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I just bought a Sony DSC-RX100. After a couple years shooting my personal projects on a Canon 7D, I needed something more compact that I could carry with me at all times, and the Sony DSC-RX100 looked like it could be the one. The great reviews, the ability to shoot 1080p at 50fps with a fast Zeiss IS lens, full manual control in video mode, focus peaking and a 16mm sized sensor convinced me to go for it!   My footage shot on the 7D improved quite a lot during the time I've been using it, knowing a camera's strong points and especially its limitations is very important to getting good images out of it, so the first thing I did with the Sony DSC-RX100 was to shoot some tests to help me decide which settings I'll be using when shooting video with it.   Like most people around here I learn so much from online reviews and discussion forums, and those have been a great help deciding my gear purchases, so I'm sharing what I learned from my tests as a way to return the favor and give something back to the community. There's been some good reviews of the Sony DSC-RX100 online, and some useful info spread around the internet, but I think this post will cover a lot of useful information for whoever's interested in this camera for video, and much of this info will also apply for any other similar camera.   I started by turning off all the automatic picture improvement options, as they usually degrade the quality of the image and make it less gradable, then I set the codec to AVCHD at 28mbits and 50p (PS).   SHOOTING MODE For video shooting I'd recommend setting the top wheel to video mode and then selecting video-M for manual video shooting The RX100 does have a dedicated Movie Recording button, and can shoot video on any Stills mode, but you might get aspect ratio and exposure changes once you hit the Record button in these modes. In video-M mode you'll get what you see on screen.   RECORD SETTINGS   The Sony RX100 can shoot movies in two different formats, MP4 and AVCHD. All MP4 options are below 1080p resolution though, so I won't get into those. In AVCHD mode however, we get 3 different 1080 options:   50i 24M (FX) (50i @ 24Mbps, Blu-Ray AVCHD disc compliant) 50i 17M (FH) (50i @ 17Mbps, DVD AVCHD disc compliant) 50p 28M (PS) (50p @ 28Mbps, Progressive Scan)   So it seems like we get 50i at 17Mbps and 24Mbps, and we get 50p at 28Mbps, but not really… The 50i mode is actually capturing 25p images out of the sensor and encoding them as 50i footage, this means that we do end up with interlaced footage, but since it was captured progressively, de-interlacing it will produce a clean 25p image!   So if we're looking for the best possible video out of the RX100, we should use 50i 24M for 25fps video and 50p 28M for 50fps video. In theory, shooting 50i 24M gives us the best bitrate per frame in this camera, almost twice as much as shooting 50p 28M. Shooting 50fps however would have neighboring frames changing less than when shooting 25fps, helping the encoder do a better job, but still the per frame bitrate is lower, and here's a comparison that shows is. If you look at the darker areas in the back where the window is, you'll see that the 50i version is slightly cleaner.     Here's an example of something in motion shot at 50i and 50p, the 50i frame was de-interlaced and as you can see there's no interlacing artifacts at all.     Considering all of the above, I think it's safe to say that the 50i 24M mode, which is in fact 25p @ 24Mbps, will give you best video quality out of this camera.   CREATIVE STYLES Creative Styles is the RX100's designation for Color Profiles. My first test was to choose the flattest Creative Style the camera had to offer, so I shot some footage of all the different styles.     After looking at all these different images, I decided to go with the Portrait Creative Style, as it seems to be the flattest of them all.   EXPLORING THE PORTRAIT CREATIVE STYLE Each Creative Style has settings for Contrast, Saturation and Sharpness that can be set from -3 to 3, so I shot some more footage using the Portrait Creative Style in a number of different settings.     Using the Portrait Creative Style at the minimum settings (Contrast: -3, Saturation: -3, Sharpness: -3) definitely (and obviously) seems to be the flattest style in this camera, but I had to check how well it graded and how it compares to using the default values (Contrast: 0, Saturation: 0, Sharpness: 0).     On the top left you have a frame shot using the Portrait Creative Style, with all the settings set to 0, on top right you have a frame shot using the Portrait Creative Style in its flattest settings (Contrast: -3, Saturation: -3, Sharpness: -3). On the bottom right frame I added some sharpness to the flat image, which responded quite well, and on the bottom left frame I added not only sharpness but also increased the Saturation and Contrast in order to match the top left frame (Contrast: 0, Saturation: 0, Sharpness: 0). The result is an image that matches in color saturation and contrast, but with a much nicer detail and less compression artifacts. It looks sharper and cleaner overall, which made me decide to use this Creative Style and these settings from now on.   SHOOTING BLACK & WHITE The following test is something I've been wanting to do for a while, regardless of the camera. The thinking behind this test was:   "If the camera is compressing B&W footage instead of color footage, maybe it can do a much better job at it since it doesn't have all the color information to process, so even using the same bit rate could give us better results."   Of course I don't know the details on the cameras' inner workings, but assuming the B&W Creative Style is applied BEFORE the footage is compressed to AVCHD, then this should work. Maybe.     