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NX1 dynamic range in 2018


Andrew Reid
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Blown away by the codec...

This shot had some serious underexposure going on.

At least 3 stops head-room in the highlights.

Brought the shadows up in Premiere and remapped to 16-235 (Fast Color Corrector)

There's almost zero signs of compression in the shadows!! Which came up from invisible.

Sequence H265 4K.jpg

Sequence H265 4K_1.jpg

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2 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Blown away by the codec...

This shot had some serious underexposure going on.

At least 3 stops head-room in the highlights.

Brought the shadows up in Premiere and remapped to 16-235 (Fast Color Corrector)

There's almost zero signs of compression in the shadows!! Which came up from invisible.

Sequence H265 4K.jpg

Sequence H265 4K_1.jpg

Pretty amazing.

Don't you think we should have a 

"Bring Back the NX Series" Thread for Samsung, and promise to pick up (atleast) 1 each of the NX2 if they bring it back. A Kickstarter kind of Campaign where there are Pre-Orders based on stated specs may be a great idea. From the look of things above, even the NX1's processor may be able to handle a lot more juice, with merely a completely new processor onboard. Like 8-bit or 10-bit, and some HDR tricks in JPEGs like in Smartphones. 

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Yes.

But sadly, I don't think Kickstarter pre-orders are in Samsung's business plan :) With their eye on the next trillion dollar shipment of smartphones, and tanks :)

Here's another gem...

Make sure Fast Color Corrector to 16-235 is first in the effects chain. Or use 16-235 in NX1 menus (0-255 in menus with correction in post gives you slightly better colour though).

Sequence H265 4K_3.jpg

Sequence H265 4K_2.jpg

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43 minutes ago, pintowar said:

ISO between 100-800??

No high iso´s or yes??

Yes, 6400 in video mode. I would stick to 100-3200 though.

33 minutes ago, Stryfe said:

And the autofocus...you'd think it was Canon's DPAF.

Yeah. It's fantastic with the Pro lenses.

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@StryfeIt's amazing how forward-thinking that camera was. I am so glad I went full NX back then instead of GH4. Even if I had Panasonic lenses, I would have probably changed them until now, for faster/better AF and better IBIS cooperation, so loose-loose situation.

Sadly, I do not own the 50-150, but a childhood friend has it, and always it blows my mind! I could add there the amazing workhorse 16-50S. I consider it a more versatile buy, than the Sigma 18-36. It's not amazing after the 45mm, but the Sigma doesn't even go there. 

For video, with the right settings, I believe NX AF is more reliable (reliable I said) than a6300's. 

When I edit - simple stuff mostly, I am not a high end editor or colorist - I am truly amazed by the information I find in unusual places! I have noticed, a little bit of grain (a little bit!) reveals more information in the shadows (e.g branches in trees, in the background, that seem completely black to start with).

Edit: ISO is the only disappointment, actually, not the ISO performance per se, but the terrible NR. I try not to go above 1600. Also, non punch in to focus, but excellent SAMOLED monitors, and excellent focus peaking (it must be, because I watch some stuff for a wedding I did in September, and most shots were in focus!). DIS+IS = DUAL OIS, if you do not have very fast changes of motion, it works.

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Yeah unfortunately noise reduction is heavy-handed above 1600 and cannot be turned off (only turned off for JPEGs) and there's too few fast primes for the NX system (would have loved to have had a 24mm F1.4, 35mm F1.4 and 50mm F1.2 but was not to be!) Solution? NX-L + Canon EF primes!

That is the only flaw.

Stabilisation is superb... DIS + OIS combo delivers almost a completely static frame handheld.

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I really can't understand yours and Kisaha's enthusiasm for this camera. Noise reduction is too aggressive from iso 1600 (seen in my vid). Digital sharpening is very prominent in 4k and 1080 (also seen in that vid). Colour is pretty good but not at all comparable to Canon. You showed that yourself in your NX1 vs 1DC video. Dynamic range takes a steep drop as the ISO goes up (see attached pics for iso 4000 jpg's from raw). Can't switch between EVF and LCD when filming. AF is also poor in mid-low light. 

