Stathman

Hello to everyone on the forum!
A Merry Christmas from me!
I hope you're looking forward to having a good break over the holidays and are ready to welcome in 2022. Talking of holidays - I have been having a break from EOSHD for a few months. I went and sat on a hill and finally had time to reflect on my work which is this blog and the community around it. The last video had a lot of support, it's made me really appreciate what I have in a more positive light. I'm mega appreciative of the people who took the time to say how EOSHD has helped them over the years and that they want it to continue.
So that's what we'll do! EOSHD is back.
Read the full blog post here

This is a strange one and I suspect no-one will have come across it but I was doing some recording the other day using a Zoom H6 and the S5. I used the line out of the Zoom to connect into the camera so I had a guide track for synching the zoom audio in post. The Zoom line out is specifically designed for such a scenario (stated in the manual). But here's the thing, after careful tests and some head scratching I came to the unavoidable conclusion that the phase on any input into the Zoom was inverted once it is laid down as the S5 audio track.
The cable is an unbalanced 3.5mm so it cannot be that so that leaves either a problem with the Zoom line out (unlikely) or the S5 line input (more likely). Either way this is clearly a factory fault. There is nothing that can fix this at source and it is easy enough to invert the phase in post, and in fact mixing both signals in any final project is very unlikely anyway, but still, it should not be happening.
One other fairly obvious observation is that the noise floor of the 55 is noticeably higher than the Zoom which is pretty pleasingly quiet. This is not helped by the fact the Zoom line out is fixed at -10dB so you have to have the S5 at 0dB input at least. Anyone who cares about sound quality and is recording in a quiet environment would do very well not to use the S5 for sound unless you have a high quality mixer that enables you to lower the S5 input level to -6dB at least..

Is this an NX1?
In 2021?
On a Netflix series? Used by a psycho influencer? 
Is this random or a secret message from Samsung? 😅

Is this an NX1?
In 2021?
On a Netflix series? Used by a psycho influencer? 
Is this random or a secret message from Samsung? 😅

Is this an NX1?
In 2021?
On a Netflix series? Used by a psycho influencer? 
Is this random or a secret message from Samsung? 😅

Yep, it's not EOSHD that's the problem it's me! I need to get my enthusiasm back. It's been a tough time.
Thanks for the comments guys, it is helping me figure things out a lot.

Just do whatever makes you happy my friend. 
Heartbreaking video.
Move on, bring the joy back.
Very much appreciated all the knowledge, heart and soul you shared in this place.
Looking forward for your next step. 
Cheers mate, stay strong! ✊ 
 

@zerocool22  I think the best solution is to put the lens in manual focus mode.
Focus the point you 'll be standing, hit the button and go!
I believe this way will be 100% in focus. I wouldn't rely on AFC with an adapted lens. 
Cheers

For a long time the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Cameras have been a barebones experience to shoot with. Great codec and image quality but a lack of important other features (and not great build quality). Well Blackmagic has stepped up and beaten the mirrorless cameras to build-in ND filters. Yes in 2021 it's finally happened! Well done camera industry. They have added a hinge to the screen as well. For an extra $500 you can get an EVF which slots on top. The battery also gets an upgrade from a smaller Canon LP-E6 to Sony NP-F570.
However one thing I find puzzling about the Pocket 6K Pro is the lens mount.
New blog post:
https://www.eoshd.com/news/thoughts-on-the-blackmagic-pocket-cinema-camera-6k-pro-tilt-screen-evf-built-in-nd-filters-but-why-ef-mount/

Here's an Autofocus Tip that I totally didn't realize...
Apparently you are supposed to "confirm" AF tracking using the joystick or touch screen. (OK, maybe not PERFECT but looks better than usual.)
Hmmm... maybe I SHOULD read the manual for expensive pieces of equipment...
 

Well my new (used but like new) S1H arrived today.
Pleasantly surprised because it is neither as big nor as heavy as I was expecting.
In fact, I'd say in the hands, in terms of size, weight and ergos, it's just about perfect.
I look forward to testing it this weekend ahead of next week's small commercial/marketing job.

Incorrect. Still 1.56x crop in 4k50p and 60p.

Small correction. It's 4:2:0 actually. 👍 

Fuji's 10bit is 4:2:0 vs 4:2:2 on the S5.
This means better color information in the S5's files.
Although 4k50p is 4:2:0 on the S5 also.
Ibis on S5 is significantly better. 
I don't know if intra vs long gop makes a big difference in this case. 

