity that seems as big as the camera... so... NO. I've been using the Sandisk Extreme and it works pretty well so far, but it's a little bigger than I'd like... so I searched online for some smaller drives. I found a Kingston and an Adata. Since Kingston is a better known brand, I decided to give it a go... and... it worked really well. It was recording for over a minute during my tests without issue. So I decided to take it out for a test shoot... again no issues... I recorded a bunch of clips without any issues... even a few that went over the 1-2 minute mark. So I thought... SCORE! This thing is tiny in comparison to other drives and the cost is reasonable enough... but then at the end of this test shoot... it decided to hiccup. Every time I hit record, there was a lag and the recording would barely last 3-5 seconds... so not a win. I then plugged in Sandisk Extreme and no issue whatsoever. Again this is weird since the Kingston is "supposed" to far outpace the Sandisk Extreme... like double the speeds. Maybe it has to do with internal heat, or something, I don't know, either way it didn't work. I assume I'll just continue with the Sandisk Extreme SSDs and buy a couple more, but then I happened to notice a product called the Sandisk Pro Blade system. It seems marketed to video productions... they even use pictures of it being used with a BMPCC 6K Pro in their marketing. Now it isn't particularly small or cheap, but the mags are about the same price as the individual Sandisk Extreme drives and when shooting in more controlled environments, or when using a bigger rig, it seems very simple to just pop out a mag and replace it rather than unplugging the Extreme SSD, detaching it from the rig and then hooking up a new one... Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I was just wondering if anyone has any experience with this system?

I'm finding it's better to protect the highlights as much as possible with the FP, no matter the mode. But there is a lot of latitude which is making exposure a breeze. Between the center-weighted meter and the waveform, it seems near impossible not to get a workable shot. That said, I still want to test out the 8bit raw mode a bit more and the 1080p, especially in higher frame rates. I like how it has a 48p option. I had a look at the DPL products and they do look nice. I watch this guy named Justin Phillips on YouTube and he mentions them in one of his videos and it seems the drives get a little hot... have you noticed that with yours? I'm also looking at a couple other brand SSD's... Kingston and Adata both make very small, external SSD drives and Sabrent has a small one called the Rocket Nano which is self-contained. I'm gonna have a go at those and make sure I'm happy with the camera before I send off for the DPL caddy/drive... even though that's probably where I'll end up. I want to keep this thing as compact as possible.

I need to mess around with the 8bit, internal raw a little more. I tested it for a few minutes and it seems to take a big hit in the highlights, but since the footage seems to handle underexposure pretty well, I could try protecting the poop out of them. Thanks for the info regarding the DPL drives. I'll have to figure out my FB login and have a closer look.

Cool set up! How do you like the FD lenses with the FP? I like the smaller adapter. I'm probably going to buy an M-mount lens to keep the camera nice and small.

Yeah that's a bit pricey, but it's better than the equivalent cost of SD cards... obviously not to mention the bump in resolution you get using the drive. Can you purchase two enclosures and one rack? I doubt I'd ever need any more than 50 minutes of footage in one day, but I guess it doesn't hurt to have two set ups. I bought a SmallRig enclosure the other day but I haven't ordered the drive or the cold shoe attachment for it yet. One of each could probably do.

Smart, my natural inclination would have been to leave the grip on the camera and take off the drive. Your way is quicker. If you don't mind me asking... how much is that DPL Drive?

Nice! I'm using the same handle, but in black. That DPL rack is pretty sweet!

Today I decided to just rubber band the drive to the top of the camera... definitely not ideal but better than the L-Bracket I was using. I must admit... it's a damn nice image. I love shooting at dusk at 3200 ISO with a VND...

Although, I couldn't possibly portend to understand what is required of a wedding shooter, I don't think I could recommend the FP for such a task, unless you were doing smaller, movie trailer type of wedding videos. As I understand it, being a solo, hybrid shooter, your specific workflow requires a specific set of tools that you've worked out over many years, so nobody could probably tell you what's best for your specific circumstances. With that said, the FP is small enough that you could keep it stowed away in a small bag and pull it out when you have some extra minutes to shoot some candid footage of the bride and groom. I'm not familiar with the 24-105mm but I cannot imagine any bulky lens would be fun to shoot with the FP. I found even small lenses to be a bit front heavy... of course I'm using vintage lenses where the adapters are damn near the size of the lens. And with that said, I can't say for sure yet if I'm going to get along with the FP. On the positive side, the 4K 12bit raw is pretty nice, but I probably don't really need 4K raw and unless I can find a simple, ergonomic solution to the external SSD, I may find the camera too cumbersome to my sensibilities... even with its multitude of positives... But that 4K 12bit raw image is pretty damn nice... and it didn't cause my computer to implode.

