Django

I'd say Fuji is reacting pretty quickly considering this is only going to be their second serious attempt towards videographers on a hybrid camera and that they don't even have high-end pro video departments like Canon, Sony, Panasonic etc..

I'm particularly looking forward to DCI 4K & 2K at 200mbps (which btw is something even Sony's current flagship mirrorless aren't offering).

For those curious about Fuji's abilities for more filmic work.. here are 2 shorts shot on XT2 with speedboosters & cine glass:

@jonpais FYI those comments were directed towards this member, not you:

13 hours ago, bwhitz said:

So... in other words... another junk camera that can't really be used on any client facing work or serious projects. Wonderfull. 

12 hours ago, kidzrevil said:

  12 hours ago,  kidzrevil said: and for the guys that think 8bit cameras are crap they are forgetting the image comes from a 14bit sensor. You gotta be crazy if you think these Fuji colors look unacceptable for client work. I need to meet these peoples clients...spielberg must be one of them ?

2

i always find it quite amusing that some people may think a camera that doesn't shoot 10-bit, record in 4K or have IBIS is obsolete/worthless for pro work.

FWIW i've shot professional work for clients listed on the NYSE with 5D3, D750, C100, A7S & XT2.. all 8-bit cameras. I can assure none of those clients have probably ever heard of 8bit/10bit/420/422/Rec709/Rec2020 etc.. only in these specialized forums are they relevant and up for debate.. 

i'll also add i've been shooting professionally across the globe with the XT2 for over a year and never have my clients given me so much praise on IQ.

Now the XT2 is far from perfect, and i'll still rent BMDs, FS7s & REDs for bigger projects but it's an amazing little camera and imo the best SOOC image.

GH5/GH5S is certainly best bang for buck right now but M43 sensors don't fit my aesthetic and i much prefer the native lens selection from Fuji.

I'm now very excited about X-H1, will definitely upgrade to it..

7 hours ago, jonpais said:

i just did a test with my X-T2. With a newly charged battery, the camera was able to record two ten-minute clips and one four-minute clip in succession before stopping recording to avoid overheating. The battery still has tons of juice remaining - in fact only one of the five bars has disappeared, as far as I can tell. I say as far as I can tell because all of the information in the display is too small to be read by human eyes. I sincerely hope the X-H1 has larger icons.

The booster grip is an absolute requirement for XT2.. it gives you the audio input & boosts recording time and EVF refresh rate etc..

Now concerning the display information/icons being too small, XH1 will indeed make things a lot better thanks to its top "sub monitor" that will include a customizable movie mode allowing clear/fast top view of all crucial information including remaining recording time etc..

15 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

Good God the iPhone beat it in a few shots. Give me a break about how good it is. X-Tran is the worse thing they ever came up with. Their normal Bayer Sensors cameras look better than the wonky colors on the X-Trans ones. They are clown colors, not natural looking like a Canon or Nikon.

[... ]

 Why the hell would I want a damn stills camera at all, let alone one that doesn't do video, or if it does, like the Fuji does, pretty piss poor video at that.

 

 

Only thing clownish I'm seeing here is your comments I'm afraid.. Do you even have any experience with (latest gen) Fuji X system for video? or is it all based on silly JPG YT shootouts of fruits & charts?!

Here is an ungraded video from an actual real-world DOP giving you the rundown on what i'd agree are some of the IQ highlights for video work:

https://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/26299-fuji-x-h1-new-apsc-video-oriented-camera/

latest specs sound great!

4 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

Not according to this video. It was at the bottom with Pentax.

 

i remember that shootout.. so unscientific with different lenses on each body.. and such weird "test shots" .. brown foliage, a baby & fruit lol.. 

anyways Fuji came in 4th btw.. Pentax 8th.. it's all pretty subjective though (aside from iPhone lol)

as a recent Fuji convert (XT2) after spending years on Canikon i must say i'm very satisfied with the Fuji X experience & results both in stills & video.

what sets Fuji X apart are 2 things: X-trans sensor which eliminates chroma noise and gives a more filmic luma noise at high ISO & the film simulations which make use of Fuji's extensive knowledge in film color science. their AWB is also second to none, nailing even the most difficult mixed light situations.

