Leaderboard

Here's a fun anecdote. In 2019 I did a "4-wall" tour of a doc my wife and I made. I'd set up screenings with theaters in the area that were willing to rent out their auditoriums. Basically we took it on the road to a bunch of local meet-ups with groups that supported the theme of the film. We did this in conjunction with our film fest run so we were able to bounce in and out of region where the film was accepted. The story had a niche appeal so we were able to pull about 50-75 people, on average, into the theaters wherever we sold tickets. As such, I made a DCP. Not the first time I did that, but it was the first time I traveled with the DCP and watched it on multiple screens in multiple theaters. Here's the deal. It looked different in almost every theater I took it into. The variable of sound quality was even more intense; usually in an unfortunate way. With DCP visuals at least , theoretically, you should be getting a standardized visual experience -- as the projectors and media are supposedly tightly controlled. Well, nah. Far from it. For every theater that had well informed skilled people working the projection, just as many were kids with the priority job of selling popcorn. Sometimes it was a struggle to to explain the concept of aspect ratio to the projectionist. The state of their DCP equipment was all over the map too. Although, there was one grand old theater in upstate New York that not only sounded amazing, but had the best color rendition, biggest screen, and the sharpest resolution of them all. That one? They didn't have a DCP projector. I played the film from a PC laptop off a 8-bit 1080p .mp4 usuing a high-end consumer projector. I don't know who their technician was at that theater, but they REALLY had it dialed in. Restored my faith in the movie-going experience, that show. Point is, you can round and round about standards and whatnot, but you can't really adjust for the chance of what's going to happen in the real world. After all, you can't really overcome ignorance you can only hope to alleviate it a little bit here and there. So, yeah, fight the good fight if you want, but it's a war of attrition and the other side has more troops.

You build what you want to an acceptable baseline that satisfies you and then release it into the wild. What happens after that is anybody's guess. If you think video is bad, you should try making music recordings and then giving it over to the world.

These things can both be true: Wonder Woman 1984 was blockbuster garbage. A man crying sexism because one shitty blockbuster (out of how many hundreds?) dares to portray men in an unflattering light is whiney, entitled, pathetic, microphallytic nonsense Do you write internet diatribes every time you see a movie that shows woman as oversexualized? As objects of ownership? As conniving bitches? As ditzy morons? You don’t, because if you did your wrists would break because there are so many of them. Look around you, the world is full of awful men doing nightmarish things. Why shouldn’t a clumsy blockbuster get to play with that trope as much as all the tropes about women? The film is absolutely terrible, but loads of terrible films are made by men all year round, filled with cliches and destructive stereotypes. It’s not other people making this an issue about sexism-it’s you. You have drawn a line that says stories by and about women can’t employ the same lazy filmmaking that is rife in Hollywood blockbusters. How is that not the definition of sexism? Also: I’ve seen literally zero hesitance in the media to call this movie lousy. Not sure what you’re reacting to, but nobody I’ve read is hailing this film as a milestone of feminism. Or even trying to defend its sheer awfulness from a filmmaking perspective. Like many small men, you’ve made a little internet fiefdom for yourself by spewing anger on a blog. Yawn. Perhaps turning that angry, critical eye on your own perception of women would prove instructive. Grow up, little piggy.

