mkabi

5 minutes ago, Dustin said:

Yeah seems pretty fair. I’ll just have to decide if I want that 21mm or 50. I’ve just never shot a cinema prime before so I figured it would be a fun experience. 

Also, just know that its all Manual Focus & Manual Aperture Ring. I don't know if your d5300 has focus peaking, but you may have to punch in with the magifier (if you have that ability on the d5300).

Good luck.

25 minutes ago, Dustin said:

@mkabi your input is appreciated!! Well the lens I was looking at was native Nikon f mount so I should be good to go. Just wasn’t sure if that was a good deal or if there were other sites perhaps others have used with a better deal. Personally I thought that was a good price considering the actual cost of one. I might consider getting a 20mm if they have it, I do have a Nikon e series 28mm 2.8 that has a nice character to it.

Yeah, shop around. May be you will find a better price, I felt $134 is a standard price... I remember getting a Zeiss 6 prime set for about $800 (3 day rental) for a paid shoot.

10 minutes ago, Dustin said:

From time to time I like to rent different lenses for a weekend to try out for fun from my usual d5300/ tamron 17-50 2.8 setup. Again this is just for fun shoot not a paid project or anything. Last fall I gave the Nikon 85mm 1.8 a go and had a blast especially with photos. Now I’m thinking about renting a cinema prime but my question is which length should I give a go?

I’m thinking the Zeiss 35mm Cinema Prime would be a fun try. Comfortable length on my APSC  Nikon for casual shooting. Borrowlenses.com has a 3 day price at $134. Worth it?

Yeah thats a good price.

Couple of things, figure out what the Zeiss's native mount is.... I know most cinema lenses are PL, some EF.... but now you have to look into getting an adaptor (thats if you don't have one already). 

Given that you "had a blast" with the 85mm 1.8, thats a 135mm equivalent on a APS-C... and I can understand why you would like that lens, typical 85mm and/or 135mm are portrait lenses. As for 35mm... its really about taste here... we rarely find people that like the medium length, because it becomes a 50mm equivalent on a APS-C, and yeah everyone talks about the 50mm (because it becomes 85mm equivalent). There are a lot of people that love the wides, if you want true 35mm on APS-C, try the Zeiss 20mm if they have it. 

If this is about you trying to discover yourself and what you like.... then go for the 35mm.

*Eating pop-corn while scrolling back to where it all started*
 

JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!

11 minutes ago, Castorp said:

He doesn’t know anything about making photographs either. He knows gear and buying gear. I’d argue that you should be a good picture maker if you’re claiming authority on picture making tools. Otherwise you’re a technician. You understand mechanics but you don’t understand how design and making process should mesh together.

edit: Mattias beat me to it 

There is a lot of those types... And, I get it... I know Engineers (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, etc.) who take up photography as a 'hobby', but instead of practicing photography they practice comparing spec sheets. Zooming in to pixel peep and complaining about DR... isn't really an art form (but thats just my opinion).

2 hours ago, Matthew Hartman said:

Of course a lot of clients are laymen and they have the misconception that filming is a pointed camera and some lights, they don't have any spacial awareness of what makes up a good shot/scene, and why would they? All they ever see is the finished product.

I'm constantly pushing back on those misconceptions. It comes down to approach. You have to be willing to educate people about the craft and justify your position in a respectful/tactful way. It's not an easy thing, almost everyone is going to come at it skeptically, because time is money, but you have to have a good pitch and explain value, or what they're getting for their buck. You have to read the language of each client.

There will always be some adversarial clients that are not worth that battle. If they insist on shit, just give them the shit they asked for. Yeah, your standards are challenged, but money is one shade of green at the end of the day.

At the end of the day, its about how you sell yourself (and that has every bit to do with how much you value yourself too).

If I was in either the Real Estate biz or even the wedding biz, I would create a tiered pricing approach - along with a demo reel to help the client see what the difference is between what you offer in terms of service (for each price point). 

For example for real estate:

Bronze package: 2 hour shoot - 1 day editing - $500 - Demo reel showing what is included in this price range.

Silver package: 4 hour shoot - 1-3 day - $1200 - Demo reel showing what is included in this price range (if the customer is not able to see that much of a difference here, then explain).

Gold/Platinum package: 8+ hour shoot - Multi-day editing - $3000 - Demo reel showing what is included in this price range.

This is not newbie (I know it all) pricing.... this is.... I've been here for a while, you obviously heard of me and/or seen my work pricing.

