mercer

Good to hear. I don't need huge prints, or anything, just have been enjoying photo essays on Flickr and I figured if I want to start with stills, that raw would be the way to go. Do you think the D5500 would be better for stills than the GX85? I don't necessarily need 4K video, but the ibis is a major selling point for stills and video, I'd imagine? I do really like the video image from both cameras... That D5500 flat profile is simply gorgeous and it has a mic input. Ugh too many decisions.
Thanks for the reply!!!

Since it is with a high profile musician, why not rent the C300 ii and buy the C100 mkii for B-roll or in case something happens with the C300. But I don't know if the rental cost and purchase cost exceeds your budget? If you can swing it, the C100 mkii, at the current price is just a money maker... Or maybe even an XC10. You can do a lot with that little guy.

In my opinion, stellar. Some will say EM5II is ever-so-slightly better, but that's 1080p.
You get 16MP. That's enough for some very large wall prints. How big do you need? A few years ago, I was using tricks like UniWB to get an accurate reading of a histogram so that I wouldn't blow out highlights- this camera doesn't need that trick. It's very much WYSIWYG from what you see on the screen. However, MFT sensors aren't really know for their DR abilities, but this one does a great job keeping highlights down and telling you the truth about when they go over. Having shot many cameras in RAW for the past 8 years, I've seen better pure performance, but they were more of a lottery when you got it on the computer. Finally, the GX80's JPEG's actually look remarkably similar in DR to the RAW's- and that's a good thing.

So, about 2 months ago I was ready to sell off a lot of my lenses and my few cameras and purchase this little guy. As I was patiently waiting for it to be released, my short screenplay turned out better than I expected and I happened upon some videos from the newly released BMMCC.
Since my script requires a fair amount of slow motion, I opted for the higher DR and 10bit color than higher resolution 4K and 5axis stabilization of the GX85...
Even with the learning curve, I am happy with my choice. But I have a few smaller projects that have a more run and gun nature and the BMMCC is a lot, but it isn't a run and gun camera.
I've also seen some amazing videos from you guys, with the GX85, with fantastic color, in some ways better than previous Panasonic cameras and in a lot of ways more Canon like. 
So while I was getting acclimated with the BMMCC, I have missed out on a lot of the discussion regarding this little beast...
Needless to say, I have a few questions that may be answered quicker than me reading 28 pages of forum discussion... If someone would be so kind?
1. How is the IBIS with non ois lenses?
2. When I had my G7, I occasionally used my Sigma 19 & 30mm 2.8 lenses. The AF button worked like a charm for quick set ups. From memory, the GX85 does not have a dedicated AF button, but can one be assigned to one of the FN buttons?
3. I have recently become interested in stills photography, but now lack a camera to shoot with, so is micro 4/3rds a viable stills camera as well... Specifically the GX85's raw capabilities?
So since this would truly be a hybrid camera for me, can you guys recommend it, or would something like a Nikon D5500, with its aps-c sensor and mic input be a better hybrid option?

I have a huge collection of short films from big Film Festivals, and most of them are Absolute Rubbish. I am guessing, it's more of creating hype and propaganda, and getting an agent, or becoming one, that gets you through. For most things. Also, while some films have excellent cinematography, or other technical bits, their stories and direction are good for toddlers, at best. 

Start systematically. Ensure the edit is good. Most often, faster cuts (and large angled camera shots, where faces aren't so visible for bad actors) can make an average film seem good. Also, ensure the sound is good. Check ADR as an option, and put in a good background score. Good coloring and grading are also necessary. 
Also, good posters, and working stills (along with a good trailer) would be a great idea.


Make a list of Film Festivals like this:
1. Ones closest to your house. Like within a radius you can travel to (like 100-500 kms) with your parents or friends. 
2. The ones that are Free. Or have very low entry fees. Sundance charges $40 for early bird entries for their Short Films. SOTC (short of the week) charges $29. The $11 isn't exactly huge, by any standard. And, many famous film festivals charges almost nothing, many even less than Sundance. Do your research. There must be atleast 30-50 like these. 
3. The ones, whose owners, producers you can meet and discuss, and get some mileage out of, for showing in their festivals.
4. Film Festivals where you can meet and intereact with people for showcasing of your film, and taking their feedback. Sundance seems like a great place for meeting people, learning from them, and maybe even collaborating with them.
5. Do a round of as many film festivals as you can. Give yourself a budget. Of like "$100-whatever" to do a round of all possible film festivals. Don't spend more than 50% of that cost for the big ones, because they may or may not take a film (read my first para above). There is no criteria for them selecting a film. 
6. Rejection means nothing. I am quite dismissive of many famous people. One should never discover how they made it big (as opposed to their version of the truth). Also, most people in the films festival circuit didn't either think much of Paranormal Activity or hadn't even heard of it. As a matter of fact, Sundance rejected it outright. So, like I said, rejection means nothing. 
7. Show the world your film. You job is not to sit in judgment of it. Let the others do that. Just push it down everyone's throat. Whether they want to, or not. That's your job. 

