Phil A

I'm curious, are any of you using external monitors and if yes, what? As you've probably seen me ranting, the SmallHD 501/502 is not compatible with the Samsung NX1 (and probably will never be). But when you look at 5" Full HD monitors there's somehow not a lot around. Of course there's options when willing to use a external recorder in form of the BMD Video Assist (which lacks a lot of the tools SmallHD has and apparently also has a weaker screen) or the Pix-e5 (which costs 1600 €). I'm stuck between using my D750 + the SmallHD 501 or using the NX1 with no external monitor... so I can eaither have ok usability and image wiht great easy monitoring (peaking, zebra, waveform, frame guides, ...) or a way better handling camera with a subjectively nicer image but be limited to the little flippy screen. It seems there's a lot of sidegrade to the NX1 in form of A7rII, A7s, A7s II, GH4, BMPCC/BMMCC,... but I didn't find a equivalent alternative to the SmallHD 501 (the Pix-e5h is the closest but heavier due to recorder functions).

Could that be achieved by holding a prism in front of the lens? I've seen pictures of a photographer who extensively used that technique but can't remember the name right now.

I can't speak for this specific offer/seller but often on eBay you will find vendors with imported grey market products. Here in Europe you often find sellers from the UK which sell cameras way below MSRP - like a Sony A7r II for 2650 instead of 3400 € as an example - but which come with no local system language (obviously not a problem if you want English) and more important no local guarantee. I read from Canon related pages that some of the greymarket dealers actually shipped the stuff with counterfeit accessories like charges, batteries, etc. so make sure that you check all details when finding a good deal on eBay. In the end it's valid: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't.

It sounds like the D750 is a huge step up in usability to the camera you use. It can change the aperture during live view without leaving it as in the older models. Punch in magnification is on the ok button; you click it once to zoom in and once again to zoom out. Plus I have record on the shutter button when putting the live view mode to movie. The zebra is also really usefull but obviously also no focus peaking for whatever reason (it seems also still none in D5/D500).It seems that like with most systems, going with the prosumer/pro bodies doesn't really change the image but more the usability. It gets easier to get to your result without hating the tool.

The Micro Cinema is not yet available so the "sold out" isn't correct. Blackmagic didn't ship any so far. The Micro Studio is available indeed but it has no internal recording and "only" does Rec.709 and no LOG recording. That's not really for the same application field as the cinema cameras.

Of course you can use flash in the hotshoe. It would be silly if not, there is no picture camera with a cold shoe in forever. I'm no expert but the only thing I could imagine is that low end models don't do optical master with the build in flash to a slave, but then anyway everyone I know uses remote triggers for reliability.

I mentioned it in the Ursa Mini thread but as someone there remarked, they might say "Shipping in January" but even if they do it will probably take months to fulfill pre-orders and be probably nearly autumn if not winter when it's easily available at retailers. There's still no information about anyone having a prototype or any test footage so it's also still to be seen what impact the global shutter mode has on DR, etc. I love the idea of the camera. I'd really like to get one, it fixes what I dislike about the Pocket, but so far it's vaporware and I'm not sure if I should get my hopes up.

I have the Aputure Amaran HR672 which is somewhere between the 528 and the Light Storm. I only used it a bunch of times but it is quite nice to use, it comes with a diffusor, a color filter, a wall plug cable and 2 batteries which was a huge surprise to me. Usability is great but I'm not sure they're really robust so try to avoid dropping them. One little annoyance is that you have to take the batteries out when you don't use it or they'll slowly discharge. But the handy little transport case anyway doesn't allow storage with the batteries installed.

You're of course right. Even if they really start shipping it by end of January, that means nothing about availability. If it'll ship like products in the past it seems it'll take months to fulfill pre-orders and then will start getting available in stores slowly. The Video Assist "started shipping" in November and yet it is still not available in Switzerland or Germany, stores list it as "on request", "not available" or "3 to 4 weeks delivery". The BMPCC on the other hand is available everywhere but is still ~1000€. Even used it sells for 700€ which is crazy when you consider that there was the summer sale for 500$. I'm not really sure what to make of BMD. They don't seem exactly trustworthy with their business behaviour.

I use Davinci Resolve so it's more about being able to grade them at all. I guess Resolve user will be stuck without H.265 support for at least some more months (except for Resolve Studio on Mac).

It's super easy, just make sure you download the right installer for your system. Drag the footage into the window, choose your desired codec, resolution, etc. and let it run. I use it to transcode the NX1 4k H.265 to ProRes HQ 422 and it works really nice.

Small update but the Blackmagic Design website now says "shipping in January" for the Ursa Mini 4.6k and the BMMCC. Will we really see it or will they update to February in 4 weeks?

