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Thanks so much, Andrew, for all the work you've done to provide all of us with a nice hub for information related to video production and photography. I check the forum of this site almost daily and am very appreciative of all who collaborate in a positive way here, but also love the product reviews you've done. Happy Holidays to you and all the other forum members who make this little place on the internet great.

Award of the most useless post of the year !

Very grateful to all the forum users and the readers of the blog, so merry christmas right back at ya!

Hi everyone, Merry Christmas! I wanna share my last short film, "Best-Seller". I shot it entirely with Nikon D7100 and D5300 on September 2014. I´m releasing it online now because it was circulating some festival during this last year. Hope you all can enjoy it. IT HAVE ENGLISH SUBTITLES just activate them.

These are just some quick random samples with a variety of settings. I wouldn't pixel peep to much as most are canon log and not sharpened. Like I said just random shots. Cinegain- I'm not sure why you say it has specific qualities. I feel it's a more well rounded video camera than the gh4. There is a lot of mis information on the internet about this camera.

Just a note on the max ISO listings - with the latest firmware, I shot a no-lights-allowed project with the NX1, and much of it was shot from 1600-2200 iso. I'm just not seeing any noise to speak of - the footage is amazingly clean. I blasted the ISO until I was just under highlights blowing at f3.5, F4 or 2.8 with some lenses. It's freaking clean as hell. I assumed I'd be running it all through NeatVideo, but no need. Really kind of shocked.

I found an amazing lens LOMO OKC 35mm F2 with PL mount, perfect for special, amazing pictures. It has a central hole in one of the glass gives hallowed halos around objects and boke in the shape of circle. In the movie version with a Pl mount and ARRI focus ring gear.

Seems like every thread is about H.265 or the NX1. I thought this damn thing was being discontinued / bought by Nikon?

It should come as no surprise to many here that I have been spending some time filming and taking stills with Samsung's mighty NX1 camera. What some may not realize is that I have also been getting to know Sony's own heavy weight contender... the A7Rii. In this writing are some of my thoughts and conclusions. Pros - Samsung NX1: 1. Excellent 16-50mm S-lens (Clean optics, pretty fast... Great performance for the buck). 2. Feels good in the hand. 3. Excellent user interface (Easy to use). 4. Better than expected low-light (Good up to 6400 iso). 5. Future proof H.265 codec means it is compatible with cheaper/slower SD cards. 6. Good auto-focus. 7. Cinema 4k (Very cool). 8. Great OLED display. 9. Good battery life. Cons - Samsung NX1: 1. Limited lens selection. 2. When recording video you cannot switch back and forth from EVF to rear display panel. 3. Unnatural motion cadence when panning or recording a moving subject (deal breaker). 4. Limited dynamic range (troublesome). 5. External flash requires purchase of second expensive flash unit for off camera use. 6. Internal flash creates shadow when used with kit 16-50mm S-lens. 7. Stock battery grip does not fit correctly (QC fail). Pros - Sony A7Rii 1. Feels like the real deal, solid, well made... Quality (Confidence inspiring). 2. Amazing auto-focus (In a different league). 3. 42MP stills (Wow, just wow!!!). 4. Accessories (Flashes galore, wireless sound with connection though smart hot shoe, grips etc...). 5. Amazing lenses (Zeiss Distagon 35mm with selectable de-clicked aperture... must be seen to believe, Batis 85mm etc... ). 6. Adaptable (Canon lenses focus faster than on native canon bodies). 7. Large EVF (really large). 8. Video motion cadence is good. 9. Pleasing colors (Thank you Sony... at last). 10. Good battery life (With the new firmware I shot all day on a single battery, mix of video and stills). 11. Excellent low-light performance - full frame clean to 12800 and APS-C clean till 25,600 ISO (more than enough, unless you are doing surveillance). Cons - Sony A7Rii 1. Expensive (Body alone is $3200 US) 2. Native lenses are expensive and mostly slow. 3. Rear LCD display should be better at this price point. 4. Non-intuitive user interface (Doesn't Sony make smartphone also?). 5. Battery grip use requires removing the in body battery. 6. Large file sizes means it takes a long time to write to even the fastest SD cards. Let me first add that both are great cameras. And truly fantastic results can be accomplished with either. But that said, there really can only be one winner here. And after shooting with both cameras, I can declare with great confidence that if stills are entered into the equations... at all, you can just start saving your pennies now. The A7Rii is an amazing stills camera. The auto-focus is mythical. The burst speed is truly something to marvel at. The A7Rii is without a doubt among the best full frame stills camera currently available. As to video, after extensive testing I am forced to realign my previous thoughts regarding the NX1. While it is an excellent camera, it is simply out classed by Sony's offering. Overall image quality is superior on the A7Rii. Colors seem more true to life without the need for tweaking. The video motion cadence seems more natural. Dynamic range is much better also, with far better black levels. Auto-focus in video mode is very good on the A7Rii. I need to make a disclosure here, I am not unbiased in this review. I REALLY wanted the Samsung NX1 to blow away the Sony A7Rii. If it had, it would have saved me many thousands of dollars. But in the end, the results where undeniable. The A7Rii is the better camera. If you are on the fence and wondering if it is worth three times the money... Wonder no more. Safe in the knowledge that the new firmware has resolved the worrisome overheat problems that plagued this camera, the only sensible choice is the A7Rii. While the A7Sii does offer 1080p 120fps capture, the A7Rii's ability to deliver super high res stills combined with the flexibility of filming in both full frame and APS-C video modes make it the clear winner for anyone outside of a private eye on a stakeout. Verdict: I find for the Sony A7Rii.

