kye

Which bits Jon? I've said a few things In terms of me moving away from AF, it's a complete change in philosophy. I'm moving from wanting a camera to record whatever shots I can see (and therefore being really flexible), to having a camera that I love the images of and then just accepting that it won't capture everything I want. In that sense, I think I want manual primes, and potentially vintage ones. Once I switched philosophies in my head I worked out what that setup would look like and it makes sense that approaching my work in a different way would mean the equipment would be quite different too. I shot a few videos testing various elements of the setup and concluded that MF is fine if I get good focus assists. I shoot in MF for my kids sports games anyway so I'm kind of used to it. You don't need anything - just put a lens on it and go. Sure, the battery doesn't last long, but it lasts long enough for some people. If you want longer battery life then put on a V-Mount, and if you put it at the back then add an external screen too. Rig it as large as you like, then it's like a normal cinema camera. My point is that if you get the brain of a real cinema camera then you can't even put a lens on it, let alone record any footage. This is both a "pocket" camera AND a cinema camera. Most cameras this size aren't good cinema cameras rigged up, and no cinema camera is this size. They've designed it for both and everyone is moaning that it's not perfect. It's not perfect - neither is any other camera. I agree that a hinge on the screen would have been nicer. But for a cinema camera, it's a bonus they gave us a screen at all.

Totally agree. I think I worded that part of my post badly.. I should have separated the two points, that Caleb said the RED was a mistake for a number of reasons, and that MY interpretation of those reasons applied to the P4K. Like @Mattias Burling said - this is a cinema camera. If you accept that it's a cinema camera then it needs to be understood in that context. Including the size... for a cinema camera it may as well be called the Black Magic Microscopic Cinema Camera! It's another effect of convergence of technology. People who are part of the DSLR revolution don't understand how cinema cameras work (thus the complaining about the battery life, screen, file sizes, AF, etc) and so they compare it to cameras of the same price or physical size. Just like you wouldn't do any serious overall comparison between a $1000 iPhone camera and a $1000 DSLR because they're the same price (what do you mean the camera can't make phone calls???), or a 5D with a film camera because they're the same shape (why doesn't the 5D take Ektar???), comparing the P4K with A7III GH5 etc also makes no sense because they're built for completely different things. I wonder how people see the screen on the back of their real cinema cameras?

That's a good point, and also explains why some footage looks ok and other things don't. Assuming you shoot with a 180 degree shutter then people running will be a lot easier to compress in HFR, but if you're shooting a waterfall then it's the opposite - the 180 shutter will blur the water droplets in normal speed but in HFR many more droplets are visible because they're moving a lot slower during each exposure, and so there's heaps and heaps of fine detail to fit into the bit-rate. I guess the moral of the story is that consumer cameras are ok to film your cat in slow motion, but if you're travelling and want to film the town waterfall then it's got to be a cinema camera recording RAW ???

I'm downloading it. If anyone has any questions or requests for things I can (quickly / easily) do in Resolve, just ask A three minute film is a good length.. just edit in-camera like first year of film-school and you'll be set!

That is fantastic footage. In a way it's still a "trick" kind of like the bullet time effect by swinging it around your head on a string, but it's probably much more useful for the GoPro action camera crowd who want shots of mucking around by the pool or whatever. The IQ is still pretty bad though, and notably all those shots are wide. Wide shots are better for these cameras as essentially you're cropping in to get a tighter angle so with a low bit-rate 4K codec anything tighter than perhaps 15-25mm is going to look like Youtube in 240p. When these things get affordable 8K they will take over. Everyone will have a smart phone and one of these to video their family or whatever. Being able to hold it out in front of you while you're mucking around in the park and then be able to choose camera angles in post like every 1-shot, 2-shot, and group shot combination had a camera recording it is completely next level. You can have a normal camera that records 16K RAW and it still won't capture the funny moment AND all the reactions to it. This will automatically record everything.

