Leaderboard

Got a great deal on a new BMPCC during a Black Friday sale for nearly 50% off. It's my first Blackmagic camera (I have the Micro pre-ordered) and have been eager to pair it with the Trump lens set I ordered from Richard Gale. I took possession of the set a couple weeks ago and have started shooting a short film with it. I love the versatility in terms of contrast control (from standard to ultra-low) and the variety of aperture discs. The 2x and 3x ovals are my favorite. Made a quick comparison of the two here. But this week I finally started shooting a short I've wanted to do for some time. I work professionally as a freelance editor so this project is being done as schedules allow. Shooting RAW has been an eye-opener for me. For the last year I've been trying to wrestle a GH4 into being something it just wasn't capable of. And have come to the conclusion that I should have traded 4K for color science and dynamic range a long time ago.

Since Mr. Jones brought it up - As a follow-up story to B&H Photo Video and Worker Abuses - they have unionized. And this is partly because of people like you and me: "The workers received additional support on Oct. 22, when a coalition of photography and video professionals launched an open letter to B&H management, calling on the company to end the hazardous working conditions and discriminatory practices. They also called on the company to negotiate a fair labor contract. Within a week more than 1,000 signatures from artists, journalists, gallerists, educators, students and photo technicians were obtained. “We welcome the workers at B&H to the USW and look forward to addressing their concerns with the company at the bargaining table,” said Shinn." http://www.usw.org/news/media-center/releases/2015/bh-photo-warehouse-employees-vote-to-join-usw-union This is an example of social media activism being successful. The employees now have collective bargaining powers. Hooray!

Hi Friends. I have made this spec ad with a Sony A7s, Gopro 4 and Lumix LX100. Hope you enjoy it.

Avril Lovin - I received my nebula 4200 Pro in December. It worked just fine at first but then it began to behave erratically. I noticed magnetic metal shavings increasingly coming from one of the gimbal arms. One of their customer service representatives sent out parameter updates and after I installed them, the unit is completely unresponsive. Now one of the arms locks up and will not move. Customer service was responsive for a short while but now they have ceased communication all together. This unit needs to be replaced immediately. I expect instructions for how to get a working gimbal from your company promptly.

Yeah, well, you know, it's like, just our opinions, man.

They have unionized because they voted to do so last November. The vote was conducted under the supervision of the NLRB whcih found no evidence of any interference up to or during the vote by any B&H employee. I'm sure you understand and appreciate that we value our company-employee relationship as much as our company-customer relationship. We cannot have one without the other. They are intertwined and both must be in balance for us to continue our uninterrupted 40+ year history of success. I am only sorry you were exposed to an innuendo-filled campaign of inaccuracy on the part of those who wished to "persuade" our employees the union is in their best interest and who are willing to misrepresent facts about our employees and their work conditions to unsuspecting customers like yourself. Our workers have the right to vote on whether or not a union will represent them. We would not and did not do anything to impede their right to this vote which was held during November. Regarding the allegations of health and safety conditions, perhaps this will offer a different perspective: http://on.fb.me/1N5rsWI There is no asbestos, no lung-searing clouds of dust, no flakes of fiberglass peeling off the ceiling. The restrooms are as clean as those in my house. There are no "substandard conditions." The employees are not, as has been widely reported, “undocumented.” Our warehouses have been inspected by OSHA several times recently, each unannounced and unscheduled. We received no fines or warnings or recommendations to make any changes at all. Other than take-home pay, every B&H employee, including the warehouse workers, me and my boss, get the EXACT same benefits. There was a fire near, not in, our warehouse. At the time the NYFD specifically asked us NOT to evacuate our workers for two reasons – there was no need to do so as there was no danger at all from smoke or fire, and the evacuation of several hundred workers into a relatively small and confined space would have severely impeded the NYFD’s ability to deal with the situation safely, effectively and efficiently. What you read was hyperbole and fiction designed to cast negative aspersions on us.

If you haven't already, post this to their Facebook account too. If they're like most companies nowadays, a phone call gets you nothing, email gets you nothing, a Facebook post gets your problem solved.

