Right time to purchase 5d MK iii ?

[Dave Sperling]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

F1.4 is the same on a full frame or m4/3 camera in terms of light gathering, only the shallow dof will be different, with the 5D the person would only have to sneeze and they will be out of focus, something to consider when going full frame if you are doing run and gun work.

While the light gathering of a T/1.4 lens will be the same for any given area, you are actually gathering a larger total quantity of light with a full frame sensor, since it has a larger area to collect light. But in terms of light gathering, the more important element is the size of individual photosites on the sensor. If you have the same number of photosites on two different sized sensors, then the larger sensor will have larger photosites, each will collect more light because of its larger size, and thus if everything else is the same the sensor will be more sensitive.

This is the logic that goes into the full frame, lower-pixel-count A7s camera - which would seem to be the low-light champ...

[Noa Put]

This is the logic that goes into the full frame, lower-pixel-count A7s camera - which would seem to be the low-light champ...

I expect many, many videos appearing shot in the dark, with no content, only because the camera can shoot in the dark, just like I see many, many videos appearing from the gh4 shot at 96fps, only for the sake of showing it can do 96fps.

I don't know if any saw Philip blooms latest video shot with a gopro: (vimeo.com/97455734), that's a camera the size of a matchbox and I thought it looked wonderfull, the scenery did help ofcourse but this was yet another example of using the right tool for the right job in the hands of the right person .

Just look at what you need the camera for and choose one that has those strengths and start shooting.

[Brian David Melnyk]

Low light queen?

Philip Bloom, Barbie Camera Challenge - YouTube

[Rob Cantwell]

hilarious!!

[Dave Sperling]

Yes, the Kung Fu sequence is almost as funny as his comparative analysis of working with the BarbieCam as compared to the black magic...

[Michael Thames]

So funny! Just goes to prove content is king! But which one of the three is the low light queen?

[Al Bergstein]

To the OP, you didn't mention if stills are a requirement. If they are not, then I would personally look at a C100 with Ninja. Gets you fabulous footage without all the HDSLR baggage. But if you are shooting stills along with video, I think that if you are correct in looking at a GH4 with adapters for your lenses. While I personally prefer the look of the 5Dmkiii (a bit more organic if I can use that phrase), I can understand the GH4 fanboys. It has a beautiful clean (you could call it antiseptic) look to it. I'm willing to wait to see what Canon eventually brings to the table, as I'm not needing to jump today. If I had to travel with only one camera, and be able to shoot both stills and video, I'd likely use the 5Dmkiii and Ninja Blade, and wait on the rest to sort itself out. I am speaking from some experience, I own or have owned the xf305, C100, 5Dmkiii and Panny HMC 150. I've done multicam shoots with friends with Panny GH3s, and their image was superb. I'm not biased against anything, these are all tools. If Canon doesn't come to the game with a better camera next year, I'll likely move to Panny. But to be clear, the 5Dmkiii does just about everything I want. Good luck!

[Ramji Meena]

I agree with Bergstein. Will wait for canon's next move as far as owing a camera is concern because stills are also equally important for me. Meanwhile for current work I will hire MKiii and GH4 both.

[Noa Put]

Will wait for canon's next move

One thing you can be sure of, Canon will never develop a 4K camera at the GH4's pricepoint and if they do, it will be seriously crippled, they will do whatever it takes to protect their c-line. The reason why most people are considering a gh4 today is because it can do 4K internally at 1500 euro, Canon charges you 10k minimum for their first dslr offering and 20k if you want to stay into their video oriented c-line. I would be very surprised if they would bring out a 7d mark II that can do 4K, probably their entire c-line gets it first at an even higher pricepoint.

[Michael Thames]

Noah! You keep saying the same old stuff.... but by the time you buy the bells and whistles for the GH4 you are actually above the cost of a 5D3. Larry Jordan just did an interview with Phillip Bloom on 4K hype, I suggest to you you watch this, and then perhaps you might come to your reasonable senses.

You are talking about a GH4 $1600.00 camera that you can't plug a monitor into to.... get real dude! Not to mention that a half an hour of 4K takes up 500 gigs of storage space! The price stsrts to add up fast, not tp mention the gigs ( new Computers) you need to process 4K. You then begin to ask yourself if it is worth the cost, for you wedding photographer types!