Perhaps since when the nx1 is the best and most affordable 4k photocamera? :-P

If anyone gets buyers remorse from their XC10, I'll swap for my Samsung NX1 kit

Good to know about Visioncolor. You have a wealth of info, you should write a guide when you work through all of it.

I was about to bitch about the lack of objective reviews for this camera...particularly in light of that idiotic post by The Camera Store. But, as if on cue, up pops a (much) more rounded write-up from DVInfo. http://www.dvinfo.net/article/acquisition/review-canon-xc10-1-4k-hybrid-compact-cameracamcorder.html Key line for me: "While the XC10 allows full manual control, it’s really optimized to operate in a partially- or fully-automated mode: it’s a camera designed to be working within three seconds of pushing the power button and getting the shot..." Guess it's time to rent the thing. (25% off rental promos are up in full force.)

Finally some decent XC10 shots from somebody, I was beginning to lose hope! The codec and colour is clearly better than the RX10 II.

Take camera outside, shoot in daylight, see if the bands are still visible. If not, then when indoors try shooting with the shutter at 1/50 for 25p or 1/60 for 30p and 24p.

tugela, which ones have the grid pattern? I see some images have weird black specs. I've also been able to produce color banding similar to canon still cameras. The problems i've found have been trying to push c-log and wide dynamic range past 800iso. The standard color profile works much better for higher iso shots. I'm not trying to convince anyone to buy this camera, it's not for everyone. I just see a lot of bashing of it and think it's a lot better than people think. Cameras are tools and in this price range they all have compromises. I've been close a couple of times to selling the xc10, especially after pixel peeping between the nx1 and xc10. But when I look at the images in motion I prefer the color and dynamic range of the canon. It's also very easy to shoot with which for me is the most important factor right now. If I was shooting in a controlled environment that might be different. In the end content is king.

That is what I finally figured out with the nx500. Every single person was using -5 contrast and I just wasn't getting good results. I assumed the issue was the saturation, but no matter what setting I tried, the colors were all messed up. It wasn't until I read the review by cinema5d that I realized he used default contrast, then all of a sudden everything clicked. A lot of the information out their about Samsung cameras are based on using their lenses, but they work completely different when using vintage glass.

Interesting! Maybe it's best to keep your default contrast in-camera and stretch out your DR with low-con lenses (like Canon FDs and Contax Zeiss) and post work.

You are getting some nice dr. The clouds are insane.

I'm with you on the NX1, Andrew! It has captured striking imagery with an astonishing success rate for me compared to any other camera. It might not sit atop any specific quantifiable ranking of cameras, but what it's capable of is just short of miraculous. On the Ronin, that AF system is a dream come true, and paired together in the right hands, most any shot is possible. It handles extremely well, is reliable as heck, and it has good tech specs where it counts.

First three episodes of the SLR Magic series! Next one is about the achromatic diopters and then variable ND! ANAMORPHIC ON A BUDGET - SLR MAGIC EP01 - ANAMORPHOT 1.33X-50. http://www.tferradans.com/blog/?p=8330 ANAMORPHIC ON A BUDGET - SLR MAGIC EP02 - ANAMORPHOT 2.0X-50. http://www.tferradans.com/blog/?p=8331 ANAMORPHIC ON A BUDGET - SLR MAGIC EP03 - RANGEFINDER. http://www.tferradans.com/blog/?p=8332

Okay, here's a video where he uses the DS-1 inverted mode AND he induces the jitter (about 1:00) : https://youtu.be/UCDqFE7JP2M