ScreensPro

What? The dust has settled years and years ago. They are both still here. Digital video will have minimal impact on either company.

I assume you didn't live through the years before that... Lugging around s35mm adapters and HUGE rigs to try and get something even close to filmic? Paying through the nose for 1/3" sensors and about 7 stops of DR? Seems like it all came a little too fast, too cheap for you and you are now left wondering why that initial rush has slowed down. Alot of us are still kind of amazed that we can get really nice quality, full frame cameras like the 5DIII shooting footage that blows clients away (yes, even without a hack).

Your recent blogs all seem to be "I want X and if Y does not provide it, they must be terrible at their multi $million business".   I'm scratching my head as to why you think the no budget indie market should be such high priority, just because YOU want it to be. You really think Nikon took 4 years to come out with this, rather than purposely deciding that the market would be right in Q4 2013?   Even my much smaller business has 1,2 3... even 5 year targets, planned to match the projected trends and tech of that time frame.

I know it is not raw, but have you looked into a 2nd hand Sony F3? I've seen some amazingly cheap prices, kits for $5k or so.... couple it with a BM recorder and you are shooting 10bit S-log at 13 stops DR with alot of nice video features and quality audio.

I assume you are actually connected to the company... Probably best to just say so, then we can ask questions.   Needs to be in English and have prices really.

Matt, it gets even more confusing, i'm afraid... as most camera generally achieve less DR as you go away from the "native" ISO of the sensor... So shooting high (and low) ISOs usually wont get the max. DR from the sensor (though some cameras seem to maintain DR across the ISOs, the Canon C range, for example)   re: ISO and raising the shadows, it does help, but only goes so far. The sensor can only record the detail within the DR it is capable of... So no amount of raising the shadows or dialling back the highlights will get back detail that wasn't there to begin with.

I think it has probably plateaued now... there will be improvements to workflow and higher continuous shooting at higher resolution (in crop mode)... but certain things just can't be improved on, as they have to continuously tell people who ask for full frame 4K, or 120fps.... (though they occasionally have a breakthrough with new code).   As Ben stated above though.... You could buy it now , install a stable version and never update it again and you would still have a great camera for the coming years. The 5D range also hold their resale price well, so we the next big thing comes along, you could sell and reinvest.   One thing, have you though about audio? I know they are making some strides on that side of things, but it might never sync perfectly

Interesting, did you test any of the 720p slo-mo modes?

Interesting that a post titled "Dear Nikon" contains far, far more bile towards Canon. As always, Andrew, you are looking at a product and thinking "Is this right for me?".... Fair enough, we all ask ourselves that question.... We don't, however, go on to write a blog about the fact that it doesn't check the boxes we desire. Nikon make 99% (probably more) of their money catering to the needs of still shooters, it's not that hard to understand.

One is available now, the other could be months/years away   Unless you 100% feel the need for 4K and global shutter (at the expense of DR),  go buy the 2.5k and get shooting... Get the MFT mount and invest in a couple of nice primes.   I faced the same dilemma as you and opted for a 5DIII. Great camera, beautiful raw image and will keep it's value better for when I trade up to the next generation product

Economy, specs... etc, just a small piece of a larger puzzle.   Photographers are not in demand as much as they were. This has been a downward trend that is inevitable as the price dropped on the high end gear. Now "Uncle Billy" can bring his $1000 DSLR to do the wedding snaps and save the bride and groom some money. It looks like a pro camera and uncle billy did some nice photos in his garden, so what could go wrong?   This has spread to alot of creative areas... As the price of the pro equipment drops, the rates you can charge drop and the industry declines. The race to the bottom seems great when you want a new camera with all the bells and whistles, but might not be so great when you go and try to find clients.   and no, i don't want prices to stay artificially inflated, just to protect my rates.... But it IS a huge part of the equation of why DSLR sales are on the decline.

Last word on Android... As i've learnt many years ago to not bother arguing with Apple folk (I have an iphone 5 and imac btw).   I will take a bet that within 2 years, Andrew will post an article about a camera system using Android OS to achieve crazy specs like raw, 120fps, 4k etc, most likely a Samsung

  I just explained to you. If you are happy for Apple to dictate to you how your phone looks and works, great! Also which apps have to stay, like "Stocks", hahah!   You clearly love iOS.... So do I. I'm an app dev making money from both systems...   Android is just better for customisation, tweaking etc.... It's like Magic Lantern and very, very innovative.   Sure, they stood on apple's shoulders.... apple stood on other's shoulders (Blackberry and Nokia were already doing apps)... iOS7 takes alot from Win8 and Android.   Swings and roundabouts.

  If you like a locked system where Apple dictate to you what you can use, then sure...   If you like to customise your phone, delete apps you never use, have live wallpapers, have a file structure when you plug your phone into your computer, share things with more than just email/facebook/twitter, change keyboards, use any audio software you want (not just itunes) etc etc etc   iOS is closed, Android is open. I know which I prefer.   You know that you can use a custom rom to increase the bitrate on the Galaxy Note III's 4K video stream? Good luck doing that with Apple.   Android will have a HUGE future in the indie filmmaking world, as camera companies further use it for their OS.

I'm talking about Android.... Not Samsung using rounded corners in their design (who cares?).   Android is very, very innovative.

  What rubbish.   Android is the Linux of the mobile world. You are not hampered and locked out of features, unlike iOS. Android is far, far more innovative now.

and people wonder why Alexa is so popular?

To be fair, Panasonic have a good tradition of bringing out cameras that defy the traditional Japanese companies.   One of my first cameras was the HVX200, a real step forward, at the time. 100mbps, 4:2:2, 1080/24p and 720/60p.... It was very well spec'd compared to the rest of the market.   The GH2 was a similar push forward... Also, the AF100 was the first to have 1080/60p?

This will be a prosumer camcorder, not a GH type camera.   I think 10bit 4:2:2 is more than possible, Panny seem quite eager to start using their new flavours of codec.

The mass market do not give a shit about DR, how gradable an image is, etc.... I doubt most footage shot by your average joe even gets edited. Canon know this, that's why they will see a facebook "share" feature get more response than a bitrate improvement.   My initial point was.... Don't sit waiting and hoping for the Japanese manufactures to give you your dream camera, at your dream price, to shoot a piece of work. You will have to wait years (by which time, your ideas of a dream camera will probably have changed).

Well, the BMCC is good enough to create your masterpiece, so forget what the Asian companies are doing and buy one of those.

Well, that is my point, if you are skilful and ambitious enough, it will not look like crap.   I'd prefer a GH3, some good lighting and, say, a cheap Movi alternative... Than a RED Epic Dragon with just a tripod.

I really think it is time to stop crying about tech.... Anyone with the ambition and skill could create a masterpiece on a GH3 or a 5dIII (hack or not).   If resolution, bitrate or DR is putting you off making your masterpiece, then there is a very good chance that once you get your 12bit, raw, 14 stop DSLR for $699, you will still be chasing specs rather than making your masterpiece.

I finaly got to check out 4K at a sony Centre..... thouroughly underwhelmed.   Maybe they had messed up the playback or it was upscaled HD,,,, but it was ruined by compression and was about a 20% upgrade on HD from anywhere other than 10" away from the screen.

What makes you think a 41mpx camera will have better DR?   I'd rather have the 4mpx camera of the HTC One, with large,light chomping pixels.   I know Nokia bang on about "super pixels" but it is just marketing speak for down sampling.