fuzzynormal

Don't worry about it. Someone is just misconstruing the adverse lighting/exposure situation for actual camera performance. This is the YouTube world we live in. A beautifully lit scene on a crappy 10 Stop camera can look better than an Alexa in a bad lighting situation... but try explaining why to a beginning enthusiast is always gonna be a challenge.

Welcome to Premiere rendering.

Nothing wrong with shooting an Alexa, but I do think that anyone in film production that truly believes technical superiority offers the best path to creative achievements has some goofy priorities. I get why aspiring filmmaker folks want to do their best technically, but to prioritize it above the artistic craft is nuts. It's there to support the thing you're trying to accomplish, not the thing itself. There's no real way forward in being a filmmaker with that attitude.

Well, it took them awhile, but they seemed to have caught on okay in the 19th century. Got a little crazy in the middle of the 20th, but they weren't alone.

Well, you can't get that DR from the LUMIX cams, let's be fair. Still, while I wouldn't turn down shooting certain stuff on that equipment, I can also say, after just editing a project that integrated my GX85 footage with RED M-X sensor footage, my GX85 footage was just better. Of course, I just shot better images than the guy on the RED camera ;-) I'd much rather carry a GX85 into the type of doc shoots I do than a RED. The newer RED cams are nice, but for what purpose? You need to know what suits your needs on a shoot. If you know what you're doing, and the demands for IQ are modest, the 8-bit hybrids can really get you where you need to go image-wise. That's my doc bias though... All that said, I'd gladly give an Alexa mini a whirl.

I would consider an Alexa mini. A 50k rig that I could rent locally? Pretty much what we did with beta cam back in the day. Its not a purchase. It's an "investment." ;-)

Perhaps renting an Alexa. I have a colleague that can cut me a break. It's all sort of up in the air and depends on budget. Would be nice to play with pro gear and not make as many compromises, no question.

I'm interested in this camera as well. I'm certainly looking at alternatives these days. Since my wife is on Fuji, I might end up there too. Really kind of depends on the next project. There's a chance I could go upscale and get a "real" video camera even though I love doing things on hybrids.

My old FD doesn't have as much contrast as native lenses. It renders colors different, CA is more pronounced wide open. Things like that. Also, just the operation of the thing creates a different quality. Pulling focus, for example.

Vintage lenses are enjoyable on modern cameras. Really takes the edge off if you're going for a less clinical image. I've just shot a series wherein the a-cam was usually an old FD 55mm 1.2 on a cheap Chinese speedbooster. It can be a flawed image when you really look at it closely, but that's fine when it's what one wants. It's "character." I can typically rationalize imaging stuff like that. And FD and Nikkor lenses on a dumb adapter look awesome regardless. (as long as not used wide open) I've also dabbled in Pentax stuff, which has been a lot of fun. Just depends on what one's going for, I suppose.

Imaging these days is awesome. I think I might go make another film with this stuff or something.

Hmmm. The phrase "paid work" and "auto-focus" paired together. No thanks.

Pffffst. I'm not going to laugh at that at all. Not enough DR on that footage. And the skin tones? [eyeroll]

Agreed. My next build will be a Hackintosh PC with all the same guts as a MacPro, just 2/3rds cheaper. Not the highest end for performance, but will allow me easy back and forth between Windows and OSX. And, yeah, my wife is interested in FCPX, so we'll give that a shot. As for ProRes, there's a pro option for spitting out ProRes from one's NLE, but it's expensive. As an alternative, I've been able to use Footage Studio for one of my clients that wants ProRes. Otherwise, it's well encoded h.264 for most delivery on the jobs I do. Indeed. I have. Love the speed, don't like Premiere on WIndows too much, but it's not a deal breaker.

