jcs

Samsung releases yet another NX1 firmware update 1.21 this morning. I've been accused of being a Samsung fan boy, which is ridiculous, but I will admit, I am definitely a fan of a company that not only listens, but acts upon it. You have to stop and wonder what they're going to do for an encore. 

​I think in this case he meant it as a compliment- you're both on the same page. What most of us want are cameras with accurate skin tones out of camera. From there we can more easily match cameras, have no surprises in post, and can tweak color for emotion (ending up no longer accurate/realistic and instead lending to the cinematic mood of the story).

MattH- iffmpeg is a GUI for ffmpeg. ffmpeg has full source code available and is relatively easy to compile on Linux/OSX (it's better to cross-compile for Windows from Linux or OSX!). I'm currently wrapping up a fast batch converter for Windows (uses ffmpeg). If there's interest I can look into adding H.265 to H.264/ProRes conversion with full-range ffmpeg support. Also thinking about providing an add-on for mlrawviewer to improve 5D3 RAW workflow performance.

​​That sounds awesome!  Way beyond my expertise.  Please share your progress on this forum.

​Yeah, I'm hyperbolic.  Sorry bout that.  
I mean I intellectually get why it makes sense for a lot of folks.  It certainly depends on what they're trying to do.  I just don't run in that arena of higher levels of production.  And I've never met a camera I've been unable to effectively utilize because of bad colors.
Well, that's not true.  I've used some pretty wonky JVC cameras.
As for the RED1, there's still a reason it appeals to dudes like Mr. Davis and why they use 'em to make cool stories...  But man is it slow!

The old Red One MX - still a workhorse - forgotten piece of old tech that still gets a really beautiful image
Shooting in Havana as Americans was not easy
 
 

Canon FD set - very very good all round lenses and cheap
Yashica ML set  superb as good as the Zeiss C/Y just alot cheaper
Contax Zeiss set - modern lens look great colours and blacks - bloody sharp
Nikon AIS set - Killer!!
Russian set - Helios Tair Volna etc etc - character tastic
and a curve ball really good cheap set is Miranda .....yes Miranda made by Cosina - really really cheap about £15 each and very very good !!
   edit one more I forgot is Fujinon C - mount lens set - made in Japan bloody good glass - very fast and cheap - need modding to make work on Micro 4/3 but almost Distagon good.....but faster so superb in low light f1.425mm 35mm 50mm 75mm all very small and light but with Fujinons stunning glass in them .Ill remind you that Fujinon make cinema lenses - Alura etc so are very very good....195

The more I think about it the more I think celluloid motion picture film really is an environmental disaster.  Leaving aside the chemicals required to make it, processing it requires huge amounts of a witches brew of toxic chemicals - the bleach contains potassium ferricyanide, potassium bromide,ammonium thiocyanate and various acids.  The developer contains formaldehyde; the fixer ammonium and sulfur compounds.  All of these chemicals are further contaminated with heavy amounts of silver waste washed away from the film during processing.  And loads of clean water have to be consumed at each rinse step.  An 120 minute 35mm film requires at least 36,000 feet of camera negative processed (at a conservative 3:1 shooting ratio).  Back when movies were released on celluloid to theaters it took a staggering 24 million feet of release prints processed (12,000 feet per print times 2,000 theaters) for just one movie!
For digital, you need toxic chemicals to make the storage mediums, but in far smaller amounts; making a tiny memory card consumes just a drop in the bucket compared with the amounts needed to process just two hours of celluloid (12,000 feet of 35mm).  And digital storage mediums can be reused hundreds or even thousands of times, compared with the one-time use of celluloid.
 

Other than the magenta bias for the FS7 and green bias for the Amira, the FS7 looks pretty decent in color and highlight tonality (no CC other than what is noted). Once Sony fixes the firmware issues, the FS7 looks to be a decent camera for the price. In the comments it looks like Nate sold his F55 to get an Amira. Even though the F55 can now closely match the Alexa in post, clients are asking for ARRI so he switched to Amira.

One last update. Remote control works crazy good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwuh4OXgslI

Nice explanation, he even weighs in on the HFR debate.
 
 
 
 
 

@jcs your link didn't work, here is the corrected link http://www.hingsberg.com/index.php/2014/06/f55-matches-arri-alexas-color/
edit: i see, it was including the comma at the end