Obviously, you try to do your best on every single package - don't skimp, because you want to retain a customer, you want repeat customers. At the same time, figure out what you are capable of doing within the set parameters, don't apply nd filters on the window if you only have 2 hours. Nonetheless, you go the extra mile for the Gold/Platinum package - use your own creative facilities for this.... I can't teach you vision and/or creativeness... that's all you. But here is a tip, people have a hard time envisioning themselves in a space and how to fill a space, this is why they have staging (they put rental furniture) to fill a space. Go the extra mile by... I don't know... hire actors (they are a dime a dozen willing to work for cheap - try mandy.com... audition first, Rolodex the good ones for repeat performances, just don't do the same crap in every video), here is an example: get a couple that are engaged in a conversation with a mug of coffee - laughing it up. You don't have to have a real dialogue going on, mute them out and have your choice of music overlayed. Have children running around, or a teen browsing on the ipad nestled on the couch... This is how you sell yourself... BTW, for the gold/platinum package only (actually the best videos in this category), stamp your name and/or company logo on it. Because, if its a good video, people will associate the video with the person creating it not the real estate agent selling the home, thereafter - depending on the demand - you adjust the price.

Editted to add: If you are new to this.... I would throw in some stuff for free the first few times.... its like how drug dealers throw it in till you are hooked on it approach  

Quick question, which camera do you currently use?

Does the screen black out when you attachment SDI or HDMI?

10 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

honestly, I do not see huge differences in color science.

Really? I do.... Like, for example here:

18 minutes ago, Attila Bakos said:

 

There is more to that. Even the 23mm looks better on the X-T2, it's noticably smoother.

But its the same sensor, may be the IBIS can be the culprit, but I still believe that they will be able to correct it with a firmware update.

32 minutes ago, Attila Bakos said:

Not looking good:

The videos you can find about X-H1 AF in video show the same results. Either everyone is doing it wrong or something is wrong with the AF of this body.

So it depends on the lens. Need to correct that in the next firmware update.

9 hours ago, BasiliskFilm said:

Albert Dros has done a rolling shutter test. Obviously full frame 4K is worst, but this is reading all 24 MP, so all things considered, not too bad. The other modes (4K crop, 1080p) are pretty good, and given that hand-held is sensor stabilised, visible rolling shutter should be avoidable.

 

I never understood the need to do these rolling shutter tests... Even in high action shots... Speaking from a audience member perspective, what information do they see in the fast pan? I'm not going to pause in the middle of a movie and say see.... That skew? Why can't you just edit the shot out? Edit the fast pan out? And if there are a lot of micro movements say a runner deeks left runs right comes against a cornerback spins left... Sure if you are doing a close-up of that you are going to have to pan fast, but I suggest you set up a secondary cam that is capturing the entire game with a wide angle. Then cut, splice and throw together in post.

1 hour ago, Don Kotlos said:

Camera ergonomics are at least partly subjective, but my ideal mirrorless design is a mini D5/1DmkII. For example I would like A9 to be something like this:

Who knows maybe when Nikon & Canon decide they need to make a sports mirrorless camera we will see something like it. 

I'm confused how is that different from the current A9 with a grip???

19 hours ago, Matthew Hartman said:

I'm a tell'ya, if you have a shot you plan for Twixtor, record with a very high shutter speed, even if your FPS is 24 or 30. Twixtor is using subsampling (1 or 2 frames before and after)  and it does'nt treat motion blur too well. You can always dial back in motion blur after the fact with various plugins like this:

http://revisionfx.com/products/rsmb/

All this stuff is proccesor intensive, so plan accordingly. 

Agreed! And there is a reason for the high shutter speeds, because you usually double the shutter (180 degree) to match whatever current fps you are shooting at... so 24 is 48, 30 is 60, 60 is 120 & 120 is 240 and so on.... but the trick with Twixtor is that you're doing a hypothetical 240fps, 500fps or 1000fps or more.... but you are only really shooting say 4K @ 60fps so you set the shutter speed to say 1000, 2000 so it works with Twixtor to get that 500fps or 1000fps. Sometimes its better to even set shutter speed at 4000, but think about how much light you are losing.

Also, thanks for the heads up on the new plugin to treat motion blur...

18 hours ago, Django said:

sounds like you guys are talking more about post-production wow factor tricks than actual camera inherent mojo..

it seems shooting super-slomo at super shallow DOF + a LUT gets instant mojo approval yet i believe there's also mojo on the hardware side.

not that many cams have it imo.. it's a mix of color science, motion cadence, dynamic range, sensor type etc..

obvious mojo cams to me are Alexas, BMPCC 2.5K, 5D3 ML Raw, 1DC, Digital Bolex, D750, Fujis..  

of course one shouldn't underestimate the lens pairing either..

