Zak Forsman

Was considering a GH5s as a b-cam to my EVA1, but maybe I'll rent that as needed and pre-order this for March. I *do* miss having the option to shoot FF video. It was the one regret in moving away from my 5D3 with Magic Lantern. Fingers crossed that it *will* offer FF video but also a Super35 crop mode. That's just about all the versatility I'd need.

yep, i use the same method as Kye. the occasional drawback is you can't generate a LUT from anything with an OpenFX plugin in it if you wanted to create a monitoring LUT for whatever reason. To get around that, you could generate a transformative LUT at to use in place of the DaVinci Color Space Transform plugin. https://cameramanben.github.io/LUTCalc/LUTCalc/index.html

EVA1 has a 1.5x crop Super35 sensor and does not crop or window up to 120fps in full DCI 2K (not just HD), but does crop to m43 for 240fps. it also will shoot 2K 10-bit up to 120fps, but 8-bit for 240fps.

I think they are pretty even in terms of noise. This is speculation on my part (because i'm too lazy to look it up) but I believe the EVA1 at 5.7K would have smaller photosites packed onto the sensor, so while you get a more detailed image than the C200, you also get more noise at higher ISOs. So my gut tells me that the dual ISO is just bringing it back to acceptable levels for a more even match, rather than pulling ahead of the crowd.

you're from new zealand? that's awesome. I've been here two months with three weeks to go. I wish i had more time to explore. we have a trip to queenstown scheduled before we go. but i've been cutting and shooting out of park road post in wellington and have been working through nearly every weekend to make deadlines. doesn't leave much time for anything else. still, i love it here. that music is a track I got off Artlist.io. I have a subscription. As for the color rendition, I think Canon's emphasis on great skin tone brings an amazing "living photograph" quality to their imaging. It's fantastic. For me, it was between an EVA1 and C200. Made a list of what I thought "won" in over a dozen categories and it was close. but ultimately I chose the EVA1 for its color fidelity, more detailed image, actual 2K rather than HD, and its finer noise character.

My wife and I have been working in Wellington, New Zealand for the last two months (shooting and cutting behind the scenes for a movie) and finally got a weekend to go explore. We drove onto a ferry to the south island and made our way along its northern coast to Golden Bay. I brought my EVA1 & Gratical Eye with me. Sadly, I couldn't shoot some of the amazing hikes we went on due to heavy rain, but got some good stuff nonetheless. Most of this is DCI 2K in 10-bit 422 All-I at 120fps. At least two clips are scaled down from DCI 4K at 23.976. Lenses were my Contax Zeiss 35mm & 85mm. Both modded with a 2x oval fixed aperture for a faux anamorphic look. Everything was composed for 2.39:1. Graded in DaVinci. Couldn’t spend as much time on it as I wanted to because of work. Might revisit when I have more time. Sweet as. The North Side of the South Island - New Zealand

More stills from the same short that I posted about earlier. EVA1. Kowa BH 2x anamorphic, Voigtlander 40mm f2 EF mount taking lens. This grade is a first pass I did for the HD proxies my wife will use to cut the film.

Other: Sound Devices 702T.

Finally shot a short film of my own this weekend. Playing with the grade in DaVinci while my wife begins the edit it in her cutting room. EVA1, V-Log, Kowa B&H, Rectilux 3FF-W, Voigtländer 40mm f/2 taking lens.

downloaded it. bought some expansion packs. awesome.

We just had an interview graded with the director of a big franchise release that was shot on an A7RII in SLog. Producer says he was surprised because this shooter was supposed to bring an FS7. The interviewee was wearing a black shirt that was reflecting some purple/pink gelled light (the movie has a vibrant color palette) but the shadows were a disaster because of this. Noise, no tonality, just crunchy garbage. There was also a skin tone issue with a lack of tonality between yellows and pinks. Colorist did what he could to clean it up. Keep an eye open for an HBO First Look debuting in a week to see what i mean.

haha! i still poke my head in here to see what's going on, but I've been cutting a special for HBO since the first of the year that's been keeping me busy. we just delivered it yesterday and am looking forward to finding some time to shoot. In mid-january I was the cinematographer on a short performance piece. EVA1, contax-zeiss 35mm f/1.4 modded with an internal 2x oval aperture. Also, we've been prepping for the release of our latest feature (I didn't direct this one) shot on two GH4s.