Glad to hear they've sorted some issues and that ML on the 5D is working so good for others, but I'm afraid my experience has been tainted by having numerous lockups and a dead 5D on set (even if for 10mn only.. those were some long a$$ 10mn!). It's kind of like all the wonder stories about drug trips you hear and then there is that one out of a 100 risk of OD and well i'm not taking that chance even if odds are good!

As far as BMD cameras.. i wasn't thinking of the pocket but rather the production or URSA's which i can rent for quite cheap the odd times clients really requires raw recording (which is much less than what people may think, even netflix DOPs reveal they favor Prores most of the time.. because who has time/space for raw these days?) it's definitely amazing though what ML have achieved and I only wish they could hack more recent models with beefier processors. the old 5D raw footage i've got still blows my socks off..

2 hours ago, Mattias Burling said:

Its surprising to me that people still talks about these issues that as far as I know where solved years ago.
I have never dropped a single frame, absolutely no issues with live view and there at least used to be audio (not that I would use in camera sound from any stills camera). Never had a bricked camera nor talked to anyone experiencing it.
And to get DNGs is exactly that, imo. A walk in the park. Drag-n-Drop and push one button, done.

Did you use a decent CF card? Did you have ML on the same card or the SD? What build? How many have you bricked?
It would be interesting to finally track down what causes these issues that some seem to experience.

honestly, i don't remember all the details, it's been a while and for all i know these issues have all been solved..?

It was Nightly build and ML was on the SD i remember that but i can assure you i'd often be getting frame drops, live view / audio issues etc.. I did make full use of a lot of options (perhaps too many were activated)

yeah getting DNGs can be drag n drop with that one paid app.. still converting is time consuming depending on your cpu / hard drives..

i never fully bricked a 5D thank god but definitely severe lock ups requiring battery pull method etc. one day it took like 10mn for the 5D to come back to life, boy was i ever nervous.. didn't really do much RAW with it after that!

of course your mileage may vary.. just giving my own experience of which ML felt unreliable at times.

today if i needed raw for commercial usage i would look at any second hand Blackmagic camera before going to a hacked 5D3. again just my .2c

5D3 14-bit Raw is definitely some of the finest 1080p IQ outside of Arris etc... but shooting with it is honestly a little hit & miss. Not having sound, super choppy liveview, couple seconds before dropping frames etc makes it kind of unreliable for pro use. I only used it for certain money shots as B-cam  footage to the C100 and even then was nervous until i got home and saw the footage. Raw is already a hefty workflow on it's own, and jumping through the ML hoops to get to that DNG isn't really a walk in the park. Just trying to inform people that might be tempted to go that route.. remember it is a hack.. and bricking your camera isn't excluded (i certainly had lock-ups quite regularly). That IQ though... 

oh and as far as the whole 8-bit / 10-bit / raw / log etc debate.. this good old video by Dugdale revealed some interesting stuff using a multitude of cams (A7R2/A7S2/FS5/C100/Red):

On 2/3/2018 at 3:27 PM, jonpais said:

@Django Here’s a list of portable devices that support Mobile HDR: Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung S8 Plus, LG G6, LG V30, Sony Xperia XZ Premium, Sony Xperia XZ1, Pixel, Razer Phone, Apple iPhone X, Apple iPhone 8, Apple iPhone 8 Plus, Apple iPad Pro, Samsung Galaxy Tab S3, and the Samsung Galaxy Book.

