billdoubleu

I read a few days ago that Sony changed the Imaging Edge app to Creators app, and that then connects to the Creators Cloud. Very creative indeed. It's been happening for some time but only now feels like it's happening all at once.
 
It has certainly become a calling card of younger millennials and older gen z to present themselves as "multi-disciplined". One can't just be a photographer anymore, but a photographer, videographer, model, talent agent, etc. It's not just social media in the creative sector of the economy that has ruined us but work culture in general. In a capitalist dominant world where the few with resources ensure that the many without resources know that they are replaceable, what other outcome could you expect. Make yourself irreplaceable and you'll prosper, right?
 
Regarding older millennials, like myself, and younger gen z I believe; millennials have grown tired of busting their ass to chase a carrot they'll never eat and gen z have seen enough from the older generations to know that the hustle is a fruitless effort. This is all coming from mine own American perspective. I know this forum spans many cultures and generations. If you embrace the hustle, more power to you and I wish you the best.
 
As far as the "good-enough-is-good-enough" goes in the creative world, It has simply become an esthetic for the younger population and of course corporate number crunchers will happily follow suit. The current state of the arts and creative commerce tells us all we need to know. Vinyl records are outselling cds. Music is being made made in Garage Band with cheap instruments and microphones. More people will watch a Tik-Tok video that took 15 minutes to make than will watch a properly produced motion picture that took 3 years and thousands of man-hours to make. Polaroid and other film technologies are being embraced once again. As well, early digital camera technology is exploding on the secondhand market. Look at the success of the horror movie Skinamarink (2022). It was shot with an FX-6 but it looks like absolute shit . The lo-fi look is where it's at right now. Why is that? I definitely have thoughts on the subject, but I'll save everyone's eyes from continuing this rant.
 
 

I read a few days ago that Sony changed the Imaging Edge app to Creators app, and that then connects to the Creators Cloud. Very creative indeed. It's been happening for some time but only now feels like it's happening all at once.
 
It has certainly become a calling card of younger millennials and older gen z to present themselves as "multi-disciplined". One can't just be a photographer anymore, but a photographer, videographer, model, talent agent, etc. It's not just social media in the creative sector of the economy that has ruined us but work culture in general. In a capitalist dominant world where the few with resources ensure that the many without resources know that they are replaceable, what other outcome could you expect. Make yourself irreplaceable and you'll prosper, right?
 
Regarding older millennials, like myself, and younger gen z I believe; millennials have grown tired of busting their ass to chase a carrot they'll never eat and gen z have seen enough from the older generations to know that the hustle is a fruitless effort. This is all coming from mine own American perspective. I know this forum spans many cultures and generations. If you embrace the hustle, more power to you and I wish you the best.
 
As far as the "good-enough-is-good-enough" goes in the creative world, It has simply become an esthetic for the younger population and of course corporate number crunchers will happily follow suit. The current state of the arts and creative commerce tells us all we need to know. Vinyl records are outselling cds. Music is being made made in Garage Band with cheap instruments and microphones. More people will watch a Tik-Tok video that took 15 minutes to make than will watch a properly produced motion picture that took 3 years and thousands of man-hours to make. Polaroid and other film technologies are being embraced once again. As well, early digital camera technology is exploding on the secondhand market. Look at the success of the horror movie Skinamarink (2022). It was shot with an FX-6 but it looks like absolute shit . The lo-fi look is where it's at right now. Why is that? I definitely have thoughts on the subject, but I'll save everyone's eyes from continuing this rant.
 
 

did another short with this camera, feel like showing off some stills again. the short itself is not yet finished. 

