Cinegain

Ah, yeah, true. I can see that not working out so great for video/MF. Thanks for the heads up. Curious to see what you'll end up with/people can suggest then.

DX or FX? Now that I've picked up the D5300, I started looking at what uncle Ken has to say. http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/35mm-f18.htm Ken loves the 35mm f/1.8, saying 'This could be the only lens you ever need for a DX camera'. And when he goes on about he 18-300mm... 'This Nikon 18-300mm is the new freedom lens. It does everything you'd ever need, from family to landscapes to portraits to sports to African safaris. This 18-300mm does it all. The only thing it doesn't do is have high optical speed for use in the dark without flash; for that one thing I love my inexpensive and excellent 35/1.8 DX.' He makes it sound worthwhile for sure. I might need to look into those.

Well... if someone is [ PRO ] on Vimeo, you'd atleast expect to see some boasting about an ARRI being used there somewhere. Could've been somekind of sarcasm of course as well. Still not sure what to make of this whole thread.

I think zenpmd is quoting from this article, not showing off his work... > http://www.infinitylist.com/interviews/interview-with-jaime-keating-from-forge-motion-pictures/ Beautifully shot and put together nontheless. Great watch. zenpmd seems eager to start discussions like 'What's the answer to life, the universe and everything' I've noticed. lol Like his... 'What is the point of 4k?' or 'Best gh4 4k footage on the net'. As if there's really a solid one true answer to be gained from that. We all know there's not. Again here... leaving us to guess and discuss what's the point of something. 'What is the meaning of your topic?' feels like it be a better question to ask. That the "cheap" cameras don't matter as much, so we can keep discussing resolution, dynamic range etc of cameras like the GH4, 5DmkIII, A7S, NX1, 1D C etc, but what creates the look is the lens, which is THE thing to put your money on, not so much the camera bodies? Yes. Sure, to some extent: absolutely. Or are you actually just really not seeing a point in using Zeiss ZF primes? What are you philosophizing about?

I've seen the thread you started, be careful with eBay lenses. 'NO EFFECT ON THE SHOOT SO SLIGHT' sounds nice and all, but personally I would never accept a lens with known fungus inside of it. This can spread through the lens, might even transfer to other glass. Stay away is what I would say. I only accept some very light cosmetic damages, such as a scratch on a housing and fainting paint or something and you'll have trouble finding anything vintage that hasn't got a few specs of dust inside. But other than that, take care that it looks good, has no dents (especially not on the lens thread) or is otherwise impaired. The glass should be crystal clear, without scratches, funges, haze or cleaning marks (again, there's bound to be a few specs of dust, that's okay). Focus (and zoom) should turn smoothly. Mind with rubber rings, that these are still neat. Usually a light color shift from black and some whobbling indicates it might needs to be exhanged. Make sure the seller claims everything is working fine. No stuck apertures or anything. Also the aperture shouldn't be swimming in oil. These are the main things I care about when buying a 2nd hand/vintage/legacy lens. Feel free to ask a seller about something if you're unsure and always read the description very carefully. Maybe you're bidding on a lens with known defects, that's being sold for parts or repair. Carefully read what state a lens is in to avoid surprises. If you do this and pay attention to the upload pictures of the lens your bidding on, you should be fine. I've done my fair share of buying 2nd hand lenses and so far I've really been blessed. Most of the time the lenses look as good as new. I also check what's included. If it's being sold with original packaging, accessories & lens caps and is being shown used with an UV filter, this usually means that the owner really took great care of it. Only once I had one with a stuck aperture (partial refund) and one time there was some hazing going on, which wasn't advertised or noticeable from the pictures. But overall, I made some really really good calls. Carl Zeiss CP2 primes sure are nice, but I'm not sure if with cinema lenses you will be reaching the limits of the GH2 (in the sense that there's more potential to the lenses than is being captured). I think cinema primes make more sense on a little bit higher end cameras. It's kinda like putting a turbo charged V12 inside of a Volkswagen Golf. I mean, you can do it, but I'm not sure if it's worth it. Just my two cents. I guess the vintage Planar's should be pretty awesome though, but I know too little about them. Guess Contax CY mount types would be the adapters/focal reducers to look for if you're taking that route. But I would encourage you take a closer look at the recommendations as posted earlier as well.