On another subject, holy crap, 6k 10 bit 4:2:2 internal all-I.
How did I not know about this before?!
How come so few are talking about it?!
Well it’s not quite what it could be though I have just started a series of tests and it’s looking quite promising for certain use cases.
First of all though, it’s not 6k, but 5.2k in a 3:2 crop. Great to the latter because I’d like to pull stills from it and 3:2 is best for me so box ticked. Also, the more pixels the better and 5200 long edge beats 4000. Another box ticked.
Is it all-I though? Very difficult to find info, but I read that it is and something to do with the fact it’s always and only 30 fps.
And that’s the next thing, 30 fps. Is that a good or bad thing? Most seem to want 24 or 25. I’d prefer 25 myself, but 50 would be better and you can get 50, but have to drop back to 4k.
The real eye-opener for me was that it could be shot for 15 minutes and in vlog. I have only tested with Natural and Cinelike V so far so may test vlog but depends on whether the onboard LUT works with it or it’s a definite no no. No dealbreaker anyway as I prefer to work with a baked in look and minimal grading in post.
I did some quick tests yesterday against FF 25p and APSC crop FF and it looked better.
Harder to edit though as it does not run smoothly in Premiere, probably due to being 4:2:2 rather than 4:2:0? I am not the techiest of people but assume that is it? No dealbreaker here either as next year I am going only laptop and M1 chip thingy.
The bottom line is I’m trying to discover whether an S1H will suit my needs (highest quality baked in video at a reasonable price that I can lift the best quality stills from) or whether the S5 is enough in either 4K 25p or 5.2k 30p.
Yesterday I got quite close to Jpeg from raw quality in 4K 25p and 5.2k 30p with the still image being the best, the 5.2k second best and anything 4K third best with 4K 25p beating 4K 50p. Ie, as you would expect.
The S1H I suspect at 5.4K 25p is not going to have much of an edge or even any noticeable difference over the S5 in ‘6k’ mode?

The top dial has two positions....one dedicated for video the rest are different photography modes and custom modes. I have all of my video menu items set up under the top dial position that has the video icon and the M next to it (right after S&Q). For photography, I use the icon that has the M for manual exposure. Panasonic calls that dial position with the video symbol the "Creative Video" mode and the camera automatically configures the screen for the most useful video settings which is why I use that dial position for video. If you go into the menu > Gear icon > First page > "CreativeVideo Combined Set" you can configure which features display just in the Creative Video dial position and what is shared with the P/A/S/M modes. The Sound Meter should be one of the options there but it is not.
I never use custom modes, I prefer instead to set up a custom menu and put my commonly changing settings in there; I would run out of custom modes if I tried to have one for each configuration, also, after putting the S5 in a cage, it is more difficult to quickly access the mode dial vs pushing the menu button especially when it is on a gimbal.
In my custom menu for video/photography I have the following items (in order)
Rec Quality - to change the frame rate WFM/Vector Scope - The WFM is so large that I frequently turn it on to check exposure then turn it off to shoot the scene Image area of Video - I actually don't use this like I thought I would but its still there Photo Style - I've never changed this either it's always set to V-Log Zebra Pattern - I don't use this either, the WFM is way better Frame Marker - This is a really cool feature that I plan on using at some point to check my composition for vertical videos and if I ever use it for photography I will use the frame markers to properly compose in a 4:5 aspect ratio XLR Adapter Setting - Haven't had to change this yet but I don't want to hunt through the menu either if I need to adjust something there Sound Rec Level Adj - Haven't had to change this yet either but if I am not using an XLR mic and just a regular mic I need to be able to adjust the level quickly Headphone Volume - It stays at level 8 and is still hard to hear when monitoring audio (could be I need lower impedance headphones) Ex Tele Conv - I used to use this all the time with the GH5 to simulate a longer lens....but its not as useful with the S5 because at 60FPS there's already a crop and the feature gets disabled Luminance Spot Meter - I plan on using this one day when I have enough time to use a grey card but it hasn't happened yet I probably need to go back in and remove Photo Style, Image Area of Video, and Zebra Pattern. I also need to instead add the Sound Meter since I haven't found a way to get it to disable when in Photography mode.
I might write Panasonic with a feature request to add the Sound Meter to the "CreativeVideo Combined Set" feature. Another thing that would be nice is if it had a feature like the S1H to filter all of the different rec modes. I only ever use 4K60FPS 10bit 4:2:0 and 4K 30FPS 10bit 4:2:2, it would be nice if I could get just those two options to display when selecting the rec mode. Instead I have to spend a few extra seconds making sure I picked the right version of each when switching modes (i.e. 4:2:0, 8bit, 10bit, etc). 

Yes that is correct that has always been possible in DR16, you can also use remote grades, create a gallery image and apply the grade from there, hit SHIFT + = to copy a grade from a previous clip, store a color grade in a memory slot, etc....NONE of those ways are intuitive nor do they work the way EVERY other program works which is a simple CTRL A  > CTRL C > CTRL V to copy anything to anything.
Only with DR17 and even then only with the latest build can you finally simply go into the color grade node tree, select all nodes, CTRL C, go to the clip where you want to apply the grade and CTRL V. With every previous build you could only use this method to copy the first node which made no sense.

