Leaderboard

Good news! Blackmagic have sent me one for review, should be here any day now!

http://***URL removed***/forums/post/57461650 By the way, I'd like to ask you all to NOT name the bitrate and let everyone download the file if they want to know it. It would be an interesting thing to see how long you can keep it under wraps and only discuss "around it" but without naming it explicitly. I have no way to enforce this [oops, I just realized I do :-) and you know it too] but I do ask you to play by this rule, at least until I am back.

YESSS! Incredible! I am also surprise that playback is realtime in full resolution in Premiere (it was choppy but I had to move the file to SSD, then it was fine). (i7 3,2Ghz, SSD, Nvidia GTX960 with h265 support). I think it is not against Vasile's rules - here are just 2 images - default and graded. The shadows noise is very usable - my opinion: it is not fine noise, but look at that - default was completely black in shadows!

http://menexmachina.blogspot.com/2018/07/rec709-luts-fuji-color-profiles.html

Did a similar test. Ridiculously over and under exposed. I'm astounded. Given the lighting source I'm guessing we are looking at 800 iso or higher.

I guess you could argue that if they never actually shipped anything....And if there was something else that compared with the very first camera they made.... JB

Hey guys, I'm not sure anyone cares, considering that these are two quite different creatures, but while I have both the SmallHD 501 and PIX-E5 still here I made a rough comparison between the two. Quick upfront comment: the SmallHD 501 is a pure field monitor while the VideoDevices PIX-E5 can record in ProRes to a Speed Drive (a mSata SSD in a proprietary USB3 case). I have only tested the monitor functions and not the recording. If you're looking for an alternative to a Shogun or Odyssey you will want the PIX-E. The SmallHD 501 allows to attach the sidefinder attachment, turning it into a not perfect but good EVF. As most know, both of them are field monitors with 5 inch 1920x1080 pixel IPS screens. Both of them run on dual batteries so you can hot swap during use, the SmallHd using the ubiquitous Canon LP-E6 while the PIX-E5 takes the just as common Sony L batteries. Both monitors have a lot of exposure, focus and framing helps and can load LUTs from a SD card, a great feature to separate them from the cheaper low budget offering when shooting LOG profiles. So far with the similarities, I'll go a bit deeper on the specific stuff and differencies. Models and operation: The Small HD 501 is the cheaper 500series model, lacking the SDI in- & outputs that the more expensive SmallHD 502 brings, otherwise boasting exactly the same features. There's also more expensive 7 inch models. The SmallHD operates completely over the joystick plus back button, you'll won't have smudges on the screen like with a touch screen. The VideoDevices PIX-E5 is the more expensive 5 inch PIX-E due to the SDI in- & outs, there's also a cheaper PIX-E5H that only has HDMI . Just like with SmallHD, VideoDevices also makes a 7 inch model. While the SmallHD has a very minimalist operating approach, the PIX-E5 on the other hand features a twist & push know on one side, 13 buttons on the front and touch screen in addition. I'd give the point here to the PIX-E, it's just more pleasant to set up and toggle the functions. Operating system logic: The 501 offers a page logic. You can create multiple pages that you set up with the tools of your choice (in whatever combination you need) and then just left-right jump with the joystick between the pages. So you might have one page with all your tools to set the right exposure and then the next page with your framing guides and focus helps. Nifty. On the PIX-E5 you can activate and deactivate the different tools with the buttons on the bottom of the screen, configure them by holding the button. Works easy and quick, especially on combination with the touch screen. I'll give this point to the SmallHD. While I think setting up the tools is quicker on the PIX-E, you only set them up once and then toggle between pages on the 501 while you would always turn tools on and off on the PIX-E. But this is by a hair, I think both is perfectly fine, might be a draw for others. Exposure tools: Both have configurable zebras, false colour, histogram, waveform and vectorscope. They feel slightly laggy and pixelated on the PIX-E but that's nit picking. A clear draw. Focus tools: They both have colored edge peaking in configurable strength and color. The 501 features additional edge sharpening that emphasizes in focus edges so it's really easier to pull focus directly from the full screen video without the distracting peaking colors. It works quite well in my opinion