DBounce

Mark my words... the flood gates are about to open. I would not be surprised to see many more products coming to market to challenge them.

I don't think it's just a grade. If the detail is not there the grade will not have any information to recover. In the video he is demonstrating the WDR of the Z-Cam. If it was nothing exceptional, I'm pretty certain he would mention that it was no better than say his GH5. I have perused a few of his videos, and I see no "secret sauce" regarding highlight/shadow recovery. It's one thing to have shadow detail with blue skies It's another thing to have shadow detail in cloudy conditions where you want to get the richness of the blues, with the grays and bright whites that are not blown-out... all while maintaining detail in your subject. Try this with the GH5 or X-T3 or P4K for that matter and you will likely see blown whites in the clouds. Without the DR, something must be scarified. Assuming he is not using a graduated filter. While I would be the first to agree that all of these cameras can produce great output in the right hands, I think you might be oversimplifying the matter... which is, the Z-Cam seems to have the advertised DR. I see you have posted a link to some HDR footage... have you had a play with it? I have a fair idea of what is possible with all the cameras I have owned. I'm quite certain the Z-Cam's footage is more flexible than most... if not all the cameras at this price point and below. Reliability, and needing to send the camera to China for repairs is the most concerning issue imo. Except, there is no one in the foreground and no cloudy skies to contend with.

I'm referring to this video, shot by someone who actually purchased the camera... not someone that works for Z Cam.

Let me ask you this... why do you want higher DR? For me it comes down to being able to get detail in my subject without blowing out my background. From what I have seen Z Cam might be accomplishing exactly this. And I believe their DR claims... at least from the footage I have seen, might be accurate. The desert video reminds me of what I have seen in iPhones photos with HDR enabled. The AI features are great... and I appreciate the effort. But nailing down AF will get them more mileage imo.

The sensor spec show it is capable of this performance. Why no real time AI in current camera as? Why no built in CGI like smartphones can do? The Z Cam reportedly has both of these capabilities. So perhaps they are using a more capable processor? Red, Blackmagic, Panasonic... are not gods. I believe the lack of features might be due to holding these things back for gen 3, 4 and 5... etc. I recall see a Z Cam video where they demonstrated face thinking and eye enlargement. Granted I would never use such features in most circumstances. But it could make for some cool horror or scifi fx... in camera!

@FreshGiant It’s an easier decision for me as I already have everything to get this camera up and running. The only concern is reliability. There are no free rides... but I feel they are striking a good balance. From what I’ve seen at least the noise looks somewhat filmic as opposed to the more usual digital confetti.

Is it noisy? You do need more light for higher frame rates. But with ample lighting how is it? Do you have a link?

I thought they canned the idea of having Raw? Regarding BRaw, I never heard it confirmed for the P4K. But even if it is, the inferior DR, cropped hfr, questionable build quality, much larger size and terrible battery life really detract from the BM option for me. I think BM should have adopted the same format as the Micro... but made it modular. That way they wouldn't have to cut corners... and buyers wouldn't have to look to third parties for workarounds. Here's to hoping Z Cam gets this camera right.

Yes, I have also been watching the development of this camera. The E1 was a bit of a mess, and the earlier samples from the E2 where very poorly done. I’m sure that put off many. Still, these new developments are indeed interesting. Reviews of this camera are few and far between, so it’s hard to know what it’s really like to live with. But the specs seem impressive. More so than the P4K, as Prores gives 90% of the flexibility of raw and is easier to deal with in post. Also I favor dynamic range over high bit depth if I have to choose. I recently had a play with some of the downloadable sample WDR footage and was shocked at its latitude. But I’m having some issues with just accepting everything that the manufacturer states. How do we know the footage is from the Z-Cam E2? There are few independent sources to confirm what is claimed. I also noticed that the E2 supports anamorphic modes... interesting, as the Atlas lenses are 2x squeeze. They should, in theory play nice with the E2. The size is also nice. It should work well on a motion controlled system. I’ll wait until the smoke clears and the dust settles on this one. But I have to admit, if it pans out as true, it could be a good option. Assuming it’s reliable, and easy enough to work with.

