mrtreve

I do think this is real. When I see RED images I always think they look so thicc (sometimes not in an entirely pleasing way, but thicc nonetheless). Perhaps this comes form the trend in flat grades that came about with the widespread adoption of log in digital cameras. Then you couple that with the poor 8 bit codecs that break when you put contrast back in past a certain point, meaning people with Sony A7's etc got used to putting out thin or muddy looking images. Then I think you can lump in camera inertia, rolling shutter & motion cadence. I think these can add/subtract the feeling of weightiness.. with film being the best at this. I know this isn't exactly related to 'density' but I think they're linked quite a bit. If I was trying to address this on a cheaper camera I might: - Shoot raw or externally record to prores so you can push lots of contrast back in. - Monitor with a contrasty lut and light within this range (also shoot under cloud cover / use haze). - Use some filtration so that any transitions to pure white are smoothed out (don't be afraid of dense shadows or bright highlights) - Turn off ibis. Rig the camera to be large and heavy. - Put the camera out in front of you so the axis of the lens movement somewhat forward from the centre of gravity (imagine how far the lens is from the CG of an Alexa Classic. - Have a reference frame grab from a dense looking film in Resolve and try to match it - Watch out for gamma shifts on export and compensate if needed At the end of the day I think proper cinema cameras are just better at achieving this look, but I sure it's possible to get closer with some effort.

I did notice that the C200 raw had less artifacts than the C300II X-AVC. I would shoot them side by side when I owned both and the CRL codec is much cleaner when you really dig about in Resolve. However the performance of the CRL codec in Premiere was always pretty bad. I'd always end up transcoding so I could work smoothly. I used my C200 for the first time in ages last week and my new Mac Pro still struggled 😂. I'm guessing this is an Adobe thing? The main thing I like about the Canon RAW is that if you're happy to transcode, it's more or less writing a fat prores file to the card (at least in terms of colour sampling and bitrate).

I understand why the lack of raw is a downer for enthusiasts who really want to tinker, but I have to admit the C70 is pretty compelling work tool. You could load a backpack with the camera, 2 BPA-60s, some SD Cards and a couple of lenses and you could go shoot a job and make it look easy. You've got inexpensive media, decently compressed codecs and a battery that lasts 400 minutes. For a lot of projects, that's worth more than the gains from shooting raw. The best way forward (for me at least) is to delineate the two needs by owning a cinema camera and a video camera. Then you're not driving yourself crazy by trying to make one do the other's job.

It looks like the Sharp Viewcam from the 90s

If this rumour is true we'll see a bunch more adapters. I'm guessing these are sturdier versions aimed at video use compared to the existing $99 version? I'd personally take the 4K DGO sensor over the transplanted R5 sensor in this... but then I do have a S35 CNE-18-80 gathering dust. That combo would be a pretty good no nonsense 'shot-getter' for corporate work. You could then chuck the PL mount on for more cinematic projects.. If you really want FF then put the speedbooster on. Having something that flexible would be great. For me the days of owning 4 different cameras (each with their own media, lens adapters and batteries) is done. I just want to streamline everything.

Something like external prores raw @ 60fps FF, somewhere between 4k and 6k, with a low rolling shutter would get my attention. Sounds doable based on what they're currently doing... they just also need to do a good job on the included monitor and choice of media.

I wonder if they're also developing new high-end Varicam models... the Varicam 35 & LT are a bit dated now. I do have a soft spot for Panasonic as I started on a DVX100 and even went through a period shooting on the HPX3700 before large sensors took over. A full frame L mount would be fun though. If they can come up with a good sensor, the Leica SL lenses would be interesting see on there. That would also be something unique.

Even with a soft box on each the light will be relatively hard as the size of the source is small. You could get a cheap 5-in-1 reflector off Amazon. Use the translucent one and arrange a few of your lights to spread out over the whole surface. Or alternatively use the white one and bounce them. Basically just do whatever you can to spread the light out over a larger area. If you want even softer, try combining both ideas by making a book light (bounce off white, then diffuse). You'll need to be working at low light levels for that to work though as it'll kill the output.

This looks great as a gimbal / travel camera. Load it into a backpack with a couple of zooms and you're good to go. In typical Canon Cinema EOS style is about £2k more than you'd like to spend, but then you reach for it every time over something cheaper or more convoluted (e.g. a Z-cam rig). I'll likely get one to replace my C200 for straight-forward video jobs. It'll also probably cut in fine as a b-cam on higher end jobs.

Ah yes, that makes sense. It's one of those things where being more mobile might make for a better looking end result over the bump in absolute image quality. I've absolutely over-rigged cameras in the past and in a doc situation the first thing you end up doing is take all the extra stuff off again ha.

Vimeo review for work-in-progress. Dropbox for final delivery. Usually h264 and prores. I do tend to deliver in 4k as standard even if they don't request it. You never know where and how they might be presenting it... could be on a huge screen in their boardroom with their CEO watching. It also means that I've got higher quality masters for my reel etc.

