Oliver Daniel

So I've just experienced working with images from the C200.... absolutely stunned! So stunned that I'm considering getting one. Who has experience with it? @DBounce? My main reservations... Cfast2 card costs. Storage costs when shooting raw. Anyone got any pointers here?

Personally I'm seeing a huge difference between 10 bit and 8bit. The implementation on certain cameras may need some questioning, however when implemented well it's night and day. The true value of 10 bit is when I'm pushing the files around in grading, 10 bit is usually much smoother, has much less artefacts and has more tonal variety. The image quality difference comes after grading. It's so apparent that I don't use 8bit that much anymore. There's more at play with this example (codecs, sensors), but 10 bit GH5 vs 8bit A6500 is no contest. The GH5 image pulls around nicely, looks smooth and thick, whereas the A6500 image will get easily blotchy, blocky and the colours are sometimes smeary. Correcting white balance on the GH5 is easy, on the A6500 you might as well not bother. Dynamic range is better on the A6500, this is where I wish the GH5 would improve.

It's a paid product and it wouldn't be fair on @Sage to share his product around freely, you can grab it here.

Found this on YouTube, nice to hear the voice of the project. @Sage, I will admittedly say that since using GHa, I’ve ditched every other LUT I’ve bought and stopped using those made by myself. The conversion turns the GH5 into almost a different camera, it’s just simply beautiful work. The EVA1 and GH5S is on the way to cement my Panasonic production trio. Worth trying the conversion on these too, and sharing the results?

Wistia.

Even though I slated it in my review, I did capture some great footage with it. The 4K RAW can look spectacular. Overall though it was too much of a pain. It’s only a device for people with an incredible amount of patience and willingness to put up with inconsistent reliability. Cinelight is trash. I suggest using the PC workflow or Cinelight could potentially send you to the Cuckoo’s Nest!

It wasn’t just me, there’s a whole community of users on the FB group who shared very similar issues. I think most will have moved on by now. Haha yeah, if people couldn’t see you, they’d just assume you’d be on elbows and knees sucking dust from under your car seat. The concept is amazing and pulled me in, but it was a bit like buying a world class chocolate cake but then realising it tastes like salt and vinegar crisps. It would be cool if the actual concept you describe happened, but these things never completely do.

It’s been a while, but my advice would be “don’t bother”, here’s why: 1. There’s no way of skipping the Cinelight app. It’s slow, it crashes, it’s just awful. Don’t think they ever finished it. 2. The transcode or recordings suffer badly from missing and dropped frames. Sone shots are ruined as they stutter like 12fps. 3. The SSD fails all the time, or the Osmo can’t read it. Lots of error messages for no reason. 4. The WiFi link to operate the Osmo fails frequently. 5. You are pretty much forced to use an Inspire 1 battery as the internal one runs out very very quickly. Coupled with the fact your phone battery depletes at a similar rate, you need a power bank too. The ergonomics go from sexy to cumbersome. 6. The stabilisation is much much worse on this device compared to other single handed gimbals. It’s tough to achieve any sort of cinematic movement. 7. When turned off, it’s very loud. Bit like a shit vacuum cleaner. 8. Good point - the RAW image is really nice. Overall, I think what’s happened here is that DJI mashed together this setup and never fully realised it. It’s a painful, annoying and infuriating setup. DJI should have refunded buyers with unlimited DJI products as compensation for the stress. At £1k used - you might as well buy £1k’s worth of beers as that’s more fun and probably better for your health! Or use it to throw at people you don’t like.

This. No camera is ever done justice by click bait hungry Youtube vids (where the priority is to get views rather than providing great content). Never judge by what you see on the Youtubes, and put your curiosity into renting the camera and using it for yourself. While there's people pointing a finger at Blackmagic, the big boys put out the most dismal, boring and often unflattering "launch videos" you're ever bound to see. What happens in the creative process?? - "Hey - we've got a $10k camera to sell here. Let's shoot some trees, houses and people walking around. Throw on that Yoga music you like." I have no doubt the BMPCC4k has a beautiful image - just that the poor battery life scares the crap out of me!

