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Check out the RX10 II. It gets knocked by some people but after picking one up for a 2nd slo mo camera, I've been really impressed with it as an all in one tool. We primarily shoot Canon and BM cameras and have never been a fan of Sony clors but love their tech, so I got one with low expectations and thought I might just use it as the 2nd slo mo cam and then shelve it. I'm glad I didn't. Instead I spent a couple of days tweaking to create a solid PP and after a lot of testing I've ended up with a very solid s-log gamma/cinema color setup that gets consistently great results at 1 to 1 1/2 stop over, converted w/ Filmconvert, FJ Asst. Here's the positives that you probably already know: Maybe the best 1080 120p around Great 24p 4k when exposed and colored right. Almost ridiclulous 24 - 200 mm 2.8 glass Very customizable interface. Same great evf as the 7RII I got this for $900 open box from B&H and while I won't use it on commercial work, It's almost silly how cheap it is for what you can do with it. I did some close up model tests with it in the studio Friday and asked two peole in my shop what it was shot on, C300, BMCC or a Sony. Neither thought the skin tone and depth could have been sony and they were blown away, as was I, that it was shot on the RX. I looked at a ton of footage online and assumed it just wasn't going to be more than a specialty thing, but, not surprisingly it turned out that 99% of the people putting up footage really aren't very good at working with the codec, log footage and grading. FWIW, we start shooting on two docs tomorrow but I've choosen not to put this in either kit because I haven't tried to intercut the foootage yet and because it's only been a few days of testing. But I'll be surprised, given how fast I've progressed the look this week, that I won't pair it with a new A7S II as a small two camera setup. I could share some tests privately.

From @NXKS2 Removing crop-factor and custom resolutions on NX500. ... it appears that we can control the crop factor (remove it) and even have custom resolutions, by controlling the EP_Resize registers. As you can see for NX500 all non-crop simply have the same value for the scanning and output (ex VGA), where the crop modes have one scanning resolution and another for the output (ex DC). For removing the crop, we don't even need to recalculate values, just repeat the input to output value. However setting those is a bit trickier than expected.... 4K DC [20826000] 0140000E 10000000 0438000C 08700000 VGA [20826000] 05000000 05000000 03C00000 03C00000 Source: https://www.facebook.com/NXKS2/

this :-). Have fun.

I will go out and shoot soon! Zach your words made some shine of sun to light my old gray cellar again! wow there is a lot of dust over here coff!! coff!! thanks

Saw it. I feel like they were very dismissive of the video capabilities due to its lack of a microphone... (jackitis- look above) and I think they didn't really know how to use it (they must have used only default settings and cranked up the electronic IS). They misrepresented its 5 axis IBIS by calling it 3 axis IBIS + 2 axis IS in lens. They left out the fact it doesn't overheat and that the GX85 model doesn't have a max recording time. Finally, they said a 1" sony sensor has more dynamic range. The conclusion was simply that it's more of a still camera... whatever. I wonder what the GH5 review will look like for these guys... or maybe they'll learn how to use the camera first. I like their show though.

Thanks for the input everyone. Truly appreciated. I believe gsenroc was right. This morning I went to work on the worse of the two speed boosters, adjusting the rear optical element for infinity focus again, but also holding it in place with my thumb so that tightening the holding screw wouldn't lift it up. that basically did the trick. at f/1.4 I can still see the slightest variation at the edges, but at f/1.8 it's sharp across the board.

I agree, GH4 is better but it's a little orange. Thanks for your feedback!

@John Matthews I'll try the standard and compare it to natural next week. I was expecting the magenta comment I know I should just start the grade from scratch but I wanted to see what you thought about it first. Grading skin tones is really difficult! WB is tricky and needs more testing, but I agree that sunny is a good starting point in the summer. Which image did you like the best, GH4 or GX85?

are you using a third party lens/ adaptor? if so, it could be that the contact piuns are being shortcircuited

Here's a video I made comparing the GX85 in Natural vs the GH4 with Cinelike D + Leeming LUT which is my favourite GH4 image. I'm by no means a colorist, but I think the results are ok. May need some additional tweaking here and there. What do you think? For some reason when I upload videos in 4K instead of 1080p the video get's more orange. Anyone else noticed that?

On another photography-related note, the GX80 says in its specs that it has a max flash sync speed of 1/160, but I and others have found 1/250; so, that's good news!

I really don't understand why people even care about having a mic jack and headphone jack. Knowing you have poor audio REQUIRES you to pay attention to it, get the mic closer to the subject and just sync it. I'm OK for having the jacks, but rarely do manufactures include good preamps... yeah the GH4 and G7 have the mic jack, but it won't beat a zoom H1 ($100), correctly positioned, and perhaps hooked up to an even better mic. What's the big deal?