So I shot some footage using the B&W Creative Style in its flattest settings (Contrast: -3, Saturation: -3, Sharpness: -3), which you can see on top left, and then some more footage using my new favorite Portrait Creative Style, also in its flattest settings (Contrast: -3, Saturation: -3, Sharpness: -3).   On the middle left frame, I increased the sharpness and the contrast on the image to make it less flat, and on the middle right frame I did the same, and also desaturated it. As you can see both images are different, since the B&W Creative Style's color conversion is not merely desaturating the image to create a B&W version, it's using a more clever process that also looks better, but anyway, the point here is to test the image compression and figure out which one gives cleaner results, so on the last test frames I increased the exposure by 2 stops to find out how well the images handled it. On the bottom left frame you can see how much cleaner the image shot with the B&W Creative Style is, compared with the one shot using the Portrait Creative Style, it's actually beautifully clean and overexposing it by 2 stops didn't show any ugly artifacts at all.   So my conclusion on this one is, if you're shooting for black and white, and you're sure that's the look you'll want (since it's kind of hard to color B&W footage if you change your mind afterwards), then using the B&W Creative Style will give you far superior results!   DYNAMIC RANGE OPTIMIZER The Dynamic Range Optimizer works when writing to compressed formats, such as JPG, MP4 or AVCHD. It has no effect when shooting RAW. Its purpose is to capture more detail in the areas that are more prone to get lost when using compressed formats, such as dark shadows. It works in the darker areas of the image, making them brighter and producing a flatter image, which makes it easier on the image compression to achieve better results. Here's a test scene shot using all the DRO levels available. There's also an Auto Mode, but I suspect it wouldn't give predictable results when shooting manual video.     The result is quite clear on every mode. Personally I think 5 is too much and might be actually degrading the image more than it helps, but lower settings definitely look not just useable but very useful in achieving a flat and clean image. I'd say using the DRO in its modes 2 and 3 would definitely help achieving a better flat image. I'll probably leave it at 2 all the time and increase it to 3 in situations with more contrast.   5DtoRGB I've used 5DtoRGB on Canon footage since the early beta versions, and I honestly don't understand how come it's not used by everyone. 5DtoRGB features one of the best YCbCr to RGB compression out there, and it's free!!! (the Pro version with batch capabilities costs $50 though)   5DtoRGB does a great job improving aliasing and compression artifacts and transcoding to 10-bit Prores (can also transcode do DPX image sequences and DNxHD files), or at least it did with Canon DSLR footage, so I thought I'd try it with the RX100.     The top frame is from the original AVCHD file and the bottom frame is from the Prores transcoded file out of 5DtoRGB. 5DtoRGB automatically changed the Decoding Matrix setting to ITU-R BT.709, so I assume that's the one to use with the RX100 (Canon DSLRs like the 550D, 60D or 7D used the ITU-R BT.601 Decoding Matrix, the 5Dmk3 however used the ITU-R BT.709). Looking at it like this there's not much of a difference, so I went looking in the channels.     The Red and Green channels looked quite clean in both versions, but looking closely at the Blue channel you can see how 5DtoRGB makes a pretty good job at smoothing out some of the compression blockiness, but mainly smoothing out the aliased lines you get on sharper edges. Using 5DtoRGB won't do any miracles, but when shooting to 8 bit compressed codecs, every little bit helps, and using it along with a flat Creative Style will definitely help you getting cleaner and better images.   SHUTTER ANGLE / SHUTTER SPEED The Sony DSC-RX100 has the annoying feature of only shooting 50fps (or 60fps on NTSC markets). On one hand it's great to be able to shoot 50fps at 1080p, but on the other hand, shooting 25fps at the same bit rate would probably produce better results with less compression. One of the advantages of this could be that you'd always have the extra frames in case you needed the slow motion effect, but unfortunately that's not quite the case, since the ideal shutter speed for 25fps real time playback is different than the ideal shutter speed for 25fps slow motion playback. If you're planning on shooting for 25fps real time playback, then you should set your shutter to 1/50, but if you intend to shoot for slow motion playback at 25fps, then you should set your shutter speed to 1/100.     Using a shutter speed of 1/100 for real time 25fps playback will not give you enough motion blur, and the motion playback will not be as smooth as it should. Also, playing back footage shot at 1/50 shutter speed at 25fps slow motion will have too much motion blur, making its motion look rather fuzzy.     Here's a sample file you can download yourself. This was shot at AVCHD, 1080 50fps with a shutter speed of 1/50, meant to be used on a 25fps timeline, playing at real time: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/8569573/rx100review/RX100videoSample1.mov     That's it for now, I really hope it helps some people out. I have some videos I can share later on if you're interested, and I also might update this review with tests of the different Steady Shot modes once I get to them. Keep in kind that these are only my findings and personal opinions, it would be great to hear from people with different opinions, or about settings you think would give better results.   Enjoy!

