Initial Thoughts on Why I Bought the Nikon D750

(Perspective from a photographer That also shoots video) An acquaintance asked me what I thought of my Nikon D750 so far. I don't know whether he knows that my background is mainly in still photography and that I still do plenty of still photo jobs and video is my secondary gig. So here are my first impressions from that perspective:

I haven't fully tested the D750 yet but it is quite good for still photography so far--the best full-frame stills camera I have ever owned (unless you consider the film cameras I owned in the distant past). It is hugely improved for video over the D600/D610. The improvement is in the much better image quality where moire and aliasing are almost entirely absent, the better in-camera H264 codec, and now at least a couple of video-centric exposure tools--zebra stripes and a histogram in video live-view. This camera would have been a killer in 2011 and a very good seller even in 2012. As it is, it is a sigh of relief for me that Nikon has not totally and completely ignored their potential market. They still have plenty of room to improve, but this is a very nice step.

The main thing that really motivated me to upgrade from the D600 at this point was my experience shooting a wedding a few weeks ago. It was a rainy day, the wedding was scheduled to start at 6:30 but didn't really get rolling until about 7 PM. The veranda where the wedding took place was not well lit and the sun, what little there was, dipped quickly behind the horizon. Now the D600 did pretty well in low-light in terms of still image quality. Nikon has done a nice job there. However, this was the first time I couldn't get the autofocus to work--it was hunting around like crazy. I missed a few shots. I know, I know--a good photographer would drop to manual focus mode, right? It was rough and I did manually focus part of the time, but it was very frustrating. In cases like this, you need a system that works reliably because you only get one shot at much of what transpires. I survived, but know I needed a camera that could serve me better in tough conditions like that. So the focus system was very important to me. And I am happy to report that the D750 delivers in style on that front. In my tests so far, it is quick and reliable, even when the light is nearly non-existent.

I think that 24 megapixels was a good choice on Nikon's part. Not only do I NOT NEED 36 megapixels, I don't want that many pixels because of the cost to low-light performance. The D750 appears to produce very nice stills at ISO 6400 and I have yet to push the camera that far in video, though I probably will just for grins. I don't usually shoot video like that--I prefer to light when I can, and usually for my projects I can. But I'm sure plenty of people want to know how well it holds up at high ISO in video.

I know that many "DSLR" video people are more excited about the Sony A7s than the Nikon D750 but that wasn't going to work for my photographic work - relatively slow focus, relatively few lenses to choose from, no commitment from Sony on fast zooms beyond what they already have, and a relatively immature speed light/flash system. Also, what good is a camera that can shoot at through-the-roof ISOs and see stuff that your eyes can't see if it can't focus? Of course that really only applies when shooting still photos, but still, I think it is a valid question. All of these things are important to me for wedding and event shoots. My style requires using flash, even when there's plenty of light. So it is really a matter of personal preference and the style of shooting one does.

I already have a camera that shoots 4K so that may be part of how I convinced myself that I didn't HAVE to have the A7s. I'm still trying to figure out how 4K will fit into my workflow. I have no doubts that it eventually will. I'm just not sure yet. My corporate clients certainly aren't asking for it yet and even when I offer that option, they're not yet interested. Like I said, though, I'm sure that will eventually change.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed that my reasoning didn't lead me to a mirrorless camera or something else equally as exotic from a still photographer's perspective. But I think it was the right choice for me.

In short, I think that if your main use for the camera is HD video and you like the shallow-depth-of-field look or will be shooting lots of low light footage, and want the option to hook up a 4K recorder, the A7s looks really nice. If you mainly shoot still photos and rely heavily on flash and don't need 4K video, I think the D750 is a better choice. For me, the D750 will mostly serve as my interview and B camera when it comes to video and my main camera when it comes to still photos.

One other note to put this all into perspective. I looked back and observed that in the past 12 years, I have not held on to a camera body for more than about 18 months to 2 years at a time. So it isn't as if this is the last camera I'm going to buy and that I'm at significant risk of being left on the trash heap of outdated HD video before I'm done with it. I'm sure the camera manufacturers will have some nice options by the time I'm ready to move on in 18 to 24 months. I'm rooting for Nikon to have a good mirrorless option or two. Would also like to see Blackmagic come out with something a little more self-contained and practical out-of-the-box. Time will tell.

In the meantime, I need a little more experience with this camera and then will have more in-depth info to share.

