Oliver Daniel

I've not had the experience with it yet, but it seems like a really innovative device. I had the previous one and didn't use it much as it was just a bit too fiddly, and noisy. 40-150mm, that's a bloody good range. Just depends how it works with the IBIS.

Yep, seems you're like me. You need a bit of both. 70-200 Canon is just too large for me, hence why I'd consider the 35-100mm. What really is the beef with the V2 35-100mm for video? What makes it so much worse than the V1? I can't believe you found out. All my secrets exposed, literally.

Hello Everyone. I'm looking into getting a GH5 kit for all purpose reasons. Something very liberating to use yet still powerful enough to mess with the overall look. I prefer small and powerful. Would cover 4k 10 bit, slow motion, audio capture, the whole works. I had a GH3 for 3 years. I never had a GH4. Here's what I have and use all the time: Sigma ART EF lenses (mostly - lots of vintage). Zhiyun Crane. Edelkrone Motion Kit. What I'm not sure about: The audio accessory thingy. Battery grip - not sure if necessary. Speedbooster Ultra vs XL. The 12-35mm and 35-100mm lenses - any good with the IBIS? Optically? (I do always own a few native lenses as well as adapting). I'll be keeping my A6500 as it's really useful tool and is capable of absolutely fantastic images. The casualty will be my FS5 and Shogun Inferno. Thanks.

Yes.

Yep, you have to pay an expensive fee for it, even though the little A6500 has it. Unless you needed to shoot long sequences at 120 frames at a low bitrate (like a dance routine) - at that price- this update is a waste of money.

Cool. I've got plenty more of my stuff online, on my website and Vimeo. Lots of them small cams. I like some of the Fuji and Kodak LITS out there but some of them are very aggressive / too strong. I like some of James Millers DELUTS - some beautiful colours there. However I think a lot of them are aggressive as f**k!! Many are far too strong, but the good ones make up for it. Omeneo Primers are decent for Sony cams - they are subtle but correct the colours nicely. What I find with most premium LUTs is that the look is far too extreme, unnatural and sends you footage into some kind of wishy washy rainbow sick. I also find Filmconvert overrated, although I've been pleased with some results here and there. Ive made a bunch of my own too but need to tweak the crap out of them and test them properly. I've seen this knocking around- will give them a go!

Hello everyone. LUTS. We all know them. We've bought them. We've made them. I like LUTS. They speed up the color process yet I still put ample time into further corrections and grading before and after application. I'm interested to hear what issues you have with LUTS available today (free and premium)? What's missing? What LUTS you feel don't work? Bad examples? Good examples? LOG or Rec.709 or both? Camera matching? Thanks.

I do like the FS5 and what it does. At the moment, it's playing 2nd fiddle to the A6500, as I'm using that on a Zhiyun Crane. As I'm now focusing a lot on camera movement, and with the fact I'm not going to be using the FS5 on a gimbal, I might have to concede that it's no longer the right tool for the job.

Thanks for the tips - but we're all different, shooting different things in different scenarios for different purposes and a different audience. On this most recent shoot, the A6500 + Zhiyun Crane was a huge, huge asset. The fact that you can now use tools like this instead of rigged up, expensive stuff and get professional level results (with operator skill) can't be underestimated.

My latest (unfinished) video is like 80% A6500 and 20% the FS5. This is purely down to camera movement, there's a lot of it. Doing much more of this. FS5 was used for more static angles and a few 200fps shots. An £8.5k camera package playing 2nd fiddle to a £1.5k camera with terrible battery life and rolling shutter. Madness?

I don't actually shoot S-LOG all the time. In a situation where 14 possible stops would spread the data too thinly (low light), I'd opt for a hyper gamma mode, where highlight roll off has a bit more control yet the image retains a lot more info into less stops. For the TV scenario, well, it really spends on what you're shooting, the lighting design, the style - on what camera and setting I'd choose. Is there are big 5k Arri coming through the window, and 150w Dedolights providing a kick for the actors face? Or is everything lit with Kino 4-banks at high key? Are there lots of colour variants, or is it just consistent tungsten? All these choices determine what the best profile to use for the project. I've had a lot of my music work on TV, however I've only shot primarily for TV once. They wanted SLOG-2 4K ProRes 422, yet would also accept SLOG-2 4K from the A7SII and A6500 as B/C cams! (This was BBC3). The variants in location was staggering, but they just wanted a consistent, grounded film look. Whilst I do pay attention to the technical side, the look is most important. SLOG gets that look for me, so despite its shortcomings in colour, it gets the look I want much easier than standard Rec709 profiles.