I really don't get the reason why people who have FF cameras are so disturbed by the mere existence of M43. Can't we let M43 be M43 and FF be FF- it's all good. If you like the image format and size, great! Why does one have to be inferior? They both do things that the other cannot do. I think there's the inconvenience. It would seem that people want simplified answers- bigger sensor, more megapixels, high bit rate, etc. I'm not saying those thing don't matter, but there are other things too. Cameras have ergonomics, exposure tools, ports, EVF's, image fidelity, etc. None of that is "Full-Frame" or "xx megapixels" or "intra-frame compression". So many cameras produce great images these days, even good enough for Hollywood. After, it becomes the best tool for the job and needs.

https://canon.jp/business/solution/indtech/cmos/lineup
LI7080SA Super 35mm 4K: 14Bit 120fps, DGO support and 16+ stops of dynamic range. Double the readout speed compared to C300M3's 6.4μm 4K/60fps DGO and stable power consumption. A professional high-performance Super 35mm 4K 120fps high dynamic range sensor that can take on full frame.
LI5030SA Global shutter FF 5.7K: 170Ke- large FWC (equivalent to ISO54), 1.8e-rms at 18dB gain (equivalent to ISO160), 15EV dynamic range, stable power consumption, with RGB/monochrome/RGB-IR/CFA-free versions. One of the top performing global shutter sensor, no image quality compromise compared to regular sensors, however readout speed is on the slower side -  5.7K 1.9:1 12bit 64fps.

Well he wasnt fucking wrong

Even though I have n* number of cameras capable of shooting 4K and above, I don't have a 4K TV let alone an 8K one.
If I was absolutely realistic about the number of people even remotely interested in watching anything that I've shot then, including myself, then my total audience is precisely one.
And on a lot of occasions, this number can actually be less than that as I'm barely interested in watching any of it myself these days either.
So, on that basis, if I was to only have cameras capable of shooting 1080p then I would have a 100% match with the display technology of my audience.
That doesn't stop me wanting all the Ks though.
 
 
 
n* - precise number redacted out of acute embarrassment regarding the extent of my addiction.

1. The pixel-level read node design is similar to IMX610, only the implementation is different and dictates that it has fast conventional read speeds.
2. The physical pixels are 49 megapixels and the entire sensor is natively designed to be 49 megapixels, reusing the 4.2um BSI pixel design and using both analogue binning and digital binning together to achieve a 12 megapixel sensor.
3. IMX510 disables the all-pixel readout mode, so there is no possibility of an all-pixel readout, and naturally it cannot achieve 2x2 OCL AF, which is the biggest difference between it and IMX472.
4. Dividing IMX510's logical pixel into four physical pixels. The readout is achieved using 1:2 analogue binning before PGA and digital binning after ADC. The specifics are:
 A. 48 physical megapixels, divided into upper left, upper right, lower left and lower right in-group pixels.
 B. 24 mega pixels are read, binned in the form of upper left + lower right, upper right + lower left, dual stream 14bit readout.
 C. 2:1 pixel binning in the digital domain to generate 12 megapixels at 15bit, discard 1bit to 14bit output.
 D. The readout speed is around 21ms, approximating 48fps; when the precision is reduced to 12bit, 96fps can be achieved.
 E. The ADC does not have an 11bit mode, so it cannot achieve the faster 24M 11bit -> 12M 12bit.
 F. The digital binning discards 1bit of precision regardless of the mode of output, a waste of performance deliberately designed into IMX510.
 G. In one video mode, the internal readout of two 3.84K/128fps 12Bit ADC streams are digitally binned, but the resolution is not twice that of 3.84K. The precision and resolution are wasted.
5. Due to the uniqueness of the readout mode, IMX510 cannot achieve any 2x1 OCL in-group AF, and the orthogonal readout pixel groups cannot be used for phase detection. Therefore the only phase focusing design for the IMX510 is masked PDAF. A focusing method using 2x2 OCL AF will only be available when the all-pixel readout mode is unlocked.
6. The hardware performance of the sensor goes well beyond the limitations of the "IMX510" name.
7. If this sensor were to be a normal Bayer sensor, the readout speed would depend only on the total number of analogue pixels before the ADC, due to the pixel readout design. Thus 48 megapixels at 24fps 14bit. For this a Modified Bayer CFA can be used, which is suitable for pixel designs with 2:1 analogue signal binning - maximising its performance and enabling dual mode switching between high resolution and oversampled high speed shooting:
 Crop to 16:9 to achieve 8.5K/57.7fps 12bit, 2x4.35K/115.5fps 12bit respectively; crop slightly to 7.68K/64fps 12bit, 2x3.84K/128fps 12bit.
 Notably, its 2x3.84K/128fps 12Bit readout truly has double the resolution and achieves IMX301-like oversampling performance (Sony F65RS).
8. The readout speed of any column-parallel ADC design of an image sensor must be scaled by the line readout speed, by the total number of pixels multiplied by the number of columns, and at the same level of precision comparing:
 A 48 megapixel 14bit 24fps sensor reads at a larger scale than a 12 megapixel 14bit 48fps sensor, but we cannot call it a greater total number of pixels read out, but rather a faster readout, measured by miliseconds.
 
