Jimmy G

LOL, nicely put, methinks we're not alone on this one! I'm not sure what the solutions will be for my, um, "difficult subjects" (i.e. those flowers or birds or insects, etc. for whom I'll need to give some color adjustment/fine-tuning and attention to) all the more reason for my desires to broaden my understandings of natural color and how the camera interprets it moving forward...I need a good foundation to build upon. Ahh, thanks for the reference! 😉 __________________________ I don't mention the option of an X-H2 lightly for those very reasons, beyond the prohibitive costs changing and/or adding another system is truly not a decision to be taken lightly. That said, should they provide some key features (i.e. great/similar codecs, internal RAW) that are of key interest to me and help me move and educate myself in the directions I'm looking to go I can see myself being willing to brave the detour for the experience. I'm impatient and excited to work with 12-bit RAW files, Panasonic needs to deliver on this internally with the GH6...it's becoming a deal-breaker for me. The "used ninja" option I'm weighing is far from any sense of ideal or in-field practicality, it would be just to generate a whole slew of RAW test shots for me for various environments and lighting conditions for my experimentation and education, then I'd sell that crap off ASAP. Camera, lens and shoe-mic only for my journeys, Panasonic. Let's rock this town! :)

Well, I "did" Sony with their a7R, a7SII and a6300, which covered my FF and crop needs quite nicely with the added bonus of the a7SII opening my eyes to what the creative possibilities and capture possibilities were now available with high-ISO for low-light shooting environments. My love affair with their cameras was short lived, however, as I was not a fan of their bluish cast in daylight conditions and, most importantly, their poor (for me) ergonomics...I truly did not like how they handled (as in, they never felt intuitive) nor how their menu system was implemented (er, slapped together). As for camcorders...they were, once-upon-a-time, the natural evolution for me after years of shooting Super8 (Canon A1 Hi-8mm, and various Sony camcorder models culminating with the 3-CCD VX2000) until the 5DII arrived on the scene. Until then a shooting day became the hard choice between stills or video but not both, I was never ever going to lug two completely different setups into the field. The 5DII changed all that, one could now do both stills and video and my days of camcorders was officially over. From my journey through Canon to Sony to Panasonic I feel as though I have arrived home, they get most of what is important to me right. My FZ1000 (my toe-dip into Panasonic a few years back) and 2x S1's have become invisible appendages to me in the field, when I raise the camera to my eye I can nimbly adapt any setting change I require without fuss or having to give much, if any, thought. That's gold to me. That and I simply love the files it produces, whether stills or video...if I "got it right in camera" or "close" I find my time with post processing is minimal, limited mostly only to exposure tweaks without much concern for any color tweaking. And that's gold to me, too. I look forward to shooting with their gear...a feeling that Sony never fostered for me. Methinks the GH6 will eventually turn out to be more than the "cat's meow" for me for my crop sensor needs...well, once I get over being P.O.ed at Panasonic over the whole "making me spend for CFExpress for my S1's for no damn good reason"! LOL In the meantime I'll wait to see what the new Fuji cropper (X-H2?) brings to the table. ;)

Well, being both the director and client I guess I've streamlined my color-grading pipeline immensely! Ha! But, to my "violet" problem (and akin)...that I can reproduce an output that closely resembles (dare I say, matches?!) an actual sample of that same flower in hand I'll feel that I've come a long ways towards a sense of (what I refer to as, ahem) color accuracy. :) P.S. I've never watched a single episode of GoT, so the reference is lost on me.

<< The LUMIX GH6 offers the renowned colorimetry of the VariCam line of cinema cameras and uses their V-LOG picture profile and wider V-Gamut. For monitoring your work and to see an image that is no longer in LOG, the GH6 includes the V709 LUT (Look Up Table) with Rec.709 standard in the camera by default, this LUT can be output over HDMI or to the cameras monitors or both. It is possible to install your own LUT’s into the GH6 and access them from the V-Log View Assist menu. For users of the Varicam and EVA1 the GH6 can support LUT’s in their .vlt format, and for users of other camera systems we also support the .cube format. >> From Panasonic's GH6 Press Release here... The LUMIX GH6, a Compact Next-generation Mirrorless Camera Featuring Unlimited C4K/60p in 4:2:2 10-bit, 5.7K/60p in 10-bit and 4K 120p HFR / FHD Maximum 300fps VFR Video Recording | Panasonic North America - United States https://info.panasonic.com/news/lumix-gh6-compact-next-generation-mirrorless-camera-featuring-unlimited-c4k60p-422-10-bit-57k60p-10 And these were the Panasonic VariCam LUTS to which I was referring... VARICAM LUT LIBRARY | Support | Cinema Camera Global | Panasonic https://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/cinema_camera_varicam_eva/support/lut/index.html

