Why Gerald Undone is wrong about the Sigma Fp-L

[nathlas]

22 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

My Sigma Fp-L is coming tomorrow so we'll see how accurate a reviewer Gerald is 🙂

 

this is something that audience decides not someone alone. 

I would love to be a master chef and all people watching that to love my cooking advices in youtube but if the comments are negative I would understand that I am not the right person for that . 

And visa versa

People seems to love him for the way he communicates his reviews as also prefer to watch and advise from him.

 

[Andrew Reid]

31 minutes ago, nathlas said:

this is something that audience decides not someone alone.

Audiences also decide they want 40 showings a day of Marvel tripe at the cinema.

"The individual doesn't get to decide?" That is pure nonsense and is like saying I shouldn't have an opinion because he's popular.

He is basically a marketing guy. If you want to look to a marketeer product salesman as the ultimate authority on filmmaking tools that's your choice. I think it is a slap in the face to all the better qualified people who actually shoot, when the audience is obsessed with social media influencers.

I also can't stand the way Philip Bloom comments on every video, and Gerald pins it. The cynicism of that. It's a big circle jerk and the sheep love it. I want no part of it. If you enjoy his creatively non-informed non-shooting non-real world reviews I don't mind but it is a shame large audiences can't reward people with more principals and more talent. Kubrick used a culinary analogy as well. The best restaurant in town rarely has the biggest queue outside.

Is the most popular music the best? Is the most popular food the healthiest? Best quality? McDonalds??

Bloom shouldn't be anywhere near being an idol, especially knowing what I know about him.

Popularity on social media only means someone is good at communication, presentation and marketing. Gerald isn't creative, he can't even be bothered to shoot a single still let alone video. Either he has no interest in using all these cameras he has, or he is embarrassingly bad behind the camera and embarrassed to show his work. Therefore I won't be taking my advice from him simple as that because it's just pixel peeping and specs sheet pimping, without any real life usage of the tools.

[Andrew Reid]

14 hours ago, MrSMW said:

I don’t use the video side of my S1R’s too much to be honest Andrew.

My set up is:

S1H 100% video, cine lens 

S5 100% video, tripod longer duration stuff, any tracking elements.

S1R’s primarily stills but will flick over to video if there’s a need…such as there was the other week when I had an oh shit moment and a full card in the middle of something with the S1H and spare card was in another building across a lawn. No problem, just flipped to the S1R and shot it hybrid.

I can’t remember off hand what options it has for video as I shoot the natural profile.

It’s all packed away for tomorrow’s shoot but can check back soon on that.

Otherwise great bit of kit and SL2 was the other choice as you might remember when you were selling yours.

Less than 1/2 price SL2. I picked my first one up, mint/basically unused off a colleague for 1600 euros. The second off MPB for 1700 euros ‘excellent’ but more like new to me.

I don’t like the position of the on off switch or the orange top screen lighting, but otherwise it just feels right in the hand, robust, does the job. Superb files.

 

Yeah, it's a really good sensor.

The reason I went for the Fp-L over something like an S1R is as follows:

Storage is getting cheaper and M1 Pro absolutely flies in Resolve now. I will jump back on the Uncompressed RAW 4K wagon. 500GB T5 SSD cost me £59 brand new. The Fp cages and SSD mounts are really small and light. The 61 megapixel sensor is a step up from the S1R sensor which is already cutting edge. If you don't mind a slight 1D-C style crop to APS-H (1.3x) you get an oversampled 7K image in RAW video mode up to 30p. That's going to look very nice in 12bit Cinema DNG. Better than BRAW. Real RAW. Huge sensor. So a clear upgrade from the original Fp which was pixel binning the RAW from 6K.

It is tiny, with an EVF and runs off a GH2 battery. Can't say the same about RED or Blackmagic stuff!

[Owlgreen]

Just now, Andrew Reid said:

So a clear upgrade from the original Fp which was pixel binning the RAW from 6K.

I would love to see some fpL 1.3x crop tests. 

