thatPhilGuy

My apologies to the forum. Shouldn't have posted my (above) off-topic reaction. Guess I just really responded in the moment. I'm deeply appreciative of Andrew and his work here. Now I see the message 'Form', and no way to delete my own post. Most thoughtful forum around. Again my apologies.

Thank you for the great 2023 summary. I still believe you have some of most insightful eyes on the internet. Breadth and context. Bought an early S1, thanks to you. You are better in print. A clarity and conciseness. Maybe editing cycles. You know ‘practice’, and all that. Or maybe just skill with the printed word. But the world changed. Like for an owner of a vinyl store. Only one move there: high end, obscure, collectible, or promising sonic nirvana. Not so easy for blogs. On YouTube, still finding your voice. The “dunk & snark” is fun but not really the basis for a “trusted brand”. And kinda of “one shot”. Making fun, once, is the truthie humor a comedian finds. We laugh. Twice, (well, in cameras) everyone starts to think “mean”. And a shortage of worthy and recognizable targets. Hard to imagine dunking on Gordon Laing. Parody perhaps. Dunking? No way to make friends. Laing and Undone, both do the work. Just started down the YouTube path earlier. Eh, and a little more checklist oriented. The early days of DSLR had lots of subtle details to be revealed. A maturing market, with slower camera releases, well tricky to navigate. After many years of grateful reading, why this first post? (excuse: no addl. insights) You are a nice guy and probably nicer in person than your blog might suggest (always thought you had an edge). My first clue was some trade show interview (not yours) and I was like, “Hmm, would really like to have a beer with this guy.” Not what I expected. Your early USP: more reverence for film like qualities than pixels. And of course, “I can’t believe the vendor treats their users this way!” You idealistic hope that capitalists will see the light is quite charming. In that Don Quixote way ; -) I too am tired of Canon’s market segmentation. I’ve gone on too long without really helping. Ouch. Really? Yup. Oh well, have to, as they say, “give it a go”. So… Consider the sub-brand “Romancing the Frame”. Might be room. Simply loving a few frames (or setup). Really loving it! Passion is a quality everyone can related to. Not a music video, just loving a few frames. Different than “Every Frame a painting”. Mere mortal setups. In pawn shops, bathrooms, a tired alley, a ticket counter. With characters. Real characters. Yes, every online film class has one or two of these. The opportunity: a deeper focus on sharing the joy in both finding and creating. Of course, with music. Not just discovering, but also building a visual quality that didn’t exist. Consider: This Frame — The Make-Over Edition. Closer to the roots of EOSHD. Film look from a then cheaper 5d. Check out Ulysses Aoki. Only 39.k subs, but 996K view in three months on “This $200 camera shoots infinite film like photos”. Reminds be a bit of you and your early B-roll. Your offering: some combo of lighting, filters, profiles, LUTS, diffusion, flags, and used cameras. Concise quick takes & tricks. Passion + hard work is how any filmmaker gets there. And you’ll have to let your inner romantic, out for a stroll more often. (maybe watch some old Graham Kerr, Galloping Gourmet. Yeah, right. ) Lots of less conflicted sponsorship options in lighting. Many lights good enough. No lens lock-in, etc. Any new (online personality) direction is going to take some serious work. Casey Neistat kinda work. He still does it. Not just insights spoken to a lens. One reason for the move back to NYC is probably the B-roll. Checkout the comments on “The Problem with New York City. He’s an entertainer, not a reviewer, but he does the work. (Max Joseph taught him to edit) Think you get the idea. I realize this is just suggesting finding a tighter focus on “infotainment”. And more work. Might not be you. Doubt I helped. You probably knew all this. Please consider all these words just a long winded way to say “feel ya”. Wishing you all the best. And indeed, wish I could buy you a beer (in person). Cheers, (and with gratitude)

Nice to see you in love. Almost head-over-heals. :-) Can't seem to confirm if there is clean HDMI out. Mind checking?

I second (or is it third?) the interest in crop mode quality. But for me, the real action is in the skin tones. Particularly skin tones in the shadows. I would love to see tests similar to Shane Hurlbut's. Well lit, with declining fill ratios. Back lit bright skies would be bonus. http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2013/10/arri-alexa-vs-canon-c500/ I compare digital camera sensors to film emulsions. The reason a cinematographer selects a specific camera for their film is the look and feel of the sensor and their lenses... From Rodger Deakins: ...if you can photograph the human face you can photograph anything, because that is the most difficult and most interesting thing to photograph. If you can light and photograph the human face to bring out what's within that human face you can do anything. While the GH4 is amazing, the color just doesn't engage me in the least. C300 and D750 much more so. Maybe the profile purveyors will ease the effort required to make the A7s work. If I worked at JD Powers, I would invent the category Accessible Color, which I think the D750 would dominate. :-) Andrew, truly appreciate your work, testing cameras that we can't afford to demo in a timely fashion. Helps us narrow the list. Also, I was about to point to this great 2GB original upload of the D750 Making of UNCHAINED.

Thank you for these tests. You really make the case for low light and grade-ability. If possible, could you run some skin tone tests with a natural, soft daylight? Gravy would be with declining fill ratios of -2,-3,-4 stops? Would love to see how the sensor renders skin tones. Thanks again!

So close. Sony is a master of segmentation. Unless I missed it, there is no 4:2:2, uncompressed, *10-bit*. Sadly, it appears no 10-bit anywhere. A great full-frame, low light sensor. Yet even with S-Log2, the image will have to be mostly crafted in the camera. Hopefully I missed it, but otherwise this (10-bit) is the missing feature that protects the higher product lines. All the sample shots are low contrast or low light. Closest to a 'highlight' challenge is the boat captain. So close. Hope I missed it, and will be grateful to be corrected. Even my lowly (yet amazingly) PIX 220 does 10-bit. @yiomo. I'm with you, the "clip at 2.24 with a 5.6 aperture and 120 12800 does it for me", too. :-) I'm sure the Convergent Design, Odyssey7Q, will have a 4K option soon. (They already support the FS700). Andrew, I'm a long time reader, with great appreciation for all you bring to this blog. I just don't quite grasp the whole 4K emphasis. Sure, stunning resolution at an amazing price. Great technicall achievements. However, I've yet to see a piece, either web or big screen, that pulled me into the story. Mostly the opposite. I certainly understand Sony's motivation. But for me, a true 1080p, 10-bit workflow, is worth much more than 4K. Even Shane Hurlbut has gone on record... "... Kamil, I would shoot a feature on the 1DC in a heart beat, but learning what I did on Need for Speed I will never shoot 4K with the C500 again. 2K only it looks much more cinematic and not so sharp, so much I had to do to the image to get it where I wanted it. Nachem, Quote away, I am done with 4K period!!!!!! I am on 2K right now loving it, much more color depth, the blow out looks more filmic, too much resolution makes it look fake." -- in comments: http://www.hurlbutvisuals.com/blog/2014/03/need-for-speed-innovation-gear/