Great to hear you're upping your colour grading game, and getting better results!
I watched that video a long time ago and found it quite useful at the time.  The workflow you describe above is a pretty standard workflow in colour grading circles.  In terms of how I believe it's normally discussed:
Skintone exposure is typically set on location through a combination of camera and lighting / lighting modifiers Somehow the image gets converted to a 709 space
(This can be via a great many methods, depending on your preferred workflow, but a conversion or PFE LUT is fairly common) The adjustments that get made to the whole image are referred to as primary adjustments, or "primaries" The adjustments that get made to parts of the image (for example via power windows or a key) are secondary adjustments, or "secondaries" Colour grading can seem like a bit of a dark art, and in many ways it is, but it's definitely a case of the 80/20 rule where you can put in a little effort and get a big reward in return.
Here are a few videos that I've found useful that cover the basics but go a little further than Avery does in the above video...  enjoy!
Great video from Wandering DP (excuse the clickbait title - it was done as a joke!):
I can't speak highly enough of Wandering DP - his channel is full of cinematography breakdown videos where he talks about lighting and composition and are tremendously useful if you shoot your own content.  Ironically, the above video by him talking about colour grading is better than most YT colour grading videos, despite the fact he isn't a colourist, doesn't claim to be one, and this is the only video on his channel that talks about it!
I have gone through a kind of mental 180 degree shift in how I think about shooting and colour grading over the last 6 months or so, and I think that his videos have played a significant part in that transformation.  My understanding about how to go about shooting and grading is now far simpler, clearer, and I'm getting radically better results, and I'm not sure how I didn't understand this years ago or how there is any other way to think about it at all!
And to take things up a notch, here's a video from Waqas, who is a professional colourist and obviously enormously talented.  This video shows his approach, how he might make a commercial grade, and how he might make a cinematic grade.
I can also recommend his videos too, as although he has a standard approach that he likes to use (as all colourists tend to have), most of his videos have little details and tips that you can pick up new stuff from, even if you've watched his other videos already.
You'll also notice if you look at his channel that he recently did long interviews with the DP and the Cinematographer of Joker.
The common theme between these two YT channels is that both of them are industry professionals, not internet professionals, so their frame of reference is how things are done on set, rather than the typical YT / Vlog / buy-my-LUT / links-in-the-description folks that are all over YT pretending to know what they're doing.
Good luck!

So I have been shooting more fashion and higher end work lately and wanted to improve my color grading process without adding too much time or going down the endless rabbit hole that is known as color grading. My current process is to simply conform each clip to Rec.709 using a VLOG to Rec709 LUT make some minor tweaks using the waveforms then add an adjustment clip over the whole project to give it a certain look and feel. This works fine for events, real estate, etc. but what I am finding is that the finishing LUT is also affecting skin tones in ways that I did not like.
So a quick YouTube search turned up the below video which is what really helped me develop a new workflow that is almost as fast as my previous one but allowed me to greatly improve my color grade without adding too much more time to my process.
My new workflow is as follows:
1 - Apply a VLOG to Rec709 LUT to the clip
2 - Adjust the highlights and shadows using a mixture of the Log Wheels and Color Wheels until I have a good starting Rec709 image
3 - Apply a false color LUT to Node 2 to check for skin tone exposures then remove it when the exposure is right
4 - Create an adjustment clip and adjust the curves, saturation, etc while creating a skin tone layered node to control the skin tones separately
5 - Clone the adjustment clip to each subsequent clip and make small adjustments to the skin tone node qualifier to keep the creative grade from affecting the skin tones
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcFPJOLTFP0

AFX is the long overdue focus control expansion option for our PBC system for BM Pocket4K/6K cameras.

With AFX and its included handheld remote you can control manual focus of MFT/EF lenses but also operate our newly created Single and Continuous AF modes for the camera.
These new AF-S/C modes are made possible by the AFX’s integral ToF sensor which constantly measures object distance from the camera.
As well as allowing you to control focus using the thumbstick and AF-S/C switching, the handheld remote also enables you to map any of the camera controls such as ISO/Aperture/WB etc to five of its hardware switches as well as being able to toggle Record Start/Stop from one of its two finger trigger buttons.
All communication between the AFX, the handheld controller, the PBC and the camera are performed wirelessly and, as with the PBC, the AFX runs from its own internal battery or USB.
The AFX will be priced at €199 (plus the cost of the PBC for new adopters) and pre-orders begin next month.
Here are some basic examples of the AFX in manual focus, Single and Continuous AF modes.
In AF-S mode, current focus is held until you press the trigger button so is equivalent to half shutter press/Back Focus Button on a regular (D)SLR or mirrorless.
More to follow as the pre-order date approaches.
 
 

Almost forgot, if you press the bottom trigger, while holding the stick to the right and double tap the C button you get a power up combo

It's out there!
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/afx-autofocus-adapter#/
https://www.eoshd.com/news/exclusive-cda-tek-announces-afx-module-for-lidar-autofocus-featuring-tilta-nucleus-motor-drive-and-blackmagic-pocket-cinema-camera-compatibility/
Congratulations to @BTM_Pix
It looks superb and the example shot is silky smooth and natural looking.

Forum news. You can now switch between dark and light theme.
I prefer the dark one, especially on a bright modern high contrast IPS or OLED screen.
Much easier on the eye and photos / videos really pop now on the darker backdrop.
Enjoy!
(The button to switch between dark and light Theme is at the bottom of the page)