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Everything posted by Andrew Reid
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You can set it but it doesn't effect the image. Point it at something very red and you will see.
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Yes poor Amazon owned DPReview. They must be really strapped for cash!
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Hey Scott. This sums up quite well what I loved about DPReview's editorial and why I was so proud to be contributor for those years. I looked upon DPR as something of a leading light, the most respected review site for digital cameras, one of the first, and that's why I hold it to a higher standard than others. I care passionately enough about it to get upset and to shout about it when it goes wrong and I think it's in danger. DPR did go in-depth, especially on the technical side and still does. If the new advertising in the form of sponsored content also did this to the same standard, then the quality would remain and not hurt the brand as much but even then there's a problem, because it would only work as long as it was impartial, which advertising never is and never can be. Flick through an old fashion magazine from the 1970's and it is almost ALL advertising yet readers still bought it in droves.... you'll see a lot of high quality advertising, fantastic photos (David Bailey, Helmut Newton) and minimal words, minimal editorial pieces! I am not against advertising culture entirely or with zero tolerance of ads and I'm not a communist although I do live in Berlin The problem I have is that more and more the manufacturers seem to be the boss, the paymaster and the editors, if not directly then certainly in subliminally controlling ways like with the PR organised events and it is wrong that this appears to be our only choice as reviewers if we want to get our hands on new gear at the earliest opportunity. We join the hype train by doing this and we trade our credibility, or at least it looks that way for the readers. I am open for a civilised debate on what we can do in the industry to recover some integrity in what we do. There needs to be some collective action. So the PR companies and manufacturers are after our jobs Scott. And we are going to just let them take over on the content side? But their purpose, if sponsored, is to sell a camera. For me that is not the purpose of what we do. I hate this insidious influence. If we for example are to put out educational content for instance and it is paid for by Canon, then whichever manufacturer sponsors us the most or pays the most, the more content on that particular brand there will be, and there's yet another form of bias. Even if the content itself had zero bias, the money still control the agenda. It's our job to create excellent content that's worth watching, not Intel's. By taking their money, you are trading your position as a content creator with them and one day you will be without a job. Of course! I understand that and always have. That's because it's being traded in bit by bit. Your voice replaced by somebody else's. If it's only a 3% increase in ad revenue and you're owned by Amazon, why do it at all? Why take such a big risk with the brand for the sake of bowing to the manufacturers and 0.001% of their overall ad spend budget? Tell them to fuck off! Thanks for the message on here Scott, I do appreciate it. If I can ever mend my relationship with DPReview I would. I have friends there and the only bad words exchanged were with Barney and Simon Joinson. In the end the buck stops with them. If they are going to take the site in this direction, they know my opinion on how wrong this is and why it won't turn out the way they hoped. They have a responsibility as the senior figures to change tac. Their responsibility to the readers should come before their financial obligations to advertisers anyway, because without any readers there won't be any advertisers!
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EOSHD Pro Color for Panasonic (GH4, GX85, G85 + more)
Andrew Reid replied to Andrew Reid's topic in Cameras
Like the Sony version of EOSHD Pro Color it is mainly designed to be used to fix colour straight out of the camera, on new material But as a bonus you can apply it to old material and it should fix the issues with that as well - but I don't offer guarantees of compatibility with absolutely all footage shot on an infinite array of different settings - that would be impossible, for example you could have the CineLikeV on +5 contrast or something crazy like that and it wouldn't give the same dynamic range as with the optimal settings in the guide, as the image data would just not be there in the first place. With EOSHD Pro Color you set the camera to the Standard photo style, leave contrast in the middle, leave white balance on automatic, then the LUT applies EOSHD Pro Color to the material in post the same with every shot and scene - no matter what the lighting is like. The usual suspects like CineLike-D don't look as good. Test it and you will see. Also dialling down the contrast too much in-camera doesn't work as well on Panasonic cameras as it does on Sony's, for a 'wide dynamic range'. It hurts the tonality of the image and reduces the amount of colour information on Lumix cameras. Unlike Sony's cameras there aren't enough advanced picture controls, colour modes and gamma modes on Panasonic's consumer