Agreed. Maybe the answer is only YT fools who only shoot themselves.
NAB 2023 Rumors & Wishes
- Thread starter Zack Birlew
- Start date
Agreed. Maybe the answer is only YT fools who only shoot themselves.
Doug Jensen
Carbonite Member
Certainly not me. Nikon is dead.
Does anyone know if Nikon's mirrorless lenses still focus the wrong direction? That was really the deal breaker for me 10 years ago when I wanted to use my Nikon lenses for video. Deal breaker.
Bassman2003
Veteran
I think they put a switch in the camera bodies to change the focus direction either way.
Doug Jensen
Carbonite Member
Yeah, I guess that makes sense with the focus-by-wire lenses of today.
EDIT: some readers (Thatcher Freeman and others) suggested that potentially a color space transform in DaVinci Resolve from N-RAW using linear to another log profile would circumvent the deficiencies in the shadows of N-Log. I tested that, using “Linear” as the gamma in the Camera Raw tab and Rec709 as the Color Space, and also using that as an input in the color space transform node. Then setting the output to ARRI Wide Gamut 3 and ARRI LogC3 and developing the files in IMATEST. Here is the result:
As can be seen above, IMATEST calculates slightly higher results (SNR = 1 is now 12 instead of 11.9 stops, slope based DR = 13.4 instead of 13.2), while SNR = 2 is the same 10.2 stops. Interestingly (due to the ARRI LogC3 Gamma), shadows are not cut off so abruptly – there is about 1 more stop in the shadows, seen in the middle diagram above the blue curve labelled as “12”. In the latitude section below I have added one image using ARRI LogC3 as well.
https://www.cined.com/nikon-z-9-n-raw-lab-test-fw-3-00-rolling-shutter-dynamic-range-and-latitude/
Right, I deemed that little bit insignificant. It's the same thing Gerald did but he additionally added NR, and got a whopping 2 stop improvement in DR. Adding NR made his method to Guenther's invalid. If you have to use NR to pull the same DR number as the others without NR, then you have to conclude it lacks the same DR potential.
This Z8 video is in 8K. The thing with all of the Z8 videos so far is that the content creators are demonstrating their creativities. It's necessary to penetrate through the creative effects to find the camera native essence. I sit 5.5 feet away from a 65 inch 8K display. I kept moving closer to the screen until I was close enough to almost see the pixels, and then I would freeze on a frame. There is strong spatial NR wiping out shadow details. Visible noise is extinct. Whether NR was added or is inherent I can't say. The skin tones and color are very nice. Highlights are missing finer details also. The image overall is pleasing, but if paying for 8K then I want 8K details.
My take is that this is a true photo-video hybrid. For video, it's better served with a limited dynamic range, sufficient indoor lighting and/or bright outdoor setting.The colors remind me of ARRI but a run&gun type shooting doesn't bring out the camera's best qualities.
At the moment, there are five (or seven, depending on your accounting style) 8K models in the consumer-prosumer niche - XH2, R5/R5C (I count it as one), A7RV, A1 and Z9/Z8 (count as one). Off videos and reviews, I like Z8 over R5 but the decision also depends on the available selection of EF/R, Z/F-mount glass.
It's Canon's turn now. R5 is almost three years old but there've been no rumors of R5MKII (there have been rumors of a cinema style camera but nothing recent on that front either). I'd recommend waiting until the Cinegear but that's just a hunch.
At the moment, there are five (or seven, depending on your accounting style) 8K models in the consumer-prosumer niche - XH2, R5/R5C (I count it as one), A7RV, A1 and Z9/Z8 (count as one). Off videos and reviews, I like Z8 over R5 but the decision also depends on the available selection of EF/R, Z/F-mount glass.
It's Canon's turn now. R5 is almost three years old but there've been no rumors of R5MKII (there have been rumors of a cinema style camera but nothing recent on that front either). I'd recommend waiting until the Cinegear but that's just a hunch.
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This is another Z8 video. I don't want this to feel like a rant against the Z8. I really do want to love this camera. It's one of the very few 8K cameras capable of 8k 60 FPS. The videos I'm running across are getting better and better, but it's not as good as I hoped for with shadow details. Perhaps the creators are deliberately crushing it, or there is too much spatial NR.
