eatstoomuchjam

2 minutes ago, mkabi said:

Nobody is doing Medium Format above 4K.

The GFX 100 II and, I assume, Eterna, have a 5.8k 2.35:1 full sensor width recording mode.

And the Ursa Cine 17K has a 65mm sensor.

And FWIW, any of the Red VV cameras have a 40mm-wide sensor which is exactly in the middle of the 36mm of a FF camera and the 44mm of GFX/Eterna.  Since terms don't matter anymore, they should probably just call that "medium format" since, y'know, the GFX sensor is also substantially smaller than what would traditionally be called "medium format."

9 minutes ago, mkabi said:

You want to invigorate and/or disturb the cinema space in 2026 and going forward??? Bring affordable IMAX 12K sensors into a small body. 

Unless Sony have a big 12K sensor that can read out fast enough for video, how would that happen?  There's only one 12K video sensor on the market, as far as I know, and BMD have it custom-made.  There isn't huge economy of scale in it so manufacturing costs are high.

But also, speaking as a person who owns a 12K-capable camera, there is almost never any reason whatsoever to shoot in 12K - including in IMAX.  Mine is an 8K camera nearly all the time, except when shooting plates - and when I forget to toggle back to 8K after switching plates and facepalm.

I'm pretty sure that the Mavo Mark II LF is using IMX410.  It's a great sensor which is why it's been used in so many cameras since it was introduced in 2018.  But that's also exactly the problem.  It's in a lot of cameras already.  Sell it at $1,500 and it's interesting as a budget play.  Sell it at $3,000 and you're going up against the EOS R5, Nikon Z8, Red Komodo, Nikon ZR, Panasonic S1 II, and EOS R6 Mark III.  IMO, every one of those sensors that's at least equal to the IMX410.  They also support 10-bit internal recording that doesn't look like ProRes 4444 (I think that's the only 12-bit format available on Kinefinity right now).  Of course, it's also up against the much cheaper Z Cam E2-F6 and E2-F6 Mark II which also use IMX410.

The form factor is enticing, but a ZR is even smaller and also has a big flippy 4" screen.  And internal raw.  And really good autofocus.  And costs around $1,000 less.

Just like with some of the other cameras that have been announced recently, the question to ask not just "What makes me buy this over the other cameras on the market?" - but it's also "What makes me buy this over a camera I already have?"

Nice Storyblocks ad read in the middle of a video where he claims to be retiring, but then says he's just not going to make (as much) camera content as before.  And then claims that the brands never paid him for reviews - guess he bought all those fancy Aputure lights himself and reviews calling the Amaran Halo series "UNBEATABLE" had no gear or money changing hands, 'cuz, y'know Amaran Halos are the pinnacle of video lighting technology...  (Saw a couple used on set, they were fine - didn't seem bad or anything, but "unbeatable?"  Yeaahhhhh Ooooookaaaayyyy)

Also, the part where he says that he will now feel free to take gear given to him by camera brands because he's "retiring" from reviews.  🤣🤣🤣

Ohhh, and then he says he will make paid "showcase" videos for brands, but will limit it to short form content.  Wow.  What a "retirement."  

On 4/14/2026 at 11:56 AM, eatstoomuchjam said:

if Mission 1 Pro ILS is <$700, I might take a flyer on it. 

Nice try, GoPro, but $699.99 is not as "less than $700" as I meant.  So it is in "I'm gonna wait for this to be in the hands of real people" and not "Why the heck not put in a preorder?" territory.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1964095-REG/gopro_mission_1_pro_ils.html

I'd expect 10-bit H.265/HEVC.  ProRes isn't impossible, but I'd still think of it as a long shot.  I wouldn't place any bets on any form of raw video.

But for this form factor and anything that I'd use it for, 10-bit H.265 would be absolutely fine.

For me, the two use cases would be a pocketable 16mm-like camera with C mount and D mount lenses - and a super telephoto camera to pair up with an EF mount adapter.  With a 2.7-3x crop factor (smaller than normal 1" sensor), the EF 100-400 turns into a like a 280-1120.  Will the center of the image circle be sharp enough to resolve a full 8K?  Don't care, if it makes a half decent 4K, that'll be plenty.

