The 4K Fuji X-T2 is here

[Taranis]

8 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

I've ordered the Ninja Inferno.

Expect some flog to be making an appearance here soon... 

That's good news! I really want see some more before I make my order.

[BTM_Pix]

So.....FLOG then.

I've done a very brief, not exactly creative test recording FLOG to the Atomos Ninja Inferno.

First things first, the Ninja Inferno is a fine piece of kit but it isn't all plain sailing when its paired to the X-T2.

One glaring issue is that it can't lock to the 1080/24p coming from the X-T2 and just blanks the screen every half a second. 

All other sizes and frame rates are fine and the issue definitely appears to be coming from the X-T2 side as a quick test with a BMPCC showed no issue at all.

Another issue which caused me some head scratching until I worked it out was that if you have the eye sensor on then it blanks the HDMI output when it switches over. This looked like another blanking issue or dodgy cable until I realised what was happening. Surely no one at Fuji thought that was a good idea? Switching it off and leaving it on rear or EVF solved the issue so I'll have to remember that when switching to video recording as the eye sensor ON is of course my default for stills use.

The final thing was that the Fuji FLOG monitoring LUT on the Ninja Inferno actually shows less detail when active than just leaving it in REC709 so they both need to do some work on that. Or maybe I do and download the LUT that Fuji have on their website for editing with to see if that makes a difference. 

I'll do a separate report for the Ninja Inferno when I've used it with a few more cameras but for now, lets crack on with this FLOG thing.

Activating FLOG switches the ISO of the X-T2 to 800. So if you have the ISO on the dial set to less than 800 then it will ignore it and you won't see any changes until you move the dial beyond 800. This explains the couple of stops difference on the meter when switching to FLOG when I was just looking at it on the monitor as the even though the ISO dial was on 200.

To keep the test consistent then, I've set the ISO to 800 for both FLOG and non FLOG shots.

The comparison is to show the difference between FLOG and using what has become the defacto setting for flattish recording on the X-T2 which is ProNegStd with -2 highlights and -2 shadows.

The shots were exposed using the (excellent) luma parade function of the Ninja Inferno so that the brightest part of the image was just kissing 100.

Apologies for the not exactly inspiring nature of the shots but hopefully the nature of them means you can get a feel for what sort of DR you can expect when using FLOG.

These frames are completely untouched out of FCPX (no FLOG>709 LUT) so that you can shape them yourselves to make your own judgement.

If you want to use the official Fuji LUT it is available here

http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/lut/

 

 

[BTM_Pix]

For what its worth - and your mileage may vary considerably - my own view of this is that considering how much fiddling it takes for me to get the FLOG to a base point of the ProNegStd and the diminishing returns thereafter that aside from situations like the deliberate extremes of DR of the couple eating dinner I'm not convinced its a game changer for me really.

Certainly not significant enough to put down the extra cash for the Ninja Inferno or similar.

Fortunately, the FLOG was only going to be a bonus for me with this as its the edit ready ProRes and superb monitoring and metering that it gives to ALL of my cameras that is the big story here for me with the Ninja Inferno.

[Inazuma]

Thanks @BTM_Pix! 

[Taranis]

Thanks a lot! Could you upload some F-LOG video footage? I'd like to see how the noise behaves.

[Taranis]

While it's far from ideal to play with these compressed JPG files, it seems that it's a bit of a struggle to get the F-LOG to the level of ProNeg Std. The Fuji LUTS do help, but I would only use F-Log if the scene requires it.

[BTM_Pix]

42 minutes ago, Taranis said:

While it's far from ideal to play with these compressed JPG files

I will actually get round to uploading the prores file if I've got some time tonight.

 

[Inazuma]

It is sort of ironic that FLOG is only available via HDMI. Someone just shooting casually has more use of it than a professional filmmaker who can control lighting. 

[Kubrickian]

Don't you find the huge 7 inch monitor a bit unwieldy to mount with a mirrorless camera like the X-T2? I was looking at the 5" SoundDevices recorder because of this. 

[Taranis]

53 minutes ago, Kubrickian said:

Don't you find the huge 7 inch monitor a bit unwieldy to mount with a mirrorless camera like the X-T2? I was looking at the 5" SoundDevices recorder because of this. 

5" is indeed nice for mirrorless but the PIX-E series recorders have a considerably higher price than the Ninja Inferno, but what's even more important, I don't see Fuji in the list of supported cameras: https://www.videodevices.com/products/portable-video-recorders/pix-e5/supported-cameras

[BTM_Pix]

2 hours ago, Kubrickian said:

Don't you find the huge 7 inch monitor a bit unwieldy to mount with a mirrorless camera like the X-T2? I was looking at the 5" SoundDevices recorder because of this. 

I've got it as a way to upgrade all of my cameras to have ProRes and better monitoring and metering and to be able to record 4K60P from the JVC LS300. Being able to monitor in bright light is also a boon where I'm based in Spain. The ability to record FLOG was always only going to be a bonus.