I also agree on this as well... 

Just to be clear, I wasn't promoting Twixtor or other slo-mo softwares, was just responding to @Geoff CB when he said that the creator of the 'Dark Side of the Lens' - "Completely ignores the shutter speed rule, contrasty as hell, warp stabilizer everywhere".

And, as @Matthew Hartman pointed out, that you need to plan for it to be really effective for its intended purposes. I think that the creator of 'Dark Side of the Lens' was intending to use Twixtor to some effect, but its hard to really plan it out on a run and gun - nature type video. So he set it @ 720/60p - recorded as much as possible and as fast as possible with high shutter speeds (or not) and did the rest in post.

Also, "it seems shooting super-slomo at super shallow DOF + a LUT gets instant mojo approval" - I don't know so much to say that... what I can say from the video that I posted with the BMX bikes - yes... there is this cool/awesome factor, but notice that there in lies the problem with Twixtor too. The image quality becomes some blurry soft mess, hence you thought this super shallow DOF, when in fact those rain drops are SFX/CGI add-on courtesy of After Effects and Red Giant's Trapcode Suite, placed there to mask the problem or to get the viewers to set their sights away from the problem  

For those interested in Twixtor, Phillip Bloom has some really good advice on it:

http://philipbloom.net/blog/twixtor/

2 hours ago, pszilard said:

Hi everyone. I am new here, but having got my H1 on 1st of March I've just speed read through this entire thread and feel like I have to chip in. I had been shooting Nikon for about 20 years and came via F5, then digital from D200, through to D4 and D750, before switching entirely to Fuji X, having an overlap of 4 yrs running both side by side.

@pszilard Can you compare the FHD of the X-H1 to the D750 (Because I've heard great things about the D750), better/worse/on-par? Also compare it to X-H1's 17:9 FHD (which is the DCI 2K).

Size wise, with the grip does it feel as big as the D4? Without the grip as big and as heavy as the D750?

3 hours ago, Geoff CB said:

Every time I start getting to spec obsessed I try and watch that video. Completely ignores the shutter speed rule, contrasty as hell, warp stabilizer everywhere, but man what an incredible result.

First time I saw that one. No doubt that that video is nice, but I know why you see all the stuff you see there.... I don't think it was deliberate though...

He is using 720/60p from a Canon in many of his shots there. Most likely using Twixtor too.... end result.... 

Here is my favorite use of Twixtor:

You sure that the GH5S is capable of 10 bit DCI 4K at 60p? I thought it caps at 8bit no 10bit. Same as how GH5 doesn't do UHD 60p at 10 bit, they did the same here with DCI this time.

6 minutes ago, Matthew Hartman said:

The best looking films curate the living joy out of every scene. Nothing is left to chance or served up the "we'll fix it in post" line. That's lazy.

This!

lol.... I was thinking it, but you said it and articulated so perfectly.

Thanks.

6 minutes ago, Matthew Hartman said:

Are you sure you should be showing this? If this band ever breaks, their label can retroactively come after you unless you have signed paper with the band saying it's cool to use this content for your reel. Be careful bro.  

Is it me or did the previous versions of the GH series have way better motion cadence than the GH4 and GH5? The GH2 was 1080 correct? 

I wonder myself, never owned a Panny so someone can probably answer this with more confidence.... I feel Continuous AF may be the culprit as opposed to pure MF. People want amazing IQ but don't want to work for it.... Tsk... Tsk... Tsk.

57 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

Spec wise the camera is amazing, but I too see a lot of weird Sony colors. I thought they were improving their color science with each release, I do not know what is going on.

I am still trying to keep it low, and see what Canonikon and the next Fuji (X-T3) can do. I do not know why, but I still want to believe in these guys!

Does anyone know if this camera has 1 touch picture capability (just press the touch screen and instantly take a picture)?

Don't look to the X-T3 to fulfill your needs. As per one reviewer, it's not going to have IBIS nor the video features of the x-h1... Because it only covers that side of the market where the X-T2 sits at - so may be 1080/120p (my guess) but nothing else in terms of video and a sensor upgrade.

As I've said before.... What I like, you might not like... etc... etc...

I think that instead of over analyzing the word "mojo" and what that word refers to.... You are better off trying to replicate a scene from a movie that you specifically like.... So, pop in that DVD find that scene that you like, pause it.... Take a screenshot and try to copy that....

Now... If you feel that you are not able to copy that after your first attempt.... Don't give up... Try different settings..... Come as close as you can in-camera before moving on to post.... Adjust in post, but don't over do it. If after a hundred attempts, you are not able to copy it exactly.... See if someone with more experience and better grading capabilities can use that camera to replicate that scene and learn from that...if after all that... It's not to your expectations..... May be then you can blame it on the camera and may be try a different camera... 