The Verge posted a 95% useless hands on video where they just kind of show the camera hardware and show it powered on (but with none of their own video), but near the end, they finally get to one of the things I was most interested in - there is indeed an HDMI port (micro HDMI (🤮), but it's better than nothing).  Assuming that the latency is decent, maybe this really could be the Super 16 pocket camera that I've been waiting for!

What to think about it?  It's a lot of beauty shots of a boxy camera with a lot of buttons, and apparently has some menus - from a company who made a Micro 4/3 cinema camera that I thought nobody bought, but judging by B&H having a used one for sale, I was wrong at least once.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1733741-REG/bosma_dc0201_g1_pro_camera.html

But $3,500 for a Micro 4/3 camera with poor dynamic range from a mostly-unknown manufacturer was always going to be a hard sell - especially with the Komodo now costing $500 less brand new.

This new camera is up against some really tough competition from other vendors, both new and used.  It will need to have features a lot better than the others or have "good enough" features and compete a lot harder on price than the G1 did. 

Huh.  A Sub-$3k cinema body in that form factor could be really compelling.  The big question now will be what sensor they put in there.  If it's an IMX410, it'll be big shrug from me - but if it's a newer sensor, maybe the one used in the S1 II, and they have 10-bit ProRes and, ideally, some 12-bit codec, it could be a compelling product.

Otherwise, the Nikon ZR exists, costs less, and can be shoved into any of the same spaces that the Vista would fit in.  Also has decent face detect AF which is really useful when the camera's shoved into a tiny nook/cranny.

On the other hand, looks like Insta360 are leaking images of their own MFT camera...  all speculation at this point, but it could also be a viable entry in the "small modern MFT camera" category.  

https://www.43rumors.com/the-mft-revolution-is-here-first-leaked-images-of-the-insta360-mft-camera/

Some nice updates, but even if they were available in my country, I'm not sure there's anything in there that would make me upgrade from the Pocket 3 that I already have.  I took the train to Chicago last weekend and made a short film with some friends and I brought the Pocket 3 and the Ursa Cine 12K LF.  It turned out to be less of a crazy combo than one might think.

HIgher maximum frame rate?  🤷‍♂️
Higher bitrate for video?  Nice, but not a "buy now"
10-bit D-Log vs 10-bit D-Log M?  Also nice, but not a "buy now"
Higher resolution for photos?  🤷‍♂️

2 hours ago, mercer said:

Being a Canon fan over the years, obviously I drooled over the R5 since it was released, especially after the overheating got sorted out (thanks to the fine folks on eosHD) but it was waaaay over the reality of my life. Since my interest was once removed, I'm a little unsure of the specs but believe that the 4K raw is cropped, not downsampled, right? 8K is complete overkill for what I do... in some ways as I started thinking about this, I've gone back and forth that the 1080p raw on my 5D3 is probably plenty good enough for the short films I don't finish (HA) so 8K is just perverse for me.

I think you're right.  The 5D II has some sort of full frame 4K raw if I remember right, but that's well out of the price range.  I think you mentioned the C70 in another comment - used prices on them are just about in your price range.  If you don't anticipate shooting in >4K for any reason, the C70 is really a hell of a camera.  The DGO sensor + somewhat soft OLPF really makes some of the loveliest images that I've ever seen.  Canon's focal reducer can also be locked onto the front with screws so anything that can adapt to EF will look full frame-ish.  Built-in ND's are fantastic.  Though it lacks IBIS.  I really don't think it's the camera for you, but the DGO sensor is a really big deal.

2 hours ago, mercer said:

Unless I misunderstood your first sentence here... I believe the Nikon ZR does have IBIS? My real concern with the ZR is the 4K R3D crop in 4K. I'm sure I can live with S35 crop for video or maybe the 6K is soooo good that I will get over my analogesque snobbery. But the Komodo suggestion is tempting... another camera I have drooled over.

You understood right and I was just flat-out wrong.  My mistake, sorry about that!

2 hours ago, mercer said:

Shit... just checked BH... the Z6iii is on sale brand new for $1999...

A Z6 III that costs less than a ZR?  As dreamy as the small size of the ZR is, for me, that'd be an easy choice.  Sheesh!

For sub-$2,500, a used EOS R5 ticks a lot of your boxes, I think.  Afraid of overheating and want longer takes?  R5C is right at the top of your price range, but would be doable.  