cameras to dial in the EOSHD Pro Color look in-camera, so the LUT takes on the responsibility instead. This has the advantage that you can dial the look into existing footage, within reason, and it is literally just a few clicks in your edit. No messing. The EOSHD Pro Color LUT brings out so much shadow detail from the Standard profile, recovers the crushed blacks, recovers the clipped highlights - they are still there in the codec but for whatever reason aren't there when you view the files in your NLE or media player!! This fixes that and applies the new colour science which resembles the look of a Canon camera. The LUT also pays special attention to skin tones in particular, to get people looking more realistic and less dead. Existing footage - If you have old shoots and you want to re-grade, you can indeed try applying EOSHD Pro Color to these clips in your NLE. But you will need to tweak the basics - contrast, saturation, temperature, tint and exposure in your NLE until you're happy with the look. See the LX100 shot in the example video for how well this can work. This shot was before EOSHD Pro Color existed. It wasn't using the Standard photo style, instead I think it was Natural -5 contrast before I knew better! Both. -
EOSHD Pro Color for Panasonic (GH4, GX85, G85 + more)
Andrew Reid replied to Andrew Reid's topic in Cameras
I did warm up the colour a bit, as it benefits skin tones. The example you're seeing though - Fire light is red! It's warm and it's how it looked to the eye. That's just the way the scene is. So it remains realistic. Just more pleasing to the eye than the usual yellow, zombie, horror film look of Sony and Panasonic. Unless that is what you want and you are shooting horror I plan to update the instructions for FCPX giving more details for people using a LUT for the first time. Plugin works well I think. -
EOSHD Pro Color for Panasonic (GH4, GX85, G85 + more)
Andrew Reid replied to Andrew Reid's topic in Cameras
Sample video Shot at 0:40 is the standard Panasonic colour without EOSHD Pro Color though... Do you mean the later shots (1D X Mark II and G85 with Pro Color?) -
EOSHD Pro Color for Panasonic (GH4, GX85, G85 + more)
Andrew Reid replied to Andrew Reid's topic in Cameras
Yes it will work with Vegas and the plugin. Same for FCPX and the LUT loader It's a matter of taste. You have full control over the tone after applying the LUT. -
Read more about it! http://www.eoshd.com/2016/12/now-available-eoshd-pro-color-for-panasonic-cameras-gh4-gx85-g85-and-more/ It’s time to remove that harsh, clinical digital edge from Panasonic’s in-camera colour and white balance.
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Eric you have no experience of what you're talking about at all because you don't run a camera review blog. It doesn't seem sensible to campaign against the crippling of video on the 80D if Canon are a paying advertiser on your site. It doesn't seem like a good strategy to make a big fuss about a shortcoming of a particular Canon DSLR... they might pull further advertising. British retailer WEX refused me an affiliate commission account because of my criticism of Canon's crippled video features over the years. They were in full agreement with me over this but Canon are their biggest account. If you've just returned from meeting Canon's people at a PR organised event where you exchanged business cards, I know how difficult it is to then go on to criticise them the in harshest terms these flaws deserve....because I have been in the exact same situation myself after being invited to Sony and Panasonic organised events for filmmakers. Furthermore, the negative feedback you do give to the company or your readers will be heavily watered down with politeness when it really needs to be shouted urgently and a big fuss made so it forces them to change. Steve Jobs didn't softly prod or dodge around the issues, he took a flame thrower to them. When something is wrong with a product or it lacks innovation you have to do this. Bullshit. Not true, there are huge differences in relative image quality between models of similar positioning and price when it comes to video, also their suitability for a particular job. You wouldn't take a GH1 instead of an A7S to a low light shoot, unless you're an idiot... and your thinking is idiotic Eric, sad to say but it really is. Oh ffs. I'm talking mostly about the Canon sponsored video which is the subject of the advert. When it comes to Barney and his fucking boat I couldn't care less. It's not exactly a Werner Herzog level of filmmaking. You may call it a great video. I call it an easy to film piece of shit with no personality, no emotional investment required at all or life experience, zero challenge for the audience, no thoughts provoked or challenging messages conveyed. On top of that it's not even entertaining. It's video advertorial. Haha.
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I go to the Saturn there quite often too, it's where I've bought a lot of my kit! Very sad that this should happen on my adopted door step. Apparently the attacker is still on the run and the guy they arrested was a case of mistaken identity. So be vigilant Berliners...
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The content is shit though. Tag or no tag.
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Not always but occasionally they have decided to behave this way. Edit - Yes it looks like it has again now.
