Mark Romero 2

Does PP not have any sort of LOG exposure wheels?

Or does it have anything similar to the Color Space Transform in Resolve?

Because in Resolve, one method was to use the CST to convert to linear, use the (linear) lift gamma gain tools to adjust luminosity, convert from linear BACK TO LOG, then apply the LUT.

1 hour ago, EduPortas said:

Not a whole lot. Things can get complicated quickly.

AF is probably the most important factor here. Even if your shots are locked the person recording the video must be confident the important stuff stays in focus. Will that person be able to check that every time she records? What if the subject moves about 6 inches during recording and she locked the shot at F2.0 at the start of the session? Boom! A 40 minute video turns out being completely out of focus.

This is not trivial. That's why people love their cell phones. The DOF is so deep practically everything will look like it's in focus even if it's not perfect.

In conclusion: jump for the absolute best AF camera you can afford, even if you sacrifice output quality. For a one-person-band, this is a no-brainer.

Two 70Ds are probably a good bet, or a pair of SL2s. With the budget you mentioned it will be hard to buy two cameras with good, dependable, solid AF that record above 1080p. Search for videocameras by the usual suspects (Panasonic/Canon/Sony) that feature a long zoom with small sensors to ensure correct focus (not a very popular reccomendation in this site 😅).

I'm not even touching other critical factores like good lighting and quality audio. And of course, AC power for your cameras. Nothing worse than being about to start a session just to find out your batt is dead!

As I mentioned, lots of things to consider can overwhelm anyone. Specially if it's not her field. 

Good luck.

 

After watching much of the video the original poster linked to, I think that using cameras with good autofocus would be a disaster... if they intend to use CONTINUOUS autofocus

Much of the video is made up of shots of a hand that is near the camera moving back and forth. There seems to be NO continuous autofocus in that video.

Even if the camera's were able to track the hand accurately, the continuing shift in focus as it tracks the hand, and the amount of breathing on the lens, would be VERY distracting.

Now, if they want to shoot video of something else, then continuous AF MIGHT be important.

But to simply replicate the cinematography in the video which was linked, continuous AF would not be important. 

I think single focus AF could work well. I mean, they still need to know HOW to use focus. 

If they don't need to film themselves (vlogging-style), then as @Grimor mentioned, a used G85 (what they are called in the US of A, guess in Japan they are the G81), could work great. AF-S is trustworthy. 

They will need to know about lighting though, and M43 sensors do like having a lot of an appropriate amount of light. 

I see them go for about $450 to $475 used on a popular website.

The panasonic 30mm f/2.8 macro is currently selling new for $300.

If she is going to be filming herself and will be moving around in the frame, or basically needs AF-C, then a used Olympus E-M1 MK II is a good camera with reliable continuous autofocus (if it is an MSC lens) and very nice straight-out-of-camera colors. 

Hope this helps.

22 hours ago, herein2020 said:

 

I have focus peaking sensitivity set to +2 Display Color Blue and Display While AFS ON.  For some reason the focus peaking works better when the shutter button is half pressed and when the lens switch is switched to MF or the back selector switch is set to MF. While the lens switch is set to AF or the back selector switch is set to C or S the focus peaking barely works or should I say it never works.

Since I don't have CAF with EF lenses my favorite focus peaking setup is to keep the lens switch to AF, the back selector switch to MF and hybrid AF to ON. This lets me get the most out of the focus peaking while still being able to focus by tapping the back of the screen; the only thing I lose with this setup is I can't half press the shutter to achieve AF.

Thanks for the tip.

Didn't realize about the difference in focus peaking when doing that setup with Canon EF lenses (I use the EF 16-35 f/4 L on the MC-21 adapter on my S5 and S1).

I think also that setup you mentioned works for other manual focus aids such as punching in with the joystick... at least I remember that there after I changed the back switch from the MF position to AF-S position it wouldn't punch in anymore. Maybe that was just due to a setting somewhere. 

8 hours ago, HockeyFan12 said:

A bit more skew but there's less moire imo.

I hope you can elaborate. I am not sure what the term "skew" means in this instance?

Sorry everyone if that is a noob question.

On 7/2/2021 at 11:42 AM, Dave Maze said:

couldn't agree more about the EM1X. I still use my EM1 mkii and mkiii every week. Don't see myself switching to anything anytime soon either. I really hope Olympus will have something great again soon to upgrade this. 

You, good sir, are solely responsible for me picking up a used E-M1 MK II about two weeks ago (despite the fact that I already have an S1, and S5, a Sony a6500, a6000, a5100 and a deceased a6300).

As for an upgrade, I just wish there was more flexibility in their video options in terms of having their wonderful C4K at 23.976fps (my understanding is it is at true 24fps, and not at 23.976fps), and C4K at 29.97fps. Not sure why the C4K is so much better than the UHD 4K either. 

On 6/28/2021 at 6:35 PM, herein2020 said:

 

I have been saying this for a long time, the focus peaking on the S5 is horrible to the point of unusable; I have to punch in to focus and it seems that then sometimes focus peaking is decent but its still better to just look at the screen and try to gauge sharpness that way. The focus peaking is definitely nowhere near as good as the GH5.

