Parker

I hate to be "the NX1 guy" in this thread ha (I'm actually suprised none of the usual suspects have piped up yet)... But it might be worth looking into the NX1, or the even cheaper NX500 for that matter, both produce lovely, sharp 60p (and gorgeous 120p as well!) with minimal moire/aliasing, crazy low rolling shutter, and decent enough lowlight performance with a fast lens, which you're obviously interested in, i.e. shallow dof, or you wouldn't care so much about sensor size. I have no idea what they'd go for down under, but there are lots of gently used ones around for pennies. Our very own forum member Lucabutera is selling some awesome NX-L speedboosters that he has crafted as well, I have one, which gives the camera about a 1.1x crop. Seems like it'd fit your parameters pretty spectacularly. Best of luck!

@mercer I used to have a 70D that I used with ML, including on some paid projects. Lenses with IS work just fine with raw recording, either MLV or the older RAW files, there's no difference. I never noticed any battery issues either, seemed the same to me, and yes, aperture priority would work just fine. Basically, magically lantern doesn't prevent you from doing anything the camera already does normally. Granted, this was a couple of years ago that I was using it, they were nightly builds right after the 70D port was released, I sold the camera shortly thereafter, but if you have to use a canon dslr, ML is the only thing that makes it remotely tolerable to use in my opinion, especially the peaking, zebras, audio meters, and built in time lapse functions. Raw with sexy dual pixel af is definitely pretty sweet tho! Best of luck.

I know exactly what you mean Ricardo. Definitely the most boring part of shooting weddings, since a lot of the reception/post wedding party stuff is so routine, paint-by-numbers "get this shot, then that shot." But it's always useful to see how other people switch things up to try and keep things interesting!

I'm in the same boat, I probably would have already bought a mavic by now, but they're still not really available anywhere, which is pretty frustrating. I almost pulled the trigger on a phantom 4 pro the other day, but despite the increased sensor size and big boost in IQ, I'm just not sure I want to lug around another heavy backpack with me on shoots, because I know from past experience that if it's inconvenient to carry along, I won't use it! Which is, of course, exactly where DJI wants us to be, stuck between the portability of the mavic and the sexy image quality of the p4p. Having both would be ideal, but who wants to spend that much... It's pretty damn good product segmentation, that's for sure.

Here's a wedding I just finished earlier this week, shot entirely on the NX1 with hacked bitrate, with the NX-L Speedbooster, mostly on Rokinon 85 and 50mm cine lenses, except the gimbal shots which are on the NX500 and Rokinon 12mm. And here's a fun, kind of artsy little piece I helped a buddy with for a university project a month or two ago, it's also with bitrate-hacked NX1, NX-L, 85mm, and one or two shots on the 12mm and a 35mm Zeiss Jena (the macro-ish stuff at the beginning). But T1.5 with the speedbooster lets in a LOT of light, I still had to have ND for almost the entire video to keep my 180 degree shutter, even in such low-light conditions, ISO 100, pretty cool! EDIT: I forgot to mention that the first video is graded entirely with Neumann film's cinema LUT, while the second one uses Ricardo's Vellichor LUTs, albeit heavily pushed.

@ttbek @lucabutera For what it's worth, I did notice some similar vignetting with the NX-L on my old nikkor 80-200 when I briefly messed around with it the other day, which surprised me. I have not ever used the lens on a full frame before, so I wasn't sure if maybe it was just the character of the glass, which could be the case. I don't really ever use focal lengths much longer than 85mm anyway. But just my two cents.

@timmyturntable thanks! I'll upload a few stills when I get home today. For me one of the most exciting parts of the NX-L is just being able to see the edges of my glass, since that's where the character really lives, especially on vintage lenses, i.e. more swirly bokeh with lenses like the helios 44-2, etc. @Kisaha thanks! Always a little nerve wracking showing work on a forum full of filmmakers and camera enthusiasts ha. I was just thrilled to be able to capture those wide shots at the beginning while still maintaining a shallow depth of field, really helps with the dreaminess and wide-open look I was going for. The slight tremble you see was totally user error with the gimbal, I hadn't had my crane very long when I shot that and I had it balanced completely wrong. It's working much better now. As far as the NX500 and 12mm, what would you like to see, just a picture of the camera and the lens together, or examples I've shot with that combination?