For the fiscal first quarter of 2018, Apple alone shipped nearly 80 million smartphones worldwide, representing over 1% of the world’s population. And that’s just 3 months for one manufacturer, not including tablets and Apple TV. So I believe the number is actually far greater than .2%. lol

 

Actually, outside sources reveal iPhone X is a flop and manufacturing will be cut by 50% this quarter. iPhone 8 is also underperforming.. but you know what i find most amusing?  all this fuss over HDR.. to end up being viewed, by what 1% of the population? on a glossy 4" phone display in mixed lighting (while being bombarded by on-screen notifications & incoming calls..) what a time to be alive!

seriously though i'm with others here.. HDR at this point is mostly marketing hype. Nobody in the real world is equipped for it yet and just like 3D TVs which came and went or even 4K TVs at launch that were being pushed before there was even any 4k broadcast material available.. heck i remember when HDR was the next cool thing in photography, now it's considered kind of corny.. time will tell but something tells me HDR video is just the trend of the day like hyper-lapse, super-slomo, VR etc.. All of which are cool things but I'm certainly in no rush to jump on the bandwagon, then again it's a subjective thing, and my aesthetic tends more around organic/filmic rather than hyperrealism.

Surely there are far better technical experts here than me but from my basic knowledge shooting log/raw, it isn't only about getting maximum DR.. it's also about getting a wider color/contrast latitude for gradability purposes rather than baked in profiles. if you're trying to match various footage/cameras or have a heavy grade/look it's for sure the way to go imo.

raw has the extra advantage of giving you full white balance adjustment & various options that get unlocked in davinci and of course gives you true uncompressed image which can amount to greater detail. it's basically the same story than shooting raw vs jpeg with stills.

that being said, if you don't know what you're doing, or don't have much post production time/skills.. shooting log can amount to ruined footage or post headaches.. and of course low bit codecs may limit your grading latitude and you may just be better off shooting baked picture profiles.. i hardly ever shot c-log on my C100.. WideDR and custom profiles were usually enough. and my XT2 has such gorgeous IQ that I usually just shoot SOOC with the film simulations and various custom profiles. but on the Ursa Mini Pro we rented last weekend for narrative work it was ProRes Film log / RAW shooting all day.. 

now i don't much about shooting HDR/HLG but from what i understand the point is to get max DR and color wow/pop factor while having a very simple workflow not requiring much if any grading allowing for fast turnovers. great for broadcast/events etc. not really interesting for narrative work etc where you want a specific look and/or full control over your image. of course only maybe 0.2% of the world population is HDR equipped to even view the benefits..lol

On 1/16/2018 at 3:16 PM, Andrew Reid said:

 

The Metabones adapter doesn't work at all with some Sigma lenses (was out of luck entirely with 35mm F1.4 ART!) but you should keep it for Canon stuff. I am not having much luck with Canon EF lenses on the MC-11.

 

I remember trying out the MC-11 with Canon 35mm 1.4 L on A7R2 and getting pretty decent AF results to my surprise. I think it's definitely lens dependant (and there is a Canon EF compatibility list) what Canon lenses have you tested?

21 minutes ago, Eric Calabros said:

Its not a rumor, its just clickbait BS. Nikon didn't even share a bit of F mount protocol with them that resulted horrible AF experience with almost any ART lens. They're too far from doing collaborative projects, let alone being friends. But Sigma will start reverse engineering the Z the first day the first Nikon mirrorless is available in the market. 

BTW, Nikon just filled a patent for mirrorless 14-28mm f/2.8 lens. I hope they deliver this one. 

F mount is a different story, Nikon has 50 years of lens legacy to protect.. Z is a new mount and in view of Nikon's current status it would make sense for them to partner up with 3rd party imo if they wanna turn heads.. they've got a lot of catching up to do system-wise entering this late in the mirrorless game..

rumor mill has it Nikon is licensing Sigma to produce/adapt native Z-mount lenses.. a la Sony/Zeiss.

I'd love for Canikon to come out with a great FF mirrorless system with excellent video specs but have strong doubts on how/if that will happen. 

Canon keep trying to protect the C line so i don't see them putting out a large sensor 4k mirrorless with PDAF, log, assist features & a manageable codec just yet..

And Nikon just have so much catching up to do in the video department (no log, no peaking, weak AF,  low bitrate codecs etc..)

1 hour ago, webrunner5 said:

What in video are you Ever going to need to use Super Shallow DoF? Put a Speedbooster on the GH5s and you are up , hell with this new sensor, at least s35, maybe APSH. How much difference is that compared to FF? Sure as hell not enough for me to want to have to use expensive as hell FE, or heavy Canon lenses on one.