​Not really, that's more a thing for NAB and Photokina I guess. But just in general Canon kind of seems behind if you're looking at the competition in the same categories, so it couldn't hurt them to break radio silence, perhaps giving Canon users a little glimp of what's in store for them with a little teaser of some sorts.

I guess everybody was spot on, except for that one guy that was foreseeing a 'messiah' of some sort. But I guess us mere mortals just 'got to have faith' a little longer. Or not and just go with Panasonic, Sony, Nikon or perhaps even Samsung already.

​If you're looking for something native, the Olympus 75mm f/1.8 is lovely (not quite 85mm, but certainly something to consider, it's high on my wishlist). What 50mm concerns... another great Olympus is the 45mm f/1.8 (although not quite 50mm). These have great rendering, bokeh and color. But you might feel like they're a little too modern and sharp almost, compared to what you have right now. If you really feel like splurging some cash... there's the Panaleica DG Nocticron 42.5mm f/1.2. Voigtländer has the same focal length with f/0.95. If you want to stick with the SLR Magic-touch, the 50mm f/0.95. Then there's a couple of Samyang/Rokinon/Walimex lenses you could look at, e.g. the VDSLR 85mm T1.5. Or if you're willing to give up native mount lenses... you could go with a speedbooster and some sweet 2nd hand lenses. I'm sure Andy Lee could give you endless tips on that. Of course there's the Nikon ED AF-S 28-70mm f/2.8D, which combined with a Metabones speedbooster, or cheaper focal reducers like the RJ or Zhongyi Lens Turbo's makes a nice f/2 Hollywood style solution, covering multiple focal lengths (shooting the M43 GH2 with 2x crop 28-70mm with 0.71x focal reducer roughly becomes a 40-100mm (28x2x0.71 and 70x2x0.71) but retaining that constant aperture of f/2 (2.8x0.71). This btw, might not sound like it will get you much bokeh, but remember, if you up your focal lenghts, you're already creating much more subject isolation/background separation than you'd be able to get with something shorter.

Had to pick up the Nikon ED AF 80-200mm f/2.8D from the post office today... Wasn't at home last week (still 2014), celebrating new years in London and all, so I was quite excited to get my first piece of 2015 filmmaking gear when I saw the post office notification this weekend telling me to come pick it up next work day. Wasn't expecting to pick up another little piece of Nikon gear as well... For some reason, last night I was just surfing around on the web... and then some wave carried me to a site I would browse for a bit when suddenly I stumbled upon a very very good deal (MediaMarkt is celebrating 25 years anniversary over here). The Nikon D5300 with 18-55mm II for 499 EUR with additional 50 cashback at checkout, coming in at 449 EUR total! That's a very sweet deal, considering I checked Geizhals.eu and getting this combo would normally set me back at least 628 EUR excluding shipment. I saw they still had it 'in stock' at my local store, couldn't resist and ordered (paid) one! Logged in there this morning to see if it wasn't in fact a dream and really a this good of a deal. Yup. There it was sitting in my purchase history for 449. However, I did notice they were advertising it a bit differently all of a sudden. Now it advertised the kit being 499 AFTER applying the 50 cashback, listing the camera for 549 (still a good price though). So, before they would cancel all the already placed orders (not sure if they can just do that, but I imagined they could), I just went ahead and picked it up. So a little more than 24hrs ago, I still had no idea, that the Nikon lens wasn't the only bit of Nikon gear I was going to pick up today. I've been recommending the D5300 to people looking to buy an entry-level stills camera for quite some time (can't really recommend them the 700D, now can I?) and had a secret little crush on it myself, but was never really tempted to get me one. But now that I have the 28-70mm f/2.8D & 80-200mm f/2.8D, already have the Nikon mounted Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 and Sigma ART 18-55mm f/1.8 lying around, actually because of the aperture controle possibilities when combined with a regular adapter or focal reducer/speedbooster/lens turbo and mainly the GH4 and BMPCC; it actually kinda made sense. It will be my first steps into something bigger sensor sized than micro four thirds. Since I'm a hybrid shooter, I'm sure the D5300 will be great for me and can't wait to try it out as stills & motion camera. Ah... http://www.nikonusa.com/en/About-Nikon/Press-Room/Press-Release/i49ohklf/Inspired-Photos-with-Flair%2C-Ready-to-Share%3A-New-Nikon-D5500-DSLR-Helps-Creatively-Capture-the-Moments-that-Matter.html So let's see... monocoque structure... touchscreen... flat picture control... $999.95. Sensor... processor, AF system etc seems still the same though.