I've been using Premiere (again after a stretch away from it) for half a year now non-stop. This time on the PC and as well as on a Mac. When I edit with premiere on my 8 year old Mac, the premiere GUI works better than it does on Windows. Now, when you're cutting footage more than 40 hours a week, having a GUI that's refined is necessary. Using Windows just feels "shabby." Sometimes I click something and it doesn't work, other times it does. I try to move things with the mouse and it goes all "scribbly." Annoying stuff. Rendering is great on the PC though! Ultimately, I think I might just make a Hackintosh using the same hardware/chips found in the Macs. Might be a happy medium.

I don't hear it too much honestly, but I've been filming in city environments, so lot's of ambient tone. Anyway, it's not like you'd use the camera audio for much anyway. Any hand shuffling on the body translates into noise "crackles" on the mic. Plus, the mic fidelity sucks.

there are plenty of solutions for video production these days. We're not left wanting for solutions. It really is an embarrassment of riches.

Anyone see "Moonlight" yet? I met Barry Jenkins the director once a long time ago and he was pretty chill, oozing with insight and creativity. My cousin did the film school thing with him at FSU. And I liked "The Nice Guys" for all it's endearing shabbiness.

I'm gas'ed out for the moment. Truth is, I'm going to be selling off most of my cameras and lenses. Around March I'll look closely at the Oly offering, but right now I'm not eager to pick anything up. I'm not really ever that eager to buy brand new cameras... (somehow I manage to do so though)

It's a safe argument to say that the wider FUJI primes are not necessarily the better value, but if you really want the faster glass it's worthwhile. My wife has a 35mm f1.4. I think it looks more than sharp enough for video interview work, which is primarily why we got it. And I also tend to like the 35mm FOV for interview shots. I doubt we'd get the FUJI fast primes if a certain type of still photography was our main goal, but stills are not our priority.

I like the extra shallow dof with wide open lenses for interview shots, but yeah, if you're not a shooter that wants that particular thing, using the f2 lenses is a good bet.

Well, I guess I can literally say that Olympus has been so far up my ass, that they left an impression. I do remember laying in the colonoscopy room and thinking, "hmmm, I wonder what resolution that camera has? Hopefully the DR is good." BTW, John, in all seriousness, I'm trying to get an Olympus rep her in SoCal to visit a film festival I'm part of and do a demo of the EM5II and EM1MII during the event in January. If you got any idea who I can contact, much appreciated.

Gear is so cheap you're gonna have the majority of users making technical mistakes. They're hobbyist, not pros.

You're not wrong about Oly. And I shoot Fuji as well, so all these things are part of the mixed bag. The thing is, when we're talking price, when we're looking at cameras within similar classes, the difference is typically a few hundred bucks. At a certain point, determining my camera purchase can turn into a "penny wise and pound foolish," decision. A few hundred, or even a grand, is a small price to pay to own and use a camera that I'm comfortable with and does the things I need it to do. You know how it is. You balance liabilities of the gear with the needs of your work and one's own biases. For instance, I just did 6 30-min documentaries in 6 months. I did it with the GX85 and EM5II. I'm not lying when I say that I'm glad I did the job on these consumer cameras rather than something like an Arri. One would look INCREDIBLY better than the other, and I would love to use that camera for many many many things, but I wouldn't have been able to do half the work load (nor the radically informal work that yielded a lot of good results) without the flexibility of these goofy, small, hybrid, IBIS, 8-bit, cams. I know it's hard to fathom among a forum like this, but having the best IQ is not always a priority. My favorite industry idioms comes from the National Geographic guys. It's simply, "f8 and be there." And I think you can understand the sentiment of that saying. That's why I can't get caught up to much in the IQ debate. My factors for my particular work rely on a lot more than just IQ. You'll have other needs. Someone else will have other requirements as well. For instance, I'm doing a cinematic doc/narrative in 2017, and I plan on using a Sony F5 and 100% static shots, so it's always always an "it depends" sort of answer with tools one decides to use for a project.

Eh, many just want affirmation that they're correct in their decisions. We're all guilty of it. Being able to step away from that insecurity is part of what separates the the accomplished from the enthusiast.