stefanocps

Hello, while i was searching for a XT4 to possibly replae my XT3 i came across some description of ezcam. Of course i knew it before, but i did not consider because its too basic setup, meaning that i would need a monitor at least and i don't know what else. Going deeper in to some articles i am realizang that it must be a very good quality camera. I  have seen a sample video and it seems amazing. I am getting really interested at it, but i would like to have opinion from real users, first of all about the minimum setup needed. For my budget i think i would not go beyong the M4. Wait for your opinion, i was really excited after watching a video

I have a Zcam E2-M4 as well.
There is a great 3 part review by Adam Wilt here:
https://www.provideocoalition.com/review-z-cam-e2-m4-mft-cine-camera-part-1/
Things that I love about the E2-M4 are:
1. Sony sensor. Z-Cam color science.
Great low light. Great color rendition. Great slow motion at 4k120p, no line skipping. Good dynamic ranging with using Zlog or Flat profile. 2. 10-bit color to Pro-Res, (with the latest firmware) at all frame rates.
3. High resolution, decently low lag wireless HDMI to their iPhone app for monitoring and control.
4. It's a perfectly balanced cube. Better for mounting on a gimbal, and the wireless monitoring/control helps with the gimbal as well. Cinema camera form factor. No fans so it is completely silent.
5. Stereo mic level audio recording with phantom power via 5-pin XLR or 2 x XLR 3-pin to 5-pi n lemo adapter cable.
6. It can take a large battery mounted on the back.

I would not say that is true. On Blackmagic you have a big touchscreen and lots of buttons and dial within finger reach. On Z Cam you will do more menu hunting and moving hands around to reach buttons, plus the rigging and wiring for a monitor makes it more awkward. For handheld a handle like the Rvlvr Clutch is useful with its custom dials.

I will disagree with MRSMW 😁 a bit  , I think x-t3 makes much financial sense when in essence you are buying the same camera as the X-T3. If you use either of the models for video ,power junkie will be your friend and I would not rate the X-T4 ibis that much. But horses for courses etc..

With the latest firmware autofocus is almost the same  if not the same between the X-T3 or X-T4. You have to dial in the focusing settings withe the glass you have which is a bit of a black art with fuji.
In the long run nothing that matters is that different between the two cameras. They have the same cpu and the X-t4 has a slightly different variant of the same sensor of the X-T3 The x-t4 ibis is still not that good I think.

I've had a Rode Wireless Go that I sold cause I needed 2 emitters for 2 people interview. So i bought the G1 feom Synco and I was not that satisfied regarding the sound quality. As I mentioned there was some micro cuts that ruined the interviews and the audio quality was not that good compared to Rode. 
But on the other hand the newer synco models (Wmic TS) are of really good audio quality from the interviews I shot so far. I'd say on par with the Rode or even better. 

These two pieces of software can do similar things but they really are quite different. Studio Artist is really just focussed on 2D effects like those seen in the video above, and these effects are some of the most interesting "natural looking" motion effects I have come across using affordable and quite flexible software.  
AE (aftereffects) has a lot more to offer alongside producing these type of effects, which makes the two difficult to compare. You are correct the range of things AE can do makes it quite complex, but that also means it can be deep and get you to places that other people can't recreate very easily if you are wanting to produce work that communicates using your own "voice".
The original video you posted seems to have been made using a range of analogue and digital techniques, and the techniques used in the video are used alongside the imagery to help to communicate the artist's / filmmaker's message. I don't know your intentions with the films you want to produce. But would recommend you test out different ways of communicating the things you want to say, this will show you the direction of the tools you will need.
The main reason for recommending Studio Artist was that it has a free demo which allows you to explore and see if it's useful before investing, you want to find tools that provide the flexibility to help you to tell your message. AE should also have a demo period although I think Adobe don't give you much time to see if it fits the needs of an experimental animator.
I would also recommend doing some searches for "experimental" work on Vimeo / Ubuweb to find a range of work and artists you like, as these will help you find your own voice by giving you lots of techniques to try out 🙂
 
 

I can see two fairly easy ways to get the effect on the humans:
-Make the people a mask by having them lit in front of a black background. Then combine the two source files in a similar way you would do to fake a double exposure shot
-Have them dress in all white in front of a background and have a projector project on them. I believe this technique is called something like "projector mapping". This is probably not done here as it's hard to avoid shadows, but a fun technique anyway.

After Effects can be fun to explore once you understand the workflow, and the workflow is covered in a lot of Youtube videos so don't be too worried about a steep learning curve.
 
Also take a look at Synthetik Studio Artist they have a demo that would allow some exploration, it's an endless demo that uses a watermark so at least you could check out if it's useful for you, good luck. 

If size and cost aren't limiting factors, I'd go steadicam vest+arm & gimbal.
Balancing a gimbal is easier than a steadicam. Steadicam arm+vest eliminate some of the fatigue and helps smooth out z-axis bounce.
😄 you could even be as cool as this guy 👇🏽... slapping on a monitor, with no wires or batteries... hauling 15lbs of gear to stabilize a heavy ass sony A6XXX. lmfao wtf is even going on in this pic?! 🤣
 

I use a nato rail to connect to the camera cage then the handle's coldshoe to connect the monitor and wireless lav equipment. My particular top handle has two cold shoes.
 
https://www.amazon.com/SMALLRIG-Camera-Anti-Off-Designed-Spanner/dp/B07X1QKB1Z/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=smallrig+top+handle+wooden&qid=1612396679&sr=8-1

sorry i don t understand the meaning of this sentences "Ive always found cages get in the way a bit unless you need to build things onto the camera!"...(i am not english mother tongue..) can you explain different? thank you