Funny you mentioning Jon, I've been following his own HDR explorations and experiments over at his Deajeon Chronicles web pages... HDR – The Daejeon Chronicles https://daejeonchronicles.com/category/hdr/ ...seems, like many of us, he's trying to sort through the changing landscape from 100-nit SDR to 1000(and beyond)-nit HDR. I agree, the various standards (Dolby, ACES, HDR1000, or even just going home-brewed as many seem to be doing, etc.) gives one good reason to pause and try and figure out the best path forward. These are not inexpensive choices even at the Indie, Wedding, Boutique, and (cough) Prosumer levels, etc. and methinks we're all looking for a sensible and affordable pathway forward for ourselves. Say what folks may about iPhone with Dolby Vision, in its own way it is helping folks visualize where and how both the increased DR and luminance will look and help better the understanding of "what it is" and "what it offers" from both the creation and consumption sides of things. These truly are exciting times for those wading into the mix! From my studies and observations of the current use of the technology it seems as though 1000-nit DCI-P3 is where things are currently settling for home distribution and consumption. And that, depending on how important it is for the creator to see their grading choices being fully (or as nearly fully) seen accurately with their consumers will fuel their choices (decisions) per Dolby Vision vs ACES vs home-brew, etc.. It seems to me that if color accuracy is mission-critical for one's client (or one's personal standards) then finding the appropriate end-to-end solution will require more thoughtful decision making for one's gear investments. While I do not have to work with corporate branding folks or particular wedding clients for whom color accuracy might/will be paramount, I do run into enough color inconsistency with gear for my outdoor shooting that I would very much like to improve upon. I can't tell you how bad many camera sensors I've encountered when challenged with this seemingly innocuous target... violet flower at DuckDuckGo https://duckduckgo.com/?q=violet+flower&t=h_&iax=images&ia=images ...hint: those images are mostly all wrong! Ha! Color is not a minor or inconsequential thing for this user. That said, I am very pleased with how my S1 handles the majority of color situations for my needs, and I am greatly encourage to hear from Panasonic that the color coming out of the GH6 will be able to use the very same V-LOG LUTS as the S1, S1H..."Thank you!" Panasonic engineers for getting that new MFT sensor to perform so closely with your FF sensor! My goals for this year are to learn how to shoot and grade for 1000-nit DCI-P3, so, for me, getting accustomed to and familiar and comfortable with the wider DR and increased luminance and color information will likely be the biggest areas for that education. 🙂

I'm truly not concerned about availability, seems these are fairly easy to locate used. True that, the S1's output both for stills and video is much more than "good enough" for my nature/wildlife/birding needs. Where I'm at right now is a restlessness to improve upon what I'm doing right now, whether it be through weening myself off of the Rec.709 output workflow (and moving into DCI-P3 via HDR Rec.2020 for an HDR1000 target) or finally providing myself with a crop-sensor companion (that compliments the S1) for those shooting outings where it becomes the better tool than the FF sensor. (For my needs the 5DII/7D, then a7r/a7sII/a6300 combos covered my needs, so I've been, er, "circling the airport" the past couple of years trying to answer "S1/? combo" for myself.) Trust me, both of your recommendations have been bouncing around in my head for some time now! LOL As for the GH6, it is most certainly providing users with a robust (and compelling) feature set in regards to its video output capabilities straight-out-of-the-box, the wealth of 10-bit All-I and ProResHQ options has my serious attention! Internal RAW needs to be a priority here for team Panasonic, their competition is now making it a "thing" and it is (and will be) the deal-breaking, er, "killer app" for those of us who require dongle-free simplicity and stealth...especially as the GH6 ages through its life cycle. FWIW, I've already let Panasonic dangle (and entice me into a purchase with the possibilities/potentials of) an internal high-speed bus and XQD/CFExpress slot with my S1's and then not deliver on those possibilities and potentials even with some token and/or heat-time-limited ProRes or RAW recording options. So that, um, "failure to deliver" has now become a factor in my decision-making and a part of me is now loathe to volunteer myself again as a full-MSRP early-adopter for them again with this new release. "Fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, shame on me" and all that. Either choice (i.e. learning how to shoot for and process for HDR1000 with RAW with a ninja and my S1's, or having more pixels-per-duck and 300fps and ProRes HQ and learning how to target HDR1000 at more than thrice the price with a GH6) exciting times ahead with where I can take my learning! 🙂

Oh my, busy morning for GH6 news...U.S. shipping dates for body and kits announced for March 15... Hrmm, grab a used Ninja V to start farting around with ProRes Raw for my S1's or just shoot my camera budget for the year and start farting around with ProRes HQ with this... 😕

DC-GH6 User Manuals for various languages and countries around the world here... DC-GH6 Operating Instructions https://av.jpn.support.panasonic.com/support/dsc/oi/GH6/index.html

User manuals (English full, English Quick Start Guide and French full) now up in UK... DC-GH6 https://support-uk.panasonic.eu/app/products/detail/p/28412

Well, egg on my face, I missed the whole "conforming to 24P" thing on my first read, thanks for the clarification...sometimes this "old boy" needs a smack on the back of the head! LOL Thanks for bringing this point up, as well, I'm thrilled to see Panasonic address this issue (in part) with some of the higher bit rates on the GH6 for all of the reasons you state. Learning to recognize which scenes will suffice with "good enough" and which scenes will require a, er, "heavier hammer" is an individual process, and it will be nice to finally see what ALL-I brings to the table for my needs as it's been something sorely lacking on my S1's. (Tap, tap, tap, Panasonic, if you're listening, this might be something you could finally provide for for my S1's expensive CFExpress cards? Maybe toss in a little of that "GH6 ProRes goodness" while you're at it?! Ha! The poor cards have been sitting idly by in their slots for the past few years wondering why I bought them. LOL >cough< Firmware update?!)

