Samsung NX1 or...

[M Carter]

Time for me to upgrade my "I own it" camera for non-rental projects. Thinking the NX1, but I don't know much about the current Sony lineup. 

I have the big broadcast video-style camera covered for events, etc. But looking for my "pretty camera" for planned & lit setups. I currently use a Nikon D7100, which has suddenly developed bad banding and pattern noise in the shadows - but only "every now and then". And it's limited to 30p @1080. 

I'm intrigued by the little Sony Mkii for $1200, but the wide DOF makes it not-great (but I may get one anyway for some uses at that price…)

Here's my list of specs:

$1500 or so.

Don't care about audio quality - meters and a mic-in would be nice for synch. (And my preamped synch signal to the D7100 is usually clean enough to use in the edit if all the gain is staged well - very spoiled in that regard).

APS-C / super-35 sensor - that's the sweet spot for me and my glass, don't need or want full frame. Would rather not deal with a speedbooster.

4K, pref. 60p @ 4k. 120FPS or thereabouts at 1080. (I often do projects where I'll shoot effect plates in the studio and like to do this non-rental, take my time, experiment, etc…)

Lens mount & sensor that can be adapted to my big collection of vintage Nikkors. Not concerned with AF or auto-exposure.

Would love a wired trigger for crane work.

Why not just grab the NX1?

Dynamic range and transcoding time issues. 

How is dynamic range working out for people using the Log setup? 

Seems like the third party transcoding solutions are imperfect - gamma shifts, color shifts, etc. What's the latest and greatest?

My editing setup is (til winter or so) a 2009 mac pro, internal raid, ram, fast video card (smokes pretty well for 1080 prores work) - so I don't know if switching to premiere for native H265 will be feasible. But will Premiere give me high-end batch transcoding to prores? (Never used it - in fact, I still edit with FCP7, most of my time is spent in after effects).

I'm kind of spoiled by the D7100 - pull the card, throw into streamclip, beautiful Prores in minutes. But I do want 4K, for effects/motion graphics and reframing - reframing for dialogue edits would be huge for me. If someone is a real stuttery speaker or unfocused, I often deliver in 720 (for web video clients anyway) to hide all the damn cuts with closeups.

NX1 users chime in, others - what cameras am I missing out there? Thanks all.

 

 

 

[Marco Tecno]

TheThe video dr of nx1 is perfectly fine for most uses, imo. Of course it could be better, and probably would with a built-in flat profile, considering how good the dr is for stills in raw, especially at base iso, for an apsc sensor.

[ricardo_sousa11]

The transcoding pain will soon be over, Premiere is getting support soon.

 

The DR, is quite fine for me, I upgraded from the canon t3i, and it was a huge dif. You just gotta protect the highlights, apart from that, the NX1 has the best video quality i've ever seen/worked with (I've worked with 5DM2, T3i, D800, Nikon D7300 and a few others). Im fully confident this is the best video camera around for the price range.

[M Carter]

Thanks guys. I could see the NX1 replacing a lot of my stills work if the pro zooms are good enough. The Af with a native lens seems like it could be useful for the steadicam as well. 

I'm in the midst of upgrading my film darkroom to 4x5 to do very large analog prints (amongst other things) so I'm spending cash left & right… else I'd just get an Ursa Mini and call it a day for the next few years.

[homestar_kevin]

Michael, I got my nx1 in June and have really enjoyed it.

I haven't gotten any of the NX lenses, but I do want to get a few of the pancakes.

I've liked this camera coming from the d7100.

My d7100 has served me really well, and continues to do so, but the nx1 just has so many things that the d7100 doesn't that it really is fun to use and really does feel like an upgrade, in terms of features, usability, and footage.

Pretty much all my lenses are Nikon, at least my big prime and zoom set, and they work great on the nx1, although my 11-16 vignettes wider then 13mm or so.

My 7100 had some banding too, mainly in the shadows. It doesn't look good when it shows up, It hasn't been an issue 8 out of 10 times, but when it looks ugly, it looks ugly.

The nx1 hasn't shown anything like that, but I haven't really put it through the low light ringer.

I use Rocky Mountain converter and haven't had any real issues with converting, and recording UHD and converting to 1080 looks gorgeous to me.

One thing I really love about the nx1 is how long the battery lasts in it, even when filming UHD all day, a battery will last me the entire day and only be around half drained. 