Hey all, jumping right in here on the forums to share my work shot using Pro Color! I've come from the Canon world but now love my Sonys. Pro Color was a God-sent and I am fully embracing it! More to come but in the meantime please see this short video of a buddy of mine fishing shot handheld on the new Sony A7iii using a Nikkor 35mm f1.4 ai-s and 105mm f2.5 ai-s. V3 Pro Color was installed on the camera as at the time of filming V4 was not yet out. I applied a Lut of mine, Tenkara, you can grab from my website. Thanks Andrew for making these killer profiles!

Hey all! I want to share this trailer for Sennheiser's Pro Talk Season 2 I shot using a Sony FS7, A7iii and A7sii. Two weeks before the shoot I decided I wasn't happy with my current slog3 workflow and wanted to change it up. I found Pro Color V3 (at the time, V4 was not out yet) and gave it a shot. I loaded it up on the A7sii and A7iii, barely made a few tweaks to both to match them up, give me a great result and bam. I was sold. I then created a preset in FCPX (yea I edit on FCPX for now) that took my FS7 slog3 footage and popped it into Pro Color V3 matching the other two cameras perfectly. So my new flow is like this, Pro Color on the A7 series cameras and the FS7 shoots slog3, I then match the FS7 to the A7 series cameras in post and work from there. The reason why I needed Pro Color in my life was because I had these beautiful little A7 series cameras but couldn't use them to their full (small) potential shooting slog3. I didn't want to have to tote around an external monitor, etc. There's a lot more to say but I'll leave it at that. Way more to come. Enjoy.

Ok this is not the pinnacle of artistic videography or technical prowess, but hopefully it can get by on a bit of story and a location that can't be beat. I'm not very active on this forum but I have learned a lot of technical tips from lurking in old threads so I thought I might share my recent video that I'm actually very pleased with. I know you guys love the tech stuff so I'll let you know the expensive equipment I used: Olympus E-M10 with a Panasonic 14mm f2.5 and an iPhone 6. Unfortunately more than I would have liked ended up shot on the iPhone, but what can you do. It was just the two of us up there and the success (and safety!) on the climb was definitely not a sure thing, so I considered it a success to get as much footage out of it as I did. The Google Earth screen capture stuff I was pleased to figure out, but it could have been executed much better. I couldn't get the application to load the full resolution images of El Capitan, so I was stuck using the web browser which was laggy (on my computer anyways) and didn't have much in the way of camera controls. Anyways thanks for watching and hope you enjoy.

