Cinegain

[ ENDED ] ---- Hold on! [ EXTENDED ] https://www.rajalaproshop.se/panasonic-lumix-dmc-gm5-15-1-7-svart.html I only found it just now (it's effectively like a discount on the lens + a free GM5). If any of you Swedish folks out there enjoy this bargain... feel free to order two of 'em and I'll take your 2nd set and give you 20 bucks for effort (they don't feel like shipping abroad)! [ ENDED ] ---- [ EXTENDED ] -- Was just looking for that lens. But that was a heck of a deal. Could use a Mattias-hotline for next time. Maybe Cyber monday. --- Hum. Countdown ended, but price is still the same! I'll contact them, maybe I can work something out after all. ---- And then it switched back to 8000-ish. But now for the next '02 dagar' (new countdown) it's 4990 again! Not confusing at all. No word from 'em yet though.

Had a brief hands-on earlier today. The stabilization with the new 12-100mm IS and everything turned on is off the chain! Too bad it's only the 12-100mm and 300mm PRO lenses that feature this. And they're both expensive f/4 lenses... so, not sure if you'd get something like that. They're hammering on f/4 keeping the size down. That 300mm is gigantor though! I was like 'wait, that's the 40-150mm? I thought it would be smaller', but it was the 300mm. The 40-150mm is fairly bigger than the 12-40mm, but proportional. Weightwise, it was actually not bad at all. What else? Battery, quite a bit bigger. Battery grip is a little more advanced than the last one. EVF, nothing spectacular... seems to only have improved with its frequency. Vari-angle screen is nice (and headphone/mic ports that block it when in use). Flat profile... didn't seem so flat actually. C-AF seemed ok. Much better than Panasonic, not exactly up there yet with Canon's dualpixel AF. The shear amount of buttons/dials and menu options is more insane than ever. And they had it all in German (I always keep hardware/software/everything in English even if it's not my native language, which might've been availlable), so I also didn't get half of what was going on in the menus. Maybe it was a little too complex in general, seemed to even leave the spokespersons riddled at times. Found it at times to be a little unresponsive, but maybe it was running some demo unit firmware and I did too much to it. Didn't seem AutoISO with fixed aperture/shutterspeed was a thing, I sometimes hear that's a wish of people. Overall though, quite promising! Though... I'm not sure if I should head back tomorrow and pre-order it (believe it's -5%, so 100 bucks off) yet. It's winter anyways, so I won't be out shooting that much (cold, gloomy (today was depressing foggy drizzle), short days). So... I'm sure I can make do with the gear I got... and then see what the GH5 is all about... if that's not a winner... the E-M1 Mark II will still be there and probably have some deals going on by then as well.

Well, Olympus doesn't have sucky colors, just a bit boring ones, but hey, it's a solid base to work with. Fuji might be a little edgier. Wish Sony would just deliver a camera somewhere in between a E-M1 Mark II, Fujifilm X-T2, Samsung NX1... like maybe even in an A7-body, but with APS-C. The body doesn't determine the system's compactness anyways. It's mainly the sensor size and the native availlable lenses. Which also sucks with Sony, so I don't know why they're so determined not to move a couple of mm on body size to get these hot issues out of the way? Honestly would be in the market for a serious APS-C/S35 shooter. But only if it would be close to the features and reliability of the Olympus E-M1 Mark II. So... the Fuji kinda misses a vari-angle touchscreen and sensor stabilization... the A6500 comes close on paper, is off by miles in the real world. So, I'm forced to stick with M43. Not that that's so bad... especially now the line-up of bodies and lenses gets more interesting! But still, the sensor... David VS Goliath. Dynamic range, color accuracy, noise performance, you can learn to work around the limitations... but you know, of course it would be nice not having to.

You're already paying the price by paying the price. They might as well do some actual improving for that kind of money. All they need to do is make an APS-C version of the Olympus E-M1 Mark II and be just as quick (rolling shutter) and reliable (overheating) as that one. Bonus: vari-angle screen and non-sucky color.

Oh, that's easy, he would say: no money? No problem! You must find some creative way to afford a 1DC.