and is better than colored edge peaking when using a nice big 5 or 7 inch monitor. The PIX-E5 features a cool zoom function to punch in on the picture via touch screen, you can even move the zoomed frame area. Which is better? It depends. For me I'd say the full screen edge sharpening is better for run & gun where you want to keep an eye on the whole frame while the great punch in is good when shooting from sticks or in a more narrative setting. Inputs & Outputs: Both feature HDMI and SDI depending on the model as well as doing loop through. The point goes clearly to the PIX-E5 though as it has 4k via 6G SDI and HDMI while the Small HD only does FullHD. In addition the PIX-E5 can do FullHD up to 120fps (not that most consumer/prosumer cameras would even give that out, they only do it internally). Image lag: I've tested this point because a lot of people complained about the image lag of the PIX-E5 with roughly 5 frames of delay. VideoDevices really improved this a lot with the last firmware updates. Both monitors show a comparable amount of delay connected via HDMI to a Samsung NX1 or Nikon D750. If shot the camera screens and monitors with the iPhone in 240fps and both monitors lagged roughly the same behind the camera screens and reality. Keep in mind that if you do loop through, there will be additional delay. The SmallHD won't work on the NX1 but it works when looping through the PIX-E5 (makes you wonder how SmallHD is incapable to fix this if even that is enough?) but obviously it will lag even more then. This is probably only relevant for the people who want to run multiple monitors/recorders on one camera to have separate view for operator and focus puller (and director). Recording: DUH! PIX-E5 because the SmallHD 501 is no recorder. In addition the PIX-E5 comes with the PIX-LR module to high quality audio features such as phantom powered XLR inputs. Weight and size: The SmallHD 501 is smaller by quite a margin, I didn't measure them but you can see it on the picture or look it up in the tech specs. The SmallHD 501 weighs 205g without batteries and 365g with my two aftermarket LP-E6. These bring 2000 mAh each. The VideoDevices PIX-E5 is 450g without batteries and reachs 635g with two aftermarket NP-F550 (2900 mAh each) or, if you need a lot of juice, 1050g with two NP-F970 (7800 mAh each). We don't have to discuss this, it's clearly in favor of the SmallHD 501. This was when using them as pure monitors, if you add the Speed Drive to record to the PIX-E5 will get even heavier. So when shooting with a A7s with a vintage lens, the PIX-E5 with batteries and media is as heavy as the camera. This is actually on the level of the bigger Shogun. One reason clearly is the superior build quality. While the SmallHD 501 is in no way flimsy, the PIX-E5 has a massive metal housing used for robustness and to dissipate heat (it also has an active cooling fan but the volume is perfectly fine). Start up time: Here comes the last point in my list and the absolute deal breaker for me. Everything above would be perfectly fine with both monitors and I think both are great choices but depending on how you want to shoot, the start up time of the PIX-E5 will be unacceptable. I've stopped the time between pushing the button / shoving the slider and the image appearing on screen for both monitors multiple times. SmallHD 501: 3 seconds PIX-E5: 32 seconds For me that was just not workable as I like to pull the camera out of the bag, flip it on and shoot. I often won't want to stand around 30 seconds and wait for the monitor to power on. If you're shooting a music video or a narrative that might be fine though, it's more some documentary & travel style situations where I see this as a problem. So this is my rough and brief impression of the two monitors (slash recorder). To be honest I think the VideoDevices PIX-E5 is the more extensive product, especially with the recording function, but due to the difference in weight and start up time I see the SmallHD 501 as more usable in my personal opinion and goals. I'm sure I forgot something and will then add that later. If you have any questions, just ask. [edit] There is further information about the startup time of the PIX-E5 further down in this thread.

Don't worry, the 6K 18 stops with global shutter cam will be announced at NAB.

Petty outstanding. Curious of seeing what it could be done with gammaDR and Andrew's lut.

Can't wait to try this myself. I have the UHS-II card if I can give it a go for testing.

Sweet Jesus and Lord in Heaven, I wonder what happens when you do GammaDR with that stuff, because I tried screw around with the clip in post and imao the range, the range! I hope there is a way to use the MJPEG codec for 2160p as well in high bitrates, that would be sweet.

