mercer

Did you work on "Catherine?"

"Well, if it's like before, then I'll need to use them." HAHAHAHA!!!!

Well, let me start by saying, I really liked the G7... but so far, I love the XC10... but I miss interchangeable lenses. But this is a long story for me... and it may be boring for you... Last year around this time I had just my eos-m, then the lure of 4K and a ridiculously cheap price tag brought me to pick up an NX500. I had a love hate relationship with the camera. By the time I started finding it's sweet spot, the G7 went on sale. Since I had a small collection of c-mount lenses, and the bundle came with a Rode VideoMic Pro I jumped on it. The NX500 was a little sharper and shot in Cinema 4K, but the ease of use and external mic plug in led me to use the G7 way more than the NX500... so I sold the Samsung. Shortly after that I decided to pick up the FZ300 for family stuff and I liked a lot of the features... I loved that camera. Without a doubt it was the most fun camera to go out and shoot with, but the IQ just wasn't there. Still happy with my G7, and my lenses, I just went on writing some shorts and planning some shoots. One of the shorts I wrote required some slow motion. I had read that the Nikon D5500 had really nice and clean 1080p both in 24p and 60p... all of the videos I saw online confirmed that. And since I had a small collection of Nikkor lenses, i thought it would be the perfect option... it was out for over a year and I figured the price would be well below $500 for a body only... even if it was grey market. Well it wasn't... the cheapest I could find at the time was refurbished for $600... which was a little more than I wanted to spend for a camera I would probably only use for one short and then I realized the BMMCC had come out and was getting glowing reviews for it's 60p... Once again I was lured in by the promise of natively shooting ProRes and Raw, so I sold a few things and bought one. For the first month I loved the camera... I was able to use old Kern Paillard lenses and the Raw image is just stunning... as is the ProRes... but it is literally the most unenjoyable camera to shoot with. I prefer to shoot handheld or with a monopod and the form factor of the BMMCC is not suited for handheld once you rig the camera up with even just the bare essentials. And the battery life is simply horrible. You cannot leave a battery attached to the camera, because it will drain almost as fast with the camera off as it does with the camera on in standby and the batteries take 2+ hours to charge, so you really have to prep your kit the morning before a shoot, so you can charge half a dozen batteries... But the image is just damn gorgeous. After a while I just got burnt out using it. It wasn't any fun rigging it up every time I went out to shoot... or break it down if I was moving to a different location. Since I consider myself a run and gun shooter, all spontaneity ran out the door because it was such a hassle to quickly reset shots... for me. Other shooters who are more used to rigs and the proper way of shooting narratives are probably fine with it... but for me... it's just not an option any more. Then one day I was reading eos hd and I came upon Andrew's review of the XC10. Now mind you, I was in love with this camera when it was released... I may have been the only one. Over time, every negative I had about the camera faded away as more and more footage emerged. Basically my buying and selling of cameras and lenses over the past year put me in a unique position to afford the XC10 this year. So, after a little more research, I jumped in head first last week. I have only shot with it for a couple hours, but I enjoyed every second of it. I have been mostly shooting with the 1080p C-Log, but the couple test shots I did do in 4K... I was pretty impressed. Now I just have to learn how to expose C-Log properly... I'm starting to get the hang of it and how to grade it properly... I'll probably never get the hang of it. Finally, I originally intended to keep the micro and use it for really small, contained shorts. I have a few short film ideas that are only a couple minutes long. But after using the XC10, I don't think I could go back to the Micro, I think I would feel stifled. This leaves me without an interchangeable lens camera... Hmm? I love my lenses and I know eventually I will want to use them again. If I had to purchase another camera today... which I won't... I am leaning towards either the GX85 or maybe I'll stay with the Canon family and pick up a used C100... I actually bid on one the day after I used C-Log for the first time, but I didn't win it... maybe next time. Sorry for the long post. Basically, 5-axis ibis and IQ trumps the G7... even with the ability to change lenses. I also think the internal 4k to 1080 downscale, of the XC10 is better, to my eyes, than the internal 4K of the G7, with post downscale to 1080p. The G7 wins in the shallow depth category and with that in the lowlight category. The GX85 seems to have a better image than the G7 and it has 5-axis... but no mic input. It seems like there is no perfect camera out there, but the XC10 is the closest i have come to thus far. It seems like the GX80/85 owners feel the same about that camera... if it had the mic input, I may have chosen that over the XC10. Again sorry for the long, and boring, post but these things are so subjective, I wanted to give the history of how I got here... which may help people understand why I inevitably chose the XC10 over the G7, GX85 and BMMCC.

Okay, I watched the second part and I still can't believe that was the t2i... it's so clean. What lens(es) did you use for the exterior woods scenes... because Part 2, after the camcorder footage interview of Scary Boy, looks really good... was that the NIkkor lens, or did you grade it slightly different? As a whole I enjoyed it. It's goofy and silly and ridiculous, but kinda in a good way. I think it's shot very well. The cabin scene was great... the look, the shots, the editing... good stuff. The acting was fine, some actors were better than others, but this is a hard piece to judge acting because the material is intended to be goofy, so that goofiness is built into the performances as well. It's really kind of a hard short to critique due to the subject matter and intended tone. It's like we discussed earlier... If I were to say it is kinda dumb... which it is... the response would be or could be... "It's supposed to be." So there's an excuse built into the framework of the movie if anyone dislikes it... Well Played! Seriously though, I was definitely entertained!!! I could go on and say that I didn't like that Scary Boy talked, it took away from the mystery that is Scary Boy, especially since you used his character as the Sage and Antagonist. If I was part of your inner circle, I would have suggested that maybe it was a tad long and some of the set up scenes could have been condensed or cut from the short altogether. I think you skated a thin line, pretty successfully, between cheesy good and cheesy bad and on occasion it dipped to either side and sometimes it dipped to both sides at the same time. Honestly, if anyone gave a critique that it is weird, it is probably their way of saying they didn't like it. But I think it's also an indicator of what types of movies those people like because this short lives or dies within the viewer's subjectivity.

Yeah, I noticed the macroblocking too. I transferred the footage to ProRes 422 via EditReady before I brought it into FCPX and then I exported as a JPEG screengrab, so I'll check the footage on the card and see what's up. What program do you use for color... It looks pretty good. I'm not sure I understand this... The XC10 was always marketed as a professional camcorder. It's described as such in all of their literature. It's listed with other professional camcorders at most stores. It shares the "C" moniker with the C line of cinema camcorders. The reviewers decided to compare it to hybrids, but Canon has been pretty consistent with what it is.

Obviously, it's our job to wade through the nonsense, but when the nonsense is "proven" true...

A vertical stripe? Yeah I do see that now that you mention it... good eye. Unfortunately, no I have no idea what it is... quite possibly an insect... it is pretty swampy out there. And yeah, it looked blown out to me too, that's why I was surprised you got the bluish/green... good fix. Zebras at 70% and it's still hard to not blow out the highlights in this mid afternoon sun. Have a go at this one, if you want. Here's my version...

Where are the results of this test? Lots of tests over the years, but the results are nowhere to be found, yet claimed to be proven true? Since I am a new XC10 owner, I have been researching proper C-Log exposure. All of my research goes against this theory, yet this post is on the first page of the Google search.

Good workflow. Thanks. I always find it very helpful to see before and afters and then the modus operandi. I have a lot of similar shots in a short I am working on. I am not that proficient with color, so these little tips are priceless. Thanks again.

Anyone feel free. This looks good. You were able to bring the hazy blue out of the sky... That's what I'm attempting this morning.

Actually, I just bought the XC10, love it. And I was saying that I need to sit down and really learn color grading the correct way, because my attempts thus far has been just dabbling and poking at it. Some people are naturals at it, I am not one of those people. And here is my first attempts at grading c-log. I don't love either of them but I can tell I really like c-log. Anyway, I should have a few minutes to watch the rest of your short today... Am looking forward to it.

