Michael1

Does anyone take their AVCHD video from the camera, and convert it into Prores 10 bit 422 before grading? I've heard this gives better results, and is easier to work with. Michael

Yes, we are all a bit spoiled these days, but you know what happens to spoiled people. :) Michael

This is true. It's a bit of a minefield out there. Michael

Actually, I would just leave it as is. I'm getting to like it now. Sometimes things have to grow on you. I can really relate the sunglasses portion of the monologue, since the micro screw came out of my darn Hobie sunglasses a few days ago. I've got the screwdriver, but no screw. :) I hope everything brightens up for you soon, Skip. (thumbs up) Michael

Sorry, Skip. I didn't mean to sound critical (and I took the inappropriate comments out of my original post). That wasn't right, and I feel bad about it now. Don't listen to me. If no one takes any chances creatively, everything would be boring. I think I'll go back and listen to the narrative based on your preface. It's a very well done piece, and nice to see what the camera can do in capable hands, too. :) Michael

The debates will continue ad infinitum. Go on any forum, and you will find similar debates. Go on a car forum, track times will be "the driver" or "the car". It never ends. The reality is, performance of anything is a combination of factors, not one or the other. As you mature into adulthood and beyond, you see life is not so black and white. So the debates will continue, and the forums will thrive. You always have the option of not reading them. Michael

What kind of weird statement is this? Without capitalism, you wouldn't even have a camera, let alone a computer to edit with, software, monitors, nothing, even if you were born into corrupt government wealth and had the money. Capitalism means small companies and startups can compete with large companies that are too slow to move in the market. Examples: Black Magic Design, Magic Lantern, GoPro, etc. Regarding the D4, Andrew is right. 10 minutes of recording time is ridiculous. A few test shots, and the camera is already overheated. How long do you have to wait to use it again? Talk about crippled for video! I think the D4 would require a complete overhaul to fix the thermal issues, and Nikon didn't want to do that yet. It was just a refresh. Michael

Beautiful footage! Where is the unedited version posted? I would like to look at that. Michael

I don't know how long it is going to take before the big camera manufacturers finally get the message that people expect the video quality to be commensurate with the stills quality. I don't think their management has any experience with video, and there are probably very few people on their staff that know anything about video. These big ships take a long time to turn. Hopefully, for them, they don't sink first. Nikon will be at NAB, so we can give them an earful there. Michael

Kinda makes me wonder if 4K will make it or not. I hope it does, but I am not confident. I asked a someone if she was watching the Olympics, and she said, "No. I don't watch TV. I just watch Netflix." I can't even imagine having the majority of my video being low quality streamed, with poor resolution, macro blocking, and buffering messages. It's a waste of an HDTV. I showed someone else some BMCC footage on Vimeo, and she said it looked "like a movie". She and her husband only have SD cable service on their HDTV. They didn't want to spend the extra money for HD channels. :o Also people seem to be quite happy paying for tickets at the theater to watch movies projected in 2K, which is not really any better than what you could see at home. I think we are in a quantity over quality phase right now. Michael

You are supposed to grade the Pocket's output anyway no matter what type of shooting you are doing, and then all is good. :) Michael

It seems like a bit of a stretch to translate the DXoMark figures to video. There is a lot of difference going "sensor to raw stills" vs. "sensor to compressed video". Michael

Thanks for the responses guys! I'm a bit disappointed with Black Magic on this. Their sensor is over 11% smaller than the Super 35 they make such a big deal about on their website. Two or three percent, OK. But 11%? Geez! It makes we wonder what else they are fudging the numbers on. Does the battery really last for 90 minutes of shooting? :rolleyes: I think it is always better to over deliver than under deliver. Michael

Maybe someone can clear this up, because I am not seeing how Black Magic's sensor is Super 35 size. Width of Super 35 = 24.89mm based on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/35_mm_film Width of BMPC Sensor = 22.12. Which width is correct for Super 35? Thanks! Michael

Crop factor doesn't really work (not precisely anyway) when you are comparing two formats with different aspect ratios. Unfortunately, the crop factor measurement is based on diagonal measurements. Michael

I was calculating a 2.61 crop factor in UHD mode, until I realized that you can't compare a crop factor from a 3:2 stills format directly with 16:9 video format. My calculation is now 2.49 based on using the full sensor width of a full frame sensor. Still a hefty crop factor, but I can understand the engineers not wanting to resort to pixel binning, which would create artifacts. I'm sure they wanted the sharpest picture possible. Michael

I don't know anything about shooting weddings, but wouldn't a camcorder be more reliable for this task? Most DSLRs have maximum time limits in firmware, and some overheat, which would prevent turning it on and leaving it on. I guess a BMCC would be OK if you have an external power source. They have an internal fan as I recall, and an SSD would give hours of recording time. The low light performance during the reception could also be an issue, along with trying to focus. FS100 could be a good bet. Michael

Where can I find these "video" stop numbers you are referencing? Any info on the Nikon D610 and D800? Michael

No, because it doesn't have the internal processing bandwidth to support it. Michael

I hear what you are saying regarding APS-C sensor size similar to 35mm film, but perhaps full frame helps make up for other DSLR deficiencies, such as dynamic range, to give it more of a film look. Also the film industry probably used very expensive lenses on their film cameras, that full frame can more easily mimic at a cost independents and amateurs can afford. Even beyond bokeh, for some reason, full frame does look more filmic to my eyes under most conditions. It's subtle, but it's there. Michael

Nice comparison. The moire is finally gone! Rolling shutter, gone! Detail up. Aliasing improved. Sharpness improved. Dynamic range down slightly. Low light performance down (800 ISO max - max ISO not mentioned in tech specs on website or in manual that I could see) Sun spots back. Ugh! They didn't mention it, but the Production Camera does include a full copy of Davinci Resolve ($995 value), while the Pocket only includes the Lite (free) version. Now for the harsh realities of viewing and grading your 4K footage...unfortunately, to view full screen video out in 4K, you have to purchase their DeckLink 4K Extreme capture card at $995, which is overkill for a lot of people. I'd like to see their $145 DeckLink Mini Monitor upgraded to 4K. Also 4K 10 bit monitors are still up there in price, but I expect them to come down a lot. Michael

This was/is a common problem with the BMCC. I thought they got this ironed out in firmware updates, but I guess not. It looks like it is carrying over to the BMPC. The RED and BM cameras look very comparable. Michael

Great! Looking forward to it. It seems like a landmark camera. Michael

I agree. It is too bad we don't speak of dynamic range in dB as the audio people do. I think this would be a lot clearer to people. The bit depth can set a limit to a camera's dynamic range, but it doesn't specify the camera's dynamic range. Michael

I'm really thinking this footage, while beautifully done, was not the best to show off the camera's new higher resolution. It's really hard to see additional detail in water surfaces, and a beach of round stones. Something with more fine detail, such as foliage or a street scene, would probably have showed this camera off a lot more. Andrew, when are you doing your review of this camera? (Anxiously waiting) Michael