FHDcrew

Miss him. He also randomly deleted or privated a bunch of his older videos; I noticed this happen maybe 2-3 yrs ago. Tons of old Blackmagic videos, his awesome Canon XC10/XC15 review, etc etc.

Definitely. I did a brief comparison of a VLOG frame and shooting the same in flat with ISO lowered, I used the same node tree I did with my Nikon z6 8 bit flat and was able to get color and highlight rolloff real close.

Curious how you find the gh7 autofocus fares at the higher IsoS

Certainly agree I took a bit of time to test some stuff out yesterday evening. I do switch my picture profile from VLOG to FLAT I can lower my ISO from 5,000 to 1,000. Gotta do further test though on my ultimate thoughts on the autofocus.

I’m dead 🤣🤣

I’m actually thinking of in lowlight staying in Vlog and trying to keep my ISO at 2500 as much as I can. VLOG seems to have really solid under exposure latitude and AF seems to work at 4/5 stops under so instead of shooting at 12,800 ISO I could stay at 2500 ISO and raise exposure in post. The idea is that then PDAF stays enabled and gives me usable autofocus.

Formatting is being super weird right now ignore post

Some first impressions of the G9II; finally starting to shoot with it but will have my first very demanding shoot this weekend. I did some filming at a worship conference early this week. Image is thick and grades well. Lowlight is clean up to 3200 ISO and gets very noisy very fast. So far I shot on the super efficient mp4 4k 72mbps. When really pushing ISO at 6400 and 12,800 image seems to soften. This might not happen once I try the all-i codecs that have substantially higher bitrates. One thing I noticed, this camera has hybrid PDAF and Contrast-detect AF. At high ISOs the PDAF seems to turn off or become severely reduced...i start to get autofocus pulsing and it is not as responsive. It is not HORRIBLE and is still likely better than a gh5, but its not the snappy reliable PDAF that this camera normally operates at. I need to do more extensive testing, btu it seems up to around ISO 2500 or 3200 you can expect good AF performance, but seems to worsen from there. I will be shooting a big concert-style christian event this weekened and the venue has lots of contrasty DMX lighting which looks beautiful but is def a lower light scenereo. I am toying with shooting in CineD V2 in lowlight. What seems to happen is when I shoot in a flat 709 PP, I can lower my ISO and get a comparable exposure. I know that LOG needs a higher ISO in lowlight bc its capturing a much wider dynamic range...and once you grade LOG if its exposed well the noise differences vanish. But with CINEd V2 i can lower my ISO probably 1 to 1 1/2 stops and get a good exposure. Im thinking in terms of how the sensor behaves, it would allow me to more frequently keep the ISO at below 3200 which in tern means keeping good autofocus performance since it seems to again worsen above 3200 ISO. I am also thinking that since the picture profile will be more contrasty, if i need to crank my ISO ever the autofocus would be better because it is analyzing a more contrasty image. I think it will still grade well; it is still going to be 10 bit and i suppose the extra V-LOG DR is not terribly necessary in low light. Plus, the codec is still 10 bit so colors should manage well; i would run the footage through the same node tree i used for Nikon Z6 Flat 8 bit, which basically is modified CSTs in/out of Davinci Wide gamut with modifications to artificlaly smooth highlight rolloff.

Definitely. It’s super versatile.

Also the crop zoom function is so cool. Turns my little DJI 15mm 1.7 into a 30-40mm FF equiv. Just wish I could map the crop zoom to the lenses focus wheel when in af

The IBIS is so good that I’ve found that with e-stabilization low which barely crops in, if you have a really good heel toe walk the ibis can rival e-stab on high. It’s that good.

Thank you. I’ve found it’s very possible. I hear claims online and even in-person of people saying “you just can’t replace a gimbal.” I mostly disagree. If you have a great shooting technique down and are smart to maximize your camera’s best aids to help stabilize the shot, and you then are smart about your post-stabilization if needed, it’s absolutely possible. I was able to get a lot done with my less-than-ideal Nikon Z6 setup. IBIS on that camera is pretty lens dependent with F mount glass. It was never as good as the G9II or S9 with e stab high. But it was still possible. You have caught on fast to my preferred way to shoot and WHY I like to shoot that way. I’ve used gimbals before and have worked with others who use gimbals a lot. To me it just feels like a heavy nuisance that gets in my way. I feel I can get shots faster handheld. I can quickly get vastly different angles, movements, compositions, focal lengths etc handheld. I still think ultimately the gimbal gives ultimate smoothness, particularly at long focal lengths. It is easier to pull it off there. But, you can get handheld very close and gain a massive weight and agility advantage. Sometimes I watch a popular camera review YouTuber or shill-tuber. I take a minute to actually analyze the shots they are getting. Some are talented. Others, I look at the actual footage and I’m like, this is fine. I could get that easily. Sometimes I like the stuff I shoot more than the stuff they get from a camera. Sometimes I even feel I’ve gotten better shots with my 8 bit Z6 than some of their stuff on the latest Sony FX2 or whatever. This is not always the case, but it’s happened. Anymore I care about cameras to make my life easier and speed up my workflow while giving me a shooting experience that helps me be more creative. For me, the G9II certainly does that.