[Noa Put]

It helps if you know what you are talking about, one hour of 100mbs 4K footage is about 20GB, not 1 terrabyte as you put it. :D

And what new computer or "processing 4k"? I can edit natively on my older i7 3770 with 8gb of memory and with onboard gpu only on edius 7 (it doesn't even have a raid drive, just a bunch of separate 7200rpm discs), no transcoding required, no stutter but smooth editing, I have a nice fluid full quality preview on my big lcd screen during my edit using a spark card that works with edius only. It's not a 4k output as I edit in a 1080p project and the card doesn't support 4K out but even then it almost looks like looking out of a window.

If I place a 10 minute 100mbs 4K 25fps file in a 1080p 25fps timeline it takes 5min and 10 sec using the motherboards gpu to output to a 1080p h.264 25mbs mp4 file, how about that for "processing 4K" :)

What bells and whistles? I shot last wedding with a borrowed gh4, filled 64 gb of data on 2 cheap 45mbs cards that I normally use for my gh3 and used the camera only, no accessories, just by looking true the very sharp viewfinder and the improved eyepiece enabled me to shoot in sunlight without having to use a loupe. So why would I need to plug in a monitor? I have peaking, magnification and a sharp image to judge my focus on. There where no extra costs involved for me, just a 1500 euro camerabody and I could start shooting, that's it.

I don't need to look at the interview, I can look at the footage I shot last weekend and I can come to my senses that I should get the camera after all. :D Even on a 1080p output I see a image from the gh4 that has a clarity I have not seen before and I already found my gh3 a pretty good camera, especially after having shot with a canon 550d.

Canon makes great camera's, that for sure, but you pay a very high premium for the good stuff. Panasonic at least doesn't cripple it's lower pricepoint camera's like Canon does or has ridiculous high prizesdifferences between models with just minor differences. So if you have the budget, by all means wait for the next big thing from Canon or start shooting with what is now available at a much lower pricepoint.

Also, 4K is not a hype, it has some real world advantages, especially for solo shooters, the extra detail you get together with the cropping possibilities without any visual loss in detail opens up extra possibilities. Most people, like you, that complain about 4k and it's so called disadvantages have not worked with it, you should try first and then judge.

[Robert Benda]

Regarding file sizes, in his review, 'Learning DSLR's Dave Dugdale said the file sizes were about the same, shockingly, from the GH4 compared to his Canon cameras. HOWEVER, when I read another review, it looked like it was at least twice the size as usual Canon codec, and with special faster SD cards required.

For a lens with f/1.2... shoot with it, but use it 2 stops down. I recall seeing that most, if not all, lenses tend to be their sharpest at least 2 stops from wide open. An f/1.2 lens would probably be much higher quality, and give you better sharpness at f/2 than an lens with max aperture f/2 would at f/2

A lens is a lens is a lens and lets in the same amount of light regardless of what camera it is on, but that doesn't mean that camera uses that light. During tests, my Canon crop factor camera (70D) is not quite 2 stops darker than my full frame (5d Mark ii). So I put my 50mm f/2.8 (85mm equivalent) onto my 70D, and get about the same light as my 85mm set at f/4 on my 5d Mark ii.

Bokeh and sliders are probably the two easiest things to overuse, and perhaps along with only shooting for and delivering a pretty 4 minute trailer, common mistakes for many of us when we start out, especially if we didn't mentor with anyone. They still have their place, of course, and much like lighting, can be used to great effect.

Personally, I really like slider shots for transitions between spaces, as in, slowly pulling in as if you're approaching the church. I like shallow depth of field for those small, personal moments between the B&G, like the vows, or a first look, or maybe when reading a note from each other. Here, I find it useful to make them feel like they're the only people in the world, and shallow depth of field can help that.

[Michael Thames]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

It helps if you know what you are talking about, one hour of 100mbs 4K footage is about 20GB, not 1 terrabyte as you put it. :D

And what new computer or "processing 4k"? I can edit natively on my older i7 3770 with 8gb of memory and with onboard gpu only on edius 7 (it doesn't even have a raid drive, just a bunch of separate 7200rpm discs), no transcoding required, no stutter but smooth editing, I have a nice fluid full quality preview on my big lcd screen during my edit using a spark card that works with edius only. It's not a 4k output as I edit in a 1080p project and the card doesn't support 4K out but even then it almost looks like looking out of a window.