I didn't know much about the af100 until recently. I know it gets a bad rap around here, but some of the videos I've seen with it look great and they can be had for 800 bucks or less now. The whole festival game is so hit and miss. My friend is a festival director at a small fest and he has told me they will accept lesser shorts due to their shorter run time before they will take better longer shorts. A lot of politics and scheduling.

I also just started messing with mojo a little as well. And you're right the sliders are pretty nice.

Feel free to give it a go... I'd like to see what you can do with it.

I'm using Color Finale in FCPX, color wheels to balance the color, and curves... Master curve for exposure... Usually a slight s curve and then I will tweak the RGB curves a little as well.

Very cool. I had my first day with my XC10 today. I am so bad at color though. Also don't forget the simplest of canon profiles... ProLost Flat.

So I had a good run with the camera today and I am pretty pleased with it. The 5-Axis is almost steady cam level... Not quite because I don't want to over play it, but I was able to track with my actor pretty darn well. Here's my first attempt at trying to color some c-log... And here is my graded version.

Some people don't get the stupid on purpose concept. When in actuality, if someone told you it was kinda dumb, it would kinda be a compliment. I thought the acting was pretty decent too. Of course the main character is annoying, but again that's the point. Napoleon Dymamite was annoying too and that movie made a ton. I'll tell you what, everybody rags on Canon, but the t2i's image still holds up. I actually thought you used something higher end, like an af100 or something. Of course, I just picked up an XC10, and am drooling over a c100 I saw on eBay, so I have a rekindled love for Canon right now.

That's a whole lotta camera for $800 though. I know there are some mixed reactions for the AF100 on this site, but I have seen some beautiful videos made with it.

Good on you. I am a writer first but I hate sitting down to write. I watched the extended tease to your Carte Blanche film a few weeks ago. It looks good, reminds me of something from the mumblecore movement... Not to pigeonhole it, it just felt reminiscent of that. Btw, If you really like Kendy Ty's video look, he sells the picture profile he developed for his t2i on his website. Oh yeah, what camera did you shoot Carte Blanche with?

Btw, that video link doesn't work. Yeah, I did. But I am gonna buy another one. 100 euro will be tight for that lens, but you can probably find one.

I came upon this XC10 video, on YouTube, a few days back and it was one of the deciding factors for me to hit buy.

That's awesome. My newest quest for my perfect camera was born from watching some Kendy Ty videos and seeing what he does with so little. My first camera was a t2i, so had already been there and wanted to try something new. My original plan was to get a D5500 and use basically only my 28mm f2 Nikkor... One of my favorite lenses of all time. My real motivation was a simple 1080p set up that shot clean 24p and 60p. When I was about ready to buy it, I started seeing videos from the micro and thought... Well for only a little more I can get a micro and shoot raw. As I have said before... It's a great camera but not for me. So here I am, I may still pick up that D5500 because I need a camera to fulfil my lens obsession.

I'm not gonna lie, I've only had time to watch part 1. But I found it as a whole... charismatic in a goofy kind of way. It reminds me of cheesy 80s movies that were cheesy on purpose. Maybe even an unseen film by Savage Steve Holland... Director of Better off Dead and One Crazy Summer. I'll give a more thorough review when I get a chance to watch both parts. But so far, so good. I know exactly the tone you're going for and appreciate that kind of film. Makes me feel like a kid again. Just for context, did you write, direct, shoot and edit it?

Yup, that's why I bought the XC10. I almost went with G40, just to go real old school, but the bigger sensor, 4K and c-log is worth the extra $700. We did the same kind of stuff. My buddy is just finishing editing an epic he shot on an old Sony miniDV and an HV20. He started shooting it over a decade ago and then life happened, and production slowed up. But the point is all of the footage I've seen from it looks fantastic. Point being in the end, a filmmaker can tell a story with any camera and it is very cool to see so many options around.