GH1 vs Red One vs Canon 5D Mk II footage comparison shoot out!

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PappasArts

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Here's a GH1 vs Red One vs Canon 5D Mk II footage comparison shoot out. The Footage was shot by Byron Shah, Jason Ensler and crew, and was shown at Birns and Sawyer. Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/5981422

There's also a 1080P version you can download on the Vimeo page...







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I'm not going to make any sweeping statements on a one time watch from the online footage, but I will say it is impressive.

I would love to take that footage and do some split screens with some of the similar shots form each camera. Also would like to see it on large lcd or plasma.

I have the Gh1 and 5D Mark II and am think I can get them to match up color wise pretty well. With all the picture controls, also think I can shots that will go match up pretty decently.


Red is out of my price range for now, but who knows. My real hope is that the next gen 35mm dslr's are improved with more film/video features. I"d be pretty happy with longer recording time, less aliasing, less jello, 24p, 25p, HDMI, and a fold out lcd screen. If Canon, NIkon, or whomever can give us an upscale Camera with a little less compression or HDMI off the chip, I'd be happy for many years to come.

If Jello is a by product of this technology, I'd probably even live with that as you can now work it a tad in deshaker and other software programs. They will only get better as they work their software magic.

Back to 3 camera comparison. If someone showed me that clip and said, this is a comparison between 3 cameras that cost x, 2x, and 20X, I'd say no way.

Probably one of the more interesting pieces I've seen in a while.
 
jfro said:
If someone showed me that clip and said, this is a comparison between 3 cameras that cost x, 2x, and 20X, I'd say no way.
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Indeed.

The next year or so is going to be a very interesting time to be a camera geek.

ian
 
This is incredible to me that we are having shoot outs between 20,000 dollar cameras and 1,500 dollar cameras. Interesting times my friends.
 
Ive seen the GH1 on big screen - at the DVXfest to be exact, no doubt this camera does a great job when used correctly, Solomons GH1 images, moving and still are some of the better ones youll find.

It's utterly impossible to compare a GH1 with a Red however on a vimeo clip. It defies logic. Says red 3k, well thats the origination format, but you can dl a 1080p version? So what, its 3k origination not 1080. If you want to compare Apples to Apples you would need to do it at 3k, which isnt possible anyway.

Hell, I scored a Pentax k7, and without all the juicy controls of the GH1, it still shoot great pictures that look fantastic on my Bravia - which tells me they'd be awesome on a large screen, and the purpose of this post is not to say the GH1 isnt any good, its to say this comparison is daft and unnecessary. GH1 is GREAT, thats all you need to now. And its not a RED and doesnt need to be.
 
To be fair, not much is mastered beyond 2K. The RED footage is Pre Build 20 and Color Science and doesn't look like it's been treated at all.

The other two really don't stand a chance against RED when RED is posted properly, however, the GH-1 looks quite cinematic to me.
 
It's great to see this comparison, and makes me feel darn lucky to have such an amazing cam for the money. (Yes the GH1 :))

Upon pixel peeping inspection, it looks like they converted the 5D to 24fps. You can definitely see the banding and vertical lines in the GH1, and not just because of the web compression, I'm guessing, because it looks to be less with the Red and 5D.

Yes, Noel, it's not exactly a fair comparison, but for web delivery, or even projected, as you've seen, it holds up pretty darn well against a lot of other big $$$$ options.
 
Noel Evans said:
It's utterly impossible to compare a GH1 with a Red however on a vimeo clip. It defies logic. Says red 3k, well thats the origination format, but you can dl a 1080p version? So what, its 3k origination not 1080. If you want to compare Apples to Apples you would need to do it at 3k, which isnt possible anyway.
Click to expand...

I'm a little confused as to what you mean by this but I think you're saying you need to look at the footage at its native resolution?

I'd say it doesn't matter what the source format is, what matters is how the footage holds up on delivery which is at best going to be 2K digital projection, maybe film-out if you're lucky and most likely, DVD / BLuRay / On Demand.

I agree that looking at Vimeo videos isn't ideal but I'd say it's a close approximation of bluray and easily representative of DVD.
 
Even though I own a Red One, if someone comes up with a camera system that costs a buck and a quarter and blows Red out of the water, great! Another tool for the masses!!