I would 100% just go with prores 422 for a doc destined for Youtube. Most of the time when you record raw you get increased noise (as it bypasses some of the camera's processing like NR). In a doc situation with less than ideal lighting you could really be making more work for yourself in terms of having to de-noise everything. Also slightly on a tangent - will a Ninja V work with your camera? Or do you need the Inferno to take the raw output? I think the Inferno is a bit large & heavy for a doc where it helps to be discreet. Also they chew through batteries which could be stressful in situations where you have to keep rolling. I would definitely still try out Prores raw, but on something more controlled!

Here you go

I'm not looking for an answer to all my prayers, more a good and easy b-cam for the Ronin-S. Perhaps the R6 and Ninja V are the way to go. Good autofocus and 4K 60P prores in c-log. With the R5 overheating, I'm not so worried about record times... it's more if I'm forced to shoot in the blazing sun, which happens. I've had my 3d printed focus gears fall off my lenses from heat expansion before 😂 I might get an R6 as a stopgap towards the Komodo. Very different cameras but both fulfil the brief for a Ronin-S cam.

I could quite happily do a whole day on this lens for a lot of my jobs where I juggle between primes of 24/35/50/85. I believe it covers Mini LF in UHD mode but beyond that it needs the expander. Still, if it's around £5k then it doesn't really have any competition currently, so I might get one for jobs where I need to move quickly. Or maybe Sigma could release a FF 24-70 2.8 in a cine version that would also be good.

I suppose you raise a good general point about design language. Most of the modern cameras from Canon, Nikon, Sony, Panasonic perhaps feel a bit out of place in 2020 due to how refined smartphones are. From the leatherette plastic to the menus... they really do have a legacy feel to them. It's like driving a mid-2000s Ford Focus. The Leica SL2 is beautiful as an object. Fuji cameras are really nice but maybe rely a bit too heavily on retro charm. I guess cost is the big factor... if the EOS R5 is already going to be over £4k it could be pretty expensive to add a 5" touchscreen? I'd love to see it done though.

Haha I called out the rolling shutter on Feb 1st. Personally it's a dealbreaker for me. It'd work fine as a static B-cam, but if you're not doing serious photo work I think it's hard to justify.

It's so true. The CCD has a such a nice feel. I wonder if the technology is there to get a touch more highlight range off them now? I regret selling my MKIII S16 Zeiss Superspeeds now.

Although not suited to gimbals etc, I think a really FUN camera design to resurrect would be this:

I would personally go with mini v-mounts as a lot of lights & monitors come with integrated plates for v-lock. I've been very happy with the Bebob v-micro. They do various capacities depending on your power draw. I've got the 150WH ones because I've got a power hungry camera, but the smaller ones look like a nice form factor if they'll give you enough power. These are probably a good investment as they can carry you through all your future cameras. I've got a Hawk Woods plate that has 4 or 5 d-tap outputs, so you just get a new power cable for each camera instead of a whole new plate.

If their technology is more or less topping out within the XT line I can't see them putting a more expensive/larger camera just above it. A similar rationale that they won't release a full frame camera? They have the GFX if you really want to spend some cash... obviously would be cool if they could create many new cameras to make everyone happy, but they have to be smart about it to survive surely.

I would wager that the original Mini will hold on to its value slightly longer due to its form factor. I think the reason that people are offloading Alexa Classics for cheap is because of the size/weight and the fact they don't fit into the new paradigm of flexible rigging, gimbal use etc. Whereas with the Mini, the image will be good enough and the camera small enough. So I'd say 5+ years. The market would first have to saturate with the new S35 Mini first and that might take some time especially with the global slowdown we're heading towards.

It does look a bit underexposed. It's best to fill up the waveform as much as you can without clipping to get clean results. I've had good results by lighting the green screen at about 60% IRE (in a rec709 profile). If you have to turn up the gain in Keylight it starts to eat into the rest of the image and makes things grainy. I think those strings are going to be touch either way as they're quite thin and with sort of blend in with the green. So if you do reshoot - It might actually be worth shooting this in 4K. You can pull good keys with 422 material. You could also up the shutter speed a bit to get less motion blur. Maybe one thing you could try is to transcode to prores in case AE is having a problem with the codec. I used to own a C300II and can vaguely remember some occasional issues with the 444 codec in Adobe. I think it's an RGB file instead of YUV so maybe it's something to do with that.

I tried the 1DX III at BSC today and the rolling shutter was pretty bad imo... it's one downside to consider. There was a GFX100 at the Fujinon booth which had a Premista zoom on there and the footage looked nice on the monitor. I love the ratio of the sensor for stills too. Weirdly though as a product it kind of felt like the Fuji would seem dated sooner... could be the boxy product design. Perhaps the next version in that line might feel better in the hand. The 1DX feels so nice in terms of all the buttons and dials.

I shot a quick test this morning with my FD lenses on the Mini LF. It's dogs instead of cows. Not exactly what you guys are after but happy to share for what its worth... it's quite a nice DR test at least. I cut this in Resolve an exported without any adjustments. https://www.dropbox.com/s/lo9myfc9gbqh9ku/MILF_PARK.mov?dl=0 Format: Prores4444, 4.5k, LF 2.39:1, ISO 800, 60fps Canon FD: 28/2, 100/2 I wouldn't expect too much from the Alexa in low light. The highest ISO you can set is 3200 (there isn't even the option to go above this) and there is some noise present. So I will test at some point though.