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Deciding closest modern camera to Digital Bolex look


Andrew Reid
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1 hour ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

(given how much I see sound people complaining about how poorly various cameras support it, I’d guess it’s a harder problem than it seems)

It's technically trivial to make a timecode input that writes TC metadata in the file header. (Source: I've created timecode readers on arduinos, android apps, and webpages to keep virtual production units synced). I think it's lack of interest among customers.

And to be clear, accurate timecode generators require more specialized hardware than your average off the shelf board--I'm talking about timecode input, which is what people mostly use on cameras since the generator is either an audio recorder, or a dedicated TC generator.

6 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

Probably of interest in the context of a sub $1000 camera is that the ES-71 usb timecode interface that they have referenced is $325, so is more or less a third of the price of the camera itself so that 3.5mm input will be important for many.

I see these prices and am reminded that the demand side of supply/demand is more important on tech items like that.

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9 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

Probably of interest in the context of a sub $1000 camera is that the ES-71 usb timecode interface that they have referenced is $325, so is more or less a third of the price of the camera itself so that 3.5mm input will be important for many.

Found it here for $314:

https://probroadcastsupply.com/ese-es-71-smpte-ebu-ese-to-usb-converter-ese-es-71 

but yikes, that is crazy expensive! ah well, film world pricing 

  

9 hours ago, KnightsFan said:

I see these prices and am reminded that the demand side of supply/demand is more important on tech items like that.

yup! we're a teeny tiny niche in the grand global scale of things, vs say buying a smart watch or a microwave 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Aja Cion, just sayin. Not many Aja Cion owners here I think.:) Protect your highlights is a rule. But the image can be very lovely. Global shutter btw!:) This DP is offering some very nice color science and rolloff, looking promising. What do you think @kye and all of you?:) The video consists of three parts with a plugin for download. So there are still super cool youtubers around.:) cheers

 

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I just reread this thread. The Aja Cion has been mentioned before by @IronFilm 😊 The new approach regarding color treatment in post shows much better highlight rolloff. In his second video David Bross shows sample footage and the math behind his approach. The download link for the plugin is in the description of the third video.

 

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12 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

Aja Cion, just sayin. Not many Aja Cion owners here I think.:) Protect your highlights is a rule. But the image can be very lovely. Global shutter btw!:) This DP is offering some very nice color science and rolloff, looking promising. What do you think @kye and all of you?:) The video consists of three parts with a plugin for download. So there are still super cool youtubers around.:) cheers

 

Footage looks good, and global shutter is a definite plus of course, but I'd like to see a side-by-side with the OG BMPCC or P4K or Sigma FP etc.

To be honest, the CST in Resolve can convert Linear gamma to whatever you want, so that part was done already.  Adjusting the primaries can be done with a 3x3 RGB matrix, which isn't easy but also wouldn't be too hard if you knew what you were doing.  I commend him for pursuing the project, but it's probably half a days work for a professional colour scientist, at most, maybe even an hour or two if they are setup for it already.

This is an example of a RAW shooting camera with a good conversion to LogC and then a nice LogC LUT put onto it, nothing more.  This has been done by Juan Melara for a range of cameras including the P4K etc, which are almost indistinguishable in side-by-side comparisons.

https://juanmelara.com.au/products/bmpcc-4k-to-alexa-powergrade-and-luts

This is why I moved to colour grading rather than going from camera to camera, the RAW-shooting cameras are all nearly perfect already and improving them without improving the colour grading is a waste of time really.

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Oh maaaan, I thought my post would put an interested smile on your face. But no:(😪

The comments of Cion owners were very enthusiastic about about this new attempt by David Bross.

Juan is well known of course. Juan himself has done a post about his p4k to log c lut on Eoshd.

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7 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

Oh maaaan, I thought my post would put an interested smile on your face. But no:(😪

The comments of Cion owners were very enthusiastic about about this new attempt by David Bross.

Juan is well known of course. Juan himself has done a post about his p4k to log c lut on Eoshd.

Maybe I was a bit harsh..  it's great there is an additional camera out there that can perform well, and that someone has done the work to make good colour grading available.

I would actually be interested in the side-by-side images because it may be right up there with these alternative cameras - or maybe might even have some extra mojo..  we know cameras from that time were often hidden gems, and one with global shutter would be even better, maybe giving it double mojo!

I think these days I've become aware of the diabolical state of colour grading knowledge out there, and the more I learn the more I realise that the majority of free colour grading resources aren't just useless, or misleading, they're often outright lies designed to confuse and disempower people so that you'll give up and just buy the stupid LUT pack the person is selling.

Anyway, what are these AJA Cion cameras worth second hand?

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1 hour ago, kye said:

Anyway, what are these AJA Cion cameras worth second hand?

Next to nothing, there is one listed right now for a buy now price of US$825.99:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/276260362267 

Also, if this is working for the AJA Cion, then I wonder, the Blackmagic Production 4K Camera and the URSA 4K / URSA Mini 4K all share the same sensor as the AJA Cion, could the same process work for them too? They're even cheaper!

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1 hour ago, IronFilm said:

Next to nothing, there is one listed right now for a buy now price of US$825.99:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/276260362267 

Also, if this is working for the AJA Cion, then I wonder, the Blackmagic Production 4K Camera and the URSA 4K / URSA Mini 4K all share the same sensor as the AJA Cion, could the same process work for them too? They're even cheaper!

It will depend on the processing in-camera.

Linear is Linear, so no dramas there, but getting the 3x3 matrix right to define the primaries requires a calibrated setup, and might be non-linear or some other thing normally inside the camera and hidden from us.

Don't the BM cameras have a defined gamma and colour space?  Wouldn't they be BM Film Gen 1?

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