 At a given precision, readout time (the time taken to read a frame), readout scale (how many pixels are read in a second), and readout speed (how many rows of pixels can be read in a second by a column of ADCs), are three dintinctly different and important metrics.

In May 2022, just over six months after her appointment as CEO, Estelle McGechie was fired from Atomos due to her being unwilling to re-locate to Australia.
At the time, it seemed a bit odd because you would have thought that her appointment to that senior role would have been contingent on her re-location from the get go.
According to a suit that she has now filed in the US, she claims that there was more to it than her relocation.
A lot more.
In addition to her claims about gender discrimination and a toxic corporate culture at Atomos, there are also allegations that there was 'rampant illegality' at the company with regards to shipping out 'dud' products to fraudulently inflate sales figures to meet projected targets.
One example product mentioned in her filing is the CAST switcher add on for the Ninja V range which was shipped without any functioning firmware.

The other product mentioned is the Neon grading monitor which shipped with know deficiencies that rendered it outside of the capabilities detailed in its marketing literature and packaging.
 
The CAST product interests me because I've been surprised that for something that is such an appealing product (turns your Ninja V into an ATEM) there has been very little buzz about it since it was launched and comparatively few reviews on YouTube and certainly none from the past few month.
Possibly now not as surprising as I'd originally felt.
The share price of Atomos in the past twelve months certainly wouldn't have been bringing a nice warm glow to investors anyway, but this latest news has knocked it further.

Needless to say, Atomos have refuted all of Estelle McGechie's allegations so it will be interesting to see how this pans out.
Full story here :
https://www.afr.com/rear-window/ex-ceo-alleges-rampant-illegality-at-ellerston-regal-backed-atomos-20220831-p5be2q
 

I remember @Emanuel raising the possibility of using Micro Four Thirds glass on Fuji cameras.
Well I asked RAF Camera to make a prototype for EOSHD and here it is.




So in past year I have been experimenting with a lot of M43 glass on the Super 35mm sensor of the Fuji X series cameras.
We see beyond the usual 2x crop image circle!
Here's what I found:
- X-T4 has a Micro Four Thirds 2x crop mode in the menus. So you can use anything on that, basically.
- The adapter doesn't have any electronics capabilities (maybe later?) so I have only been trying manual focus lenses
- Voigtlander super fast F0.95 primes look lovely on a Fuji!
- Some M43 lenses even cover the entire Super 35mm sensor
- X-H1 is 1.7x crop in 4K so that works well, as it is closer to the 1.86x crop of the GH2 or multi-aspect sensor Panasonic bodies
- The affordable Meike cinema lenses work brilliantly as these are all Super 35mm lenses just different mounts (they come in Fuji X-mount versions and Micro Four Thirds, with same optics for both)
- SLR Magic stuff very tasty with it especially on the X-T4 in 2x crop mode
- Focus to infinity is fine (sometimes slightly over even)
So I am wondering, how much interest would there be in an EOSHD branded adapter for Fuji X cameras, that enables you to use Micro Four Thirds glass?
This is the only adapter in the world of this type.
I have been wondering how many of you have both Micro Four Thirds mount glass and Fuji cameras, maybe you switched but didn't sell all your GH5 lenses? Maybe you are just curious to turn your X-T4 into a GH6? Or interested to discover the unique images made from one of your exotic Micro Four Thirds mount lens on an X-H2S?
Also rather than buy separate lenses for Fuji and Panasonic you can use one set on both systems (as in Meike 25mm T2.2 for instance!)
If there is enough interest in the adapter I'll put RAF on notice and finally start that Indiegogo up!