dammit. had my hopes up briefly about the dynamic range. but this is the only side by side test of dynamic range i've seen and despite matt frazer's assertion that the GH5s is 14 stops at native ISOs, I don't see much (if any) of a difference here from the GH5. highlight roll-off is certainly better, but I still think there has been a miscommunication inside Panasonic that conflated "two more usable stops" due to better noise performance, with, "two additional stops" that would raise it to 14 stops total. not a huge loss in the grand scheme of things, i guess.

the extra $500 is the "you know you fuckin want it" tax.

yep, fingers firmly crossed. I'm looking at it not for the low light sensitivity (I very rarely need to go higher than !SO 2500), but because color appears to have been improved over the GH5. the yellow bias in skintones looks like it may have been rectified. and the highlight roll-off is much more pleasant. but if the sharpening is still too high, or if the lag on the HDMI out is the same, i don't know... i might take a flier on this one too.

oh yeah, the GH series is definitely well-suited to your needs. but the notion that one camera "beats" another is pretty dumb. we all know you choose the tool that suits your needs, and yet, we see comments like: the GH5S's low light ability "redeems" panasonic for the EVA1. it doesn't do that any more than a new coffee maker from Panasonic redeems their latest espresso machine for being too complicated -- some people need the flexibility to pull the perfect espresso shot, others want to hit one button to make coffee. it's not a competition. FYI -- Jon, i don't know if you use Resolve but the NR they implemented in v12.5 is inches away from what Neat Video can do, but a lot easier to work with. It's pretty darn good. hopefully youtube isn't hiding the same issue and this Venus Engine's NR is an improvement over the GH5. fingers firmly crossed.

haha, no you're not alone. but that doesn't make it so cut and dry. the GH5S's Venus Engine employs noise reduction at high ISOs that can't be turned off. The EVA1 has a NR option but it can be left off so noise reduction can be dialed in perfectly in post. No doubt the GH5S is a fantastic camera and looks great at these high ISOs, but some flexibility has been sacrificed. And the EVA1 clearly beats it in a number of image categories from color gamut to image detail to dynamic range and highlight roll-off. From the Panasonic GH5S site...

...a close second is being potty trained.

Adam Wilt provides what I'd say is probably the best review of the camera. Not "best" as in positive. I mean "best" as in the most comprehensive without exaggerating the impact of its highlights or shortcomings. Just straightforward reporting of his findings. Definitely a worthy read for any owners or potential buyers. https://www.provideocoalition.com/review-panasonic-au-eva1-4k-cine-camera/

Saying it outperforms at high ISOs seems obvious on the surface, but it's not that simple. Keep in mind that the GH series has 4 available stops over middle gray. The EVA1 has 6 stops over middle gray. You could overexpose the EVA1 by two stops and still have the same amount of room in the highlights that the GH5S has. and it will look just as good or better when you bring it back down in post. Also The GH5S is likely employing NR at higher ISOs, the EVA1 isn't. Giving you more flexibility to remove it with greater precision in post. Beyond that the EVA1 also gives you more dynamic range, more detailed resolution by oversampling from 5.7k, V-Gamut offers a much wider color gamut, no lag from the HDMI output, and no internal sharpening. The EVA1 definitely has its shortcomings, but there remains many advantages for it over the GH series.

yeah, don't know if this has been confirmed yet (and I certainly haven't seen for myself) but word I'm hearing is that the GH5S employs noise reduction at higher ISOs. The EVA1 doesn't, letting you dial in the amount of NR you want perfectly in post.

yep, that’s possible. and check this out... this is from the GH5, and recently posted on facebook to make the point that you can adjust the highlight knee, but if you showed these to someone without that info they’d assume one had higher dynamic range.

ok, you typed 12 in your last comment, but I see that wasn't intentional.

huh? what makes you think the EVA1 only has 12? It's 14. What makes the EVA1 worth the price is that it has more dynamic range, more detailed resolution, a much wider color gamut, no lag in the HDMI output, and you're not stuck with sharpening being on all the time.