I don't know if I would call it horrible... but then again, maybe you haven't tried focus peaking on an Olympus E-M1 MK II (which is undeniably a "fun" camera, but focus peaking doesn't seem to be its forte).

On 6/24/2021 at 1:01 PM, zerocool22 said:

So I am trying the self timer for creating some selfies, but whenever I hit the photo button it focuses on my face while I am right in front of the camera, then I run back to the background where I want to be standing, but then the camera doesnt refocus. (I am using an S5 with EF adapter and tamron 24-70mm g2.)

Does anybody know how to fix this? 

 

Thanks,

The old-school method is to take the camera with you to the place where you WILL be standing, focus on your tripod head from that spot, make sure the focus on the lens doesn't change, then put the camera back on the tripod and go back to the EXACT spot you were standing when you focused on the tripod head.

The distance from you to the tripod head is the same as the distance from the tripod head to you 🙂

As far as using a remote, I can try with my pixel remote later and see, but (obviously) with adapted lenses it will have to be af-s. 

12 hours ago, Chrad said:

First footage.

Looks great to me. Detail, noise and dynamic range look very BMPCC4K like, as I'd hoped.

Well... apparently I am a total wimp now.

I tried watching that video and had to stop after about 50 seconds due to the lack of stabilization. 

I don't need it to be perfectly smooth, but maybe if they had used a shoulder rig or something I could have watched the whole thing.

Also, couldn't tell if they were trying to dance or if the guy was practicing being a chiropractor. Those were some mighty cringe dance moves. 

On 5/28/2021 at 7:56 PM, scotchtape said:

Fan came today. Non scientific testing since I can't get access to the temperature sensor (without more tools).

Fan replaced with Noctua NF-P12 Redux 1300

Temperature delta: apprx +2 degrees C, fan noise comparable to Aputure C300D II, different characteristic.  May be slightly louder, but much quieter than stock, negligible temperature increase.

Lowering fan speed to around 1000rpm (guessing, using no name fan reducer) temperature delta up to 9C, a little bit less noise, not really worth it.

Lowering fan speed to around 750rpm, temperature delta up to 19C, runs almost silent.

I'm guessing if you ran it around 900rpm it could be very quiet and get you +12C

I'm leaving it at 1300 for now.

Might make a video later, planning on using 4x for 1200W!

 

 

Thanks for all your work with this. If you do find you have time on your hands, then a video about the light (or the fan replacement process) would be great. Even if it is a simple process, there are people out there who have a tough time with all things electrical.

It's not that I hate electronics... it's just that electronics seem to hate me 😞

19 hours ago, Geoffrey said:

And I got mine back from the menders, and finally it is working fine again. Now to get used to it all for a second time.

Shame you couldn't get round the focus issue thehebrewwhammer but sometimes you have to just accept something isn't working for you.

Glad to hear it's back in your hands. Hopefully it is working fine now.

6 hours ago, ntblowz said:

To have build in ND it will probably look like C70, those ND filter need space to put in and out.

I am pretty sure that Matt Frazer from Panasonic here in the USA said the reason the current S series of cameras don't have built-in ND filters is because they have a mechanical shutter, and to put in a built in ND they would need to remove the mechanical shutter. So they might not be all that much different in terms of shape / size with a built-in ND.

On 5/20/2021 at 6:59 AM, zerocool22 said:

I am thinking about getting this one, its only 120€ ==> 

While I don't have any experience with it, It could work out fine for a talking head. As the reviewer said, it is good for 6 or 7 feet away (two meters).

I wanted a bigger one since I usually shoot half body and I like to get back and zoom in a bit. 

2 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

Im'a gonna make a channel about my current adventure of re-aquiring of the very same Morris Minor Mini I bought as a 15 year old in 1984...

Is this a legendary "Morry Thou" of Stranglers infamy?

6 hours ago, Parker said:

@Mark Romero 2 That's a great tip, thank you! Better than what I was trying, leaning an overstuffed pillow in my chair with a focus chart taped to it lol. 

But yes, you nailed the sound issues, and I agree, in hindsight the music is a little much, and my air conditioner was super loud and wouldn't turn off... but I knew if I didn't just sit down and record the thing, right then and there, while my inspiration and motivation were aligned, I probably wouldn't have done it at all. Thanks for the feedback, and for watching! 

Good call then!!! Much better to go for good and "get it done" instead of waiting around for perfection to arrive.

You probably know this already, although some people reading this might not, but it is good to get about 5 or so seconds of "silence" so that you can capture JUST the background noise / AC / refrigerator / whatever and then use the audio noise tool to better isolate background noise.  I know in Resolve there is an audio FX that allows you to "sample" the noise (they call in "Learn", and then it will automatically try to suppress JUST the noise. It is never perfect, but it can be a fairly good starting point. If you give it about five seconds (or more) of just background noise, it seems to work better at "learning" the noise.

