Julian

NAB is only a month out. I'd wait.

The red dragon has out performed the mighty d800e sensor.
According to dxo mark it has the best performance, beating any dslr and medium format camera.
 
And that is at 6k ff at 82 frames per second.
 

 
http://www.dxomark.com/Reviews/RED-Epic-Dragon-review-First-camera-to-break-the-100-point-DxOMark-sensor-score-barrier/Overall-score-Epic-Dragon-takes-first-place-101-points
 
-As the new leader in this category, the prototype Epic Dragon surpasses the Phase One P65+ and P65+ HR models in color sensitivity, and it marginally exceeds the mighty Phase One IQ180 digital back in our rankings.   -While every effort was made to ensure the Epic Dragon adhered to our rigid testing protocols and that the results passed all the tests we performed, it’s clear the scores reflect a significantly different approach to image acquisition.   -It’s also worth noting that the Dragon’s native sensitivity is ISO 250 and measured at 104, while all other sensitivities were obtained by digital gain.   -For the tests, the camera was set to full 6k resolution at 23.98 fps, 16 bit and RC 5:1 compression.   -The highest color sensitivity ever measured: exceptionally low noise at the base ISO.   -The headline news is, of course, that of the Dragon’s exceptionally low noise levels. The SNR (signal/noise ratio) curve shown above is simply outstanding - it’s higher than the Nikon D4’s curve for the whole of that sensor’s signal response. The shape of the response curve is interesting as well.   -Close to saturation point, it shows a kind of plateau or leveling off, which indicates that the SNR is mostly limited by some pixel response non uniformity and not by the photonic noise. This noise curve, coupled with a good color response, leads to a very high color sensitivity. At the pixel level (screen mode), the color sensitivity is simply the best ever measured. We normally calculate color sensitivity using an 8-bit output sRGB colorspace. In this case, however, the 8-bit sRGB color space was not large enough to accurately represent the color sensitivity of the Epic Dragon. As a result, we had to switch to a 16-bit sRGB color space!   -Conventional DSLRs benefit from Analog gain that seems to amplify read noise and fix pattern noise in a smaller way than a pure digital Gain. This explains, despite its quality, why the Epic Dragon has lower low-light performances than the top DSLRs. So for cameras, where the lighting can’t be controlled, analog gain is preferred. That’s not such a high priority with a cinema camera, but the Epic Dragon produces very clean looking files and can be used safely up to nearby ISO 3000, with an excellent image quality.

Y'Know, I am a great fan of the minimalist approach :)

Extra Extra, 3 years old d5100 gets 1920x1080p 60fps mode thanks to nikonhacker.
 
http://nikonhacker.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1814

Whoa that is fantastic, if they are getting that much out of a D5100 so they could get even higher frame rate from the latest Nikon expeed camera. Imagine a 120 fps Nikon D3300 $ 600 Camera LOL.
 
Another thing is that they are getting better knowledge of the code by the day and things like RAW is a possibility (would have prefered 10 bit high bitrate codec). 14 stop DR for $ 800/$1100 camera, that would be awesome. I don't know if the Nikon D5200/D7100 sd card interface would have the speed for at least 1080p raw.

Thanks Maxotics and Julian. These insider tips are always the best. Same with music. Mainstream is often too predictable.
 
 
A propos POV. Don't miss Enter The Void. It's a film with very many flaws and I wouldn't call it influential (at least not for me, who a least twice a year opens his 'doors of perception' as a recreative vacation).
 