pixel 4xl is not dropping frames and looks much better than stock h265 as expected (look at color differences on the objects on the center right)
 

When you are retired even 150 is a ball buster. I paid 109 dollars for my GH2, I had to eat dog turds and tree bark for 2 weeks to make it up. The yard is clean now, but the trees look like crap 😜

R5 in 8K RAW has less latitude in the shadows than a Lumix S5 in downsampled 4K, has half the battery life, triple the price of the S5. Worlds best camera it is not, though for your needs it might be of course. But that I wouldnt be able to know, of course.:) Now let´s test the camera running in the sun of current climate change days. I bet it will not look good, since the hardware is the same, with lack of any kind of sufficient cooling. @FHDcrew
Class leading latitude in the shadows by the Lumix S5. R5 has impressive resolution and looks great up to ETTR -5.

I'm a big user of insta360 cameras, I have 2 of them, mostly to film myself and sometimes I use for projects too.... looking and some side by side the 1inch is definitely a step forward.

I do agree that 8k would be the bar minimum.... I think the industry stays away from 8k as stitching 8k video would probably only be possible on top-of-the-line phones and PCs.... and the market that they target it is mostly consumers. Same for requiring higher speed microSD

8k, 400 Mbits, 10 bit LOG would be the quantum leap that is needed to have 360 cameras used more professionally

All screen shoots from videos:


 

There has been a revolution in colour grading over the last 15 or so years with the invention of colour managed workflows.  These enable the automatic conversion of footage between various colour spaces, and enable things like colour matching between cameras.  
Prior to this, all colour grading was based on either manufacturer-provided LUTs (or other LUTs like print film emulation LUTs), or manually grading the camera files to create the desired output (typically grading log into rec709).  However, colour management doesn't negate the need for manually adjusting the image to get a desired look.
I've been working with colour management and colour grading for years now, but decided to up my game by getting a control surface and learning to do things manually, no colour management or LUTs - just full manual ruthlessness.  
Enter the BlackMagic Micro Panel!

which isn't actually that micro in real life....

