Ed Andrews

I'm pleased with my footage from the A7SII. 
To get nice colour, it's required to modify the Slog2 profile (there's loads of help online), expose the footage at least 1.5 stops to the right and white balance correctly. 
Then you need advanced colour grading skills - firstly to correct the image accurately, bring down the exposure (especially those mids) and use a LUT as a base for further styling if required. Sharpen subtlety and you have a very nice image. 
If you don't do any of the above, then your footage will look like a pile of sick. 
Again, there's so much information on the A7S, LUTS and exposure. You have to put the learning work in to get results. 
The A7S and other Sonys get the best results through intricate hard work. For those who don't want that fuss, Canon or Nikon is your weapon of choice. 
Crap though, like you say, it isn't. 

Finally got a shoot in with BMMCC for a new passion project and coupled with it old Angenieux super 16 glass. I absolutely love the image and all this 12bit raw colour business. It's going to be go to for all arty projects. A few grabs... 
 
 
 

Finally got a shoot in with BMMCC for a new passion project and coupled with it old Angenieux super 16 glass. I absolutely love the image and all this 12bit raw colour business. It's going to be go to for all arty projects. A few grabs... 
 
 
 

Finally got a shoot in with BMMCC for a new passion project and coupled with it old Angenieux super 16 glass. I absolutely love the image and all this 12bit raw colour business. It's going to be go to for all arty projects. A few grabs... 
 
 
 

Finally got a shoot in with BMMCC for a new passion project and coupled with it old Angenieux super 16 glass. I absolutely love the image and all this 12bit raw colour business. It's going to be go to for all arty projects. A few grabs... 
 
 
 

^Down periscope! 

Finally got mine through. I've done a few blind test shots with some old Angeniuex glass and the picture quality is superb.
It's going to be a shitter to rig properly though...

Finally got mine through. I've done a few blind test shots with some old Angeniuex glass and the picture quality is superb.
It's going to be a shitter to rig properly though...

Finally got mine through. I've done a few blind test shots with some old Angeniuex glass and the picture quality is superb.
It's going to be a shitter to rig properly though...

Finally got mine through. I've done a few blind test shots with some old Angeniuex glass and the picture quality is superb.
It's going to be a shitter to rig properly though...

Finally got mine through. I've done a few blind test shots with some old Angeniuex glass and the picture quality is superb.
It's going to be a shitter to rig properly though...

Finally got mine through. I've done a few blind test shots with some old Angeniuex glass and the picture quality is superb.
It's going to be a shitter to rig properly though...

Finally got mine through. I've done a few blind test shots with some old Angeniuex glass and the picture quality is superb.
It's going to be a shitter to rig properly though...

Finally got mine through. I've done a few blind test shots with some old Angeniuex glass and the picture quality is superb.
It's going to be a shitter to rig properly though...

So, I had my first full day with the micro and... Wow it really is a fun camera. It is a little cumbersome using a small rig and the buttons are hard to push but the image is just amazing. It seems like you can underexpose, overexpose or nail the exposure and you have a lot to work with in post. And the colors... Nice. 



Obviously not the most amazing images in the world, but for a first time out with it... I am pleased. 

Ed, if you are in London I'd check out Shoot35. Very decent Mattebox for the money. I had their original one and a smaller one they sadly don't make any more. Bright Tangerine looks like the one to beat today. If I could do it over I'd get a box that supports 4 x 5.65. I've found it really hard to find the 4 x 4 filters I'd like to use in the used market. Some filters like the Tiffen Indie IR ND line only seem to be available in the 4 x 5.65 range.
https://www.shoot35.com/

Another option is to get something like an Atomos for the waveforms. Expose skin tones at around 60/70 IRE with a grey card (about 2 stops over). Also, create your own LUTS which have a minus two exposure compensation in them as well as the desired look on - I use Arri log to rec709 as a great starting point - and load 'em on the Atomos. This will give you a great starting point on exposing and hiding all that noise. When it comes to post, crush the blacks in post to get rid of shadow noise. I shot these at 125000 ISO or thereabouts...

i goggled "music video" and this came up. director is some guy named paul thomas anderson. doesnt seem to match your formula. first time director maybe? clearly not a "pro"
 

I bought an "indian" one when DSLRs started really taking off, figured I'd eventually replace it. Still use it every week though, guess I got lucky -it was like $250.
Look for:
At least two stages & at least one rotates;
Height adjustable;
Detachable flags that don't have gaps between the flags and the main hood assembly - and hopefully the front flag stays put when used without the side flags;
A swing-away front is really handy;
If you use different sized lenses (DSLR style shooting), I found it's easier to just get screw-on rubber lens hoods to seal the lenses against the matte box opening vs. nun's knickers or swapping out foam donuts. If you use cinema lenses it's not such an issue. (You usually need something though - the first time you get back to your NLE and see the reflections of focus gears in your ND - yeah, that bites!)

Bright Tangerine. If money isn't an issue. I've used their normal rail matteboxes, and just got the Misfit Atom for Xeen lenses. Very well made.

give the crew a $60k budget to shoot, and a $20k budget to pay for the edit/post for a promo video for the nex5n and the results would be just as awe inspiring.  The level of production value on this video makes it impossible to judge the camera because in real instances with these budgets they'd just add another $2k for the rental of an Alexa Mini for the couple of days of shooting.     $80k for 8bit acquisition and a lens mount incapable of using real cinema lenses, or $82k for arriraw acquisition and the ability to use cooke s4's..  
Nothing more annoying than consumer advertising techniques selling a dream to people that they'll be using a dslr to shoot these types of projects.

btw... is filming someone welding/cutting metal the high end equivalent of making a "cat in the garden" demo video?

It always sways when you pick it up, it's just using the light pinch of the fingers around the gimbal keep it where you want it. It'll come in time with practice. It's some zen like control that develops. Then you starting sprinting with it.

I currently use a Glidecam HD1000 with a GH4 + Olympus 12-40mm. In answer to your question, OP, I usually settle on a drop time of 2.5 seconds (timing it with phone not my fast voice =)). I like the solidarity of 2 seconds but like you say it's much harder to control up and down movements. However I dislike the more seesawing action of a 3 second balance when doing normal moves so halfway works for me.
I personally don't see myself getting a MoVi etc. anytime soon. My work currently calls for small, reliable gear and the Glidecam fits the bill. It takes some patience to get a good balance but once it's in it's a rocky steady piece of gear and delivers some of my favourite shots.

Yes, let´s talk about love...:)
I love to talk about looks, colors, grading etc. (far more than to talk about tech specs)
In comparison to the London impressions from above here a anamorphic test clip from cooke with a color palette that I really like: