Caleb Genheimer

This all highlights something else that I feel plagues Panasonic: too many modes. I don’t know how they pare that down, people would surely complain? They should possibly consider ditching an entire codec just to start. Having internal ProRes basically tops everything, do they really need h.264, h.265, long-GOP, Intra… the endless scrolling list of slight permutations is also a HORRENDOUS way to lay it out.

Agreed. One look at cameras like the C70 gives you all the info you need to assess why “stills” shaped bodies are an awkward form factor for video once there are extensive video features involved.

The thing I don’t get… and mind you, I work as a 1st AC… even if you’re mostly technically minded, and interested primarily in the technical aspects of cameras, there is still a LOT more to that that Gerald doesn’t get into. Especially with these hybrid cameras, what about rigging? Where are the cage reviews? Favorite top handles? Power distribution? Cable management? Back to the S1RII, honestly my main gripe with LUMIX is their slowness to create cameras that are *physically* geared towards filmmaking. I worked pretty hard on my S1H rig, I don’t think it could get better, and it’s still awkward. I’d rather have a Pyxis. But it’s a tool like anything else, and right now, the S1H is a good tool versus the cost of jumping to something else. I don’t want to rig a new hybrid mirrorless again.

I pre-ordered the 42mm at $5K, and the 95mm at $6K. Expensive, but probably the best money I’ve spent on gear. There really is no shortcut to good glass. Most likely the Eterna will be out of my reach though. I’m honestly hoping we see a Pyxis Pro from BMD with that RGBW sensor.

I don’t think CMOS has plateaued for the Comon Man quite yet. I do get the criticisms of over/under tests on the face of it, but the reality is? They’re Tests. I do find value in seeing what a particular camera is doing “down there” (or up in the highlights.) The fact is, as a test, over/under kinda beats out even a Xyla chart, because you can see HOW things blow out, or how they roll into black. Most of the time, I agree, modern CMOS has the chops to hit the stops on paper. But when you look at color performance and how the image rolls off, it immediately enters “not so pretty, is it?” territory. There IS a reason Arri still almost universally enters the conversation. If you look at an Arri over/under? It holds on for more stops, and also doesn’t dive drastically towards strange colors. 100%, exposing a modern CMOS correctly will yield excellent performance, but in reality? Most sensors are gonna let you down if you get it wrong. They’re pretty unforgiving. I could go on about Arri’s color separation, but that’s a whole other thing.

They confirmed open gate in the CineD interview, it’s based on the binned 4K mode, so roughly 4.5K? Readout would land around 20ms and DR will take a hit, but if they’ve got that mode? I’ll desqueeze that sucker myself. Pretty sure Atlas Mercury sneak by on the GFX sensor.

Yes, about a 1 stop DR hit to lower RS to 15ms in 4K 16:9. The open gate which they indicated is based off of that same sensor mode will therefore clock in at 20-21ms readout based on the added lines. Not bad all things considered.

Yep, it’s a niche within a niche hah. Medium format digital is already a small crowd, then when you siphon off the video folks? Smaller crowd. I think the reality is, video users are gonna have to work with whatever sensors will sell well to the photo crowd (at least when it comes to medium format.) Im definitely looking forward to Eterna being on final firmware and in some folks’ hands to see what it can do though. I also hope they see the 100s II as a B-Cam option and align it as closely as they can via firmware.

I hope Eterna does well but it’s a tough crowd. The Open Gate will help though, that’s a truly unique sensor size for a motion picture camera. If it does well we’d almost certainly see a version with the XH2S sensor, which would be an equally wonderful camera. I do have an extremely high regard for Fuji’s physical/ergonomic design. They do excellent work where others get cluttered or awkward.

Yeah that really is! I would expect the additional vertical lines to add a small amount but still expect it to be well within a workable range. Fuji has been leaving open gate video on the table then with the GFX. Since it is the same processor and sensor, I hope they add the mode to the hybrid body also, as those will be more affordable used at some point than Eterna likely ever will be.

And the main lenses I use are Atlas Mercury, so… pretty open field on cameras I could use. I’m not locked into L-Mount.

Yep my main challenge is, I’m not shopping between the two, I already have an S1H. It’s gonna take a bit extra to tempt me away, especially at $3K+

Anything over $3K has me scrolling through Arri Alexa eBay listings anyway if I’m honest lol. Even a decent number of the fuller featured “classic” type Alexa’s are coming in around $4K, and often have cards/case/batteries. But that assumes you want a cinema camera, not a hybrid that punches above its weight.

Not to resurrect an old thread, but since there are folks here who actually have the camera… How is the readout speed in the binned 4K mode? Apparently on the upcoming Eterna, they’ve confirmed it will have open gate video, based on the binned sensor mode. @eatstoomuchjam

Yeah I had the GH5 briefly and swapped it back for a GH5S pre-order. They really were great. But the S1H is still their best camera. The full V-slog and excellent OLPF really still haven’t been surpassed at its price. Maybe equaled by the Pyxis, but I haven’t tried one yet. Really the two things I don’t love on my S1H are readout speed (a bit slow for using my Mercury especially,) and the HDMI output lag (which eliminates the possibility of giving a 1st AC a fair shake.) Speaking of, did anyone test the S1RII’s output lag? That’s plagued every S-series body somewhat since the beginning.