TomTheDP

at least you can be confident you are in focus

Maybe not most underrated but the Panasonic S1 is definately underrated outside of this forum. It's giving an FX9 quality image for peanuts. I would say it could compete with the C500 MK2 and C300 MK3 as well. The C500 can see into the shadows better by 2 stops or so, but it doesn't have dual native ISO. The Panasonic S1 can do 4000 iso with 4 stops of headroom in the highlights and a couple in the shadows. That punches the C500 dynamic range in the gut at the same ISO.

Yes, the varicam lT seems to be pretty nice, but it's a bit clunky to use, and I would prefer an Alexa at that point. Not big on the FX9, I think my S1 delivers just as good of an image. My use for it as a B-cam would generally be in somewhat controlled environments for interviews or narrative work. For me it looks way better than any other lut I've used. The contrast and highlight roll off it gives is hard to mimic manually. I'd want a Ninja V to get RAW out of the Panasonic tho to get more fine tuned adjustments. Getting the wide balance right is critical with the Luts, which is why I think a Blackmagic camera would be ideal. I'll definitely consider the Pocket or Micro as a B-cam if I do decide to get an Alexa. It's nice to hear it cuts well with the Alexa from Charters. Cinema DNG is definitely the best codec. Maybe I'll get one and send it to Alex from emotive color to construct a lut for.

I get spoiled with the Panasonic S1, I forget not all screens are created equal haha. Thats where you have to dig deeper than the spec sheet.

It's definitely a step in the right direction for Sony. If they get internal compressed RAW they'll have it in the bag.

I had an Alexa in the bag but I put a hold on it. Going to decide tomorrow if I want to push the button or not. I was actually heavily considering an F35 as it has a much lower power draw and is actually cheaper, but I don't want to be limited to PL mount lenses. I love film personally but don't have the budget to shoot on it for most projects so I wanted what's second best. I think the F35 and Alexa are the closest you can get in the digital realm with the least amount of work. If you check the emotive color website he has a lot of comparison images though of course I am curious to see if I can obtain that same match that he does in random situations. Thats what the lut was designed for though, matching a cheaper B cam to an Arri. At some point being an owner/operator of a RED or ARRI was a big help in one's career. Looking at Sundance this year more and more higher profile projects are being shot on Blackmagic, still not the majority but it's changing slowly but surely. The benefit of owning a high end camera is getting less and less.

I am sure the colors are nice but color matching two different cameras/sensors is always a pain regardless. I am confident with my S1 as emotive color does the work for me 😅. Probably would like to get a P4K or 6K at some point for the RAW though, a bit easier to match WB. I like the Micro body over the OG pocket camera. The screen on the pocket cam was just kind of terrible and the micro HDMI was really brittle.

Yeah I like the OG GH2, very nice image if you don't need more than 24p. Very nice downsampled HD. About as sharp as any native 4k sensor.

not much upgrade options past an Alexa 😅

Yeah 4K isn't noticeable unless its showing on a giant screen. Great footage, always wanted to get this camera but it won't really matcha as a Bcam to my current A cams.

It's a little worse in Open gate but probably not noticeable for most people. The 4k S35 mode is probably acceptable rolling shutter wise, though its still noticeable. The 1080p S35 mode is really fast, Alexa level, but the HD on the S1 is pretty sucky, especially in S35 mode. I know, it would be an instant buy for me. Or more like an EVA2 as I feel the Panasonic S1H is too consumer of a sensor to put in a varicam, even though its incredibly good regardless.

Maybe that is for stills? I know on the Panasonic S1 for stills 100 iso is like native (highest dynamic range) where in video its 640. 14.6 stops would be Alexa level probably beyond depending on how pleasing the noise is. The thing that pushes the Alexa above the rest is not dynamic range but color science especially in terms of how pleasing and accurate the color is when over and under exposed. Even if the Alexa is noisy asf at -5 exposure the colors are still pleasing and the noise is pretty nice. Either way sounds like a great sensor. Would love to see it in a fuji with internals ND's and raw. 🤩 or a new Samsung camera??