The 1080p output of the NX1 is not a clean HDMI out but has the GUI overlayed so it wouldn't make sense to output 1080p and record that. Does the VA downscale 4k or UHD when receiving via HDMI?

Regarding 1), you can go by feeling which is probably not really accurate. What I do is set it to wide open and look at shutter speed & ISO, then I close down and count the stops by watching how the shutter speed and/or ISO changes. Is obviously takes a few seconds to set, depending on how quick you're with maths in your head. Another pragmatical possibility would be to just set the ISO fixed or set the AutoISO to the maximal acceptable value and then disregard f/stop and just open and close as much as possible without going into the underexposure warning. I've seen the Samsung 18-200mm used in like new condition for 400 € yesterday on a German photography forum. I guess seeing how you're so sure you need a lens like that I'd rather bite the bullet and get a good priced used one than use an adapted superzoom with manual focus.

Canon straps even say which model it is if it's a "better one" like 7D, 5D etc. I guess that automatically gives you the admiration factor from the Rebel using peasants and the right to tell them to get out of your way ;-) I should use the "Minolta Dynax" strap that I currently have on the Nikon for the Samsung. Morituri te salutant! But I agree with your post... my heart would rather part with the D750 than the NX1 at the moment just out of usability reasons, which is obviously a completely different motivation than what makes most people buy cameras. Just wondering now what to exchange my SmallHD field monitor for, I kinda don't want to let that go either but I have only 1% hope that they'll actually fix the problem.

Tell it to the Leica fans, there were enough of them asking for a M rangefinder camera without a LCD to chimp. I bet they're willing to pay a premium.

I'd agree if you want a hybrid system like discussed in the other thread but if you want to use the body for video with adapted glass (or are cool with shooting stills with manual focus), I think the NX1 is a great thing. After all the BMPCC is really popular and that is even less "system" for 990€.

I think the problem is the really different needs of different user groups. Cameras like a RED or a Sony F3/F5/... are clearly amazing video cameras but the question is how you plan to use it. I can see how these would be perfect if you're shooting commericals or narrative movies with a crew. A Canon C100 / C300 or a Sony FS5/FS7 are amazing for documentary run&gun work. But as has been mentioned before, as soon as you also need high quality pictures, that adds problems. If we say the right tool for the job and you need movie and pics, are you willing to bring a RED One MX plus lenses plus tripod plus a Canon 1Dx/5DIII plus lenses? Then there comes the saying to "make your light", so will you bring the continous lighting for video and the strobes for the stills? I guess we exceeded the 20kg of kit already as well as the 10k € of invest. If you're not commercially making money with what you create that goes above most enthusiasts will and/or capability of spending money. To be less generic I'll take myself as an example: I travel a lot both for vacation and business (not related to photography/filming). I used to shoot pictures (landscape, architecture, night time long exposures, etc.) on these trips. But when I was to Thailand for example I brought a 1Ds III, 17-40 f/4, 24-70 f/2.8, 35 1.4 and 85 1.2 plus tripod, ND filters and a flash. That's like 6kg of kit which at least partially travels with you depending on what you plan to shoot that day, but it's also equivalent to a whole carry on bag when traveling by air. I think most enthusiasts can't take along another 5-10kg of camera gear for the motion picture side, after all most people can't afford a personal sherpa to come to the beach. If you can cover both to a rather good level, I think it's way preferable to do it with one single system of equipment. That also keeps down on accessories like batteries. Currently I have 5 different types of batteries between my main stills cam, my pocket stills cam, the cam I currently test for video, my field monitor, my LED lights and then regular AAs for my flashes. Of course every batterie needs a different charger. Do I expect D810 level stills and RED/ARRI level video in one single system? Clearly not. And most enthusiasts - and I'd argue even a lot of professionals - don't need that. But for a lot of people the GH4 stills side won't cut it while the 1080p 8bit 4:2:0 low-bitrate video of most cameras won't cut it. I think the A7r II and NX1 were currently the two most convincing cameras. But Samsung gave up with NX just when it became interesting and never built a convincing native lens lineup (in my personal opinion; I'm missing more f/1.4 glass) while Sony has prices skyrocket (A7R II and A7S II both sell for equi. 3500$ in Switzerland) and you'll easily spend 5k on the body plus two lenses while being over the top with the super high res sensor for a lot of people (between ALL the people I know who are into photography, no one actually WANTS more than 20-24 Megapixel) and therefore costing way more than actually neccessary. If the rumored A6100 would be like the A7R II but only with the APS-C part of the sensor and for 2000 €, I'd be over that like bears over honey. If you look at photography forums, you'll find a lot of people to preach that manufacturers should stop investing into video features and use that money for improving stills quality. Therefore I'm not even surprised Nikon brought the lackluster 4k video, there were probably at least just as many feedbacks about no need for good video as there were prayers for quality video. So for someone who travels alone and light with unexpected circumstances to what he photographs/films, the choice is not so easy. A possibility would be for example a 5D III with ML plus the new BM Micro Cinema Camera (if it every comes out) so you can share batteries for example between both cameras and a SmallHD monitor plus use the Canon lenses with the Metabones SB on the BMMCC. But then Canon is a worse choice than Nikon for night photography because of the difference in DR and the heavy banding in shadows if you push the Canon image. And seeing how I like to stay light, I'd rather have a 4k image that lets me punch in as well as faking slider moves than using a B-cam and an actual slider. So there is no perfect solution and I guess my rant gets too long to bear but I think for a lot of people it's really about finding the right compromise. Tl;dr: If you are stationary or have a crew, use the right tool. But if you're alone and traveling, pick your poison.