In some ways it does, but like @BTM_Pix has said, it also feels like a true successor to the original Pocket camera as well, but yes I used a similar workflow in post as I use with the 5D, so there is definitely a familiarity. But I will say that the those extra bits of color info really helps the ML Raw image. It looks a bit thicker to me. Needless to say, I still have some tests to do.

After months... years of lusting over the Sigma FP, I finally found one at a price I felt comfortable with. Other than a few, short-lived, camera purchases, I haven't bought a camera, that I use regularly, in 5 and a half years... I still have a BMMCC, I bought nearly 3 years ago, sitting in a box on my shelf that I only used once to test the rig. The FP arrived a couple days after I purchased it (big hat-tip to Used Photo Pro) and although I knew the measurements and saw plenty of photos of the camera, I was still really surprised by how tiny it is. It really isn't much bigger than a deck of cards. but out of the box, it also isn't very ergonomic, so I picked up a grip for it, and it now feels like an extension of my hand. While I awaited its arrival, I researched lens adapter, SD cards and external drives and settled on a few that could arrive in time for the weekend. When Saturday came, I had two lens adapters (Minolta MD and Nikon F), an Angelbird 128gb card and a 1TB Sandisk Extreme SSD. I instantly chuckled at the sizes of the adapters and SSD compared to the camera and thought.... this is so dumb... why am I going to attach this huge SSD to this tiny camera ( FYI - the SSD is quite small actually but in comparison...) but I still packed it in my camera bag and found an extra L-bracket I had laying around so I could spit and glue something that resembled anything usable for my first, and possibly only, test of the FP... As some of you may know, I have been quite happy with my current camera and have felt a very little need, or want, to upgrade my camera. When Saturday rolled around, I had my camera packed, I asked some questions to a fellow EOSHD member, and I was ready to test this miniature cinema camera. It was a gorgeous day for mid-November, so me and a friend drove to a familiar spot down the shore to see what this little thing could do. Due to my distaste for external monitors, and tentacles of cords, my first intention was to shoot internally to the SD card, so I wanted to test the 8bit cDNG files, hoping they'd be good enough for B&W delivery or a quick downscale to 1080p. In fact, on my drive down, I convinced myself that I wasn't even going to test the external drive. Since we got off to a late start, we quickly hit the boardwalk for some quick tests. After formatting the card and turning on the camera, I was a little shocked to see that a 128gb card, that cost more in dollars than its GB storage, only provided 10 minutes of footage. Now I already knew this, but seeing the ticking clock made me really slow down and think about what I was going to shoot. My main camera has been a 5D Mark III with Magic Lantern Raw, so I'm used to a lot of storage, but CF cards cost a bit less and provide a bit more footage than what the Sigma FP was offering... Anyway, I walked around and took a handful of shots. With the camera strapped to my neck and Minolta 35mm 1.8 lens locked and loaded, I instantly enjoyed shooting with the FP. I had a few minutes to set the camera up the day before, so every function I needed was in a logical place for my brain and fingers... So... the FP is a lot of fun to shoot with. In fact, I am used to people looking at me, or stopping, when I shoot with my 5D, but the FP seemed impervious to the passersby as they went along their unseasonably warm, Saturday afternoon stroll down the busy boardwalk. After a half hour, or so, and a trip to the bathroom (I drink a lot of coffee) we headed back to the car to hit the next spot. When we arrived, I decided to change lenses before we headed down a coastal trail. After a few shots with the Nikkor 28mm f/2 lens in 4K 8bit, I decided to give the 1080p a test. Other than an occasional slow motion shot, I'm not too interested in the 1080p from the FP... I already have a perfectly capable full frame, 1080p raw camera... but I was here and the card's storage was getting smaller and smaller... so why not? When I switched to 1080p, I gave a sigh of relief when I saw that the available storage nearly tripled. So we continued down the trail and I took a few shots... One thing I noticed while shooting with the FP, at this point, was that although the LCD is sharp and bright, the footage didn't have any kind of discernible look. Perhaps it's the small size, or using the OFF picture profile for viewing, but with my 5D, you can really see the magic of the footage while shooting it. The Sigma did not have that. So the process didn't feel as fulfilling as it is when I shoot ML Raw with my 5D3. But I carried on... until we quickly realized that we were surrounded by mosquitoes. I don't know if we were near a nest, or what, but we were surrounded by a swarm of these buzzing, blood sucking monsters. Apparently, nature forgot to tell them that it's mid-November in the Mid-Atlantic. Needless to say, we retreated back to the car. There was still enough daylight to hit one more spot, so we drove a couple miles down the road to the next spot. As I was driving, I decided that I may as well test out the external drive and 12bit 4K raw. I was already here. So when we stopped, I quickly jury rigged the SSD to the L-Bracket with a zip tie and headed to the beach. With the sun in tis final descent, I decided to test out the Dual-ISO function of the FP... which is one of the reasons I've been so intrigued by the camera. I intend to shoot horror/thriller type of stuff, so the one downfall of my 5D is chroma noise in lowlight. I can push the camera to 1600 ISO, but it can get ugly very quick and you really need to push your blacks into oblivion to rid the footage of that the blocky, patch rainbow goo. With my jury rigged SSD and the Minolta lens back on the FP, I turned on the camera and was surprised to see that it automatically changed itself to 4K 12ibit via the SSD and I was really happy to see that I had near an hour of possible footage... way more minutes of footage than daylight to shoot. But that's okay, I had ISO on my side... TOO MUCH ISO... so I'm glad I tossed my VND into my pocket. After a few awkward screws, I was ready to see what 4K raw footage is... Well... other than the awkward rig... the IQ in the LCD looked instantly better... but what was more surprising was how clean an image can look at 3200 ISO... So as the sun set on the horizon, I hit record... over... and over again... Sorry for the long post... but fast forward a couple hours and I was home. My girlfriend was taking a nap, so I quietly grabbed my laptop and uploaded the footage... I won't bore you any further with my post details... hell... I'm still trying to figure them out, but I did manage to get a few shots in 4K raw that I didn't hate. Here are a few samples from my first outing with the FP... hopefully they don't suck too bad...