Hi, I my last video i did a Star Trek transporter effect. It's pretty basic and i would like to create something like the transporter of the Franklin in Star Trek Beyond in my future videos. I would love to get feedback on my video quality and what would you add. Particulary the lighting is a area i need to work on. My video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4QzdiSrFQU Franklin transporter: http://www.facebook.com/SaucetvAwesome/photos/a.1640382469598402.1073741830.1503065506663433/1640382479598401/?type=3&theater I know there are worlds between my transporter effect and the pro effect from Beyond, but i would like to be able to do it some day. Imagine all the techniques that go in a effect like this. I'm shooting on the GH4 whit the Panasonic Lumix G Leica DG Summilux 15mm f/1.7 ASPH Lens. Thanks for reading Tomaž

Hi guys, A few weeks ago I bought an X-T2, mainly for stills but as a video tool too. Yesterday evening I was making my first real video test shooting : my son presenting a magic trick. Apart the poor choice of profile and the exposition aproximation (light was going down fast) a few of the clips shows some strange "flickering" at the hedges of the picture as you can see there, straight out from cam : The majority of other clips are looking normal, there were shot with the same settings, except for focal lenght minor apperture or Iso changes. Settings were FHD 25 P, Velvia profile with -2 in hi, low lights and sharpness (trst purposes), iso 200 to 320, 1/50s, F5.6. Good Transcend 600x SDXC card (never showing problem with lumix gh3). The X-T2 was in boost mode. The only thing that I can think of if that the battery (original np126s) was running low at this moment. I changed it a few time after, but before the camera shuted down. My other track is the OIS I forgot to turn off, I know that it 's sometimes bad when on a tripod but that bad ? I did not succed in reproducing the problem. Wich in a certain way is a bad thing as the reason is still unknown. For this shooting its not a problem but it's not good for trust in gear you need to have for critical and pro aplications. It look like if the lens correction was going on and off... Have you experienced something similar ? What do you think of it ? I'm new to Fuji and I already know the limitations of X-T2 as a video tool but I'm not new to video and never seen something like that. Thanks for your looks and thinks. Boris

Me and a friend started a series on YouTube. It's called HOMEWHERE. See that we both come from the music world (I'm an audio engineer by day, my partner is a musician and a photographer) we decided to kick it off by asking friends to let us "invade" their homes and have some fun. Of course we've got a lot of things still to learn but so far we had a lot of fun which was the driving force behind all of this. Would like to get suggestions and whatnot. Thanks.

Hi. Here is a music video I directed last week on my Sony A7sii using zeiss super speed lenses via a pl mount adapter. Hope you like it. Guy

Hey guys! I'm looking to get into video work, and I'm trying to figure out which camera would best suit my needs. I'm looking for a camera with great stills as well as video. The 3 main contenders for me are panasonic's gh3 and g6 and Nikon's d5300. All of them offer full HD at 24 at 60fps, which is crucial for me. They also all have a 3.5mm jack for external microphone. These specs are similar, but Panasonic's seem to be better for video. If it was video alone, I would choose the Panasonic cameras. But, I'm also looking for great stills. Right now I have the sony a58, and I don't want anything under the quality of its stills. The d5300 has better dynamic range, AF, sensor size, and low light performance. I've heard that the d5300 is one of the best APS-C sensor cameras for video, but it's also one of the most annoying to use. I don't want to sacrifice any stills/video quality. Which would you guys suggest? Here's a post by eoshd themselves against the d5300. http://www.eoshd.com/2014/02/nikon-d5300-review/ I would really appreciate the help!

The official EOSHD sticky topic for GH4 users.

