Django

Yeah the external fan seems based on the Tilta R5 cooling kit.. That said XH2S's internal heat management performance seems fairly adequate without it.

6.2K/4K120p, ProRes & Open-gate mode. Looks like we have a new APS-C hybrid king. Still seems like quite a few quirks but impressive specs on paper. It's almost like a BM 6K with IBIS & AF. And a more flexible mount.

VENICE is definitely not more affordable than ARRI. Neither retail or rental. VENICE 2 & Mini LF both retail at around $59K. While the Mini is at $36K. What it brings is FF and what it has over Mini LF is few main things: 5.8K90p/6K/8K60p, Dual-Base ISO & Rialto. Rialto is kind of a game changer, allowing the lens to decouple from the body: Ozark DP explains: “VENICE has a smaller footprint. Ozark is a physically difficult show, shot in remote locations, and not on stage. So we needed a camera that could hang off the side of a boat and perform in random scenarios. It’s a great camera for the Steadicam, no question, but it has this great accessory, Rialto, which cables off the body. It provides a package smaller than anything else that’s available. For tight locations, like the Byrd house, there are narrow hallways, so machines, dollies, and multiple actors interacting is tough. With Rialto, you can suspend it off a modest rig, slam it against a wall, allowing actors to pass easily. The smaller presence you can have can only benefit the actors in their ability to forget about production and act.”

Kinda late to this but its a subject I can definitely relate to and comment on. Clients are more and more educated/savyy about gear. Not only do they know most mirrorless models, they even know about lenses, audio, rigs, gimbals etc. Especially the younger ones, i.e. juniors, interns, assistants in their 20s/30s. I think it's mostly thanks to Youtube. Not always a bad thing, especially if you've got nice gear. Nice glass often gets the most respect, justifiably so. So I won't front, we do tend to overdo it a bit, especially with new clients: cine cams, big lenses, cages, rigs, gimbals, lights, tripods in fancy pelican cases. It's part of the show, even if sometimes less than half actually gets used. It can sometimes backfire though, because more equipment means more setup time etc. And clients aren't stupid, if all that gear isn't backed up with adequate footage, or you're inconsistent with what you're bringing, they'll see right through you and you're just an overpaid clown eating up their time. I've never actually experienced that but it's always on my mind. There are so many more elements to get right on a paid shoot. More gear also means more things to manage and higher risks/mistakes. I've done some dumb shit by overdoing it. Sometimes less is more. I won't hesitate to go monopod, handheld over tripod or gimbal, or even whip out an action cam if timing, shot or location constraints demand it. Same thing with bringing a ton of people on set of a bigger budget crew type project. Rookie mistake. More people, more problems. Keep it down to the essential. In the end only, only respecting the time frame + footage results really matters. Show some creativity and confidence with your shots, composition, direction, decision-making, time management and human skills and even the toughest client will respect you no matter the gear..

OK lets talk about this. First of all like I've said: AF isn't magic. There is skill involved in using an AF system, no matter what kind. Especially with challenging scenes, subjects and fast glass. AF is there to help but you should always be in control of it. DPAF absolutely allows you to choose who's in focus, that's absolutely crucial and the whole beauty of it. The most common method is simply to move your AF box with either joystick or touch & drag gestures or just tap to focus on your subject and it will not only lock but track. R3 can even do Eye-AF selection right inside the EVF (a tech developed on EOS 7 DSLR). Point being that you have total control on who it focuses on. That's absolutely essential and always the job of a solo operator. You can also do rack pulls or even allow DPAF to guide you using rack focus tools to manually pull in between subjects. Here is a break down on the old DPAF: There are a bunch of settings and tricks to make it even more effective. And DPAF2 brings faster, better settings. It isn't at all limited to talking head content either, its actually most practical when R&G handheld or on gimbals doing dolly shots. Not limited to pro usage neither, use it for travel, family, hobbies, whatever. Most challenging things to track is action/sports, animals & kids. There are AF tracking modes for each. Now it isn't fail proof but if you know what you're doing, your hit rate and motion shot creativeness will improve tenfold over unreliable contrast AF. That said never go full retard and let the camera on Af autopilot. I always have one finger on disable Af and the other hand on the focus ring when using AF on a paid job. It rarely disappoints though and is so much less stressful than punching in to check focus every time your subject moves or coming home with those unexpected OOF shots. Like anything, your mileage may vary and I have tremendous respect for manual focus which will always be what I prefer when conditions allow it. DPAF can be almost too perfect, the MF Guide mode is brilliant for that though, especially as it works on manual-only cine glass.