I know the exact vibe you mean.
It's rampant in highly sentimental low to medium budget pieces with docu- type (but still an artistic piece) video portraits of human subjects. I can already see the examples I recall in my head, a person standing there (not speaking) in their house or other environment of theirs, with their "sleeves rolled up", the camera gently swaying. All very "candid" and ~authentic~. There's a strange sense of 'canned vulnerability' about it at this point, but I suppose there's a reason for everything, its only guilty of being a bit overused really.
Often shot at 60fps and conformed to 24/25p for a subtle slowmo look but not full blown overcooked slowmo.
Wouldn't discount certain (other) types of contrived camera sway being added in post, btw. Seen plenty of examples where it was obvious

This.
My own 'aesthetic' choice is for the camera to remain static at all times. I do not want it to move as much as 1mm.
My clients probably wouldn't be, but I am hyper-aware of camera movement in anything I watch.
If it's following a character, OK, that's 'natural' as are several other techniques, but for myself, I just want the scene to tell the story. If that makes sense.

Yes, I think it is just about aesthetic. Most viewers will probably not consciously notice the amount of camera shake / movement but will subconsciously notice it. 
If you are interested in different cinematography styles I suggest you go to youtube and look for the https://www.youtube.com/c/InDepthCine/videos In Depth Cine channel and watch the Cinematography Style videos on there.

it was just about aesthetic the main reason of my post. Being graduate at cinema studies ( in my univesity the sutdies are all about thery..not practices)  i am interested , a part of all the techniques parts, also about all the question regarding language, ahestetic and so on. My main think about this kind of shooting i am talking about here is that most of the time, it does not really look like motivated. To me i seems more a kind of habit, a fashion style of thelast years that should give some more "live" feel to the action. Sometimes this shake is more noticeable than other..looks like a kind of "fear" of a steady shot on a tripod

Any camera movement should be a deliberate artistic choice, designed to support the narrative and aesthetic of the film.
I'm far from an expert, but there are lots of articles around if you google 'camera movement'.  There is also the element of motivated vs unmotivated camera movement that you can read about as well.
In terms of camera shake, it the aesthetic of it is that it's a bit more 'real' because that's how amateurs take video of real life, so it can give a more authentic feel to a shot.  It can also make things more exciting, which is why they use camera shake in action sequences.  Topics like this are so deep that you can never learn everything about it, even if you studied it for the rest of your life.  
However, these are the skills that will drastically improve your film-making.  Camera movement, composition, lighting, editing, dialogue, sound design, etc etc etc.....   the beauty of film-making is that you can learn a little and get a big improvement in your work, you can learn more and get even better, but you can study it for the rest of your life and never run out of things to discover and there is no limit to the degree that you can improve your work.

Yeah just small things like choosing the right DOF for the type of shot you are doing and the feel you want. 

I'd say locations may be the most important thing. Some locations you hardly have to do anything to, they just look good. Same with actors too honestly. Some actors have a Hollywood look and of course having actors who can deliver lines professionally is huge. 

No. Not easy to manually focus with two side handles.

Hello i own a fuji xt3 and thinking tobuy a cage. What i don't like is the idea that if in a couple of year i 'll change camera i'll should change all the rig. For what you know there are cage/rig that support generic mirrorless cameras?
thanks

My favorite saying is chase the tech not the tech (chase the technique not the technology). It takes a lot for me to buy something new. I have drawers full of ideas that seemed great at the time and either it did not perform like it was advertised or it just wasn't as useful as it seemed once I owned it. Now it takes me weeks just to buy simple things like brackets.

My advice is this:
return the GoPro and get your money back put that money into a shoe-box in your cupboard and label it "for fixing film-making problems only" go shoot a bunch of stuff with your XT3 whenever you encounter a problem with a real project you're doing, ask yourself the following questions:
a) can I avoid this problem by doing more prep work?  If so, do that.  If not,
b) can I avoid this problem by improving my knowledge and skills? If so, try and find information for free online.  If you can't find it for free online then take some of your film fund and buy some training or reference materials.  If it's not about skills,
c) can I avoid this problem by buying new equipment?  if so, so that.

GoPro footage always look like GoPro footage unless you hire the company that does the post work on their promo videos. It great for action cam stuff, and the 7/8 have great stabilization. I shoot most of my stuff from a video monopod or a gimbal, the QR plate makes swapping a snap and I mostly use one lens so I'm not constantly rebalancing. But after a little practice its really quick to rebalance - at least it is with the Weebill. But I wouldn't use GoPro footage as a substitute for an XT3 unless it involved water or POV inside a car - just a situtaion where a larger camera that's not waterproof is impractical. Either way, they're very different, mostly because of the GoPro IQ - I always have one in the bag, but I find I rarely use it when there are better alternatives. YMMV.
Chris

it is

Depending on model E5-26xx or E5-24xx. Difference being socket and number of PCIe lanes. I have been looking a bit at E5-2650 v2 that should be decently compared against 2600 but with 8 cores and you can have two of them.
E5-2620 might be too slow with E3-2630 minimum entry depending on price. It's like E5-2650 but with 6 cores instead of 8. v2 have higher clock speed.
It is easy to find the subpar garbage CPU tho, like E5-2407 or E5-2609. Those two are common entry level CPU but ridiculously slow to the point where I have no idea why they where every made. Even the "modern" generation of the same CPU is worse than the old stuff.