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Trek of Joy

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  1. Haha
    Trek of Joy reacted to webrunner5 in Looking at Sony ZV E10 as a hands-off b-cam for S1H. Any thoughts?   
    All this autofocus talk makes me laugh. Other than maybe the latest Canon DPAF 4th gen I would not trust AF if it is an important shoot for nothing. There is no such thing as set it walk away and it will be great. If it can go to shit it will.  Even if it drifts out of focus once it is ruined in my mind, just like crappy audio is a total turnoff.
    If you get the right lens with the right sensor you can cover just about anything in MF. You find the right backdrop to use to mask unwanted distractions. Yeah one man band stuff is hard and most of it looks it. Why do people think you can just take a modern camera and shoot a full length feature film solo on it. The laws of physics have not changed that I know of, They have tape hooks on cine cameras for a reason. DOF charts abound on the web. Some of this stuff just sounds like laziness to me.
    I have said it 200 times on here. Video is hard as hell to do. Every damn aspect of it is hard.  From storyboard to final cut. They have 20 people helping out for a reason. And your going to trust AF on something you probably can never repeat. What if he picks his nose, blows his nose, has a hell of a big nose and turns his head. You can't even use eye focus on a woman with long bangs and other types of long hairdos. Your asking for the impossible with AF. And you are even talking a Panny SIH, a hell of a camera with less than Steller AF. Yikes.
  2. Like
    Trek of Joy got a reaction from aaa123jc in Looking at Sony ZV E10 as a hands-off b-cam for S1H. Any thoughts?   
    Again man, just read what the OP wants and stop focusing on me. The RX0 clearly isn't it because he wants shallower DOF. I just mentioned 10-bit it since he's looking to cut footage with the s1h, 10-bit will give more flexibility in post. And in his words, the GH5 didn't cut it, so your RX certainly wouldn't either. This is the criteria, ignore me and focus on this:
     "I want another camera to cut to occasionally that is:

    A - always in focus regardless of how animated the interviewer is. On some focal lengths even at F4 it's possible for an interviewee to lean in and out of focus very easily.

    B - reasonably shallow DOF so it looks nice and not like a camcorder.

    C- unmanned. I want to press go and when i come to edit, know it will be in focus.

    Those three factors mean I need autofocus for that other camera. TBH I think the current fashionable dogma of "REAL film-makers don't use autofocus" comes from a sort of aspirational attitude, wanting to have a big crew etc. It's fine if you have enough people and time, but both cost far more money than gear. In reality I shoot lots of interviews a year often entirely alone. Autofocus would mean I don't have to hire someone else, something that would be prohibitively expensive budget-wise to get someone good. If you are on your own only holding focus on a face while moving, that isn't an "artistic" task. It's a technical one. We are at the point where computers do such tasks very well and will only get better.
    I have already tried this sort of shoot with a GH5 b-cam and it didn't work. We aren't even talking about razor thing DOF, just not camcorder/mobile-phone deep. And still it always ended up hunting or pulsing at some point, in the end I sold it. Contrast based AF is just not up to the task. That leaves me with Sony or Canon.

    My only real worry with Sony was cutting their 8-bit 4:2:0 against the S1H 6K 12-bit raw."
  3. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to Amazeballs in Sony A7S III   
    Getting at macro video with A7S3. No dedicated macro lens have been used. Check the video description for more clues. 
  4. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to fuzzynormal in Most underrated cameras?   
    I know it's an impossible thing to really quantify to other people, especially pros, but it's been true in my experience as well.  I've just ended up preferring using Oly cams for some reason.  Ergonomics I think.
    And it doesn't make sense because Oly's menu system is a bit of a jumble, but I guess once I learned it, it's been productive.
    I don't do a lot of high end stuff, and what I do (still) do is almost always hand-held run-n-gun.  I get by easily with 8-bit.  My cheap EM10iii with a variable ND does the job.  Here's a recent thing I was hired for; half day shoot and half day editing with a script they recorded.  Basic basic basic, but got the product delivered to the client as they requested.  I'm not sure if I even used a high end camera for a gig like this it would've turned out much different.  So, you know, for me, the rather simple tool is appropriate.
     