Yep, I love using the C-series cameras although I see their usage ideally for documentary type projects/run n gun. I don't do a lot of that. This year, I've got quite a big change in work type. Got quite a chunk of commercial work coming in, as well as music videos. As we want to showreel our footage so both go hand in hand, we're looking for a consistent, juicy and cinematic image rendition to round-off our "brand" look of the imagery. I liked through a lot of my archived footage, and I loved the R3D footage far more than anything else. Quite obviously. Maybe. So I'm going to try out a few different beasts for different scenarios, and see how everything falls in place over the year. I expect the Scarlet-W will be my most rented camera of the year. The content quality must increase, not decrease. I found using the Epic at the time affected the quality of the content negatively due to the increased focus on camera operating, but things are much different now. I have a team and much more experience now. On paper, how do you think it compares to Raven? Scarlet-W worth the extra £££? p.s On another note, although entirely different... the JVC GY LS300 is overlooked as a cost effective "does the job" type of camera for bread and butter jobs.

Sony is even more front heavy, especially with the upcoming 24-70mm f2.8 g master lens and 85mm 1.4.

Won't bore you with a long story, but in short, I went from an a7s and instead of sticking with Sony, I went to the nx1. Now if low light is that big of a problem for you, I don't think you have much of a choice, you'll probably want to move to the a7s2. While I do miss being able to shoot at night by the moon and a flashlight (essentially), I've not really found myself lacking with even the most basic of lighting kits (of course your situation may differ). I'm also not entirely sure you'll find the lens/body weight ratio much changed in your favor by switching to Sony. We do know all signs point to the nx system being dead, so really they biggest benefit of switching is that you'll be switching into a system with more longevity.

Ok let me back up. There are a handful of cameras that pump out a decent HD image. I'm a renter so ive tried all of them. There are no cameras under 10k that I would consider buying due to deal breaker issues. The C100 2 comes closest as far as HD image quality is concerned but that camera is still brutally overpriced for what it is. I also like the Canon 1dc, lovely image but even at $7k, it's still overpriced and with no high frame rates and difficult post, it's also not worth buying. Blackmagic is hit or miss. They have a great filmic look but their cameras are notoriously unreliable and I pretty much can't trust them for paid work. Panasonic have backed themselves into a corner with m43 which will always be a disadvantage in the low light department. Nikon has never even spoken to someone who shoots video for a living so their cameras are almost always DOA. The Sony A7s has a stunning sensor and very lovely 1080p but their color science is bogus, I had to turn picture profile off and no slog 2 in order to get decent gradable skin tones but when I did that, there was a 2 stop hit in dynamic range. Since it's still 8bit color, the image falls apart quickly. Basically every camera company is run by morons when it comes to video. Canon literally hate their customers. They will give you the quality you want but they will charge you twice as much as you are willing to spend. Seriously, the c300 2 should cost $7k at most. It's especially frustrating since Samsung are literally sitting on a gold mine of video tech that they have decided to waste on cell phones. Fuji color can't be beat their video functionality almost always sucks and I'm sorry but I'm not seeing the image quality in these samples. The motion cadence is pretty unpleasant and I am seeing aliasing which at this point, is totally inexcusable. Everyone always talks about how many great tools we have at our disposal but I don't see it. I think most sub $10k cameras are garbage when it comes to image quality. I'm slightly hopeful for Panasonics new camera but with Varicam branding, I have a feeling it will be a pricy item. Keep in mind that Panasonic have the GH5 due later in the year so I doubt they would produce a Varicam in the prosumer price range.

I am really pleased to say the video quality of the X Pro 2 is seriously impressive. It's not 4K but it's enormously satisfying, sharp and detailed. What's great is that now we can finally shoot moving images with Fuji's superb film-like colour science, without having to worry about image quality. Read the full article

Hello guys, I'm creating this post to share something I did for myself to help me understand the difference between the original aspect ratio and end aspect ratio after de-squeeze with the different anamorphic lenses. Maybe it will be helpful for someone else. You can download it for mac of pc here http://www.sandrobrt.com/ratio-comparison-tool

Can anyone suggest the best method including cloth type and possible cleaning solution to use on the outside glass on a vintage Bolex anamorphic lense?