Pretty unlikely, but should you be in the Vienna area here's some info about an upcoming event: ~ https://www.digitalstore.at/news/376

Think up to 3000 bucks gives you a nice camera to own and lens & accessories selection (which doesn't even really matter on what exact camera you spend it, depends on your style, could be anything from a G7 to an A7S with external recorder). Everything upwards from that I think is better off spent on some kind of rental package and then more money towards the production and including more people to help you out: like someone dedicated to the lighting or sound, actors, craft services, getting everything and everyone to a special location to shoot at, maybe hire a aerial video specialist, that sorta thing. For me, if I wouldn't be restricted by a strict budget, the ARRI Alexa Mini would probably be the way to go. Such a cool, flexible cinema camera. That's my jam.

Well, the URSA Mini you'd probably equip with the BMD viewfinder and shoulder kit, so you're easily spending twice to really get it up to functional wishes, whereas with the GH5 you might be there with another 500 bucks, although, if you're upgrading from the GH4, chances are you probably have all them extra things that are compatible already. Can't really go and blend in very well in a crowd with the URSA Mini either, it's not that mini, so not really the harmless touristy vibe walking around with one of those. Everything's a matter of perspective, like I said, that's just mine. Well, in short: One thing that pushes Sony and Panasonic with cameras like these is to give people content for the (4K, now HDR) tv's they're trying to sell. Follow the discussion: It does either 4K60p (implied 8-bit) internally, or internal 4K30p but at 10-bit 4:2:2. I could imagine them opening up some extra external push-through... like 4K60p 10-bit and maybe even somehow RAW output... but everything is speculative at this point. But yes, it seems it has become way more useful for internal recording. But yeah, a bigger or off-camera located (rig/gimbal) screen can of course prove very useful. SmallHD make some brilliant little monitors. Of course there's Atomos, Convergent Design Odyssey and Videodevices too that do include more advanced features as pro recorders and monitors, some including anamorphic de-squeeze and LUT preview support, stuff you wouldn't get with your Aputure VS-5 or Lilliput Q5. The GH4 wasn't able to de-squeeze in-camera, according Matt Frazer in the following video because the camera wasn't initially intended to do so. That's why I'm pumped to see what the GH5 can do, because it is from the ground up developped for these kinds of applications now, whereas the features on the GH4, including V-LOG L were more like bonus experimental features. I think you could pick to either push it through HDMI already de-squeezed for monitoring or deliver it untouched to let your monitor/recorder de-squeeze/record the 'pure' signal. Especially check from 33:30:

He didn't either. He mentioned that. But he does with the V. Dunno. Could be though. To me it just shows once again you can't rely on a Sony. It shows that they want to kill it on paper, but it's like having a piñata and stuffing it with more candy than it can take. It will start to show tears and at some point it will burst. What they need to do is either change the materials they're working with to hold it all in... or make it slightly bigger already. But they're stubborn... and then stuff like this happens. I wish they would see that already and act accordingly, but they're like 'hey, people are still buying them, even if we up the price with every new model every couple of months, this is the best business model ever!'.

This debate gets brought up every once in a while. Now, I haven't been, but the general concensus I believe always was: film school isn't useless, though, it's not really about the material that's being taught. It's working on things together and connecting with people that you might stay in contact with for years after graduating. For that it's quite useful. A degree on your resume does look cool, but it's not the thing that sells your skillset and level of talent. A list of productions you've worked on and a filmreel will do that for you. Think it's more about being good at networking and selling yourself, than what some paper says... so... you can start learning things you might already know... or work on getting actual field experience. One is not better than the other, you got to walk your own path, if that includes film school, that's cool, if it doesn't, that's cool too.

I once went to Stockholm in person to pick up the Panasonic G7 and saved me 230 or so bucks (had to be there anyways, but still, http://www.prisjakt.nu proved helpful). I ordered the G80 from UK and for EU body prices got included the 12-60mm, a Panasonic 64GB card and a battery grip. It does help to look around. Usually I check http://geizhals.eu . I find it very helpful to get some oversight. That said... 1999 for either E-M1 Mark II or GH5 is a matter of perspective. So here's mine... No DSLR for me. I don't like mirrors and I don't like optical viewfinder. I'd rather just have an EVF and excellent liveview; what you see is what you get. Plus, mirrorless cameras just about standard give you peaking, zebras and all that good stuff No fullframe camera for me. What fullframe cameras would there be? Let's see... eh... Sony. Well have you seen what those bodies retail for? And then you need big bulky 35mm covering glass that ain't cheap either. Don't know. Just not for me S35/APS-C. Now we're talking. Excellent. Yes, I'll have one, thank you! What can I choose from again? Ah, more Sony. Well... they sound good on paper, but in practice... between the overheating, rolling shutter, color issues, poor design and its price... there's not really that much that makes it an attractive choice. I think I'll pass until they come up with something a little more reliable and enjoyable. Fujifilm XT-2. Ooh, me likey. Too bad there's no sensor stabilization, vari-angle touchscreen and headphone-jack on the camera body. Tough. Canon? The new EOS-M5... overpriced stripped down 80D much? Maybe cool as a gimbal AF tool, otherwise nope. Nikon? Not making anything. Samsung? Dead; although the NX1 is pretty sweet. But you know... the XT-2 would pull ahead of it. Well... that's kinda that. Unless you want to go proper cinema style camera and throw a couple of thousand bucks at it, but at the cost of losing a innocent looking versatile hybrid system that packs a punch That leaves... drumroll please! Micro Four Thirds, MFT, M43, M4/3. Now... I kinda made my peace with the 4/3" sensor a long time ago. Hell, some even accepted the limited conditions the BMPCC would shine in. S16. And as such I don't need ISO12800. I mean, ISO1600-6400 would be kinda nice. Don't really like to go beyond ISO1250 right now due to the decrease in peformance. But somehow, you just make it work. You work around the sensitivity by lighting, by using more sensitive lenses. You work around the crop. The shallow depth of field. With a smaller sensor you kinda lose some color accuracy, dynamic range... I mean, it's not like you're not paying for it somehow, but you manage. In return you get to have one of the most versatile systems out there. With small bodies and small pancake primes. But you can also rig things up and use speedboosters. And especially with the features in the new E-M1 Mark II (which I feel they should've just called a E-M1 Pro/E-M Pro to avoid the negative backslash it being so much more expensive than its predecessor), you now have one of the most complete cameras on the market out there. Compared to a mirrorless APS-C Sony... it has a far better choice concerning lenses native to the system and sensor format, it has that vari-angle screen, dual cardslot, superior sensor stabilization, neglectable rolling shutter... and most importantly... it's reliable. Compared to either XT-2 or NX1 it has the vari-angle touchscreen (frontfacing option) and 5-axis sensor stabilization. You just can't really fault the E-M1 Mark II on hardware level. The GH5... we don't know much yet, but it looks like we're going to keep that GH4-styling. That's good and bad, because I was actually hoping that with the GH5 they would really re-think what they wanted the top of the line GH-camera to be for general video production, as well as more advanced cinematic application. So I was thinking a different style body, more room, better interface, more ports, bigger ports and all that good stuff. Still though, even with a GH4-style body and souped up internals, this could be something very different. We already kinda know that its sensor and processing allows for internal 4K at 60/50p and 4:2:2 10-bit at 30/25/24p. There's 6K Photo. If the E-M1 Mark II's processing and speed is any indication of what the GH5 might be like, we're really getting some performance. And people who've been using the GH4 as a production tool, will gladly embrace the improvements in noise control and overal image quality that has already gotten a boost with the arrival of the G7, GX80 and G80. Not to mention the probable inclusion of sensor stabilization. Rolling shutter could be neglegible as well. Super slowmo. Who knows? Ultimately though, this is a tool not to be underestimated and of great value to independent and indie filmmakers, production houses and the sorts. Would I say 1999 is pricey? Yes, most definitely is. But I think the E-M1 Mark II makes sense. There's all this Olympus PRO glass and these people need a camera to go with it. It's not some incremental upgrade, it's a new game altogether and offers things in a complete package we haven't seen yet before. To those who think it's not worth it, they have a great selection of alternatives... the E-M1 with firmware upgrade is pretty solid, E-M5 Mark II, E-M10 Mark II... Panasonic G80. Talking about that last one, that is a fine camera for people looking for a serious hybrid camera that don't neccessarily be using the more pro applications such as V-LOG L. Pay less, only use what you need. The GH5 on the other hand is the ultimate video production tool, by the looks of it. Either used stand alone or rigged up, if it sells for 1999 it will provide shooters with a the most complete video package under 2000 bucks yet. If they would tell me 'we have a promo going on, one time offer... we see you have the GH5 in your basket, we'll change that to a URSA Mini 4K (that you're not allowed to sell) but leave the 1999 price. Which camera should we ship to you?'. I'd probably go with the GH5. I just really like the idea of a camera that I could use with a 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens and at the same time could rig up to be a set-up too legit to quit. But that's just me. You also got to consider that because of the pro features, less people will have use for it... and in turn therefor they sell less units and need to increase prices. As has been said before, we're just a marginal piece of the pie... the people that care a lot about shooting video with stills cameras, so when they cater to us, I'm really excited. And currently I see the E-M1 Mark II and the GH5 as the most complete packages out there for hybrid shooting with a video edge. There's always things that can be improved, but that's going to remain to be the case.