Some people use their digital camera to "scan" negatives. If you go on the Moment website, or their YouTube channel, there are some articles/videos that explain the process. I think you can even use your phone. Going with one camera and a few lenses is the smart thing to do, but I went through a vintage lens buying phase a few years back, so I had a few old lenses from most of the major manufacturers. I made a rule that I'd only buy a camera if I had a lens for it. Needless to say, I now have too many cameras and lenses.

@hansel thanks for the reply and the caffenol info. Eventually, I'll look into it more. I am still shooting some stills and I went a little crazy with cameras, but I never spent a lot on any one camera. So far my favorites are the Nikon FM, Minolta SRT 201 and XD11, and the Yashica FX-3 Super 2000... which is just a joy to shoot with. I also have a Canon Rebel G which is kinda neat, with super fast AF. And an Olympus OM2N which is a marvel of mechanics, and a half dozen other ones... but I'll probably end up keeping only a few of them. I was going to sell almost everything and buy an FM3A, but I haven't decided yet. I ended up shooting a dozen or so rolls before I sent any out to get processed/scanned. Here are a few of the ones that turned out okay...

I'm sure there has been. I don't do video for a living, so my upgrades in camera, lighting, audio and post happen at a snail's pace as needed per project. So, @TomTheDP is partially correct in that RAW and ProRes are a lot easier on my computer, with ProRes being a native file in FCPX making my post processing very simple but I'm also a one-man-band shooter, so having the leeway to correct my mistakes while worrying about a dozen other things on set offers a huge appeal as well. But in the end, raw and ProRes both have a thicker image to my eyes and the motion cadence seem more cinematic to me.