I did a bunch of that on my last trip actually, kind of like a fake sideways slider shot. It's harder to do at longer focal lengths but I had success in staying within the IS of my XC10 with perhaps 60% of the shots I tried. I found the trick was to make sure neither leg was straight, hold the camera steady and "fix" your upper body so it's all rigid (but not tensed) and then after you slowly breathe out to just take your eyes off the screen, or just kind of let them go soft-focus, and then just move from one leg to the other while holding your upper body motionless. I found that if I looked at the screen then I was tempted to rotate the camera to keep an object in the same spot in the frame, and that means that your upper body isn't fixed and you're now slowly rotating the camera, which means that the IS has to sense you're now panning and all the shakes are likely to return because you're moving slightly. If you are looking at the screen then it will be motionless if you're holding it within the IS range, but if you go outside of that then you'll see movement in the screen, which will prompt you to try and move to compensate, and often that movement will mean you shake more, and it all goes downhill from there. In any case, it's better just to rock back and forwards a few times, partly because it gives you a chance to relax and kind of practice, but also it gives you flexibility in post of choosing which direction you want the shot to slide in Thanks, that's useful. I did wonder if the GH5 was 90% of the Oly or 60% or how close it was. The GH5 has so much else going for it to take into consideration. My iPhone 8 (not plus) has pretty good IS actually. I am frequently impressed with it stabilising when I didn't think it would, like if you're shooting and moving or if there's a gust of wind or whatever. Unfortunately these things are all relative - someone with steady hands will say something is great but those with a bit more movement will have no success with it, so it's hard to judge if people haven't compared both options over a period of time.

Having two cameras is handy.. for the price of the RED anyone could have 3, 4, 5, or more P4K rigs, and those combined would probably be comparable in terms of weight and size. My take-away from Calebs video was that he thought that buying the RED was a mistake because of a number of reasons, most of which the P4K doesn't suffer with. I understand I'm not waiting anymore. I've had a few people recommend I get the EM1 mk2 over the GH5 because of the IBIS, but I'm not sure because the Oly has some other limitations. Either way, I've got some vintage lenses and adapters on the way, and I'm planning on buying something this week. I leave for India in about 3 weeks and was going to shoot it with the GF3 but the wife talked me into upgrading before the trip instead of afterwards when I was planning on it, so that the footage from the trip is nicer. "Cinema" and "Pocket" are both in the title, and let's be honest, it's reaching for both. Cinema is a stretch because it doesn't have SDI outs, and a range of other things that a Venice or RED or ARRI would have. Is it fair to compare the $1300 camera with a $100K camera because it has "cinema" in the title? No, so we're not doing that. That kind of a comparison is unreasonable because the cameras are for vastly different users and offer vastly different features at vastly different prices. And yet because it has the word "Pocket" in the name we're comparing it to genuine pocket cameras. I say that kind of comparison is also unreasonable, also because the cameras are for vastly different users and offer vastly different features at vastly different prices. Then we compare it to cameras that neither claim to be pocketable or to be cinema cameras, and don't have the features or form-factor of pocket or cinema cameras, like the A7III or 5D or GH5, but somehow this is a fair comparison for batteries. And we do so because we don't want to buy a few extra and carry them in a bag with the lenses, filters, and media cards that we are inevitably carrying around, or if we want long battery life we're not willing to buy an external solution? If it came with 10 spare batteries, a V-Mount with mounting hardware, and cost a few hundred extra then people would moan that they're paying for things they don't need. If it came with a larger internal battery then people would moan that it was too large. All this talk makes me wonder if anyone understands the concept of things being "modular". In terms of everyone having their own preference, I think it's designed perfectly - it can be used in either a small setup or a large one, making this the flexible approach to meet everyones needs. Making it heavier to hold or requiring a larger gimbal for those willing to swap batteries and wanting a small and light setup is imposing your views on those users.

It is where it's heading and I agree. It's just pretty damn difficult to film something today with next years camera! Comparing the P4K to cameras in the future should wait until we get those "P4K vs A7SIII vs Panasonic S1 mkII vs GH7" or "P4K in 2021" threads that are inevitable. Mostly EOSHD talks about cameras in a relatively sane way, but this thread has started to remind me of those smartphone reviewers who give a 1 star rating because the included AI doesn't make their bed for them.