Thanks for the love. Im not saying everyone should shoot S-LOG. My opinion is that S-LOG, under a skilled hand, will more than likely give more pleasing results - with the majority of users on here are going for the "filmic, organic" look. Forgive me, I'm not that interested in the scientific depth of how it works. I just learn to expose it and grade it like a painter would choose their paints. You're right though, you do lose colour information. Put any A7 camera on PP off and bang! Colour explosion. BUT... the dynamic range is very poor. I feel what you lose in colour, is worth the benefit for that LOG range. It's not enough of a loss in my eyes to dismiss S-LOG.

Why are you selling the Epic-W? Is the GH5 experience that significant?

I like the philosophy. I do think Sony do push much harder than Canon and bring some really innovative stuff to the table - like the FS5's elec-ND, the fact all their cameras have decent HFR, S-log and the fact their mirrorless range is seriously pushing it so quickly. I would expect the FS5 II to have a very similar body, with a better electric-ND, 4K 60p and something else like the A9 autofocus tech (to challenge Canon on their unique feature). Colour is also improving, so I think we will see an update to their ageing picture profile set. They do hold back some stuff, such as the 4K 8bit on the FS5. Nowhere near what Canon does. The C200 is almost ideal, so very close. They need that middle codec in there. Badly. Onto Panasonic - you gotta love these guys. They just put in everything, it's almost ridiculous. Awesome. Overall, Sony really have something going and are due a next round of major releases. It might be worth waiting. They greatly improve with every release. Loads of smaller cameras here. Choosing now, I don't think you can go wrong with the GH5. It will always be an asset. Whether I'd favour that ahead of the FS5 is unconcluded.

So far.... V-Log L is very nice. Bit harder than Slog2 to use, but that might be because I'm used to Sony's version. The Cine-D stuff seems robust, however I do prefer V-Log L as the dynamic range is too low for my tastes in Cine-D (it was a very bright, sunny day). That's only early impressions as I believe the Cine-D profile wasn't tweaked in camera. Can't give a solid answer on my opinion yet as so little footage to judge from.

S-LOG is totally worth it, if you now how to use and treat it. It's not only the extended dynamic range, its the impact it has on highlight rolloff which makes the transitions from shadows to mids to highlights very smooth. The difference is night and day. If you know what to do, using S-LOG will give you a far superior look to standard profiles. I personally modify SLOG 2 for better colour and I love it.

There's only one issue I have with the Sony workflow. It's Sony's implementation of white balance. It's not very good. You will balance it as correctly as you can, but when you make white "white", the image will be too blue, too magenta or too green depending on the conditions. There's many, many users trying Slog2 and Cine4 modes - yet what they are not doing is correcting the RGB balance in post to get nice colour. This is why we're seeing zombie Simpson-skin sickly images on Vimeo content. A typical colour workflow I go through on pretty much every edit for Sony footage is to correct white balance, balance RGB, decrease yellow / green globally, increase red saturation, move the red hue away from yellow so red is definitely red. Then apply a primer to increase the overall colour accuracy further. Then LUT away or whatever style. I find that the A6500 is very pleasant to work with - the colour is the best from this camera out of the entire range. No idea why. The FS5 is definitely trickier. Yep, tried it briefly and loved it. I'm actually editing some 4k 10 bit GH% files alongside the FS5 and A6500 footage now Borrowing the GH5 for a shoot next week

Haha, I've had a lot to do today. Such as posting rather pointless forum posts.