Zak, your images are simply AMAZING! I also use a GH4 and sold my BMPCC because... I'm a dumb! I hated the poor battery life and the LCD in external shooting, but when I look BMPCC footage, even in ProRes, it is something so organic that I regret to sell it. I think I'll probably buy a MicroCinema one, it should have a better batteries' life and hopefully a nice 60p in rolling shutter mode. V-log is not nearly close to "cinema" setting on BlackMagic. I love my GH4 because it is so simple, so easy and overall good, but each and every time I see BM videos... I want one!

The BMPCC has great rendering, but put those lenses by mr Gale in front... now, that's an image! Congrats. Looks like it makes a great combo. Just a tad jalous of that Trump lens set. Gd luck on the short!

My opinion? Keep the NX1 and buy a used A7s for those heavy low light situations. Will save you money compared to selling the NX1 and buying the new A7s II or A7r II. If you have nikon glass I recommend checking out a D750. Excellent low light even at 60 fps an a great image. Why do you need 4K? Do your clients demand it? Are they going to know that you upscale the lowlight footage? Or is it that you just prefer it? If your doing event work no one is going to care about the resolution, just getting a good image. Also, get a simple shoulder rig. IBIS will not solve all your problems and switching to a body with a smaller grip isn't going to make handholding any easier.

I'm thinking this might be my next camera. Fairly affordable even after a rig, great image quality. Looks great man!

I've had this conversation at Reduser about C100mkII vs Raven/Scarlet. People who used both said that they're totally different beasts and you have to figure out what suits your shooting needs the most. Some of them actually own both for different scenarios. Basically RED is awesome when you have time on your side. Music videos, commercials, features. I'm hoping to save enough capital this year to have both in my arsenal as well since my work is about 50/50 music videos/commercial and run'n'gun.

Evidence still seems to be the most reliable thing, DNA evidence in particular. Yet scientific experiments prove the opposite, because evidence is not so evident after being interpreted by he police. In staged scenarios, interpreted by real crime scene investigators the bias rate still was around 5%. Doesn't this count as reasonable doubt? It's worse with confessions, especially if the suspects are family members. Subconscious guilt in conjunction with leading questions by interrogators who are prejudiced and psychologically poorly trained result in the, er, inception of wrong memories. Completely wrong in 15-20 % in tests. The suspects develop detailed plots of how they did it. Witnesses shouldn't be allowed in court anymore. Of all people who were asked about specific facts of a staged crime they witnessed, first only those reports were counted that the witnesses were sure about. 80 % of them failed in the most important respects! The fragmentary memories of the unsure rest were more often correct, but only if recorded immediately afterwards. Memory betrayes us. Everone states they knew exactly what they did when they first heard of 9-11. This turned out to be wrong too. People merge those connections to a coherent story, and those stories vary dependant on who asks them and how intense the interview gets. Details are left out or added. And if they were in a group at that time but interviewed seperately, the testimonies contradict each other. Minority reports everywhere. And 'standpoints', but little else ...

The Shooters Guide was before the GH4R and the V-Log update for existing GH4. Will the section regarding the 3 EOSHD-profiles be updated?