No e-shutter on nx1 yet? that was/is one of my most wanted features, for time lapses and...for 15fps "unlimited" shooting in 6.5k@12bit. btw...if that proves possible, perhaps even more than 15fps can be reached.

Yes. I often shoot as a single operator running 3 or more cameras simultaneously. If I'm recording a full band set, or an orchestra, or a long lecture, I'm usually actively operating a camera that is far removed for several static cameras. If they only record for 30 mins at a time, then I'm missing a minute or more of potentially crucially coverage (an entire guitar solo, for example) from my main camera to walk around restarting cameras that are spread around the concert hall. For someone looking for an A cam, a recording limit probably isn't a big deal. To me, these small ~$1,000 cameras are useful as B, C, and D cams, which I often need to let run unsupervised for long stretches of time.

Great. Now I can record the feature lecturer at the insurance adjusters conference next month without having to miss a single moment by pausing the recording and then restarting. Seriously though...is non-stop recording (a feature that many people seem to go on about) not at all a big deal? Legitimate question: does anyone here really need to record this long? I'm actually curious.

So you need a "Hack" that may break your camera warranty, a battery grip with two batteries on a 3000 USD camera to do something that a 800 USD Camera can do out of the box? Just saying...

The app/hack allows unlimited recording on Sony bodies that can take apps. My a7rII goes until the card is full with the grip attached. Cheers

I hope that, in the same way, the crop can be optionally implemented into nx1!

Honestly, this is probably the biggest reason for you to go with a Mac and FCPX. The auto synching feature with FCPX is nothing short miraculous. The lightning speed and accuracy blows me away every time I use it.

A gentle reminder from yesterday's CineGear expo - that there is a reason to buy from established makers and brands when supporting your (or hired) camera, rather than Steadicam knock-offs 'Powered by rubber bands' lol. Having owned a mid range, yet 'legit' Steadicam in the past, I can assure you that the torsion springs do not catastrophically fail when at full extension and load (because they are not made of rubber and wrapped around an open pulley!)...or the socket block to the vest get ripped apart by the non-centered elastic forces (as I think happened here) ...yet another example of products already out there that perhaps shouldn't be. Goes to show that Alexa XT's or DSLR's are equally at risk when buying cheaper alternatives to Stabilizers/ gimbals/ car mounts etc. http://www.nbstabilizer.com/

I think the main problem is what a system hog the software is. If your computer isn't top notch it will slow down noticeably. Regarding the bugs, it seems everyone has different ones. I only use Resolve as a hobbyists and not for work but so far mine worked flawlessly (12.5 beta 2)... it just gives me the urge for a faster CPU. What's better for performance in the program (not for the rendering of the output), a good hexacore or a faster quadcore (e.g. i7 5820 vs i7 4790)? I guess the hexacore wins due to the way better bus in combination with a better mainboard when using multiple harddrives, a decklink card and maybe even multiple GPU?

I found their 12.1-12.3 versions to be bug-infested. Auto-save would crash the program = unusable. I know everyone complains about bugs, and it is free software, but if they want to make it a viable alternative to CC then I hope this version is cleaned up. And find some alternative for database project management.

The free version allows export up to and including UHD. I took this quote from their website :

Will this ever end?! When I first got introduced to Digital Editing there were only 2 NLEs being used - Avid & FCP. Avid was the weapon of choice for the high end stuff - Natural History & Drama. FCP was used by everyone else. Premiere - never even got a look in (never mentioned, didn't know it existed at first). The problem has become the importance placed on After Effects, by small independant companies - the new build Motion is either on a par or just behind it, but not enough to make it redundant. In Big companies, the titles are done by one team (outsourced) & the Editor actually spends his time editing. The real difference between FCPX & Premiere - one you pay a one off fee for & the other you pay monthly for. And if you really wanted to go that step further - one works better with Macs & the other with Windows. They're NLEs, nothing more & you use the one that gets the job done best for you.

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These are the two most annoying things about nx1 video mode to me lol would be awesome to get them fixed. I wish video standby defaulted to single auto focus, not continuous which typically sucks. Or if your nx1 lens doesn't have a focus switch then manual mode all the time would be handy.

I think it honestly comes down why you buy a particular camera. I did not invest all the money to get the A7s because of DR. But my audience is also totally different: I make videos for my friends and myself when we are spending time together. They honestly dont care about DR. They also dont care and dont see whether I use my GM1 or the A7s... However, when I do some low light work, they actually do care because they see the difference. Yes, I know that with a ND I can overcome the iso 3200 limitation easliy, but I am a run&gun shooter - if you take a look at my work you will notice that everything is spontaneous.. I just point and shoot and just care about aperture and focus of course. Thats it. I dont care about shutter and very often I dont care about ISO as well - thanks to the A7s I dont have to, anymore. All boils down to your needs. I heard from many people that SLOG is not necessary in 99% of the situations - for you it is quite the opposite. But hey, thats ok - personal preference