After shipping delays (8 weeks!!!) it has arrived and I've put in maybe 6 hours over two sessions.  As anticipated, my skill level is "disappointing", but my plan is simply to put on some music and put in the hours, like building any other skill.
My first grading session was actually a bit of a revelation.
I started off grading C-Log footage from the XC10, and using on the Lift/Gamma/Gain controls.  My second session was grading HLG footage from the GH5, and including Contrast/Saturation/Offset as well as a bit of Lift/Gamma/Gain.
The three trackballs adjust the hue offset, and the three rings/wheels adjust the luminance.  At first I thought that the wheels were very insensitive, large rotations seemed to make small changes in the image - especially the Gamma wheel.  However, the more I used them a funny thing happened.  I found that there were all these little "niches" where suddenly a particular thing emerged.  Go a little bit one way or the other and you adjust the feel, but go a bit too far and the look dissolves.  These are so fragile that the whole niche might only be 1-2mm of adjustment on one of these wheels.  So when you find one of these all of a sudden the control feels like it's very sensitive, not too sensitive but you definitely don't want it to be faster.
These things are "looks" related to a colour balance, but can also be "textures" related to shadow levels and shadow contrast, or to do with highlight rolloffs.  They can be broader too, like "warm sunset glow" where the balance of the colour matches the contrast, or when I was grading some Thai temples there's a way to make the gold-gilding on the buildings and statues really glow.  These looks really seem to be based on combinations of various things in the image.
Here are my initial take-aways:
These controls are enormously powerful
There are dozens / hundreds / more? of looks that you can do with only the LGG controls - throw in the Contrast/Pivot/Saturation/Offset controls and it's almost limitless.
  Just using a surface is a revelation
I've used all the individual controls (LGG, Contrast/Pivot/Offset/Saturation, etc) literally thousands of times over the years, but I'm learning new things by the hour that I never noticed or never understood.  I genuinely have no idea why having a control surface has made this difference, but it really has.  Maybe it's being forced to concentrate on only one or two controls at once.  Maybe it's the tactile nature of it.
  Moving multiple controls at the same time is game-changing
Moving two controls at the same time and in opposite directions is game-changing and simply isn't possible without a control surface.  This is where the plethora of looks comes from, as you adjust multiple controls against each other the overall image doesn't change much (assuming you're balancing the adjustments) but the ratio between the two does and you can gradually dial in different looks by navigating up and down this balance point.  There's no way you can do this with a mouse because by the time you adjust one control (which throws off the whole look of the image) and then adjust the second control (to almost completely eliminate the impacts of the first control) you've forgotten what it looked like before, so you can't possibly dial in the subtle changes required to find these tiny niches in any reliable way.
  Muscle memory developed really early
This surprised me, but it was really fast to really develop.  The surface feels familiar even after a few hours.  I'm told that pros grade without looking down, maybe at all, and that's part of their efficiency.
  You can grade full-screen
This is perhaps a Resolve-specific thing (I don't know how panels work in other NLEs) but if you're adjusting things with the mouse then you can't do that with a full-screen image because the controls are hidden from the cursor.  I have an external reference monitor, but it means that I can put scopes on my UI monitor to cover the controls and I can still adjust things even though those controls are under the scopes.  Very useful.
  It's teaching me to see
I've spotted a few things happening in the footage (which I had seen previously) but because I was adjusting something at the time they emerged, I was able to play with the controls and see what caused them.  Now, I recognise that thing and know what is causing it.  I've learned what causes things I've been seeing for years.  Once you've found a look it's interesting to adjust each control individually to see how that control impacts the look.  That can help to dial-in the look too - you adjust each control to optimise the look and after a few 'rounds' of tweaking each control you'll have nailed it.  You'll also learn very quickly which controls matter to the look, and also which ones that look is more sensitive to. Would I recommend this?  
Yes and no.
Yes, but only if you're willing to put the time in.  If not then you're probably going to have a very bad time.  I tried grading some iPhone footage, with its auto-WB and highly processed 709 image, and I was half-way to rage-quitting within about 15 minutes.  I still had that sour taste in my mouth the next day, and it took me a few days to get over!  I've now realised that all practice is good practice and so I may as well grade more forgiving footage and leave the iPhone until my skills are significantly more developed.
I don't know what my long-term plans will be, maybe I will learn to grade well enough that I don't need to use a panel but will be able to use the knowledge I've gathered.  Maybe I'll always want one.  I will definitely grade real projects using colour management and LUTs, but having these skills will complement that.
At the moment, it's a learning tool, and damn - I'm learning a lot.

Let's shoot some quick a dirty dynamic range tests
Here's mine, on the balcony
First is Sigma Fp-L in 8bit Cinema DNG RAW

Second is OM System OM-1 in 10bit LOG 4K:

A clear win for the Sigma Fp-L
You will need a bigger effort to get the best out of the OM-LOG
The Fp-L RAW seems to have that creamy RED EPIC / ALEXA look to me straight out of the can
And it doesn't sacrifice a boat load of colour to achieve such a wide DR.
This was in full frame mode to SD card.
I am sure the external 10bit and 12bit is even better in the highlights.

They need to make the next step:
They can keep the same small hybrid bodies, but just make the LCD larger. Why is it still only 3 inch, for example.
Would be great to have total confidence in focus.
The issue of 180 deg. look to motion and fine tuning exposure has to be brought into 2022. No more dicking about with ND filter glass. If they can't add an ND filter due to physical size constraints, patents or cost, then they need to find a way to get the look of 1/50 in bright light without NDs.
A lot of good progress with things like codecs, but compressed RAW is obviously still a big thing missing. Stills photographers wouldn't accept only shooting JPEG! So perhaps they need to get more serious about getting round the table with RED and sorting something out for the future?
IBIS is a nice-to-have but they can make it work more creatively and make the look more natural. OM-1 is the benchmark in this regard!
Also let's see manual focus take the next step. A ring on the lens barrel is hopeless for video. It should be a smooth dial on the camera all under one hand driving the lens elements semi-intelligently with subject snap on.