If you're willing to compromise on IBIS for the Nikon ZR and if you're willing to bypass stills, a used OG Komodo is just in the $2,500 price range.  If you already have some stuff around for rigging up a cinema camera, you'd be able to use it pretty cheaply after that.  If not, you'd probably be in a few hundred bucks more and out f your price range.  The Komodo does have a built-in gyro, though, so it can be stabilized.  Otherwise, the ZR seems to be a fantastic choice.

A used Nikon Z8 would be just out of your price range, but would also be a really solid choice.  A used Z6 III would do you really well too.  Price is about the same as a brand new ZR.

lensrentals.com has a used BMCC 6K for under $2,500 as well.  It's a sensor from 2018, but you can get good results and nowadays, it has surprisingly good autofocus.  No IBIS, though.

2 hours ago, Anaconda_ said:

Is there really no electronics on the lens mount? That's a bit of a shame. 

None are shown on any pictures.  Luckily, there are about a bazillion lenses that can be adapted to Micro 4/3 mount - including a lot of C-mount lenses and probably at least some D mount lenses will cover or work in a cropped mode.

2 hours ago, Anaconda_ said:

Is there any info on crop factor, as I understand it's not an MFT sensor, only MFT mount. 

'The same 50MP 1" sensor as..."

57 minutes ago, PPNS said:

Even on the pyxis 6k, with its old ass sensor, like basically the only other camera that has FF open gate and a 12 bit codec are kinefinities and those are significantly more expensive. 

The Z Cam E2-F6 does open gate 12 bit raw by HDMI to external recorders in 3:2 open gate IIRC.  It uses the same IMX410 sensor from 2018 - which was about when that camera was released.  The X-H2S also does 3:2 open gate 12-bit raw over HDMI, though it isn't full frame.  Heck, even the X-M5 which costs like $900 brand new can do 3:2 open gate 12-bit raw over HDMI - again, not full frame, but given the existence of high-quality focal reducers, beautiful vintage glass made for S35, and beautiful Fujinon glass, I'm not really sure that matters too much.

The Canon R6 III does full frame 3:2 open gate raw and costs less than Pyxis.  The Canon C50 barely costs more (and is about equal if you buy a Pyxis monitor to fix the side screen ergonomics problem) and has full frame 3:2 open gate raw.

Also, I'm pretty sure the S1 II and GH7 support open gate (3:2 and 4:3 respectively) in ProRes RAW for internal recording.  I can't remember if the S1R II or the S1 IIe or whatever the "lite" version is called do.  The S1 II is a bit cheaper than the Pyxis and doesn't have the poor ergonomics of a non-moveable screen stuck on the left side of the camera - and I'm pretty sure it's also using a newer sensor.

And back to S35, a used Pyxis and a used OG Komodo are pretty close to the same price now.  Of course, open gate on the Komodo is 17:9 so it's not a dream camera for people trying to double-frame for single take social media stuff, but it is also a global shutter and at least claims to be using a 16-bit raw codec (some users believe OG Komodo is only sampling 12-bit data from the sensor - FWIW, dynamic range seems pretty similar to what I remember from my E2-F6 which was IMX410 so it's probably similar to Pyxis 6K).

And FWIW, in terms of "the user experience," I'd gladly take the ergonomics of the tilty screen of my GFX 100 II shooting video (which means, probably any of the Fuji APS-C cameras too) over trying to navigate menus on a touchscreen on the side of my camera, especially if on a high hat or similar.  I've considered Pyxis 12K despite the ergonomics problems (partially mitigated by Pyxis monitor), but for the price, the C80 with internal ND and triple native ISO becomes a lot more tempting to me.

45 minutes ago, MurtlandPhoto said:

C'mon now. No one is saying that they only should announce broadcast stuff at NAB. At the same time NAB is precisely when they should announce broadcast stuff. Right?

And similarly, nobody is saying that they shouldn't also announce broadcast stuff at NAB.  They certainly have done so in every other year in recent memory.  It's just that after sitting through an hour of tedious broadcast gear updates, in every other year, the non-broadcaster viewer was rewarded with the updates on the gear they were interested in.

45 minutes ago, MurtlandPhoto said:

They pretty clearly stated this would be a broadcast oriented announcement. Folks reading the tea leaves a different way is their own prerogative. I mean no one forced you to watch the full livestream lol.