But that's imo what most interesting films have in common: They have something that makes them stand out for the individual, in this sense:
 
 
Art is not so much about perfection than about bold exclusivity. The meanest and lowest mainstream movies can be more perfect (technically or in the closeness of narration and narrational form) than the masterpieces. Those tend to have some very strong aspects, but also flaws. Leonardo didn't know about materials, his Mona Lisa had the 500.000 crackles the moment the paint had dried (which took months though). Same with his Last Supper: The wall sucked the colors off, it weren't the farts of admirers over 500 years (source: Donald Sassoon, Mona Lisa). The numerous fakers know better than the master. Beethoven chose improper instruments for his symphonies (Bernstein said, none of his students would have gotten away with such an orchestration). Shakespeare had so many logic flaws in his (predominantly adapted) plays that a modern script doctor would despair.

it does make me chuckle when big companies try and capitalise on a current fad without really understanding why the fad actually became so.   They've done what BMW did with the MINI.  Take the essence of something great then remove all of the qualities that made the original great in the first place.  
 
Just how purists laugh at 'New MINI' owners driving around in their oversized Fisher Price car, The guys with the humble Sankors, Kowas etc and Helios 44's will laugh at the guys running around with these nasties on the front of their L lenses trying to get the look and feel of a lomo for a movie about a financial services corporation or tacky wedding.

Finally, a GH4 vid that doesn't look like 480 mush. Absolutely beautiful.

I saw it in at least one persons list already ;) I haven't completely watched it yet, but saw some of the low light scenes.
 
There's always this talk about the famous f/0.7 lens used for Barry Lyndon. Yeah, of course that's special, but come on, it was shot at asa 100 pushed to 200! (at least, that's what I can find about it) So that would be the same as shooting nowadays digital at iso 800 f/1.4... whoohoo!
 
That's peanuts for a $500 dslr and a cheap manual focus lens. Of course, this doesn't make the film bad and it is more of a testimony to what possibilities we have within reach now. But I kinda fail to be impressed with the technical side of it. Also they really used a shitload of candles and special ones that burn a lot faster and brighter than the usual ones.
 
/rant ;)

I haven't followed the topic, but I was curious if I could simulate the theory.
On Fred Miranda I found this topic that explains how Photoshop saves jpgs in 4:2:0 or 4:4:4
I used a full resolution JPG from the GH2 and took the following steps:
 
Cropped the image to 3840x2160 and saved as JPG quality 6. The result is a 4K 4:2:0 still.

 
Then I resized this image to 1920x1080 and saved it as quality 10 to make a 4:4:4 image.

 
I also resized the 4K 4:2:0 still to 1920x1080 and saved it at quality 6 to make a 1080p 4:2:0 image.

 
200% crops of the above images in same order:
 
4K 4:2:0

 
1080p 4:4:4

 
1080p 4:2:0

 
Not sure if this test is correct, but to me it looks like you can gain color resolution from downsampling the 4K 4:2:0 file to 1080p. Correct me if I'm wrong!

I saw the explanation video too, it sounded more like an infomercial for canon because I don't know how anyone with eyeballs could advocate the c500 over the alexa for a theatrical release with a straight face. Esp considering the footage shown in the tests looked like a wedding video.
 
I love Shane's posts though, full of insights.

Ever noticed this subforum: http://www.eoshd.com/comments/forum/6-screening-room/ ? ;)
 
That's what makes me laugh every time the discussion about content vs gear turns up... Content is king. Yes, I agree. But hey, we are on the internet here. And this forum - like most others - is mostly a bunch of guys who like to talk about technical nerdy stuff, rant about the next CaNikon and hack their camera. The Screending Room (in other words: the content room) hardly gets any discussion or comments at all.

I think it comes down to price really. This camera is spec'd like a Sony F in terms of what it's competing with. It depends on how much this will go for, because Canon and Sony already have this camera for over $20,000. I wouldn't depend on Canon to do anything other than the usual "throw us a bone."

Are you talking about the 1.500$ nex5 disguised in a "pro body" which has worse video quality than a 500$ dslr?

Aimed at the broadcast market but just as well equipped for high end cinema, the VariCam 35's secret weapon is an efficient codec developed afresh - AVC Ultra 444 - and an industry standard Super 35mm sensor with PL mount.

Read the full article here

http://www.eoshd.com/content/3898/sony-nex-5n-versus-fs100-and-nex-vg20-hands-on-comparison
 
Not very.