And if it rains or gets wet what then? Waterproofing on the A7 series bodies is shit! I had one, it did not exude confidence out in the elements, even sand I can tell you that much.

I think the New A7r mk III probably is the best all rounder out there. For Video and Photo. One stop shopping. But I think this new GH5s maybe a better Cine only camera at this moment. Yeah AF, well we won't go there... But touchscreen AF, now that works pretty well. I still say if you are going big time, Manual Focus Lenses all the way. And MF Cine lenses to boot if you win the Lotto.

If I am going to the film in Africa in the boon docks I want a Canon Cx00 with DPAF. Simple as that for Documentary work.

well there you have it: different cameras for different types of shooters. lotta people can only afford and want a single body for both photo & video. a lot of people also like FF aesthetic & super shallow DOF (casey neistat even switched back from 4K GH5S to 1080p on Canon simply for the FF look -not sure that was the best choice but it does say something-). there are also advantages of being able to use native glass for your APS-C & FF needs without having to rely on speed boosters. DPAF/PDAF comes in very handy for a variety of situations from run & gun, gimbal use or if your stuck with internal 3" displays, especially with resolution/detail becoming so high. it just makes your life easier.

sony have addressed a lot of their ergonomics, battery life etc.. issues with the A9/A7R3. AF is getting real solid. on the photo side A7R3 is basically camera of the year. the only thing that was still their biggest issue was the color science & weak AWB. so the fact this is now fixed and on par with Canon is quite big news imo. If the A7S3 has 10-bit, then it might just be game over for the competition. In the meantime i'm definitely going to rent an A7R3 and test all this out for myself.. 

Concerning the EVA1 comparisons, have a look at the following video at around the 20mn mark, there is talk/footage comparing GH5 to EVA1 IQ specifically regarding DR, color, detail, motion & sharpening.. 

the difference is pretty drastic imo (EVA1 owners shouldn't have to worry about their investment!)

wow.. Panasonic on some Black Mirrors dystopian society master plan 

Further proof Sony weather sealing has flaws.. even on it's latest "further improved sealing" model

Bloom breaks it down nicely in his review and confirms what other reports have been saying: EVA1 is a solid effort from Panny capable of gorgeous imagery and some cool features but that is let down by some odd choices (EF mount), questionable build quality issues & severely lacking in departments like AF & LCD/EVF. It's kind of a mystery to me how these companies can get things so right yet drop the ball so hard in other fields. I guess he's right that we'll never get that perfect camera that combines everything (at least not under $10K).

Personally, I'd still probably put the C200 in front of the bunch just because of RAW & DPAF.

FS7 is a workhorse but having used one recently for an entire project I did find it slow & clunky to operate. Feels dated.

FS5 + Inferno is probably the best deal right now at current prices, but you have to wonder if Sony isn't about to pull out a MkII..

That being said, EVA1 IQ really has a bit of that varicam mojo, if you can get past it's shortcomings i'm sure the files are a pleasure to work with.

Honestly it's a tough call right now in that mid-range video cam market!

I don't mind switching from still to video mode (all the way to the left on the thumb lever) but switching from video to stills is a little more fiddly.

What I really do wish was that still/video settings were independent from each other. hate having to set shutter speed each time i'm changing modes.

I hope XH1 addresses that, and of course, a record button would be nice too.

10 hours ago, jonpais said:

In fact, to make the Fuji functional for my way of shooting, I’d need to invest in an external recorder (Ninja Flame + storage), a cage, a gimbal for stabilization (Zhiyun Crane) and a battery grip (VPB), bringing the total outlay for an X-T2 and accessories to over $3,700.00.

 

Have you forgotten about the upcoming Fuji H1?

As a reminder, it will feature internal F-Log, IBIS, Touchscreen, better hand grip/ergonomics..etc for around $2,000.00.

13 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Just tried it out for the first time

It's fucking good.

Looks more like A6500 than X-T2

No crop either. Super fine noise grain.

No crop in 4K really? so you're getting APS-C/S35 4K??

If so that's amazing and makes it almost better than XT2!

IQ is looking pretty sweet too..