Again, as they usually are, but broadcast-oriented is not synonymous with broadcast-only.  And no, nobody forced anybody to do anything.  I watched because I was interested to see what new products I might be interested in owning.  I was irritated that the entire product segment that interests me was almost completely ignored, outside of the software that I use to edit.

Again, stop trying to make it some idiotic meh meh meh it says broadcast, they didn't mention consumer cameras thing.  Other people, including me, are allowed to be annoyed by something, even if it doesn't bother you.

4Kp240 is pretty neat.  If they had pricing in there, I missed it - but if Mission 1 Pro ILS is <$700, I might take a flyer on it.  They made almost exactly the camera I've wanted for a while now.  The sensor could be a little better, but a 1" sensor ain't bad.  If it has usable low-latency HDMI out (or a small adapter to get it), it could be a semi-ideal lightweight travel camera.

3 hours ago, Anaconda_ said:

'I can't believe a company would release broadcast equipment and try to get ahead in a new broadcasting industry at the National Association of Broadcasters.'

This is an intensely stupid take.  For the last several years, BMD have been announcing their entire line of new cameras/gear in their NAB update, regardless of whether they were directly aimed at broadcast.  Having been to NAB, I can tell you that a majority of vendors there aren't selling things directly aimed at broadcast.  But please don't let any of that get in the way of your dumb pedantry.  If Petty had started the stream by saying "Hey, everybody.  We're focusing on broadcast for NAB this year, but we'll have another product announcement ahead of (other camera show)," I think that a lot of their owner-operators, including me, would have shrugged, tuned out, and not cared much.

3 hours ago, Anaconda_ said:

I work in video and it's annoyed me that Canon keep releasing new printers! What do you mean Panasonic has a new microwave, I need faster AF! I don't need a PS5 for God's sake, why won't Sony give me better menus! At the very least, BMD is keeping within the same field and pushing the boundaries throughout the whole workflow as much as they're able to. Parts of this technology will eventually come to the more 'interesting' products and while we're waiting there's plenty of choice from other brands.

It feels like I'm defending the brand, which I don't mean to do, but damn. Complaining that groundbreaking products don't fit your own expectations is pretty wild to me. If it's not for you, it's not for you. No need to get upset. My intial point remains, the amount of times Grant says things like 'but there's a problem with this process, so we've also created this solution' is very promising. I don't see many other companies thinking so far ahead and getting around problems that don't even exist yet.

Derp derp derp.  BMD have been aggressively pursuing the consumer/prosumer market since 2018 when they released the BMPCC 4K.  It is not crazy to be irritated that in what has generally been their yearly new products update, they seemingly abandoned that entire market... 

"Multicamera livestream, but with two square streams instead of one rectangular one" is not a revolution.  It's tedious evolution.  "We needed more data so we upgraded to 100gE" is also not a revolution.  And almost no product that they announced was revolutionary, it was "our old product but newer" and/or "a box to convert things."

The time for speculation is over!

https://gopro.com/en/us/news/gopro-announces-three-cameras-mission-1-2026
 

Quote

The World’s Smallest, Lightest, Most Rugged Cinema Cameras Designed for Any Mission:

 

MISSION 1 PRO— Featuring a Cutting-Edge 50MP 1" Sensor; Incredible Low-Light Performance; 8K60, 4K240, and 1080p960 Ultra-High Frame Rates; 8K30 and 4K120 Open Gate Video Capture; and New GP3 Processor Delivering Category-Leading Image Quality, Battery Runtime, and Thermal Performance for Extreme Use Cases

 

MISSION 1 PRO ILS— A New Class of Ultra-Compact Mirrorless Cinema Camera with the Same Sensor as MISSION 1 PRO, Compatible with Micro Four Thirds (MFT) Lenses for Expanded Cinematic Versatility

 

MISSION 1— Same as MISSION 1 PRO, but with 8K30 Video Capture; 4K120 Open Gate; 4K120 and 1080p240 Slo-Mo Frame Rates

 

MISSION 1 Accessory Ecosystem Includes New Wireless Mic System; Point-and-Shoot Grip and Powered Grip; Higher-Capacity Enduro 2 Battery; I/O Expansion Media Mod and More

6 hours ago, Anaconda_ said:

They invented, solved the problems of and instantly became a leader in a whole new industry. Live, multi-cam immersive production. That's the closest thing to teleportation you can get without the risks of becoming half man half fly.