I haven't flown myself, but I've seen a lot of YouTubers go up and it seems like a tough environment. Apart from the motion of the heli I think I've also noticed that it's really windy up there? Especially when you get the doors open and are hovering (not going with the wind) and that's the time you want to take shots! I seem to remember the wind potentially blowing the cameras around a bit. Maybe someone with experience can confirm?

Great thread. Wouldn't it just be a matter of bitrate though? 120 is difficult in those busy deep DoF shots because the amount of data available for each frame is low and the IQ suffers accordingly because there's so much information in the frame to try and fit into that limited data. I never understood why manufacturers didn't just scale the bitrate up with the frame rate - the idea of slow motion is to conform to the native frame rate..

I want IBIS and was also wanting AF until I recently changed approach. If I didn't need either then I would be all over this camera like a rash. I would just buy a few more batteries. If anyone doesn't like changing batteries then get a V-Mount and power it externally, the port is there. If some camera company turns around tomorrow and releases an 8K RAW camera that has 27 years of battery life then it doesn't change how good this camera is, or the fact that there are plenty of battery options, both for the people who want a small setup or those who want to rig it up and have a large one that will run all day. and if anyone doesn't like that it has the word "Pocket" in the name and it doesn't fit in your pockets then I really don't know what to say....

I think this thread needs a reality check, and luckily Caleb Wojcik just posted one. Some of the points he made were: He loves the image but the camera is a pain to use and so often stays at home in favour of his 2 x C100 mk2 It was expensive, and the battery life, proprietary accessories like touchscreen, storage, media readers, handle, chargers, and everything else cost about $25K US about two years ago In fact it was so expensive that he left it locked up because of fear of using it (despite having insurance) It's hugely heavy and impractical to use, he had to buy four batteries because two wasn't enough, and it basically requires a team to build and operate it In summary - two years ago one of the most affordable cinema cameras cost $20K plus, was such a PITA to use that he didn't take it places, and he used C100s instead. Now in 2018, they release a 4K60 RAW cinema camera that costs less than 10% of the above RED, is smaller than the C100s but a significant margin, gets similar battery life, is easily hand-holdable, works with all kinds of third-party accessories, and comes with a free copy of an industry leading NLE. Anyone who bitches about the battery life, size, cost or anything like that clearly don't have the faintest idea what a real cinema camera is like. Get a grip - you're just embarrassing yourselves.

I don't know about the ergonomics of them (the GF3 is nice though) but the difference I remember was that there was one control configuration that the GF1 had that the later models didn't have, and the reviews I read of the GF1 were saying that was the killer feature. IIRC it was something you don't get unless you got for much larger and more expensive bodies (how the pro bodies have more control wheels) but then the larger bodies aren't as great for travel. Anyway, good times - if only they had built in 8K RAW video and we'd still be using them today!!

Thanks I watched a few reviews of the Oly's and those quirks seemed a pretty big price to pay for me. I do pretty well with the XC10 so I suspect that I have relatively steady hands. I think that's the state of the camera market at the moment, there are cameras with spectacular specs but also significant weaknesses, and real-life always requires a balance of performance across most of the features. The pic I posted is an extreme example but it happens enough for it to be what I need to plan for rather than the exception. With IBIS there are three things that I see to consider: How far the sensor can move How much motion is left when it is stabilising within its working range (stops, EV) What behaviour happens when it gets close to the edges My personal opinion is that how far it can move is more important than how many stops of motion are left. The difference between 5 and 5.5 stops is nothing if one of those sensors can stabilise your hand shake and the other one can't travel far enough and has to let some motion bleed through. If we were to get those two cameras and shake the shit out of them while both were in their working stabilisation range then you wouldn't be able to tell much difference between 5 and 5.5 stops, but if one is within its range and the other isn't then the comparison would be between 5 and 1 stops, or 5 and zero stops, which will be night and day.