3 hours ago, DaveAltizer said:

I rented the Olympus 12-100 and it’s a fabulous kit now. The slightly larger sensor makes 12mm a usable “selfie mode” and 100mm gives you a 180mm equivalent!

Autofocus works great with the hack and the IS is really nice too. Optics are sharp and bokeh when you get it looks great. 

What other system allows for such a useable lens at this size with this power in video with 4K 10bit and epic slow motion. 

ISO performance makes f4 totally fine. Wonderful one camera one lens setup. 

I don't know man... you seem to be settling-in.... you know.... in that comfortable - convenient zone.

From full frame to mft.... from leica primes to 1 standard zoom.... pretty soon a point and shoot would be good enough... dare I say it? An Iphone will be good enough?

3 hours ago, Emanuel said:

Dave, will you be able to compare the three regular GH5, GH5S and X-H1?

Add the 1dc in there too for good measure and we are golden.

58 minutes ago, anonim said:

I've tried in thread about GH5s to explain what I distinctly like in some footage of this camera and, I think, one picture from Canon by DaveAltizer. But my English is very awkward and I hardly could succeed.

What would be of great help to me, maybe to someone else also, and regarding terms such as "mojo" or "cinematic", is: if there is some unassailable agreement between really competent DP's about that what are (approximаtely) image qualities to search for in standard theater movie, it will be so nice to fixed them (approximаtely) in the words and show in paralel favorite examples.

What ratio of sharpness and smoothness prefer any of us? What level of contrast and why? What is pleasant degree of saturation? Etc. It will be so great, I think, not to hide our knowledge and taste behind in-general words/therms/phrases, and help each other with favorite results and comments of reasons for our individual estimating.

I've been wanting to answer your question for a while now (from other threads/posts)... every chance I get its sorely interrupted with things happening around me.

I feel that you want someone to either define characteristics so that you can understand image quality better or you want to debunk the myth behind image quality altogether (good luck with the second one)

The problem with this is.... you are asking questions that can not be answered properly, especially in words.

What I find pretty, you might not find pretty.... what I love, you might not love, what I like to eat, you might hate to eat, etc... etc...

And, how many words can you really use to explain to me why you love your wife and kids? You can write books and books on the reasons of why you love your wife and kids, and I still would not be able to understand, simply because I don't love your wife and kids (btw... this is a joke!)

However, there can be a general concensus of what looks nice.... like the Mona Lisa, the starry night, venus de milo...

Remember, in the other thread, you said that you can't trust me in that nobody wants to see wrinkles... it was a generality.... you're a student of psychology (an assumption as you said you wrote articles for Psych)... whats it say in Social Psych. about Romantic Attraction? Other than familiarity and proximity... Age is a factor no? Youth is more attractive than Age Old.... and nothing shows age more than wrinkles... nobody wants to see wrinkles... why else are there make-up and anti-wrinkle creams?

You have to be your own barometer in judging what you like.... and not like... if you like sharp, detailed over saturated pictures.... then you like that or not... don't let the rest tell you otherwise.

For me, I have a barometer of my own... I know what I like... but it comes from years of watching movies.... and its not just the recent oscar winning movies like you mentioned the Revenant, etc. But years prior.... and sometimes you can tell what doesn't fit that schema, you know.... you watch those movies and then you film something with a VHS camcorder and then you compare footage and its not really comparable....

Here is a good example, but I doubt you will be able to experience it... the Hobbit was released in theatres in both regular 24p and 48p - I saw them both and I really really hated the 48p version. It was hyper-real and made the costumes, props and make-up look fake. So, if I had to go as far to say that even though both were made for cinema... the 24p is the more standard format and the more cinematic version of the 2 different versions.

Hear, hear. Cheers.

1 hour ago, mechanicalEYE said:

Mine arrived yesterday morning. You guys based in the US should really consider HotRod Cameras when pre-ordering. They have provided excellent service with my GH5 order, and now the XH1.

Please.... give us your honest opinion as to what you think of the camera... ergonomics... image quality... etc.

6 minutes ago, Kisaha said:

I will put the 5DmkII as well, but I had to use it a few times the last couple of years, and I hated the experience.

I'm confused here. So the 5D2 has mojo or not?

Also, you hated the 5D2 because of the ergonomics?

I feel that you will hate the 1DC for the same reason... almost same ergonomics as the 5D2.... no touch screen, no DPAF, everything is manual.