The red being pushed up was a trend, IIRC it was made popular by this video:
Outside of camera forums, no-one gives a shit about getting natural looking colour - they want colour that will do something for them - to support the aesthetic and vision of the film - to bring the film success and popularity so it reaches a good audience and makes the effort of making it worthwhile.
We discuss cameras colour on these forums in some sort of strange parallel universe where making a camera neutral and accurate and nice is this kind of goal in itself, but it's really not.
If you guys have a challenge with that level of pushing/pulling colours then you'll have a heart attack when you start watching movies and other music videos.....
plus, you know, check out the terribly inaccurate colour on these little-known films that failed due to their poor colour....



What awfully inaccurate colours - I guess the cameras were rubbish!  Looks like those were shot on Alexas - man must those cameras be overrated!
 

The Canon board must all gather in front of that cripple hammer every night and serenade it.

After a little more testing it is apparent that the phase-detect AF is flat out amazing for video on the OM-1. Really nothing like the GH6.
Really natural movement to handheld shots with the IBIS as well. Especially as you can tune it. High setting for a locked down shot and -1 when you want more fluid movement.
Just trying to figure out of the battery is identical to the one in my Sony A7 IV. Feels like there is a LOT of Sony about the OM-1. Feels like a buy-out by proxy!

Someone shared this on dpreview m43's forum, I couldn't resist.
I have m43 to Sony E and Nikon Z adapters, so plan on using these adapted to FF.
Adorama back at it again with some Samyang/Rokinon price craziness, this time in the m43 mount
I thought $230 was low for the 24mm 1.5 last year, now it's at $150!
They have most focal lengths and some kits available.
The 135mm 2.2 is $140, the 50mm is $130

The 24mm, 35mm, 85mm kit is $350!
https://www.adorama.com/l/Video/Video-Lenses-and-Accessories/Samyang~Digital-Cinema-Lenses?sel=Lens-Mount_Micro-Four-Thirds
 

Here is a music video I did with my beautiful GX85.
It now has dethroned my GF1 for photography pleasure, loosended my bonds with my eternally appreciated and now disfunct G6. GX85 earned no1 place in my heart. It was a bit of a way to go for this cam. It has pleased me with nice footage, great personal short cine verité extravaganza, BCam as last resort.. But only until now it has reached my heart completely. It is a true treasure.
The road to love was slippery by the slipperyness of the camerabody, the soon to become disfunct back wheel and the mediocore EVF. But still, it is almost as pretty as the GX7 or my GF1 and it feels good in the hand and now even better in the heart. So enough talking, time to let this camera speak.
Used Fujinon 12mm in 16 to 9 and ind 1:1 4K photo mode, Tokina 25-50 in the mix. Shot in colour and graded with love in BW. 🙂
 

Sure the people on here making a living doing this stuff want and need the latest. And I am not knocking anyone that wants to buy new stuff, who doesn't. But new in this video game is not always the best overall image for what we really are looking for at the  hobby level. Horses for Courses I guess.
A lot of stuff I see on the web anymore could have been done with a new iPhone with a lot of skill involved. The gap is getting narrow for normal stuff.

Look at Casey Neistat one of the most successful people ever on YouTube, he could afford any camera there was and he used a Canon 80D most all the time. He had talent, came up with crazy great ideas on shots. The footage looked great. He didn't need a Red or an Arri. He was good and knew how to use what he had.
The latest camera is not going to make any one of us really better, skill, talent, understanding every ounce your camera has, desire do that.

This is Panasonic's hillbilly battery grip that is supposed to work with the GH6. I guess you are supposed to stick a V Mount battery hooked up to it up your ass. 😮 
Like my mother used to say when stuff was fucked up, "Some man must have designed it".
 
https://shop.panasonic.com/cameras-and-camcorders/camera-accessories/camera-parts-power-battery/dmw-dcc17