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Showing content with the highest reputation on 09/17/2024 in all areas

  1. With that logic Ericsson should use Snapdragon for its 5g infrastructure products, because its cheaper! Not yet. Sensor output is 10 bit. ADC is 10 bit. They put 10 bit data in a 12 bit file. 5W is 5W, whether you're able to cool it down or not doesn't change the fact that its not insignificant. Another issue is movement of the data. 6k60 raw is about 14Gb/s. No matter how state of the art is your CPU, 14Gb/s is 14Gb/s. Its too much to not generate heat.
    2 points
  2. I have been shooting with the Canon R5 Mark II for about two weeks now for various small projects, mostly just testing the camera out in the types of conditions in which I usually shoot; very hot, humid, run and gun with little to no control over the lighting or venue. I mostly shoot event work and work quite a bit with models and fashion as well. I plan on replacing my Canon R7 with the Canon R5 II as my hybrid run and gun camera. To fill that role it must have one usable mode that does not overheat, and must be reliable in less than ideal conditions. So below are my thoughts on the Canon R5 II so far, some bad, mostly good and possibly some of it was just due to me not fully getting used to the camera, so my opinions on some of the bad things may change over time as I get more familiar with the camera and hopefully as new firmware is released for it. THE GOOD Ergonomics - As usual, Canon hits this one out of the park. The grip is even more comfortable, the dedicated photo/video switch is way better than fiddling with a custom function switch, and everything is pretty much exactly where I expect it to be. I do miss the thumbwheel around the joystick like the R7 has, it made changing the Aperture a little faster while keeping the camera steady, but the R7 was the only camera to have this so its not a huge loss. Video Quality - I tested everything from 8K60FPS to 4KSRAW to 4K HEVC S and it all looks good to me. I will probably use 4K30/60FPS HEVC S 90% of the time with 4KFine for interviews, and 4K30FPS HEVC S for long form content. I believe it will not overheat in that mode so that is another place where it will replace the R7. Dynamic Range - I don't pixel peep or use charts and graphs, I just get out and shoot; so far the dynamic range seems acceptable, not really more or less than other current cameras in my opinion. The one simple test that I do with each camera is have the sun directly behind the model and try to film her face without a fill light...basically the harshest possible scenario possible; and the R5II looked no different to me in that scenario than every other camera that I have tested. CLOG 2 - All I can say is wow....this to me is the biggest improvement in image quality that I have seen in any mirrorless Canon camera. I have always shot in CLOG3 because I was used to it and with the C70 I used CLOG3 because it had to match the R7. I had no idea CLOG2 could make such a big difference. The highlight roll off, colors, and overall image quality in difficult lighting conditions is pretty incredible when compared to CLOG3 out of the R5. Any camera can get a good image in ideal lighting conditions, the real test is harsh lighting, highlight clipping, and highlight roll off, and with CLOG2 the camera excels in these situations. This one feature alone makes it hard to compare IQ out of the R5II vs other Canon mirrorless cameras; I can't tell if the sensor's DR is that much better, if its CLOG2 doing the heavy lifting, or both; but I am definitely satisfied with the image quality. Viewfinder/Backscreen - Both seemed good to me, I still to this day prefer my OVF in my 5D4 vs any mirrorless EVF, but that's just me. The EVF in the R5II seems acceptable as EVF's go, and the backscreen was easy to see regardless of the lighting. Dual Slot Recording - Of course the R5II can record to dual slots but only for a few modes due to the data rate limitations of SD cards. The main modes that I will use; 4K30/60FPS HEVC both can write to the SD card so for most of my work, I will have redundancy. One nice feature is that even when shooting video that can only record to the CFE card, the camera can be set to still save images to both cards. Photography Features - I don't shoot sports so I don't really care about all of the new AF settings, I did test photography as well though and it performed exactly as expected. For me, there's nothing really new in this area that interests me; it triggered my remote flashes when it was supposed to, triggered the hotshoe flash properly and reliably, and overall felt like the R5 and every other Canon mirrorless camera. Auto Focus - It has so many AF modes that I need to practice more in this area for video. I found myself switching modes more than I expected during the test shoots because the AF wasn't working the way I