Attila Bakos

To anyone who is interested in recording ProRes RAW with the X-H2s, I just got confirmation from Fuji that they convert X-Trans to Bayer in the camera, as I suspected. Because the two patterns are different, you have to calculate what's not there. So let's say at a given pixel X-Trans stores red but for Bayer we need blue. I asked Fuji if they interpolate this blue using the surrounding blue values in the X-Trans pattern or they just copy the value of a blue neighboring pixel. The latter is faster but more prone to artifacts. Unfortunately I received an one-liner that this is proprietary info.
I'll know more when I test this out myself, I'll receive a Ninja V+ in the following days.

Recently purchased the X-H2s, and you know me, the first thing I look at is chroma resolution. Just dropping this in, on the left side you see the Cr channel of an EOS R 4K C-Log 8bit 4:2:0 recording (about 420 Mbps), on the right side it's X-H2s 4K F-Log 10bit 4:2:2 (about 615Mbps):

Don't get me wrong it's better than the X-T3, but this smoothing can still lead to loss of color. I really wish we could turn it off and deal with color noise in post.
ProRes RAW helps but it's a mystery to me. RAW on the X-H2s has the X-Trans pattern, obviously. However, it gets magically converted into Bayer in the ProRes RAW file. I had discussions with people who are involved in ProRes RAW->DNG conversion, also did my own test with Raw convertor (resulting DNG has Bayer pattern) and it seems that the data that arrives to a Ninja V recorder is already Bayer, even though the sensor is X-Trans. I'm still trying to confirm all this but if the body demosaics the X-Trans pattern and remosaics it into Bayer, then it's kind of a hack which in some cases can lead to artifacts.

Revised my findings, the previous comment can be deleted.
(Both bodies are equally bad in 1080p.)

I don't have the GH6 unfortunately, but I checked a ProRes HQ V-Log L sample and the chroma channels are very good.
The Fuji chroma smoothing is there in all internal and external recordings, the only exception is ProRes RAW. As I mentioned earlier it's weird though. ProRes RAW can not hold X-Trans data, it's designed for Bayer. Atomos already confirmed to me that they don't modify the raw feed. I'm still waiting for Fuji's answer, but the only thing I can imagine is they demosaic X-Trans in the body, then remosaic it into Bayer and send that to the recorder. While it works it is kind of a trick, and when we compare ProRes RAW features to BRAW, one of the main things that sets them apart is that ProRes RAW is not debayered and thus more raw-like, while BRAW is partially debayered. So I'm not sure if we can talk about being not debayered as an advantage here, as the raw feed that the Ninja V records is actually already processed by the camera.
And if you go into details, demosaicing is basically filling the "holes" in the R,G,B planes by interpolation methods, using the pixels that are known. See the "holes" here (it's for Bayer, but you'll get the point):

Now if you remosaic the R,G,B planes to Bayer, you have to throw away about half the originally known values, as the pattern is different. You exchange them to interpolated values and send them to the Ninja as if they were the known values from the sensor. I have my doubts about the quality of this method, but I will test it when my Ninja V Plus arrives.

I don't have the GH6 unfortunately, but I checked a ProRes HQ V-Log L sample and the chroma channels are very good.
The Fuji chroma smoothing is there in all internal and external recordings, the only exception is ProRes RAW. As I mentioned earlier it's weird though. ProRes RAW can not hold X-Trans data, it's designed for Bayer. Atomos already confirmed to me that they don't modify the raw feed. I'm still waiting for Fuji's answer, but the only thing I can imagine is they demosaic X-Trans in the body, then remosaic it into Bayer and send that to the recorder. While it works it is kind of a trick, and when we compare ProRes RAW features to BRAW, one of the main things that sets them apart is that ProRes RAW is not debayered and thus more raw-like, while BRAW is partially debayered. So I'm not sure if we can talk about being not debayered as an advantage here, as the raw feed that the Ninja V records is actually already processed by the camera.
And if you go into details, demosaicing is basically filling the "holes" in the R,G,B planes by interpolation methods, using the pixels that are known. See the "holes" here (it's for Bayer, but you'll get the point):

Now if you remosaic the R,G,B planes to Bayer, you have to throw away about half the originally known values, as the pattern is different. You exchange them to interpolated values and send them to the Ninja as if they were the known values from the sensor. I have my doubts about the quality of this method, but I will test it when my Ninja V Plus arrives.

