Phil A

(That is the YT live stream, will be on 2nd of March) Color me curious. No idea what it might be. Maybe the 4.6k turret for the big Ursa finally ships? There was also just a rumor on 43rumors about a 4k BMPCC but I see that with a big grain of salt... don't want to get the hopes up and end heart broken http://www.43rumors.com/ft3-new-backmagic-mft-camera-rumors/ Never the less, I'm looking strongly forward what new stuff might come to Resolve!

It does. Shot from the same position on my desk at work with iPhone 6s: iOS camera app FilmicPro with stabilization FilmicPro without stabilization I'm planning to buy the newly announced Zhiyun Smooth Q for the gf, with the thought that probably I'll use it even more than her. Looking forward to using that with FilmicPro and then trying to match it to my big camera via FilmConvert.

Yes, I'm also more interested in scaling, motion, etc. As an example, playing the same video via my graphic card to the TV has a slight stutter, via I/O card out of DaVinci Resolve it runs fluid. Color is kinda subjective, everyone sees it slightly different and then add different tastes on top. I'm less sensitive to that but I'm currently really concerned about the bad scaling I mentioned in my post. What's the point of shooting 2160p for a pristine 1080p master to have it then scaled to death by a QHD display? Absolutely true. With the problem on top that you never know if the viewer's browser actually respects embedded color profiles or not. Attack of the OompaLoompa imminent.

If anyone cares (and can read german), the first part of the GH5 test report from Slashcam is online. https://www.slashcam.de/artikel/Praxistest/Panasonic-GH5--10-Bit-4K-V-Log-L-Workflow--180-fps-Zeitlupe--Focus-Transition-u-a---1-.html There's also a video in it where they graded V-Log.

@jonpais Totally have to agree with the importance of those investments. All the professionals know it but amateurs like to ignore it. Blowing 500€ on sound equipment is seen as kind of a waste (even though that's actually rather cheap entry level) despite the fact that it would improve their creation by a lot more than being able to shoot 120 instead of 96 fps. Same for light.

So I know that this thread was mainly a provocation based on the "how much better is the F35" discussion in another thread but I'd like to derail it to actually take up the original post's point. Everything looks amazing and/or shit at the same time. It is borderline impossible to judge color, resolution, etc and if you don't do broadcast/cinema, I start to wonder if there's any point to obsessing over image quality. Exhibit A to prove my point: I set up all my entertainment options together with my desktop system that I use for editing/grading/destroying footage and loaded up a video on Vimeo in 1080p at exactly the same point. It is the video "Portrait of Rome" by Of Two Lands which I think is a beautiful video, showing the quality of the BMPCC. Systems to play back were the following (to satisfy @sam): iPhone 6s iPad Pro 9.7" Lenovo Y700 with 15.6" IPS panel at 3840x2160 px via Nvidia GTX 960M Connected to my desktop computer via AMD Radeon R9 390: Dell U2711 with 27" IPS panel at 2560x1440 px, calibrated with Spyder Dell P2210 with 22" TFT panel at 1680x150 px, calibrated with Spyder (but useless as the panel is crap) Panasonic Viera TH-42PZ85E 42" plasma TV at 1920x1080px (that's normaly my preview monitor via BMD Intensity Pro 4k IO card) You can already see on the first view that color is different between all systems, so no matter how much effort you put into your color correction, it's completely random what your viewers will see. But what was also blatantly obvious in this quick and unscientific comparison, but not visible on the foto above, is that even the resolution and scaling of the 1080p video was all over the place. iPhone 6s -> probably streamed in 720p from the Vimeo app, but the screen is tiny so everything nice and sharp iPad -> looked good Lenovo laptop -> scaled great, which is no hard accomplishment from 1080p to 2160p, combined with the 15.6" screen size it was really sharp and nice Dell u2711 -> totally horrific. The video scaled in an ugly way, there was quite some pixelation. Total no go. Dell u2210 -> Doesn't scale really well but it's ok, as it downscales anyway. Can live with. Plasma TV -> I hear angels singing! Image is perfect, no scaling, everything smooth and soft. I'm not sure what I learn from this, as it kinda makes all my efforts to make my material look its best futile. My main screen is the U2711 and that one makes everything look bad, I feel like 1080p just doesn't scale well to QHD, considering that the material looked way sharper on the even bigger Plasma TV. It's somewhat better with really sharp & detailed 1080p material downscaled from UHD but still a big dip in quality. So how do you handle this? What are your thoughts about producing for the web with zero control what people will see?

