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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 :)

Epic, Alexa, F55 Sensor Test

Nice, so for 30k + Sony Specific Media, you get the Rolling shutter issues Fixed, so it looks....
 
FWIW, to my eyes, the Alexa and Epic handled fine on the spinning disc test, very film-like. The flash test is the weak spot for all sequential scanning sensors, so yeah, yuck.

I guess we'll see what Dragon brings to the table. MX sensor is a couple years old now. Sony's flagship F65 and other cameras don't have a global shutter. It costs big $$$ to add the mechanical shutter option to the F65 and it doesn't eliminate shutter skew, it just makes it more film-like to hide the horizontal scanning. Same with the Alexa Studio M version. Back in the day, Jim offered to make mechanical shutter add-ons for the RED One. Said they would be $20K shutter kits and they would start as soon as they had something like 10 orders. I think he got one order, maybe two, it didn't happen.

This little "test" isn't so much a test of anything. It just shows us what we already know -- global shutter has linear blur properties and doesn't skew, so we have a different look with less distortion on the spinning wheel or visual elements of that nature. Camera strobes and the like are always a problem, don't need a test to show us that. And there are ways to mitigate this in a studio setting where it's controllable. Something that must be done, even with film and mechanical shutters on digital.
 
Come on, the F55 has more than just global shutter in its favour -- better dynamic range (has anyone compared to Alexa -- is it 14+?), built-in NDs, way better battery life, proxies/raw simultaneously, better low-light, built-in XLRs, full-sensor downscale of HFR/2k/etc... I mean, there's a lot you're getting for your money (almost as much as attaching a Meisler to your Epic, but more, because a lot of the tech is sensor inherent advantages that RED/MX can not get with add-ons.)

But yeah, the differences in rolling-shutter aren't what would sell me on an F5/F55.
 
If only they had used the same camera position and setup!

But nevertheless the f55 has an amaizing latitude and surpass the actual Épic. (From my own tests).

Pat
 
Patrick Tresch said:
If only they had used the same camera position and setup!

But nevertheless the f55 has an amaizing latitude and surpass the actual Épic. (From my own tests).

Pat
Click to expand...

Considering the MX sensor is a generation older than the F55, it should come as no surprise that the F55 has more latitude I think a more fair comparison will be Epic-Dragon to F55, as they are contemporary sensors (generation-wise)
 
Nick Morrison said:
Considering the MX sensor is a generation older than the F55, it should come as no surprise that the F55 has more latitude I think a more fair comparison will be Epic-Dragon to F55, as they are contemporary sensors (generation-wise)
Click to expand...

You r right but I think we, common Épic users (X Nr 1000+), still will have to wait more than 6 months to get the Dragon upgrade. So, as for today we can only compare what really exist.

Pat
 
Alex Macneal said:
Excuse me, but I do see that they used a reflector on the F55 shots.
Click to expand...

Misleading to say the least.

What gets me about all of these tests like this one from visual impact is how lack of meticulous testing discounts any valuable insight. The lack of consistency makes it difficult to get anything useful from the testing.

I actually appreciate all the folks who do tests and post them, there is quite a bit of useful information when the comparisons are direct as possible.

But adding a reflector where the guy is squinting - then talking about all the extra range? Sheesh.
 
Zach Gray said:
Misleading to say the least.

What gets me about all of these tests like this one from visual impact is how lack of meticulous testing discounts any valuable insight. The lack of consistency makes it difficult to get anything useful from the testing.

I actually appreciate all the folks who do tests and post them, there is quite a bit of useful information when the comparisons are direct as possible.

But adding a reflector where the guy is squinting - then talking about all the extra range? Sheesh.
Click to expand...

If you don´t realize the direction of the light in the face of the guy, I´m sorry for you. There is a second lightsource in front of his face, left side. this test is a fake, because the arri alexa has more dynamic range than the f55. And I won´t start talking about the internal HDR-processing of the Alexa. I think you know that already.
And by the way light can´t "fly" a curve. And the nose doesn´t make a shadow on the left side of his face. There would be a shadow without a second lightsource in regard to the position of the first lightsource (the sun).
From viewers point of view the left side - from the guy´s point of view the right side of his face.
This test is cheesy, sorry.
 
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Jeff Kilgroe said:
FWIW, to my eyes, the Alexa and Epic handled fine on the spinning disc test, very film-like.
Click to expand...

I'm curious why you say that...I remember seeing the rolling shutter test in Zacuto's test and film was nearly indistinguishable from the cameras with a global shutter. (Granted, the Zacuto test is a much more extreme wheel test)

http://youtu.be/74tRYaAZENk?t=6m18s
 
Alex Macneal said:
If you don´t realize the direction of the light in the face of the guy, I´m sorry for you. There is a second lightsource in front of his face, left side. this test is a fake, because the arri alexa has more dynamic range than the f55. And I won´t start talking about the internal HDR-processing of the Alexa. I think you know that already.
And by the way light can´t "fly" a curve. And the nose doesn´t make a shadow on the left side of his face. There would be a shadow without a second lightsource in regard to the position of the first lightsource (the sun).
From viewers point of view the left side - from the guy´s point of view the right side of his face.
This test is cheesy, sorry.
Click to expand...

Uh, he did see it. Re-read his post.
 
Lol, this test is like adding sugar to beer to try make it taste like coke.
 
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