 

Invented is a real stretch there.  As soon as VR headsets were a thing, it was obvious that people would eventually want to do it live.  Adding multiple cameras into the mix, with the associated awful jarring jumps between places, is hardly a revolution.  Plus there's the dystopia of standing amidst the futbol players after a goal is scored celebrating with them... only to a second later be standing in the midst of an immersive ad for erectile dysfunction pills.

6 hours ago, Anaconda_ said:

Blackmagic stands alone on the forefront of a sci-fi world where the competition aren't even looking.

That's fine, but for me as a filmmaker, I really just don't give even a nugget of a shit about any of that stuff.  I would have really wanted some sort of bridge between the $5,000 and up gear with their fantastic RGBW sensors and the $3,500 and below gear which mostly uses 5+ year-old Sony sensors (such as the Pyxis 6K which uses an IMX410 from 2018, old enough to be in grade school).  IMX410 is a great sensor, but as Andrew pointed out, I can go buy a cheaper Fuji with a newer/better sensor.  An X-H2s costs less and has half the readout time and better dynamic range - and with the money saved, I can add raw and a second monitor with a Video Assist 12G.  Bonus: the video assist won't be locked in place awkwardly on the side of the goddamn camera.

1 hour ago, maxJ4380 said:

Perhaps this new gp3 is designed better, requires less assembly from humans and with all the normal things companies do to save money getting rid of paying salaries is always a winner...

Do they assemble them in-house?  I assumed they'd just outsource a lot of that stuff to someone like FoxConn, if not FoxConn themselves.  If they're running with only 600 total employees, I'd guess that the layoffs were in engineering, sales, support, etc, probably with a bit of middle management thrown under the bus with them.

After all, it's almost never the executives, they've already proven their value by fucking up the strategy and driving the company into the ground.  Better give them a retention bonus so they don't take all that competence somewhere else.  😅

If you'd like to spend about 2 hours learning about a bunch of expensive, high-end broadcast gear, the latest Blackmagic NAB update was made for you!

BEHOLD million bazillion port VIDEO SWITCHING DEVICES

STARE IN AWE at a first-party mount to use 2/3" camera lenses on your FULL FRAME CINEMA CAMERA

GASP WITH AMAZEMENT as instead of making the smaller, cheaper media module reader that everybody wants, they make one BIGGER AND MORE EXPENSIVE!

YOU MAY HAVE PAID FOR THE WHOLE SEAT, BUT YOU WILL ONLY NEED THE EDGE

-------------

Resolve 21 looks nice.

Otherwise, 0 new consumer products.  Every single thing that they announced today was for broadcast and specifically seemed targeted at sports broadcasters, the only people who are trying to multiplex 50+ 4K+ input streams to 50+ output devices all at the same time.

I suspect that rampocalypse pricing for components has basically obliterated profit margins on any consumer gear that Petty was going to announce.  Maybe in 3-6 months, we'll get an out-of-cycle product release livestream.

It's not exactly confidence-inspiring when you lay off about 1/4 of your workforce right before announcing the killer new product.  It seems like either GP3 isn't going to be in any shipping products for a while or GP doesn't think it will be a huge seller.  Otherwise, why go to the bother of laying off a bunch of people and paying severance, only to rehire them in a few months when the new product is selling like crazy?

https://www.cined.com/gopro-to-cut-23-of-its-workforce-ahead-of-gp3-camera-launch-at-nab/

6 hours ago, kye said:

Yes, lots of things to trade-off against each other.  Thus the arguments about what is best when people impose their own values and priorities onto other people then judge them for doing it "wrong" lol.  The more I refine my setup the more that other peoples approaches sound so alien to me.