Just earlier today I read a bit on Roger Deakins forum where people asked him about preferred lens choices. His answer was spherical lenses, as free from aberrations as possible (shall we say clinical?), shooting around f/8 in daylight. So you could shoot that kit zoom and even stop down. The problem is: most of those teaser videos (plus probably most things we here on this forum produce) have no set design and no sophisticated color grading fitting to the topic/mood and especially basically 0 content. This doesn't add any value to this discussion but lately I have a bit of a disinterest in the discussions here because, as people already mentioned here over the recent time, we will never be happy with the technology. But it's because we want to use superior technology to help with certain lack in our skills. 9 out of 10 people on this forum don't need any new gear but better cinematography / set design / production / post-production skills. I'm one of them. Shoot me.

@Axel Yes and no. It would of course make the monitor unnecessary for most applications. But then the monitor can use a sun shade (you will always struggle to see the camera screen in really sunny environments), has custom LUT preview, custom aspect ratio markers, false color, etc. so I would still find use for it. After all you can use the monitor also when on a shoulder rig or tripod, plus it has a full HD screen so it helps with manual focus. And yes, it's the SmallHD 501. Bought it when it was on sale for like 600$ at B&H.

No, the IR filter helps with the IR contamination (black turning red/brown) but for the moire you need the OLPF that Mattias mentioned. Seeing how the BMPCC has "only" exactly 1920x1080 pixel and a bayer-sensor should be downscaled slightly to get the real resolution, I'm just still on the fence. The BMCC is perfect in that regard due to the 2.5k sensor. The OLPF will further reduce the resolution a bit afaik, so you end up with something between 1080p and 720p in real image information... but then you have those amazing colors so who cares really?! I don't need slow motion (I always wanted it but I find no real use outside of tech demos and "food dropping into water" kind of gimmicks), I don't need 4k, I could live with speed-boosted ISO 800/1600. I think a problem is that the system just keeps to sum up. BMMCC (because I'd rather have the LP-E6 power solution and improved processing vs the BMPCC's screen) + SpeedBooster + OLPF is already over 2000€ (I'll ignore a field monitor because a lot of people probably have one already). You probably want one of those cute control grips people sell, there go another 200€. Add the cage to put everything together, another 100-200€. The system is not as cheap as it seems if you really want to use it as an A cam, so the BMMCC rigged out is actually more expensive than a F3 body used.That's why I'm one of the people who would love if the BMCC or BMPC4k would make a return in a better form factor (exchangeable batteries would have been a big win already). But yeah, I'm probably going to sell some stuff and buy one, even though I'm really spoiled by the Sony AF-C. But how many movies need wide aperture gimbal/steadicam shots?! Edit: on the other hand I'm having an eye on the GH5. Combined with Voigtländer MFT lenses it might have a nice image (compared to the clinical Panasonic zooms) and 10bit VLOG will maybe not be much worse than 10bit ProRes of the BMPCC (and clearly better than 8bit S-LOG3).

I guess I could go back to shooting medium format film then. I heard you save money buying used and not needing a speed booster

I ordered from toneart-shop here in Germany, it's the Sanho HyperThin HDMI cable. There's also websites selling them in the US (way cheaper there, 20 US$ vs 32€). One disadvantage I forgot to mention: when you use a HDMI cable in the A6300 you can't plug in the angled Crane control cable.

Because you don't want no blurry pictures shot with a shutter speed of 1/50?

The pocket breaks my heart. Ever since grading the raw files I want one (and get a meltdown grading my XAVC-S) and always eye the Micro Cinema. The colors are great and the image is so organic. But the moire and aliasing is just too risky for unrepeatable shots and the 2.77 crop factor is bad if you don't shell out big bucks to get a set of Zeiss s16 Super Speeds. There's the Speed Booster but there aren't really that many APS-C lenses that make sense to adapt and with full frame it gets huge. I'm consistently on the brink to get the BMMCC. There's a really big empty spot for that compact dream camera from BMD, the BMCC/BMPC4k should get updated as not everyone can do a big camera as the Ursa Mini.

If it's the same screen dimming as the A6300, it works okish on cloudy days but if it's sunny (imagine on a tropical beach, in the desert, etc.) it's invsible. You'll want to use the EVF then or a screen loupe. About the cage, just keep in mind that you will probably not be able to balance the camera with the native lenses (16-50mm kit, 35mm 1.8, etc) on a gimbal if you put it in a cage. At least I can't get the A6300 in SmallRig cage balanced on the Zhiyun Crane. By the way, the A6500 is supposed to show the overheating warning but not shut down like the A6300. That's how I use it, just waiting on my UltraThin HDMI cable at the moment: I have quick release plates on the camera and the crane so they can quickly go on my mini-tripod or tripod with fluid head. I also use some small quick releases specific for accessories so I can swap the arm with the monitor between the crane and my shoulder brace.