It's all good, we're all entitled our perspectives & opinions. And perhaps indeed splitting hairs. Panasonic is not for me for various key reasons but I respect the company & its users. I'm not attacking them, its pretty much factual that their AF system is lagging behind competition. They excel in other domains though like DGO sensor & ProRes in GH6 which is fantastic. Now wether or not AF is important is definitely subjective. I try and not use it as a crutch, it's not magic neither. It's actually always off by default and I dedicate an on/off toggle button. I have a whole DPAF technique I've developed. Its really more of a safety net for challenging situations. I'm actually not much in favour of the "dumbing-down" of skill brought by tech. fortunately I learned a few things the "hard way" i.e. pre-digital. And I still keep myself in check by doing full manual shoots and 35mm film photography whenever possible. I love shooting shoulder mount on the FS7, I love that real ENG look over super steady floating gimbal look for example. But I'm not fighting tech either. Its all about finding that right balance that works for you.

Ok well thanks for clarifying that because when you said "I don't think I have ever heard one positive thing about RED cameras from people who work in higher end productions." it kinda sounded like you were generalising your specific market to the overall industry as a whole. Clearly there are high-end DoPs that shoot and have good things to say about RED.. I couldn't even make it to the end but yeah wasn't the cameras fault.

Squid Game is a Netflix Original Series and was fully developed/produced by Netflix Asia based in Seoul. Budget was $21 million for 9 episodes. Fairly low budget by US standards, perhaps not so much by Korean. Of course all that is changing after the overwhelming success of K shows. Henry Graham is DOP of GoG2 & Suicide Squad, both shot on RED. The Alexa LF is definitely cutting into the Netflix market, and the upcoming Alexa35 surely even more. Getting back to RED, is Matrix 4 big enough budget/high-end? 15 RED Rangers & a custom Komodo..

I wouldn't place FX9/FX6/FS7 in the same conversation as RED/ARRI. Unless we're talking the Komodo which has been disruptive with its price point where it competes with FX/Cxxx/BMD. As for the high-end, ARRI is obviously on top. However, Netflix with it's high-resolution requirements has reshuffled the cards and Venice, Varicam & RED have been the popular choice among DoPs. RED has been the choice for many ultra popular shows: Squid Game, Stranger Things, Narcos, Glow, Sabrina.. Army of the Dead, Guardians of Galaxy 2. It's compact size, modularity and high resolution often being the key selling point: The camera's ability to adapt to various rigs and handheld scenarios coupled with its ultra-high image quality led Henry Braham to compliment the capabilities of WEAPON 8K VV: "It's a large format camera, and yet it's tiny. And that's its brilliance."

For sure, when I tested out the S line when it first came out, the size/weight was a huge turn off. Something about the ergonomics I didn't gel with. The L lenses are also pretty big/hefty, not sure lighting up the bodies won't create other balance issues. On the flip side, those that miss DSLRs and their rugged construction probably embrace that. Again, I am that FS7 user that still uses one today in 2022. This is obvious to me. Doesn't mean I don't wanna upgrade to a FX6/FX9, their advanced AI assisted AF (V2 firmware) being a major selling point. I'd say its a very strong minority of FX & C-line users that don't own any AF lenses. Again its one of the main appeal of both systems. And by the way, I am speaking from my perspective as an actual FX & C-line user, not hearsay. Maybe let's just agree to disagree on such broad off-topics.