Its at least a flop in the UK, because the FS7 was released and Canon couldn’t beat many of its features. Now, the FS7 is the most rented and requested camera. The C300 II is nowhere to be seen, where before the C300 was always No.1. For sure, the Canon has the prettiest image and DPAF, however with more productions calling for high quality HFR - Sony succeeded massively. The FS7 today still has sexier specs than cameras released now. Even on shoots now with many cameras and shooters (at least the ones I’m on) - I’ve seen all the cameras being used are Sony now, where in 2012 it was all Canon. They’ve simply lost their hold. I love the C200 image, it’s stunning. I’d have bought one if the HFR was better. I could see it working with the X-T3 nicely. But with a lot of my clients asking for high quality HFR, EVA1 it is. Like the topic title, camera choice is important. My advice - stick to a brand and just go for it. Minimise swapping them around and only change if the difference is greatly beneficial.

Thanks for that. Sonetimes I convince myself I have certain needs, and then when it comes to it, I realise i don’t. Theres many reasons why the GH5 has stuck with me, as I feel it makes room for more thought on creative ideas. I’m being asked to do stills more with video these days, and I’ve used the GH5 again for that. Personally, it’s not my flavour. I do have the EVA1 and I can’t give much of a review on that yet, only used it once! But I had an FS5 before and I sold it as the overall “technological” image wasn’t connecting with me. I love Fuji and Canon images, so I’m always curious. In all honestly if I didn’t need great HFR options, I’d have the C200. They really under delivered on the C300 II, and in my opinion, it’s a flop. Again, they lost me as a customer there too. I usually have to leave my emotional desires aside and have to pick the tools that meet the requirements of my briefs, hence the EVA1 having to come in. So I’m going to settle with these Panasonics and forget about all these distracting new releases. I want the quality of my work to step up further, and this will all be down to hard, focused work.

I can see you do order and change up your cameras quite often, and thanks for sharing the information of your experiences. When it comes to a new purchase, we buy to solve a problem. Just out of curiosity, what makes you unhappy about previous cameras you have bought and what are you ideally chasing? I relate to this, I have previously chased the "dream" setup, but come to realise it's an endless cycle where I might aswell stick with what I have until there's something truly and utterly revolutionary, which maybe never ? (Current cameras are the EVA1 and GH5).

Well yeah, my work is entirely different to "event reportage run and gun stuff" - the setups are very controlled where the max ISO used will be about 400! Most of the videos you see in the reel have a small team around them but it's more DIY than you might think. There's me, a Director, a "do it all" handyman, a make up artist and a couple of assistants. We have all learnt to be very resourceful and use anything and everything to get a result. My own process in this can be quite frustrating as there's a lot of stress and overwhelm with prep in a tiny team. I actually enjoy the "run and gun" narratives more, where we've created a story, characters and bombed around with some LED lights and a camera: This one, written, directed, filmed, edited and graded by me with an A6500, 18-105 f4, all in autofocus: And this one here, same deal as before but this time with an A7SII, vintage lenses, a few lights and sometimes a Ronin-M:

None of these recent camera releases has persuaded me to parts ways with the GH5, here’s why: - Ergonomically awesome for video with loads of custom functionality. Feels MADE for video. - 10 bit 4:2:2 codecs are very strong. - MFT sensor, while Speedboosted, is easier to focus than a full frame sensor. Very adaptable. - Great battery life. - IBIS is excellent. - EVF and Flip Out LCD are awesome. - @Sage Alexa conversion makes it a different camera. - Anamorphic modes. - Monitor LUT - super useful! I’ve tried the AF on a gimbal with the GH5 and it works quite well. Not Canon or Sony level, but decent. Theres features in the other cameras that look appealing, but the way I view it, how much will it change my videos? I’ve opted to spend and upgrade my lighting to a full Aputure setup and camera movement. These things directly influence the picture more and invite increased skill and knowledge in composition.

