NX1 / NX500

[Rodolfo Fernandes]

17 minutes ago, mercer said:

@Inazuma the D7500 is the only hybrid I'm even remotely interested in after going with the 5D3 with ML Raw. I was clearing space on all of my hard drives for the raw file storage, and peeping at my time with other cameras this past year plus and the D5500 was the only image I found remotely cinematic enough compared to the ML Raw... well the BM stuff looked decent too but I have different issues with them. So why not the D7500... the D500 has stunning 4K and the 7500 should be exactly the same. 

Did you ever get to use a D800? i think the D5500 has nothing on a D800 for video

[mercer]

6 minutes ago, Rodolfo Fernandes said:

Did you ever get to use a D800? i think the D5500 has nothing on a D800 for video

No but I believe @Geoff CB had one and I loved a specific beach video he shot with it and the Angenieux designed Tokina 28-70mm lens. But that may have been an 810...

[SuperSet]

7 hours ago, Inazuma said:

My god.. so I just found out that the only fast semi-wide/standard prime Samsung has (the 30mm) is loud and slow at AF.  

Canon/Nikon/pentax = great bodies and lens selection, crap video

Panasonic/olympus = great bodies, large lens selection, no phase detection, questionable colour and small sensor

Sony = feature rich but quirky and has expensive lenses

Samsung = great body, poor lens selection

Fuji = great lens selection, great SOOC images, jumpy AF, lack of stabilsation in body or lenses

Fuck meee. 

Maybe ill get the NX1 for my fast 16-50 needs and also get a GX80 for my fast semi wide prime needs 

Have you considered the 1dx mk II? 

[ricardo_sousa11]

18 hours ago, Thomas Hill said:

That is stunning.

Thank you so much!

5 hours ago, Inazuma said:

Can anyone here share their experiences with the 30mm?

I've had one for a few months, but sold it, really not worth it, it has decent image quality but the very very slow AF and manual focus by wire is terrible, it was always a pain to use. The only real advantage is how small it is.

4 hours ago, mercer said:

@Inazuma the D7500 is the only hybrid I'm even remotely interested in after going with the 5D3 with ML Raw. I was clearing space on all of my hard drives for the raw file storage, and peeping at my time with other cameras this past year plus and the D5500 was the only image I found remotely cinematic enough compared to the ML Raw... well the BM stuff looked decent too but I have different issues with them. So why not the D7500... the D500 has stunning 4K and the 7500 should be exactly the same. 

I wouldnt recommend any Nikon for video, as amazing photography cameras as they are, they are far far behind in the video department, even comparing against the NX1. If you want a hybrid mostly for video, there are many many better options, if you want a hybrid mainly for photo, then mostly any camera will do.

As for the D500, its an expensive piece for what it delivers (in the video department), and was really designed for wildlife photography, any other segment and it falls short, specially with the unecessary 4k heavy crop (further showing that the camera is mainly for wild life).

[Inazuma]

33 minutes ago, SuperSet said:

Have you considered the 1dx mk II? 

I really shouldn't have made that post, I didn't want this to descend into a camera suggestion thread  But anyway no the 1dx is too big for my use atm (which is just casual stuff). I had the c100 when I was doing paid work.

@ricardo_sousa11 Is it ok for stills single-AF? I imagine I wouldn't use the 30mm much for video anyway.

[ricardo_sousa11]

2 minutes ago, Inazuma said:

I really shouldn't have made that post, I didn't want this to descend into a camera suggestion thread  But anyway no the 1dx is too big for my use atm (which is just casual stuff). I had the c100 when I was doing paid work.

@ricardo_sousa11 Is it ok for stills single-AF? I imagine I wouldn't use the 30mm much for video anyway.

Its useable, but still quite slow, specially comparing against the 16-50s.

The Samsung NX1 is like a totally different camera when you use it with the 16-50s, I really cant stress this enough, this lens is stunning in every single department, and a must have for this camera. IF you want a cheaper option, check out the samsung 45mm f1.8 its also quite decent, however not as good.

[SuperSet]

I'd also echo what others have said about the 16-50 S and the 30mm.  The 16-50 S autofocus performs excellently while the 30mm does hunt a bit and is a little loud. It does work but just not as fast.

