TomTheDP

The GH6 still stands out to me as its internal 4k or 6k 60p looks better than the full frame 4k 35 crop on the S1/S5/S1H. 
I recently sold my S1 to get a Sigma FP. The S5iiX might bring me back to Panasonic. I have always been impressed with the dynamic range on the S1 sensor and with a nice internal codec it would be hard to turn down. 

The GH6 also has 4k 120fps which the S1 sensor can't hold a candle to. The thing is I rarely shoot above 24fps and I think the S5/S1 Sensor in full frame 4k/6k 24 has more dynamic range. The GH6 is cheaper though. 

I am also interested if there will be a S1H2 with a new sensor that has a faster readout for 4k 120fps. 

Looks really good @FHDcrew

Here is the 4k upload 🙂

Yes definitely. With Blackmagic I believe the Fairchild sensors were dual gain but not the newer pockets or the Ursa 12k. 

So much goes into cameras its hard to determine what is actually advantageous. Recently I used both the Sigma FP and ARRI Alexa Classic on a feature film. It was a good opportunity to put both cameras through their paces in a variety of scenarios. During production I began to question my decision to use the Alexa classic due to its size. However now that I just finished coloring the film I can say the Alexa was so much easier to work with in post. It just looks nice without any work needing to be done. It is also so easy to adjust. We only shot in prores 422 sometimes at 1600 iso for low light scenes. It still looks amazing. 

I worked on a short film where we shot on the Z-cam S6 in 4k prores 422 and Panasonic S1 in the 10 bit 4k codec.  We came back to reshoot a scene and used the Alexa. Again the Alexa felt so effortless in post. I am sure my post workflow for the Panasonic could be better. But I can't argue with my eyes. Probably not a fair to compare a once 80,000 Hollywood camera to a prosumer $2000 camera though. 

Even when shooting in 422 it's still doing a 14 bit readout. But I think the color science and processing is almost just as important. I know that with the right post workflows most cameras can look identical these days when shooting 10 bit log or RAW. But the simplicity of cinema cameras has really drawn me away from prosumer gear, seeing as you can get a lot of older RED's and Alexas for reasonable ish prices these days. 

The sensor in the z9 is designed for speed. I've found Nikon flagship D4/5 cameras lacking in dynamic range.  It was the first thing I googled when it came out: what the video dynamic range was like, and from everything I could find it wasn't great. And yep the odd video sample with gnarly highlight rolloff. Say that itqs dynamic range is limited in a Nikon group and people go slightly nuts 😆.  I'm a Nikon shooter, im used to waiting: so I'm waiting for the z6iii or z8, and Nikon hopefully getting back to the 14 stops of the d8xx's

Yep sounds like we’re on the same page. Not 100% on the Pocket cams, but if they’re 14-bit, they’re doing something wrong, because it performs just like 12-bit (pretty sure that’s what it is though). 
 
The XH2s is indeed one of the outliers. Hopefully that means 14-bit is coming to full frame soon. It makes sense Fuji would do it in their S35 cam, as the have a FF “gap” in their lineup (APSC straight to Medium Format). 

You can fudge an ACES-like workflow in Premiere using LUTs from LutCalc or Resolve:
I do this on every project to fix exposure and WB. It's a bit cumbersome but it works! In my example, one LUT transforms log to ACES. Then you can use Brightness and Contrast effect in a linear fashion, and Fast Color Corrector for global WB. Then a second LUT back to V-Log (but you could go to Rec709 or V709 or whatever from here). 
And if FCPX can load multiple LUTs then you could do the same there. If you have a nice look LUT for your log footage, then brightness, contrast and WB are really all that are needed to grade, I've found. Which makes things incredibly quick.

Just to contribute to this resurrected thread, here is my Alexa Classic on a music video recently. Heavy but beautiful image. 

Lifted directly from a Noam Kroll blog post that is so old it has cobwebs on it.
So you can fuck right off as well.

The S1H lost that aggressive NR in later firmware, the GH5 had similar issue at first. The S1 never had the aggressive NR though, probably one of the better cameras in terms of an organic NR free image, it was rated at 12.2 stops. The C70 in RAW is 12.3 stops, which is very close to what the S1 is doing.

 Of course the S1 may have less dynamic range in RAW due to the likely less processing going on. But from using both cameras on projects the S1 seems to hold highlights better while the while the C70 is better in shadows. But I know people have noticed the C70 in 10 bit is doing a lot of processing, which is why I assume the dynamic range in RAW is less. 

I'm more thinking about color rendering. The Venice has enough dynamic range for me as-is. A7S3 is so close but the color is just not quite right and it's annoying. P6K has great color to my eye and internal raw but lacks other things.

Just to contribute to this resurrected thread, here is my Alexa Classic on a music video recently. Heavy but beautiful image. 

Especially older films when it was all film. It is definitely less common these days but I have seen it, I think there was an out of focus shot that was very noticeable in the last Thor film. With super shallow DOF tracking long takes some soft focus is definitely common. 

I suppose its a little more critical for short form social media stuff as every shot is more apparent. Or maybe it matters less as such content is usually so short lived. 

I have seen amazing deals on used M1 Macs. You can often save 75% sometimes even 50%. Tech devalues so fast it is crazy. 

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

The GH6 needs PDAF. 

The GH6 needs PDAF. 

I have seen amazing deals on used M1 Macs. You can often save 75% sometimes even 50%. Tech devalues so fast it is crazy. 

My suggestion with LOG is just to expose 1-2 stops over, just using the cameras light meter and then nail WB of course. I like Filmconvert a lot 

@kyedoes a lot of travel so I can definitely see how a GH5 with vari ND and a small lens is a better setup for that usage. You could probably pocket that if you have the right Jacket where as you'll never be able to pocket a C100. 

Also for situations where you want to film and not be noticed a GH5 or other camera just looks more like you are doing casual photography. C100 not as much. But if you rig out a DSLR it stops looking like a stills camera and you stop looking like a hobbyist. 


I did a video using the ARRI Alexa, C100, and GH5. The C100 was my favorite out of the box look. It was a lower dynamic range scene but the colors were just really pretty. 

 

I own the Classic. It definitely has the best image in the game in terms of color accuracy and dynamic range. It is also just an industry standard image wise, super hard to mess up in post.

I think the F35 has a more unique image though, almost film like. The Alexa does too but its a cleaner more neutral image. The F35 is also a bit less power hungry and a bit smaller, though possibly more awkward. 

Having simple 12 bit internal recording up to 60p and 120p 10 bit with no cropping is nice on the Alexa Classic though. No external recording required. 

It crops in on the sensor in 4k 120fps, which makes noise larger and less fine. You just have to expose more carefully or over expose a bit. The good thing is that it's still high bitrate, 10 bit so you have that dynamic range and color information to play with. 

Yeah the 1080p is hit or miss. It can look very good but sometimes it is just noticeably soft. If it had 4k 60p then it would be a perfect camera for me. It's too bad they can't have like 2:1 compression or 3:1 that would probably open up the possibility of higher frame rates in 4k. 

It crops in on the sensor in 4k 120fps, which makes noise larger and less fine. You just have to expose more carefully or over expose a bit. The good thing is that it's still high bitrate, 10 bit so you have that dynamic range and color information to play with. 

It crops in on the sensor in 4k 120fps, which makes noise larger and less fine. You just have to expose more carefully or over expose a bit. The good thing is that it's still high bitrate, 10 bit so you have that dynamic range and color information to play with.