Yeah, don't sweat it though, like I've been trying to say: 'it's not you, it's me'. E.g. I also don't like calling quadcopters 'drones', because to me a drone is a unmanned aircraft system mostly used for military operations, so I much prefer using 'quadcopter', 'multirotor' or 'aerial platform' when you speak of a DJI quadcopter. But there's no stopping it, just as a 'fast lens' is associated with the widest aperture sensitivity of a lens, so I might as well have said nothing, but you know... I generally have a hard time shutting up, even if resistance is futile.

I'd be more inclined to couple speed with sound, or if you must the rolling of tape, but not the sensitivity? In photography terms, much to my dislike, it's pretty common that one speaks of faster or slower sensitivity, although, I'd say more related to the f-stop than the ISO. But both would allow you when increased ISO or opened up aperture to shoot the same thing properly exposed at a faster speed. It would allow it too. But what I have a problem with is that the actual result isn't that f/1.4 is faster, or that ISO800 is faster than ISO400, it's that the result is that the image is brighter. In turn, sure you could opt for a higher shutterspeed to counteract the brighter image. But that's never the function of a higher ISO or brighter lens per se (especially with motion pictures, where it's usual to shoot 24p with 180 shutter and that's that). But I'm just probably being oversensitive to those sort of things. In context though, 'slow' and 'old' I personally coupled to the operation of the camera, not the sensitivity at which it shoots, which you seem to agree with would make more sense?

Lol, whut? No.

I hate when people say 'fast' or 'slow' about sensitivity. f/1.4 is 'fast'. No it's not. It's sensitive. It lets through a lot of light. Maybe you need the light... maybe you want the depth of field. But I for one, not neccesarily go to f/1.4 because it's 'faster'. I'll be deciding myself if I'm shooting at a high shutterspeed or not, thank you. Hell, might even throw in front a neutral density filter to slow things down. In that regard, I do not think about sensitivity immediately when someone talks about a camera being 'slow'. I think about how it is to set-up, to go through the menus, to work with. Showing its age, because it's sluggish and old. Of course, I could be wrong, but that's where my mind went reading that.

Couldn't hurt either though. Being stuck in tradition is what keeps me from getting another Nikon or any DSLR for that matter. Mirrorless. With peaking, zebras, etc. With awesome liveviews and EVFs, what you see is what you get. With menus that are more like the ones you'd find on a Blackmagic. Canon refused a vari-angle screen, because it wouldn't look rigid enough. Bullshit. You've got to keep heading forward and adapt. Though, indeed not neccessarily to cater the youngsters and no0bz. Just for the sake of making it an easier/funner experience. Can't hurt now, can it? Do love my dials and things though, so it's more of an optional thing to offer choice. Same as menus you could have set to an advanced mode.

