Caleb Genheimer

Beautiful. One other obscure use-case to consider: variable diopters. They’re marked with focus scales, but the scales are calibrated to “distance from the variable diopter” instead of the standard “distance from the focal plane.” (Rather obviously because who knows how long any particular lens might be, it’s an unknown factor.) It would be nice to have the ability to semi-permanently mount the AFX and a focus motor on a variable diopter, calibrate a single profile to the “distance from the variable diopter” focus scale (which never changes from setup to setup), and then just set an offset in the reported/displayed focus distance based on the length of the current lens setup. The actual AFX-to-motor relationship doesn’t have to change in this instance, just the displayed distance. It’s minutiae, I know, but it solves a common variable diopter problem wherein most ACs are accustomed to focus distance coming from the focal plane.

I have a module request for down the road consideration: a wireless distance readout/display. Countless ACs/DOPs use the Tilta gear on mid-grade shoots, but despise their generic “0-100” readout at the controller. While it would require some pre-production profile calibration work, many would pick up the AFX for this feature alone: real foot/meter readings at the hand wheel. I know this can be read at the AFX, but often focus is wireless for the simple reason that it is being pulled from a distance.

How does the lens calibration work with MF lenses? Is that something that requires the app/smartphone? Same question regarding the various mode changes. iOS/Android?

Just be prepared for a demo of AF on 16mm film, because that’s definitely gonna happen 🤘🏻

Just bought the AFX, this is awesome. Any word on the actual sensor tech for the AI-based add-on? Is it an additional chip-based system running contrast detect or something? Or phase detect?

Bausch and Lomb CinemaScope Attachment II?

You should also eye up the 1.75X, it’s the best Kowa optics I've seen and absolutely on par with their full cine glass.

4/20! I currently rock a GH5S and a Pocket4K, and that’s only because my NX1 is out of commission. I also had a GH5 in the brief window before the S was a thing. The only thing keeping me from also having an S1H is the autofocus. I’m not upgrading digital bodies until a manufacturer provides full frame open gate with good AF and 13+ stops of DR. Until then, the GH5S and Pocket will do just fine. If I need top notch DR, I’ll just buy a couple loads of color negative stock and shoot 16mm

I think the Blackmagic stuff is enough out of left field to also qualify. My P4K is not miles ahead of my GH5S in IQ on a good day, but the simplicity in handling of the cine cam menus coupled with the save-your-butt tweakability of the BRAW files really sets it apart, especially for the price. I LOVE the idea of the Sigma FP, it’s just my favorite, but I wish it had open gate RAW. Really the S1H is the only truly full frame video camera right now, the rest restrict to 16:9 which is sad. If Fuji’s next GFX iteration has open gate video, I’ll be all over it, price be damned. That’s IMAX territory with the Metabones added

Man, great interview! It’s a major buzzkill that it will never do open gate video recording though. I don’t know how to push this on full-frame cameras, but as of now, only the S1H even utilizes the full sensor height in video, which makes the anamorphic shooter in me cringe to no end. That, and the GFX cams are obviously also a larger imaging area... but then those have even more sensor height they could be using, so.... yeah. A bit depressing.

Yea, at this point it’s high time for someone to crack the camera firmware and see what they can actually do with the hardware. Either that, or they need to get on it with a similarly priced Cine cam. Put the same hardware in a new box with active cooling. It is also high time for the competition to kick Canon’s butt on AF performance. AF is their last bastion of defense. Honestly, if the Panasonic S1H had AF on the level of the latest Canon Cine cameras, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation, the S1H would be a virtually flawless Full Frame camera (IBIS, Dynamic Range, Open Gate, 6K, High Framerates...)

Wait, your thing is steam powered? Where do I pre-order?! 😂

Honestly it’s past time for Tilta or similar to just make a stand-alone AF module that controls their focus motors. Then any camera could have decent AF! AF this, AF that... it’s just a tool. Sure, you shouldn’t use it all the time, but there are times where it is the tool for the job. Heck, I’d trust Canon’s AF on my 16mm camera most of the time (if that was a thing,) because I’ve tried pulling focus off that tiny ground glass, and it’s just not reliable. As is, I have to get an extra pair of hands and a tape measure to avoid wasting film on blurry takes.

So to be clear... no open gate yet?

I have a crystal sync sound 16mm camera that I acquired for $980, so now every time the latest and greatest digital camera drops, I view the price tag through the lens of how many gold Kodak canisters loaded with a 400’ core load I could purchase and process with the same amount of money. An A7sIII is about 7 loads of 16mm film, processed and scanned. That’s 77 minutes of footage at 24fps. Conservatively, that’s a 15 minute short film in the bag, or a 30 minute film if you shoot a tight ratio. That’s almost enough film to produce the entire first act to a feature if you plan carefully. The dynamic range is ok I guess, and the color science is at least useable, but it doesn’t have AF, and it’s not full frame, so I should probably replace it soon with something newer?