Never used the Z1 but damn I can't imagine how bad that must've been. Like Mattias said it's mainly for menu controls. i turn the brightness down to 25% just so I can see the menu, to save battery life.

My dreams come true :-D Let's hope that will work on NX1 too (unlike silent shutter).

Is there a hack yet for the NX1 that allows me to toggle between the EVF and the rear LCD after I've hit record? This was my #1 dealbreaker for long outdoor shoots.

I believe technology will sooner or later find a away to emulate the look of medium format in a tiny format. Don´t know how or when, but i don't think its impossible.

Jesus Christ I had a look at that file and the noise grain is way better looking than my NX1, and I went to see why. And turns out its got almost 75% more bits per pixel now I know its got half the resolution of the NX1 video, but the more bits per pixel is generally a good thing because the pixel has more information, and the more information the better for everything specially for this kind of resolution, not bad at all. It will be interesting to see what the higher bitrate will do to the NX1 video and hopefully it might solve the terrible noise streak on ISO 3200 and above.

Here's the math and physics: http://www.josephjamesphotography.com/equivalence/ Here I verified the math and physics: http://brightland.com/w/the-full-frame-look-is-a-myth-heres-how-to-prove-it-for-yourself/ I used the Canon 70-200 F2.8 II lens to eliminate lens-lens differences (vs. comparing 2 primes which can't be matched closely- incorrect focal lengths and differing lens construction). Folks desiring to 'debunk' my debunking (the full frame look (or MF, LF) has/have special magical properties that can't be measured) need to carefully perform tests with a static subject/background and camera position (and follow the math and camera/lens set up precisely). If differences are found, that's cool, then the next step is understanding why in practice the math/physics don't match experiment (from which new math can be derived to better describe reality- the scientific method). Provided sufficient optics and sensor tech are developed (such as light-field, multi-sensors, etc.), tiny lenses and sensors will be able to provide very shallow DOF.

Exactly, its not like BMD is the only company that does this (Samsung, Fuji, Red, etc). And specially BMD that does it every year, over and over. I have no sympathy for people who put their eggs in their basket when they have done the same thing 3 years in a row (I can of course excuse those who never heard of them before, but still, buy something so expensive without research... not smart imo). And Im a total fanboy. I would love an URSA mini 4K. Ive had 8 total BMD cameras and will over the years buy 8 more. But when NAB comes and they announce something new. I will just keep my cool and say, "sounds good, I will look into it when it is within arms reach, in a store, for me to buy". Just like I did last year.

Oeoeoeoe, now let the early adopters beta test

Again, how gorgeous is that!

Looks like pretty good highlight recovery too

Oh. My. God. You did it! :o Looks so awesome!! Premiere doesn´t like this clip

Delays. Yes. (That's why it didn't order it before it seemed to have reached testers and appeared 'In stock'). Faults/Bugs (like black hole sunspots). Yes. Exclusion of promoted features that seem a realistic achievement. Not at all the same things... I haven't seen many companies say 'yeah, remember when we told you it would have so-and-so, well, on 2nd thought, we'll ship 'em out without'. Not even BMD before. Easy on the 'fools' and 'idiots' please. It was fair to assume the camera would be capable of global shutter. As advertised. But Mattias is right, nobody is forced to still get one at this point. So whatevs. But how can you deny that a camera as described initially would've been cooler than the camera that will be shipping out now? It's not a delay and getting a better thing. It's not a delay and still getting the same thing. It's a delay and getting a worse thing. If that wasn't allowed to be disappointed about, what is? Are you now disappointed that people still get disappointed about how BMD goes about things? Shouldn't that require us to be disappointed in you for being disappointed in us, which was a given as BMD has a history of disappointing?

Hey Jonesy, no worries. Weird though... I was wondering about this earlier today... I have a bunch of questions but not enough time right now, so I just wanted to quickly say congratulations!!! I hope you rake in the bucks. You can guarantee at least 3 bucks from me within the next couple of weeks.

I dont want to stress the topic, but the video caption clearly says 105mm, whereas later on it is labeled with 315mm - so i assumed that the first shot really was at 105mm. anyways, since IS was not activated, my question is answered.

