Geoff_L

I missed the "raw" discussions between you, Mercer and co, that I enjoyed for months and months... Coming back with this is so great. And I was thinking about those three cameras, for when I will be able to buy one again.
Thank you !

I missed the "raw" discussions between you, Mercer and co, that I enjoyed for months and months... Coming back with this is so great. And I was thinking about those three cameras, for when I will be able to buy one again.
Thank you !

Great stuff, keep us informed.  
PS, I like your writing style, direct with lots of info in few words.  Keep it up!  

It begins.

Evaluating new cameras isn't my favorite thing, so I thought I'd share the pain. I've got a lot of work on ATM, so this will be an ongoing project. I might even end up making a youtube vid ?.
I've been shooting with the 5DMk3 ML raw exclusively for many years, you can check out some of my recent work here:
A few contenders have come along over the years like the A7s and BMMCC, but all have failed to measure up to the 5DMk3 with Magic Lantern raw. These jobs I did recently were particularly gruelling, up to 19 hour days, days on end, uncontrollable lighting, no recce, no crew, constantly on the move, a great stress test for any camera or operator. The weaknesses of the 5D have never been more apparent. With a slight lull in the storm, and some technical hurdles in upcoming work, I took the plunge and bought these two sought after bodies. Not being able to get a Pocket 4K for like 8 months allows a lot of time to pixel peep and contemplate the future. Pixel peeping is one thing, but you really don't know if it's for you until you test it for yourself, or wait for a crash test dummy like me to do the work for you.
Very early impressions: I have to say that of the 2 cameras, I was more excited about the arrival of the Pocket 4K, at least until I remembered the lens adapters I ordered haven't arrived yet. I rummaged through one of my four film detritus drawers and found 5, yes 5 ? Nex adapters (remnants from a brief Sony affair) but not a single M4/3 adapter of course. So I unboxed the P4K, grabbed one of my Canon batteries, and fired up the little beast. The fan: super quiet, probably the quietest fan I've ever heard, a non issue. The firmware: 6.2.1, no CDNG for me. For those who haven't heard: BMD have put a new touchscreen in the latest cameras that only works with 6.2.1 firmware. I'm not really fussed, the Braw stuff I've seen looks really good, and the file sizes are amazing, 4K Braw files are smaller than 5DMk3 raw 1080p files. UHD 12:1 Braw files are roughly the same size as 1080p ProRes HQ files,and 200Mbit/s 1080p X-T3 HEVC files.
I've had the X-T3 for a couple of days and I got an 18-55mm f/2.8-4 OIS lens with it. This lens is fantastic, creamy bokeh, and the OIS is amazing, I can get super steady shots at the long end handheld, I know I'm very late to the party with OIS, but wow. Can't wait to put an Iscorama anamorphic on this puppy, no 58-52mm step down rings in the detritus drawers either ?. Low light on the X-T3 is a mixed bag: up to 8000 ISO the noise is tolerable, film-like chroma grain, no fixed pattern noise, however: the X-T3 image falls apart in the shadows, that's a big minus. The other image related issue that comes to mind is: white balance. I had to go digging into the detritus drawer for a grey card! I mean srsly, what's the world coming to? I haven't used a grey card in years;  I'm so accustomed to shooting raw I just don't even think about white balancing anymore. I haven't drawn any conclusions on custom white balancing yet other than it's absolutely necessary with the X-T3 ?.
Ergonomics: the X-T3 is terrible in big hands, I rarely handhold a camera, rolling shutter micro jitters are a thing, but the OIS lens makes it doable. The Smallrig cage has a handgrip extension, so that may help. The P4K is much better in the hand.
Stay tuned.

Guys, you should not answer, seriously... he killed the z6 forum post with the same attacking, illogical-disturbing  behavior, like a palladin jumping on everyone for... hm, yes, good question, why ?
The manual to handle the guy is in the name : "skip".

Thanks. ML works fine with external monitors, I have a smallHD 501 and AC7, but in this case I was using a Zacuto Z-Finder, the extra point of contact with my face helps with stabilization.I left the Ronin-M at home, didn't need it, and doing up to 19 hour days I had no time for it.
Thanks. Yeah, the 5D Mk3 raw looks good upscaled to 4K, I have no complaints about the resolution, the 35 Leica is 70s vintage and not the sharpest lens either. As always, it's all about the story.

@The ghost of squig welcome aboard, I think you’ll find this place very hospitable...
I just started using the 14bit Lossless from the experimental build and am pretty floored by it. It’s breathing new life into the camera. While others are jumping ship, I feel reenergized by the camera. Do you know if it’s available in the Nightlies too? I found the 3.5K to be too buggy and the 3K has too much of a crop, so I don’t really need to run an experimental build if the 14bit Lossless is stable on a nightly. 