I'll give my personal thoughts on each brand, one by one: Zaxcom: The Nova is a very new product, I see almost no chance of a "Nova 2.0" coming out this year. Deva 24 is a little older than Nova, but also their highest end product which thus has a longer life cycle, I see it as unlikely there will be a Deva release in 2021. Could Zaxcom release a product which is between Nova & Deva 24, or below Nova? I doubt it. Sound Devices: The 8 Series is their latest range, I don't see any chance whatsoever they'll be ending the 8 Series in 2021 and replacing it with something newer. No chance at all. Could the 8 Series be added to??? Is there space to squeeze in a product in between an 833/888/Scorpio? Nope, I don't think so. (but then again, I've been surprised before, when the 888 came out in between the 833 & Scorpio) Could an 8 Series recorder come out below an 833 or above a Scorpio?? Seems unlikely. Scorpio is already their most expensive ever product, and if they released a product below the 833 that might put it too close in price to a MixPre10 underneath it? (but hey, perhaps I might be wrong, and a "Sound Devices 811" will come out? A mini sized 833, with 1x XLR + 3x TA3F all for say just US$2.5K?? I doubt it, but that's an example of how an odd ball product which might come out and surprise us) Now as for the MixPre series, all bets are off here, as Sound Devices has been putting out new updates and variants to this at a furious pace in recent years. As while I "guess" they will not bring out any new MixPres in 2021, I'd also not be surprised either if one (or more!) gets announced. Sonosax: Their SX-R4+ has been around for a while, time for an update? But then again, Sonosax is an extremely small company, and it is to be expected their products will have long life cycles between updates. Aaton: Cantar X3 came out in 2014 (and the Cantar Mini in 2017). You'd think that after 7 years that perhaps an update is coming? But not necessarily, the X3 still seems to be very popular, you never hear of anybody leaving X3 for something "better/newer" and the X3 is still attracting new users to the platform. Plus as a high end premium product (it is after all the most expensive field recorder there is) we can expect that it will have long life for its product cycle. Perhaps next year we might get a hint from Aaton that the "X4" is under development?? Maybe. But I'm not expecting a new field recorder to be released by Aaton this year. Nagra: Nagra Seven came out waaaay back in 2013, surely it is time for an update? Nagra VI is even older from 2008! But no, won't expect an update to these in 2021. Nagra has more or less abandoned the film market, as they're focused instead now on the high-end audiophile market. Verdict: Nagra is AWOL. Tascam: The DR680mk2 & DR701D are now both looking totally outclassed in the budget end of the market once the Zoom F8 came out. And the Tascam HS-P82 is from 2009! Was a nice machine, but looooong overdue for an update. While I'd like to dream that Tascam will bring out a product in the mid range as an update to the HS-P82, and new low end product which is competitive in the new "Zoom F8 Era", I don't see any sign of life from Tascam that they'll do that. In 2021 I expect Tascam to be AWOL. Roland: Take everything I just said about Tascam, and appeal an extra heavy dose of skepticism and pessimism. As nope, I do not at all expect an update from Roland to their R4 Pro or R44. Am definitely expecting Roland to be AWOL in 2021. Fostex: Take everything I just said about Roland, and times it by ten. Fostex will be AWOL in 2021. Zoom: The Zoom F8n came out in 2018, but that's wasn't a major revolutionary update to the F8 but rather a half step refresh midway through the F8's life cycle. The Zoom F6 came out in 2019. 2020 didn't see anything from Zoom in the F Series (unless you count their mini bodypack recorders as part of their "F Series", which technically they are), thus could we see a new product in 2021? I think perhaps so. As these are products which could see a faster refresh cycle, there won't be an F6n in 2021 (as the F6 is the newest), but more likely a replacement to the F8 series.... a "Zoom F9"?? As the F8 is the oldest, and the F8n was a minor refresh. Personally I'd love to at least see a Zoom F4n, an F4 with a few tweaks (such as pro line level outputs, ditching EXH-6 for inputs 5 & 6 instead using 2x TA3F, further UI tweaks, adding bluetooth, USB keyboard without needing FRC-8, etc). But it seems Zoom believes the F6 is the true replacement for the F4 (which is not true at all!), thus I'm not counting on an "F4n" arriving. But something like a "Zoom F8n Pro / F9 / F10 / etc" seems reasonably likely in 2021 RØDE/Deity/Saramonic/BlackmagicDesign/AJA/"Unknown"/Etc: This heading is for all of those wild card unknowns from companies which have never before made a field recorder for the film industry. Such as, could 2021 be the year we see a "Chinese F8" field recorder? A low low priced field recorder like the F8, but from a Chinese brand. I doubt it, but we've already seen a couple of Chinese companies dip the edges of their toe into the water with Saramonic (their Saramonic SR-VRM1 & SR-Q2M) & Deity (with their Deity BP-TRX) making mini recorders, thus is a bigger field recorder next? Again, I doubt it, but this is an example of the kind of "surprise" we might see in 2021. Likewise, Blackmagic Design already makes video recorders (with their range of Blackmagic Video Assist recorders), is an audio recorder next? I doubt it, but who knows. Likewise with that other Australian company: RØDE. What might RØDE have planned? They're an audio focused company, will they surprise us with an audio recorder? And while on the topic of BMD, what about their competitor AJA? They've build video recorders too, might AJA surprise us? I doubt it, who knows though. As I bet 2021 will have a surprise from us, most likely from some unknown left field company which I haven't even mentioned yet. But of those that I mentioned, perhaps most likely (or rather "least unlikely" is a better way to describe it) would be Rode or Saramonic in my wild guess of an opinion? But if Rode did this, it would be a product unashamedly aimed at the YouTubers/videographers. And the Saranomic field recorder would be dirt cheap yet surely also be a huge steaming heap of sh*t (but perhaps after a few generations would evolve into a "not terrible" product). Thus in brief summary, I'm not expecting many major field recorder announcements in 2021, aside from "a Zoom F10" plus maaaaaaybe a MixPre and quite likely some kind of left field announcement none of us are even expecting.

