Mark Romero 2

@tomsemiterrific If you have time, I hope you could do a little dynamic range test of the Z6 and Z Log for me. Can you just shoot a brief couple of clips (20 seconds each is long enough) from inside a house looking outside a window on a sunny day? Expose one clip for the sky (I understand the interior of the house will be dark) Expose one clip for the interior of the house (the outside will blow out). Expose one clip in the middle. You could also just do one clip and adjust the exposure during the clip so that in one part you are preserving the highlights, in another you are preserving the shadows, and the other is just kind of in the middle. I shoot mostly architecture and for me the struggle is trying to balance a bright view out the windows without making the interior to dark. Here is a sample of what I try to do and the challenges I face: https://youtu.be/iBXa6-svjPA?t=80 Starting at the 1:20 mark, you can see that the outside was really blownout because I had to have a bright enough exposure for the interior. Anyway, thanks in advance if you could do ANY sort of DR testing.

Yeah, it is very tempting. I saw about ten different videos on youtube claiming to be shooting in Z-Log and they all looked pretty good (although a few were in languages I didn't speak so I don't want to swear they were shooting Z-Log). Wonder what would be a good gimbal for a Z6 and the 18-35 AF-S G and the FTZ adapter?

That would be a great solution for a reasonable person. But it is my wife we are talking about here...

Ok, firstly, thanks all to everyone who has chipped in. I guess I should have clarified something about this. My wife does travel a lot for business and in the past she used a Sony a5100 with the 16-50 kit lens Instead of her cell phone). I think the MAIN reason that she used the a5100 instead of the S7 she owns was... she believes that she needs a "real" camera to achieve her artistic vision. Seriously: I try to show her videos on youtube of cinematic footage taken with a smartphone and she ain't having it. Now, if you know me well (and, thank your lucky stars that you DON'T know me well), you would know that I HATE spending money on things that I don't need / won't get used. So believe me that I have Anti-GAS; I mean, I have been asking people about an upgrade from my a6500 on this forum for two years now, and I STILL use my a6500 and haven't replaced it with anything. No a7 III, no Z6, no X-T3, no GH5, no EOS R / RP. So, anyway, I would just have her use the a5100 (since it is just lying here collecting dust, and since she used it a lot for photos in the past), but for video those things overheat in the mild San Francisco weather in about 12 minutes. I am sure they wouldn't last half that in Morocco. Now, I could get her an a6000 as @Kisaha suggested, but I am pretty sure she will appreciate the flip out screen and the IBIS a lot more than the aps-c sensor of the a6000. I think a mic input would be pretty important, too. a600 doesn't have one, but it could work with a proprietary Sony mic that uses the hotshoe to transmit the audio from the mic to the camera.

Yes, I have an a6000 and an a6500. Unfortunately, they are not really user friendly, and the stabilization is not so good. They also tend to overheat a bit. Thanks. Can you suggest a particular model?

Thanks for the test. Looking good so far. Looking forward to any more DR tests you or anyone else can provide. Curse you @Andrew Reid as I might have to buy a Z6 now... Thank goodness the preamps are so bad on the Z6 that I have held off buying it. Plus I can't really think of a good B camera to the Z6 (besides another Z6).

So looking for a budget camera (less than $450 used) for my 13-year-old son, and for my wife to use in their upcoming trip to Morocco in early April. Primarily, looking for something cheap(ish) in case they lose it / break it, and should be easy to use, good stabilization, decent (or at least acceptable) autofocus, and has a mic input port. (I will probably have them put a Rode Video Micro in the hot shoe since it doesn't require a battery). It should have pretty good 1080p and also preferably 4K. I think they will MOSTLY shoot 1080p, but occasionally 4K. Oh, and would prefer for it to NOT spontaneously combust in the Moroccan Spring heat, so [insert obligatory Sony joke here.] So far, I am thinking the Panasonic FZ1000 as the leader with the FZ300 as a runner up. Bigger sensor of the FZ1000 vs the FZ300's weather sealing and touch screen. Since the FZ300 is a year newer than the FZ1000, does it have improved AF and improved stabilization over the FZ1000? Should I be looking at something else besides these cameras? Or... should I just convince my wife to use her Galaxy S7?

Thanks for taking the time to look at the examples and to grade them. I really appreciate that. They look good. For the bottom example, did you just raise the shadows and add saturation? or was it more complex than that? Also, thanks for the thoughts about the idea of them shooting stills on a timelapse and creating an HDR video from that. I thought they might have just used a programmed motorized slider in a couple of passes, and then masked in the windows. But shooting stills in a time lapse might be easier.

Oooppsss... Brain Cramp https://www.dropbox.com/sh/eptt62hyduq13q5/AAAykP3ZCCVGO0KVWg_qbp2va?dl=0 Thanks.

Continuing with the Gravity Falls theme from @Ingerson:

Here are some difficult shots. The first one c0015.mp4 is kind of typical of most situations. The other two files ( c0047 and c0048 are more extreme, the first having completely blown out window with the second retaining the view but having way to underexposed interior).