needed. Not the camera's fault, but just due to the sheer volume of settings, I need to get better at figuring out what mode is best for the situation. Low Light - Haven't done almost any testing with this yet, but a second native ISO at 4000 is perfect and is the most useful place for a second ISO. I believe this second native ISO is only for video though, so it is a little murky to me what happens to noise when you set it to 4000ISO for photography. I will be shooting a lowlight event this coming weekend so I will do some more testing then. So long story short, the Canon RII predictably builds on the R5 with the biggest surprise for me being CLOG2. After using the R5 and R7 I believe it fix the small things that I did not like about the R7 (no dual native ISO) and add things I didn't even know I was missing (4K SRAW, CLOG2, etc.). THE BAD Firmware Bugs - I really hope these things are fixable via a FW update, but at this point I almost feel like I need to bring a backup camera to shoots. I never felt that way even with FW 1.0 with the R7. Screen Shuts Off Video Display - This one is bad.....3x now the back screen has gone black and will not show the video. It will show all of the configuration data on the screen such as WFM and histogram, but no video feed. If I switch to photography the display comes back, switch back to video there is no feed. The sensor is still working because the histogram shows changes when moving the camera around, but it will not display on the back screen. The only fix for this so far is to restart it. Stops Communicating with Lens - This happened twice for me. The Aperture read F00 and I had no Aperture or AF. This was with my Meike vND adapter and an EF lens. I tried changing EF lenses, removing the adapter then reinstalling it, etc. The only thing that fixed it was putting on my one RF lens then taking it off and putting back on the adapter. Of course I will get no help from Canon because the adapter is a 3rd party adapter.....not good. Lost Settings - It has only done this one so far but it reverted some of my settings back to their default settings after a restart. IBIS - Compared to my R7, the IBIS in the R5II is not as good. Its correction is very harsh when it reaches the end of its travel, and it jerks the image back to the center of the IBIS. If you do not reach the end of its travel then it is fine, but if you try walking for example, no matter how carefully you walk, the IBIS will jerk the image around instead of slowly correcting back to center. My Smallrig cage is on order, I am hoping when I get it installed that I will have better control over the camera when shooting handheld. Battery Life - The battery life is noticeably worse than the R7. I went through 2 batteries shooting short clips with the camera mostly turned off in between. I was shooting 8K/4K RAW/Compressed up to 120FPS but they were still all pretty short. My battery life could have been so bad because I set my EVF to smooth, but I barely used the EVF because I was shooting video. Overheating - The overheating warning came on when shooting 4KFine. I was shooting approximately 4 or 5 very short 30s clips and two bars showed up and it looked like it was going to climb pretty quickly. The ambient temps were around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and 80% humidity. No other mode displayed the warning for the rest of the day. Electronic Level - Still a pet peeve of mine, it still disappears while recording. 4KSRAW - This codec has some major moiré issues that are not fixable in post. If the scene has nothing that will bring it out then the mode is fine, but it definitely has major issues. On a production shoot I don't think I would ever trust this mode for paying work. THE ODD The camera also has some weird quirks that take some getting used to. Once you know them and if you can remember them in the middle of a shoot then you are ok, but they are annoying nonetheless. Histogram - The histogram will only display if Exposure Simulation is turned on. I do not like exposure simulation in certain lowlight situations so turning it off means I lose the histogram. WFM - It is great that they included the WFM, but you can't move it, you can't resize it, and you can't turn it off/on via a button or even via a direct option in the Favorites menu. Aspect Ratio Bars - They finally included this in the R5II, but it is only visible on the backscreen, so if you are shooting photos with the EVF you are out of luck. The Panasonic S5 had this years ago and displayed them in both places. 8K Compressed - 8K Compressed options disappear from the list if the recording option is not set to CFE only. Instead of just greying it out and telling you that when you try to use it, it completely disappears. Even odder, 8K RAW does not disappear and it tells you that you must use the CFE card only for recording. 