I’m speaking of image quality, but that also includes color. And we cannot discount the Nikon’s superior low light. Combined with the larger sensor you can get away with smaller and lighter f4 glass while still getting ample DOF. Keeping size/weight down is not only important for travel, but equally important when rigging in unusual location... like the interior of a car. As for build... well even without my prior experience with the Fuji’s, I believe the Nikon feels sturdier. Not that the Fuji feels flimsy... because it does not. But the Nikon is a definite step up in terms of build quality. I also believe XQD cards feel less prone to breaking than their SD counterparts. Granted, they are priced like jewelry. IIRC, I paid $460 for a single Sony 256GB XQD card. So there is that. But still no worse than the CFast cards the C200 devours? One last word on reliability. I had several crashes, and a couple of failures to recognize media during my time with the Fuji’s. I also had an issue with a brand new lens not being picked up when connected. Once my cameras died it was a final non-responsive kind of issue. They did not merely lose some functionality. Worst still is that neither body was subjected to any hash conditions or mistreatment. The Nikon feels like my Canons in that way. I have no anxiety about taking the Nikon whilst leaving the 1DXMK2 at home. I know it will just work... and honestly that’s how it should be. It’s one of the things that keeps me away from Blackmagic. When I purchased the Fuji’s I had heard a lot of great things about them. So initially I had little worries about flying solo with the Fuji’s. The subsequent failures have altered my initial opinion. It’s a shame, because I genuinely enjoyed shooting with them. I doubt I would buy another one.

Nikon has a sizable sensor design department. So... I’m pretty certain the Nikon Z cameras are not using Sony sensors... rather Sony manufacturers Nikon designed sensors for Nikon. @Andrew Reid posted an article about it. The original source was Image Resource that actually went to Nikon and toured their facility. Just like Apple designs their own CPUs and outsources the manufacturing... Nikon does the same thing with their sensors. The idea that Nikon is using Sony designed sensors in the Z7 or Z6 is “fake news”.

Given a choice I usually go wider. However, if you are shooting anamorphic with a 1.33 squeeze, you are better off using the 4K crop as 1.33x is made for 4K. 4K fits the TV better... C4K fits 2:1 smartphones better.

@Danyyyel I owned no Fuji lenses or Nikon lenses. I like what the Nikon puts out video wise. I did buy it primarily for stills as I wanted something small and light weight. I have all the new Z lenses except for the 50mm f1.8... which I have on pre-order. So far I am enjoying this camera hugely. Not quite as much as the Fuji X-T3... I really liked the built in styles of the Fuji... and I miss the battery grip for portrait mode... and the portrait tilt. That was a great feature. But I think the Nikon is the better video camera. I don’t use internal audio for anything other than scratch or timecode. That said I might have to hook a mic up to the Z6 to see how the internal preamps sound with decent signal.

Here’s a quick play with high ISO... both internal and external to a Ninja V. There are no official Luts from Nikon yet. No noise reduction applied. I had some trouble getting good manual focus in low light... but that’s on me.

I'm one of those that does. But that said, the 8 bit is not bad. It's nice to have options, especially when you are traveling light.

You have to bring the "cinema mojo". There is no preset for this. This is why regardless of how good these cameras get most users will continue to put out amateur looking footage.

I remember thinking to myself a short while ago, “The current camera so damn good, Do we really need anything better? “ It seems many in Hollywood are taking note. I recently read a article which can be found here in which they state that the new movie “The Haunting of Hannah Grace” was shot entirely on the Sony A7S2. Granted, they rigged it up pretty good. But at the heart of that rigging was a Sony A7S2. So the day has come... hell has indeed frozen over. A humble prosumer camera can be used to shoot a Hollywood feature. Now if anamorphic lenses would follow suit, we would really be in business.

I generally use a preset as a starting point and then make a couple of tweaks. There are not currently any camera profiles for the Nikon Z6 in FilmConvert. I think the WB was set to Shade.

So I was playing with some footage from the Nikon Z6 and did quick grade with both FilmConvert and Magic Bullet Looks. Im curious which you feel looks more convincing.

There are definitely workarounds for this issue. One might be use a mic without a poor signal.

Have fun with that in post. Personally I’ll be happy with 12 bit Raw in downsampled 4K 24p. I doubt this sensor will see the light of day in a hybrid.

I think he misses the point at the end. Neither of the cameras he mentions are FF with 10 bit output. Iirc only the Nikon Z can currently do FF 10 bit out? Personally, I’m liking the output from the Z more than the competition right now. That might change. The new Panasonic and Fuji offerings look compelling. I wonder if Sony will sit this one out? I don’t think they’ll have a choice but to answer.

Yep, I bought the Osmo mobile, moment lenses... actually have gotten some use out of them... and the Moondog labs anamorphic adapter. It's a bother carrying everything... so I don't. It's all too fiddly. This sounds like a better solution.

Nah, haven't had time. Been crazy busy this week.

For me there is no dilemma, I've had various smartphone gimbals for years and have never really loved the image quality from smartphones. We own both Android and Apple's flagship phones. From what I have seen of the footage from this little gimbal so far, it blows away smartphones.