I'd encourage you to also do it.. it's a bit of work to set it up, but once it's setup it has very very little maintenance. I auto-pay the hosting invoices and every couple of years I have to renew the domain name, but unless there's a problem that's basically it. If you have tech questions then PM me, happy to help

Interesting video interview of Yosuke Yamane at Photokina on the origin of the S1.. Of note was the part where he says "In developing full frame cameras, we have decided to target professionals in both photography and videography categories". I'm not sure how good the translation on this is, but it's unlikely that it's an error saying that it's targeting professional videographers. He was talking about the ergonomics at the time, but I think it extrapolates. He also spoke about how they've lead the market previously and the culture around their camera development is of new challenges and bringing things to customers that exceeds other companies offerings. Of course, who knows what that really means - 4K RAW, 4K60, 6K, 8K, or if it's just a FF GH5(s), but it's probably a good sign from our point of view about the video specs.

With all the new cameras I guess it's the season for it! On a more serious note, good to hear you were fortunate, and +1 to the advice you gave. I have my own domain name and as such can give every site I sign up for a unique email address. Therefore, when I get put on a SPAM email list I can look at which email address the email is to, and see which site has been hacked. It happens quite frequently and the sites basically never tell you that they've been hacked, so it's going on all the time in the background. The internet used to be like the Wild West, and still is, but now it's like a B-movie version set in the future with AI and hacking and the pirate bay and the Silk Road ???. Luckily there are little islands of refuge like EOSHD

A couple of months ago I shot this little test video to trial if I could give up IS and use the Canon 700D and 18-35 f1.8 as my main setup. I was also inspired by this thread, thus the choice of music. Thoughts and comments are welcome, but remember it was shot and edited in a day or two, so if you want to be critical then be sure to post your own work to show me how it's meant to be done ???

For me it is a simple equation.. if you want IBIS for use with MF / vintage / cine primes then this is the camera. I think that "50 reasons" video is quite compelling.. partly because it wasn't 7 reasons, and because the reasons were "it has feature X and P4K doesn't", not the usual "feature X is 7% better" that these videos are normally full of. The fact that "It's also a stills camera" was only one of the reasons was quite telling I think!!

Sorry to hear you're getting hassled.. maybe Andrew could send them a virtual hand-grenade for being out-of-order! PM sent

Awesome to hear @kaylee When does it premier on EOSHD?? ???

The sad thing for me is that I have an excellent internet connection, but Vimeo still plays badly. I get around it by using a video downloader to download Vimeo videos, watch them and then delete them. So I can't watch a Vimeo video in 1080 (let alone 4K) but the download software can download the video in 4K at faster than real-time (eg, I can download a 4 minute video in under 4 minutes) so it's actually the player and not their servers that's the issue in my case. Either way, YT works fine and Vimeo doesn't.

I love these videos! If only they weren't so misleading... I'd like the "Filmed on ONLY the Pixel 3" version!

I am also interested in old primes, so OIS is out, and I'm sure that most cameras IBIS would do a good job but I sometimes shoot at longer focal lengths or when I'm doing difficult movements and that's where I could use the extra help and want the best IBIS I can get. This is me a few weeks ago in Pomeii doing a fake slider shot: This kind of stuff is why great IBIS can't always be replaced with mediocre IBIS or a gimbal or tripod / monopod / steadicam / shoulder-rig / easy-rig.

I read a few in-depth reviews of the GF1 where people described it as the perfect travel camera (for stills) and that inspired me to buy my GF3 which I found to be excellent in basically every way. IIRC the GF1 had some kind of unique control configuration allowing you to adjust the important parameters, but they changed it on the updated models for some reason. I ended up with the GF3 in full-auto and most of the time it knew what I wanted and left me to think about being creative instead of being a camera technician. That's the way it should be, and many of my best shots came from it. My GF3 even had a metal body, which was appreciated when I dropped it once onto concrete and it hit the corner just next to the LCD - because it was metal it just dented a bit and everything is fine, if it was plastic I fear the LCD would have been collateral damage!