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Thanks for posting. I am safe. My thoughts are with the victims of this atrocity and the similar one in Nice, France earlier this year. Was at the same Christmas market just a few days ago and it's near my girlfriend's place. I just hope that all of my friends here in Berlin are ok. The market where it happened is right in the middle of the busiest shopping area of Berlin, in the west side of the city. The Christmas market would have been packed at this time of year with families and friends after work. There's a children's merry-go-round there, crafts stores and food, pancakes and mulled wine, German bratwurst, it's a very good natured place full of nice people and my heart goes out to the people killed and injured tonight.
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I upgraded from the GX85 to G85 and don't regret it... it's like a 4K Olympus body with better screen. Practically an E-M1 II without the price tag. GX85 was good to begin with and a total bargain... This is even better. Watch this space Video Mic Pro is a mono shotgun mic so you point it in a certain direction and it captures what's in front of it, but little else. The Rode Mic X is stereo X/Y to broadcast performance levels, very impressed with the build quality too, the main purpose for me is capturing immersive stereo ambience. Dialogue on a boom mic and everything else on the X. As well as the 3.5mm output it has two mini XLR jacks as well with phantom power!
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Micro Four Thirds is increasingly going up-market and into pro territory, but unfortunately new Panasonic and Olympus cameras are getting more and more expensive by the day. Thankfully the G85 is a pro camera without a pro price - it represents a genuine advance over the Panasonic GH4 with cleaner low light performance and better automatic white balance. Read the full review!
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You are 100% right that even if the compromise is subtle, integrity is undermined. I can't say for sure what is motivating them - greed or just a business decision to survive? But it's tacky and actually not even so subtle in many ways... Plastering sponsored content into your blog roll feed is not subtle. Too right. I will NEVER turn this site into either of those just to take it to a mainstream audience. Nofilmschool is all clickbate. The headlines and the way it is presented, it's knocked up so quickly there and it's always somebody else's content they are selling their ads around. Cinema5D is a corporate platform and not representative of the passion enthusiasts have for making personal work and learning cameras. I have taken to watching Dave Dugdale on YouTube and The Camera Store TV for fun, the rest of it is just boring, DPReview included, sadly. It's a shame there are not more people putting good content out there.
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I see some people - bigfoot, mercer, viet bach, don't understand what's at stake This isn't me being a communist and bemoaning another site making money from advertising. Viet Bach, you say "as long as their reviews remain honest"... Well honesty is as much about what you DON'T SAY as what you do. Read my article, and what it has to say about self-censoring and PR jaunts. Looking at this purely from a business perspective now, it's bad for business too as readers get sick of it and leave. The watery opinions don't do anyone any good. The sponsored content is only the tip of the iceberg. From a business perspective, in my opinion it is better to to have very high quality premium paid content like books alongside the free articles and standard affiliate links than to compromise the creditability of your entire core business and your reputation with a ton of tacky advertising. Like if you agree.
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Thanks for the support. If people don't agree with me on this, then I will at some point also cave in and do a run of big advertisements splashed on the site and regular sponsored articles. But if my readers say they're NOT fine with this, I won't. Simple as that. So speak up for the indies... not many advertising-free places left now on the internet. It wasn't supposed to be this way online.
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You can read my opinion about this here: http://www.eoshd.com/2016/12/dpreview-introduce-sponsored-content-canon-truly-disappointing/ I don't like it one bit.
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When I worked for them I had my suspicions they would try and suppress the strident tone of my reviews when it came to Canon's shortcomings in video. Now it's plain for all to see what is going on there - https://***URL removed***/articles/9717214609/filmmaker-scott-dw-trades-his-pro-video-gear-for-canon-eos-80d-watch-the-results I will be sure to get my fix of Canon PR marketing there from now on and of Ebrahim's latest forum frauds.
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Why I am leaving this world behind (a love letter)
Andrew Reid replied to HelsinkiZim's topic in Cameras
Investing in a team is much harder and more risky but it is the right decision. -
Why I am leaving this world behind (a love letter)
Andrew Reid replied to HelsinkiZim's topic in Cameras
People didn't try to do everything on their own in the professional video field of old. For interviews it would be a team A sound guy, a camera man and the actual interviewer. If you're doing all 3 jobs and find it hard, no shame in that... it IS hard Being a camera technician on top of the other 3 roles is just too much. Get an Ice Light 2, keep the GH4, keep the tripod and lav, dump the rest. -
Emailed Richard Butler at DPReview. But since he's on so many sites, it would really help to somehow get a wider audience to know what he did. REVENGE!!