But be careful, Switzerland is not European Union so you have to pay at least VAT upon import... but then even with the 19% VAT in Germany it's still cheaper than buying locally.

4k in 8bit 4:2:0 h.264 while the competition had that nearly 2 years ago? By the time we'll get a Nikon DSLR with non-cropped 4k to internal 8bit 4:2:0 h.264 I wouldn't be surprised if the competition would all have external 10bit like the GH4 already has or at least way better codecs and/or higher bit rates internal. If Sony would make the HDMI out 10bit they would kill the S-LOG problems with banding and have a crazy thing. To be honest I don't think Nikon will even try to compete for the video enthusiasts in the next years. Even the new cameras seem to only have zebra in regards to exposure/focus tools.

Agreed. But then here is nothing really new, these are just incremental upgrades over previous products with 4k as a "me too" gimmick. I feel like Nikon and Canon kinda dropped the ball when it comes to technology. I work in marketing so I'm fully aware that selling products has nothing to do with having the best or even a good product but more with brand image, etc. On many photography forums people still suggest Canon 760D to people who look for video because "Canon makes the foto camera with the best video". It's obviously in the interest of big companies to make the lowest investment possible to make an incrementally improved product that will sell and still can easily be replaced with the next incremental upgrade next year. Like Sony used to fix firmware problems by launching a successor product, the Canon Rebel line bringing a new camera every year with 99% identical specification, etc. Obviously this is not in the interest of enthusiasts but it's the reality. If you look at Canon C100 II, Samsung NX1, BMPCC and the Sony A7s... Imagine throwing the technology of these cameras together, the product would be incredible. But then how would they sell us the next iteration in a year if we're happy? Curved screen?

The combination of the 2.2 crop factor in 4k and the Nikon F mount makes for a really uninteresting camera in my opinion. It's like shooting a GH4 with adapted DSLR lenses but no option of a speedbooster. I see it as a pure spec sheet gimmick for marketing. I went from "omg I need it!" to "why would anyone use that?" in the time between the anouncement and people posting the specs.

Actually I think the BM Micro CC sounds really good with the option of Global Shutter as well as 60fps with rolling shutter. In combination with using LP-E6 batteries it's an amazing upgrade over the BMPCC when anyway using external monitoring. But the BMD release behaviour and zero communication makes this one nothing to count on. By the moment they halfway fixed the firmware problems there is already a successor announced. If the BMMCC would even have been designed with the 2.5k sensor to help with end-resolution and stabilizing, etc. I think it would have been a great thing, it's probably an amazing camera for gimbal work if it ever gets released. Edit: on the other hand I guess most people would usually rather shoot ProRes than Raw and then the 2.5k sensor probably has no advantage over the current 1080p anymore

That was discussed just a few weeks ago to some length here in the forum: The outcome: turn all "features" off. Funnily my s/o's sister said she thinks it looks way better with the sharpening, saturation and motion smoothing cranked up. Seems the "film look" will probably die out in a few generations.

I tested with the following combos: NX1 -> Generic NX to EOS EF Adapter -> Fotodiox N/G - EOS Adapter -> Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art in Nikon F mount NX1 -> Generic NX to EOS EF Adapter -> Samyang 85mm f/1.4 in Canon EF mount Both combinations hit infinity where it is marked on the distance scale despite the double adapter gamble, obviously you can focus until "after infinity" as on most modern lenses. I didn't see if shop links are allowed, but to be precise it's these two adapter: EOS EF to Nikon G: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B008BBIBOM The super short throw of the aperture lever IS annoying after some use, the blue plastic lever fell off so I superglued it on again and you can only take the lens off the adapter after taking the adapter off the camera... but then there is no way at all to control canon lenses' apertures so beggars can't be choosers and the double adapter combo is more flexible/lightweight than buying separate NX -> F and EF adapters. Samsung NX to EOS EF: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00MKZXQA4