I have a somewhat similar unmanned event angle from a Nigerian wedding I shot in 2021 with the Ursa 12K straight from camera in 8K BRAW 18:1 compression. The overall contrast ranges are not dissimilar to Nikon Z8 video but look at the difference in shadow details.
I have a somewhat similar unmanned event angle from a Nigerian wedding I shot in 2021 with the Ursa 12K straight from camera in 8K BRAW 18:1 compression. The overall contrast ranges are not dissimilar to Nikon Z8 video but look at the difference in shadow details.
When I joined DVXUser, my first post was about a "major film shot on a Nikon camera". I just copied a C.Net headline. Barry commented that it wasn't really a "major film". (It was an Australian low budget independent mostly financed by Nikon itself). The camera in question was D810 (essentially a D800, with its quality control fixed). It was a line-skipping HD model that retailed for $3,500 at the time. Less than a decade later, Nikon has two 8K cameras out. With the lowest priced just a tad above D810 (and arguably much cheaper in inflation adjusted currency). Still looking for a Z8 film.
A bone to pick with Nikon - if you release an 8K camera and then make an 8K video, upload it in 8K (I can only access it in 4K).
And unrelated postscript - the DP Review as a brand name had to have been sold because new YouTube review clips under that moniker are being posted.
The Imaging Resource, on the other hand, was shut down, as its parent company Madavor was sold to a jazz geared publisher. Madavor has owned the IR since 2019. Its Jazz Times magazine was the desired property.
And,just for the record, the Canon Rumors also changed owners. IIRC, it took place about a year ago.
And unrelated postscript - the DP Review as a brand name had to have been sold because new YouTube review clips under that moniker are being posted.
The Imaging Resource, on the other hand, was shut down, as its parent company Madavor was sold to a jazz geared publisher. Madavor has owned the IR since 2019. Its Jazz Times magazine was the desired property.
And,just for the record, the Canon Rumors also changed owners. IIRC, it took place about a year ago.
DPR must have had a very large staff and it was politically and economically correct for Amazon to just shut down the entire shop than to spend corporate resources on proper wind-down and risk possible law suits down the road. On top of that, we don't know what went on behind the scenes.
But it does make Amazon appear not so reasonable and Jeff Bezos just a tad sleazy. (there's a really bad Lauren Sanchez joke there but I'll refrain).
The 8K bone to be picked is with YouTube, not Nikon. I've posted about this elsewhere, but if you upload an 8K video in SDR, it plays in 8K. But if you upload an 8K HDR video, it only plays 8K in the HDR mode. Viewing it in SDR maxes it out at 4K. The Nikon video above does play in 8K if HDR is enabled and your hardware is supporting.
Sad about Imaging Resource. That was a great resource for lens tests.
Gotcha. I went looking for 8K, just for the curiosity sake. Looked at Fuji XH2, Red VV Raptor footage and so on. Out of half a dozen clips, about half played in 8K, the other half switched to 4K, then others began to buffer and switched to 4K anyway. I don't have the latest monitor, I can't tell the difference anyway. Though, I did enjoy the Indian weddings in 8K.
Than I watched the NHL playoffs in 720P. Because I live in America. With Leah Hextall.
PS, A few minutes ago, I received an ad for a service/software named Snapify on my Facebook feed. Their wordplay is so clevah.. They're crowdfunding at the moment and claiming to have already raised ~ $1.6M. They aim to be an all encompassing editing/publishing app. Sort of like Snapshot/Lightroom but cleverer. I wasn't terribly impressed by their pitch but someone may get a kick out them. And champagne.
Gerald just posted up a new video on the Z8, and talks about the loss of shadow detail, excessive noise reduction I observed above. Excellent news, he sorted the problem out and got DR and shadow detail comparable to the segment. Well done Gerald! Guenther, you're getting outworked.
Going off the reviews, S5 II X seems to be a preferred choice in the middle of the market, with Z8 getting a few nods near the top of the video-centric pyramid. Sony put out a release for their new 45 MPX sensor, which will likely end up in A7V. The original R6 is down to $2,000, while MKII is still $2,500.
There're definitely battles being waged across all fronts..
There're definitely battles being waged across all fronts..