I hope this helps with the timelines, and the Fee/ No Fee option :

http://www.thetakes.com/festivals/#.V3zbhbh97IU

Well, talk about amateurish look and apect ratio. Film friends of mine and I did a 4 cams challenge, 2 DV camcorders and 2 HD hybrids in the mix, 4 to 3 ratio. Was fun to do without planning other than having four people going crazy on our actress and filming like little devils. Mixing SD and HD cams wasn´t exactely my idea, neither having four cameras, but I decided to agree on it and I´m happy we did it that way. So old school look is not only cool for the look but also for the way how to approach filming. Really loved the approch of our lowfi project. In the end I had 1hour of footage at my hands to sculpt what became 3min in the final result. Matching the cams and grading was fun too. The beautiful autumn day helped the colors quiet a bit.
 
 

Shooting in Super 8 and planning to project it in the 90s was about as useful as shooting with a Flip cam for a feature film today. But I do agree with you that these samples do not look exactly like Super 8 but they are reminiscent of it... Which is what I think was the point.
With that being said, your video samples look nice. I am amazed to see how clean Super 8 negative stocks are now. A few months back, a bunch of videos were posted that looked absolutely stunning. 
I also agree with this, but I will say the biggest culprit of the "looks" in this thread is the shallow depth of field, especially with the wide shots.
Super 8 had wide depth, so when the shallow depth of field reared it's head, it took me out of the small frame feel original Super 8 had. 
With that being said, I still think it's a very cool experiment. I wonder what an early HD cam could do... Maybe an HV20 windowboxed or using 4:3 guides... It may have a nice mix of definition and color that really could reproduce that Kodachrome feel.
Also, I think Frank Glencairn has a highly regarded Kodachrome LUT that may be neato to mess with. 

Look at the shorts that were accepted into past festival years, and then be honest with yourself. Some of the 1st tier festivals have shorts playing in them with a hundred thousand dollar budgets shot on Alexas. Now that doesn't mean your short wouldn't do well at such a festival, but if you look at the competition from previous years, you can sometimes gauge what type of material they're looking for. Or if you want a good gauge of your short, you can always enter it smaller international or foreign festivals as that usually has no affect on the US premiere that the majors are after. Or you could also show it here with a password protected link to get some opinions, then ask for PM critiques. 

IMO, that comment is what makes FCPX so damn special, especially if you ever used iMovie HD. To me it seems like they took the best parts of FCP7 and iMovie HD and created this amazing hybrid. It's not for everyone, but I can appreciate it. 

The C300 is 6lbs with everything- side grip, top handle, screen, cards, battery. The UM4.6K is 5lbs before adding a viewfinder, top handle, big ol' V-lock battery (and mounting plate!), or cards.
The C300 takes regular CF cards- much cheaper than CFast- and at 50mbps, versus even whatever the lightest ProRes the Mini will do (~200mbps?), they'll go a lot farther.
This isn't even getting into low-light, battery run-time, or reliability issues, where the Canons will easily trump the BlackMagic.
"Just turning an ND filter" sounds great until you need no ND at all, and can't stop your shot because you're filming something that won't wait for you.

I came up with a similar option...


I took a cheap half cage made for the pocket and attached it to the micro (they have the same height dimensions) and then attached a Slik quick release base to the top of the cage and the plate to the bottom of the monitor.
Then I used a manfrotto quick release plate on the bottom of the cage and attached the base to a cheap L-Bracket... This way I can go handheld or attach it to my manfrotto tripod.
It's still a little too clunky for my taste, so I may sell the Ikan 5" monitor and pick up the newly released 3.5" monitor.
I also need to figure out a way to attach a neck strap to it. 

I was looking at the price of the 4K... So good call. But the weight and cards aren't really an issue since he's considering a used C300. And I really don't see how turning some external ND filters could possibly be a deal breaker, but I do agree that the C100 mkii is the best choice.