Having said that, I still use my 30mm when flying a pistol grib gimbal as the 16-50 S is a little too heavy for it.

[Parker]

Don't underestimate the 16-50 power zoom lens. Yes, it's slow, 3.5-5.6 I think, but it's a super cheap, tiny, ultra compact and stabilized 24-70 equivalent, and the autofocus is really quite good. I actually done notice much of a difference between it and my S lens as far as autofocus speed goes. If I'm not flying a super wide prime on my gimbal, the humble little 16-50 pz is my favorite lens to use. I also like keeping it on my NX500 for walkaround stills purposes, like on vacation, etc. 

I have the 30mm too and basically never, ever use it. Ricardo stated it perfectly above, that has been my exact experience with it as well. 

[mercer]

8 hours ago, ricardo_sousa11 said:

I wouldnt recommend any Nikon for video, as amazing photography cameras as they are, they are far far behind in the video department, even comparing against the NX1. If you want a hybrid mostly for video, there are many many better options, if you want a hybrid mainly for photo, then mostly any camera will do.

As for the D500, its an expensive piece for what it delivers (in the video department), and was really designed for wildlife photography, any other segment and it falls short, specially with the unecessary 4k heavy crop (further showing that the camera is mainly for wild life).

I am a big fan of your work Ricardo, but I couldn't disagree more with this statement. Nikon has some of the best 1080p video around. The only features they're really lacking is focus peaking. They have good DR, an amazing Flat profile, their shadows are as clean as they come.

Other than Canon, Nikon has the best color science on the market. They have hundreds of native Nikkor lenses to choose from and hundreds of third party lenses.

I know a lot of folks are turned off by their 4K crop, but at 2.25x, the crop is smaller than the NX500 and the GH4 and only, unnoticeably, more than the GH5. Sure I'd love a super 35mm crop but I can live with the 2.25x with the images their video produces.

[Dean]

On 4/19/2017 at 9:48 PM, Inazuma said:

I'm kinda thinking about getting one or both of these cameras (largely because of the 16-50mm f2-2.8 lens, affordability and ergonomics). I'm just wondering a few things..

1. Is the exposure drifting problem present in all or only some of the units? 
2. Can it be fixed?
3. Is the autofocus performance the same between the NX1 and NX500?
4. What would you say is the highest ISO you can film at?
5. Is the NX1 4k readout speed improved with the hack?
6. Does the NX500 have Gamma DR?
7. Any other quirks I should know about?
8. How are the preamps on the NX1?
9. Any ideas why the 2.5k hack can't be ported to the NX1?
10. Is the EVF comparable to cameras like the A7Sii and X-T2?

Glad you are contemplating getting this camera. It really is a nice cam for video. I'm no pro and used it mainly for street video shooting but I loved it. Had two of them at different times and still miss it ... especially it's ergonomics. Not sure why I sold it really as I can honestly say I enjoyed using it for video more than any other camera I have ever owned. Can't find a single one for sale in the used market in Hong Kong now. They just never come up. Have an X-T2 now though and enjoying that for video but the NX1 was more usable IMO. I still might buy another NX1 and 16-50S at some point  

I disagree with some of the posters regarding using DIS. I found it amazing when teamed up with the OiS of the 16-50S lens. Does crop in a bit but highly effective for hand held stuff. Very very stable footage. You can even use other non-OiS lenses with DIS and it works pretty well ... like with the 45/1.8 which is a really nice lens. Even with adapted lenses.

I never used MF with the 16-50S either ... used to just acquire focus via SAF,  click the AF/MF switch to MF on the lens and hit record ... if I wasn't moving the camera around. Worked well. Can switch the AF/MF switch back and forth during recording and recompose when needed if desired.

The 50-150S is also excellent. Just those two S lenses would almost be enough. Get both if u can. The 50-150 also has excellent OiS and easy to use hand-held especially with DIS on.

Also, something of a surprise was how good the inbuilt mic is in the NX1 ... found it very clear for onboard.

The other thing that made this cam a lot of fun is the EOSHD LOG LUT. Works nicely teamed up with FilmConverts Ari presets. Works well with OSIRIS LUTS also. Well worth purchasing IMO. Even if not using the EOSHD LOG LUT, I found using the Ari profiles of FC better than using the NX1 FC presets. Here's a vid I made using EOSHD LOG LUT and OSIRIS ... was very happy how well it went over the top of the LOG LUT.