Joe Rubinstein posted some fp vs fpL tests on facebook. There's a downloadable prores version here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ewaswge2a03mgmg/Sigma fp vs fpL Sharpest Crop ProRes.mov?dl=0

Here's the vimeo version: 

It compares a 2.5x (maybe 2.53x) crop on the fpL to a 1.5x crop on the fp. The fpL image has quite a bit of aliasing. At a 2.5x crop the 61mp fpL sensor should still be using slightly fewer than 10mp. The aliasing I see in the test suggests to me that binning is happening. At 100% the image looks pretty good, nonetheless. I've yet to see any real world tests or footage of the fpL at 1.3x crop, but I suspect it'll look pretty good, aside from the rolling shutter. I'd love to see some FHD 100/120fps 5x crop tests as well. In the fp, the FHD modes are pretty horrible due to either line-skipping or binning.    

[MrSMW]

1 hour ago, Andrew Reid said:

The reason I went for the Fp-L over something like an S1R is as follows:

I tested one last year and almost pushed the button but for the lack of 4K 50p. And a tilt screen. And IBIS. And a mech shutter, but apart from that… 

But seriously, as a pure cine machine, I think it would be great.

I almost very recently considered one with the Panny 24-105 f4, mainly because I had the lens and for the OIS and then done the aftermarket tilt screen.

But then I asked myself, over my S1H…and decided nah.

Looking forward to seeing what you do with it and what Sigma do next…

[PPNS]

3 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Audiences also decide they want 40 showings a day of Marvel tripe at the cinema.

no they don't, that's mandated by disney. if you don't adhere to their mandates, you don't get to show any disney conglomerate movies. now its true that the general movie going audience tends to be pretty interested in disney films, but it helps that they're one of the most powerful companies in the world, and they have the marketing budgets that the theater distributors for films like "Madres Paralelas" or "RRR" don't quite get to have. 

 

3 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

He is basically a marketing guy. If you want to look to a marketeer product salesman as the ultimate authority on filmmaking tools that's your choice. I think it is a slap in the face to all the better qualified people who actually shoot, when the audience is obsessed with social media influencers.

I also can't stand the way Philip Bloom comments on every video, and Gerald pins it. The cynicism of that. It's a big circle jerk and the sheep love it. I want no part of it. If you enjoy his creatively non-informed non-shooting non-real world reviews I don't mind but it is a shame large audiences can't reward people with more principals and more talent.

Gerald isn't creative, he can't even be bothered to shoot a single still let alone video. Either he has no interest in using all these cameras he has, or he is embarrassingly bad behind the camera and embarrassed to show his work. Therefore I won't be taking my advice from him simple as that because it's just pixel peeping and specs sheet pimping, without any real life usage of the tools.

How are you different Andrew? other than losing your clout throughout the years? which creative engaging videos have you made these last few years with your collection of image capturing devices? because you have a lot of links to your portfolio on this site, and i have trouble with finding that content you seek from other people. i agree with your criticisms about Bloom and Gerald, I think they're responsible for a lot of triple online that's only there to motivate people to consume more products. i agree that they (and especially Bloom in regards to his allegations) shouldn't have this level of clout either. 

i just don't think that the individual gets to decide in this economic system, Andrew, im sorry. 

 

3 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

I will jump back on the Uncompressed RAW 4K wagon. If you don't mind a slight 1D-C style crop to APS-H (1.3x) you get an oversampled 7K image in RAW video mode up to 30p. That's going to look very nice in 12bit Cinema DNG. Better than BRAW. Real RAW. Huge sensor. So a clear upgrade from the original Fp which was pixel binning the RAW from 6K.

btw, how is "oversampling a 7K image into a 4K uncompressed sequence of stills" "Real RAW" exactly? dunno chief, seems like quite a lot of processing going on there to make that happen

[nathlas]

12 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

 

He is basically a marketing guy.

327K subscribers on his channel.  They can't be all idiots and you alone have identified his true nature 😀

Jealous ? 

[projectwoofer]

10 minutes ago, nathlas said:

327K subscribers on his channel.  They can't be all idiots and you alone have identified his true nature 😀

Jealous ? 

You’ll be surprised how many idiots there are in this world.

Surprised?

