Shooting with a 4K pocket camera - the exceptional Panasonic LX100

[Cinegain]

Bargain!!

​Speaking of bargains... is there any thread with bargains? I came across the following, which seems like a fairly good deal (atleast for us German speaking countries livers)! Angebot der Woche / Deal of the Week over at Redcoon.de (and .at):

799,- EUR, you might think, that's not that special? And last summer it could be had for as little as 475,- EUR. Well... perhaps it was that cheap at some point in history, but that was history pretty fast. Since then it's been quite pricey again (the deal posted is already roughly bottom price these days (according Geizhals), with some stores daring to charge you 900-ish or even cross that 1000 EUR mark). On CVP it goes for 570 quid, which is not bad. But look closer at the deal I posted here... 2 extra batteries with charger, an Aperture mic and a case to store and travel. I wouldn't go as far to say you're really saving 467,47 EUR, or that the included items are top picks, but basicly for the price at CVP you're getting a case and mic here. The batteries I don't really care much for myself (I managed to snag one for 475 back then, so I had to get that covered already), but for a starter, it's a nice set.

Now, the LX100 might not be the best thread to post this either, and I mean, I could've posted it here as well: http://www.eoshd.com/comments/forum/14-blackmagic-cameras/ , but I don't think people browse around there anymore, also because it says 'No posts here yet' when you're on the main index of the forum (which makes it look inactive). I posted some information about new firmware being availlable for the BMPCC the other day, but I'm pretty sure that didn't get picked up by anybody's radar. And to go and give this its own thread. Mweh, flooding the forum with a topic for every single one of my little mentions isn't really my thing. Might be a fun thing though: a Deals/Bargains topic to tip your fellow filmmaker when you can save a few bucks? I know there's http://www.dealsrunner.com (although I haven't seen this deal there), but giving eachother a heads up on EOSHD would be nice, right?

[dbp]

Sorry if this has been touched upon, but how is it in low light?

My wedding video boss has a 7D, and he's asking about some primes to get. I realize that for the price of a few primes, he can just get this and have substantially better image quality.

I currently have a GH2, anyone know how high ISO performance compares to it for a reference?

[Andrew Reid]

It's better than the GH2 in low light. The lens is very fast at the wide end and the sensor is newer.

ISO 1600 perfectly usable.

[dbp]

Perfect, thanks!

[Xavier Plagaro Mussard]

With the lens wide open you get brighter images than real life. It's not a low-light monster, but it's not bad!

[IronFilm]

Sorry if this has been touched upon, but how is it in low light?

My wedding video boss has a 7D, and he's asking about some primes to get. I realize that for the price of a few primes, he can just get this and have substantially better image quality.

I currently have a GH2, anyone know how high ISO performance compares to it for a reference?

​Oh snap! The wedding video person I second shoot for also has a 7D! And I too was just recommending to her tonight to consider the LX100 instead.

(oh and is "dbp" your initials... ? If so, there is yet another coincidence.... :-P )

[sekl]

If the size of LX100 doesn't look impressing for the customer smile emoticon

FOTGA rig,
Zoom H4N,
RODE stereo mic,
RAM mount,
LCD-V3,
Opteka 58mm extention tube.

There is no need for a belt to attach a follow focus.
The follow focus blocks access to the focus mode switch.

[benymypony]

I got a LX100 yesterday and I just started to play with the 4K.
The image is great for a small and inexpensive camera (I got mine at €500/$545, used but as new).

Maybe I'll make a longer post about my opinion on the LX100, but for the time being I love it.
Of course we are far away from the quality of the BMCC 4K but I bought the LX100 to downscale in 1080p and get a beautiful image.
For info, I downscale easily with RockyMountains (freeware).

First thing I noticed is that the 4K image can have a grain a bit thick in dark scenes, even a low ISO.
For example below, I shot at 100 ISO indoor and in this 4K 100% crop you can see the "thick grain".
I tried to reduce this grain in a non-destructive way and finally I got this result via curves and levels :

Before : https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8492265/iwltbapluts/crop-LX100-before.jpg
After : https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8492265/iwltbapluts/crop-LX100-after.jpg
GIF before/after : https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8492265/iwltbapluts/lx100-lut-grain-reducer-before-after.gif

I made a LUT (.3dl and .cube in ZIP, 3.5MB), feel free to test : IWLTBAP_LX100_Grain_Reduction.zip

PS : Yes, I'm aware that a LUT can't modify an image, but just the colors ; here I tried to reduce the chroma of grain/noise and unify the whole in reducing the overall light. Hope it helps 

[benymypony]

Still playing with the LX100, I tried a lot of profile settings and Highlight/Shadow curves to get the best image for color grading.
Finally I recommend the following settings :

• Contrast -2 / Sharpen -3 / Noise reduction -2 / Saturation 0
• Highlight -2 / Shadow -2

As it's impossible to apply a real LOG flat profile in-camera, so I created a LUT to flatten the image the safest way.
I based this LUT on the rendering of the VisionLOG profile with some adjustments.