If I place a 10 minute 100mbs 4K 25fps file in a 1080p 25fps timeline it takes 5min and 10 sec using the motherboards gpu to output to a 1080p h.264 25mbs mp4 file, how about that for "processing 4K" :)

What bells and whistles? I shot last wedding with a borrowed gh4, filled 64 gb of data on 2 cheap 45mbs cards that I normally use for my gh3 and used the camera only, no accessories, just by looking true the very sharp viewfinder and the improved eyepiece enabled me to shoot in sunlight without having to use a loupe. So why would I need to plug in a monitor? I have peaking, magnification and a sharp image to judge my focus on. There where no extra costs involved for me, just a 1500 euro camerabody and I could start shooting, that's it.

I don't need to look at the interview, I can look at the footage I shot last weekend and I can come to my senses that I should get the camera after all. :D Even on a 1080p output I see a image from the gh4 that has a clarity I have not seen before and I already found my gh3 a pretty good camera, especially after having shot with a canon 550d.

Canon makes great camera's, that for sure, but you pay a very high premium for the good stuff. Panasonic at least doesn't cripple it's lower pricepoint camera's like Canon does or has ridiculous high prizesdifferences between models with just minor differences. So if you have the budget, by all means wait for the next big thing from Canon or start shooting with what is now available at a much lower pricepoint.

Also, 4K is not a hype, it has some real world advantages, especially for solo shooters, the extra detail you get together with the cropping possibilities without any visual loss in detail opens up extra possibilities. Most people, like you, that complain about 4k and it's so called disadvantages have not worked with it, you should try first and then judge.

Well I guess Phillip Bloom is off his rocker..... poor guy! So in other words 1080p is no different file size than 4K? Bloom talks about this Mac crashing as a result of editing 4K video, complains about the massive file size, and extra time it takes..... all adding up to more expense. Your right I've never shot in 4K and I have no need to do so, and according to Bloom he doesn't either......
Philip Bloom: On 4K Video (Part 1)

[Michael Thames]

Originally Posted by Robert Benda

Regarding file sizes, in his review, 'Learning DSLR's Dave Dugdale said the file sizes were about the same, shockingly, from the GH4 compared to his Canon cameras. HOWEVER, when I read another review, it looked like it was at least twice the size as usual Canon codec, and with special faster SD cards required.

For a lens with f/1.2... shoot with it, but use it 2 stops down. I recall seeing that most, if not all, lenses tend to be their sharpest at least 2 stops from wide open. An f/1.2 lens would probably be much higher quality, and give you better sharpness at f/2 than an lens with max aperture f/2 would at f/2

A lens is a lens is a lens and lets in the same amount of light regardless of what camera it is on, but that doesn't mean that camera uses that light. During tests, my Canon crop factor camera (70D) is not quite 2 stops darker than my full frame (5d Mark ii). So I put my 50mm f/2.8 (85mm equivalent) onto my 70D, and get about the same light as my 85mm set at f/4 on my 5d Mark ii.

Bokeh and sliders are probably the two easiest things to overuse, and perhaps along with only shooting for and delivering a pretty 4 minute trailer, common mistakes for many of us when we start out, especially if we didn't mentor with anyone. They still have their place, of course, and much like lighting, can be used to great effect.

Personally, I really like slider shots for transitions between spaces, as in, slowly pulling in as if you're approaching the church. I like shallow depth of field for those small, personal moments between the B&G, like the vows, or a first look, or maybe when reading a note from each other. Here, I find it useful to make them feel like they're the only people in the world, and shallow depth of field can help that.

I don't know, but Doug Davdale is a bit of a light weight. I trust Bloom a bit more......

[Michael Thames]

Noa, the 5d3 has a pretty good screen but I always use an external monitor. If you are a hobbitst then yea it's OK to squint to see the screen and hope for the best, but if you are a professional you NEED a monitor, and that costs you another $2000 bucks for the GH4.

It may give more clarity than a 5D3 but it looks digitalized, and then on top of it you have to deal with the compressed look of the small sensor. Cheaper to just buy a pair of new glasses.