Given the 1DC price drop, it would appear Canon may be about to release a new 4K DSLR. Everyone on this forum would love to see a 4K 5D4(k). Having a high-end FF still camera combined with 4K and great color science in a single camera is very appealing. Especially if one has invested heavily in EF lenses. Sony and Panasonic have listened to us and given us great new cameras: the A7S and GH4. We have responded by buying them- lots of them. If Canon doesn't want our money, no sweat. The A7S II will likely have 4K internal, less rolling shutter, improved autofocus (perhaps with 'fancy pixels'), and improved color science (and possibly even IBIS).
Case in point: if Sony can make the F55 match Alexa with a software upgrade (perhaps only with LUTs), and when the F65 beats Alexa at the high end in color science, it's clear Sony can 'bring it' with color science to the consumer market if they want to. The A7S can already closely match the 5D3 (RAW) with a bit of work with camera set up and post adjustments. A software update can make color processing more foolproof (as in the case of Canon cameras: tuned to make skin tones look good with little effort).
While Sony's ergonomics and software GUI's are market trailing (I'm sure some folks at Apple are looking for new challenges and career opportunities!), their sensors are market leading. It would be cool to see the Alexa 65 compared to the F65 (65 vs 65). I was curious why Netflix went with the F55 for Marco Polo, which didn't look very good in the first episode but got better looking as time went on. I understand different teams were used, perhaps Sony provided support as well. Why would they use the F55 over the Alexa? With budgets shrinking, it appears to be more value for the dollar.
Once it was clear the F55 could match the Alexa in a skin tone test: http://www.hingsberg.com/index.php/2014/06/f55-matches-arri-alexas-color/, and the F65 can exceed the Alexa in overall color (Oblivion & Lucy), it became clear Sony is in the position to take the lead from Canon and ARRI. Rumors of Canon using Sony sensors for the 5Dx, if true, would further the trend. Nikon is already using Sony sensors. Black Magic and Red also provide interesting options. For the types of shoots most of us do, a highly compressed, high quality codec which can be edited in real-time is ideal. Again, Sony leads here with 422 10-bit XAVC and 420 8-bit XAVC-S. These are simply marketing names for different flavors of the H.264 standard- nothing proprietary. H.264 also supports 444 up to 14-bits (the Hi444P spec). With high-quality hardware debayering in-camera (or a non-Bayer sensor) and Hi444p (perhaps even just Hi422P), there's no practical advantage to RAW or ProRes for most applications using modern computers. GPU power keeps increasing- any advantage to ProRes in terms of decoding is rapidly going away (ProRes is a marketing name for 10/12-bit 422/444 MJPEG).
Someday we'll have great 'all around cameras'. For now, grab the 5Dx or Nikon Dxxx for stills (even the A7S for extreme low light), and any of a number of great cameras for video.

2k RAW does alias- really best for slomo only.

It appears Cooke's imperfections help create their magic: https://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2014/03/why-do-we-want-flat-glass/ .

The metal plate is a Manfrotto base plate. The smaller one found on stills tripods. I like using those a lot. I have it there because I have a small Manfrotto ball head mounted on the top handle of the F5 when I use the Shogun with the F5 it just clips on.
It was the Noga style arm that was holding the Shogun flat like that.  Also I saw a Manfrotto arm today and it was AU$340!!! Crazy price. I bought mine from eBay for about $20 noname brand. Works perfectly.
The colour difference between the A7s and F5 I posted are due to me having slightly different colour temps set between the two cameras. My mistake. A slight grade tweak of either would correct it. 
Also anyone with an A7s notice on my tripod handle the little black thing with buttons? Its a Sony shutter release with cable and it has movie record button. I really recommend it. Doesn't cost much and means with velcro (yes velcro!) you have a repositionable record button from tripod to top handle to front of camera wherever you want or the shot ergonomics dictate.  I will have to update more pics tomorrow.

Cool thanks for the article JCS.

It appears Cooke's imperfections help create their magic: https://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2014/03/why-do-we-want-flat-glass/ .

Interesting article.
I think the size is the big factor, plus the dominance of Alexa when it came out.
Most DPs I know wouldn't care if the camera looked like susan boyle's head, as long as it gave a good image and was usable. Kit out any of these cameras for a big production and you can barely see the camera anyway.

Stop discrimination against differently shaped bodies. All cameras are beautiful.
 