That doesn't work. One speed booster already uses the whole difference in flange to sensor distance of the mount, it's impossible to stack them.

@Kisaha It's not really aimed at enthusiasts I think, most would rather shoot with a compact camera (RX100, LX15, LX100, ...) on a slightly bigger gimbal. But I consider getting it for my girlfriend so she can have the best Instagram and Snapchat Stories out of her circle of friends. It's aparently going to be really, really cheap. Maybe I'd even borrow it once in a while in vacation. I wouldn't mind a Crane v2 with a slightly shorter handle if that is possible and one or two mounting points for accessories (field monitor, wireless receiver, etc.) and maybe a slightly bigger baseplate for easier balancing of systems with super light lenses but I'm actually really happy with the current one.

It's better than crane, less than 1000$... and will hold your smartphone

Just managed to bring myself to the point of considering to let go of my NX1, a lens and X100s to buy a used X-T2 because I still have the 23mm f/1.4 and I really like Fuji. Then for once I had an itch and decided to first check if the SmallHD field monitors work with the X-T2. Alas, just like the NX1 the X-T2 is also not supported by the SmallHD 500 & 700 series. I really wonder what magic sauce SmallHD uses that they struggle with a bunch of hybrid camers, seems like VideoDevices and Atomos don't have these problems.

Raw is probably easier for the camera than H.264 when it comes to heat. For raw the bottle neck is just how quick you can write it to the card, for compressed formats you need a processor that hardware decodes. I'm quite sure a faster memory interface uses less power (and therefore generates less heat) than the hardware decoder.

It's a question of perspectives. When I was into photography I wanted great AF (which is easier with fly-by-wire because it's not directly coupled) and how lenses manually focus was of no importance, when you do video it's kinda 50/50. The same thing with image. 90% of people who lust over camera gear want perfectly clinical, tack sharp, 0 distortion / flaring lenses, the amount of people who look for lenses with character is way, way smaller. Also I think people who are into videography have a higher tolerance towards weight, because if you shoot with a hybrid you usually rig it out or shoot from a monopod/tripod anyway. For photography, all you really need is a camera, lenses and MAYBE a tripod. With current DR on sensors, you don't even need graduated ND filters anymore for landscapes (I actually like to use them though).

Voigtländer has announced three lenses with Sony E mount at CP+. http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/cosina-voigtlander-announces-three-new-e-mount-lenses/ I think both the 40mm f/1.2 as well as the 60mm Macro sound very interesting.

I love Windows (used 3.1, 95, 98, NT, XP, Vista, 7 and 10; some better than others), build my own desktop systems, had a bunch of laptops. And my systems always run, they have no kinks, no hickups. My girlfriend is stuck knee deep in the Apple environment, every time I use her MacBook Pro I want to scream but she really doesn't enjoy my windows systems. I feel like Apple is getting a bit too deep into "form over function" territory and too expensive, but I think both products can be fitting. Kinda sad though how the professional line gets left behind. On the other hand when my gf's iPhone 6s Plus broke she used my old Samsung Note 3 and she felt it's a superior phone. At the same time I enjoy my company's iPhone 6s workphone more than my private Android since a while. You say tomato, I say tomato.

It's a physical restriction to some degree. The camera sensor with IBIS can only move by a very small margin in all directions without leaving the image circle projected by the lens (one reason why the bigger the sensor, the weaker the IBIS results). To overcome this issue you would need a small sensor (e.g. m4/3) and lenses with a relatively big image circle. A gimbal in contrast can go full potato with movements. Therefore I'm quite sure we will never reach the same possibilities with IBIS that a full external stabilizer gives. Using both together is pretty sweet though!

As a user of the a6300 I have to vote against that camera if you can't afford multiple. The image is great and the lackluster usability can be worked around but the overheating is real. Just had it again today shooting in a moderately warm kitchen. If you use an external field monitor, the camera doesn't go to sleep and will overheat before you manage to empty a single battery. I wish Sony would bring a professional APS-C camera but I don't think that will happen. Semi regretting getting native lenses right now after missing a shot today, wish I would have gone for the BMMCC (but then I'd probably regret moire right now).

BMCC or BMPC4k, depends.