Absolutely.  I also think that people don't know they want something until it is invented or becomes feasible.  
For example, when 1080p was released no-one turned around and said "I want a camera that can record four times the resolution of FullHD, I want it to be the size of a match-box, have a screen on the back and also one on the front so I can film myself and see if I'm in frame, and I want it to do magic so that it looks like a professional steadicam operator is holding it, and I absolutely need all these features and will accept nothing less because I'm going to be using it to make my own TV show starring me and I'll get paid by doing advertisements for brands that reach out to me, not me to them".  
Now it exists and people are criticising it because the bitrate isn't high enough.

What's funny is that if we look back at these wish lists from just a few years ago it's all been ticked, and then some. But we are quick to raise the bar and the marketing departments know it

Yeah, sorry I contributed to that. On a side note I discovered the ignore feature.

Please stop. 
Let the thread get back on topic. 

More precisely, I'm still waiting that Pocket being delivered to friend of my in UK (she wrote me that vendor informed her not before 10. јuly). Yes, unfortunately I had to sell GH5 for funding Pocket, especially while I'm occupied with other type of so-call creativity. But, depending of next type of my camera works involving, I can easy buy GH5 again... Having at the moment idea and attempt  to motivate some combine younger crew for filming, while also having free access to some great scenery and locations - my estimation is that RAW possibility and crowdfunding paper with provided specs closer to cinema standard, at the moment is more important for such plan than keeping GH5. (Although there's no doubt that indie feature film equally could be made with GH5 as well as XT3.) More decided factor is sentimental connection with Voigtlanders  Having trough times all kinds of set-lenses, I'm so unwilling to sell them  But I have DoP friends from whom I always could  borrow, say, Leica R's (that I sold to them once upon a time). 
Problem for me is that that guy - so lovable living inside of its own movie Knight-against-Gorgona-type-of-enemies with dozens heads - is so almost innocently funny, and that I so greatly appreciate this forum also as some sort of relaxation resort zone  But I'll of course retreat, respecting others (bloody China's or antiprogressive or past technology's or so agents).

Guys, you should not answer, seriously... he killed the z6 forum post with the same attacking, illogical-disturbing  behavior, like a palladin jumping on everyone for... hm, yes, good question, why ?
The manual to handle the guy is in the name : "skip".

The new Panasonic S1H with Sage's LUT should be a real winner.

Oh man don’t feed his anger. I suggest that they take a calm walk in the woods with a camera (any camera, I don’t care) before they die of a heart attack. 

Maybe I can help. From mr Skip77 logic, GH5 is system of the past, and as such, people who still love and use it simply hate progress, of whom mr Skip77 feel himself as protector, because he knows what is road map and future - as well as GH5 relict-pensioners, being metaphorical ghosts from past, don't know anything about path to the future, and so they represent certain iteration of dark force against which mr Skip77  always remonstrate bravely and resolutely. As such defined haters, GH5 users deserve special treatment against their contamination influence.

Dude, chill out. What is your problem. Why does it bother you people like the GH5 and use it to create quality content for two years. Did the GH5 steal your girlfriend/boyfriend? Based on your posts you seem like an angry person.

There are other reasons why someone would want a GH5 over a P4K. 
IBIS, flippy screen, higher frame rates, longer battery life, stills, reliability, smaller and lighter... and it’s these reasons why I shoot with one as opposed to a P4k. Not everything is purely down to image quality. Versatility is important for a lot of people. 
Can’t you just accept that the GH5 is the best camera for some people, are for others it’s not? No need to waffle about it. 

The GH5 is good enough where I keep contemplating on buying another one. 

There is still nothing out there that matches it. The Pocket 4k is amazing but its not a run and gun camera and neither is the Z cam. 

I think the GH6 can easily be a winner. Just update the specs a bit, incorporate IBIS, and have good auto focus. With all that there would be nothing else like it on the market. The price should also be $1500 new, same as the XT3. 

The Pocket 4k and Z cam are awesome but the GH5 still overall works better for a run and gun hybrid camera, especially considering IBIS. 
IBIS is the biggest reason most people get the GH5 combined with the pretty decent specs and low cost of an M43 system. 

The Z6 has not beaten the GH5 by any stretch of the imagination. Hell the Z6 can't even do 10 bit in camera, No F Log without a recorder, 29 minute recording time, no Waveform Monitor, on and on, no Anamorphic at all. Get real.

Yeah I just bought a EOS M myself yesterday.  Haven't got it yet from Amazon. Get it the 4th. So a new toy to play with. Too hard to pass up for the 140 Dollars I paid for it. A white body at that. I will be using my M42 lenses on it until I save a few more pennies for other options.

$2000 for a camera that shot 4K 60p, 4K 4:2:2 and had class leading stabilization in 2017 was overpriced? 
We're literally only now seeing cameras that come close to the capabilities of the GH5. The price decrease is because of how much competition has shown up in the 2 years since release. 

You're disappointed in what? The DP, defocusing or geee how the camera performed. I love when industry people can't form a complete sentence to back up "why' they don't like something or are disappointed. 
You seem disappointed in a lot of you post and this seems like a meds issue.

Using 'girl' or femaleness as an insult in this day and age really is quite pathetic.  Learn to 2019.

Cinematography dreams can only be expensive!