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Panasonic S1H review / hands-on - a true 6K full frame cinema camera


Andrew Reid
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8 minutes ago, Emanuel said:

I find the later Blackmagic models much improved and mature product. My beef with Japanese way of reinventing shooting menus is the fact their designers have no absolute clue about the finest pleasure of photography. They make digital filmmaking sucks to be the norm. Too focused in electronics and automatic modes. Truly a pain. Just my personal impression though : -)

Blackmagic has reinvented digital film with their superior color science from my own experience. I'd firmly rather recommend their cameras to anyone.

Their menus were always good and sensible. Their focus peaking is probably the most accurate on the market. The problem with their cameras is battery life and their screens and there are no indications that they are any better than the OG Pocket, except the batteries are more expensive. I know you disagree with this but for me, it's a non-starter.

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1 minute ago, mercer said:

Their menus were always good and sensible. Their focus peaking is probably the most accurate on the market. The problem with their cameras is battery life and their screens and there are no indications that they are any better than the OG Pocket, except the batteries are more expensive. I know you disagree with this but for me, it's a non-starter.

The Pocket 4k is a huge jump from the Pocket OG. The body on the OG pocket just feels like a POS, the buttons and everything were crappy and the screen was terrible. The 5inch screen on the Pocket 4k is great, it just doesn't tilt. You can also punch in to focus with a tap of a button. 

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4 minutes ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

wait didn't the pocket 4k come out this year?

The BMPCC 4K was announced in April 2018 at the NAB show. The first units started shipping in September of 2018 with a lot of the preorders not being filled until way into 2019. In fact, I think some people hadn't received their preorder of the P4K until after the P6K started shipping.

2 minutes ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

The Pocket 4k is a huge jump from the Pocket OG. The body on the OG pocket just feels like a POS, the buttons and everything were crappy and the screen was terrible. The 5inch screen on the Pocket 4k is great, it just doesn't tilt. You can also punch in to focus with a tap of a button. 

I liked the body of the OG Pocket... it fit perfectly in your hand but the screen was unusable in daylight... I thought the P4K suffered from the same problem?

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4 minutes ago, Emanuel said:

Indeed. Their underestimated focus peaking is much more useful than many other features to speak openly. But believe me, battery is far to be an issue : ) Only in theory. In practice, you'll easily overcome it much easier than I'm writing this : D

In practice, does overcoming the battery problem require an external battery solution? If so, then it's a pain in the ass for run & gun shooting, IMO.

It's these things that make the S1H a better option IMO and worth the extra money. When you add IBIS and a true anamorphic mode, plus that dreaded Netflix approval... lol... the chips stack up in the S1H's favor. Even it's ability to track focus (although poorly) adds some value. I wouldn't hesitate to get a lot of coverage so I could edit some tracking shots together.

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4 minutes ago, mercer said:

In practice, does overcoming the battery problem require an external battery solution? If so, then it's a pain in the ass for run & gun shooting, IMO.

It's these things that make the S1H a better option IMO and worth the extra money. When you add IBIS and a true anamorphic mode, plus that dreaded Netflix approval... lol... the chips stack up in the S1H's favor. Even it's ability to track focus (although poorly) adds some value. I wouldn't hesitate to get a lot of coverage so I could edit some tracking shots together.

I've been shooting a feature using mostly just the internal batteries. We've used plug in power a few times when shooting inside. But overall it wasn't bad at all. For narrative I really wouldn't mind just going with internal batteries. 

That said we used a smallHD monitor the entire time and that was really helpful for shooting at different angles. In fact a small HD monitor (or andycine) can power the camera and monitor at the same time with Sony NPF batteries. Probably the best solution for quick shooting. 

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5 minutes ago, Emanuel said:

The more I shoot with the more I fall in love. It is natural Tom mentioned P4K as camera of the year still in 2019... ; )

On the screen to be unusuable in daylight, there are easy and quick workarounds to overcome that... : -)

I'm glad you love your camera. The tools we use sometimes become a very big reason for productivity... so anything that works for you.

With that being said, the P4K vs. the S1H is hardly a fair comparison. The P4K beats the S1H for price and the S1H beats the P4K for FF and run & gun. The P6K is where the comparison should be and when you crunch the numbers, including accessories, they're essentially the same price.

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1 minute ago, mercer said:

I'm glad you love your camera. The tools we use sometimes become a very big reason for productivity... so anything that works for you.

With that being said, the P4K vs. the S1H is hardly a fair comparison. The P4K beats the S1H for price and the S1H beats the P4K for FF and run & gun. The P6K is where the comparison should be and when you crunch the numbers, including accessories, they're essentially the same price.

I would say you can easily rig a Pocket 4k/6k up for under $400

But yeah you can't rig up IBIS or auto focus or a small form factor. 

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4 minutes ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

I've been shooting a feature using mostly just the internal batteries. We've used plug in power a few times when shooting inside. But overall it wasn't bad at all. For narrative I really wouldn't mind just going with internal batteries. 

That said we used a smallHD monitor the entire time and that was really helpful for shooting at different angles. In fact a small HD monitor (or andycine) can power the camera and monitor at the same time with Sony NPF batteries. Probably the best solution for quick shooting. 

Good to know! At the price point, I wouldn't be surprised if I buy one sometime next year. I also like that they added a S16 mode to the camera. 

I'm very lucky to have a circle of very talented friends, so I have access to a few actors I can use for free but it's hard to schedule everybody at the same time, so I could see myself starting another film while I'm finishing my current project and your experience made me a little more interested in the P4K as a possible option. Have you used the Small HD focus with the P4K? If so, how much battery life do you get?

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Are you shooting B-Raw or ProRes. Since I'm an FCPX user, ProRes sounds more intriguing to me but it's hard to go back to in camera WB when you get used to raw video. 

Sorry to the thread for the OT. I'll move the discussion to the P4K forum.

I've seen some amazing stuff shot with the S1H. Sorry if these have been posted here already...

 

7 minutes ago, thebrothersthre3 said:

shot on S1H, not really impressed but I guess its youtube compression partly

 

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19 minutes ago, Emanuel said:

.braw all the way : )

 

I see a camera system like to choose a wife for serious, keeping the appearances apart : D Why a new one if you've already found the one you're looking for?

This is the one comment from today that I can agree with and that's why I have no reason to upgrade just yet, but if I was going to... I'd still choose the S1H... especially after looking at those videos I posted again.

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I don't become so enthusiastic myself with new fancy stuff, except with game changers.

As Storaro said in one of those videos, 16-bit is as much as 12-bit today, I'd add.

Below, I don't mind to even shoot with 8-bit but would never cut a zero from the right row side if I can keep it there ; ) Go figure for narrative work... where grading shades are part of your craft to multiply layers in order to tell deeper/better your stories : -)

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I'm sorry but using any lens ever made with just the camera body and a strap with little need for extra stabilization is too appealing to me as I get older. I haven't decided which is more important to me though... IBIS or raw video. Luckily, I have plenty of time to decide while I sit back and enjoy my 14 bit raw... 12 bit is for amateurs...???

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