(XT2)

DSCF8586.jpg

(NX1)

SAM_0051.jpg

 

Not to say the NX1 is a bad camera but I find it highly overrated by some people. It's very good value for money though if you can find one. For me the main killer is just how weird the image looks at ISO 1600 because of the aggressive noise reduction and sharpening.

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Are you using it with the hack installed?

And in low light you get the benefit of shooting at F0.85 (thanks NX-L)

ISO 1600 is fine.

ISO 800 completely noiseless... uncanny

Make sure you do the 16-235 in post as well. Very important with this camera.

In my NX1 vs 1D C comparison, yes the 1D C has some picture quality advantages... of course it does... $12,000 camera when it came out, vs $1600. But it has nowhere near the level of ergonomics for video, small 4K file sizes, autofocus, EVF vs NONE.

So you can forgive the camera not switching between the EVF and LCD during a recording... many others are the same way, including Fuji!

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4 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Blown away by the codec...

This shot had some serious underexposure going on.

At least 3 stops head-room in the highlights.

Brought the shadows up in Premiere and remapped to 16-235 (Fast Color Corrector)

There's almost zero signs of compression in the shadows!! Which came up from invisible.

Sequence H265 4K.jpg

Sequence H265 4K_1.jpg

 

The first image shows an image encoded with data levels interpreted as video range. It will look more contrasty than it really is. Premiere does that with the NX1's files, that's why you have to do the remapping. So your "before" image should be the one after the fast color corrector, this way it's a bit misleading as correcting a bad interpretation is not part of the recovery.

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@InazumaFirst of all I will express personal experiences and opinions. I put the disclaimer here, because.. Then, it is not only us. If you check Ebay prices, they are rather high for a 2 years "dead" system. I am trying to find a 50-150 for less than a 4 digit number and is rather difficult (if not impossible). This is a dead system, and I am trying to find a used tele zoom.

The camera has some advantages, even 4 years after its release. Do you remember back then? 16mgpxls m43 and Fuji, and a6000 for Sony. 70D for Canon, and that was the competition. Can you imagine how I felt when I used that camera back then?! Like I was using something from the future, and it was, indeed. Also, I saved money just NOT changing system.

15fps/28mgpxls BSI = these specs haven't been beaten yet.

Samsung surprisingly put a lot of effort and thought in their color science. Sometimes I shoot the Vivid profile notched down, and I am ready to deliver. Can mix up well with a lot of cameras when I work as a camera person for other people's projects, events, etc (that is my income number 2 by the way) people never complain (actually, they are always complaining, but after the post everything is fine!). You do not want to know with how many cameras it has been mixed. Do you remember Sony Zombie Skin? Not here.

Then we have the ergonomics, menu system, touch screen implementation, screens - even the shoulder thingy that the G9 and new Fuji put in fashion again, Samsung had it first! These are the best in business. I shoot with a lot of cameras every year (except Fuji, no one is shooting Fuji for video over here, only a couple or three Nikon photo pros have Fuji, that I know). Seriously, the grip of this thing and the feel when you work, is out of this world. How they possible did it with their first pro camera? It's above me really.

The camera is from 2014, I bought it in 2015, since then I have bought 3 more cameras. A NX500, a NX3000 and a second NX1! I can shoot 4 camera live performances. I put the NX3000 with the a-m-a-z-i-n-g and tiny NX10mm fish eye in the center of the stage - only rec and its enough (this is a specialized shot, so I do not worry for the lesser codec and quality, I treat it like an APS-C sensored GoPro), NX1+16-50S near the stage or on a monopod (usually a very experienced camera operator here), the NX500 and the other NX1 I do from the sound engineering cage with the 30mm (or the 12-24, depends) on the NX500 just a wide shot and the 50-200 on the best tripod we have for moves and closer look of the stage. 

NX1/NX500 records 78 minutes straight 1080p, which I believe is better quality than a6xxx cameras, and no one of the cameras have ever overheat (the shows vary from 120 to even 200+ minutes).