I think that the democratization of cinema that keeps quality high and price low can only be a good thing. Let the pencils cost next to nothing so everyone can have one and then let's see who can actually draw!
 
I am glad to see other RED customers thinking the same. I had posted the link @ reduser.net but the forum is still invariably silent. In fact, these small standalone former still photo cameras have been a true revolution. If my guess is not short, also reason enough for the current delay on the new RED cameras. Or at least, chance for the subject to change policy practice. Jim Jannard is too smart for being stopped by external moves, revolutionary movements or not. Although, the task is not easy, who else?
 
impressive....the only place I see a true difference is during the daylight shots....during night shots..very hard to tell the difference
 
craigbowman said:
Let the pencils cost next to nothing so everyone can have one and then let's see who can actually draw!
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Like it!

My Art instructor had me learn with a 3 cent pen. I gain more ground with that cheapo, and it's still one of the best to knock out sketches with...


.
 
(crossposting my response from Motion Gallery)

WOW!!! Thanks for posting that. Absolutely phenomenal video, those guys who made it rule.

GH1 IS AWESOME!!!!! I've been using it lately for run and gun stuff, shooting short interviews outside with the kit lens... footage has been pretty damn good imo! It's not just for people who can set up shots and use lights and stuff... I think a great documentary could be done with this. At least 80% of the time people think I'm setting up for a still shot, lol! Makes them much more natural on camera.

But... I've realized the GH1 shines the lower the f-stop you can get on it. I need some Canon FD's, damn converter will take 2 weeks or something to ship from Europe though? Damn :( Also, the more contrast in colors the betters... the shot with her on the gray pavement wall parking structure thinger, it wasn't as good. Also, I don't think the 300mm on the GH1 looked as good as the other stuff either.

5d Mk II didn't look that much better than the GH1 at all, the RED you could tell the diff, but for the price the GH1 delivers amazing results for lower budget filmmakers

edit: has anyone seen good wide shots with the GH1? it can't really do these bc of the 17mpbs codec limitation right? That's how I understand it. I want to see some kind of establishing shots with wide angle lenses from the GH1... Though a good workaround if you aren't gonna move the camera would be to shoot burst mode on stills for like 3.5fps? 4K resolution and I think with the right editing it could work.
 
If you look around you'll find some Red footage that looks way better than what's being shown here. This doesn't look like an objective comparison to me.
 
I am amazed by this footage. Simply amazed.

That you can cut in the GH1 alongside the 5D and especially RED ONE and to get a consistently shot piece of that quality out of it is nothing short of astounding. A testament to the skill of the film maker and the final proof if needed that this extraordinary little GH1 can mix it with a camera of that calibre.

Yes the RED does have an edge. But for the sheer amount of lenses you can fit on the smaller sensored GH1, you have more creative freedom to create a look which is just as edgy.

To the general audience of 'none camera geeks' watching that, they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between shots. This is proper 'sit back and enjoy' stuff. I certainly did. :thumbsup:

How on earth did you create the twinkling bokeh in the RED ONE shots? Especially visible in the first first shot, is it caused by heat ripples?
 
To me... this just confirms as technology moves forward it will continue to boil down lenses and the vision of the shooter. The only difference is that entry into the 'club' just got lowered.

PS - everyone loves pouting hot chicks.
 
Impressive I have to admit. I would like to know how this was put together though. Were the VDSLRs matched to the RED or the opposite...
 
Regarding having the Red shot at 3K: if I was doing a 1080p comparison, I'd shoot the Red at 3K also. 3K on the Red results in about 2K worth of actual resolved detail, and results in an excellent 1080p conversion.

2K mode on the Red is more like 720p, a little better than 720p but not much. So 3K was the right choice if wanting to end up in 1080p.
 
Barry_Green said:
Regarding having the Red shot at 3K: if I was doing a 1080p comparison, I'd shoot the Red at 3K also. 3K on the Red results in about 2K worth of actual resolved detail, and results in an excellent 1080p conversion.

2K mode on the Red is more like 720p, a little better than 720p but not much. So 3K was the right choice if wanting to end up in 1080p.
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REALLLLLLLLLLLLLY?????

i just did a music video and shot slomo in 2k mode and it looked SOOOOO soft compared to the 4k stuff... when down rezzed to 1080p.

Thats so interesting, i assumed sincei t was till higher than 1080, that it would down sample well... but it didint. interesting.
 
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