Lintelfilm

Yeah I thought about that. I wanted to write something though - not just list gear. And most of the audience is completely in the dark about Panasonic as far as I can tell. 

How is it arbitrary and meaningless? It's for noob documentary makers who only have so much money. There are thousands of them based on the response to the article.

Yawn I already answered this. And you're not telling me how IT is percieved - you're telling me how YOU percieve it. Very different.

The brief wasn't to tell people about how cameras work. That stuff is already on the site. 

I suggest you come up with an alternative to my brief or stop talking.

I know!!!!

Am I to blame? Seriously? I know I could have just not "fed" them ... but they threw the first punch right? I just posted an article I wrote! I expected disagreement ... but character assassination? Why?

Ha ha.  

I suppose I should be flattered that people remember me.

What do you think araucaria? Do I deserve the aggression? I get that there's history here but we're all (mostly?) adults right? And it's just a freaking camera forum...

How should I have dealt with this? Or is the general message just "go away, whatever you're selling"? 

Again you failed to read what I said. I said she didn't want used equipment listed.

I talked about the GH4, NX1 etc. I don't remember praising them particularly. In fact I said 4K is unnecessary. I don't think it's misrepresentative to say those cameras broke Canon's near-monopolising of hybrid video though. They did. Outside of a few forums like this Canons are the go-to cameras for cheap large sensor video. How do you see the current camera landscape?

And enough with the crap about rules. I came here asking for your opinion. I'm not looking for validation. I know the package I put together is good. I just thought I might get some sensible suggestions of other packages that fit the brief from intelligent, mature people.

How embarrassing. As english is my native language I can (unfortuneately) sail through life completely ignorant that other languages even exist  

I just assumed it was Spanish because of the Venezuela thing ...

Look forward to seeing the subtitled version though. If you send me a link when it's done I'll try to include it in my next article on Desktop Docs: (matt at lintelfilm dot uk)

Wow this is amazing. You shot this? This is exactly the kind of thing I imagine it being used for. Wish I spoke Spanish

Do you mind if I post this in the comments of the article?

Interesting that you came up with such a similar kit. Some good ideas there too - the 17-50 Tamron is an amazing bargain (Mark 1 version only though!). I think that with a Chinese Speedbooster is a killer low budget set up.

I remember exactly why I left this forum now.

Are you serious? Are you trolling? Did you even read my OP? You've constructed a fantasy brief for my article.

I was asked to recommend a full documentary camera kit for $1000 for the site's audience (beginners). NONE of your unnecessarily aggressive post fits that. ML RAW isn't exactly documentary friendly is it? And it definitely isn't for beginners. The 5D MkIII with all the extras to make it work for video is waaay over $1000 even now. The 1DC? You have to be kidding me. 

I didn't base my article on that source and I was well aware of the shootout's limitations. In fact I even allude to this and use Upstream Colour as another example.

I didn't create any of the Amazon links - that was the site owner and she is the one who will benefit. She didn't want second hand items. I would have done that if it was on my site but reality is some people are not keen on buying used.

Where did I declare Canon dead? I said their DSLR line has made very few advancements since the 5DII which is true. I took the 1DC out of the equation because it's stupidly expensive and has all the same issues of their stills cameras. For the record, I'm a huge fan of their C100/C300 line, in spite of myself.

Get a grip.

Yeah that was the other one I had in mind but the lack of mic jack just made it a no go. Didn't know about the hotshoe but I'm not keen on proprietary connections at all. That's why I love Blackmagic and the MFT mount. 

But the G6 being "old hat" is kind of the point of the article (and this post). Does that matter? I'll happily watch Upstream Colour every year for the next ten years and I'm sure I won't once think "this film is a bit dated now because it was shot on a GH2." Same goes for Blue is the Warmest Colour and the C300. And it's not because I don't pay attention to cinematography and image quality. I just think that although I know the limitations of those cameras, I still really love the image they can produce ...

Thanks Mattias. I'm a total groupie of your youtube channel by the way.

Did you see I linked to your BMPCC/Zoom H1 video in the article? Without that setup you're restricted to cameras with headphone jacks for doc work (GH3 with RodeLink or VMP was my other idea).

