Help me on an eBay hunt for 4K under $200 - Is it possible?

[Paul Charles]

2 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

By the way, I got a surprise in the 4k for 200 challenge, if a super 16 size sensor is qualified.

Go on...

[Paul Charles]

2 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

 

 

[kye]

12 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

Well, my friends. My second BMMCC is genuie such as its record button is awkwardly shallow and the menu navigation is hillariously awkward. 🙂 It came as body only, no batteries, no charger, nothing, no five headed cable monster neither. So the trick is to figure how much is the 250 or 267 with postage and fee worth? It is quarter of the original price and great deal for what it is. Still, without Rawlite and cage and monitor, a few miles to go for rigging it up. Best practice to catch a great package, but those a super rare. Rawlite filter costs 300EUR. BMMCC is still not a cheap camera all in all. But the image is extemely worthwhile.

By the way, I got a surprise in the 4k for 200 challenge, if a super 16 size sensor is qualified.

An OLPF isn't essential - I don't have one in my BMMCC.  You can always get a diffusion filter if you want a softer look, those have a similar effect as well as softening the image.

[PannySVHS]

Still got a "great" VariND that turned my FD 35mm F2 into a focus pulling nightmare due to its glowyness. @kye Anyway, I got a challenger now, if a fixed lens Super 16 4K machine counts. I think it does. If a LX100 would qualify I think a LX15 should just as well. So here it goes, I got not only one of them but two for the used price of half a camera. Now take a guess 🙂 Here is some fun clip I did with it. Now, if a hack would give me 100mbit HD with it, then we would be talking! 28mm 1.4 eq  lens! Which turns into 36mm eq in 4K crop.:)

 

[BTM_Pix]

The Cinelike D hack definitely works on it.

[BTM_Pix]

I'm away at the moment so can't test it for a week or so but it would be worth having a go with an extract from the FZ2000 file formats as there is a possibility that the 100mbit HD will work or you might hit the jackpot and get the 200mbit.

[PannySVHS]

That would be awesome! @BTM_Pix Quiet a few people "on youtube" are enjoying your hack for the GX85. The colour form that cam is still my favorite Lumix colour palette. The LX15 does definately not provide great colour ooc in natural profile though. So I just tested Vivid profile with saturation +3 and contrast +2 to give skintones some magic in the Jpegs and in video. Colour feels totally different and a bit brittle in grading compared to my GX85. I am not sure if it lacks in the grading department compared to the GX or if it just has a different response and responsitivity.

A 100mbit or 200mbit HD codec on that little cam would make a potential champion of hearts! The camera body is of course slippery as ice cream but it´s solidly built. I put a flash rail thingsy underneath it to have some grip. Also 4K sensor readout seems solid as I can pull off shots in panning and handheld despite lack of IBIS in 4K. For video the lens works awesome wide open. Display is pretty sharp for focussing. Just beware the slippyness and give it some grip or tape. Otherwise, awesome little cam for that super little money. I will letcha know later how much I paid. Like I said two for the price of half a used camera. So keep guessing. 🙂

[BTM_Pix]

As I say, the Cinelike D definitely works as I did it on mine a few years ago.

I also used an old school Sony camcorder TC on it which is a good option to extend the range. 

I put it on a magnetic filter adapter for easy on/off.

Top is internal wide, middle is internal long and bottom is internal long with the TC so you get quite the range for minimal extra carry.

The LX10/15 gets overlooked because of the ubiquity of the Sony RX100 range but its a great performer and far cheaper, particularly, as you can testify, as a used option.

 

[PannySVHS]

Awesome hack with the TC! A 100mbit data rate in HD would be awesome. I really think the 100mbit 4K codec is not as strong as the one from the GX85. The 8bit HD 100mbit codec on the GH4 or GH5 is pretty beefy for what it is. So if you are interested in checking your awesome hack in that regard.. 🙂 I don´t have the Lumix app for doing the hack as I dont do the googlappstore. What combo is the TC and magnetic adapter, what specific items? Great shots btw, as always. I should do something like that instead of goofy experimental sketches.:)

[BTM_Pix]

On 4/28/2022 at 12:36 PM, PannySVHS said:

I don´t have the Lumix app for doing the hack as I dont do the googlappstore. What combo is the TC and magnetic adapter, what specific items?

You don't need the app to do the hack, any web browser on any device can do it.

Have a look at the original thread that I did for it with instructions and example html files.

I'l check which specific TC and adapter when I get back later in the week.

[BTM_Pix]

On 4/28/2022 at 1:36 PM, PannySVHS said:

What combo is the TC and magnetic adapter, what specific items? Great shots btw, as always. I should do something like that instead of goofy experimental sketches.:)

The teleconverter is the Sony VCL-HG2030 and the holder is the Carry Speed MagFilter. 

Bear in mind that the HG2030 is a 30mm rear thread so will vignette until about 45-50mm (equivalent) of the LX10/15 but as it is a solution to extend the long end then that isn't an issue.

I'm looking to pick up a similar adapter for the other end to offset the wide range that is stolen when you are in 4K modes.

With regard to bitrate hacks.....

Well, I took the extract from the FZ2000 and sent the 200mbps HD to the LX15 and it took it, recorded video but they are unplayable. 

Which is the age old story from the GX80/85 so thats a no go.

So the best you can do with this camera is put my Cinelike D hack on it and it does make quite a difference but with the absence of high bitrate HD modes, I view it as a 4K/24p camera.

 

[mercer]

13 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

With regard to bitrate hacks.....

