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MurtlandPhoto

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Posts posted by MurtlandPhoto

  1. 23 hours ago, MrSMW said:

    I wish they had called the latter the XH2R as it would make identification so much easier!

     

    S model cameras have been the bane of forums' existences for generations 😅

  2. I'm in love with my A7iv. It sorta of surprised me TBH. I've been making some major kit changes and decided to dip my toe into Sony with the A7iv just to see how I liked it. Within just a few days I was convinced that Sony was the right path forward for me and sold everything to rebuild my kit with the A7iv and A7s iii. No regrets whatsoever other than I wish I'd gone this route a little sooner.

    The two cameras pair really nicely together, both with some unique features that make it worth having one of each. With all factors added in, I do think the A7iv is the better all-around video camera for most people's needs. 

  3. 4 hours ago, stephen said:

    Changed Lens Data in Camera Metadata. Entered lens type and name plus focal point (length) and distance.  All those changes didn't solve the problem. Would be interesting to know do you get the same black screen with gyro stabilization and vintage manual lenses.

    My testing went flawlessly. I was using a Rokinon Cine DS lens—not vintage, but certainly fully manual. No black screen. The gyro stabilization works really, really well in some circumstances. Not so well in others.

  4. 8 hours ago, stephen said:

    Also did a test. Here are some observation:

    1. It doesn't work with lenses that don't have electronic contact with the camera. Gyro data is there but after applying gyro type of stabilization in Resolve got a black screen. This may be a bug in the beta version but it's unlikely. Seems logical that software needs to know focal length of the lens.

    Did you try swiping from the right of the screen to access the lens data menu? There you can manually input the lens focal length. I would think that would work for fully manual lenses. I plan on doing my own tests shortly.

  5. 15 hours ago, herein2020 said:

     @kye @newfoundmass well I can say first hand and without a doubt that I personally gave Panasonic's AF every possible chance before giving up. At one point I was ready to go all in on Panasonic bodies and even L mount lenses; I tested with both the kit lens and the free Sigma 45mm L lens....and after all of my testing there was no way that I could trust it on a professional shoot for my types of projects. The pulsing, hunting, inability to focus when the subject was backlit, etc made it many orders of magnitude worse than even my 6yr old 5D4.

    Sure in simple situations it probably works fine, but for gimbal work and complex lighting or low light it is completely unusable.

     

    8 hours ago, kye said:

    Cool - one person did their own testing and evaluations in their own particular scenarios with their own lenses.  Only about 50 more critics left to see if they're talking from experience or hype 🙂 

    For what it's worth, I'll be the second critic to say this. I shot with Panasonic cameras for over a decade starting with the GH1 and owned every GH camera through the GH5s. I then owned the S1 for about a year. I molded my shooting style around the strengths and limitations of Panasonic cameras with AF being their biggest limitation. The S1 was the best of the bunch. I worked within the limits of Panny's AF: well lit situations, with simple movements, usually in 60p, with middle apertures (f/4, f/5.6). Even then the AF only worked OK... I had to be hyper attentive to what the focus was doing to make sure it wasn't going awry. I thought it was good enough, even though I knew it was limiting how I could use the camera.

    Then I switched to the Sony a7iv and it was a complete revelation. The AF is incredibly accurate, fast, and feature-rich. It works so well and is so intuitive that I have no reservations about using it for any scenario: wide open, poor lighting, fast movement, complex frames. It just delivers the goods. It allows me to take my focus (pun totally intended) off the AF and turn more attention onto sound, exposure, framing, action, and everything else. Switching to a camera with great AF made me realize how much I was compromising by using a camera with poor AF. Old schoolers might call it lazy but I don't care. I've been reinvigorated to create new things because now this critical feature has been unlocked for me. I wish Panasonic could have done it for me, but nope.

  6. 4 minutes ago, MurtlandPhoto said:

    That's been my sense as well. It seemed clear when they released the Broadcast G2 with the 6K sensor and specs. I think I remember Grant Petty saying essentially they couldn't source any more of the original Broadcast sensors so they cannibalized the 6K ones for that line essentially making an Ursa Mini Pro G3, but not really. Funky stuff.