​Thanks for the input! It's not really about vintage cinema lenses or top notch PL-stuff. I've actually backed this M43 cineprimes project (new/modern mini cinema lenses, I'm shooting with the GH4 and BMPCC). So now that things are moving along, I need to state my preference for either imperial or metric markings.

​Thanks for that, your help is very appreciated, as always! I had a feeling it was kinda like that. I hadn't really given this much thought before today and was just wondering if there was any use or reasoning in picking one over the other, since there's the option to pick either really. I'm finding mixed reactions online. Some say 'it makes sense to go metric if you're on the European mainland as most rental places will predominantly rent out metric scale lenses and the ACs there are used to having it like that' and 'I have built-in cinetape, they're called 'eyes' and are familiar with what a meter looks like', others claim 'imperial is the industry standard' and 'RED users looking for a metric scale on their lenses had to wait an eternity for availlability' (all paraphrasing). I guess I'll just go with imperial. I have seen Andrew use Cooke S4 primes and those had the focus scale measured in ft (although both he and Cookes share the fact of being British, so that doesn't really say anything ah, exuse me, miles, but at the same time measuring stuff in (centi)meters; my bad), he's in Berlin and haven't seen him adressing any problems arising from that. Must be a bigger market for imperial overall as well I'm guessing. Besides, it would actually ship out faster if I went with imperial and not put in a request for metric (kinda supporting the point earlier of metric not seeming a that high of a priority to manufacturers). Thanks again!

Question. If one were to get a cinema lens... should said person rather buy it with a metric (m) or imperial (ft) focus scale? Should it really be based on the country one lives, because it makes most sense to work with the same kind of units? Or... would a imperial markings lens (so, in ft) retain a better resale value? Would be better if one would get international, having other people working with you? Personally, I really don't give much damn (or atleast, not yet. But then again, maybe I should?). It's not like I'll be going around with measuring tape and all. Where the focus needs to be, that's where I'll make sure it is and that to me is just turning a ring... I'm not gonna look at the lens whilst shooting, I'll be checking the monitor/EVF with punch-in magnification/focus peaking. Aren't focus scales a thing of the past or perhaps for really high profile planned out shoots? My Nikon glass has both and I'm not really using either scale to be honest. But again, maybe I'm missing something here. Just wondering if there are other practicalities I should consider.

​Good point. Although I wish it was made up out of more pixels.

Not sure. What card are you using? Might be that.

Weird thing is it seems to get brighter when the scene gets brighter and darker when the scene gets darker. If it was some exposure control, wouldn't you expect the exact opposite (darker when scene gets brighter and vice versa)?

Oh, come on. It's like you said before 'I thought we were discovering this stuff together--all of us here?'. That's true, we are! So less with the worrying! I think what Andrew meant to say was that A + B = C in situation D, doesn't always give you the same result for situation F. Then it might be A + B = E. So settings, they're nice, but they're not absolute. It's like shooting with the same aperture, shutterspeed, ISO and WB all the time because it worked for you in one situation. You can use certain guidelines as a solid basis (as long as you use these guidelines correctly), but it's up to you and what you're trying to achieve, to apply your own insight. Much like cooking. One might like lots of chili, another person might hate it. If you're not happy with how something tastes... then go ahead and change it up and make it so you dó like it. That doesn't mean though that others will like what you've cooked up. If you like the A6000 footage you showed more than the GH4's... well... um... not sure what will get you around thinking otherwise really, but I'd just have to politely disagree. But if you wanted to make the GH4 look like the A6000 there, I'm pretty sure you could. Just try to match 'em in-camera as close as you can by pacing through profiles, settings and values. Then in post production, just match the waveform and vectorscope (for skintones, keep an eye on the skintone indicator) and you should have 'em not far off at all. Also, check those LUTs mentioned before to correct for the orange tones. And yeah, I bet the 5DmkIII with ML is great. But that workflow though... 100hrs days sounds nice. Or just being able to clone yourself. Of course the cloned version should have some brain alterations made to so he/you won't mind being put to work on the dirty chores by the real you, so you can focus on the more fun stuff yourself.

