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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Was teetering over the edge (5d mark II) but have come back to the ledge

M

Michael Dalton

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I'm sure like you guys, I have been hearing rave reviews of the 5d and GH1, to the point I was ready to jump. I had seen some great footage on the web. The lack of 24p I think is a matter of time in the 5d. So I test drove one, and all I can say is I looked at the footage and then looked at the red reel, and I'm back in the red camp.

From here on out I don't care what I hear, I have seen that they are no match for red. The 5d mark ii handled bright light like the very first 1ccd camera I used. I can't say the footage was good at all.

I agree with some skeptic, it's all in the codec. .264 is for the masses not the pro. Like many I have storage issues shooting adventure and wildlife stuff, but think technology will bridge that gap.

But please jim, we need to plan! Love to see some firm dates for the products first up and some ball park dates on the cameras and lenses (2/3 mini) down the road. I've only got so much money, and shoot dates coming quickly. At some point we all will be forced to jump.

MD
 
Well, don't plan any shooting based on the release of Scarlet. Come back to reality. If you need to shoot something now you need a camera now. There are plenty of people making good films with the 5D and soon with the GH1. If you make money with your shooting you'll make the money you invested in either back in no time without a problem. If you are in this for the art that's another matter.
 
View attachment 13228 If you were looking for any further confirmation on your decision, see this image.

Working as hard as we can on the Scarlet!

Graeme
 
It's more then art, it's business. I'm in it for image quality and longevity of the material and am not interested in justifying toys. I have some time, August for my next shoot in Africa (but it's quick, so if I don't have a scarlet N.P.) but I need something for a long shoot starting mid November. I had planned on the S35, but the prime lenses are too heavy for my line of work. I need the scarlet 2/3 with mini primes.

You can always justify buying a new toy if it makes you money, but I have a lot of expensive obsolete toys, I'd rather get something that may last longer then 1-2 years. If your smart about business, you set yourself up for the future. Look at disney's Earth, pretty much all stock footage from Planet Earth.

Jannard got it right with RAW, it is a codec of longevity and of professionals. H264 and AVC, DVCHDpro will all be gone in a short while because they are designed for the basic limitations of current technology.

You'll see red ones around for decades in the film industry.
 
Graeme Nattress said:
View attachment 13228 If you were looking for any further confirmation on your decision, see this image.

Working as hard as we can on the Scarlet!

Graeme
Click to expand...

Thanks for this..! You've just saved me from making a potentially huge mistake..

I was on the brink of purchasing 4 MKII's - but certainly need to rethink this now.

..Incidentally, I just registered on this forum today and was quite surprised at the random question I was asked on the registration page (I got it wrong!)!!

Interested to know if anyone (Colour Science folks especially :)) could put me out of my misery and provide the necessary enlightenment..

Question was:

"What is the colour of Life?"



Pure genius.. W
 
don't take my word for it, head down to your local store and see if they have a demo you can try out. Shoot your own test and report back. Maybe renting one for a day at 200$ is worth it if you are going to buy 4 of them.

If you have been wowed by footage on the web, remember 1080 scaled down to 720 usually looks really good and sharp. It's when you look at full rez native clips in sun, then it falls apart.

MD
 
Michael Dalton said:
don't take my word for it, head down to your local store and see if they have a demo you can try out. Shoot your own test and report back. Maybe renting one for a day at 200$ is worth it if you are going to buy 4 of them.

If you have been wowed by footage on the web, remember 1080 scaled down to 720 usually looks really good and sharp. It's when you look at full rez native clips in sun, then it falls apart.

MD
Click to expand...

Cheers Michael.. Admittedly I've only been looking at the 1080p uploads on vimeo and the like, you know, when you download the original. I'm starting to think these sites can be quite deceiving as people generally post their best results (?).

No substitute for real testing.. I'll hunt for a rental I guess and check it out first hand.

W
 
Never judge 5d footage from the LCD. Its actually quite terrible, with poor contrast ratio.

And obvioulsy look for the best image when researching, in pictures, videos- this is what's on the Red Reel, for example.
 
http://vimeo.com/3793978
http://vimeo.com/5039957
http://vimeo.com/4685373
http://vimeo.com/4762271

Most of them are before manual control...

Fact is that there are a number of studios using this camera's video in production. It's been spotted with full video rigs on many sets. Feature films like Fox Searchlight's Notorious (2009) have already been theatrically released with 5D Mark II video. TV shows, music videos, documentaries, commercials, etc... If the video was so terrible who on earth would consider using it on such productions? This camera is making headlines and was covering the floor at NAB.

This is no RED One, it's no alternative for a RED camera or raw workflow. Has many problems... However, it is exciting what this thing can do, especially for the price.

I'm waiting for Scarlet... but for now under most conditions the 5D video quality beats or gets close to video from most other cameras including the EX1. Some have cut it with the RED without problems, and few can even tell the two apart.

I really suggest to everyone to do a lot of testing before buying or committing to use it in a project. If you can wait, wait for Scarlet.
 
There was mention in another thread of a producer losing $200k worth of action scenes shot on a 5d because the footage wasn't of high enough quality. If you play to the camera's strengths it produces acceptable footage for some purposes. Those strengths are low light sensitivity and 35mm shallow DOF. For relatively static shots its OK. The faster the action the worse it looks. The more fine detail in the scene the worse it looks. The more the camera moves the worse it looks.
 
I hope you didn't misunderstood my words, Daniel. I was saying to not judge 5d footage from the in camera LCD. The 5d footage in itself looks spectacular- unbeatable in the price point, in fact.
 
Oh! I misunderstood, my apologies! I will edit the post since it will probably stand alone...
 
Everyone seems to focus on H.264 as the main culprit with the 5DMKII. Shouldn't you be able to record the HDMI output with a capture box of some kind. Maybe an AJA IO HD or something? Wouldn't a 4:2:2 10bit capture to ProRes422 make a pretty decent picture?

Aside from the fact this isn't a portable solution, it seems like a decent solution.

There also seems to be a pretty raging debate on whether or not the jello is worse in a 5D than the jello with a RED. Does anyone have have hard evidence, side by side comparison of the same action or camera movements. I'd like to see something more to go on than one guy saying the jello is no worse than RED, and another guy calling him crazy.
 
So far as I know, the HDMI out on the 5D is seriously downgraded... like it drops every second line or something equally absurd. Not sure if that could be hacked away with a firmware patch... maybe?
[link]

Aaron Newsome said:
Everyone seems to focus on H.264 as the main culprit with the 5DMKII. Shouldn't you be able to record the HDMI output with a capture box of some kind. Maybe an AJA IO HD or something? Wouldn't a 4:2:2 10bit capture to ProRes422 make a pretty decent picture?
Click to expand...
 
Nick Burridge said:
So far as I know, the HDMI out on the 5D is seriously downgraded... like it drops every second line or something equally absurd. Not sure if that could be hacked away with a firmware patch... maybe?
Click to expand...

It looks like the HDMI out has a full time focus box on it or something. Nevermind, I guess my idea to capture HDMI is not really possible. Too bad, this would be a good way to bypass the H.264.
 
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