I think the A7SIII will fold out to reveal a built in A7III and A7RIII, shoot with all 4k cameras at once to create a 12k image! Could see that taking off! ? In all honesty, I think the A7SIII will have 4k60p (S35 cropped), 10 bit external, PDAF, windowed HD 240fps, few more MP and one surprise thrown in. I think they could have took the A7S III back into development due to the new Panasonic offering. In conclusion, there’s so many cameras now, that it’s not really that important anymore. GH5 going nowhere. It’s working. All is good.

Yep, Z Cam E2 probably has best sub $2000 120fps. I’d guess the Fuji X-T3 is next on that list. GH5 and all the Sony’s can look good under the right conditions - but can be prone to looking quite poor. Exposure and lighting needs to be absolutely spot on.

Did you guys know the upcoming RED Hydrogen camera module is the best camera in the world? Throw away your other cameras! P.s I’ve got one spare, but I’ll only take payment through Western Union. Love from the 63 year old version of me.

Yeah, the GH5 is a beast. Used it alongside the EVA1 and it’s no slouch! EVA1 has smoother highlights, nicer noise and motion cadence - not that most other people would notice. Have you tried @Sage‘s Alexa conversion yet? It’s absolutely nuts!! It makes the GH5 into a different camera (better!).

A cinematographer I know in Manchester has just received his today. I have a sneaky feeling he’s making a Pocket 4k film for BMD though.

Beautiful colours in EOS R video, shame that the one above shows mostly over exposed footage.

Make something! I get lazy sometimes, and then mourn over the piece of s**t I’ve just created. I’ll admit right now I’m lacking in creative spark. Thank you. What would you like to know?

Thank you Jon! It's hard to see it for myself but i'll have to believe you. ?

Thank you! I've not stopped doing music videos, it will just be less of. Still very much in demand. Like I said in previous posts, the general Youtube thing i would do if I can find a purpose behind it. Don't want to be a "me too" kinda guy, what would be the point? Thank you, all these comments are pretty flattering. Hoping to go a step further this year - as long a I don't burn myself out like I have many times before!

This isn't much effort on my part, but the approach to these shots isn't entirely technical and more of a "paintbrush" sort of thing. Sure, I use exposure guides to refine the lighting but I'm not always sat in front of scopes like some people are. I more or less screw about with light placement, colour contrast, shaping of the light and eyeball 95% of the way through. I do have some stuff in the early steps - although the target audience is more for branding and marketing teams in our target niche areas. One of the modules is videography with a smartphone, with some stuff on lighting (using Aputure AL-MX's). For the general audience - I need a worthwhile reason, the passion and time to do some Youtube stuff. We should be really... lighting is make makes a camera shine! I see people complaining on Vimeo that the A7SII is dull and soulless, bjt that's because there's so many "high ISO" videos with no lighting whatsoever. Thank you! GH3 shots, from top my head.... kid in the yellow hat, 2 sunglasses kids in front of vintage car, gang running through tunnel. Sorry not got time to screenshot. Yes, did do an RX10II Xmas video. Wasn't a fan of the camera though. Sold it. Slog settings.... I'll share but don't have the camera to hand right now. Thank you! Yeah - energy, impact and slo-mo is a big feature we try and push. Show me your stuff? Never say never.

Thank you. I've been asked quite often to do a Youtuber thing, but not really sure what I could do much differently in this area as it's VERY overcrowded. I DO have a set of content on the way for the branded video side though, but you guys won't be the target market for that. When I plan to do content for Youtube and such, I have to measure it's overall worth, so at this moment in time, I have to focus on the are of growth. This doesn't rule out your request though, I just need a worthwhile reason to do it. Cheers Andrew - as i've said in other comments my work in this particular area will decrease, however it means when I do put my time to music video stuff, I can give it my creative all rather than spreading it thinly across multiple projects. It's hard to keep fresh. Thank you!