D800 press release

[Kholi]

Rental in Australia is not an option. Way more expensive than it is in the US. 20-30 days rental buys you the camera.

Oh I thought Emanuel said you were coming around ehre to shoot.

Even the 5D was struggling to get the shots I wanted in the subway. The DOF was too shallow in the available light at @ 1250 ISO and there was too much separation between the actor and the background.

I forgot about this. GH2 you can shoot wide open so it doesn't matter, but you're right about the 5D, you need to be around 2.8~4 split to make something of it. Although it was you that showed me cropping 2.35:1 and shooting close to wide open with the 5D was actually completely acceptable if not pretty sick.

Yet, this is another advantage of going mirrorless, and M4/3 at that. Although 0.95 is kind of dicey to shoot with, in a pinch you could, and 1.4~2.0's generally a-okay for any situation. The advancements in modern glass for mirrorless applications are more exciting to me than cameras these days.

Something with D3s/FS100 sensitivity could have nailed it but the GH2 might have worked too. An extra 2-3 stops gives you a lot more control over the DOF without the need for a lot of extra light. The D800 looks like it has a stop or so over the 5D. The D4 and 1DX look like 2-3 stops or more in ISO sensitivity. Check out these 1DX samples http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/samples/eos1dx/

I'd be curious if they actually do reach that far, real world and usable I mean. Either way, it's obviously progressing greatly.

A heliopan vari ND solves the overly sensitive issue....shame we can't get one for your mouth. :nads:

What's a Heliopan ND? :3 I only use Tiffen 4x5 for work.

But, ND doesn't solve the issue, it creates another sensor obstacle in the light to plane chain. The more ND you use the more noise you introduce into the image. 320 @ 4 1/50 shutter Daylight needs 7-10 stops of ND depending on time of day. That's a lot of ND in the way.

Lighting an interior to 320/640 is great, though. For small work, you may never need more than 5K wattage strategically allocated between a number of units.

 

[squig]

Oh I thought Emanuel said you were coming around ehre to shoot.

Just one scene near the Hopi reservation in Arizona. The rest I'm shooting here.

One thing I like the most about full frame is you can get shallow DOF at the wide end. I have a 20mm f/1.8 sigma which isn't bad. If I get a Nikon the 24mm f/1.4 will be tempting.

I'm cropping the feature 2.66:1. Shooting mostly with Leica and Iscorama glass. The Iscorama shots will essentially be 3k.

Fast glass does give shallow DOF on small sensors but lenses are performing at their worst wide open. Full frame at f/4-5.6 is hitting the lenses sweet spot.

The 1DX @ 12800 looks like 1600 on the 5D. The 1DX looks clean at 1250. I can see some chroma noise at 12800 which the D4 shouldn't have.

The heliopan is a screw on variable ND like the singh ray and lightcraft but high quality German glass. You can use a couple of 4x5 polarisers and rotate one to get a vari ND.

I bought a couple of 54w 30 degree spot 900 LED panels from China off ebay with v-mounts and dimmers for $465 each landed. Really happy with them, have to get more.

 

[Kholi]

Fast glass does give shallow DOF on small sensors but lenses are performing at their worst wide open. Full frame at f/4-5.6 is hitting the lenses sweet spot.

*Cheap fast glass does give shallow DOF on small sensors but lenses are performing at their worst wide open.

Had to add that correction: you may not get the chance too, but go and play with Olympus M4/3 glass, particularly any of the 2.0's. More than likely that'll change your mind.

S'why I just use PL glass if possible. And even then, Ultra Primes are TOO sharp for the application beyond T4 (on the GH2).

The 1DX @ 12800 looks like 1600 on the 5D. The 1DX looks clean at 1250. I can see some chroma noise at 12800 which the D4 shouldn't have.

I can't find any 1DX footage? Any help? The EOS site has one 960x540 clip, that I'm not even sure what's going on in.

The heliopan is a screw on variable ND like the singh ray and lightcraft but high quality German glass. You can use a couple of 4x5 polarisers and rotate one to get a vari ND.

Or just use NDs and a Hot mirror like normal. xD I don't mess with those Vari things, only down to use trusted glass.