You need to tell me what your address is so that I may catch the camera when you throw it out the window. But as BrunoCH said, check whether your Saramonic has Mic Level Output or just Line Level Output. Can you plug headphones in to the Saramonic output and hear the sound clearly? Then that would be line level (I think).

How much Dynamic Range does your toaster have??? Jeez, no kidding. I get about 8 minutes of video before mine overheats.

Yeah, that is what one of my "competitors" does. The problem is that it takes a lot of time (on location) and most realtors aren't willing to pay a couple thousand dollars for a two-minute video. At least, I don't have any of those realtors as clients. https://youtu.be/h5zOW0t-Tms?t=101 https://youtu.be/Bfz_qTJOU1k

Unfortunately, no HLG on the a6500, although they have added it to the new a6400 (another aps-c sensor Sony camera).

I can but it is going to take me a little while. Getting ready to go out to a shoot right now.

Good Question. In my particular case (being the OP of this thread), it is because I am trying my hardest to both capture the interior and exterior views of a house in real estate videos. People want to be able to see the views out the window without them being blown out, and they want to see the interior without it being too dark. Using Slog 2 (mostly) on my a6500 On this particular day it was fairly overcast, which helped to control the exterior view, but if it wasn't so overcast then it would have been difficult to retain ANY view.

Thanks for posting this. It appears the X-T2 has more DR than the X-T3

You need to post in this forum more often. You always have something helpful whenever you post here.

Good question. Aside from all the theory, here is an actual test that SEEMS like it should be accurate testing the dynamic range of the various picture profiles. Unless there is some mistake in his methodology which I don't see. His testing methodology is based on 13 stops (12 lights one stop apart and the black background counting as the the 13th stop). Notice in the SLOG profiles - even when overexposed - there is still room at the top of the wave forms to squeeze in another stop and possibly two stops (meaning, he could have added two more lights following the sequence of being one stop brighter than the light before it). His methodology gives some indication of noise performance in shadows, although he doesn't attempt to clearly define what is "acceptable" noise and what isn't. I don't think he has measured other cameras this way for a comparison or not. And yes, sheer dynamic range isn't everything. On the other hand, Maartech's testing shows a much more conservative dynamic range (with HLG being the notable exception, although I don't think he says WHICH flavor of HLG he is testing) https://youtu.be/1yiX041goic?t=1437

...and scary... Ok, so the dynamic range is the height distance between the ground floor and the top floor, and the bit depth of the ADC is the number of steps the staircase has that goes from the ground floor to the top floor???

Firstly, thanks to everyone that has responded. You've all contributed knowledge without starting a war, which makes me very happy to be a member of this forum. Will respond individually to everyone's comments when I have a bit more time later today.

Thanks for the reply. Haven't tested it myself. Still trying to decide on which camera to buy Have seen lots of tests online though using different methods. I will definitely check out cinematography.net which I haven't seen before. The most optimistic online tests I have seen was just about 14 stops. I don't recall seeing one under 12 stops (there might be some, just didn't see any. Again, I will check out the site you mentioned.) But different testers use different methods, and they don't seem standardized. Part of this assumption is based on extrapolation on testing of the D750 by @Mattias Burling where he tested against BMCC (both RAW and PRORES codecs) and he felt confident that the D750 had 13 stops of DR when using flat picture profile. As my aps-c a6500 in Slog 2 has more DR than my D750 had in Flat profile, and the a7 III reportedly has more DR than my a6500, so... Link To D750 Test by Mattias: I've seen some tests of slog 2 versus 8-bit F Log, where slog 2 came out ahead, but I haven't seen any head-to-head against 10-bit F Log. Would love to see some.

So in terms of hybrid cameras - and including the BMPCC4K even though it isn't a hybrid camera - is the a7 III still tops when it comes to dynamic range? Purely dynamic range. Not colors, not ergonomics, not soul, not flame-proof-ness. Just DR. I've read Sony a7 III with slog 2 has close to 14 stops of DR. Is the BMPCC4K able to compete / beat it when shooting in RAW? (New BMRAW firmware was just released, BTW). Will Z6 beat it once it gets ability to shoot in RAW via hdmi out? (I am reluctant to spend $1,000 getting a recorder, battery and SSD card for it). What's the DR of the Panasonic S1 cameras like? Another site said that it had 12.2 stops when shooting HLG at ISO 400. I think V Log is a paid firmware update coming down the road, right? (Hopefully it won't be dependent upon the US Postal Service for delivery). ALSO: I thought someone on this forum posted a few months back that the 8-bit codec of the a7 III actually helped increase dynamic range when compared to 10-bit codecs. Was I dreaming? Was I on drugs? Was my mind being controlled by @mercer cat??? (P.S. I know that Sony cameras - much like my wardrobe choices - have many serious flaws. No need to comment on either of those things here.)

Am I the only one who is pretty apathetic about Sigma art lenses??? I mean, i shoot mostly stills (which I think is the target audience) and I can't really get that thrilled about f/1.4 primes. Anyway, not trying to knock them. I know they are always highly rated and some people love them. Guess I am just weird that way.