Well, I took the extract from the FZ2000 and sent the 200mbps HD to the LX15 and it took it, recorded video but they are unplayable. 

Which is the age old story from the GX80/85 so thats a no go.

So the best you can do with this camera is put my Cinelike D hack on it and it does make quite a difference but with the absence of high bitrate HD modes, I view it as a 4K/24p camera.

Thanks for trying. Just a thought from IgnorantVille... is it possible there's another line of code needed to recognize/enable the all-i codecs?

[BTM_Pix]

8 hours ago, mercer said:

Thanks for trying. Just a thought from IgnorantVille... is it possible there's another line of code needed to recognize/enable the all-i codecs?

Its limited to what can be gleaned from the commands from the other cameras so its possible there is something from one of the Panasonic sets that I haven't got (I've tried GH5,GX80,FZ2000) that may do it so if someone else wants to go down that rabbit hole all the tools are available to do it on the other thread.

However, from the reaction of the LX15 to those all-i codecs in terms of what went on in the actual UI (as opposed to the corrupt recordings !) then I wouldn't hold out much hope as it blanks out the codec selections completely until you then hit it with something valid.

 

[PannySVHS]

The LX15 made me love my GX85 even more. 🙂 I think with the teleadapter though it could become a great leisure time camera. Little grip and shooting time will be fun n joy n pleasure. Thanx for the great hack. @BTM_Pix

A 100mbit LongGop would have been perfect already. The HD could be pretty nice from what I have seen so far. An HD 100mbit inter codec would tame my wants for the mighty All Intra codec. @mercer

Colour on the LX is pretty thin compared to the GX85 which is indeed a little colour marvel. Soon to be bought for less than 200EUR used price. I still haven´t said how little I paid for my two LX15 cams though.:)

[PannySVHS]

Darn, gotta do that awesome tele hack of yours. @BTM_Pix Some day..:) I am happy that I finally had gotten around to test my og Bmpcc and that i got to post it in the bmmcc thread. Anyway, that tele adapter is compelling. Your stuff is always topnotch. Would love some of this beauty as moving images. But not trying to be pushy here of course.:)

Btw, anyone remembering where that thread was about great used gear? It was full of great stuff we had a chance to snap for silly low prices. I just got two mft classics for careless photo fun, so dirt cheap, i have to post it in the cool original thread. cheers

[kye]

8 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

Btw, anyone remembering where that thread was about great used gear? It was full of great stuff we had a chance to snap for silly low prices. I just got two mft classics for careless photo fun, so dirt cheap, i have to post it in the cool original thread. cheers

Are you perhaps thinking of the thread where we posted our submissions to the EOSHD $200 camera challenge? or the thread with the results?

Submission thread:

Voting / results / discussion thread:

I love that my butchered GoPro is the thumbnail of that thread!  Not sure if everyone else would see the same shot, but I'm pretty sure that the camera gods would be happy knowing it died trying to be converted to a D-mount camera.

[PannySVHS]

Your D-mount gopro is very well remembered:) @kye
No, I didn't mean the glorious and only thread of an Eoshd challenge with over 20 cool video entries. Though it is not glorious at all that we haven't gotten to do another challenge ever since despite all the cameras we are debating.😳

I meant the thread where we were presenting our best buys, great deals and thrills of used gear. Would like to post my latest mft beauties there. Hint: photo only:)

[PannySVHS]

Btw, I found the thread with best buys of og cams @kye🙂

So here is some S16 sensor size pocket love:) Love this little camera. Yesterday I was roaming the lil streets of a calm and humble neighborhood and collected some bits and sights. I then saw this trailer and figured, maybe I can get a small montage around this kewl 80ies vibe vacation waggon. Would not have been possible with my Sony F3.:) Anyway, here is some S16 deep focus pocket video:

 

[kye]

10 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

Btw, I found the thread with best buys of og cams @kye🙂

So here is some S16 sensor size pocket love:) Love this little camera. Yesterday I was roaming the lil streets of a calm and humble neighborhood and collected some bits and sights. I then saw this trailer and figured, maybe I can get a small montage around this kewl 80ies vibe vacation waggon. Would not have been possible with my Sony F3.:) Anyway, here is some S16 deep focus pocket video:

 

Nice vibe!

Is it 30p slowed to 24p?  Or BMMCC?

[PannySVHS]

Hey Kye, it´s the brittle HD 50p on a 25p timeline, coming from my Panasonic LX15 compact camera. @kye

8bit 25mbps 420 prowess, with super high shutters:)The 4K mode from this camera is very nice as shown in the examples by a talented visual artist, which I posted in another thread.

Compared to that, HD 50p is missing some hues for sure. But 4K grades pretty nicely. I had not been giving it enough work one year ago. But with a day off, I found my colour grading workflow and built some curves and powergrades for this lil marvel to get some beautiful colours out of it. Compared to the GX85 it is more tricky to grade. GX85 can be done in one node. This camera though needs some massaging. But it deserves it well, because it can holp up to the GX85 if graded with some efforts. These grades can be applied on future footage of course.

A bit of a tricky camera to handle, slippery, flimsy, but with patience it turns out to be a true little marvel indeed. At first I didnt like it at all. But inspired by the beautiful examples filmed with this camera, I gave it a real chance the last week and with open eyes and mind I recognized this camera has a lot to offer. One could complain that sensor estate for UHD is 2/3 inch sensor size only. But then there are not so many 2/3 inch sensor 4K cameras out there, with a 36 to 108mm lens to fit in your pocket.