Hi everyone! Do you know any website where only professional videos are published? I couldn't find it for quite a long time... so I decided to create my own project. The teaser website: www.vimazing.com The full vimazing will be online soon! Please contact me if you want to collaborate ;)

Hello all, Firstly thank you for taking the time to open this and at least read this far. For those of you that aren't here to give constructive advice and help please look else where to spread your negativity. If you've carried on read then thank you. I was an animator, film maker, director and editor a few year ago, but since the economic downfall I've now found a new career path in working with young people. I use my skills and knowledge base to engage the otherwise forgotten about youth of Birmingham, UK. I've researched over the last five years the possibility of creating a wedding videography business. I'm not thinking of it as a full time career, not as yet any how. But I really miss the create elements involved in producing creative pieces of film and I'm fed up of seeing the terrible quality of the videographers in my local area charging a small fortune. Since I've been out for a while I've done quite a bit of research on equipment and I'm finding so many conflicting reviews. It's proving difficult to narrow down and actually buy some equipment. Here's what I'm thinking so far: Canon 5d mark 2 with lens 1 £1,500 Memory 2 £440 Lexar Professional 128GB 800X 120MB/s High Speed UDMA CompactFlash Memory Card Steady Cam 1 £500 Steadicam Merlin 2 Mic 1 £150 Rode VideoMic Pro Camera Monopod 1 £130 Manfrotto Fluid Video Monopod Total £2,720 I'm interested into what you guys think and if I've missed anything out equipment wise. I'm looking for a DSLR that is suited towards video shooting full HD at least 50fps. I've read that the panasonic GH3 hacked are the best for video but over the past few years the Mark 2 still seems to be a strong favourite. Thank's in advance for your time and help Regards

Would like to need your help for shooting video with my Canon 6D? 1) I need to use my live view LCD of 6D active while using a field monitor connect with my 6D using mini HDMI cable active. Basically I need to keep both the screen active so that during my shooting my clients can see the shooting with the external monitor. Kindly help me, how can I do that? 2) how can I shoot raw video with magic lantern in 6D? Kindly help me with the step by step tutorial if possible.? Thanks. Best regards. Apon

Hi guys, i shot a short "wedding music video" for an friend of me in "indie style" - hope you´ll like it! LOCATION: Kulturgut Wrechen DATE: 10.8.2013 EQUIPMENT: Canon 5D Mark III | Canon 35 2.0 IS | Canon 50 1.4 | Canon 70-200 2.8 IS II | Canon 100 2.8 Makro | Canon 85 1.8 | Tamron 24-70 2.8 | Tokina 11-16 2.8 | Panasonic GH2 | Olympus 12 2.0 | Voigtländer Nokton 25 0.95 mft, | Manfrotto Stativ | Manfrotto Einbein | Eightline Slilder | China LED Kopflicht | Edelkrone Followfocus | Edelkrone Pocketrig | Genius Eclipse Varia ND EDITING + GRADING: Final Cut Pro 10.1 MUSIC: Youth Lagoon - Afternoon (itunes.apple.com/de/artist/youth-lagoon/id457870121) Any Feedback welcome!

Greetings, I've run into an issue with remotely controlling the video on a Canon DSLR (5D2 and 7D) while maintaining EOS Utility. I need 150+ft range and USB drops off after ~30ft. I've tried USB to ethernet adapters since I was told ethernet doesn't drop off, but that hasn't worked yet - I was later told you would beed a network router for this to work? Does anyone know of a solution for wired control of a Canon DSLR so that the control through EOS utility is still functional. I have solutions for wirelessly triggering video with a pocketwizard setup, but I lose two very critical things; exposure control control and media download. The concept is to have a camera rigged in a location where repeated visits isn't an option - so exposure control and media download are key. I've read that the Canon wireless transmitters will also maintain the functionality of the EOS Utility - does anyone have experience with that? What do folks with these RC helicopters do for remote control of video? Probably a much bigger budget than I have... Thanks in advance for suggestions and advice. -Ronan

Hi everyone! So I need help on picking a camera, I've also sucked at deciding in general. Basically I need it to film videos for my vlog, some of me at home and others me filming protests. If it was just videos at home of me talking I wouldn't care that much, but filming protests means the camera has to do well in different lighting, specifically low light, and it has to deal with a lot of people moving around. Another important thing is audio, because during protests I might ask someone some stuff and I'd like the viewer to be able to hear them. I know DSLR's don't do very well in that aspect, although you can buy a separate thing for that. I'm not sure about budget yet, I am a student though so don't suggest anything more than $800ish while I figure what I can afford. Any help would be appreciated! Thank you :)