@sondreg and @Kisaha and others have expressed that I share some of my work with the NX-L. Obviously Enna is probably going to supply us with a sweet review, but I guess I can post some of my work with it so far as well. I've shot tons of stills with it (if people want to see some of those, let me know) as well as several video projects that I can't really release yet since I'm still in post with the clients, but here's one I can realease that I shot entirely on the NX-L (except for the wide angle/gimbal stuff, that was a NX500 and 12mm on a zhiyun crane), but apart from that everything in this video shot with the NX-L and rokinon 85mm. At the very least it shows off the dreamy full-frame look the NX-L provides as well as clearly maintaining sharpness and detail. I'm also happy to answer any questions. Once again, @lucabutera has done an absolutely amazing job with this wonderful piece of kit. Anyway, here's the vid:

@Kisaha I've been meaning to write about my thoughts on the nx-l for a while, now that I've put it through the paces a little bit with several shoots. I really like it... Definitely does what it's supposed to, happily makes lenses wider and faster. I've done a few shots with the same lens with and without for comparison, but nothing crazy clinical like I assume people on here are interested in seeing, as far as a scientific breakdown of how chromatic aberration and sharpness might be affected by the adapter. One negative, I was sad to realize that my contax Zeiss lenses won't mount to the nx-l at all, so that was a bummer. Oh well. Lenses I've used and liked so far with it include the rokinon 50 and 85, Nikkor 80-200 2.8 and 28mm 2.8 ais, Helios 44-2 and tokina 28-70 f2.6-2.8. The venerable sigma 18-35 is still surprisingly useable as well, with vignetting obviously but on the longer range good enough for my uses. The design Luca created is pretty ingenious, the back element, which is square, spins around freely so that it can sit right up near the sensor and then the rest of the adapter can spin around it and lock into place. The build quality is fantastic, really looks very smooth and professional, like it was made by samsung for the nx1. I've got images and video I've made with it that I can post if people are interested, but once again I just haven't taken the time to do super scientific comparisons or anything. It's just immediately become a part of my image-gathering workflow and I consider it money very well-spent.

I might take another look at the gh5 in the summertime once it has been out in the wild for a while and recieved all the promised firmware updates and features fully added. I can't really see myself getting one new though, $2k plus a $650 speed booster (a must-have for m43 in my opinion) means it's not exactly a cheap option to move right over to. My NX1 and NX500 continue to astound me, especially now that I have one of Luca's super awesome NX-L's to play with. IQ wise, for me, the files coming out of the Samsung's have more than enough dynamic range, detail, color, and yes even low-light ability (with a fast lens I just very rarely need anything higher than 1600). I had a wedding shoot earlier this week with awesome results and I'm shooting a short film tomorrow with them and am fully confident in their ability to capture great images. I will certainly be very jealous of the 4k 60p, 10-bit color and super cool 6k 4:3 anamorphic mode that GH5 users are going to get to play with though.

I have used the NX1+16-50s quite a bit on a Ronin M, pretty awesome combo. Obviously pretty big and heavy though. I now own a Zhiyun Crane, but personally I prefer to use a little bit lighter setup with the handheld pistol-grip-style stabilizers like the crane, since the easy mobility and lightness are why I bought it. It's definitely a little trickier to balance the heavier the lens, and the 16-50 is pretty robust. The crane's powerful motors are certainly more than a match for the weight though, once it's balanced properly.

I like and use all of the above mentioned LUTs with the NX1 and NX500 and would heartily recommend them as well. I'll throw a few more in the ring that I enjoy also: I really like Neumann film's rec.709 cinema lut, it's subtle but really nice, and I frequently use the tried-and-true Osiris M31 LUT with the NX1 with lovely results, as well as James Miler's DeLuts, particularly Sunderland, and various of his black and white ones. I also like how filmconvert plays with NX footage. I haven't really put the new Samsung profiles they released through the paces yet (haven't heard the greatest things about them, unfortunately) but in the past I've had luck using Red Gamma profiles. Best of luck! In my opinion the color these cameras produce is very malleable, and you can really reproduce an astonishingly wide variety of looks without too much trouble.

Good find @jonpais. I was looking around in the app and saw that setting in there just the other day and was wondering what it might affect. The app keeps crashing on me though, on Android Marshmallow. Hopefully they fix it soon. Also, general Crane related info, I recently saw this video which very clearly showed how to quickly and properly balance the crane, certainly works better than what I was doing before:

Yeah I just got mine in the mail yesterday. Really impressed with the packaging and apparent build quality. How have you liked yours? I'm not really one to rig out my camera, but for $57, it was a no brainer. I ordered a more traditional rail bracket thing for it today since I'd rather have the two rods under the center, for follow focus, lens support and possible matte box, but overall it seems pretty sweet!

@Cinegain Haha are you stalking my YouTube subscriptions?! But yeah. Spot on, sir.

I have a 150cm softbox with a Bowens mount that I have been absolutely loving with my pixapro LED 100D mkII. I kind of underestimated how big 150cm really is (It's huuuge!!) but its so beautifully, wonderfully soft, the light wraps around a face in such a lovely way, it can serve as both key and fill, instant Rembrandt triangle every time. It also came with a honeycomb grid but I haven't really messed with that at all yet. I probably would have gotten one of those Aputure ones listed above as well but it wasn't out at the time I bought mine and I really needed one. No regrets though. It's really a pretty good deal, for such a huge softbox, with the easy-open capability for super fast setup, and the double diffusion, bowens mount, and ability to add the honeycomb: https://www.essentialphoto.co.uk/product/pixapro-150cm-octagonal-easy-open-umbrella-softbox-with-4cm-grid/ Speaking of soft light, lately I've been intrigued by those Fotodiox flapjack lights, has anyone here ever used them? Seems really convenient to be able to get the softbox look in really small, mobile environments, I've been thinking about getting one of them to mess around with a little.

Interesting, I'd like to see your comparisons, as it's not a problem I have noticed, and I do use my NX1 extensively for stills as well. What would constitute a super low contrast scene exactly? Shooting directly into the sun/washing everything out? I typically tend to underexpose (which I suppose would innately make things more contrasty) since the sensor protects shadow detail so well, but highlights burn easily (also speaking only of stills here). And I do understand the need for high ISO of course, but personally I almost always shoot my lenses wide open, just the aesthetic I prefer for my work. Being able to stop down and deepen the depth of field without worrying about noise is certainly an advantage though, especially when the cam is on a gimbal or moving quite a bit, Unfortunately a luxury NX users don't have! Keeping on topic though, for me personally, other than lusting after some sweet 4k 60P that it unfortunately can't provide, the NX1 truly brings everything to the table that I need in a wedding camera. YMMV of course. @Kisaha I'm planning on posting my opinion of the NX-L in the next couple days! I've been using it quite a bit for a variety of different work, I'll be posting screenshots. I really like it so far though!

Not who you asked, but I really find the NX1 quite useable in all but the most pitch black of situations. With an 85mm T1.5 on there, especially combined with the new speedbooster I recently purchased from @lucabutera, which gives a further stop in light gain, I never have to take things above even 1000 ISO really, and normally I'm far, far below that. I really doubt you're going to be filming in a church that is darker than what ~T1.2 and 1000 ISO can illuminate. Worst case, filming in 4k, if it's a static scene drop the shutter from 1/50 to 1/30 and you can soak in even more light. Sonys are cool, but I pretty much never need anything higher than 1600. That would be one crazy dark wedding.

I hadn't really watched any videos on setting it up when I got it, I had just assumed it was meant to be balanced similar to a ronin or other 3-axis gimbals I have used, and only recently saw in a few videos the proper way it was meant to be done, so I was just wondering, since I haven't had any problems at all with it in the month or so that I have been using it. I guess that shows how powerful the motors are, if it's been completely unbalanced this whole time and still worked just fine! I'll have to check out the new app update, thanks for the info.

