EVA1: Panasonic AU-EVA1! Announcement and latest updates

[Alex Roz]

No you're not alone and one of the features of the EVA1 that i'm hoping to see some samples of, are its 2k mode. first, i'm glad it's actually 2k and not HD since i do a lot of theatrical screenings of my work at film festivals. happy to avoid the minor blow-up i usually have to do. second, 2k is non-cropped, 10-bit, and 422 up to 120fps in the EVA1. hopes are high. the thing that disappoints (and it's my own fault) is that I assumed Dual ISO meant 2500 would be just as clean as 800. and that perhaps 3200 and higher would be acceptbale. that won't be the case apparently. what Dual ISO likely means is that you are shifting the ISO where DR is at its best, albeit noisier -- but again, i'm assuming.

Unfortunately there is no difference between shooting @2k or downsampling 4k -> 2K in post on the LT. The sensor is S35 4k, can't go against it, vs the softer S35 2.8k on the Alexa. Concerning dual ISO it is obviously a bit noisier on the LT @5000, but the grain is gorgeous, and as you still maintain great colors and DR, the image looks fantastic. Most cameras exhibit terrible colors and DR as you increase the iso. I'm sure it will be good on the EVA1 @2500.

 

[Kinok]

Higher resolution is great for landscapes if you shoot that type of thing, but not for the human face in close-up. It's also a question of the anti-aliasing and low-pass filters, which are crucial in this equation. RED's aggressive OLPFs really take the edge off the 5K-8K sensors and give the image a more filmic look than you would see with weaker filtration.

The nice thing about the EVA1 is that it has many format options (2K, 4K, 5.7K) to fit a variety of resolution needs and preferences. It also looks like it has a pretty decent level of anti-aliasing.

 

[NorBro]

Unfortunately there is no difference between shooting @2k or downsampling 4k -> 2K in post on the LT. The sensor is S35 4k, can't go against it, vs the softer S35 2.8k on the Alexa.

Maybe with the LT you're not finding certain results you'd like, but it's not an apples to apples comparison. ALEXA's sensor is 3392×2200, and other cameras have higher-res sensors like the F35 @5760x2160 but still produce detailed yet softer cinematic images at 2K/1080p.

 

[Mitch Gross]

Hi mitch, what image setting control paramenters are there in the EVA-1 menus?

We know we have NR. Are there settings for sharpness? And the usual saturation, MP, contrast, etc. Anything else?

In Log mode this is limited as the idea is for you to do it in post, the contrast, black level, etc. controls are greyed out so that you can get the full 14 stops and the color paint controls are greyed out so that you capture the full V-gamut. Outside of V-Log, there are five Scene Files that you can change up to your heart's content. There are a couple variants of Rec709, with additional weight to over or under exposure areas of the curve (basically one is good for bright day and the other good for darker interior) as well as a punchier curve meant to better match the GH5's more limited dynamic range. But you can change these as you wish and bring them back with a reset. You can also save them in camera or to an SD card.

The available controls include: black, gamma, knee, white clip, detail, skin detail, chroma, matrix, and a full 16-axis color corrector.

 

[Mitch Gross]

In relation to Johnnys Rocket 88 Vimeo clip, just looking at it in 4K full screen on my iMac, why does the wooden box at :17 have what looks to be a heat signature (warping of the image, like a ripple) but only of the left side (to camera) panel of the box? I didn't notice that at the Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy screening in Hollywood. Maybe the shot had a candle near the lens and the image was actually shot with a heat signature?

Strange, I just looked at it again a few times and don't see what you are seeing. There was nothing done on set or in post and I was there for both.

 

[filmguy123]

In Log mode this is limited as the idea is for you to do it in post, the contrast, black level, etc. controls are greyed out so that you can get the full 14 stops and the color paint controls are greyed out so that you capture the full V-gamut. Outside of V-Log, there are five Scene Files that you can change up to your heart's content. There are a couple variants of Rec709, with additional weight to over or under exposure areas of the curve (basically one is good for bright day and the other good for darker interior) as well as a punchier curve meant to better match the GH5's more limited dynamic range. But you can change these as you wish and bring them back with a reset. You can also save them in camera or to an SD card.

The available controls include: black, gamma, knee, white clip, detail, skin detail, chroma, matrix, and a full 16-axis color corrector.

Hi Mitch, thanks for this. Apologies, but my #1 question here was if there were controls for sharpness?

Would this be detail / skin detail? If so, could you share a little more on those and how those settings may or may not have impacted any of the footage we have seen?

 

[Alex Roz]

Hi Mitch, thanks for this. Apologies, but my #1 question here was if there were controls for sharpness?

Would this be detail / skin detail? If so, could you share a little more on those and how those settings may or may not have impacted any of the footage we have seen?

