TomTheDP

Surprisingly there are some pretty big productions that are pretty rushed. I was reading an article that interviewed one of the DPs on the Netflix's The Punisher. He had one day to scout the location and plan for lighting the day before the shoot. This was for a pretty large action sequence as well. Stuff like that seems pretty common in this age of high end, high output, quick turn around streaming shows. But yeah I get your point.

Yeah having finally shot with an Alexa(owning one) there is definitely something to the image that is just not there on lower end cameras. Definitely more highlight detail than the S1 though its only really about a stop. The noise is a lot more pleasing and uniform. Being able to monitor and see an accurate REC709 image is amazing. Its like seeing for the first time lol. I really wish cheaper cameras had better monitoring or REC709 lut viewing options.

BRAW is definitely a good alternative though. I am not a big fan of shooting 6k, though you can always opt for S35 4k.

The shipping said it was in customs then afterwards it said "returned to sender" now it says "ready for pickup" at the same city it originated from. I assume that means it was rejected by customs and sent back. There has been no update to the shipping or contact from the seller since Sept 23rd so I am just trying to get a refund at this point. I am somewhat bummed though the Alexa Classic realistically gives me everything I'd want in a slightly smaller package. I was using ProRes RAW which is virtually lossless. It's not as hard to match cameras it normal conditions but becomes trickier with mixed lighting or more difficult situations. That is where high end tends to shine more.

All Arri cameras have the same dynamic range essentially. They all have the same sensor even the Alexa 65. They essentially stitch the sensors together. While RED for example uses completely different sensors for each camera. Its one of the great things about Arri, you know exactly what you are getting. The benefit is more the color than the dynamic range in my opinion. Arri 444 is 12 bit log which has more color information than 10 bit log or 12 bit linear RAW that Panasonic offers. Its 2.8k vs 6k if we are talking Classic vs Panasonic S1 though. I really don't care a lot about resolution which is why I am getting the Classic. Certain luts do a great job of getting close or even matching Arri 100%. It is kind of situation dependent though. Emotive color does a great job. Even with his luts though they are made to match specific light sources. The internal codecs are limited and ARRI imitations luts are pushing the color really far from its original starting point, often resulting in artifacts. RAW makes a big difference on the Panasonic cameras though and is really awesome to work with. I certainly wouldn't suggest most go out and buy an ARRI or any other camera, especially not if you are a hobbyist. As an owner/operator DP it was the right move for me and my specific goals.

Prores noise seems to look a little better too. Not exactly sure how to describe it. The fixed noise pattern doesn't go away unless shooting in RAW though.

It's the Classic, just the body with the gold mount plate. I already got a PIX E5 that I am going to use to record rather than try to get SXS cards. I am not a big EVF guy so I am ok without it. It does have the high speed license. I do have an XT coming from Russia with all the goodies. I kind of want to cancel it, as it was rejected at customs. I just don't want to deal with it at this point now that I have the Classic inbound. My only real desire for the XT is the Prores 3.2k. In reality the difference between the 2k on the Classic and the 3.2k on the XT is almost nothing.

Google "Nikon z9 8k RAW" The lack of being able to dial Z-cams ND off is a bummer but at least there is an option. Otherwise you'll have to get a vari ND and deal with the color issues that those provide. The Zcam F6 is the competitor against the BS1H in my opinion. The BS1H is $3500 while the F6 is $4000. The S6 is only $2500 and is also S35. The S6 does 4k 100fps though and crushes all the VFR modes on the S1H and BS1H which are pretty crap IMO. The option for SDI out is great but if you are going solo with this camera and shooting prores RAW, pulling focus is a bitch off the slow latency HDMI. Prores internal would be a nice feature to have. The BS1H is cool but its more of a specialty rig cam. I am waiting on a full frame EVA1 with hopefully a less chinsey body and 10 stop NDs.

Pretty good deal I just got one for 4k USD on ebay.

Yeah 6K pro is a different story due to dual native ISO. On the URSA if you shoot above 800 iso you get fixed noise pattern banding.

I think so. You'd not want to shoot past 800 iso either way though.

The Z-cam has 4k 120p that is pretty darn solid as well as the option for electronic ND's and internal Prores HQ 422 at full resolution. This has built in SDI which is cool but you can't external record through the SDI so that is a bummer. At least you should be able to get a feed to an external monitor that doesn't have horrendous latency. Is the HDMI implementation here faster though? If it is that would be a big advantage. The HDMI out on both the S1H and Z-cam is very slow. Internal ND's would have made this camera a huge win, without them its kind of meh. The only advantage of the lighter weight is for drone use. Once you add a monitor you lose the weight advantage. The new Nikon camera will have internal prores RAW. If this had internal RAW and in combination with the SDI out I would buy it.