  5. Like
    Trek of Joy got a reaction from kye in Looking at Sony ZV E10 as a hands-off b-cam for S1H. Any thoughts?   
    Any of the Sony's with Real Time Tracking will fit the bill. That includes the ZV you originally asked about, the a61/4/600's, and all of the latest FF bodies - a7c, a9/a9II, a7rIV a1, a7sIII/fx3 and a7IV. Unfortunately the only 10-bit bodies are the a1, a7sIII/fx3 and the a7IV. I've had the a7IV for a week and I really like it next to the a7sIII, but that's a much larger investment compared to the ZV. I wish Sony would do 10-bit and such with its aps-c bodies, but they've made it clear if you want that level of features in the E-mount, you will have to go FF or the Cine line.
    Anyway, I just use the touch to track feature you'll get really great face/eye AF for interviews, and if it can't get the eye it'll still stay locked onto the subject. I stumbled across this video shot with AF and the 50GM. Awesome. There are obviously tons of you tubers showing AF by bouncing in and out of the frame, but as a solo-shooter its just so cool to be able to tap the subject and then do an interview while monitoring audio and exposure without worrying about focus. Sony's AF has made my workflow a lot better.
    Cheers
    Chris
     
  6. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to kye in Test of various lenses (Vintage vs Voigtlander)   
    I'm still digesting the images but thought I'd share some background to this test, and my lenses in general.
    I shoot a few different scenarios, short outings with family (eg, a walk on the beach), events with friends and family (eg, state fair or other kind of event), holidays with family (domestic and international), and the kids playing sports.
    The aesthetic of what I shoot is quite specific as it's about what happens, which means:
    The camera represents me and my POV most of the time, so how I hand-hold it and compose images, what I focus on and how fast I do so (manual focus), is part of the videos I make. I have one aesthetic - sentimental.
    I don't film when my wife is tired, we get lost, the kids are grumpy, someone is getting yelled at for misbehaving, etc.  These are the videos of memory, the people who we are, where we went, what we did, the experiences we had.  It doesn't have to be rosy, but it's either near the neutral point or on the positive side of the spectrum. I have one subject - family and friends interacting with each other and the situation.  Environmental portraits really. I have four fields of view.  These correspond to (FF equivalents): 35mm which gives environmental portraits from the distance I normally find myself when travelling with friends/family, which lines up nicely with the subject/location interaction.  This is most of my shots. 16mm which gives those WOW shots for architecture and large vistas. 85mm which is the perspective of seeing little moments that other people are sharing that I'm not part of (eg, my wife interacting with the kids while they don't know I'm watching / filming). telephoto (150mm+) which is the experience of looking at animals at zoos or safaris, people playing sports, or detail shots of large panoramas (eg, lookouts over cities etc). I shoot what happens, I don't direct, I get no second chances.  We experience life first, shooting comes second, always. This also means I want to attract the least attention, because being surrounded by people who are looking at the camera isn't my idea of a great holiday. I am moving from representing what happened to how the experience felt.  This is a fundamental shift and pushes me in the direction of softer renderings, playing with time, elements of non-linear editing, more creative colour grades, and essentially going the exact opposite of the video look.  A pretty good compass is that if someone with a P4K or P6K and Sigma 18-35mm says I should do something, I should do the opposite! I don't yet know what lenses will best give this aesthetic, but I do know that I don't want to shoot RAW as my shooting ratio is high and file sizes become ridiculous, and due to compressed files always being sharpened I don't want overly sharp lenses.
    I find myself in so many different scenarios that trying to separate things out in this way doesn't quite work, so I'll start with the equipment and work backwards.
    I have three main cameras, and these naturally pair with certain lenses, and suggest suitability for different things:
    GF3, which has good colour but poor 1080p codec, so really needs to be paired with super-sharp lenses.  It also lacks IBIS and any control in video mode at all, but has pretty good AF. GF3 + 15mm F8 'lenscap' lens - truly pocketable, fixed focus, has the 30mm FOV, but rubbish low-light so it's day only GF3 + 14mm F2.5 - still pocketable (just), but can do low(ish) light GF3 + 12-35mm f2.8 - not pocketable, has OIS, flexible zoom range GX85, which has good colour, good codec, IBIS, but is quite sharp (even on a 1080p timeline).  Best paired with vintage lenses to avoid the video look. GX85 + 12.5mm F1.9 - ~35mm FOV, sensor coverage isn't 100% even with EIS enabled, so composition trips me up sometimes. GX85 + 28mm F2.8 + SB - 44mm FOV (not too far away from 35mm) and shallower DoF than the 12.5mm (even at F4) GX85 + 28-70mm + SB - 44-110mm FOV, potentially a great walk-around combo GX85 + Helios + SB - 90mm FOV, lovely images GH5, which is great at almost everything, but is large and doesn't have great low-light.  This is almost always paired with primes. I currently shoot MFT, obviously, but may eventually go FF.  This lead me down a line of thinking where I realised that a FF F1.4 lens is only one stop slower than my F0.95 Voigtlanders, and if I put them on a SB then I can get the same exposure into the GH5 (which doesn't have great low-light).  
    Also, because the DoF is so much shallower on FF lenses, if I matched the DoF to get the same amount of background defocus as I have now (which is useful for subject separation in the very busy environments I shoot in), then I'd only need to sacrifice one stop of light, which would be fine in most situations.
    This leads to the following:

    So, I would need:
    15mm F8 (or faster) 24mm F2 (or faster)* 35mm F4 (or faster) 60mm F2 (or faster)* 85mm F4 (or faster) * = lenses to be used with SB on MFT prior to moving to FF.
    One massive con to the whole thing is that I'd be throwing away the huge advantage that MFT has had over FF until very recently, which is the ability to gather a huge amount of light but not pair it with unusably shallow DoF.  MFT has a two-stop exposure advantage over FF for the same FoV/DoF, which I really need with the poor ISO performance of the GH5.
    I suspect that this advantage will become nullified in future due to Dual-ISO, and there's no way I would buy a FF camera without that - trying to focus an 85mm at F1.4 when that exposure-level is required would be ridiculous and not show enough subject and environment so is basically a non-starter for me.
    I realise that I have significant demands on my equipment that many others don't have, but I compensate for it by working really hard (as these forums give a taste of - I shoot lots of stuff no-one here sees, except maybe @mercer) and I temper my expectations too.  
    Also, and this is a big one, I don't expect 4K.  Many many things become easier when you're publishing in 1080p rather than 4K.  Resolution hurts in ways that people are't willing to discuss because those that have bought into the idea don't want to hear the alternative views, despite the fact they don't jump on anyone who wants to buy a 2K Alexa...  All testing I do is "what is visible on a 1080p timeline?".  If the Alexa looks great on a 1080p timeline then why would I want more?  It's ridiculous to even contemplate, but people do.  Anyway.
    Some thoughts....  @Emanuel even asked for them!
    To provide some context for people that haven't seen these images already, here are some samples of the kinds of things I'm shooting.  Most of these are basically ungraded, so don't judge my colour grading 🙂 