8K60FPS - This is not documented clearly anywhere I have seen, but 8K60FPS is only an option if you pick compressed raw. I am fine with that, 8K is massive as it is, but I never saw the advertising materials mention 8K60FPS RAW is compressed raw only CONCLUSION If the bugs get worked out this is a worthy successor to the R7 for me. The image quality and features are what I expected when getting the camera. The bugs though really make it hard to trust this camera, it stopped communicating with the lens after a 1.5hr drive to a shoot that could only be done that day.....if I had not brought along my RF70-200 lens (which I usually don't for a video shoot), I may have been unable to get the camera working again...not a good feeling after buying a $4300 camera. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Here are my reviews for: The S5 - Panasonic S5 User Experience The C70 - Canon C70 User Experience BONUS I shot a camera test video with some local models and exotic cars to put the camera through its paces. This is the way that I will be using the camera every single day so that's how I tested it....no control over nature, lighting, venue setup, etc. For this shoot I used the Meike vND RF to EF adapter, Sigma EF 50mm F1.4, Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8, and the Canon RF70-200 F2.8. Mostly handheld, but I did use a gimbal for some of the longer walking shots.
    1 point
  3. Well, look at this. Kinefinity is coming out with a small HDMI EVF.
    1 point
  4. I'm finding that, unlike earlier in my life, I have so many cameras I have access to now that which one to choose becomes a matter of image characteristics and physical logistics. I choose a camera much like a painter would choose watercolour or oil paint. It depends on what look you want as well as what situations you'll be in as to which one, all the while knowing that they'll each add a certain something that could communicate something. For example, in my next film I'm shooting most of it with a Digital Bolex, this is because it's planned as a nod to the French New Wave films and that will give it a kind of 16mm look. It's set in the present day and one character will have a video diary, for this I'm thinking of a Panasonic HDC-SD9 to give it an early cell phone/ digital camera look (without going to standard definition). I'm even thinking of another camera which might even be a (gasp!) vertically shot iPhone which will represent a different mood/situation. It becomes just another tool to use, partly for mood and partly as a reference to the technology of different times.
    1 point
  5. Sorry, it has a lot of to do with the way the OS works. Its designed to handle a heavy and complicated OS system. The whole architecture is overkill for a dedicated camera in some areas, and underperforming in other areas. And remember all these 3nm ISPs are working with 10 bit images. Not 14 or 16 bit that your mirrorless chip is handling at fraction of a second. They don't design their own chips. They tell a ASICS/FPGA vendor what they need, and that vendor offer them one of their products. Nikon buys from Socionext. This giant company has TSMC as its 2nm partner. But doesn't make anything in its portfolio at cutting edge node. Because they don't need to, and will be expensive. And iPhone 15 pro overheats shooting 4k, remember?
    1 point
  6. Thinking about it, is the launch of these things not a good sign that Lumix are still making new cameras so it follows that a new ‘S2’ line will be next? We just need confirmation that a load of familiar suspect YouTubers are off somewhere exotic as a heads up and then we will have had ‘official’ confirmation 👍
    1 point
  7. Seen as though my retro tech hobby is now completely out of control I decided to get a 2007 MacBook Pro for FireWire duties today, cost 80 euro. Came with some nice music and the SSD upgrade (500GB) which was popular back in the day, and seller chucked a 4S in with the deal. there’s a number of aspects to it that suggest modern Apple have not necessarily gone in a forward direction!!
    1 point
  8. mercer

    Lenses

    For you vintage lens fans, here's an oldie but a goodie... I was able to get out over the weekend with my FP and I finally tested the 10bit cDNG mode... hat tip to @BTM_Pix for recommending that mode... feels really solid while saving some storage space... and I brought out the Minolta MC 55mm 1.7. Wide open it's a little glowy, but not bad, but stopped down to 2.8 and I feel it shines...
    1 point
  9. BTM_Pix

    Lenses

    Panasonic 35mm f1.8 L Mount. Frame extracts from 4K file on my Panasonic S5ii. It isn't lacking in sharpness that's for sure.
    1 point
  10. BTM_Pix

    Lenses

    Wide end of the Panasonic 20-60mm kit lens on an S5ii capturing some people so desperate to avoid the outlandish parking charges at British seaside town that they've decided to parachute in.
    1 point
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