The raw codec is definitely more flexibile color wise though its very similiar in terms of the look. I personally like S1 color better than the GH5. I noticed shadow dynamic range is way way better with RAW. No banding in the shadows even when 6 stops under exposed and it retains the information. It does get noisy but the noise is much more organic than with the internal codec.

It definitely had a more modern look than the originals. I think the OG Matrix is one of the best action movies of all time. I was very entertained by the trailer, hopefully the movie is as good. I'd assume that, since its being made by Lana Wachowski, it'll be decent and not just homage/reboot drivel.

I mean the usual use for a LUT is converting LOG into a REC709 colorspace. What LUT were you using? Was it designed for the type of LOG profile you used? ZLOG comes with two versions of LOG, Zlog and Zlog-L. Zlog is designed to mimic a less flat log curve like C-log. So if you are using LUTS they should be ones designed for CLOG. If you are using Zlog-L you should use LUTS designed for Slog2, Vlog, or Flog. Some LUTs are better than other as its completely dependent on whoever made them.

Maybe prores in camera but will settle for small external recorder if that won't happen.

@lumbowski What were the conditions you shot the video in? I am seeing a possibility of some harder light sources. Luts can't really be one size fits all so you have to adjust based on how your video was lit and exposed. In terms of a cinematic look there are many different kinds both lower and higher contrast looks. The final image with the lut looks relatively normal to me. It's definitely on the higher contrast side but also normal looking. Yes the image with the lut is more contrasty. Upping the contrast on the original image might take you closer to the look of the LUT but it won't be the same. There are usually subtleties going on in regards to color and roll off with luts that can't be replicated by simply adjusting the contrast slider.

The Pocket 6k cannot downscale the RAW data to a lower resolution. The only way to do that with RAW usually is line skipping which the 5DMK3 does with magic lantern or the Z6 shooting prores RAW 4K. The URSA 12K does have RAW with the full sensor not line skipped at different resolutions, its using a non traditional method to do it though and has a very unique sensor.

I used natural on a Wedding recently and found it to be really nice. The S1 has really nice dynamic range and roll off even in the natural profile. Have you tried the E-shutter option? I shoot mostly with the electronic shutter these days and don't really notice a difference. aaaaaannnd I just forgot speedlights don't work with E-shutter.

I've found the S1's H264 10 bit is pretty darn good. Prores seems to look better in the shadows from the quick test I did. I think it varies from camera to camera. Some cameras have less processing in their Prores outputs which contributes to a different look. Bitrate helping the image should depend on how much motion is in the frame.

That is true. I still am not sure why they wouldn't make an interchangeable mount like the old RED cameras. @kye I think it comes down to most people will choose 5 pounds over 10 or 15 if you can get the same function. I have heard AC's complain about the Komodo being very impractical for traditional use and really being made for solo operation with the touch screen being placed where it is. The Mini with the EVF/LCD is a better solution. But thats why they are the top brand I suppose.

I'd be interested, preferably with SDI. It should be designed to use smaller SSD's as the ones made for the Ninja V are on the bigger side. I think something designed to be like a battery grip could be interesting and very compact. Prores RAW is a big advantage codec wise and Prores is nice too. Sure the advantages to prores over H264 aren't huge but if you don't have the latest PC prores is way more manageable. I also like to shoot 1080p downsampled from 4k which not all cameras do internally.

It is a locking mount which is cool. Though most people I know in the uber professional relm dislike using adapters. I don't know, all the Alexa cameras are PL mount and there doesn't seem to be an issue with lenses. Non PL mount lenses just won't be used on super high end stuff for the most part. Its an interesting choice for sure. Doesn't seem to directly compete with ARRI. Of course its also cheaper than the Mini and much cheaper than the LF. I think its a different direction for RED. Its a changing industry.

I am puzzled why its not an interchangeable mount. Would a big production want to deal with an RF mount on their A cam? Will they release a RED ranger style version with a PL mount option?

Kind of a big change for RED. They are advertising this camera as being superior to the Monstro which was released at $80,000. The RF mount also signifies they are trying to target a lower end market, as well as a higher end one presumably. I hate the fan placements on RED.