After shooting ML Raw for the past 5 years and ProRes on a BMMCC, I don't know if I can ever go back to a highly compressed h.26... codec. That said, I'm not immune to progress so I am tempted by the advancements in tech, particularly IBIS, DCI-4K>DCI-2K, AF, Dual ISO, etc... but at the end of the day, resolution, et al have little effect on story. So I find there is a real sweet spot for 1080p RAW/ProRes for data rates to final look. As much as I am intrigued by the FP Raw (even in 8bit for B&W), GH6 (ProRes), XH2s (ProRes), R3 (RAW)... unless I hit the lottery, I really don't see any NEED to upgrade for a couple more years. And with that said, I might buy an FP tomorrow. I know you haven't been a fan of BM as a company for a little while, but remember that the P4K shoots 2.8K in S16 mode. With the prices dropping on them, I will say I am tempted to trade in my M2K for a P4K for that mode alone.

This is kinda ridiculous... But I kinda, really want one.

And hopefully, by the Grace of God, or whatever you believe in, your sister will pull through. As they say... stranger things... Again, good luck!

I've learned over the past 10 years that with every passing, I've lost a part of myself, never to be the same. Some pass through your life, but still walk the earth... others pass on. Both are difficult but you learn something from the loss. It doesn't fill the void. Or dry the tears. But it comforts you. So take something from this loss. Don't let death, especially from fucking cancer, steal something from you... You'll be honoring your sister's life and her impact on yours. Good luck.

Thanks Panny! Owen, the audio editor, sound designer and actor is a very talented guy. He also does some voice over work and a lot of different voices.

Thanks Ty, I appreciate that! So... basically we had an hour to set up and an hour to shoot, but when I got there I realized the only place that could work, where we shot, had a house just behind the trees. Even though I was shooting day for night... I wasn't sure I could darken it enough, so we hung a sheet in the gap... In post, I really had to crush the blacks to make the sheet disappear. I brought a couple lights, knowing that if I lit his face enough, then I would have some leeway, but to the left of frame, there's a ballpark, so a lot of light was bleeding into the frame and overexposing the shot. I tried a couple different lenses, but nothing looked right, so I bumped up my ISO a touch and stopped down the lens a bit to counteract the background light while still having enough light on his face. This probably wasn't a great idea either because it made my depth of field too wide... if I had opened up the lens, I probably could have had the background disappear more... I also constructed a poor man's chiller box to keep the fog low to the ground, but the wind was whipping across the ball field and pushed the fog quickly out of frame. So we spent some time waiting on the fog machine or repositioning it to counteract the wind. And then the airplanes and landscapers showed up... Haha... In post, I really had to pull up the midtones and it made his skin, in the wide shots, a little flatter than I'd like. Luckily, we had enough with the atmospheric fog and there were enough clear dialogue takes to get an edit... but I had to use two different wide angle shots... which I don't love. But all in all... for about an hour of shooting, I think it turned out pretty cool! Sorry for the long reply.

The web promo went live so I'll post a link to it... Overall, I am proud of it, but I must say that everything that could go wrong... did. All in all, I am happy with it, but I wish I had more than an hour to shoot it and a day to edit it before I locked it and sent it to the sound editor.

I think you own every camera I love (5d3) or drool over (R5C & 1DC. If you get a Komodo and an FP, then I'll really be jealous. For now, I still love my 5D!

Thanks Emmanuel, click the image and you'll see a more accurate representation of the final image. It's for the 11th Hour Audio Challenge. It's a 30 day challenge to produce an audio drama in honor of World Audio Drama Day. It's run by a couple friends of mine and the actor came up with a cool concept, so we shot it very quickly last week. It was fun, I got to use a fog machine and shoot day for night. I keep saying the FP will be my next camera. How do you like it? I agree they're similar in some ways. But like BTM said, the FP could be the true successor of the OG Pocket.

I thought I'd resurrect this topic since I am still shooting on my trusty 5D3. Here's a frame from a web promo I shot last week...

The patent on the EF mount expired years ago and is probably the major reason why they changed to RF. I'm of the opinion that changing mounts was one of the biggest mistakes Canon has made. We got a smaller camera that have a tendency to overheat and bigger lenses. What's the point? I'm sure there are some fine RF lenses, but there are some fine EF lenses as well and some fine FD lenses. Canon always made great lenses. At the end, the heart of this issue is intellectual property. Canon spent years and millions of dollars in R&D developing the RF mount. Chinese companies shouldn't be allowed to come in and reverse engineer Canon's property without offering some type of royalty, especially since they're directly competing with their more modern features. We're not talking about all manual lenses, using century old lens designs that sell for under $100.