Would be ideal if you'd happen to know someone with a GH4 and/or A7S willing to let you borrow it... but I guess that's not the case? Well... then renting is always a thing of course. Or purchasing and sending back the one you don't like, if the store's policy allows that sorta thing. The E-M1 isn't thát bad. But for video, even though the E-M1 has IBIS, I just find the GH4 to be a much nicer tool. (Expat NL-er. )

Hoi Siep. Came across Mike Kobal on zhe interw3bz the other day. He said he used to be just like me, having different cameras for different purposes... he told me he now uses the A7S for just about everything. I have to give it to the A7S, it does look like a pretty damn sweet camera (haven't had the oppertunity of playing around with one unfortunately). To me there's just something magical about the fullframe look (be it Canon, Nikon, Sony or whatever). I'd love to get the A7S, but for me personally lenses is the issue at play here. I don't know about you, but I got a lot of lenses that will cover my M43 sensors (GH2, GH4, E-M1, BMPCC), but hardly any that will cover the fullframe A7S. So that's one thing that's kind of holding me back, needing to invest in fullframe covering lenses. 2nd thing is that the GH4 will record 4K internally. It does give you a decent amount of flexibility and quality, also, the filesizes are acceptable. Surely I can get a Shogun or the likes to use with the A7S, but it's gonna cost and add bulk. I'd say... if you're not interested in playing around with 4K, or don't mind getting the Shogun, don't mind as well getting fullframe covering lenses (or only have the need for one general purpose lens lens), then the A7S seems an awesome choice. If you're already invested in the M43 system like me, have a bunch of native lenses, or lenses like the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 and Sigma ART 18-35mm f/1.8 optimized for APS-C cameras, then why not get the GH4? It's much more friendly to shoot video with than the E-M1 and quality is way up there. It also gives you 4K internally without spending a dime more on some external recorder and the filesizes are manageable. And I love not adding stuff to my camera. That's why 4K internally and M43 lenses, I can keep it small if I have to. Of course I can always rig it up and decorate it like a christmas tree as well if that's what the situation requires. I just think it's fun to play with 4K and have its flexibility and quality at your disposal, even with the smallest of setups. Have been using the E-M1 exclusively for photography since I've gotten the GH4. Actually I might just sell the E-M1 before a E-M2 gets announced and still get some money for it while I can. The NX1 seems a little ahead of its time, which is working against it a bit ('t is een zegen en een vloek). Also, personally I'm not in love with the Samsung look. Yes the colors are nice, but from what I've seen it's the typical Samsungy contrast, saturation, crispness and roll off of highlights that I expected, but I'm just not really a fan of that sorta thing. The Samsung might just be the best over a longer period of time. You'll upgrade eventually and your hard- and software will go through the H265 like a hot knife through butter. Also, Samsung is bound to bring out some firmware updates based on feedback and bugs to enhance its handling. But yeah, that doesn't really help you NOW, now does it? Don't think I'd personally be getting a NX1 anytime soon and since I love the fullframe look so much, I might just go for that. That means an A7S... or maybe just even the Nikon D750 / D810 (or who knows what 2015 brings, 5DmkIV?), since like I said, I'd be starting from scratch in the fullframe segment anyways, although the A7S definitly has the mirrorless and 4K advantage and I do like to be able to keep things a bit more compact if I can. But for now, I can't even see me doing that unless I win the lottery and go both fullframe and stick to M43rds. I'm very happy with what I've got lying around so far.

​ They always come up with the coolest stuff! Modular rigs, the slider... but I have yet to come across excited users. The Modula 3 looks pretty nice and basic though.