Exactly! I've been saying the same for the last couple of months... oh how I wish they would just put some of the RX10M2, RX100M4, A7RII and A7SII tech in the next APS-C mirrorless camera. Just a good solid performing sensor, 4K capability, high framerates, etc. But like you I'm afraid that they'll pull a Canon and restrict the lower end segment. I mean, I would be perfectly fine having E-mount APS-C mirrorless. Fullframe, sure, it's nice, but I'm not heavily invested in fullframe covering lenses, nor do I have the wish to buy some because they tend to get bulky and expensive. Sony's answer obviously would be 'well, if you want the serious functionality, you just got to cough up the serious dosh. You can use the camera in S35 mode'. But I'm just not looking to throw money at something I'm not going to use to its full potential. Then just give me that APS-C camera already. If I still wish to get a fullframe look, I'll adapt lenses with a focal reducer (Sony: 'see, if we give you that APS-C camera you want, you'll then leave us for dead after. We need you to buy into the system, not just buy a camera'). I went with Micro Four Thirds because back in the day I more or less stood for the choice: GH2 or 550D/T2i. I went with the GH2, because it's mirrorless, I love liveview and to use an EVF. Articulated touchscreen is awesome to have! And a huge plus: small formfactor, especially when used with the 14mm and 20mm pancake primes. As well as the ability to adapt all sorts of lenses, really. That philosophy kind of continued with the E-M1, BMPCC, GH4 and Z E1. I did have some Nikon glass (e.g. Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 II, Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8D & 80-200mm f/2.8D) because of the easier adaptation than Canon mount, so when I found out the D5300 with 18-55mm II was on sale for 449 EUR, I couldn't resist. Only added the 35mm f/1.8 on top of that, to have a nice alternative electronic native mount lens as well. Image quality wise, there's hardly any better value out there. It's pretty damn solid. For stills, Micro Four Thirds just isn't a match. For video, the D5300 has that more organic rendering and superb colors. Lowlight performance is decent as well. But again, you're so right, it might be one of the least user-friendly cameras out there. For stills, if you're used to liveview on mirrorless cameras, shooting in liveview on the D5300 is a horror, it just slaps the mirror around like it's applauding itself. I just don't see the benefit of having a mirror and OVF, except for the dedicated phase detection system for reliable AF, which I think is the only reason people still buy DSLRs (and perhaps their rugged touch and bulky ergonomics). Then there's weird behavour like don't being able to change aperture on the fly. C'mon Nikon... Anyways. I do feel the 24MP APS-C sensor is a nice place to be at. Enough resolution. Good performance, decent in lowlight. Overall a better idea than Micro Four Thirds. The NX1 gave it a good shot and still is a nice camera, it showed that APS-C mirrorless is where it's at! But I still feel you would have to get the 16-50mm and 50-150mm S lenses and then it's getting pricey to the point I wonder what I'm doing spending so much money on a system without a future, when there's so many interesting alternatives out there... sure Sony has the A5100 and A6000, but they're really getting behind the curve now and don't think Sony ever expected people to be using it for shooting somewhat more serious video given the fact they only gave A6000 XAVCS with a firmware upgrade for example. But I think they've come around on that now... and they've been implementing cool video features in those 4 mentioned cameras (as well as higher end stuff). You'd just think there's almost no way around it not to implement any of those things... right? Unless again, they want to pull a Canon. Not sure. There's loads of rumors, but also, rumors have been going on for a year now and nothing happened. Personally I think 4K and in-body stabilization is quite a bit of a stretch, but if they can pull it off... power to them! Just hoping the EVF is any good and they'd give it a vari-angle touchscreen. That would make it competition for the E-M1/E-M5II and X-T1/X-Pro2 for sure. We'll just have to see how things will pan out. But the A6100 might just check off most of my wishes and might make me not buy a Micro Four Thirds camera again...

Which is why we should see them in an apsc camera first But sony seems to hobble its apsc cameras, maybe to protect its full frame or super-35 cameras. I had an a- 6000 for a while, it had a few nice things about it, but I ended up with the d5300 (the lease user friendly camera on the market??)

I suppose this will just be my own dedicated Pocket Camera test footage thread. I tried doing a Super 8 emulation this time: I shot this with my Computar 16mm f/1.6 lens, which cost me $6 and seemed to be the perfect shitty lo-fi lens choice for a super 8 look. I used my iSupr8 iPhone app for the grain/mask. I think it turned out okay, not perfect.

I tried Making of a murderer but couldn't get into it. Yesterday though I watched Cartel Land (also on Netflix), which I believe to have been the best documentary I've ever seen. The filmmaker was able to get deeper than any other before him. And you have to remember the cartels are notorious for murdering journalists, so the feeling of danger to the crew is very real - especially towards the end. The things that they record are very eye opening and emotionally draining. One of the most memorable moments is when theyre suddenly being shot at in their car. The cameraman gets out and ducks down, then whilst still pointing at the streets adjusts his ND filter! And I'm sitting watching, just gobsmacked at the absurdity of the dedication to his craft

Well I'm already technically "upgrading" from the d5200. At least this camera doesn't have the banding that was so evident. It served me quite well. For now I'm gonna use this camera and when I have enough saved maybe I'll pick up a better camera (better suited for video) for myself. Maybe a g7/gh4/bmpcc who knows. But for now, I'm gonna rock with the d5300

Thanks! I may be loosing my mind over stupid stuff.

