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mercer

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Everything posted by mercer

  1. 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.
  2. mercer

    Camcorders

    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.
  3. 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?
  4. mercer

    Camcorders

    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.
  5. Nah, you've been most helpful... One may say you're even a little more than semi terrific. Seriously though, I really appreciate your help. This is why I comment so much at this forum... It's filled with helpful filmmakers with a passion for the craft, both technically and creatively.
  6. Ha, I clicked down to the native ISO and never even tried going lower than 500... Now I know I can't. Really great info here. I only used it for about an hour or two, but even with my short time with it, I already remember that fun feeling it was to shoot with my t2i or eos-m... For that alone it's great. @Mattias Burling has a few good review videos of the XC10 and I remember being impressed with the Wide DR as well. A lot to ingest... Looks like I have some work ahead of me... The fun kind. Thanks again, I may pop into this thread with more questions though... Hope you don't mind?
  7. I know, my purchases are getting out of hand. This time last year I couldn't dream of affording an XC10, no matter how much I wanted one. And then on my quest for my perfect camera and lenses, I acquired enough gear to resell for enough money to afford it this year... It's my own weird savings account. But now, I still have a bunch of lenses to sell and I still need a good interchangeable lens camera. I'll probably just get an Alexa next year... Seriously though, I am probably leaning towards the GX85 for my interchangeable lens camera, but I'm gonna wait and see what Canon releases at Photokina. One of my favorite things about my first outing with the XC10 for a couple hours yesterday was it reminded me of the good old days with Canon, so I'm intrigued to see what the new eos-m4 will bring, plus the rumored full frame mirrorless that Canon is supposed to release.
  8. @tomsemiterrific I have read that some users of the XC10 use the native 500 ISO, even in full daylight, to get the cleanest image, when possible. Have you noticed this to be true? Yesterday, I really needed some added ND in this bright summer sun we've been getting this year in the Northeast, but I imagine the built in ND may have sufficed at the lowest ISO... Especially with this lens, which seems to be a couple zooms in one... A 24-70mm f/4, a 75-240mm f/5.6 or a 24-240mm f/5.6, and then ride the ISO or fader ND for exposure. It took me a few minutes to get the hang of it, but for run and gun it seems it could be the best way to utilize it?
  9. @PannySVHS Thanks for the kind words. That was the last video I did before I realized I knew absolutely nothing about "proper" video production. Sometimes I think it was better knowing nothing and trusting my gut, than the little I know now. "The girl is a woman and would spank Bobby´s tush if he would say "This is this and that is that".:)" HAHAHAHAHA!!!! "You... You." Man you are the best. Seriously, you have one of the best attitudes on this forum and are a laugh riot. I always look forward to your posts!!! As Matthew McConaughey said the last time we hung out shirtless... "Keep on keepin' on."
  10. Thanks a lot. This is extremely helpful... And just because I post a lot here, just means I have too much time on my hands. Ha. Actually, I am here to learn and get better, so I appreciate the detailed response. Thanks again... I love this little camera.
  11. Hey Toms, I just received my XC10 a couple days ago and had my first go with it yesterday. Since you seem pretty experienced with it and c-log, I have a question or two you may be able to help me with. You seem to appreciate the 4K coming out of this camera... Why wouldn't you... It's gorgeous. But as Andrew's review states, the 1080p is some of the best around with some added features like the 5-Axis ibis and auto functions. So, with that being said, I edit only in 1080p, is it better to shoot with the more robust codec of the 4K and convert to 1080p before I edit, or just shoot in 1080p? Also, I am new to c-log, and I thought you were supposed to ETTR c-log, but with my zebras set to 100, most ETTRd footage ended up overexposed without the latitude to pull it back down in post. ETTC consistently looked good, but I don't want to limit my DR if there is a better way... Any tips?
  12. mercer

    Camcorders

    Yeah, it's definitely parfocal, so a crash zoom should work great. If you keep it at 5.6 and then attach a follow focus lever to the zoom ring, you can probably get some smooth zoom pulls. As far as IBIS, I have really shaky hands... I smoke too much and drink too much coffee, so my hands are all over the place and it was completely steady. I never used an Olympus, so I couldn't say for sure. One of the reasons why I wanted the XC10, is because I briefly had the Panny FZ300 and prior to the XC10, it was the funnest camera I ever owned, but unfortunately the IQ wasn't that great. Well that had the 5-Axis ibis in 1080p and the xc10 is just as good. I assume the 5-Axis in the fz300 1080p is the same as the 5-Axis in the GX85 4K, and from reading that thread, it seems they're comparable. I am going back out on Monday, so I will probably post some screen grabs or a small video by mid week.
  13. Very cool @PannySVHS I need to sit down and watch some tutorials, because every time I color I just go at it blind... Sometimes I think I literally have my eyes closed. Lol. i know what you mean about lenses. I've had a few mint lenses that I felt bad taking them out of their box. I've even bought duplicates sometimes. Yeah I noticed the FDs love greens. If you like cooler colors, you should give Minolta MCs a try. The 35mm f/1.8 is the most gorgeous lens I ever used. The bokeh is crazy creamy smooth. This was a couple years back with the 35mm 1.8 and maybe a couple shots with the 50mm 1.4 on my eos-m. The sound is horrible so don't leave the volume too high. BTW, you like that Hula Girl, don't you... What would Bobby say?
  14. mercer