[Andrew Reid]

2 hours ago, nathlas said:

327K subscribers on his channel.  They can't be all idiots and you alone have identified his true nature 😀

Jealous ? 

Not in the slightest bit surprising to me.

There is a big market for consumer advice and shopping television.

Why would I be jealous of a shopping television presenter masquerading as a filmmaking guru?

Not jealous of Bloom the narcissist personality disorder Sky cameraman either in case you're wondering.

[Andrew Reid]

11 hours ago, PPNS said:

its true that the general movie going audience tends to be pretty interested in disney films, but it helps that they're one of the most powerful companies in the world, and they have the marketing budgets

Of course that's part of it, but you also need a generally dumbed down society like ours is becoming, and millions of willing participants.

11 hours ago, PPNS said:

How are you different Andrew? other than losing your clout throughout the years? which creative engaging videos have you made these last few years with your collection of image capturing devices? because you have a lot of links to your portfolio on this site, and i have trouble with finding that content you seek from other people.

Oh dear we are taking pot shots at me now I see. I haven't been very active in 2020,21 and so far 22 has been building up well to shooting more in Berlin, but like many other people I am not at the top of my game after the global pandemic of 20-22 and it will take years to get back to full motivation with new collaborators in this new phase of life and of my career. 12 years is a long time to be shooting and doing what is just one long project, EOSHD. Especially when the audience is as thick and as nasty as people like you, who don't appreciate it even after 12 years and even though they take advantage of the knowledge on this site and of others on this forum.

By the way I don't seek the great guru Gerald's work. If he did some commercial shoots I couldn't care less about watching it. I just question why he hasn't even got a single photo to his name let alone a video. It is deeply disturbing to me.

Because you would think a camera expert would be interested in actually using cameras. When he has finished making money from YouTube reviews, it is sad to think all these cameras, lenses and hundreds of accessories just get boxed up and sent away or put on a shelf.

That is bizarre to me that someone with privileged access to $100,000s in equipment literally has zero interest in using any of it!

I am not even expecting a movie from the guy, anything will do - any evidence whatsoever of a talent, stills or moving, maybe not even evidence of a talent but at least the willingness to try shooting at all. He just doesn't seem to be motivated. Or willing to even bother, and that is a major red flag for me when it comes to a supposed "guru" of filmmaking tools.

So that willingness is not there, the bare minimum of images from him aren't there most likely because he makes his living selling cameras to gullible sheep like you instead.

It's a far more lucrative line of business.

If you want to know just how gullible the masses are, go and look at Steve Huff's pivot to the paranormal world of complete bullshit, and see how that is doing in terms of the subscriber numbers and viewing figures versus camera reviews. We're talking 13 million plays on a single video. iPhone app sales likely in the tens of millions of dollars. This is the sort of bollocks people like you would probably consider a "success". Whereas I see it as a symptom of a horrible cultural disease.

11 hours ago, PPNS said:

i agree with your criticisms about Bloom and Gerald, I think they're responsible for a lot of tripe online that's only there to motivate people to consume more products.

Oh you agree with me. OK.

You had me confused there for a moment.

11 hours ago, PPNS said:

i agree that they (and especially Bloom in regards to his allegations) shouldn't have this level of clout either.

I would agree 110% with you on that, but do tell me what have you done exactly to push back against people like Bloom, as there are a lot of them in particular hiding in plain sight all over social media and YouTube, especially in the narcissistic ego driven world of filmmaking and photography.

11 hours ago, PPNS said:

i just don't think that the individual gets to decide in this economic system, Andrew, im sorry. 

Collective Western society has decided that an entire economic system should reward the marketeers and salesman turned 'content creators' instead of artists and filmmakers.

And the theatres are full of franchises and Disney shit for the basic bitch general public.

I just sense from you a kind of resigned acceptance and at the same time kicking me for good measure, claiming you can't find what you imagine I seek from Gerald or whatever.

11 hours ago, PPNS said:

how is "oversampling a 7K image into a 4K uncompressed sequence of stills" "Real RAW" exactly? dunno chief, seems like quite a lot of processing going on there to make that happen

9.5K sensor in the Fp-L.

1.3x crop mode is a full pixel readout from 7K (approx.) crop of the sensor.