Download (.3dl and .cube in ZIP, 2.5MB) :  IWLTBAP_Flattener_LUT.zip

[benymypony]

Maybe I'm the only one interested in the LX100 today, but regardless, I continue posting 

Here is a 4K still frame extracted from a video at 100 ISO (50mm f/4).
With good settings, quality is really decent.
Image stabilization works like a charm.

I'm sure that beautiful short films will be shot with the LX100 !

Click to enlarge (no JPEG compression over H.264) :

Now I have to make tests at night.

[Deadcode]

Still playing with the LX100, I tried a lot of profile settings and Highlight/Shadow curves to get the best image for color grading.
Finally I recommend the following settings :

• Contrast -2 / Sharpen -3 / Noise reduction -2 / Saturation 0
• Highlight -2 / Shadow -2

As it's impossible to apply a real LOG flat profile in-camera, so I created a LUT to flatten the image the safest way.
I based this LUT on the rendering of the VisionLOG profile with some adjustments.

Download (.3dl and .cube in ZIP, 2.5MB) :  IWLTBAP_Flattener_LUT.zip

 

Just keep testing and posting, and really thx for the LUT!

If i want to go cinematic, i go for Supertone settings, and it looks good, check it out: http://www.supertone.dk/#!GH4-Optimal-Film-Setting-works-in-stills-too/c24o4/8E18836A-F271-4A14-AF0D-C575B9D5F4B6

And here is a really nice ISO3200 footage from the little camera: 

https://vimeo.com/134851191 

 

[Cinegain]

Yeah, show it some love! The LX100 is incredible. I love it for my casual hybrid stuff.

[benymypony]

Just keep testing and posting, and really thx for the LUT!

If i want to go cinematic, i go for Supertone settings, and it looks good, check it out: http://www.supertone.dk/#!GH4-Optimal-Film-Setting-works-in-stills-too/c24o4/8E18836A-F271-4A14-AF0D-C575B9D5F4B6

And here is a really nice ISO3200 footage from the little camera: 

https://vimeo.com/134851191 

 

Thanks for the link !
And about the video, just wow 

[sanveer]

Still playing with the LX100, I tried a lot of profile settings and Highlight/Shadow curves to get the best image for color grading.
Finally I recommend the following settings :

• Contrast -2 / Sharpen -3 / Noise reduction -2 / Saturation 0
• Highlight -2 / Shadow -2

As it's impossible to apply a real LOG flat profile in-camera, so I created a LUT to flatten the image the safest way.
I based this LUT on the rendering of the VisionLOG profile with some adjustments.

Download (.3dl and .cube in ZIP, 2.5MB) :  IWLTBAP_Flattener_LUT.zip

I am also of the opinion that the LX10 is grossly underrated. Shot flat it does have some serious dynamic range and can be graded well if not done too aggressively. 

[benymypony]

Here is a nice example of using the 4K format for zooming, cropping, etc.
The large 4K size helps to add dynamism.

[jase]

Any place where i can find some untouched clips? @benymypony, maybe you could provide some? would be great if some skin is in there, if i may wish for sth

[sanveer]

My friend once joked about DXO Marks, that if they weren't informed about the sensors, and were given the exact same sensor two times, they would arrive at almost exactly opposite results, after testing them both. 

Well, I know that the LX100 and the GX7 (and most likely the GM5 too) have the same sensor. Also, that the LX100 should have, ideally better lowlight, despite using a smaller portion of its sensor, since it has a newer (and better) processor and a better lens.

God only knows what they get right, or what they get wrong.

http://www.dxomark.com/Reviews/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-LX100-sensor-review-Potent-point-and-shoot/Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-LX100-vs-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GM5-vs-Panasonic-Lumix-DMC-GX7-Related-sensors

[jase]

So, i need image stabilization in a small package with a decent sensor. Any way a GM1/5 with the 12-35 2.8 is better than the LX100?

[Xavier Plagaro Mussard]

I don't think so, Jake! I think the LX100 is the ideal camera for a gimbal! But I haven't decided yet which one to buy!

[MBFrancis]

Still playing with the LX100, I tried a lot of profile settings and Highlight/Shadow curves to get the best image for color grading.
Finally I recommend the following settings :

• Contrast -2 / Sharpen -3 / Noise reduction -2 / Saturation 0
• Highlight -2 / Shadow -2

As it's impossible to apply a real LOG flat profile in-camera, so I created a LUT to flatten the image the safest way.
I based this LUT on the rendering of the VisionLOG profile with some adjustments.

Download (.3dl and .cube in ZIP, 2.5MB) :  IWLTBAP_Flattener_LUT.zip

Sorry for being a greenhorn, but how do I use this LUT?