Pocket camera – first day, first impressions...

[John McCully]

Originally Posted by Kris Zimbelman

can you recommend any initial settings?

Frame rate is very much over to you and your preference. There is no right or wrong. I shoot at 30 fps and if 60 was available that would be my preference.

I set zebras at 100% and then reduce the aperture one stop below. Film setting as the video setting seems to produce footage that is very contrasty. ISO, I have 400 selected and then outdoor on a sunny day I need ND8 to get the aperture down to about f8 to f 11, the sharp point of my lens. If you want shallow DoF as I believe Jeff wants then you will need a lot of ND's for outdoor shooting, I'm guessing.

But as you say this does depend on the conditions and the intensity of the light in your neighborhood.

It's not too complicated really. My biggest problem is seeing and reading the screen, but then that's age related to some degree. A bolt-on EVF is on my wish list.

[John Brawley]

Originally Posted by John McCully

Given the limitations of the cheap 14 42 lens and that the stabilization is ineffective on the Pocket I went ahead and ordered the new Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 ASPH. / Power O.I.S H-FS14140.

The lens needs to have a manual IS switch or IS won't actually work with the pocket camera.

I'm not sure why this is the case, but its something to do with the way the protocol is enabled. I'm hoping they will fix this in the future....it's on a growing to do list.

Are you shooting RAW or ProRes ? I have some exposure suggestions but it depends how you shoot.

EDIT---woops. You won't have RAW yet ;-)

I find with ProRes you don't tend to want to ETTR as much as you do with RAW. Mainly because there is less bit depth so it's generally better to have a little more headroom at the top end.

When you change the ISO in ProRes, you're also shedding some DR. Even though you're dropping the ISO, all it's doing is mapping the same exposure and applying a more bent curve at the expense of top end. Some users say they prefer the noise profile from this, but it's worth noting that to get the most DR, you should generally shoot at 800 and use ND's.

jb

[John McCully]

Thanks John, that tip about ISO 800 vs 400 is most helpful. I have now switched to 800 as you suggest so we will see how we go with that.

I’m getting there, it is a fun little camera, that’s for sure, and I do like the look.

[Jeff Troiano]

Originally Posted by John Brawley

Are you shooting RAW or ProRes ? I have some exposure suggestions but it depends how you shoot.

EDIT---woops. You won't have RAW yet ;-)

Hey John, any chance this slip means you are currently testing raw?

[John Brawley]

Originally Posted by John McCully

Thanks John, that tip about ISO 800 vs 400 is most helpful. I have now switched to 800 as you suggest so we will see how we go with that.

I’m getting there, it is a fun little camera, that’s for sure, and I do like the look.

I'd invite you to test 400 and 800 at the corrected ISO's for yourself.

Also, if you end us using Resolve, there's a great LUT that's been created by a fellow Kiwi there, Captain Hook. It's a great way to shoot FILM and get to a pretty nice result without trying too hard.

CaptainHook | Blackmagic Cinema Camera LUT

jb

[John McCully]

Originally Posted by John Brawley

a fellow Kiwi

Oh well, then it must be perfect:-)

Thanks, I have downloaded and installed his LUT and tonight I shall give it a whirl. Right now the sun is a-shining, a couple of clouds in the sky just to make it interesting, spring is here, the new lens arrived just 5 minutes ago; I'm off...see ya later!

[Murray Christian]

Try to create some moire (I assume that's what it is)
On a Canon APS-C I find it mild enough to miss when just fooling around, even though it crops up a lot.
On some early BMPCs footage you don't see that sort of thing most of the time, but when you do -Pow-, there it is.

[John McCully]

Nothing yet. Here's a prt scn where one might have expected to have seen problems.

[Murray Christian]

Yeah. Thinking I could probably use some examples in case any one asked I tried to find some in the recent footage going around. Haven't been able to yet. Not sure what I saw previously. It's quite possible it was actually on a different camera altogether.

[Alex Anderson]

Originally Posted by Kris Zimbelman

got it , Thanks
I will be attending the University of Oklahoma\West Virginia football game which starts at 6 PM tomorrow.
I plan on taking some band shots as they walk through the campus, tailgating and some game sequence.
I will be shooting Pro RES. This is the lens I will be using.
https://secure.bhphotovideo.com/c/se...op+Nav-Search=

I know that the conditions can vary and that these things can change on the run, but can you recommend any initial settings?

Can someone please post some original files shot ins raw and prores so I can test workflows and push the grading. I don't mean youtube or vimeo. I mean to upload the original files.using one of the many free sites for uploading large files.

Alex