The camera supersamples 4K RAW data from this 7K RAW data to give us more RAW data.

DCI 4K 12bit Cinema DNG RAW to be exact.

This RAW video format is not debayered or compressed. It is stored as RAW pixel values when it hits the card as Cinema DNG.

So yes it's real RAW.

At 9.5K full frame it pixel-bins.

That's real RAW as well.

Any more questions?

 

[nathlas]

13 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Not in the slightest bit surprising to me.

There is a big market for consumer advice and shopping television.

Why would I be jealous of a shopping television presenter masquerading as a filmmaking guru?

Not jealous of Bloom the narcissist personality disorder Sky cameraman either in case you're wondering.

Well on my opinion if not be jealous on them concentrate on what makes you happy and most of all better on your job and don't spend energy on those you believe they have nothing to offer in comparison with you.

[nathlas]

16 hours ago, projectwoofer said:

You’ll be surprised how many idiots there are in this world.

Surprised?

It's all about statistics

[webrunner5]

38 minutes ago, nathlas said:

Well on my opinion if not be jealous on them concentrate on what makes you happy and most of all better on your job and don't spend energy on those you believe they have nothing to offer in comparison with you.

Sounds like You ought to practice what you preach. You do realize that this is his railroad. You are lucky it is not mine. 

You have to be pretty stupid to poke the guy that owns it, like him or not

[Andrew Reid]

5 hours ago, nathlas said:

Well on my opinion if not be jealous on them concentrate on what makes you happy and most of all better on your job and don't spend energy on those you believe they have nothing to offer in comparison with you.

Nothing makes me happier than calling out their bullshit.

[PannySVHS]

So, Andrew, any news regarding the streaking problem of the GH6? And Prores update for other resolutions? If there was a Lumix S5 with full HDMI and a 15ms readout for FF and 10ms in S35, I wouldnt ask though. 🙂 @Andrew Reid   A Sigma FP2 with exactly that, plus an EVF and a swivel screen, Panny 10bit codecs, now that would be a potential candidate for my favorite camera of all time!

I just had a look at Geralds video archive and it´s all about buying advices for high value electronics. I enjoyed maybe ten of his presentations in regards of the structure of his reviews and his gentle voice. But content wise I am not in the mood for buying TVs so to say.

Steve Huffs afterlife channel and acitivities were pretty unappetizing to say the least. I started recognizing akwardness in his reviews when all cameras were equally great just some were greater and his reviews got dull and duller. I quit reading around the A7R2 times. Gerald to me is a salesperson. Though very likeable, even moreso in comparision to the hyperbole influencers of this hyperboled planet.

Planet earth is aching under the waste of oil, warmening and polution and destrucition of nature. No need for new electronics. A Lumix G7 in HD 100mbit 8bit 422 should have been all we get for the rest of times.

No need for a Sigma FP2 after all.

[webrunner5]

31 minutes ago, PannySVHS said:

 

Planet earth is aching under the waste of oil, warmening and polution and destrucition of nature. No need for new electronics. A Lumix G7 in HD 100mbit 8bit 422 should have been all we get for the rest of times.

 

I will second that. Great color and plenty of detail right out of camera.

[kye]

I thought Gerald was the detailed spec guy?  Like, he was the one who would find and mention all the bizarre and non-sensical cripple-hammer combinations, because he was the only one that had used the camera for more than a day before posting a review about it.

But would you want his recommendations and conclusions?  Definitely not - he's a technician not an artist.

Film-making isn't about technical perfection, it's about the aesthetic.  Geralds (and most internet technologists) favourite aesthetic is beige filters on a beige lens on a beige sensor with enormous resolution to reproduce the mind-numbing dullness of the whole affair.

If you only read the internet, then this would be a delicious delicious image:

[MrSMW]

I’d call that more ‘camel’ than ‘beige’.

[PannySVHS]

No, it's a camel in the beige desert.😊 @MrSMW

[MrSMW]

1 minute ago, PannySVHS said:

No, it's a camel in the beige desert.😊 @MrSMW

Looking more closely, I can see it now, moving from left to right over some dunes.