I don't have the GH6 unfortunately, but I checked a ProRes HQ V-Log L sample and the chroma channels are very good.
The Fuji chroma smoothing is there in all internal and external recordings, the only exception is ProRes RAW. As I mentioned earlier it's weird though. ProRes RAW can not hold X-Trans data, it's designed for Bayer. Atomos already confirmed to me that they don't modify the raw feed. I'm still waiting for Fuji's answer, but the only thing I can imagine is they demosaic X-Trans in the body, then remosaic it into Bayer and send that to the recorder. While it works it is kind of a trick, and when we compare ProRes RAW features to BRAW, one of the main things that sets them apart is that ProRes RAW is not debayered and thus more raw-like, while BRAW is partially debayered. So I'm not sure if we can talk about being not debayered as an advantage here, as the raw feed that the Ninja V records is actually already processed by the camera.
And if you go into details, demosaicing is basically filling the "holes" in the R,G,B planes by interpolation methods, using the pixels that are known. See the "holes" here (it's for Bayer, but you'll get the point):

Now if you remosaic the R,G,B planes to Bayer, you have to throw away about half the originally known values, as the pattern is different. You exchange them to interpolated values and send them to the Ninja as if they were the known values from the sensor. I have my doubts about the quality of this method, but I will test it when my Ninja V Plus arrives.

Recently purchased the X-H2s, and you know me, the first thing I look at is chroma resolution. Just dropping this in, on the left side you see the Cr channel of an EOS R 4K C-Log 8bit 4:2:0 recording (about 420 Mbps), on the right side it's X-H2s 4K F-Log 10bit 4:2:2 (about 615Mbps):

Don't get me wrong it's better than the X-T3, but this smoothing can still lead to loss of color. I really wish we could turn it off and deal with color noise in post.
ProRes RAW helps but it's a mystery to me. RAW on the X-H2s has the X-Trans pattern, obviously. However, it gets magically converted into Bayer in the ProRes RAW file. I had discussions with people who are involved in ProRes RAW->DNG conversion, also did my own test with Raw convertor (resulting DNG has Bayer pattern) and it seems that the data that arrives to a Ninja V recorder is already Bayer, even though the sensor is X-Trans. I'm still trying to confirm all this but if the body demosaics the X-Trans pattern and remosaics it into Bayer, then it's kind of a hack which in some cases can lead to artifacts.

Revised my findings, the previous comment can be deleted.
(Both bodies are equally bad in 1080p.)

Recently purchased the X-H2s, and you know me, the first thing I look at is chroma resolution. Just dropping this in, on the left side you see the Cr channel of an EOS R 4K C-Log 8bit 4:2:0 recording (about 420 Mbps), on the right side it's X-H2s 4K F-Log 10bit 4:2:2 (about 615Mbps):

Don't get me wrong it's better than the X-T3, but this smoothing can still lead to loss of color. I really wish we could turn it off and deal with color noise in post.
ProRes RAW helps but it's a mystery to me. RAW on the X-H2s has the X-Trans pattern, obviously. However, it gets magically converted into Bayer in the ProRes RAW file. I had discussions with people who are involved in ProRes RAW->DNG conversion, also did my own test with Raw convertor (resulting DNG has Bayer pattern) and it seems that the data that arrives to a Ninja V recorder is already Bayer, even though the sensor is X-Trans. I'm still trying to confirm all this but if the body demosaics the X-Trans pattern and remosaics it into Bayer, then it's kind of a hack which in some cases can lead to artifacts.