This one? One of my all-time favourites! Those guys are on another level of finesse..

RED bottom of the barrel?!! cmon.. their politics were often fishy with all the overpriced proprietary stuff and the cheap OEM scandals.. and the compressed RAW patent is cringe. They sure got good lawyers it seems. But in the end the cameras deliver. And with Komodo its definitely a new chapter. Looks we finally got 6K for 6K. Its the best IQ for price factor out there imo.

haha that's hilarious: None of these can be mimicked on Red, Alexa, or any digital system. This is film. Film is part of the reason this has so many hits and likes. Point an MX at that low sun and tell me what the shadows look like, or the running figures if you flicked on HDR. Point an Alexa at the girl against the tree and tell me her skin will look anything like the kind, clear, rich image you see here. Nothing compares. Still I will retire tomorrow if this was shot anything but film. But I guess there is a reason why they say the Canon 5D2 started the FF Revolution. More impressive than 8-bit is its in 720p. Definitely a statement that bit-depth & resolution aren't the end-all. Those early 5Ds sure had some mojo though, my god. Makes me wanna pick up a 5D3 again and shoot MLRaw. Or maybe that elusive 1DC, possibly the best 8-bit camera out there?

@webrunner5 You can export to all ProRes flavours in Resolve, even free version. On a Mac at least that is..

I'm well aware of all this. Worked with steadicam operators on BMD cams and Nikon AIS glass up until about 2016. Every single shoot these days where we hire a crew, even super low budget: 1st AC is on wireless focus system, sure. This isn't news to me, and I'm not debating any of that either. However, surely you realise that outside of the film crew bubble you're in, there is an entire world of amateur, hobby, influencers and pro solo operators. I'd even say that is the main target of most of these mid-tier hybrid cameras. And while one can get around contrast based AF or MF, that doesn't negate the fact that latest-gen AF can be a strong asset for certain applications. Just like IBIS. Nobody waited for IBIS to shoot videos with their DSLRs, but we're all glad to have it standard on-board now on our MILCs. Well you'd hope so, the FS7 came out in 2014 ! The main point here though is that Canon, Nikon or Sony autofocus (FX3/FX6/FX9) puts Panasonic DFD AF to shame. I don't think it gets compared to Canon's DPAF specifically. The reality is that all mirrorless systems expect Panny have more or less caught up with DPAF. They are by far in last position as far as AF. So sure, AF is a major concern there, I'd even say it's the main hurdle keeping many of us from switching over to that system. That said, it seems like a portion of Panny users have simply accepted their fate and work around it. That's cool, doesn't mean its not a deal breaker to the other majority.

Pretty sure BRAW is proprietary and limited to BMD cams and recorders. Just like Canon RAW. CinemaDNG can go up to 14-bit so yeah if you're after that ultimate level of colour info it could be worth it.

There are substantial reasons why BRAW is better than CinemaDNG mainly file sizes and post workflow: Blackmagic RAW is much more preferable than CinemaDNG. Filmmakers that have worked with CinemaDNG know exactly how much this codec is complex from post production point of view. CinemaDNG makes post production more complicated. Furthermore, in CinemaDNG every single frame is actually separate file (image sequence), which means that before the exporting to NLE, a transcoding process must be performed. You get the RAW, but with a lot of hassle. Balckmagic RAW is much more post production friendly, since you treat it as a regular file (like ProRes).

I actually think what camera you choose can be crucial for a project like this but not for the reasons most may think. I'm thinking mostly about budget and time constraints. A big cine cam takes time to rig, to setup. do reverse angle shots etc. It all eats up precious time. Having two or even three cameras like OP can allow multi-cam or multi-rigs speeding up down time. Then you have the crew to think about. Big cam usually means first AC, 2nd AC etc. With an A7S3/FX3 you could get away with AF on gimbal shots, handheld with IBIS, monopod instead of tripod etc. This all saves you time & budget that can be allocated to more shots, location, production value. Anyways maybe OP can share his own experience & congrats to him on the music video!