1. No Country for Old Men
2. The Empire Strikes Back
3. Fight Club
4. The  Life Aquatic
5. Full Metal Jacket
6. The Big Lebowski
7. The Royal Tenenbaums
8. Rear Window
9. 12 Monkeys
10. Gone With the Wind

Probably style over substance, Superheadz, who endorse the camera also produce the Harinezumi, a digital and SD Super8 camera, which also came in a limited Chinon edition, very lo-fi, charming and not cheap at all:
http://www.acgears.com/home-office/digital-cameras/superheadz-digital-harinezumi-4
Most people these days use a Super8 smartphone app for the same effect, which works rather fine, considering that most reversal film only has about 7 stops of dynamic range.
As for the look, there is a also a certain resemblance with the Fujica Single 8 cameras, the popular an better quality 8mm format in Japan and only Japan:
https://www.google.de/search?q=fujica+single+8&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=VzO&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=NlYPU-a5Ncjoswb1rIHoCA&ved=0CC8QsAQ&biw=1271&bih=764
In terms of the sensor, the size maybe closer to 8mm that Super8 / Single 8, since most of these cameras came with  non-interchangeable zoomlenses, where as many 8mm cameras had small interchangeable prime lenses, that will in many cases not cover Super8. Pricing as I have read on various websites, probably all based on the one (wrong) source, is around 830$:
http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/9714/chinon-bellami-hd-1-another-retro-style-cinema-camera
So not cheap at all. I would hardly expect any fancy codecs or even raw, but rather an implemantation of a popular consumer codec. This is more of a toy than a pro-tool I guess.

Best movies ever made :):
 
director: Krzysztof Kieślowski
 
1. The Double Life of Véronique (1991)
2-4. The Three Colors Trilogy (1993–1994)
4-*. The Decalogue (1989)
 
And something extra for future directors:
Amateur [eng: Camera Buff] (1979)

Just to explain my motives, I had a couple of reasons for suggesting keeping it mainstream:
 
1. So that we might get an idea of what each other's tastes/interests are like through well-known cultural reference points.
2. To avoid complete descent into a "who can be the most highbrow/obscure/indie/arty/leftfield/knowledgeable" type thread (easily done).
 
Tarkovsky has probably been one of my biggest creative reference points for many years, but I overdosed in art school and I'm pretty much allergic to slow cinema now. I'd take Star Trek (2009) over Stalker every time. :)
 
That's just me though. I won't complain if somebody feels the need to put Warhol's Empire, Michael Snow's Wavelength, Brakhage's Dog Star Man or Jarman's Blue on their list. Others might though!

There's always the GM1 when trying to be innocuous.  It's been working for me.  Certainly no one assumes you're doing anything professional when carrying that camera around, which is great when need be.

FlareFactory is SOLD.

hehe.  I was just going to chip in and vouch for Tito - not that he really needs it here.  I have experience with the Century lens he is selling and have to say it is an incredible lens.  About 5x better than the normal ones.  3 optic design.  produces real ovals (if 1.33x, but more pronounced than the modern 'copies').
 
on a side note, @ Julian, if you purchase tito's lens, it's indeed a wild number!  One of the earlier ones.  When you get it feel free to send it over for a update to current standards - Tito never took me up on the offer, but you being in the Eu, shipping means it's not as much of a heart ache.  infact, it tito wants to send it over to me en route I'll give it a going over and stick a nice shiny brass badge on there too:)

Yup.  Nothing revolutionary, but here we go again.  Really, really incredible imaging products are so cheap and easy to acquire.  I fully expect some 11 year old to imagine a particular piece of cinema that far exceed my talents and/or perspective.  And why not? They'll easily have the gear that lifts them up to be able to do it.
 
And to think I used to shoot on actual film and then have to go through all that post... Man, there's just hardly any barrier between an idea and implementation these days.  Crazy.