The only reason cameras like Canon's IXUS series are still around is optical zoom. People like to get in there. Otherwise... I don't really see the use. Might as well make smartphones with collapsable zoom lenses (which actually was a thing, my sister in law has one) or just accept it already and actually 'get in there' if you want to get all up in there. In general folks don't pixelpeep that much. They're just using it to boast about their great lives on social media anyways, where it's the context and not the photography in itself. So indeed, by all means, scrap those lines of dinkie toys cameras and focus on the people that do care. Make their wishes come true (my three primary reasons for stepping up was: poor performance in lowlight, terrible manual focus and overal parameter control). Still though, there's some legit point being made for... how does one go from smartphones to more serious cameras if they don't know any better and don't like to learn too much? I think the first to really make efforts in that direction is YI, with their mirrorless M1. Most of the camera is controlled by the touchscreen and easy going menus, they have a real-time low energy bluetooth module to allow for easy sharing. There even are so called 'master guide templates' that recommends poses and settings... looks like that's the new step-up from a smartphone. Once they're adjusted, they can go take it from there. But that does mean that the more advanced cameras also still need a little way to go, to actually make it attractive to step-up and not make it much of a big deal. More touchscreens, more easy menus and more connectivity!

Think realistically if you want mirrorless APS-C 4K either Fujifilm XT-2 or Samsung NX1 are pretty mean choices. If you can live without the APS-C sensor but like the addition of sensor stabilization... Olympus E-M1 Mark II / Panasonic GH5 (G80 if you're ok with saving a couple bucks and missing out on cinema/productivity tools such as V-LOG L, anamorphic mode, superslowmo, headphone jack, tc, etc). Wish one of these companies would just do it all right. Personally I think the E-M1 Mark II is the closest to it by the looks of it, apart from the smaller sensor and lack of some more pro videographer features, I can't fault it that much as a hybrid camera for stills and video. It's superfast, well designed and all so reliable. If it had an APS-C sensor and had a 'Sony' label slapped on there, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Haha, yeah, the typical BMD fanboy response 'Ho there buddy, you can't expose like that, it's not the camera's fault, you need to properly light for it'. In which case: you tried taking off the lens cap?

I really wanted to go with Sony, but they don't manage to live up to paper specs. So it's an easy no, but it's a sad one. I would've loved to have one... if it didn't overheat, if it didn't have the aweful rolling shutter, if it didn't have color channel clipping and regular color issues, if it were designed a little bit better (more like a E-M1 Mark II). Cool specs... not that much of a cool camera...

Looks like hardware failure. Some cable that relays sensor or processed information to the display computing unit. That thing needs to be opened and repaired I'd say.

Yeah, would be cool to get an updated shootout like Shane Hurlbut did once in a three part series: http://www.thehurlblog.com/?s=micro+part . He tested the GH4 with Panaleica, Voigtländers and Olympus M.Zuiko MSC lenses. But throw in the PRO series... maybe SLR Magic, PrimeCircle, Illumina 35, Veydra and XEEN and you got yourself material for a new comparison!

I don't know. Like I said, you can read and learn about technical stuff online and in books. What are the general 'rules' for this and that. It's not not important to know, but it's a bit of a waste to have a (I don't know) 3 hour workshop on filmmaking and have to go through all of that. Just get some quick pointers out and move along. Having perfect gear with perfect set-ups does not a great filmmaker make however. So you can tie your shoe laces? Doesn't make you Usain Bolt; you know what I mean? It's what you do with it. It's the passion behind it. It's more about showing them techniques and how you can approach things. It's not telling them what to do, it's showing them what they can do. Just give 'em a palette. Everything is optional. It's like a free spirited cooking class. There's a bunch of ingredients in the kitchen and everyone is free to put 'em together. Just, there are some general experiences with what works really really well and what doesn't so much, so you can go and invent the wheel all over again, or you can taste some dishes already made and decide what you like most, gather some inspiration and then perhaps put your own spin on it. But you've got to have some global understanding as to why one could do a thing a certain way. You should always be able to make a good argument for an approach. Even if you're 'just doing something', atleast make it deliberate. You know what videos go viral on YouTube? Usually not the overproduced ones, but the ones that carry a message or show interesting and original content. Sometimes the two meet together, but usually it's still because of the content, the production value is just a bonus.

That used to be a pretty nice course back in the day. ~ https://www.creativelive.com/courses/vince_laforet including students who end up shooting stuff as well and learn and review what's right and wrong. The concept is there. And indeed like I mentioned:

Yeah, that Phantom 4 Pro too though (as the maxed out Inspire 2 kit is 5999). Mechanical shutter even. The guy at 1:22 reminded me of Trump. xD 'It's a ghuugghe step forward!'.