Good bye old EPIC MX. I bid you farewell.

[Mark Toia]

Even though I have moved on from EPIC MX and now in love with Dragon images. I still have a soft spot for the EPIC MX.
When it was released and Jim deciding it was ok for me to have one of his babies.. I just couldn't believe the image quality I was getting from it from day 1. I now cannot believe that was 3+ years ago already.

This is one of my last projects with the EPIC MX shooting in really low light. Dark as hell !... Pushing the MX past 800iso was never something I liked to do.
I forgot we had even shot this piece as I only just stumbled over it sitting on a Hard drive a couple of days ago.
I have to say, even though MX is technically classified as being "OLD", it still did really well for me in any conditions. It was and has been such a work horse.

Geoffry Rush was suppose to do a narrative to this little film, but politics an egos got in the way unfortunately.
Anyways, I thought I'd share one of my very last EPIC MX gigs... MX EPICs are still way cool !

https://vimeo.com/97533128

 

[Peter Majtan]

Stunning as always Mark!

Cheers

Peter

 

[Jon Carr]

great work mark! I would still shoot MX over anything besides dragon. Its just such a great sensor that fills all my needs. May I ask what lenses you were mixing in this project?

 

[Mark Toia]

great work mark! I would still shoot MX over anything besides dragon. Its just such a great sensor that fills all my needs. May I ask what lenses you were mixing in this project?

Hassel blad Shift tilts f2. (custom) and Ziess MKIII superspeeds.

Stunning as always Mark!

Cheers

Peter

Thanks Peter.

 

[Abiodun Shote]

Congrats as we look forward to another era of stunning dragon images from you.

 

[Nick Morrison]

Hey Mark, I love the "sheen" on some of these images, almost as if some serran wrap or plastic is in front of the lens. Would you mind sharing how you got those textured, silvery flares and reflections? Loved the piece, as always.

 

[BRANDON JAMESON]

Your work is stellar!!!!

 

[Mark Phelan]

Mark, I always enjoy seeing your work, it's like a primer as to how to be a great communicator. You tell a good story.

Best,
Mark

 

[Mark Toia]

Mark, I always enjoy seeing your work, it's like a primer as to how to be a great communicator. You tell a good story.

Best,
Mark

Well... There wasn't a real story in this one. It was more a commando mission. Fly in fly out run and gun. Not my idea of a planned shoot. But hey, sometimes they work. It was tough to find great shots in just a few hours that we had. But still happy enough with the end result.

 

[jacob.schwarz]

Mark, do you have any Dragons with the new calibration and Ne OLPF? Are you seeing any noise in the blacks at high shutters as well?

 

[paul schefz]

great as always! simply beautiful....

 

[Mark Toia]

Mark, do you have any Dragons with the new calibration and Ne OLPF? Are you seeing any noise in the blacks at high shutters as well?

Hi Jacob. This was shot from my old Epic MX. Not Dragon. I was just applauding how good it was. (Or actually still is) I'm all Dragon now, with far less noise.

 

[Nick Morrison]

Hi Jacob. This was shot from my old Epic MX. Not Dragon. I was just applauding how good it was. (Or actually still is) I'm all Dragon now, with far less noise.

Mark are you getting clean blacks on the new OLFP/Calibration, or old? If you are staying clean on new calibration, how are you doing it...by shooting at low ISO's yes...ie 320/240 yes?

Love to know about your "clean" workflow, as I know others are getting noise in blacks at 800....on Dragon...since new calibration...

best

 

[Dr. Sassi]

Always a pleasure to see your point of view to the world -- in which you obviously dive in so easily and deeply.

This work has a very delicate intimacy -- like "we" (the audience) are really part of it.

Well done. Thanks.

 

[Zeb B]

Nice work. Agreed, missing my MX at times. We had some great times together. The Dragon Mono is my new best friend. Still trying to love my RGB Dragon but we have yet to come to an understanding. Perhaps couples counseling or a trip to the country away from the kids might help us bond ;-)

 

[Ivan McCullough]

Hi Jacob. This was shot from my old Epic MX. Not Dragon. I was just applauding how good it was. (Or actually still is) I'm all Dragon now, with far less noise.

Mark, I think Jacob is asking are any of your Dragons new olpf/new calibration. Jacob and others are expriencing very noisy shadows with their Dragons (new olpf)

 

[Paul J Steinberg]

Yes, would love to hear from the early adopters who were able to get clean images out of Dragon. Those of us on current OLPF and firmware are having to rent MX's as Dragon isn't in a usable state.

 

[Mark Toia]

Mark are you getting clean blacks on the new OLFP/Calibration, or old? If you are staying clean on new calibration, how are you doing it...by shooting at low ISO's yes...ie 320/240 yes?

Love to know about your "clean" workflow, as I know others are getting noise in blacks at 800....on Dragon...since new calibration...

best

Hi Nick.
I only shoot at 800iso at night. I do see noise in the darkest of blacks in underexposed areas. Only if I try to push for more information.
i shoot everything else at 250iso. Noiseless , clean and smooth.
I do hear of people havering noise issues. But I'm not... Mind you I am a big advocate of shooting at 250.
I know of a lot of DP's ( that call me) with noise issues. Once I see the way they shoot I can quickly see the problem. Most shoot at 800 and float there histogram in the middle of the graph. In doing that they are technically shooting at 1600 to 3200 ISO. 1 and 2 stops under.
My advice is to push your histogram to the top of the graph but don't let the traffic lights come on. Just touch them then pull back at touch. Remember shoot at 250iso.
Live by these simple rules and you will never clip and you will be pretty much noise free.

People will disagree , but hey... Im
getting the results.

 

[Mark Toia]

Yes, would love to hear from the early adopters who were able to get clean images out of Dragon. Those of us on current OLPF and firmware are having to rent MX's as Dragon isn't in a usable state.

Serious ????? Your finding Epic MX better than Dragon. You must be doing something wrong. ?
I find the two so different. That's a really strange comment.
Is there a chance you can see me some of offending R3d's. I'd love to see these unusable shots.
I'd really like to figure this problem out for you as I cannot use MX anymore as I find dragon images miles better in all areas.
Cheers Paul

 

[Nick Morrison]

Hi Nick.
I only shoot at 800iso at night. I do see noise in the darkest of blacks in underexposed areas. Only if I try to push for more information.
i shoot everything else at 250iso. Noiseless , clean and smooth.
I do hear of people havering noise issues. But I'm not... Mind you I am a big advocate of shooting at 250.
I know of a lot of DP's ( that call me) with noise issues. Once I see the way they shoot I can quickly see the problem. Most shoot at 800 and float there histogram in the middle of the graph. In doing that they are technically shooting at 1600 to 3200 ISO. 1 and 2 stops under.
My advice is to push your histogram to the top of the graph but don't let the traffic lights come on. Just touch them then pull back at touch. Remember shoot at 250iso.
Live by these simple rules and you will never clip and you will be pretty much noise free.

People will disagree , but hey... Im
getting the results.

Thanks Mark. Great answer as always. So your shooting 250, and basically exposing to THE RIGHT, always humming along below the noise floor. Makes sense! Thanks again for detailed answer.