I feel like I am wasting my time in the pursuit of nice looking, quality, well graded footage. The majority of people that are in my social circle have no idea what a calibrated TV looks like. Most have the colour and contrast set to "Irradiate" and sit within 6 feet of their 60-85 inch TV's whilst they tan. The sharpness is set to "stun" exhibiting awful halos and because they sit so close you can practically define each pixel. And... because frame rates used by filmmakers are not smooth enough for TV manufacturers the TV's now interpolate a few extra frames between the original frames making for a "much smoother viewing experience". On Christmas day I was watching "Singing In The Rain" on a relatives 85 inch TV, it looked dreadful with the interpolated frames and over-sharpened image but when I pointed this out it didn't go down to well, so I kept quite for the rest of the day and suffered in silence as so many classic films were simply ruined. I've tried to explain the problem to my friends and convince them that an adjustment is required but it falls on deaf ears, they simply don't care. I have never seen one of my videos look remotely the way it was graded with my calibrated monitor on any TV owned by people within my circle or any of the customers that I visit within my profession. I have to blame the TV manufacturers, but I also believe that the public is generally ignorant with regards calibration, either way a lot of painstaking creativity is currently going to waste. If you made it this far, thank you, I feel better for the rant. Cheers.

Thank you. 4k 50p. Yes the 35 1.4 II is not so old, but has a good 3D Pop, the 85 1.2 II is a bokeh beast ...

This is the trailer for a new wedding website. I have to reframe some shot, was made in rush 😁. what do you think ? All shot S1 with Canon 35 1.4, 85 1.2 on MC21 4k50p natural profil

Warping with Ibis on wide angle lens is a problem. on the Jerusalema video i avoid this with zooming in to 20 mm. without ibis the stabilisation on weebill s is very bad ( my crane 2 was much better )

This is very true. Subtle parts of a high quality picture are getting lost especially once theaters go down the toilet, if that hasn't already happened. Maybe there will be a push by filmmakers to have TV automatically detect a video game from a movie and adjust the settings accordingly.