Hey there, I am relatively new to these discussions; but after having scoured the internet for some answers I have been at a loss, so where better to ask than here??? I have been working for a my organisation for a year now, and my job is essentially being the in-house film-maker, for the past year I have been using my Hacked Lumix GH2 (don't ask me what type of hack it is, I did it in 2012, recording between 88-90mbps with no negative side effects, except that no playback is available until the camera has been turned off and on). I typically shoot in cinema 23.976 fps in 1080p and have a very fluid workflow (I produce about 2 videos a week for the company I work for). Since last month I have been 'upgraded' to the Canon 5D MkIII since the company didn't want me to use my personal gear (for insurance reasons, I travel a lot with the gear). And while there are some downsides in terms of bulkiness of the 5D body compared to the GH2 (and lack of swivel screen) it is a standalone camera and I find the two can't be compared too much: they are both great and stand well on their own depending on the job required. My ultimate question is: now that we're in 2014 and seeing as the GH4 is about to be released, what is the 'next level' in affordable DSLR's (or even dedicated cameras, like the Black Magic)in your opinion? I feel like I have been out of touch with the camera world since I hacked my GH2 in 2012, is this a camera that seems 'future proof' (with the hack) or will it shrivel to the upcoming 4k's?

Hello fellow EOS users i have had a 5d mark iii for sometime now, and I finally have all the necessities to use the magic lantern rare recoding function. I have downloaded the recommended firmware, and followed the guidelines of the EOSHD_G3_RAW Guide. I have downgraded the firmware to 1.1.3, formatted my cards with the exFAT file system, installed the magic lantern alpha, and then installed the magic lantern night build, as well as the mac-boot to prepare the cards to make them bootable. After all this was said and done and after I hit update firmware, My camera screen said, Firmware update program. Update file cannot be found, please check the memory card and reload the battery and try again. I am using a 64 GB compact flash UDMA 7 LEXAR Professional 1000x CF card, and a PNY Professional X 64GB class 10 SD card. Can anyone give me some insight to what I might be doing wrong?!!!!!!

The taking lens was the SLR Magic 35mm T1.4 Cine Mark II for both of these, used at F2.8, the camera was a GH3. A live acoustic video, on this one I've intentionally gone for a look with flares: Some night street footage, at F2.8 it's a bit tricky when there's not much street lighting, I may well re-edit this video, maybe to include more footage.

Hi ! I wanted to share with you my video done with a GH3, a D5200, a Dji Phantom 2 drone and a GoPro 3. I hope you dream and travel with me trough these images

Hi i just bought the panasonic gh2 and I'm about to buy a voigtlander nokton lens.. just wondering which would be better - voigtlander nokton 25mm or voigtlander nokton 17.5mm? i would be using it primarily for video.. i understand the 17.5mm has clickless aperture ring but it's easier to focus in 25mm? any advice welcome!

My first slow motion for Nikon Italy with new Nikon D5300:

Hi!   I am an amateur (but passionate!) filmmaker and would like to buy a display/monitor for video editing. Colour accuracy is of course important. I don't earn my money with video editing, so I don't want a high-end professional, x000 € expensive monitor, but something in the range of 600-900€ would be possible.   Which 27" display would you recommend? Or are two 24" displays better (ergonomically)? Thanks!  

I was looking up some information on what Canon had in store for the future and I ran across this forum.  It's filled with photographers that are angry Canon is giving any love to the video world!  I couldn't believe how many people were upset.   Personally I think if you can't pick up any Canon or Nikon DSLR above their very basic entry models and take decent pictures the issue isn't with the camera.  Once 18 megapixels was hit I would have thought most people would be satisfied with the megapixel count in APS-C world.  Video is the part of the camera that needs a lot of work.  But I guess there a substantial number of people that disagree with me.   Anyway it was interesting hearing some of the other voices yelling at Canon.  Here is a taste...                 That was just a sample of page one.  So who should Canon listen to?  It's weird.  I have never seen such a divergent set of opinions about a product line.  And both worlds seem totally unaware the other exists.