Sharpness control is done through Detail. If you shoot in Vlog, Detail is off. That's the softer you can get from the camera. I assume that these 3 shorts were shot in Vlog. Then you can make non-Vlog custom looks where you can activate Detail and play with its settings. But you can just sharpen the image, the softer you will get is by switching off Detail.

 

[stokstad]

Can you shoot in a S16 mode on the EVA1?

 

[fboonzaier]

Hi Mitch,

If possible could you also embed the video links in your post as there has been a recent issue with Vimeo links. Instead of the links being directed to the videos, they instead take you the Vimeo Pro sign up page unless they are copied and pasted into your browser. Thanks.

Same for me!

 

[filmguy123]

You can copy/paste the vimeo video links in the meantime (instead of clicking)

 

[Danilo Del Tufo]

Outside of V-Log, there are five Scene Files that you can change up to your heart's content. There are a couple variants of Rec709, with additional weight to over or under exposure areas of the curve (basically one is good for bright day and the other good for darker interior) as well as a punchier curve meant to better match the GH5's more limited dynamic range. But you can change these as you wish and bring them back with a reset. You can also save them in camera or to an SD card.

The available controls include: black, gamma, knee, white clip, detail, skin detail, chroma, matrix, and a full 16-axis color corrector.

When you shot in V-LOG you can have 14 stops of dynamic range, but when you use baked color profile (CINE D or CINE V, are present?) how many stops of dynamic range do you can achieve?

 

[unami]

the thing that disappoints (and it's my own fault) is that I assumed Dual ISO meant 2500 would be just as clean as 800. and that perhaps 3200 and higher would be acceptbale. that won't be the case apparently. what Dual ISO likely means is that you are shifting the ISO where DR is at its best, albeit noisier -- but again, i'm assuming.j

from what in saw on a demo (with an engineering model) was, that 2500 was only very, very slightly noisier than the 800, if even. you‘ll probably see similar noise on an equally underexposed image filmed at 800. it‘s the good old panasonic noise in dark images. as far as i can tell, the noise at iso 2500 is compareable to other cameras in this price range, but dynamic range might be better on the EVA. it’s hard to say if you don‘t make a side by side comparison. afaik the fs7 got a native iso of 2000. and the noise i saw on the c200 was nothing to write home about either.

still, canon and sony are the more established brands in this price range and also offer something unique. i‘m afraid it‘ll be a hard sell for panasonic.

 

[Zak Forsman]

thanks for sharing your perspective on it. i’m looking fwd to end of october when my camera ships and we have the improvements made in the official release firmware.

 

[Kinok]

And it's definitely not related to YouTube or Vimeo re-encoding compression ?

It's entirely possible. I watched Filippo's video several more times on Vimeo and most of the problems seem to have cleared up. Perhaps my connection was causing the waves to lose detail at certain moments. A downloadable version would clear up any uncertainties about the LongGOP footage.

What's amazing is how good the LongGOP image looks from this camera in most shooting conditions. That would save you tons of drive space.

 

[Filippo Chiesa]

Hi all,

Please, see my grading version from my Vimeo page: https://vimeo.com/231577650
I uploaded my video at the highest possible quality.

 

[William]

Hi all,

Please, see my grading version from my Vimeo page: https://vimeo.com/231577650
I uploaded my video at the highest possible quality.

Superb!

 

[puredrifting]

Strange, I just looked at it again a few times and don't see what you are seeing. There was nothing done on set or in post and I was there for both.

How large of a screen are you viewing on Mitch? I am looking at the 4K on my 27 iMac full screen and the heatwave signature/rippling is plain as day here where the arrows indicate. Anyone else notice this or am I seeing something nobody else is?

 

[Alex Roz]

How large of a screen are you viewing on Mitch? I am looking at the 4K on my 27 iMac full screen and the heatwave signature/rippling is plain as day here where the arrows indicate. Anyone else notice this or am I seeing something nobody else is?

I see it too. On the carpet, on the discs, on the box.

 

[stoneinapond]

How large of a screen are you viewing on Mitch? I am looking at the 4K on my 27 iMac full screen and the heatwave signature/rippling is plain as day here where the arrows indicate. Anyone else notice this or am I seeing something nobody else is?

I'm seeing it too. It's possible that because we are looking at the compressed footage up-rezzed to 5K, any issues are magnified. Without an original sized file it's impossible to tell if there is a problem with the footage, or it is simply a playback anomaly.

 

[puredrifting]

I'm seeing it too. It's possible that because we are looking at the compressed footage up-rezzed to 5K, any issues are magnified. Without an original sized file it's impossible to tell if there is a problem with the footage, or it is simply a playback anomaly.

FWIW, I have a 2012 iMac, definitely not 5K Retina. I am looking at 3840 x 2160 down resolutioned at 2560 x 1440. I think seeing camera master footage of that particular shot would be interesting. I don't think it's a camera issue, it looks like heatwaves rising off of a candle or tungsten source. Wonder if Johnny had any tungsten sources going in there that he could have had in the foreground of those shots?