I really like this camera and the features you get for the money are incredible. Transcoding the footage has been blown out of proportion, it really isn't that big of a hassle for me.

 

[majoraxis]

If you have a fast PC with a video card with lots or CUDA cores, PAVTUBE video converter is GPU accelerated, which can be very fast for converting NX1 H265 files. Also, it allows adjustment of contrast, brightness and saturation, so if you are shooting 0-256 luminance you can get push the image around while transcoding and to preserve as much information as possible. Regarding dynamic range - I try to keep it ISO 400 or under, the closer to 100 ISO the better if you plan to do a lot of grading in post.  If you plan on lighting your scene, the NX1 produces a fantastic image. Or you can spend serval hundred dollars more and get an A7s, if low light is your thing.

[Guest Ebrahim Saadawi]

The NX1 is the only option in your price range that fits all your needs. DR is not going to be less than the D7100/DSLRs, at least similar. 

You say you already transcode your D7100 footage to ProRes via Mpeg Streamclip, so the nx1 is going to be identical to your d7100 workflow, just with a different software than Mpeg Streamclip! 

The two issues are no issues really just pick it up plus a Nikon adapter plus an extra battery. It's beautiful s35 4K and excellent 120p 1080p. 

[Mr.Blue]

Michael, I got my nx1 in June and have really enjoyed it.

I haven't gotten any of the NX lenses, but I do want to get a few of the pancakes.

I've liked this camera coming from the d7100.

My d7100 has served me really well, and continues to do so, but the nx1 just has so many things that the d7100 doesn't that it really is fun to use and really does feel like an upgrade, in terms of features, usability, and footage.

Pretty much all my lenses are Nikon, at least my big prime and zoom set, and they work great on the nx1, although my 11-16 vignettes wider then 13mm or so.

My 7100 had some banding too, mainly in the shadows. It doesn't look good when it shows up, It hasn't been an issue 8 out of 10 times, but when it looks ugly, it looks ugly.

The nx1 hasn't shown anything like that, but I haven't really put it through the low light ringer.

I use Rocky Mountain converter and haven't had any real issues with converting, and recording UHD and converting to 1080 looks gorgeous to me.

One thing I really love about the nx1 is how long the battery lasts in it, even when filming UHD all day, a battery will last me the entire day and only be around half drained. 

I really like this camera and the features you get for the money are incredible. Transcoding the footage has been blown out of proportion, it really isn't that big of a hassle for me.

 

Hi there, I'm thinking of buying the setup guide for the NX1, is Editready necessary in order to follow the whole process? I also use rocky movie converter. Thank you. 

[M Carter]

Hi there, I'm thinking of buying the setup guide for the NX1, is Editready necessary in order to follow the whole process? I also use rocky movie converter. Thank you. 

Nope, not at all - RockyMountain lets you choose a lut as well. There's plenty of good setup advice for the $20 or whatever - most of it is covered around here, but it's all in one place. 

It's not up to date with the latest firmware though - two big issues with the guide:

1) - 1080 capture is much better now;

2) - HDMI doesn't lock up the camera controls any more; you do lose peaking, but HDMI is now very usable.

[iamoui]

Nope, not at all - RockyMountain lets you choose a lut as well. There's plenty of good setup advice for the $20 or whatever - most of it is covered around here, but it's all in one place. 

How do I choose a lut with RockyMountain?

[Phil A]

How do I choose a lut with RockyMountain?

Make sure you download the newest version, it was only implemented recently. It's at the bottom of the applications window.

[iamoui]

Make sure you download the newest version, it was only implemented recently. It's at the bottom of the applications window.

Ahhh, thanks! I didn't realize there was a newer version.

[christrad]

I don't know where u live but in Europe you can buy the NX1 (I did lol) for less than 800 euros !

NX1 price

[sandro]

2 hours ago, christrad said:

I don't know where u live but in Europe you can buy the NX1 (I did lol) for less than 800 euros !

NX1 price

wow... i paid €1300

[bigp]

Hi Christrad, I don't think they deliver outside of Belgium or have you purchased from them?

P

[christrad]

Sorry for the late answer. I think it is possible to purchase the 800 euros NX1 from Europe because I purchased it from France. Although it's not possible to buy it directly from the site, You have to pay them first then they ship it to you, that's what I did and they were slow but serious. I think it's a real bargain !

[bigp]

Thanks Christrad, good deal for sure... might just check if they will deliver to wet Ireland.

P