The NX1 has no crop whatsoever. Very good 120/100 high speed shooting (not the best of course, much better than Sony APS-C and Fuji XT2 didn't even offer any).

Records in very cheap media their regular bitrates. H265 is everywhere right now, even in mobile phone, definitely my 3 years old TV and all the editing suites.

Has a headphone out (that some specific cameras have not!), USB 3.0 I believe - which charges the camera the same time, but I do not, because the power management is excellent (when I shoot with Sony people, it is comical how many batteries they carry and have to charge all the time).

It has DIS, coupled together with some lenses OIS (mainly the S lenses, but the PZ is very good too) offers excellent Dual IS for SPECIFIC circumstances (and obviously crops), at least they had that covered too. Canon did this last year, to put things in perspective.

Now your issues. I do never use the EVF. I read it in some other forums a while back, but I wouldn't even know, so I can't really comment. I am working since 1999 and I was educated and a hobbyist before that. Do you thing we were shooting 4000 ISO film or video? I said myself, that the biggest issue is the noise reduction, but for a stop or two, I can't cancel all the previous advantages. If I'd care that much, I would have bought an A7s instead of my other 3 NX. Also, that can be defeated easily by the workhorse 16-50S which is 2f 16-20mm/20-23mm 2.2f/24-32mm 2.5f, and 2.8 to the end, a faster prime probably, or the speed booster NX-L. I know, it is not ideal, but I do not like to shoot in darkness. Photography = write with light (I know, it's Greek language!), it isn't Scotography (write with darkness!). 

That's some. I am sure they are more, like the wireless capabilities and ease of use that by that time were unparalleled etc etc

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True. But a lot of people judge the NX1's dynamic range based on the first image and don't realise the range is incorrectly interpreted by their software.

Here is a just as impressive A/B when both are 16-235...

Sequence H265 4K_4.jpg

Sequence H265 4K_5.jpg

It's a more extreme grade, the recovery is huge... Bit of macroblocking in the very darkest areas on the art shop sign... And that's it!

 

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10 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Are you using it with the hack installed?

And in low light you get the benefit of shooting at F0.85 (thanks NX-L)

ISO 1600 is fine.

ISO 800 completely noiseless... uncanny

Make sure you do the 16-235 in post as well. Very important with this camera.

In my NX1 vs 1D C comparison, yes the 1D C has some picture quality advantages... of course it does... $12,000 camera when it came out, vs $1600. But it has nowhere near the level of ergonomics for video, small 4K file sizes, autofocus, EVF vs NONE.

So you can forgive the camera not switching between the EVF and LCD during a recording... many others are the same way, including Fuji!

Yes I was using it with the hack installed. And yes I was doing the trick before you even figured it out. Not sure how it took you so long to find out about it since you love it so much :yum: The images I shared were from raw stills btw.

Yes I know the two cams aren't in the same ball park price wise but you kept saying it had similar colours, so I just had to point out that it really doesn't heh. The image is nice though.

9 hours ago, Kisaha said:

@InazumaFirst of all I will express personal [etc.. removed to save space]

+1. The NX1 has many, many advantages. And the image looks great. Like I said, I would probably have kept it if it weren't for the weird iso 1600+ images and the steep decline in DR at those iso's. Low light takes up a lot of my work so I can't afford to use a camera that doesn't have the capability. 

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16 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Brought the shadows up in Premiere and remapped to 16-235 (Fast Color Corrector)

Those results are really stunning. But help me understand the workflow here. So if I set my NX1 to the 16-235 setting in camera, I do or don't use the additional technique with fast color corrector in Premiere? Slightly confused here. 

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You really seem to forget the horrible ISO performance, really horrible, looking like a handycam above 1600. 
Lenses for low light? Sure get the premium S lenses, used, and you can just trash them after you decide to switch system.
Need more low light? Sure buy the adapter for the price of a low end panasonic mirrorless, again that you will trash since it can't be used in the future.

It was an amazing product no doubt,  anyway let's not forget about its flaws for low light when others were way better already. And fixing those issue by giving away for money for a DEAD system is not something I would advise or feel good about it, honestly.

However if the NX2 was real........ ;)

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