I must say. I loved the way Lucy looked, and the film also  

FS700 + O7Q, FS7? Both cameras can provide a 1.1x crop in 4K (SpeedBooster), the 4K has more real detail than the 1DC, XLR pro audio, tons of fastmo/slomo options, built in NDs, etc. The FS700+O7Q can also do 12-bit RAW, including bursts of 120fps 4K, continuous 2K RAW (up to 240fps), and very high quality 4K and 1080p ProRes (10-bit 422). The FS7 does up to 180fps in 422 10-bit XAVC (1080p), up to 60fps 4K. It also supports ProRes and RAW with the interface unit (extra bulk, but worth it for some productions). The 1DC is only 8-bit with a 1.3x crop, no XLR audio, no 4K slomo, and very large files with an ancient codec.
For faster turn-around, Canon has the best look out of camera- looks the most filmic, etc. However, once the camera is understood, it's possible to do whatever you want in post for a filmic look using 3D LUTs, Filmconvert, from-scratch in Resolve/SpeedGrade, etc.
ARRI/Canon produce the best looks with the least effort so far, however Sony is catching up. Here the F55 matches the Alexa: http://www.hingsberg.com/index.php/2014/06/f55-matches-arri-alexas-color/
Sony cameras do indeed take a bit more research and work in post, but once figured out, do very well against ARRI/Canon, along with many more useful features. At which point the FS7 can closely match the Alexa in post, it will deserve the top spot on any list which includes cameras in the $8000 range.
Things will get interesting when Canon releases a new camera to compete in this space. If they follow their traditional business model, they'll leave out critical features provided by Sony/Panasonic, and thus leave the door open for Sony/Panasonic (and now perhaps Samsung) to get their out-of-camera color science for skin tones closer to Canon (Nikon is also doing well here).
Sony's F65 can look better than Alexa in terms of color, including skin tones (not clear how much work that takes in post). Examples: Oblivion and Lucy. If the F55 can match the Alexa for skin tones using just software (in the test above, I was surprised that the F55 looked better to me), it's clear that the A7S/FS700/FS7 can look even better than they do now with firmware+LUTs-in-post. After many hours of testing the cameras side by side, it's clear that the A7S's sensor (and even the FS700's) are superior to Canon's sensor in the 5D3 (apparent even when using RAW).
If the 5D4 has 4K and a decent codec (422 10-bit), at least 60p slomo, it will be very appealing to be able to use Canon lenses without adapters (and hopefully with high-quality autofocus- extremely helpful in many situations, especially 4K shooting of dynamic scenes). If Canon drops the ball, there's now lots of other compelling options for video. For stills, the 5D3 is currently the best for the money.

This is a short film I recently made about Doubtful Sound, which is located in Fiordland, in the South West of New Zealand. It is one of the few places where the remote coast of Fiordland has road access, although its not generally accessible for private vehicles and requires an hour boat journey to access the road, which is unsealed over a mountain pass. It is a place of extremes, with a resident human population of 2, a sandfly population of at least 2 million, and an average annual rainfall of 8750mm (344 inches). Aside from the scenery, fishing is a major activity.
I'd appreciate any feedback on the film. Thanks in advance.
https://vimeo.com/117767791
 

Sony A7s... a small camera nonetheless a great potential!
 
 

FS700 + O7Q, FS7? Both cameras can provide a 1.1x crop in 4K (SpeedBooster), the 4K has more real detail than the 1DC, XLR pro audio, tons of fastmo/slomo options, built in NDs, etc. The FS700+O7Q can also do 12-bit RAW, including bursts of 120fps 4K, continuous 2K RAW (up to 240fps), and very high quality 4K and 1080p ProRes (10-bit 422). The FS7 does up to 180fps in 422 10-bit XAVC (1080p), up to 60fps 4K. It also supports ProRes and RAW with the interface unit (extra bulk, but worth it for some productions). The 1DC is only 8-bit with a 1.3x crop, no XLR audio, no 4K slomo, and very large files with an ancient codec.
For faster turn-around, Canon has the best look out of camera- looks the most filmic, etc. However, once the camera is understood, it's possible to do whatever you want in post for a filmic look using 3D LUTs, Filmconvert, from-scratch in Resolve/SpeedGrade, etc.
ARRI/Canon produce the best looks with the least effort so far, however Sony is catching up. Here the F55 matches the Alexa: http://www.hingsberg.com/index.php/2014/06/f55-matches-arri-alexas-color/
Sony cameras do indeed take a bit more research and work in post, but once figured out, do very well against ARRI/Canon, along with many more useful features. At which point the FS7 can closely match the Alexa in post, it will deserve the top spot on any list which includes cameras in the $8000 range.
Things will get interesting when Canon releases a new camera to compete in this space. If they follow their traditional business model, they'll leave out critical features provided by Sony/Panasonic, and thus leave the door open for Sony/Panasonic (and now perhaps Samsung) to get their out-of-camera color science for skin tones closer to Canon (Nikon is also doing well here).
Sony's F65 can look better than Alexa in terms of color, including skin tones (not clear how much work that takes in post). Examples: Oblivion and Lucy. If the F55 can match the Alexa for skin tones using just software (in the test above, I was surprised that the F55 looked better to me), it's clear that the A7S/FS700/FS7 can look even better than they do now with firmware+LUTs-in-post. After many hours of testing the cameras side by side, it's clear that the A7S's sensor (and even the FS700's) are superior to Canon's sensor in the 5D3 (apparent even when using RAW).
If the 5D4 has 4K and a decent codec (422 10-bit), at least 60p slomo, it will be very appealing to be able to use Canon lenses without adapters (and hopefully with high-quality autofocus- extremely helpful in many situations, especially 4K shooting of dynamic scenes). If Canon drops the ball, there's now lots of other compelling options for video. For stills, the 5D3 is currently the best for the money.

​
It's incredible how many people ignore the importance of lighting when making "filmic" images, or any images for that matter. Lighting is more important than the camera, it can make the image of a "sub-standard" camera look much better than "the best camera ever" that was used without additional lighting.  Obviously. 
Sony A7S is the best choice IMO (for your needs). Regardless of its's high sensitivity, don't ignore a set of lights either