Let's hope he doesn't vanish like the early nx hackers :-P

Hello, Few days ago I made a free set of LUTs to convert LOG profiles to standard (Rec.709) and standard profiles to generic LOG. This library of conversion LUTs includes : Alexa Log-C to Rec.709 BMDFilm BMCC to Rec.709 BMDFilm BMPC to Rec.709 BMDFilm BMPCC to Rec.709 BMDFilm URSA to Rec.709 Canon C-Log to Rec.709 Generic LOG to Rec.709 Generic Rec.709 to LOG GoPro Protune to Video Panasonic Cine-D to Rec.709 Panasonic V-Log to Rec.709 REDLog to Rec.709 REDLogFilm to Rec.709 Sony S-Log2 to Rec.709 Sony S-Log3 to Rec.709 Technicolor CineStyle to Rec.709 I'm open to all feedbacks for improvements and new profiles. Hope it will be useful Download (ZIP 10MB) : http://lut.lu/conversion

Here is some 5D Mark III Raw that show its Dynamic Range. In the shot I closed the blinds behind me so the window infront is basically the only light source. So yeah, very much backlit. Same in camera settings on all, exposed with ND. In my examples I set the highlights and shadows the same on all, then I boosted the mids as far as I thought was somewhat usable. I used highlight recovery for the clips with blown highlights. No grading. (Please note that resolve interoperates WB wrong, so set it manually.) Number 1: ETTR, no highlights blown at all. Before After Number 2: ETTR Medium, some blown highlights outside, great job by the recovery. Before After Number 3: ETTR Low, Blew almost the entire window. Before After (look at them clouds returning ) The files: http://www.filedropper.com/justdngs Dropped a LUT on the last one just to give an idea. Not adjusted.

Hey guys...I just wanted to mention that the video below that was discussed in the last few pages is mine, and that the skin tones could look really good from this camera, but the combination of makeup, a mixture of lighting and the wrong color temperature produces some unpleasing results for sure. This was more of a project to really work and test the hardware, and to be honest, I messed up a lot. It was just too much operating the camera, mixing audio from my belt, moving around and adjusting lights, dumping footage, and directing talent in a limited window of time. The quality this unit produces for $1K is astonishing. I like some of the skin tones in that footage - which I will update with more later/tomorrow - but it's easy to throw them off with the slightest production error.

Hahaha it is Portugal, but this isnt the view from my window, I need to drive for a while to get to some spots (though to be fair, I do have an amazing view form my house...almost everyone does, here). But I do get tired of shooting wildlife, and would love to travel to some heavily populated city and film that...the goal is to find "beauty" in everyday ordinary stuff, even if its someone taking out the trash !

Kholi said the pros of the BMMCC are The "improved image" picked my curiosity. Looking forward to 1to1 comparisons with the BMPCC from early adopters.

LOL! You know what I mean! And you've got a "clowder" of cats, you lucky boy, now that's special!

To complete today's monologue, I already got the answer from VideoDevices: Obviously I missed the fact that it's in the user guide even though I quickly read through it. Dumb, sorry about that. It doesn't mention if there's any "minimum" time to be powered on to activate that. Could you test it @bunk ? Like, cold boot, wait 30 seconds, turn it off, wait a few minutes, turn it on again.

Not sure if i used the right term there? Damn! Its one of those terms that really means nothing after all. And yes it does have something to do with the codec used, but also how the sensor works/captures whole frozen frames without any or too much motion skewing? But my point was meant to be that I really like how some GS cameras capture motion (DB in particular), but this could just be down to the expertise of the operator. Basically, 24p is 24p and all things being equal, there should be no difference, and for most modern cameras there isn't really! However, everytime I see some GS footage, it just seems to capture movement in a more pleasing way - here i'm talking about the cheap cameras, not the high end stuff. But I'm nit picking really as the URSA mini 4.6k is the first camera (in its price bracket) that seems to capture motion really nicely - so perhaps BM decided that GS really wasn't necessary after all because the difference was minute (all the high end cams have RS not GS - Alexa, Red etc...).