The LCD is the best I've ever seen in a cam. Just beautiful and good to use in bright light ... unlike Sony's shit inability to use the "daylight" setting of the EVF or LCD when shooting 4K. With the NX1 you can crank up the brightness and no over heating. 

The "Edit Ready" program is a must with this cam  

Things that pissed me off ... as others mentioned ... can't cycle between using the LCD and EVF once you have hit the record button. Also, wished that you could use SAF during recording but you can't ... always CAF. ISO ... would try and keep it at 800 or under. 1600 was pretty crappy IMO. Maybe the footage is always a bit too sharp as well even if you turn sharpening all the way down.

It has it's downsides but has a lot of great things about it ... number 1 being it's usability/ergonomics. They nailed this IMO.

[Inazuma]

Thanks everyone for the comments. They have been very helpful I think it is likely I will stick to the XT2 for now, as although I would really love to have that 16-50 f2.0-2.8, I would then be sacrificing Fuji's primes. I think its possible in future I would have the Samsung in addition to the Fuji. 

One last question about the NX500. Does the 2.5k work in 60fps as well? 

The reason I am so interested in the 2.5k NX500 is that I really dislike the slow readout speed of most 4k cameras. But i also dislike the soft, moire and alias ridden 1080p modes. The fast readout and clean 2.5k of the nx500 could be the perfect solution. 

[mercer]

2 minutes ago, Inazuma said:

Thanks everyone for the comments. They have been very helpful I think it is likely I will stick to the XT2 for now, as although I would really love to have that 16-50 f2.0-2.8, I would then be sacrificing Fuji's primes. I think its possible in future I would have the Samsung in addition to the Fuji. 

One last question about the NX500. Does the 2.5k work in 60fps as well? 

The reason I am so interested in the 2.5k NX500 is that I really dislike the slow readout speed of most 4k cameras. But i also dislike the soft, moire and alias ridden 1080p modes. The fast readout and clean 2.5k of the nx500 could be the perfect solution. 

The NX500 is a fun camera, also one of the nicest cameras to hold. I didn't get along with the color too much but towards the end of my time with her, I learned I was trying too hard to make a ProLost Flat version of their flattest profile. 

I agree the 2.5K hacked mode does sound interesting but I haven't really found too many videos of it being used.

Did the hackers ever figure out how to enable constant focus peaking?

Also, I know there is a lot of love for h.265 but...

It's great for storage... a 64GB card lasts forever, but transcoding or downsampling is painstakingly slow, even with EditReady, which I agree with Dean, is a must for the NX line. Seriously it is a really slow process... aol dial up slow... as slow as it is to process ML Raw.

With all that said, the resolution out of the NX cameras are pretty insane. I would look at the LCD and then look at what I was seeing in front of me and I never realized how clear life could be.

[ricardo_sousa11]

22 hours ago, mercer said:

I am a big fan of your work Ricardo, but I couldn't disagree more with this statement. Nikon has some of the best 1080p video around. The only features they're really lacking is focus peaking. They have good DR, an amazing Flat profile, their shadows are as clean as they come.

Other than Canon, Nikon has the best color science on the market. They have hundreds of native Nikkor lenses to choose from and hundreds of third party lenses.

I know a lot of folks are turned off by their 4K crop, but at 2.25x, the crop is smaller than the NX500 and the GH4 and only, unnoticeably, more than the GH5. Sure I'd love a super 35mm crop but I can live with the 2.25x with the images their video produces.

Not saying they cant produce really good content, they absolutely can, just like most cameras these days. However, even forgetting about 4k, you still have black magic cameras that deliver amazing 1080p, Canons with their great color science, Samsung with stunning quality and low price point. This is basically why I couldnt recommend any Nikon for video, but they still perform great.

[Inazuma]

So I could no longer hold in my curiosity and have ended up ordering the nx1 + 16-50. The thing is that I know ergonomically it's going to hit every previous camera I've had out the park. I really just need to know now if I will like the image and how it will compare with my XT2 for more technical things like noise, DR, artefacts, etc. I'll probably post some comparisons up over the weekend.