12-bit H265 is an unused format, because hardware decoding just isn't there yet. Most computers struggle with even 10-bit h265. ProRes is much less compressed and therefore can be easily supported up to 12-bit. ProRes 4444 XQ which is the highest quality and indeed available on ARRIs has huge data rates (1700mbps). REDs strangle hold on RAW is for compressed RAW. I'm not sure how BRAW or Canon Raw Light get around this (I guess it's a ratio threshold).

This one is my favourite, as it always gets a mention when discussing poor AF. Right, let's compare a solo operated MILC with an ARRI on a gimbal.. with dedicated focus puller. And your comment clearly makes me thing you've never experienced latest gen video AF. FYI I learned to focus with MF. Still use MF on my Leica glass. I hire focus pullers whenever I can. I have contrast based AF on my FS7 which is my daily workhorse. I know how to adapt to it. None of those negate the fact AF has made substantial progress and can be a reliable asset. When shooting Vlog style with your own face in the frame, you're usually going to shoot one handed with some kind of Gorillapod arm or something. You may despise these types of shooters but its a valid community and one of the reasons why most video centric cameras have face detection and such.. You are so focused on yourself (pun intended) you missed the point I was making. I'm not telling you what to do with your action shoots. I'm telling you there are other scenarios, such as closer shots on bigger sensors with faster glass, where critical AF is required. Oh cmon you're the one that started plugging your GH5 and your camera footage in a Canon thread. It's systematic here. You won't find me rambling off about DPAF benefits in Panasonic threads. Could we maybe get back on topic?

I'm genuinely happy you are so satisfied with GH5's AF performance. If I were picky though I'd say those scenes aren't too challenging AF-wise with wide shots at that distance and with such wide DoF. Try that on a bigger sensor close range under F2. There are tons of other scenarios then talking heads on a tripod. Here is the GH5 clip from the YouTuber I was referencing. It's basically unwatchable and the AF just can't seem to lock on face: I'm sure you'll be quick to claim user error but that's just piss poor AF performance imo. I read he's switching to Fuji..

I knew MF was going to be your answer lol. Closing the iris is also another good workaround. I'm afraid this type of apologetic mentality is what results in Panny never improving the AF. Your loss though what can I say? 🤷‍♂️ And no one is arguing that overheating isn't a real issue. I'm just saying the time limit from the only real test is encouraging. Wait and see before crying wolf..

Agreed, crop modes can be useful. R5C does S35 in 6K & S16 in 4.6K. RAW. Well again, unless you rely heavily on AF! 😉

Not if you're on gimbal, Vlogging or certain run & gun situations. I literally just watched a video from a pretty popular solo YouTuber at a music trade show in Berlin where the entire footage was ruined because of constant wild hunting. What do you know, it was shot on a GH5. Sure you can claim its user fault but there is no denying that Panasonics DFD AF is a major setback when compared to the competition. And like it or not, strong AF is crucial for some types of shooters. The AF reliability I get from Canon, wether in stills with eye-tracking shooting wide open at F1.2 or in video with DPAF tracking is outstanding. When I have to go back to contrast-only AF on my FS7 it feels like I'm getting punished, constantly punching in to check focus. Stressing I may have missed shots. DPAF is so liberating, you won't realise it until you get used to it. I know that a lot of M43 shooters use manual glass so this doesn't concern you, but it does to others. I was just reporting Gordons testings, since he's the only one that actually performed one. All I stated was that they were pretty promising, even if indoors under controlled conditions. I also added: Sorry but I'm not sure what you are arguing against?

..and no overheat doesn't matter much either if all your footage is OOF. so yeah ying-yang. from the testing so far R7 seems to manage all the way up to 2 hours in 4Kfine making overheating a non issue. of course we'll have to wait for more real world tests but so far it seems promising on that end.