@ParkerAlso, great video by the way. The music was a bit hot (and distracting) for my tastes. You have some subtlety in your voice that kind of gets lost with the background music. It seemed like there was fan noise or air conditioner noise coming in the voice audio so maybe you were using the music to cover it up??? 

@ParkerOld school focusing trick for self shooting. 

From where you will be sitting / standing, take the camera and focus on the tripod where you will be placing the camera.

Of course, doesn't help for framing or exposure, but it's a start.

On 5/20/2021 at 6:21 AM, leslie said:

they have all gone up 🙄 i am looking at buying one fast 50mm f1.2 then I'm calling it quits on lenses. Well thats the intention anyway 😉

Yup, buy one...

Then steal the rest 😉

Just now, EphraimP said:

Yeah, I am using the Teleprompter Pro. $6.49 one-time fee. It works with either the remote that Ikan supplies or a Bluetooth keyboard. It's not voice activated. For the older Samsung tablet I've been using, I have to copy and paste the script I want to use, because I can't change the directory the app looks in for a Word or Text doc. I don't think that's an issue for all OS systems. Other than that, it's met my needs.

Thank you. I will look into it. 

The voice activated ones are great... when they work. I remember that in some scripts I would write in the word [PAUSE]  to get the talent to pause for effect. So... sometimes the app wouldn't scroll anymore unless the talent actually said the word "pause."

I got my Teleprompter from Caddie Buddie (coincidentally, my lightstand bag is the Caddy Daddy, a travel case for golf club bags, even though I can't play golf to save my life).

https://caddiebuddy.com/teleprompter-for-ipads-androids-and-phones/

It works pretty well. It might not be the most durable though. I didn't buy a case, but I think I probably should have splurged and got the case.

On the other hand, I will probably head over to Harbor Freight and see if they might have a case I can adapt for less than the $55 plus shipping that they want for the official case from Caddie Buddie.

2 hours ago, EphraimP said:

I was just about to chime in with another ikan teleprompter recommendation. I recently picked up the Elite V2 Universal, which you can get with a remote that works with both iPad and Android-based teleprompters and probably some other tablet operating system. It is about $700, so way les than the $2K version but still out of your price range. If you could squeeze some more cash out of the budget, the Elite V2 does seem to be a nicely built unit.

You do have to pay a couple bucks more for an prompter app for your tablet of choice that is compatible with remote. I think it's worth it. I used this on a shoot recently with talent that had never presented to camera before. Once she got the hang of using the remote, it was super helpful for her to control the speed of the prompter and rewind the script to the proper mark when redoing a take. I could stay behind the camera, so the shoot went pretty smooth.

I like the image quality I got from the ikan. It matched up very well with my b-cam that wasn't using a prompter, so I don't think the glass degrades the image quality in any appreciable way. I only wish I'd gotten this thing sooner. I don't do a lot of stuff with direct-to-camera shots, but I can think of some I've recently done what would have turned out miles better with this thing. 

Whichever way you go with your prompter decision, good luck. 

Do you remember which app you guys used? I am looking for a decent android app. Ability to rewind would be nice.

I had one app that would "listen" to what you said and would scroll automatically along with you. But they weren't perfect and they switched over from a flat initial price of like $20 to a subscription price with various levels, so I stopped using it.

Since the biggest share of Nikon users are shooting on F-Mount lenses and haven't made the switch to Z Cameras...

Take a D750 body with F-Mount, use on-sensor PDAF, pull the mirror assembly out and put in variable ND filters instead. Give it 10-bit log, ability to record directly to SSDs, ProRes RAW out / BRAW out. And some decent IBIS, please. At least 4K 60fps with no crop (or just a minor crop). Better preamps (I don't think Nikon preamps were horrible, were they?).

So off the top of my head, if a television news show is quoting from a newspaper article, they will present the masthead of the newspaper and then the headline and main blurb. 

7 hours ago, Owlgreen said:

Can someone tell me about the specs of the 180fps mode on the S1? Is manual exposure possible now? Is it 10-bit 4:2:2 1080p? What's the max bitrate and recording time? How do you think the quality compares to the XT-4s 200fps and 240fps? Thanks!

I took a quick look on my S1

Yes, you can do manual exposure adjustments.

Please also note:

If shooting at 180fps, it is conformed IN CAMERA to 30fps, so the file you get on the card is a 30fps file, not a 180fps file.

No autofocus available (as far as I can tell).

No audio recording available  (as far as I can tell).

Did not see any info about the bit-depth or the chroma sub-sampling. 

My understanding though is that for anything above 60fps, the S1H gives superior codec options.

4 hours ago, zerocool22 said:

Bit really just saw that in the final cut video and was impressed. It could save me a couple of minutes per project, as I dont need to play the track to see where its clipping. I would just import the track and everything thats clipped is already marked.

Im all about workflow, I loose focus fast, so when I am doing these little things, its focus I can spend better on actual clip editing.

Yeah, it would be a great feature to have in resolve. I will keep digging but I don't think it is in there yet.