Recently purchased the X-H2s, and you know me, the first thing I look at is chroma resolution. Just dropping this in, on the left side you see the Cr channel of an EOS R 4K C-Log 8bit 4:2:0 recording (about 420 Mbps), on the right side it's X-H2s 4K F-Log 10bit 4:2:2 (about 615Mbps):

Don't get me wrong it's better than the X-T3, but this smoothing can still lead to loss of color. I really wish we could turn it off and deal with color noise in post.
ProRes RAW helps but it's a mystery to me. RAW on the X-H2s has the X-Trans pattern, obviously. However, it gets magically converted into Bayer in the ProRes RAW file. I had discussions with people who are involved in ProRes RAW->DNG conversion, also did my own test with Raw convertor (resulting DNG has Bayer pattern) and it seems that the data that arrives to a Ninja V recorder is already Bayer, even though the sensor is X-Trans. I'm still trying to confirm all this but if the body demosaics the X-Trans pattern and remosaics it into Bayer, then it's kind of a hack which in some cases can lead to artifacts.

Recently purchased the X-H2s, and you know me, the first thing I look at is chroma resolution. Just dropping this in, on the left side you see the Cr channel of an EOS R 4K C-Log 8bit 4:2:0 recording (about 420 Mbps), on the right side it's X-H2s 4K F-Log 10bit 4:2:2 (about 615Mbps):

Don't get me wrong it's better than the X-T3, but this smoothing can still lead to loss of color. I really wish we could turn it off and deal with color noise in post.
ProRes RAW helps but it's a mystery to me. RAW on the X-H2s has the X-Trans pattern, obviously. However, it gets magically converted into Bayer in the ProRes RAW file. I had discussions with people who are involved in ProRes RAW->DNG conversion, also did my own test with Raw convertor (resulting DNG has Bayer pattern) and it seems that the data that arrives to a Ninja V recorder is already Bayer, even though the sensor is X-Trans. I'm still trying to confirm all this but if the body demosaics the X-Trans pattern and remosaics it into Bayer, then it's kind of a hack which in some cases can lead to artifacts.

Recently purchased the X-H2s, and you know me, the first thing I look at is chroma resolution. Just dropping this in, on the left side you see the Cr channel of an EOS R 4K C-Log 8bit 4:2:0 recording (about 420 Mbps), on the right side it's X-H2s 4K F-Log 10bit 4:2:2 (about 615Mbps):

Don't get me wrong it's better than the X-T3, but this smoothing can still lead to loss of color. I really wish we could turn it off and deal with color noise in post.
ProRes RAW helps but it's a mystery to me. RAW on the X-H2s has the X-Trans pattern, obviously. However, it gets magically converted into Bayer in the ProRes RAW file. I had discussions with people who are involved in ProRes RAW->DNG conversion, also did my own test with Raw convertor (resulting DNG has Bayer pattern) and it seems that the data that arrives to a Ninja V recorder is already Bayer, even though the sensor is X-Trans. I'm still trying to confirm all this but if the body demosaics the X-Trans pattern and remosaics it into Bayer, then it's kind of a hack which in some cases can lead to artifacts.

No, I'm referring to NVIDIA/AMD. I just did a test for you. I have a Lenovo Legion 5i Pro laptop with an i7-12700h CPU and a 3070Ti GPU. I loaded a 2160p 4:2:2 HEVC F-Log clip to Resolve, added a LUT and some tweaking.
With hybrid mode enabled (that is Resolve can use both internal GPU and the dedicated one), I get smooth 25fps playback with low CPU usage and rendered out the clip with the H.265 Master preset in 18 seconds.
Now if I switch to dedicated GPU only mode, I get 21-23 fps playback and high CPU usage and the clip rendered out in 41 seconds.
So basically with 10th or higher gen Intel CPU I get 4:2:2 support in addition to what the GPU already offers, no need for a Mac (for this).

No, I'm referring to NVIDIA/AMD. I just did a test for you. I have a Lenovo Legion 5i Pro laptop with an i7-12700h CPU and a 3070Ti GPU. I loaded a 2160p 4:2:2 HEVC F-Log clip to Resolve, added a LUT and some tweaking.
With hybrid mode enabled (that is Resolve can use both internal GPU and the dedicated one), I get smooth 25fps playback with low CPU usage and rendered out the clip with the H.265 Master preset in 18 seconds.
Now if I switch to dedicated GPU only mode, I get 21-23 fps playback and high CPU usage and the clip rendered out in 41 seconds.
So basically with 10th or higher gen Intel CPU I get 4:2:2 support in addition to what the GPU already offers, no need for a Mac (for this).