I'm getting a 1DC AND a C100 mkii. Yay!!! Haha. Thanks guys for your help. I'm super pumped. 
I didn't know this about the c100 mk2. A much better camera than the c300 for sure. SDI is an important thing and honestly you forgot to mention three other things that I love about it:
1. the backlit LCD on the back that shows audio levels and all your important info. 
2. The control dials that are everyone on it. 
3. The headphone control on the side of the body (although I may map the two function buttons on the c100 m2 to be that.)
I think by having both the c100 m2 and a 1dc I'll have everything I need for the next year at least. 1dc for gimbal work and 4K for narrative content. C100 m2 for doc stuff and interviews where we need internal audio. Plus 1dc for Timelapse and professional stills! 

Lots of great advice here!
I'm very curious about your film festival. Do you accept music videos? I have a project very close to my heart. It's a music video that is a dedication to my wife Kari whom passed away from Cystic Fibrosis. It's in honor of her and for CF awareness. I'm trying to get it out to festivals and different places around the globe to get as much outreach and awareness for the disease. 
The artist of the song wrote my wife's and my favorite song and we became good friends over the years. We collaborated on this special project for her.
Let me know if it sounds like something your festival might be interested in. 
Best wishes,
Bradley

The A7r 2 is also for my photo work. Wanted that full frame for that, video I can deal with crop.
But mainly I can no longer accept doing run and gun work without an EVF, external moniters and eye cups just give me trouble. 

A little update. Drilled more holes in metal plank to add more space between camera and grip. Add grip and shoulder mount from vintage 8 mm camera "Krasnogorsk". Seems its stronger, more compact and more ergonomic than modern China grip.
Next need to add external PWM Rec/Stop button somewhere.

It will be fine with two aperture rings.

BTW, I can't recommend the ND throttle enough. Aperture ring and built in ND Fader of high quality.

It's a script i actually believe in, AND i had the resources. it's turning out better than i expected. My restrictions led to some creativity in the look. Anyway, I'm taking it really seriously and wondered what to do with it. Been doing my own research, of course, and had some thoughts, but thought I'd look for advice here too
A lot of festivals now let you enter while your film is also released online, which is very cool. I figured i may put it on vimeo, send it to some groups on there, "shout" it to some channels like "short of the week", just hope to get some views. Maybe enter it in a couple of the big festivals just in case (not risking too much) and some just close to me that are somewhat cool. I wouldn't  be looking for like a film deal. The best thing i think would be connections with people near me on the same wavelength who i could maybe team up with. Should i not risk it being online because of the fine print of the little film festivals nearer to me? Is vimeo even a great place for it? I've  been doing a lot of browsing.. the staff picks are all the same, bigger and more symmetrical than my film will be, with less of a story
Any other filmmaker communities online to look at? Any hidden groups in vimeo to find cool stuff and might be a good place to share a film as well? Should i release it on vimeo on demand with a good thumbnail and promote the crap out of it, making up for the lack of connections with a couple of bucks? I figure even without connections, trying to cast anyone near me with a decent film on vimeo under my belt would be a good start
I don't know, i can only assume there's a lot i haven't considered. This is also very chickens before they hatch.. but if i ever finish anything, I'll want to have thought of this

Thanks. That's the best comment I've gotten on the film.

i just bought one few weeks ago ( c100 mk1 + DPAF) and i think it's a great value camera, definitely step above DSLR/mirrorless. DPAF especially a game changer for me. now VS the MK2, do you get a ton more no, but better ergonomics with c300 evf, full swivel screen, better codec options, 60fps, higher ISO range.. small improvements but that make it pretty much perfect..
with the previous pricing, C100 with DPAF was a better deal but now with less then a grand price difference, i'd maybe go with the mk2.. YMMV

Shot on A6000 with Sigma 19mm 2.8. All handheld.  Thanks for watching!

Oh, right, yeah my bad. I did think Mercer meant click stops. 

I believe the mark I. I think Parker thought you meant click stops.

Not really. It allows me to find focus of the actual shot, but because the evf image is so soft (and slightly distorted as well), my eye is always straining to comfortably focus on the image. 
This is is not an issue with my Olympus EM5II  
Hard to empathize, I know, unless you've got old person eyesight.  Which, btw, seems to happen within a few months.  Beginning of the year you have good vision, by the end of the year you need bi-focals.  

As far as synching goes, yes double sound is a major pain in the ass. FCPX does make it a helluva a lot simpler with it's automatic synch... Which is insanely accurate btw. Also I think Max developed a simple analog workaround that created a tapping noise, similar to a slate, minus the annoyance of a slate, when he pushed the record button on his Zoom. 
With the GX85, doesn't the focus peaking work with the evf? Shouldn't that make focusing easier on your eyes?