I'm not here to win any fans if that's what you're asking. If you must know I was drawn back in by the V-Log saga. No ulterior motives other than wanting "peer review" on my article. In fact now I think about it the main reason I posted this was because I reference EOSHD and Mattias in the article.

Thanks for granting me a second chance and giving your blessing to my recommendations though. Whoever you are.

Yes the 5D MkII is an interesting alternative but wouldn't make sense in the context of the article. It and the A7 have pretty bad moire don't they? Remember this is a whole, cinematic kit you need to put together - you'd need to add at least a good mic to the RX10 MkII and I don't know if it has a headphone jack (if it doesn't you need to add an audio recorder too). Also the RX10 has a pretty small sensor - the article is about large sensor cameras.

I'm on the mailing list of a site called Desktop Documentaries and recently received an email recommending a documentary kit for $1000. Uh oh! It included a Canon T5i and an H4n as THE basics for a cheap large sensor video camera package.

So with as much tact as I could muster, I replied and informed the site owner I didn't think it was very fair to be recommending this particular set of items in 2015 to people who don't know any better (the site is mainly aimed at filmmaking begginers). I expected to receive either a dismissive reply or at best be ignored.

What actually happened was I got a reply from Faith (the site owner) offering to pay me to write a better-informed article! So I did.

Here's my article, in which I discuss the evolution of hybrid cameras (from the 5D MkII to the latest 4K models) and recommend my own gear package for $1000 (including all the very basics you'd need to shoot a documentary): http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/cinematic-documentary-gear-package.html

I'd love to hear what you guys think of the list I put together (and my article in general!) and what you might have done differently ...

PS: You can also see a few films I shot a while back with the camera in question here: http://lintelfilm.uk/blog/affordable-cinematic-video

Is it a line-out from the DR-60D or headphone out? If the Tascam's out signal is at maximum I would expect it to be peaking (or near peaking) on the DSLR even if the camera mic level is at minimum.

The ideal scenario is:

1: Set levels on the DR-60 so they are good (yes just below peaking or even a bit lower: between -6db and -12db is usually recommended and gives a margin of error).

2: Set levels on camera so they are at minimum possible without turning off the signal completely (usually penultimate notch).

3. Adjust the line-out signal on the DR60 until the levels look good on the camera.

If at step 3 the levels on the camera don't look high enough, you'll need to up the preamps on the camera (not ideal but not the end of the world if it's just a few notches). I would have thought the DR60 had a stronger output to be honest seeing as it's made for DSLR's. 

Anyway if you can do the above and test it thoroughly, theoretically you can leave your camera settings where they are permanently and use the main dials on the DR60 to adjust levels.

Hope this helps?

These look great. Are they triopd shots? What lens?

I think this is the key to using vlog successfully. Keep the shadows really dark, just don't clip them to black too severely. Then you get a nice contrasty image and the noise gets hidden, but there's a more organic, detailed and "sculpted" look to the shadows ...

PS: I'm guessing your surname isn't Chicago then?

There's some horrible banding/colour artefacts going on in that video (as with my graded image on previous page). I'm going to make an early call and say V-Log is a ProRes friendly profile that's a danger zone for internal shooting. 

1: V-Log straight from camera (800ISO; tungsten WB).

2: Panasonic's GH4-specific 709 LUT applied

3: Curves tweaked a little in Color Finale

I'm in the same place as Ebrahim - finding it very noisy but the sun was going down when I got a chance to shoot so light was poor and ISO was up at 800 (is 400 native?). However the Panasonic LUT is currently making my V-Log footage look way better than I am managing grading from scratch. Not surprising really ...

One thing we need to know is if the histogram is calibrated properly for V-Log. Otherwise it may be necessary to set zebras at about 70% (and stay away from the left as well?). edit: dr_john just said the same

Yuck I've just noticed the banding and colour artefacts on the wall in my final, graded image. They are there in the original video too. Guess it's time to start saving for a 10bit recorder!

Anyone want to buy a BMPCC so I can buy a BM Video Assist and get a high-dynamic-range, 10bit HD image out of my GH4. Wait a minute ...

This is really hilarious. What a blunderous end to the saga! I had to return to the forum just to express my amusement. 

I've written a quick, very basic set of instructions on how to enable V-Log on my own blog (before I saw the Reddit link).