Thank you for the compliment. Yes, I do / did use IBIS on the Weebill S, but it is a bit complicated. The first video (34 Vista Real), I used the full BODY IBIS, where all of the Axis are controlled by the IBIS of the S1. In the second video (38 Thunderbird) I instead used the Lens IS for the majority of the stabilization (I think it is three axis from the lens) and the body is handling the other Axis. Note that I am using the Canon 16-35 f/4 L which has lens stabilization, so you can set the S1 to let the lens do the majority of the stabilization. I did this for the second video (38 Thunderbird) because I noticed a lot more corner warping in the first video (34 Vista Real). I was told on facebook or some such place that by switching to lens IBIS I could reduce corner warping when shooting at 16mm on a gimbal. So what I have found is using lens stabilization (primarily) with IBIS and then using stabilization in Resolve helps to get the smoothest motion for me. I have tried using the Weebill S with IBIS turned off completely and it just isn't smooth enough, even with stabilization in Resolve.

LG have a 'Film Maker Mode' on their TVs. I'm sure many other companies do too. In fact, @Andrew Reid wrote a post about it last year. https://www.eoshd.com/news/martin-scorsese-and-christopher-nolan-campaign-launches-filmmaker-mode-tv-settings-on-upcoming-lg-and-panasonic-sets/

The 24-105 is a very sharp and contrasty allround lens ( If you like that ). I have filmed a entire wedding with it One thing that disturb me is a violett flare when you shot against the sun or any light..

Great footage to show dynamic range of S1. i have made real estate video only ones with an Osmo Pocket. You use the weebill s with IBIS on ?

I think I will wait until it comes out on streaming services...and then avoid it.

Same problem with WFM on the GH5, it is "too large", perhaps if I was able to turn up the transparency of the WFM box then it would be more tolerable to leave it up & on?

Happy new year to everybody, with health and lots of creativity and happiness. A thanks to Andrew for keeping this community alive.

Happy Newyears to you too mate😁👍

Same setup as above, except with a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced for the drone footage:

S1 with Canon EF 16-35 f/4 L on MC-21, on a Zhiyun Weebill S. Shot in V-LOG 10-bit 4K 30p (slowed to a 24p timeline).

Dual native gain is in all profiles but has different ISO point. Normal profiles are 100 and 640, HLG 400 and 2,500, Cine D2/V2 200 and 1250 and V-Log 640 and 4,000. On the S1H you can choose which circuit to use but the S1 switches automatically. If I get to the >2,000 range in V-Log I'll usually jump to 4,000. I've shot in non-log profiles before in low-light but I've read that V-Log is best period (except on the S1 at 50/60p where it's currently only 8-bit). I've shot with the 24-105 F4 in V-Log in not particularly bright room and been pretty happy with the performance.

Hope things get better for all of us soon. I don't think I can cope with another 6 months in apartment jail. It's putting too much pressure on all of us and ruining too many people's motivation to work and socialise. Very dangerous. I totally get how it can exacerbate issues in relationships and that constant anxiety is always there with this bloody virus. Winter doesn't help either. Or Brexit. Or any of our silly clueless governments. I am just waiting for the worldwide economy to have its say in 2021, because we can always rely on a fucking American banker to make things worse when people are suffering! I think the key to the internet is to have a few key friends that you share online chat and activities with, like gaming, or work, or creative projects, people you get on with or know in real life... but then be sure to put some of the strangers at an arms length as much as possible, because these are not real connections and can always flip at any second into outright nastiness over differences of opinion. Facebook is horrendous and can even turn friends against each other for profit. Yeah, long live the open discussion on EOSHD. There are some peoples input and content I really value. Others not so much 😉

Very, very rude. It is everyone's right to write movie reviews and to have a personal opinion on a film. For some people, it is even a career! The irony of you coming on here writing a big internet diatribe about my cultural commentary and not liking a certain movie, is not lost on me. If you can't be polite in my house, you will leave it, little piggy. Be careful the wolf doesn't blow your fucking front door down.