​Then get drawn back in. I remember some forums where I just hot headedly stayed away for a couple of days, intending to never return, then after a few days of cooling down period, realized that I was overreacting and it would suck not being able to join in. A forum is a community thing, so the content is what you and others (including Andrew, but not exclusively) make of it. So what it's all about around here for the greater part reflects the user base. If you feel like something's missing... then add to it. And just coming back to the blog and reviews itself, remember, blogs are always opinionated and subjective to a certain degree. What makes a blogger succesful is a very strong own opinion. You can check out CNET Reviews and everything's great about everything and they list you the specs... that's nice and all, but I want someone to really give me their thoughts on it, get to the nitty gritty of it all and backing it up with reasoning why that's how they feel about it in a certain way. This way a blogger earns my trust. If you don't trust someone, well, that's just too bad. If you do trust Andrew, then what's with all the fuzz to begin with? I'm pretty sure nobody wants to see anybody leave. Everyone should be welcome here, even if visions don't align. Listen, I understand you probably have the best intentions and to a certain degree you can always speak your mind freely, but you can't demand something of a person, claiming he has some kind of responsibility to do something, when he in fact does not. Well anyways, you got it out, you got your answer, now just put it behind you. No reason to stop being a part of the community because of that. To end this comment, I'd just like to point you to Andrew's mission statement: If you can identify with that. Then what's the problem here?

Great choice! Enjoy! Don't forget, you don't neccessarily need an expensive speedbooster. You will do just fine getting a RJ, Zhongyi/ZY Optics or Fotodiox lens turbo/focal reducer.

Seems like everybody is still a little hungover from all the eggnog. We get sidetracked and offended by these little things a little easily. Actually Andrew is quite right. Color IS subjective and as long as you end up with something you like and that's what matters, then that's what matters. Atleast, creatively speaking. If you're gonna show it to the whole wide world and want to be as accurate as possible, whatever that means, then what you think 'looks nice' may indeed not be all that likeable to your general targeted audience. My feedback would be the same as the peepz above and prefer the GH4 in this particular 'test'. To my taste the A6000 footage is too bright/washed out, too desaturated/flat, too magenta/blue. In contrast, the GH4 seems a bit too saturated and tends to be rather yellow/orangy. This also isn't much of a test if you don't try to match the footage. Also you have some very mixed lighting going on which doesn't help the cause. Putting your test footage side by side is nice, but now try to make 'em the same. Shoot using comparable settings and profiles, then look at the vectorscope(w/ skintone indicator)/waveform and get 'em as close as you can. Some quick correcting like this youngster kid did in the video shown here will do (2:02+ just so happen that the base video was too yellow as well and the camera to be matched was a little too bright/washed out, much like your A6000 footage was imho). Now compare the two to see which has the slight edge. Because the GH4 and A6000 have to be much closer than I'm seeing back in your video. Anyways, it's not an easy subject and I'm still in the process of figuring this all out myself too. Just keep playing around and try a bunch of stuff. And don't forget. Sometimes we look at our screens too long. Sometimes it helps bringing a loved one or friend in for a 2nd opinion. They might not know much about tech and parameters, but they know what they like! Also just having a good night sleep and look at it with fresh eyes in the morning helps a lot. I know it all too well that I look at something the next day and go 'dear lord, what was I thinking?'. xD

​!

Great to hear! In the getting-to-know-phase I had it with me in Hong Kong, it was over 30°C (roughly 90°F) and very humid (although in and around the city, wasn't in no rain forrest or anything), no complaints from the camera or myself. Got pretty excited using it for stills and in 4K Photo mode too. It just catches lots of detail and the lens is pretty sharp. I just love to zoom in everywhere. I'm going to be in London around New Years and will make sure to bring both the FZ1000 (during the day for some of the scenery stuff) and the LX100 (at night and for street shooting). And of course, if you can have the Shogun at your disposal, I wouldn't say 'no' either.

Good read that was! Enjoy shooting with it and putting it to the test! Wish someone could borrow you his/her FS7 as well, but looking forward to the shootout nontheless.