Any experience using third party apps with the iPhone? Or is the stock codec that good?

How good was the copy of the film? A lot of times compression destroys low light scenes that would probably have been beautiful otherwise.

Yeah if shooting with vintage glass its a great budget option. There aren't many super wide lenses for 35mm film cameras as you don't need it, but with APSC 24mm doesn't quite cut it on the wide end. For cinema lenses you have tons of options as S35 has been the standard for most of film history, not that any of us can afford a S35 cine lens haha.

it'll happen eventually

From my personal experience it is amazing at around 28-40mm. Its a little wonky on the super wide end like 20mm or less. 50mm is good though iffy for moving shots, past 50mm starts to get iffy in general. The boost mode IBIS works great for locked down looking shots even at longer focal lengths though.

Yeah I am pretty mad at Canon for not offering a RAW output on the C70. Pretty much every other camera company is offering a RAW output or internal RAW these days. I'd rather shoot on my S1 with an external recorder for half the price of the C70. The C300 is a nice option but they should have went with an RF mount. I guess its nice that they used the same sensor as the C300 MK3 in the C70 at a much lower price point. Product segmentation is just such a ridiculous idea when the customers are aware of it.

Yeah not so much for a cine camera but auto ISO can certainly be helpful for event shooters. The Arri Amira was designed more for doc, TV, or event stuff ENG style, so I don't see why more modern features would be a bad thing for even an Alexa camera. I kind of ignore Canon but the C500 MK2 and C300 MK3 seem to possibly be the best options outside of Arri for overall color consistency and dynamic range. I guess at some point you get what you pay for. It is cool to see what you can do with a $1500 Panasonic camera though.

The power draw on the Mini is also less about 60w and 65 on the mini lF. I assume it's just more modern tech. I was interested to know what exactly they did to reduce the power draw but couldn't find any information on it. After further testing of my S1 it definitely doesn't like underexposure. Not only do you get banding at some point but the image quickly becomes pinkish. Keeping skin exposure around zero to +2 gives you a lot of room to work though and still affords you multiple stops in the highlights. Emotive color's luts actually have exposure adjustments for -2, -1, -.66, -.33, +.33, +.66, +1, and +2 that adjust for color shifts. He doesn't have anything for ISO shift unfortunately, though sticking to the native ISO's and just adjusting gain in post seems like the most consistent option. But yeah I agree and don't see why camera manufactures don't have this built into the color science, just seems lazy. The Pocket 6k is the only camera I've seen outside of the Alexa that maintains almost identical color from -4 to +4 exposure, not sure about in higher ISO's though.

True, I will say the image looks beautiful even at 3k 60fps. I was never impressed by the specs but I can't deny the image just works as long as you aren't shooting with tungsten lighting.

Yes although digital grain can be pleasing depending on the camera. For the Oscar nominated film Lady Bird they used the grain from the Alexa sensor as an aesthetic choice. They shot in 2k and would underexpose the sensor and normalize in post to bring out the grain.

I think the issue is film generally reacts nicer to over and under exposure so noise is more acceptable.

Brooo that is who I am getting the Alexa from.

Just noticed the Venice has compressed RAW options which look really nice. The same guy AG DOK has tested the venice and the S1 seems to come out ahead in Dynamic range, could be a flawed test of course but I wouldn't be surprised if its true. Yeah the power draw is a bummer on the classic. My RED MX has a 60w power draw which I find very manageable. 85w which is the classic is a good deal more though. The Amira 50w power draw is really attractive. I'd love to get an Amira but not sure if I can justify it over a RED gemini or Helium, I just hate RED. Yeah I'd love to have it just to see what the hype is about. I pretty much exclusively use the emotive color Alexa lut with my S1 and I really love the look. Maybe the magic would be worth the hassle, probably not though lol. The package I am looking at is $6600 with the Odyssey recorder and two 500gb drives, plus a few extras (ef mount, quick release plate and matte box). 1500 hours on the body. It's not a lot of money but it's still a good bit of money at the same time. Yeah would be nice to see the test with braw or prores RAW. The banding is really weird, I've never seen that in my footage.