  7. Like
    Trek of Joy got a reaction from shooter in A7IV opinions   
    A7IV? I wish. I have one on order LOL, but I'm in the US and we won't see them for another month. Right now its the a7III/a7sIII combo for me. All of your S5 points are great and honestly features I would like to see on Sony, though I get monitoring and false color with the Ninja which I don't mind rigging.
    The latest Sony AF has been a game changer for me, I need glasses for anything within a few feet and its just made me so much faster, I almost never focus manually because I can't see further away with my glasses on. So I'm looking forward to the a7IV to better compliment the a7sIII - Sony's real time tracking never ceases to impress, its really, really good. The other upgrades are welcome too, and I really don't mind the 60p crop, even if I didn't have the a7sIII.
    Cheers
    Chris
  8. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to projectwoofer in Ambient Works by Mr Woofer   
    Here’s the next one! The footage here is actually a bit older. It was also shot with the GX85 in 4K 24fps, using the Speedmaster 25mm 0.95 and Lumix 12-32mm pancake on location of Filothei Athens Greece, on 16 April 2019. Edited and color graded in Davinci Resolve Studio with Emotive Color S1Alex. Here I used FilmConvert Nitrate with the print slider turned to zero (as a negative film emulation only) and I used a separate PFE node in the end. 
    About the music: I’ve used the following: Yamaha TX802, DOD Rubberneck, Lexicon MX200, Boss DC-2w, Elektron Analog Heat, Valhalla Supermassive. The environmental sounds are again from the actual field recordings during the shooting. The music was composed and mixed in Cubase Pro and mastered in Izotope Ozone.
    A note about field recordings: they are heavily processed so as to give this “out of this world” atmosphere but also to cover a bit the fact that they were just recorded with GX85’s internal microphone. At the time I didn’t even have the idea of using the original field recordings as I normally never do for my music videos so it didn’t matter! Future projects will be improved in this regard.
  9. Like
    Trek of Joy got a reaction from noone in A manifesto for the humble zoom lens   
    Sony shooter checking in - and I love zooms. I shoot the a7sIII, a7III (though that will the the IV soon, hopefully LOL!) and the a6300 for a small/light/cheap backup or tiny walkabout cam. Though I love fast, sharp primes and I'm a shallow DOF/creamy bokeh junkie, most of my work is with the zoom trinity for its versatility, and most of that is the 24-70. I can't imaging being an all prime shooter and all the lens changes LOL! But I've always tried to keep my kit mobile in one medium size backpack - so I can carry 2 or 3 bodies with lenses and a prime or two, plus my drone in something like a Lowepro 450 size bag.
    I've always worked best with the holy trinity - that's been a UWA somewhere in the 16-35 range (most recently the 12-24/4) and the standard which is the Sigma 24-70/2.8 right now. For the last year the long end of that trifecta has been the Tamron 70-180, which replaced the Sony GM and has been brilliant thanks to its size and great IQ. I use it a lot more than the GM since it's pretty much always in my bag. 
    But Tamron has thrown a major wrench in the works with the new 35-150/f2-2.8 that has me seriously thinking about running a mostly 2-lens kit of the 16-35 GM/35-150 with 2-3 fast primes sprinkled in for smaller/faster stuff indoors or just for bokeh fun. The Tammy is faster than my 2.8 zoom through 60mm, but I'd lose a lot on the wide end and would need to carry a UWA - but realistically this could replace my 35/85 f/1.8's and the 24-70/70-180 with another lens on the wide end. I think LOL! There's definitely a mental barrier consolidating four lenses into one and workflow changes since I use the 24-70 on the wide end a lot. And with my first baby on the way, I want a fast prime or two for indoor low light shooting and some super bokeh shots of her little hands and feet and such. I've always been a 24/35/85 shooter, but there are just too many options to fill in primes around that 35-150 that I can decide, plus change is hard since I've had the trinity for more than a decade.
    One E-mount outlier is the tiny a7c 28-60 kit lens. Its ridiculously small, really sharp and makes for a great gimbal lens or just a fun, small walkabout lens. For a $250 lens used, its amazing.
    Cheers
    Chris
  10. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to kye in Best Control Surface?   
    I'd suggest that you investigate controller options for FCPX.  I say this because:
    You tried Resolve before and it didn't take The Speed Editor is designed for the Cut page, and while certain things work in the Edit page a lot (most?) functions don't work there, or don't work in the way you'd predict / want The Cut page seems to do rather odd things sometimes (maybe this will be fixed in future versions, but I'll believe it when I see it) I have a love/annoyance relationship with Resolve and with BM.  On the one hand, the power of the colour page is unquestionable and the sheer quantity of features in the other pages is undeniable.  On the other hand, BM are a very take-it-or-leave-it company:
    they have a way they expect you to work and even though they could alter features to let you work a different way they keep the features so they work their way and make zero sense any other way they are a hardware company first and "cripple" Resolve to push you down the path of buying their hardware they are focused on the big studios and the "little guys" are the poor cousin who isn't well catered for I'm starting to really get acquainted with the controller and my work workflows and editing style now and I'm actually contemplating starting to hack together a controller setup of my own to "bypass" some of the Resolve restrictions.  Specifically, Resolve has a number of UI features that can't be assigned to Keyboard Shortcuts, or are usable in one page but not the other (eg, Cut page vs Edit page).  I'm pondering if it's worth my time to look into developing custom macros or whatever to get around these.
  11. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to Emanuel in DJI Osmo Pocket 2   
    Unique accessories...
    https://scottymakesstuff.com/collections/dji-pocket-2-accessories
     