    Camcorders

    Plus I must admit, I did miss the option for some shallow depth at 50mm, but I was able to go to the long end and get some. The bokeh is a little haphazard, yet creamy... Kinda strange but not bad.
  15. mercer

    Camcorders

    Build quality is superb. As Mattias has said a couple times, everything's in the menus but everything is right at your fingertips, so it's pretty simple. The twisting hand grip makes it really comfortable on the wrist, but my index finger naturally wants to sit right at the record button so I accidentally hit it a couple times. Am also not used to exposing c-log. I thought you were supposed to ETTR with c-log but with zebras set to 100, when I ETTRd I found it easily overexposed and I wasn't able to pull it back down in post. A few of the shots, I ettc and they looked great with a decent amount of latitude to open or close the image in post without any noise. The 1080p c-log is gorgeous, traditional canon colors with way more DR. The lens' sweet spot is around 5.6, like most lenses, and the aperture closes down to 3.7 by 35mm, at 50mm it's at f4. The built in ND is good but on a real sunny day you need a little more. I will probably look into getting one of them xume adapters so I can just put a fader nd on it quickly when necessary. The ibis is awesome. I was able to get in so many places and positions and it held tripod steady. With slight movements you can get some pans, tilts and if real careful you can walk a little but any type of normal stride and it becomes Jell-O shots... And not the good kind.
  16. mercer

    Camcorders

    Took her out this morning and the manual zoom is so nice, you don't really miss the power zoom. With a quick flick of the wrist, you can go from 24-70mm. The focus ring is better than I thought it would be after hearing all the horror stories about it. It's decent on the long end to get some shallow depth. Apparently, it also function in auto mode, where you slightly turn the focus ring and then it automatically finishes the rack for you. Haven't tested it yet but it looked great on the videos I've seen.
  17. Yeah that FD looks nice. If you ever come across one, pick up the Canon FD 35-70mm. I think it's a 3.5 constant aperture. Internal zoom mechanism. Little focus breathing. Beautiful little lens. I sold off most of my FD lenses, but I kept that one and the FL 35mm f/3.5... Another hidden gem with nice warmth. How did you do that hula hoop in the dark trick? So far, so good with the XC10. I took her out this morning for a spin. And I'll tell you what, it's nice to have the 4K, but the 1080p is so nice on this cam, am not sure how often I'll use the 4K.
  18. This looks great!!! I should take color finale lessons from you, because this is the look I have been trying to get and usually come up short. Do you uses LUTS, curves, vector?
  19. Hey Panny. Look at you surrounded by all the ladies. Good on you. I really liked the hula hoop girl colors. Those shots are pretty psychedelic, they remind me of some scary, trippy horror movie.
  20. Yeah, you ain't kidding. I added two ticks of the sharpen effect in FCPX to c-log and it was so sharp, I disabled it.
  21. Got my XC10 last night. Took it out this morning. Cool camera. I noticed in c-log, with zebras set at 100 and ettr, I wasn't able to pull back the highlights. It looked beautiful ettc. Just wondering if there are any c-log exposure tricks I'm unaware of?
  22. Yeah, that the new Adam Wingard film. Supposedly everybody knew he was making a found footage film but nobody knew it was the sequel to Blair Witch.
  23. mercer

    Camcorders

    Very good points and I totally agree with you. The images out of even entry level DSLRs offer the shallow depth of field that is associated with modern cinema. Of course, you can get a little bit of shallow depth with a small sensor camera, if you compose your shots accordingly... always keeping something in the foreground. But also lighting can be used to add that depth if needed. But, by no means am I advocating for people to sell their dslrs and cinema cams for camcorders, I am just excited... surprised to see how far they have come and with their current feature sets could be an amazing tool for the run and gun filmmaker that just wants to tell a story and is not a cinematographer.
  24. mercer

    Camcorders

    But for really young filmmakers just starting out in video and they want to make short films with their friends, it seems like a camcorder is a no brainer. Of course, people are making feature films with iPhones nowadays, and they're getting released in theaters, so a small sensor camcorder must be a step up from that. Btw, my XC10 finally showed up. I didn't have much tim to play with it, but I did go through the menus and fiddled with it a little... definitely the nicest camera I ever owned... well built and insanely ergonomic... the ibis is stellar... even on the long end.
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