36 hours with the Komodo

[Juan Melara]

The Ignite Digi guys were nice enough to lend me their Komodo over the weekend. So I took it out for a few hours to grab some test shots. Unfortunately I only had 2 batteries, each getting me about 25min runtime with 3-4h to recharge, so I didn't get a chance to record anything beyond 3-4sec clips that are more like stills. Hopefully I'll get it off them again soon.

Pretty impressed with it so far. The global shutter is great. The colours and over all image quality is pretty amazing. I actually think Red did almost too good of a job from an image quality point of view. If you don't need the high frame rates, I don't think you're really missing anything from the higher end models.

The body could use a few assignable buttons to toggle false colour, peaking and the LUT etc. I left false colour and focus peaking enabled on the Komodo's screen and kept the external LCD clean. A quick glance down would confirm focus and exposure which actually worked better than I thought. But it is slower than working with the P6K or Alexa I usually work with.

Here are a few graded stills. There are using a very early build of my Komodo2Alexa transform, then a Alexa negative/print film emulation applied on top.

A few more shots can be seen here: https://imgur.com/a/O2EfGMh

 

[Daniel Pearson]

Looks amazging thanks Juan. I'm a huge fan of your P4K to Alexa powergrade and LUT so it is great to see your thoughts on the Komodo.

 

[Robert Hofmeyr]

Those shots look absolutely stunning! What batteries were you using that got such poor runtime?

 

[Andreas Eymannsberger]

Those shots look absolutely stunning! What batteries were you using that got such poor runtime?

Wondering as well...

Great stills! Very filmic quaility to the images!

 

[Juan Melara]

Not entirely sure on the exact Canon battery model they lent me. But one was apparently a store demo battery manufactured in 2012. So likely passed it's time. The 0.5C/32F temp that morning probably didn't help.

 

[Phil Holland]

Looks great man.

 

[William Long]

Ahhh Tassie! Great place.

Thanks for the images - and your blog by the way.

 

[Jiri Vrozina]

The Ignite Digi guys were nice enough to lend me their Komodo over the weekend. So I took it out for a few hours to grab some test shots. Unfortunately I only had 2 batteries, each getting me about 25min runtime with 3-4h to recharge, so I didn't get a chance to record anything beyond 3-4sec clips that are more like stills. Hopefully I'll get it off them again soon.

Pretty impressed with it so far. The global shutter is great. The colours and over all image quality is pretty amazing. I actually think Red did almost too good of a job from an image quality point of view. If you don't need the high frame rates, I don't think you're really missing anything from the higher end models.

The body could use a few assignable buttons to toggle false colour, peaking and the LUT etc. I left false colour and focus peaking enabled on the Komodo's screen and kept the external LCD clean. A quick glance down would confirm focus and exposure which actually worked better than I thought. But it is slower than working with the P6K or Alexa I usually work with.

Here are a few graded stills. There are using a very early build of my Komodo2Alexa transform, then a Alexa negative/print film emulation applied on top.

A few more shots can be seen here: https://imgur.com/a/O2EfGMh

I can get the same stills on my Z6

 

[Christoffer Glans]

Really high quality shots, any chance to see them in motion?

 

[Chuks Ude]

Great looking frames Juan, I like the color.

 

[J. Orlandi]

Would love to get that Komodo2alaxa when possible!

 

[Andy Roberts]

Not entirely sure on the exact Canon battery model they lent me. But one was apparently a store demo battery manufactured in 2012. So likely passed it's time. The 0.5C/32F temp that morning probably didn't help.

A SINGLE new 955 gets 90 min. So 3 hrs for two 955s and 4.5 hrs for two 975s... They need to loan you better batteries next time

 

[M Harvey]

These are great, thanks for sharing!

I'd love to hear a little more about your experience, when you have a chance-- in the shot of the Chinese restaurant at night (on the additional picture link), for example, I imagine you basically exposed for the area near the steps and then were able to pull down the illuminated elements? Or you brought up the shadows? Either way, pretty impressive!

 

[Grant Smucker]

Some of these look like HDR. Maybe too much sharpness?

 

[yann LHENORET]

Great shots and impressive grading!

Would you mind sharing some R3Ds with us?

 

[Nick Morrison]

I can get the same stills on my Z6

Juan is a very talented colorist, so it's not just about the stills, it's also about Juan's thoughts about Komodo.

In the hands of someone talented, an Iphone or Android can look great too.

That's obviously not the point here.

 

[Christoffer Glans]

Juan is a very talented colorist, so it's not just about the stills, it's also about Juan's thoughts about Komodo.

In the hands of someone talented, an Iphone or Android can look great too.

That's obviously not the point here.

Case point, Damien Chazelle's The Stunt Double short film, shot on iPhone 11 and using vertical video in a professional manner.

And I agree. The modern trend has become a narrative where camera tech is being more important than talent (not exactly, but in a way), while talent is something you get with that gear. I've always said that people should pick the camera that they are comfortable with and really deeply learn everything about it in order to make room for the entirety of their creativity and skill in photography.

 

[Sabovic Adis]

I can get the same stills on my Z6

Pics or you can't!

 

[Timothy Jones]

These are looking really nice , cant wait to see the footy.
Looks like a really cool place too !
Thanks,
Tim

 

[Jiri Vrozina]

Juan is a very talented colorist, so it's not just about the stills, it's also about Juan's thoughts about Komodo.

In the hands of someone talented, an Iphone or Android can look great too.

That's obviously not the point here.

Right, so i think in my past i have not seen anywhere as many stills from any camera as from Komodo. Surely he can post some links to his footage from Komodo (graded and not graded). It is a “moving picture” camera after all.