16-bit external could be the diamond in the rough here depending on how exactly that pans out.... as well as how good the AF is. My impression is that while Sony might not be knocking on Canon’s door with the FX9 AF, they’re definitely standing on the doorstep. If this new camera has the same/similar performance, it might be the “best kid on the block” so to speak... in the mirrorless hybrid category. The advantages of large photosites shouldn’t be ignored either. It’s not the “FX9 in an a7 body” that everyone was dreaming of, but if those caveats mean that it is a rock-solid performer without quirks, that’s probably worth the few omissions. As an aside... where is everyone right now on BRaw vs ProRes Raw? I’ve found the BRaw/Resolve experience to be nothing short of revolutionary, where in contrast, ProRes Raw (at least in my price market) lives almost exclusively on external recorders, and isn’t supported by Davinci (the industry standard color software). My gut tells me BRaw is ultimately the cleaner system, but maybe I’m wrong. Regardless, when are all the other camera manufacturers going to band together and legally swat down Red’s BS? This “no internal Raw” is getting old.

Ugh. If Blackmagic would just resurrect that NX1 sensor in a Pocket cam with that AF and BRaw, I’d honestly be happy. In a smaller/hybrid camera, that’s what I want. It’s for putting on a single handle gimbal, pointing and shooting. If I want cine style with a focus puller, rails and a full setup, I’ll use a cine cam no problem... don’t care about AF in that case. But on these small cams? Bad AF kills the usability within their obvious use-cases, and crappy codecs kill the good vibes.

Catching up on this thread and now I’m sad again that my NX1 is dead, and that Samsung exited the market. Their AF actually rivaled Canon’s, unlike everyone else’s.

Yeah, it still blows my mind that Canon’s DPAF is genuinely their last bastion of defense. It really is undeniably good and unparalleled. The S1H hits every other possible mark, so if Panasonic aren’t singularly focused on implementing flawless AF at this point, they‘ll miss their window of opportunity to sweep the competition across the board. They made a hybrid camera that received Netflix approval... It doesn’t get much more professionally demanding than that. Even considering that, I’m suggesting my employer buy a couple C200s for our bread and butter cameras. Focus has such a fundamental impact on your image image, that it trumps a lot of other things.

There are many factors besides focal length that impact vignette. You have to get all the optics as close to each other as possible to maximize your results. Unless you get lucky and find someone who regularly uses the exact lens combo you are asking about, chances are you will have to just give it a go yourself to figure it out. Be kind to the next fellow and document your results! My best advice for finding taking lenses is to not rush things and keep an eye out for good prices, so that if it doesn’t work as expected, you can flip it and not loose out.

With that much resolution, they really should run half of the photosites through a different gain architecture to achieve higher dynamic range.

All I want in a full frame camera is in-body compressed RAW full sensor (36X24mm) readout at 24fps. It’s really that simple. I can rig up to mitigate other shortfalls, but I want that big LF sensor in a box, uninhibited by crappy codecs, without paying an arm and a leg. BMD’s Pocket line is perfect for this. Sure, the box isn’t the best, but the sensors do great things, especially with Resolve to unpack it. Also, the Kipon Baveyes medium format booster is great and all, but if Metabones could do their own FF>MF booster sometime soon (like, yesterday?) that’d be great. I’m ready for an attainable IMAX digital alternative.

I’ve actually looked into it a bit deeper, the Tilta motors can do it. A friend sent me video evidence today (he has multiple motors.) You can pair two motors to one control, and you can auto-tune them to the travel of the hard stops on their respective lenses. I think it may take some tomfoolery if the two lenses in question have different minimum focus distances, but that’s surmountable. The bigger question is the linear vs logarithmic layout of some lens focus scales, but most seem to be in similar ballparks. Speaking of which, the Nucleus Nano really doesn’t read out distance marks for this reason... it’s just on a scale of 0-100. Might be nice to have control of those motors along with some math to display actual focus distance measurements, even if it requires a bit more setup. I’ve got a bit of spare cash knocking about in my LLC, so I’ll watch for the pre-order situation to develop. I’m very hopeful for an elegant and natural looking autofocus/assisted focus system, especially to pair with the odd 16mm film project that I tackle here and there. Pulling off a video tap has proved to be dangerously unreliable, and while a good 1st AC can easily remedy the situation, that’s not always in the cards.

@BTM_Pix How is this coming along? I know the whole world has kinda come to a halt, but I’m curious. I would throw in a slightly unorthodox feature request for addition at some point: control of two focus motors simultaneously. This would make it useable for 3D rigs, and for synchro-focus of an anamorphic adapter and taking lens (although the latter would require disparate lens profiles for each lens to be running simultaneously, rather than a simple duplicate motor control output.) I’m sure there are other potential uses (2 camera shoots, etc,) but it’s something I wish Tilta did NOW with their kits having multiple motors.

Yes, I wouldn’t say any of their current offerings are quite close enough, but I think based on what I’ve seen is possible, they definitely could make a filter that got 80-90% of the way there. The benefit of doing it optically is that the effect doesn’t rely on there being adequate digitized information present in the file. Digital still has limited dynamic range, and in all my attempts at emulating halation in post, I’ve run into that as a real issue. Once a light source is blown out/overexposed, there’s no way to determine in a technical sense how far blown it really is. But a good filter can pick up on that easily, and bloom that onto the high contrast areas of the captured image appropriately. That’s really been my main gripe with digital halation... either I don’t have hardly any, or turning it up makes it go everywhere. There’s very little differentiation.