     

  7. The tech itself is very interesting, but I'm most excited about the implementation directly in Resolve. All of Resolve's tools are sooooo quick and light, so it will be awesome to have this resource available without having to pay the toll of computer slowdown (fingers crossed) compared to other solutions.

  8. 4 hours ago, kye said:

    It makes sense as a commercial move for them in terms of pricing and manufacture.  I've had the sense through their seemingly random previous camera models that they were leaping from one design to the next perhaps based on what was cheap and available at the time.  This meant that every camera was largely a new design, making them more prone to QC issues.  Seems this update is aligned to that perhaps.

    That's been my sense as well. It seemed clear when they released the Broadcast G2 with the 6K sensor and specs. I think I remember Grant Petty saying essentially they couldn't source any more of the original Broadcast sensors so they cannibalized the 6K ones for that line. 

  9. 32 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said:

    They described a cinema camera shooting 24fps or more at 2K or more.

    You are suggesting they write the patent in an unclear way, and that just isn't how it's done.

    If they had not defined a SPECIFIC minimum frame rate and resolution, the claims of the patent would be legally unclear.

    I don't see how this is hard to comprehend even for a non-lawyer.

    I think the major issue is that the defined, specific minimum frame rate (and lesser extent resolution) RED used in their patent is the standard for an entire industry that existed for a century before RED. Not a great analogy, but it would be like Tesla patenting electric cars capable of going over 65mph while the U.S. interstate system is largely built for that exact speed of traffic with combustion cars for over a century.

  10. 52 minutes ago, IronFilm said:

    No crazier the patent that RED got than the patent which exists for wearing a lav bodypack recorder with an output!!

    The comparisons between Zaxcom and RED are many.... 

    It's insane to me that such broad ideas can be patented. No need to outline specific tech or software or whatever. Just the idea. 

  11. 13 minutes ago, Eric Calabros said:

    There is no exception. ARRI didn't reinvent the CMOS sensor, they just achieved lower noise floor with double readout. State of the art CMOS is limited by 15 stop, which 13 is useable. These are so clean that they're only limited by shot noise. In other words, the noise problem is already solved; so to increase DR you need to work on the other side: saturation level. Unfortunately its so hard to increase the saturation capacity that Nikon celebrated when they achieved 1/4 of a stop more capacity and called it ISO 64, which in reality was only ISO 80.

    Perhaps I should rephrase. I think there's a true, scientific definition of DR and then there's the marketing definition of DR. The latter has always been squishy for most manufacturers with some taking more liberty than others. My understanding is that ARRI is much more conservative and "real" with their marketing definition of DR. I believe they claim the original Alexa sensor as 15 stops. So, if they say this new sensor has 17 stops I take them at their word that it is two stops better. 

  12. 11 hours ago, kye said:

    Then @John Brawley created a new thread talking about how NAB will be the 10 year anniversary of the release of the first BM cinema camera.  It starts with this:

     

      It was about 10 years ago that Blackmagic truly shocked all by announcing that they had made a cinema camera.

      Some thought it was a joke.

      Some said it was a toy.

      It was announced the first day of NAB in 2012. There were no leaks. It dropped on the floor of NAB like a bomb.

     

    This, to me, is an enormous wink and a nod at the idea that BM will announce something big.  

     

    Woah, this is a really good observation. It feels really likely BM would mark the anniversary with another disruptive camera. I've felt the Pocket 4K/6K/Pro cameras are the spiritual successors to the BMCC/4K and not really the OG Pocket. So maybe there's some room for a new, true pocket camera. Otherwise, maybe they're going to do some sort of Ursa Micro. Either way, I think there are holes in the "lower" end of their lineup.

    On second thought, with it being NAB and with BM doing all sorts of amazing things with their ATEM line, maybe they're going to release a PTZ camera with some really nifty features... disrupting more of the broadcast space than the cinema one.

  13. 20 minutes ago, webrunner5 said:

    There is no way in hell you are ever going to get the PK4 to look like the OG BMPCC looks like using Raw DNG. Blackmagic has lost it's magic since the PK4 came out. They looking nothing like the old stuff did. They look like everyone else now.