Here is a short demonstration of the Cr channels: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1veiqGodXKxerdNF_ksqLlAnFWbGQUtEe/view?usp=sharing
8bit is rubbish, never ever use it. 10bit is somewhat better than on the X-T3/4, but the chroma smoothing is still there, ProRes doesn't seem to help either. Interestingly the X-H2s seems to have more smoothing than the X-H2.
As much as I love Fuji for stills, I think I'll stick to other brands for video as I'm very sensitive for this kind of stuff, but for 99.9% of Fuji video shooters this is still a non-issue I guess.

Here is a short demonstration of the Cr channels: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1veiqGodXKxerdNF_ksqLlAnFWbGQUtEe/view?usp=sharing
8bit is rubbish, never ever use it. 10bit is somewhat better than on the X-T3/4, but the chroma smoothing is still there, ProRes doesn't seem to help either. Interestingly the X-H2s seems to have more smoothing than the X-H2.
As much as I love Fuji for stills, I think I'll stick to other brands for video as I'm very sensitive for this kind of stuff, but for 99.9% of Fuji video shooters this is still a non-issue I guess.

Here is a short demonstration of the Cr channels: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1veiqGodXKxerdNF_ksqLlAnFWbGQUtEe/view?usp=sharing
8bit is rubbish, never ever use it. 10bit is somewhat better than on the X-T3/4, but the chroma smoothing is still there, ProRes doesn't seem to help either. Interestingly the X-H2s seems to have more smoothing than the X-H2.
As much as I love Fuji for stills, I think I'll stick to other brands for video as I'm very sensitive for this kind of stuff, but for 99.9% of Fuji video shooters this is still a non-issue I guess.

Thank you for all the clips, I hope I can take a look at them this evening.

Thank you for all the clips, I hope I can take a look at them this evening.

https://we.tl/t-ZnnuboUFed
That's another X-H2 ProRes 422 HQ clip in 8K (FLOG 2)
Autumn trees at infinity
Will be interesting to see how (or if) the processing has changed

Here is a link to all the footage.
All shot with the xf 23mm f1.4 R LM WR at F4. Iso was at the base iso for each respective flog 2 and the shutter speed was changed to get similar exposure. NR and Sharpening at -4 and no interframe NR.   Video levels for Prores and full range for HEVC. 
Files are named what they are, e.g. XH2 PRHQ is Prores HQ shot on the x-h2.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1h7OQtCirDoy9fcxxZaIDBxlJOPEn-Dcx

Sure. I don't have 2 copies of the same lens so I won't be able to shoot them simultaneously.
I might be able to get some black magic shots too, I don't own any canon or Sony since I've gone to Fuji.

Please shoot something with lots of fine detail and varying colors at infinity focus (trees with autumn colors are the best, check my youtube video I posted in this topic), both h.265 and ProRes. When it comes to h.265, the higher bitrate the better, and ProRes should be 422. UHD or higher resolution is fine.
When comparing both cameras, please use the same scene with the same settings. F-Log and/or F-Log2 please.
I know I ask a lot, but if you have other cameras as well, Canon/Sony/Panasonic, it would be nice to see them as well. The issue might not be obvious until you start to compare it with other cameras.

Please shoot something with lots of fine detail and varying colors at infinity focus (trees with autumn colors are the best, check my youtube video I posted in this topic), both h.265 and ProRes. When it comes to h.265, the higher bitrate the better, and ProRes should be 422. UHD or higher resolution is fine.
When comparing both cameras, please use the same scene with the same settings. F-Log and/or F-Log2 please.
I know I ask a lot, but if you have other cameras as well, Canon/Sony/Panasonic, it would be nice to see them as well. The issue might not be obvious until you start to compare it with other cameras.

Great, will grab you some files and post the links below later