 

[squig]

Check out the 1DX money shot @ 2:20. http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/samples/eos1dx/ You can see some detail in the door. I could be tripping but it looks like it has more dynamic range than the 5D and it's shot at 12800 ISO!

 

[squig]

I can't find any 1DX footage? Any help? The EOS site has one 960x540 clip, that I'm not even sure what's going on in.

Yeah that's the clip, it's heavily compressed but you can see what the sensor can do in low light. The ISOs are listed at the end which is cool, I wish Nikon would do the same so we could compare.

Yeah I've heard about the Olympus F/2s> I was going to get some if I had of gone mirrorless. I was talking more in terms of vintage glass. My Leicas are pretty good wide open.

 

[Lammy]

The Iscorama shots will essentially be 3k.

I don't understand this comment. Wont the image still be just below 720p resolved detail if you use any of these DSLRs? Cropping to 2.66:1 for other shots would essentially be a good 480p too then right?

 

[Kholi]

I don't understand this comment. Wont the image still be just below 720p resolved detail if you use any of these DSLRs? Cropping to 2.66:1 for other shots would essentially be a good 480p too then right?

Yes.

 

[squig]

I don't understand this comment. Wont the image still be just below 720p resolved detail if you use any of these DSLRs? Cropping to 2.66:1 for other shots would essentially be a good 480p too then right?

It won't change the sensors output but you do end up with a 3000 pixel image which might look slightly better when resized to 1080p. The aliasing also appears to be slightly reduced with an anamorphic lens.

The concern I have is that we might face the same flawed DSLR problems we had in the past where the D4 and D800 have clean HDMI out with line skipping and the 1Dx has no line skipping but no clean HDMI out.

 

[Cosimo Bullo]

I don't understand this comment. Wont the image still be just below 720p resolved detail if you use any of these DSLRs? Cropping to 2.66:1 for other shots would essentially be a good 480p too then right?

Not sure what you mean by 'any of these DSLRs'. Hopefully you're not lumping the GH2 in there with canons, as it's MUCH sharper and cuts seamlessly with our red footage at 1080. Can't at all say the same thing about our 5d (which I love, not bagging... just talking res). GH2 is as close to 1080 as non-red, non alexa single chip gets at the moment, I feel.

 

[Lammy]

I meant 'these DSLRs' in reference to the ones Squig mentioned possibly using [5d, 1DX, D4, D800]. The GH2 is lovely for sure I know that.

The 1DX doesn't have clean HDMI? Surely like the 7D and D4 and D800 (not that you'd need to) ye can move the focus/spot box to the corner and it'll be cropped out (especially for 2.40:1 or 2.66) anyway for a clean HDMI right?

 

[Bassman2003]

It is a shame that the purpose built video cameras are not keeping a standard light level as a base. For still cameras, ISO 100 will always have the same light level (within the same brand). The new cameras just get cleaner as you increase the ISO, but you still have the option to shoot at high light levels like a studio environment or outdoor. Sensitivity is great but like in the case of the FS-100, you don't always need it. I have not used the FS-100 but I do not understand why you would not be able to crank down the ISO?

 

[squig]

I meant 'these DSLRs' in reference to the ones Squig mentioned possibly using [5d, 1DX, D4, D800]. The GH2 is lovely for sure I know that.

The 1DX doesn't have clean HDMI? Surely like the 7D and D4 and D800 (not that you'd need to) ye can move the focus/spot box to the corner and it'll be cropped out (especially for 2.40:1 or 2.66) anyway for a clean HDMI right?

Straight from the horses mouth http://vimeo.com/31175496 no clean HDMI. But that was before the D4 specs were announced. Canon can update the firmware if they want to sell more 1DXs.

 

[Bassman2003]

I hava no idea if clean HDMI output can be "turned on" in the 1Dx and the 5Dx but I have to say it is a purchase level component for me. So if anybody from Canon is out there, yes, this is a big deal and might move this Canon still user over to Nikon. HDMI output + a PIX 220 would be quite a combo. I don't want to switch but will see if Canon decides to "go there".