I was under the impression motion cadence is also heavily dependent on the codec used, intraframe vs interframe.

I wouldn't count on Canon Log.

I hope they hurry up and release it then, because I am seriously considering the 1D X Mark II for video. If the 5D Mark III has the same AF system but full frame image 4K, Canon LOG and articulated screen it would be seriously good. This is Canon though so I would take just one of the above

Thiss ! Recently I started going every weekend somewhere and shoot something, without any specific reason and then edit a short film with what I shot, my last adventure got me this : And its my most viewed video on Vimeo already, so..Just go out and film !

Is there honestly a worse screen out there? Can't disagree more - i've used loads of cameras over the years and it isn't the greatest, but its not the worst. I think people just like complaining & have been really spoilt over the years - I remeber the screen on the Sony Z1 & that was laughable, but still useable! Obviously, you'd be insane to use it for a tracking shot whilst focus pulling, but its a pocket camera & if you use a viewfinder, its fine. I've never missed focus with the Pocket's screen & i'm only using a cheap £10 viewfinder that I bought on Amazon for my old 60D - i'm going to upgrade soon to the Zacuto or the otherone whose name escapes me.

Right? Those yellow patches are baaaaad, man. It's worse than the Panasonic salmon skin.

It isn't a MUST if you are experienced with shooting with gimbals, electronic or not (though know the difference!). It helps to have IS in most cases, but I've even found myself turning off lens/sensor IS for certain steadicam motions due to jitters or complete jumps in motion. Something to consider. A well balanced camera+lens with moderate weight within the steadicam system (and a tiny bit of digital stabilization if needed for some troublesome clips) can go a long way, so don't be afraid of lenses without IS if you're finding yourself in a corner with options!

I wouldn't care at all about rolling shutter in 4k, if the 1080p mode didn't seem to be so soft in the tests that are circulating online. Also, according to Brandon Li it seems like the camera has moire/aliasing in 1080p: "A6300 has really bad rolling shutter and worse lowlight than a7rii and a7sii. A6300 autofocus is better; 1080p has moire and aliasing but good rolling shutter." Also, on the softness: "If you're shooting shallow DOF on a gimbal (as I intend to) and outputting to 1080p, then recording in 1080p works because it looks sharp as long as you don't focus to infinity." — found in comments at https://vimeo.com/158972895. Still interested in seeing what Andrew finds. Maybe the 1080p isn't that soft compared to other 1080p cameras?

I can buy a lot of arguments but not this. If any shooter that works under me (I'm a producer) ever plans a project with gear not yet released an thoroughly tested, I will fire them. You can make misstakes, drop the camera, be late, forget to white balance, etc. Sh.. happens. But you do not pull stunts like that without a 100% solid Plan-B.

Ignoring the fact of "promise & deliver", the read out time for the rolling shutter seems to be really, really good. I think people will still be happy with a lot of camera for a great price with the UM4.6k

So dont buy it... I dont get why people get so upset about delays from BMD, overheating Sony and stuff like this. Its shame, shure. But to get worked up about it, I dont get that. Ive said it before and its worth mentioning again. When you are mad the brain literally is loosing cells. So, is it worth self destruction just because a camera doesn't have a global shutter?

The SmallHD 501/502 on top of the BMPCC is a dream. Super light, super sharp, and supports LUTs for BM film.

The upgrade from the pocket to BMMCC is still pretty nice. Full sized HDMI, better battery, 60p. If you liked the BMPCC screen then I can see where it wouldn't make sense to upgrade.

this fairly recent topic talked alot about the 5d mark ii raw video, a good read i think.

GH5 Would be an awesome camera to me if The sensor is bigger than M43 like the one JVC use. 10bit 4:2:2 internal processing and HDMI out with like the GH4. Better internal codec and colour science with more info for post work. Manual focus Zoom in option while recording. Better slow-motion options. Slightly bigger body than GH4 and Do not make it smaller than GH4. One or two extra stops of light sensitivity over GH4 Panasonic can also add dual base ISOs and IBIS if they feel like giving us more The only thing that is going to make the GH5 popular like GH4 is the sensor size. not 6K.

​Good point. Although I wish it was made up out of more pixels.