  12. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to Emanuel in DJI Osmo Pocket 2   
    I fully understand you : ) DJI has the best range on small form factor end, based on their gimbal bet. Everyone coming from film realm follows the reason why I am used to never end keep saying it :- )
     
    PS
    What a dream!! : ) Loved it! Is she your relative, model, actress?
  13. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to kye in Best Control Surface?   
    Since my last post in this thread, I now own the Speed Editor for Resolve and am loving it.

    My earlier statement proved to be correct - the critical feature is the scroll wheel.  However, I think there are three main reasons to consider a control surface, depending on what you're doing and what NLE you have.
    Navigating using the scroll wheel
    The scroll wheel is super intuitive to use when editing, and for this purpose I think the ergonomics are important.  The Speed Editor (BMSE) wheel is heavy and has momentum, so I find that I use it a lot by flicking it and having it spin on its own accord.  This means that you can have almost frame-level accuracy and yet be able to quickly navigate the timeline at the same time.  A wheel that was just a clicky-control would be far less useful in this sense I think.
    Editing using the scroll wheel
    Probably the killer feature of the SE is the ability to hold down a button (eg, to control the out point of a clip) and move the wheel to adjust it.  The SE allows you to control in points, out points, allows you to slip clips, to roll edit points, etc, all by holing down a button and scrolling using the wheel.  
    It also has other things like being able to control the size of the viewing window, once again, by holding it down and using the wheel to adjust it.
    This method of working is super intuitive and a really slick feature.
    Editing using the buttons
    The SE has buttons that access functions that you can't map to keyboard keys.  This is a bit of a cheat from BM, but its there, so isn't to be discounted.
    I would evaluate your options above based on those criteria, as they're the ones that really provide the value of a control surface, in my experience.
  14. Like
    Trek of Joy got a reaction from Matt James Smith ? in Stereo mic recommendations please (for in-camera ambient location/field recording)   
    Nice! I have a Sennheiser G3 wireless handheld/lav system I don't use very much, was thinking about listing on Fleabay. This may be the route I go as well and just flip the G3 into the SVMX. 
    Cheers
    Chris
  15. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to Matt James Smith ? in Stereo mic recommendations please (for in-camera ambient location/field recording)   
    Just grabbed a used SVMX on eBay. It’s in pretty rough shape cosmetically but I got a decent price (£290) and doubt I’ll ever be looking to sell it on so as long as it works perfectly I’m happy. 
     
    Thanks for all the advice everyone!
  16. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to Matt James Smith ? in Stereo mic recommendations please (for in-camera ambient location/field recording)   
    Exactly the same - I have the mke 600 as my main mic and really don’t need to add another big mic to the rig. 
     
    The AT8022 looks really nice - if I knew I just wanted a stereo mic to swap out with the 600 sometimes I’d go for it.
  17. Like
    Trek of Joy got a reaction from Matt James Smith ? in Stereo mic recommendations please (for in-camera ambient location/field recording)   
    I'm leaning toward the Stereo VMP for now just for convenience and availability. I have the MKE 600 shotgun for more directional stuff and don't want to rig another large mic. I'm also shooting smaller cameras than you - mostly the a7sIII. The X does look next level for these smaller on cam mics though. The other options will need another shock mount and larger cables LOL! Damn supply chain issues....
    Cheers
    Chris
  18. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to Matt James Smith ? in Stereo mic recommendations please (for in-camera ambient location/field recording)   
    This guy has several videos. If you skip towards the end of this video to the shots of the lake, you get a good feel for the wide soundstage of the mic.
     