Looks so good. Love how far the iPhone as come. Outside of lowlight I could probably shoot all of my client work on the 17 pro if I needed to...it looks very good in talented hands. Deep DOF is a vibe anymore. All the elements we need are there. Good color, good codec, good DR...boom.

Definitely; that's where the 12-35 2.8 and DJi 15mm 1.7 will show their strengths for me. The lenses haven't arrived yet, but the camera came with the 12-60mm 3.5-5.6 kit lens, so definitely in the ball park with size and weight. The thing is so darn light; it actually feels extremely comfortable and balanced attached to the larger body style. I could be fine with a sigma 18-35; funny thing is even that feels somewhat light to me, as I am used to having to carry around my Atomos Ninja V for anything 10 bit. Yes, yes, yes. The only reason I have a great idea now of what matters to me, is because at this point I've shot a lot of projects, and have done so on multiple different camera systems. So along the way, I've learned what matters to me. I'm not going to notice a 1/2 stop DR difference; some grainy footage (as long as the grain isnt ugly) doesn't bother me terrible. Sometimes I like it. But I do value great stabilization, as the way I shoot I end up spending a good chunk of my time finessing post-stablization to achieve the type of camera movement I want while keeping things completely handheld. I have a solid handheld technique down, but on most cameras it is still not perfect. I always hold the camera losely, usually shoot wide, and do a great heel-toe walk or body sway. But I always need to post-stabilize. I end up trying the stabilization options in Davinci Resolve. If that doesn't work, I render that clip out to Prores and import it to After Effects just to apply Adobe Warp Stabilizer, as it is a bit better in my experience. Once I get the result I like, I export. The beauty of the G9II is that when you combine the fantastic IBIS with e-stabilization high, I get quite close to the result I get after all of that post stabilization process...but this is just the footage out of the camera. It saves me a lot of time. And I can even add a drop of warp stabilizer on top to make it perfectly smooth. Another big advantage for me, its effectively doing what Gyroflow does but all internally and paired with the best IBIS ever. I've tried Gyroflow. I've used it on some FX3 footage I shot for my buddy's wedding film company. I've also rigged an iPhone to my Nikon Z6 as well as used the Senseflow A1. Its a nice solution. I figured I'd love it; its the same concept of what normal post-stabilization does (which I always use ALL THE TIME). Big difference is it is using true camera motion data; so the results should be perfect right? Well yes, but you need to shoot on a high shutter speed. And I found that even on the Sony FX3, where Gyroflow can work with IBIS on, the crop was often still fairly large. And the workflow is lengthy. With the G9II, I have a minimal 1.255x crop with e-stab on high, and because its working fully in tandem with the phenominal physical IBIS system, its very stable AND I can zoom the lens mid-shot and it works fine (can't do this with gyroflow on most setups). AND I can keep my shutter at 1/50 because the physical IBIS system is doing 80% of the work here. But yeah. Moral of the story is shooting lots and lots of stuff has made me realize what matters most to me. The G9II seems to really hit that. Again, I used the Nikon Z6 for 4 years. I've also filmed weddings on a Sony FX3 with nice Sony G master glass. I filmed very extensively for one organization with a Canon R5 and EF glass. This past summer I bought a Canon R7, then a Panasonic S9, then sold both. So I've tried enough cameras and shot enough to know what works well for me. I'd fully agree that a lot of what camera youtuber's claim are the big time differences are not always as important as they seem; for me, the wonderful IBIS of the G9II and the minor crop in e-stabilization is way more useful than a full stop of DR improvement when you already had great DR in the first place. Etc etc. This is a concert I filmed and edited this summer on the Panasonic S9. I haven't had a chance to film anything substantial on my G9II...but this is close. It's a super weird setup I sort of wound up with over the summer...The Lumix S9 with the Sigma 18-35...in the Super 35 crop mode WITH E-stab on high. So basically a 2x crop MFT level at that point. But I still found the image to be very nice. More importantly, with some careful walking, I got the images to be this stable and a lot of these shots have NO post-stab applied. Colors were very rich. G9II is even better because again the crop is lessened in E-stab high and the physical IBIS is better. And build quality smokes the S9; that was something I did not appreciate about that camera. A short clip from a concert I filmed, with the aforementioned Lumix S9 setup. Again, no post-stabilization. It is just so smooth. Makes all the difference with how I like to film. More handheld with the Lumix S9 setup. This has a bit less "gimbal-push-in" shots and a bit more regular handheld shots. With e-stabilization high, it has a perfect balance struck, where you can walk and move the camera such that it looks like a steadicam, or you can just handhold it for regular stuff and it looks as stable as a cine-cam weighted down. This wedding trailer was with my old Nikon Z6 setup. Combo of Davinci post-stab and Warp Stabilizer. Outside, I cranked my shutter speed very high to help. I used RSMB to add motion blur in post. While this worked, I had to spend extra time stabilizing in post and tweaking things if it was not perfect. This is all but eliminated now with the G9II. Also, half of this video was shot on a Nikon F-mount 24-85mm 3.5-4.5, entirely at f/4.5. I reckon that looks pretty close to what the Panasonic12-35 2.8 will look like; @kyelet me know if I am wrong since you've used that very lens I think? But anyways, its enough DOF for me. That being said, if you like more, totally get it. Nothing wrong with that. End ramble haha.