DBounce

So I finally got some batteries for the Tilta Nucleus M and took a few quick shots with it. You can check it out below:

Watch this scene back to back with the scene from Collateral, you will be unimpressed. As a reproduction is lacks the dynamic of the original scene. They might have tried using a dolly, or slider. Also, the image looks too sharp and digital... lacks the organic look of the original. I do still like the camera, and I feel it was a great effort on the part of The Camera store, but the original work is head and shoulder beyond this. Just keeping it real.

At 1.46Mp this thing isn't even HD resolution much less 4k. And assuming this comes out in 2020, by that time expect a 8k sensor with GS and per pixel volt regulation for true realtime HDR on the Panasonic GH6. Color me unimpressed with this announcement.

The X-H1 is an interesting camera for video. I have mixed feeling about it. On the one hand I do like the body, handling, at least from what I have seen so far. But if falls short in serval key areas... I would have loved this to have been a 10 bit camera. I believe that is where the industry is heading. Also 4k 60p would have been a nice addition. Not that I shoot a lot of slow-mo, but it is nice to have the option. That said, I did not mind the footage coming out of this camera. So here is my takeaway... I like it, but not enough to buy it. My GH5, GH5s and 1DXMk2 are enough to handle my needs for now. With the addition of the Tilta Nucleus-M, I am no longer worried about AF on the GH cameras... I simply won't use it. If did not own any other cameras and was building a kit from the ground up, I think in this price range I would opt for the GH5. That is if video was my focus. Other than that the Fuji is an interesting option.

Even with the mighty 1DXMk2, AF when left to camera may have unintended results. With lessor AF systems... which is pretty much everything else that is not using Canon's DPAF system, well, it's somewhat less than perfect. As I see it, we are starting to see some interesting options in this area. Manual focus is always an option, but has limitations. To this end I give you the Tilta Nucleus M. I recently picked one up in hopes that it could help me to vanquish focus woes once and for all. This unit paired with the Panasonic GH5s has the potential to make a formidable filmmaking/doc work combination. From my primarily experience I can tell you the system seems very well screwed together. Solid, in a way that few products are these days. Everything is metal. Even the battery doors are metal. The motors are high torque and tunable for different lenses. I have to say this system seems very complete. I will be digging into it in detail over the next few weeks and months and will offer feedback if the community is interested. PS: A couple of notes... Point 1. The unit does not come with batteries, and will only work with unprotected cell button top 18650 batteries. I generally use protected cell batteries, and as this was not mentioned online, believed I had batteries already. Needless to say, I am now waiting for batteries so I can fire up the unit. These batteries are the one recommended by Tilta. Point 2. You may find that the included lemo cables are a bit short. I purchase a second one from here.

This has been available for a couple years now. Aputure makes such a ND. You can buy it at all the major retailers.

It’s amazing tech, but in that image it looks surreal. Human eyeballs do not see like that. We have to choose which to expose for, highlights or shadows. Then our pupils adjust to the subject. I love the option, but it’s something we will need to learn to use.

Looks like Panasonic has created a new sensor technology that is earmarked for the GH6. This new sensor can adjust sensitivity of each pixel individually using the per pixel ND function. And all of this is done at 8k resolution. From the press release: “Panasonic Develops Industry’s-First*1 8K High-Resolution, High-Performance Global Shutter Technology using Organic-Photoconductive-Film CMOS Image Sensor The new technology enables 8K high resolution and high picture quality imaging without motion distortion, even in extremely bright scenes.“ You can read more here.

@Andrew Reid so you expect this on GH8? I think we will just seeing GH6 by 2020. Also at 1/3 the price is still going to be $25k-30k, so not exactly cheap if we are talking 8k Red cameras.

Why would I assume? Because PB has stated at the beginning of videos that there are exceptions where he will take pay to promote a product. Do you really think he worked the Kinefinity booth for two days for free?

The Samsung S lens was a fantastic lens. Sansung has the resources to put out some great glass... if the choose. Fitment of the handgrip was poor... substandard. Don’t know how it ever passed QC. Samsung doesn’t need to focus on its strengths... it has those nailed down pretty well. Better QC, flash unit, lens selection. All would go a long way to improve they system. I doubt they will keep the lens mount. It was an area of much contention. I would be surprised to see a new NX camera. I would certainly be happy to see it, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

I was thinking of using it as a field monitor and recorder. It is designed to display and record HDR upto DCI 60p. So I would imagine it would be ok for this purpose.

Mostly I edit on a MacBook Pro... 2017 model. I switch sometime ago to FCPX as it seems much faster than PP.

Reading over Mystery Boxes writeup about shooting HDR on the GH5/s it seems they make a strong case for the Atomos products. They have built in HDR monitors and a recorder for less than the price of the smallest SmallHD HDR monitor. I need to do some back to back shooting comparing this to the GH5 (a great camera in it's own right). I think the edge as a video camera, will have to go to the GH5s. Slightly more cinematic (if that is still a thing). And definitely better in low-light, but that topic has been covered sufficiently. As a general purpose camera the GH5 remains a top pick. The two cameras sort of compliment each other. I say sort of because the color science is different on the 'S'... I think it might lean more towards the EVA1 than the GH5. Which is... ? Well lets just say it's not optimal if you currently have GH5 also. I would hope that Panasonic can address this in firmware. Both cameras should match. The HLG assist I did not really know about, or more to the point was more likely something I heard about and glossed over. It's possible I made a mistake. There definitely a learning curve to shooting HDR, but I am thinking it is something we are all going to need to master in the near term. Most flagship smartphones can display HDR. As can most Mid to high-end TVs.

That's what it looked like in camera also... and on the SmallHD Focus monitor.

I plan to test VLog-L also, but I’m starting to feel like under most circumstances HLG might be the better choice. And since FCPX’s newest update makes HDR content easy to deal with I believe the reasons to favor it over VLog-L are justified. The problem with VLog-L on the GH5 and ‘S’ is that they are abbreviated versions, not full VLog. So crazy highlight recovery like what I posted is likely not possible with VLog-L. I have to admit, when I shot that footage and bought it into post I thought nothing short of raw could recover those blown out whites. I really didn’t think the data was there. But apparently HLG is pretty data rich. So the take away is protect the shadows, the highlights have a pretty good chance at being bought back.

First test with HLG on the the GH5s.

Well the UPS man just dropped off the GH5s, and I can tell you from my first experience with HLG on the GH5s, if you favor the shadows and blow out the highlights there are gobs of data to recover those highlights with.

I think HLG has greater usable DR than VLog-L, but it is less flat. So if DR is your goal, and light grading will suffice, HLG might be your best option.

Congrats on the new camera.

Well honestly, HLG makes a big difference on the GH5 also. But comparing the GH5S VLog-L to HGL, I am still going to give the win to HGL. What do you think?

Ok, just viewed it on a 4k monitor... wow, that's night and day. But I think we are not comparing this to HGL. In a high contrast scene, on the same camera (GH5S), I think HGL will prove superior. Granted, I did not realize how much color noise there was in the GH5's image at 6400 ISO, I just knew it always looked like garbage to me, so I never used it. Heck, I had my ISO lock to a maximum of 1600 on the GH5.

I’m on my smartphone, so not sure I’m gonna see it on this tiny screen. What are you seeing?

I honestly cannot tell any discernible difference comparing these two. But in scenes with a lot of contrast I have to think HGL on the GH5S is going to have the edge.

I could be wrong, but I'm starting to feel like the GH5S is a camera that should be used mostly in HLG mode. Whereas, I never really messed with HLG on the GH5. If this is the case, this further differentiates the 'S' from the regular GH5.