So, for me, its going to see action in a lot of different capacities and environments where the size isn't going to be a major factor as it'll be mainly in slower paced and more contained environments. The screen size will actually be a positive advantage in some applications.

But, yeah, if I had to use it as an everyday run and gun solution with the X-T2 then it would be a pain in the arse because it ends up being a bit like this.

 

[mercer]

21 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

So.....FLOG then.

I've done a very brief, not exactly creative test recording FLOG to the Atomos Ninja Inferno.

First things first, the Ninja Inferno is a fine piece of kit but it isn't all plain sailing when its paired to the X-T2.

One glaring issue is that it can't lock to the 1080/24p coming from the X-T2 and just blanks the screen every half a second. 

All other sizes and frame rates are fine and the issue definitely appears to be coming from the X-T2 side as a quick test with a BMPCC showed no issue at all.

Another issue which caused me some head scratching until I worked it out was that if you have the eye sensor on then it blanks the HDMI output when it switches over. This looked like another blanking issue or dodgy cable until I realised what was happening. Surely no one at Fuji thought that was a good idea? Switching it off and leaving it on rear or EVF solved the issue so I'll have to remember that when switching to video recording as the eye sensor ON is of course my default for stills use.

The final thing was that the Fuji FLOG monitoring LUT on the Ninja Inferno actually shows less detail when active than just leaving it in REC709 so they both need to do some work on that. Or maybe I do and download the LUT that Fuji have on their website for editing with to see if that makes a difference. 

I'll do a separate report for the Ninja Inferno when I've used it with a few more cameras but for now, lets crack on with this FLOG thing.

Activating FLOG switches the ISO of the X-T2 to 800. So if you have the ISO on the dial set to less than 800 then it will ignore it and you won't see any changes until you move the dial beyond 800. This explains the couple of stops difference on the meter when switching to FLOG when I was just looking at it on the monitor as the even though the ISO dial was on 200.

To keep the test consistent then, I've set the ISO to 800 for both FLOG and non FLOG shots.

The comparison is to show the difference between FLOG and using what has become the defacto setting for flattish recording on the X-T2 which is ProNegStd with -2 highlights and -2 shadows.

The shots were exposed using the (excellent) luma parade function of the Ninja Inferno so that the brightest part of the image was just kissing 100.

Apologies for the not exactly inspiring nature of the shots but hopefully the nature of them means you can get a feel for what sort of DR you can expect when using FLOG.

These frames are completely untouched out of FCPX (no FLOG>709 LUT) so that you can shape them yourselves to make your own judgement.

If you want to use the official Fuji LUT it is available here

http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/lut/

 

 

What's nice about the shot with the older couple eating dinner is that with an on camera LED, it seems, you could easily up their exposure while still exposing for the sky... with some clean shadows too. 

[BTM_Pix]

1 minute ago, mercer said:

What's nice about the shot with the older couple eating dinner is that with an on camera LED, it seems, you could easily up their exposure while still exposing for the sky... with some clean shadows too. 

I wouldn't say that easily as they were already looking suspicious at the apparently randomly placed camera on the table pointing in their general direction without me pointing lights at them

 

[bunk]

9 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

I will actually get round to uploading the prores file if I've got some time tonight.

That would be very cool.

I already like F-log better than V-log ...and thats from just grading two compressed jpg's. looking forward to the prores files.

[BTM_Pix]

8 minutes ago, bunk said:

That would be very cool.

I already like F-log better than V-log ...and thats from just grading two compressed jpg's. looking forward to the prores files.

 

Thanks to the morse code speed of my internet here it will be file in the singular.

And even then, the X-T3 might be released before it finishes uploading it.

[SuperSet]

Those grades look great. I'm a little unclear on which ones are the FLog + external recorder vs ProNegStd?

[BTM_Pix]

1 hour ago, SuperSet said:

Those grades look great. I'm a little unclear on which ones are the FLog + external recorder vs ProNegStd?

They are both from the FLOG.

OK, so here is one of the source FLOG files.

Its 21 seconds complete with random people walking across frame and off camera audio from the internal mics of two ladies having a conversation that may have been fuelled by afternoon cocktails.

4K ProRes 422LT* 

https://mega.nz/#!RqxBkTbD!dqmFFG4fFjC792nc1Y9yj2EQNIYSm3hpAQRyjHJDG7w

 

*Yes,yes I know.

 

[Kubrickian]

It grades really well. First one is an M31 LUT and the second one is a a straight curve in colorista. 

[bunk]

I like it too. It doesn't break easily. There is chroma smearing/shift as wel but it doesn't jump in your eye. I like the noise as well.

Here is a grade

The footage is very sensitive to contrast, before you know you're shadows get this burned in look.

[Taranis]

I tried to give it a warmer, sunset type of look.