I understand that the X-PRO2 does have mic input, but I would record sound on a Zoom F8 externally, anyway. Camera sound is really only for sync, unless you are out and about and want to grab a shot. I had done that with my X-T1 and a Rode Videomic Pro already with no problems, so expect the X-PRO2 to be similar. For me, the big question is: can I get HDMI out for external video recording? This is still unanswered, so far!

Nice! Would be great to see an head to head comparison with nx1, both with native 1080 and with 4k downsampled.

Can't wait to see some proper samples, everything I've seen so far has the typical crushed blacks look, but looking very sharp, this means the a6100 (same sensor probably, different filters on top) will be very sharp too.

So this day has come... who would thought that? Even more Fuji doing so BEFORE Olympus. Fuji said that they want this to be more of a photographer camera, rightfully so, and that they were reserving the 4K capabilities for another line up, having the X-E2s being announced with it, easy to tell that the next X-T1 might get it. It would be interesting if Fuji who usually listen to consumers via their Kaizen, if they would add the grain simulation to the camera or even via software to do on your computer or maybe you can apply it in the camera after the shot - which is a possibility if they think that doing so in real-time to be too much. I would really like to see how Fuji will evolve from this. With Fuji's colour science you can use shots right off the camera without the need of a lot of color correction on it, but then Fuji can bring their own flat profile and make things even more interesting. But I wonder if with 8-bit files, a good colour science might not top the need of a flat/log profile, since 10-bit files would be much more adequate for taking real advantage of a log profile. But if Fuji could provide both, then it would be a killer. But it might be too much to expect from the next X-T1, but who knows?

Typo sorry, meant film grain simulation. The film simulation (colour, contrast) modes are alive and well in video mode like I said at the top of the post, that's one of the main reasons for getting it!

would be rather exciting if they decided to offer 10bit prores 422 / LT. Similar to Leica, they don;t have a professional broadcast / cinema range to protect by crippling this. Though I wouldn;t be surprised if Sony made it a condition that the sensor can;t be used in such a way.

Looks pretty good, will be interesting to see what the noise and DR is like across the ISO range. Fuji colors are amazing and the lens lineup is something every Sony owner can only dream about, but video has always been incredibly disappointing. I have no interest in the hybrid VF either after owning the Xpro1 and the X100, so the Xpro2 is a no go for me as I don't want to pay a significant premium for something I never use. I'm hoping that the little nugget Fuji dropped - stating that the new processor is 4k capable - might mean good things for the XT2. I fear Sony is going to mostly produce large/heavy/expensive lenses for the FE lineup like the 35/1.4, 90 macro and any rumored F/2.8 zooms since they seem to be driving profits along with the relentless FF body release schedule. In Sony-land the aps-c lens lineup seems to be at an endpoint as they've released nothing in the last couple years, which leaves me at a crossroad for my small body/lens travel kit. There are just so many attractive options in the X-mount. I'm not going smaller than aps-c, had high hopes for the NX1 but the lenses kept me from going all in there. Maybe Fuji can make it happen, maybe...

Got in the brand new Video Devices PIX-E7 yesterday. Quick observations, build quality is first rate. Tap to zoom is very handy and works well. When plugged into the A7Rii it defaulted to 422HQ 10bit. The resulting recordings looked very good and the unit was not loud when operating. The PIX-E7 does get warm, but not hot. The display is very nice, pulling focus was quite easy and noise was easy to detect when present. Colors looked good. The monitor allows you to add non-baked in LUTS which is very handy. Peaking and zebras are also nice to have.

For anyone interested in a GH4 (VLOG-L) + Atomos Ninja Assassin combo File Link: http://www.filedropper.com/assassins001s001t013 (1.88 GB) Camera: GH4 (VLOG-L Profile) + Atomos Ninja Assassin Lens: Sigma 18-35 + Metabones Speedbooster XL, F1.8, ISO400 File: Apple ProRes 422 10-bit, 4k (3840x2160), 24fps Frame Grabs Ungraded: Graded (IWLTBAP 9280 LUT):

Thanks for visiting and for taking the time to say so. Henry Posner B&H Photo