I have a question regarding balancing. All the videos show people balancing their cameras such that it 'stays' in any position you move it (before it's powered on). Is this what everybody is doing? Because I just balance it so that the camera just sits there level before I turn it on, and it's been working great for me. I figure if the natural weight of the camera is already somewhat balanced than the motors would have to do less work, similar to balancing a ronin. The camera does not 'stay' in position as I move it at all though. I'm just wondering if there is any real advantage to balancing it like Zhiyun suggests? In the past month or so of use I haven't seen any drawbacks to doing it my way, and its certainly easier to get right real quick. Just wondering the what the rest of you crane-users think. Thanks!

Nope, definitely not. Only Mormons can go inside, and certainly no filming or anything like that would be allowed. For a typical Utah Mormon wedding video I film a romantic/stylized bridals session/first look thing, b-roll of the temple grounds, which are always very lovely, then the couple coming out of the temple to family cheering, hugs, etc. Then it's off to the reception for the cake/garter/bouquet/dancing and exit. And they're all just exactly like that, so sometimes it's hard to make them seem different. It's nice not to have to worry as much about the audio of all the speeches and ceremonies and more traditional wedding stuff like the rest of y'all though.

Weddings are kind of my bread and butter. Like most people here I started on Canon DSLRs, but eventually went mirrorless. While I've shot quite a few with the GH4 and A7s i/ii, my tried-and-true favorite combination for weddings for the last 2 years or so is my NX1 with a battery grip (battery life for days!) on a benro monopod. The 4k is fantastic, the 60p is excellent and the 120p is very good. For glass, probably 99% of the time I'm using either the sigma 18-35 or the rokinon 85mm. I have an SLR magic variable ND with xume magnetic filter holders, so I can just clop it on and off any lenses i use in half a second, very convenient for the running and gunning of weddings. Who needs internal NDs when it's that easy. For steadicam shots, lately I keep an NX500 with a rokinon 12mm on a zhiyun crane ready to go in my bag when I need some cool camera movement. I've pared down my wedding kit so that I can carry it all with me all the time(peak design everyday messenger for the win!) I have a nasty habit of setting things down in the moment, forgetting about them, losing them, etc. and it's just so much of a hassle to have too much gear. I've done the whole ronin thing, extra lights, all the lenses I MIGHT need, but then you have the risk of that stuff laying around when you're not using it, just not worth it for me, especially since most of the time I'm a one-man-band. Like everyone is saying, audio is important (I live in Utah, i.e. lots of Mormons here, so I don't actually film too many ceremonies, just the happy couple coming out of the temple) but for the odd ceremony it's really not too much trouble to throw a Sennheiser g3 or something similar on the priest, and line-out record the house audio with any recorder you want for backup and you're golden. I just don't see much of a reason to over-complicate things. Weddings are easy. Pretty fun too. Good luck!

It just means that you have a cheap adapter that isn't depressing the pin properly. Are you not using the hack? Within the hidden service menus there is an option to allow shutter release without a lens, which solves the problem. Or just buying a nicer adapter. Good luck!

Wow... The new Phantom 4 pro is looking very sweet as well! Really makes me wish they'd introduced a regular Mavic though, and then had the Mavic Pro version have all the cool extra features like higher bitrate, variable aperture, mechanical/global shutter thing (amazing!!) and the better flight sensors. Also 4k 60P! This is just making my choice even harder. On a side note: Wow I can't even imagine how much DJI execs must have been laughing at poor GoPro's karma launch, even without the recall. DJI is absolutely killing it. Exciting times, people!

Yeah I can't wait to get mine either! Checking my mailbox every day ha. I plan on using mine for stills as well, so I'll post some detailed 28mp shots of with and without for sure, for proper comparisons. But it looks to be holding the detail really well! Of course we're all sad that Samsung abandoned this great camera, but at the same time I very much doubt anything like the NX-L would ever have been created otherwise, so it's quite the silver lining. You rock, @lucabutera!