Darn, boy, you put a whole lotta videos in this thread. How many do you think have I watched. You are a movie producer. I am much more interested in your own stuff! @Emanuel It is so much more interesting. You would still be allowed to be a nerd of course. 🙂 cheers, Marty

It was a disastrous year for an event / wedding shooter like me. I hope that things get better by summer but I don't have a ton of faith after the shit show these last 10 months have been. The way the US has handled this has been utterly embarrassing, and it's not just the government either. The selfishness, greed and ignorance I've seen has been brutal. I always knew it was there, but it has been impossible not to be beaten over the head by it every single day. And those aren't political statements, they're facts to everyone except the deluded cultists of he who shall not be named. Good riddance to a truly awful year. Here's to a better 2021 for all of us.

I am really enjoying the M1, in the form of the MacBook Air. It isn't proving to be 100% reliable though. A few software updates away from that I think. The external monitor support is dodgy. I cannot get over 4K30hz out of the USB C to a USB C display, nor via USB C to DisplayPort. The monitor is 4K/60z, and the only way to get it to work is to go USB C to HDMI. That's not normal, and it has had a few Kernel panics as well with the USB C hub plugged in and charging via that. So not perfect, but it's just so damn fast. I have about 25 tabs open in Safari, and it never chokes. The memory management and multitasking is just another world away from Intel. Everyday tasks are a breeze. My MacBook Pro 16" 2019 just can't keep up. It suddenly feels laggy, hesitant, just little pauses and hangs here and there where the Air M1 is as responsive as an iPad, yet the full blown Mac OS. Amazing. It cuts through 4K 10bit H.265 like it is 1080p. Even Premiere, emulated Intel x86, performs admirably on par with a top of the range iMac Pro 27".

Therein lies your answer. Mitigate the threat seriously (which we do not do in the USA) and continue on as much as possible. A new disease is going to wreak havoc. Decent leadership tries to help minimize the trauma of it. Bad leadership makes it worse. Brasil vs. New Zealnd for example. USA vs. Japan.

I love the texture of film and always try to get some aspect of into all of my projects. I think the camera matters less these days as almost all the dslrs out there can give you a filmic image if one bothers to learn resolve and a bit of color grading. I used the GH5 for years and one can get beautiful images from that camera. Adding an OLPF effect in post with some blur helps getting that digital sharpness down that many DSLR sensors have. There are also so many good resources out there now for getting a filmic look without much work. Juan Melara's Kodak 2393 FM Powergrade is great for getting filmic colors and if you want halation, grain and colors that are as close to film as possible I think Dehancer has that down, very impressive plugin. Also Tom Bolles is releasing Cineprint 16 powergrade for sale soon (video below was shot on GH5). and VFX artist Miguel Santana has Spectra coming out next year and they both look great. Learning some color grading and buying the powergrades/plugins of those that truly understand film emulation will give you better results than buying a blackmagic pocket 4K and slapping their standard lut on. Once you tailor your grade a bit to your camera just save it as a powergrade to use on future projects and then it is as easy as adding a lut to get a good starting point on any project. )

Such a great image. Definitely not optimistic about 2021.

But what are necessary precautions? No one Country or Health department can agree. I've had relatives catch the virus just shopping for food. You either shut down the World and ruin the Economy or accept the deaths. Or choose the balance in-between, which does damage to both. Its an easy get out by so many to think that following the rules could defeat a virus. Especially as the rules differ depending where you are. There was only one way out and thats with a vaccine. Lockdowns and restrictions are simply short term remedies but not by any means an end to the mess.

We just finished our cinematography reel from some of our favourite images that we have filmed over the past years. Some of the images were captured in the magic of the moment and some were staged with lights etc... SEE YA 2020!

Tried 10bit HDR Log V3 with my Samsung Galaxy 10+. Not impressed. Maybe it's better on IPhone 12. Keeping my EOS M for a cheap small and light camera with impressive image quality. Gorgeous colors, great resolution at 2.8K crop mode. Especially after 4K up scaling. Endless fun 🙂 ML Raw at 2.8K crop mode from Zeek:

I'd be lying if I said that I truly care what the average citizen likes or dislikes.