Well, as more and more content is being consumed will continue to be consumed on HDR devices (like OLED, QLD, smartphones and computers) I'm surprised at this response. My read on deliverables is that SDR has not only been "shown the door", it is being gingerly escorted out. It's why I began to shoot 10-bit with my S1's and have been an online hound-dog for internal 12-bit. As I mentioned to a (well-known) Panasonic rep at PDN Expo back in 2018 why I wanted this in their cameras, "just because I can't see it now (in the SDR realm) doesn't mean I won't be able to see it when 10- and 12-bit monitoring and consumption become the norm in a few years, I don't have the luxury of hopping in a time machine to go back and "refilm that solar eclipse" or "eagle snatching that fish" in 10- or 12-bit. However, if I shoot that today for HDR I can always come back in the future to make it shine!" As the saying goes, "skate to where the puck is going to be".

Hi kye...a little help here, where are you getting this information?

OT (apologies, Kye) I suspect using Resolve Studio might be my easiest path forward for access to a CIE Chromaticity scope until the kind folks at Apple understand the importance of visualizing one's chromaticity spaces rather than rely on such functions as (oh, say) poorly documented broadcast-safe overlay filters (I will continue to look into whether an FCP plugin might be available for this). It's important (well, to me) to know where my out-of-gamut acquisition RGB colors are falling to better inform my decisions on what I can or should be doing about it with a grade...perhaps I'm over-thinking it at this point in time but I'm trying to build a working knowledge of what exactly is going on with color space chromaticity and dynamic range (real nerdy stuff, ha!). To your ebay suggestion, thanks, I was unaware that folks were selling their unneeded/duplicate licenses like that...my Resolve license solution was to buy their Speed Editor and get the activation card free. All "down the road" stuff for me as I'm already dropping too many potatoes off my plate! LOL We return you to our regularly scheduled broadcast...

I'm excited and looking forward to it! I've been cutting my teeth on FCP but I haven't ruled out having another NLE at my disposal along the way. Of particular interest to me are the video scopes in Resolve, as demonstrated by professional colorist Darren Mostyn here... How to use resolve SCOPES - In-depth with a Pro Colourist - YouTube ...I'd wet myself to have that CIE Chromaticity scope in Final Cut! Ha! Truly helps one see where their colors are in relation to the gamuts they shot in and the one's they are targeting for, super useful. Too bad it's only in the paid version of Resolve! Hmm, maybe someone knows of a plugin?

Hi Kye, wow, what an in-depth look into this camera...methinks you're very interested to the point of becoming a future owner?! 😉 I'll reserve my points to "output quality" as each of the internal mechanical aspects and features of the camera will appeal (or not) differently to individual users. To that end, you've covered quite nicely (and better than I have been able to do) the need for wider dynamic range when shooting outdoor environments...the f/stop range on a typical sunny day is just too much for 8-bit Rec709 to contend with for those of us who need/desire/require that the sum of our frame includes everything from the brightest clouds and specular highlights to the detail and vibrancy going on in the shaded regions. Our eyes capture all of that and I have never been ashamed to ask for and seek out equipment that gets me closer to being able to capture that same natural view. I laugh every time I hear/read someone say that this is niche...no more niche than what I came to expect from my old love, Kodachrome 25! LOL Getting to understand how HDR and 10-,12- (14-, and 16-) bit imaging can help "get me there" has been a challenge up to now...hard for any of us to realize the benefits of these things when viewed on SDR monitors! Ha! Enter my new M1 Max Macbook Pro with its HDR panel, I've devoted this year to finally educating myself on what is possible (and desirable) with the 10-bit footage I've been accumulating with my S1 for the past few years...in fact, I've decided to hunt down a used Ninja V just so I can become familiar with using 12-bit ProRes RAW at learning what it might and might not be "most practical for" for my style of nature shooting. Clearly, not every situation calls for such bit-depth or, even, DR and learning those lessons through shooting will help educate and inform me as to when varying codec choices are called for...all the more reason for my wanting it all internal to the camera (GH6 and future releases), call up a Custom setting and off one goes, er, shoots, no fuss no muss (f*** external recorders, really, I mean that from the bottom of my heart, Panasonic). Anyhoo, I thought this article and the accompanying two videos would be of particular interest to you (and to all our fellow folks trying figure out the whens and whys and needs for HDR and high bit-depth)...a two-part interview with Kevin Shaw, CSI and founder of the International Colorist Academy (ICA), where he demonstrates where and how the benefits of HDR acquisition come into play... Is 2022 the Year You Buy Into HDR? - Frame.io Insider https://blog.frame.io/2022/01/17/hdr-in-2022/ ...a college-level education from someone who knows. 😉