I've received exclusive info from a trusted source to exactly what this new gizmo does: 1. VR, Holographic, 3D and some other cool sounding stuff that actually does sound cool but we have to use our imagination into exactly how it will work. 2. New Module - RED Car Control. Simply control your actual car in a VR Google map. Pretend it has guns to shoot other cars in your way. (Bluetooth and Cruise Control vehicles only). 3. New Module - RED Nightmare Grenade. Record and play your worst nightmares in REDs r3d codec at up to 8k 120fps and share your experience online in VR. 4. New Module - RED Weapon Tank. Convert your RED Weapon into a tank so you can film it blow up stuff at 1000fps. 5. New Module - RED Blast Radius. Use your Hydrogen radar module to identify Google, Apple and Samsung phones around you. Detonate them with a single touch. 6. New Module - RED Interrogator. Use your phone's A.I assistant (like Siri but angry and military like) to question other peoples camera choices as they are inferior to RED. 7. Camera Expansion - RED MAX. Combine your phone with RED's new RED MAX projector that can predict the future of all other camera brand resolutions and frame rates. Comes with canned laughter. (the projector comes at up to IMAX size and can also be combined with helicopter propellors for RED SKY IMAX. 8. Camera Expansion - RED Chain Bomb. You can "daisy chain" all RED Hydrogen phones together by Bluetooth or Wi-Fi to create a holographic RED logo in the sky which explodes into red fireworks. Doing this increases your RED Weapons ISO temporarily to ISO 3000,400,700,201. 33. It's so sensitive that you can actually film through objects. 9. Firmware Update - RED Handed. This is sort of like Apple's "Find Your iPhone" app, but this actually detects if someone has stolen the phone and activates an electric shock so the robber drops your phone. It then has wings that come out the sides and flies back to you. 10. Firmware Update - Code RED. Write your own code and add features to your RED Weapon camera, such as a Disney film app or even better, a library of War genre films to watch while you judge exposure on your shoot. The trusted source also said the price for the phone is just for the actual shell of the phone, and you will have to buy all the separate components and modules to make it work. Each module is rumoured to be priced around $47,500 and there will be 437 to choose from by 2019. Text messaging will be added as firmware update in 2020 and it will cost a cut-price of $23,000. Ok, ok....it's Friday, I've finished for the day and I fancied have a mess around. But of course, this is all true!

Yep, I am covered to some degree. The basis of the "debate" is to see if it would be more creatively beneficial for me to use the monster featured GH5 as an A-cam... and invest the cash into lenses and camera movement. The A6500 isn't reliable enough to use on this basis - battery life is poor, it occasionally overheats, rolling shutter is awful and yesterday it crashed on me. That's not to say it's a huge asset for it's intended role. 4k and autofocus is amazing. I'm especially curious about Sony's new upcoming A7 cameras......

I actually had a brief go of my friends GH5 with my Sigma glass using the IBIS. Although I'm used to it with the Sony cameras, the Panasonic version is different. It's actually much smoother, whereas the Sony IBIS is more sensitive to robotic jolts in movement. Yep, the client felt very comfortable with the camera and love the fact they could see the footage with a LUT applied via the Shogun Inferno. On professional basis, you can't ignore the value that this brings to a set. Making the client happy is always No.1 - even if you disagree with them. I think 98% of video shooters suffer from GAS, as do musicians and other gadget geeks..... The FS5 was a great asset on this particular shoot and I did enjoy using it. The only thing is that my shoots are getting much increased camera movement, and this is where the FS5 gets put down in favour of the A6500 or A7S II. You could argue that i could put the FS5 on a quick release and fly it on a Ronin-M - however I've actually done that and I would come away from the shoot in absolute agony form operating. I don't enjoy being in agony, hence why i got the A6500 and Zhiyun Crane for gimbal work. Much easier and enjoyable.

Completed a shoot today with the FS5, Inferno and A6500. The client loved the FS5 - the slo-no and the HDR screen. I could tell it's presence made them feel confident. I shot most of it on the A6500 though on the Zhiyun Crane. The autofocus really is invaluable. I hope the A7SIII gets this level of AF performance. Convinced the GH5 BTS shooter to shoot some 4K 10 bit b-roll for me. So.... very much undecided on this camera change until I actually borrow the GH5 for a full shoot. The FS5 and A6500 combo blitzed it though today, can't ignore that.

Well that's the thing, I've tried the RAW on the FS5 and the data is far too much for me to handle. It's something I would hardly ever use to be honest. I always use RAW to ProRes - and even then, the internal HD holds its ground against the 4K PoRes HQ. The slo-mo is great though. That's the defining feature.

Yep, for those who haven't used the camera they only have current online footage to go from, and from what I've seen so far, 97% of it is of a very low standard (in all due respect) - which is expected really as many beginners will be trying it out. How is the HFR up to 180fps? This is a very important feature for me and the only reason I use Sony instead of other brands. The A6500 100fps is nice when sharpened, much better than the A7SII's cropped version. I know it won't beat the 4k 100fps from the Inferno, but curious to see how good it is. I can't trust "tests" we see on YT and Vimeo, hence my comment above.

Getting back on topic.... What exact camera setup does everyone find the most creatively liberating then, and why?