  19. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to kye in A manifesto for the humble zoom lens   
    Great stuff!
    I'm especially heartened to hear you're not in a hurry and will rent equipment before you buy.  
    I've used the Manfrotto Xume magnetic adapters before and they make working with filters really convenient, so I'd suggest that a system based on magnetic attachment is likely to be a positive experience that you'll really enjoy and benefit from.
  20. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to Matt James Smith ? in Stereo mic recommendations please (for in-camera ambient location/field recording)   
    Yeah I'm currently trying to figure out which recorder has the best XY mics built in, and how simple it'd be to mount it with a line-in to the camera, but I'm loathe to complicate my kit any further seeing as the C200 has 4 tracks and good preamps. 
  21. Like
    Trek of Joy got a reaction from Matt James Smith ? in Stereo mic recommendations please (for in-camera ambient location/field recording)   
    Interesting topic. I've been looking for something to capture ambient sound as well. The Rode Stereo Videomic X is at the top of my list too. But yeah, not easy to come by these days. Everything else that mounts on cam is low budget stuff. I've also been considering using the zoom H3VR until I can find the X, but using it in the field while shooting looks like a bit of a challenge LOL!
    https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1434530-REG/zoom_zh3vr_h3_vr_360_vr_audio.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A514&gclid=Cj0KCQiA15yNBhDTARIsAGnwe0Uv0Np2mQoQNyITewv0KPjHEsczvXVA9vdTPe30B27cIBfELOBKyQEaAg1yEALw_wcB
    Hopefully some other options pop up here.
    Cheers
    Chris
  22. Like
    Trek of Joy got a reaction from Emanuel in Stereo mic recommendations please (for in-camera ambient location/field recording)   
    Interesting topic. I've been looking for something to capture ambient sound as well. The Rode Stereo Videomic X is at the top of my list too. But yeah, not easy to come by these days. Everything else that mounts on cam is low budget stuff. I've also been considering using the zoom H3VR until I can find the X, but using it in the field while shooting looks like a bit of a challenge LOL!
    https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1434530-REG/zoom_zh3vr_h3_vr_360_vr_audio.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&lsft=BI%3A514&gclid=Cj0KCQiA15yNBhDTARIsAGnwe0Uv0Np2mQoQNyITewv0KPjHEsczvXVA9vdTPe30B27cIBfELOBKyQEaAg1yEALw_wcB
    Hopefully some other options pop up here.
    Cheers
    Chris
  23. Like
    Trek of Joy reacted to Mark Romero 2 in A7IV opinions   
    Glad to hear the Sony's are working out for you. Hopefully you are staying safe and still having a good time.
  24. Like
    Trek of Joy got a reaction from Juank in A7IV opinions   
    A7IV? I wish. I have one on order LOL, but I'm in the US and we won't see them for another month. Right now its the a7III/a7sIII combo for me. All of your S5 points are great and honestly features I would like to see on Sony, though I get monitoring and false color with the Ninja which I don't mind rigging.
    The latest Sony AF has been a game changer for me, I need glasses for anything within a few feet and its just made me so much faster, I almost never focus manually because I can't see further away with my glasses on. So I'm looking forward to the a7IV to better compliment the a7sIII - Sony's real time tracking never ceases to impress, its really, really good. The other upgrades are welcome too, and I really don't mind the 60p crop, even if I didn't have the a7sIII.
    Cheers
    Chris
  25. Like
    Trek of Joy got a reaction from DFason in A7IV opinions   
    A7IV? I wish. I have one on order LOL, but I'm in the US and we won't see them for another month. Right now its the a7III/a7sIII combo for me. All of your S5 points are great and honestly features I would like to see on Sony, though I get monitoring and false color with the Ninja which I don't mind rigging.
    The latest Sony AF has been a game changer for me, I need glasses for anything within a few feet and its just made me so much faster, I almost never focus manually because I can't see further away with my glasses on. So I'm looking forward to the a7IV to better compliment the a7sIII - Sony's real time tracking never ceases to impress, its really, really good. The other upgrades are welcome too, and I really don't mind the 60p crop, even if I didn't have the a7sIII.
    Cheers
    Chris
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