    A simple CST in Resolve to the original BM Film gamut and color space gets it 90% of the way there in 4 clicks. The last 10% comes from the s16 sensor size. In the end, the creature comforts of the P4K are just too great to ignore for me personally.

  14. On 2/23/2022 at 10:48 AM, webrunner5 said:

    I think the GH6 is a camera too late. Most people have moved on from M4/3. I guess if you are big into Anamorphic I can see buying it but ProRes and Raw, all of that is already in a lot of FF stuff now.

    And hardly anyone uses big long lenses for video work. Mostly wide angle stuff. So that is off the table.

    I'm inclined to agree with you. I think Patrick Tomasso said it best in his review (I've watched too many reviews to keep track)... essentially the GH5 was an absolute powerhouse because it could do things no other system could really do at the time. Now things have changed and full frame has caught up and surpassed in all the ways that matter to most shooters.

  15. 26 minutes ago, Caleb Genheimer said:

    I know Gerald is apparently in vogue as the reviewer to bash, but honestly I got a lot more from his preview than from the others I watched (including Media Division).

     

    1. He had that shot out a window that clearly and concisely showed the impact of engaging DR Boost

     

    2. He whacked the camera around to show how good the RS performs

     

    3. Sure, his “is dead” statement is clickbaity, but heck, he laments even having to drop a video at embargo lift. He knows what he’s doing, it’s just how it has to be done to a certain extent, and most importantly, if you pay attention to his justification for personally declaring that, HE’S RIGHT.

     

    Anyone who follows sensor tech and the signal processing along with it will recognize that he gave grounded reasons. For what it is, the performance is incredible, but they can’t cheat the physics of smaller sensors. I think the GH6 will serve many serious creators well, just like every other GH before it, but we’re now at a juncture where Panasonic has larger sensors in the game as an alternative. On paper, I think what most (if not all) the reviewers have missed though is its strengths versus the S-Series, which fill in some (not all) gaps, making it a VERY attractive B-Cam. Most importantly, they’ve managed full V-Log, so matching should be a breeze. And secondly, where DR is M4/3’s Achilles Heel, RS is Full Frame’s! The GH6 has piles of VERY high quality HFR AND low rolling Shutter. 
     

    If you have an S-Series body, and need a second camera, I think the GH6 adds more flexibility to your arsenal than a second S-Series body would.

    Agreed. Gerald kinda stuck his neck out there, but I think he’s right: if ultimate image quality is your primary goal, m43 isn’t the right choice plain and simple. The GH6 is the very best the system can offer and it’s still not as good an image as the entry level FF S5. Still, it’s a superrrrr compelling camera if you’re fully invested in m43. 

  16. 46 minutes ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

    One benefit of refurbished cameras over even NEW cameras is that they have had someone from the offical repair center go over the cameras thoroughly.

    When a new camera comes off the production line, they are going to give it a quick diagnostic test, maybe take a few frames with it, and that's about it.

    When you buy refurbished, it means someone has really taken the time to look into the camera. (At leas more so than when it rolled off the assembly line.)

    This is a really good point. 

  17. 58 minutes ago, SRV1981 said:

    Does refurbished indicate a potentially better quality?  also for used - do you like KEH? MBP? BH?

     

    Makes sense!  i was going to call Canon to see about their Refurbished policy and potentially save a few hundred by getting a refurb body

    Refurbished items often come with warrantees of their own making them a bit safer than just straight up used copies. I definitely recommend buying used or refurbished from any of those retailers in addition to Adorama. I've had great experiences with all of them. The used prices are often a little higher than you'd pay buying direct from another person, but you get the security of solid return policies and reputations.

  18. Obviously the best value savings is in used lenses. They don't get replaced with new models every couple years and don't become "obsolete" when they do eventually get replaced. For cameras, I have a system I've developed lol. Cameras below $3000 I will buy brand new on day one to maximize the useful life and the return on my investment. Cameras more than $3000, I will mostly wait for a used body to appear before buying. But, obviously there's a balance between price and age that needs to be reached. I swap out cameras wayyyy too often TBH, but since I stay in the ~$3000 range mostly I'm never too deep underwater lol.

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