The only setup that's truly "wrong" is one that you don't enjoy using and that doesn't get you the photos that you want.  The primary camera of a friend of mine is a pinhole that she made herself from... I think it's a coffee can or a cocoa powder jar.  The photos are low-resolution, dreamy, and perfect.  My setup would be totally wrong for her, or you, but I quite like it!  I was at Photostock a few years ago when David Burnett was the speaker - he is famously still shooting sporting events and major political events using either a speed graphic or converted Graflex SLR with an Aero Ektar.  At that event, however, he was carrying the camera he uses most of the time - an A7c with a small Sony lens.  Not a setup that I'd choose, but if it's good enough for one of the most famous living photographers, it's probably not "wrong."  😅

5 hours ago, kye said:

If my goal is to make edits that feel more immersive, then it makes sense to shoot with a lens that's roughly "normal" so it has a perspective similar to the human eye, which is about 50mm on FF.

A number of the big name classic cinematographers/filmmakers favored lenses between 40-60mm or so FF equivalent.  A lot of classic street photographers like 35-50mm because it's seen as immersive.  But if you want an outsider perspective, your choice of a 70mm seems appropriate!

(Cross-posted from reddit)

I've been working on and off for a while now on a Leica M mount for the Ursa Cine 12K LF. I was having problems with minor flexing in the plastic - and the random Micro 4/3 to M mount adapter that I used as a donor turned out to be a bad choice for a few reasons.

In the meantime, I found some ways to mitigate the plastic flexing and I disassembled a Fotodiox L mount to M mount adapter and found it a lot more suitable, plus with a larger diameter which also seems to help with stability. Because of shape of mount cavity on the camera, the lens also needs to be mounted upside-down with my mount.

Unfortunately, there is some play in the adapter so any lens will need support if racking focus.

This latest prototype still focuses just a little too much past infinity with the f/1 Noctilux so I have one or two more prototypes to dial it in just a little closer - and then I'll switch from the cheapest PLA in my house to PCCF and print what I hope will be the adapter that I actually use.

Limitations? Every modern Leica M lens that I own (21, 24, 35mm) that is 35mm or wider cannot be used. They stick out past the rear of the mount and would impact the glass in front of the ND filters. Similarly, with my Simera-C set,

However, my incredibly old 35mm/3.5 Elmar does not protrude and, as can be seen in the couple of snapshots I took from the last round of testing, works great (and is beautiful, as it is on any camera). That's the widest L mount lens that I own that can fit.

HOWEVER

While using my M mount glass is part of my goal in building this, the bigger bonus is that having a Leica M mount lets me adapt a bunch of other vintage SLR glass that is not otherwise usable (without mount conversion) on the UC12K LF. And since those lenses were designed for SLR's, the wide angles don't protrude. This will address one of the few things that I've found to be a bummer - I really love my FD mount and Minolta SR mount glass! With an FD to M mount adapter, they will all be 100% usable now.

In this round of testing, I checked the 50/1 Noctilux and the 35/3.5 screw mount Elmar - both are gorgeous lenses on any camera that I've put them on and this is no exception. Did some 3:2 frame grabs from Resolve with no grading done beyond slapping on a BMD film to rec.709 lut. I also seem to have done the math wrong for a 3:2 ratio in Resolve, but I'm also not going to bother going back to fix the slight letterboxing.

Speed boosting a 45mm f/2.8 lens onto a smaller sensor with a 0.71x converter gives you a 32mm f/2 lens.  That's it.  If you like the character of the medium format lens, that's great and it's a worthwhile endeavor.  But aside from the character unique to that model of lens, it won't look appreciably different from a 32mm f/2 lens that was made to cover the format you're adapting to.

That said, I've been thinking about building graflok DOF adapters that I could stick on some of my medium and large format cameras - not because there is an intrinsic medium or large format look, but because I have some really interesting older lenses and when I adapt them to smaller formats, I'm just using the pretty good/well-corrected centers of the image circle and not the cool outer edges where things get interesting/cool/weird.  I think a medium format one might be my next project after I finish the M mount for the UC12K (which is looking like it will be tomorrow sometime?).  I have a kind of beat up, but otherwise unmarked 6x9cm ground glass handy.  It'll at least be good enough for a proof of concept.  Most of my 4x5 stuff has either a fresnel (visible lines!) or grids on the GG, but I also have at least one spare 4x5 GG lying around that I could use for a proof of concept.  Oh, and now that I think of it, I have an old Seroco 4x5 which has clean GG and I think it's from the 1920's or so - maybe I have a project for tomorrow while I wait for another iteration of my UC12K mount to finish printing (now that I'm near the end and printing the entire part, the prints are taking about 3 1/2 hours each).