Fhugen Honu Camera Cage V2.0 for Panasonic GH4, GH3, and Sony A7s

Finally, the Fhugen Honu V2.0 camera cage for the Panasonic GH4, GH3, and Sony A7s was in stock! I quickly put down less than $200 USD for the kit with the cage, the HDMI retainer clip, and the handle and put it to the test. Overall, this cage works well for me. Great build quality (except the handle does have a little bit of play in it) and lots of mounting points. Convenient cutouts for the battery and memory card doors. Way less expensive than cages from makers like Wooden Camera and Zacuto, with one main trade-off that I was able to find - that handle has just a little play in it. Not a ton - it does not wobble or anything like that. Since I don’t shoot by holding the handle, that’s not an issue for me and a great way to save several hundred dollars. http://youtu.be/Gv6lVgf0uXM

4K Video: Interesting Thoughts from Larry Jordan

While it is several months old now (early 2014 before NAB), Larry Jordan gave an interesting talk at BVE (Broadcast Video Expo?) on how realistic it is to start shooting and distributing our projects in 4K. At first I thought he was essentially saying, "It isn't realistic yet..." But there are advantages and I found his insights useful to the point where I'm now wondering whether the pre-order I have in on the 4K Atomos Shogun recorder is pre-mature. Not because I don't think that 4K isn't going to take off, I think it will. And in fact, it already clearly is, even just since early this year. On a quick roll through BestBuy yesterday, I saw that Sony now has 4K TVs for under $2000 USD. Now to be honest, it will probably be a while before traditional broadcast sends out much 4K programming but I think in this revolution, the online broadcasters have already taken the first step--Netflix, YouTube, and others.

But 4K may not be a higher priority than some other things that I need in my overall video production gear line-up. I have cheap, consumer grade monitors and while one of the is a wide-gamut Dell Ultrasharp, it is not really color critical. At least I'm pretty sure most colorists would consider it un-workable for their projects. Maybe I should invest in a decent HD or higher res color critical monitor that I could use for grading? Maybe start with one of the newer HP Dream Colors?

I have a decent near field monitors for audio but the room in which I edit and master the audio is completely untreated, and un-tested, for that matter. My ears tell me this room has got issues. Maybe I need to invest in a test microphone and bass traps?

And another thing I've had my eyes on for a long time is a quality camera slider or perhaps even a small jib.

In the sound recording realm, I'd really like to get into a Sound Devices field recorder and some quality (super)cardioid and shotgun mics (the NTG-2 is ok, but not amazing).

What do you all thing? Would you cancel the pre-order on the Shogun for now? Which would be highest priority for you?

-CuJu

http://youtu.be/rzhIRR7pH0I

July 2014 Ongoing Projects

I've got a lot in the queue and so I need to focus. Here are some of the topics I plan to cover in upcoming episodes:

• Comparing RODE smartLav vs smartLav+ into the Zoom H1. The goal here is to finally get to the bottom of what causes all that noise in the original smartLav. Short answer: Its the mic. I just need to record this short episode and move on. Interestingly, in my tests last night, the sound of the two mics is quite different. The original smartLav has more low end, to the point where it almost sounds like a broadcaster mic with  what sounds like proximity effect--rich, almost woolly low end response. The smartLav+ on the other hand, sounds quite a bit more natural without that hype in the lows.
• New lighting style--experimented this morning with an edgier type of lighting where there's no key light but instead, two kickers from behind, one on each side, and a fill light directly over the camera. It sort of worked. Still need to tweak that one a bit more.
• Review of my new Photoflex Starlite QL with the large Silverdome NXT softbox. Loving this thing so far. Its sort of old-school in that the lamp is tungsten (love the color rendering!) and there's no way to dim it without changing out bulbs or adding a dimmer (and get funkier colors). Awesome for talking head and interviews and I managed to get it for only $350 US on special. Worth every penny.
• Episode on color calibrating your computer monitor and using an X-Rite Color Checker Passport to get your colors corrected and figure out how much your lights and camera are messing with the color in your footage. This is an area where I am looking for solutions and don't have a lot of answers yet so it will be a longer journey, most likely.
• Atomos Ninja 2 with the Panasonic GH4. I've found that I can capture pretty awesome HD footage from the GH4 if I set it in UHD/4K mode, set the HDMI setting to downsample to 1080 HD and record only with the Ninja 2. No moire. Way better HD than the camera records. In essence, this is downsampling to HD on the fly vs. doing it after the fact on my computer.
• Atomos Shogun--placed my pre-order and looking forward to its arrival. Since I've been recording externally with the Ninja 2 for the last six months, I'm pretty sold on the concept of an external recorder when using DSLRs and DSLMs. Even though the Ninja 2's screen is pretty weak both in terms of color and size, I LOVE that it records to ProRes. I cannot even begin to express how much time and frustration that feature alone has saved me. Premiere and Resolve both seem to have a much easier time playing back ProRes footage, even after it is heavily graded. The secret is that ProRes files are huge, but the CPU and GPU don't have to do much decoding to display it. A lot of people will still scoff at the $700 USD price point of the Ninja and certainly scoff at the $2000 pricepoint of the Shogun but I don't regret that purchase in the least. The Ninja Star may be a good option for a lot of people that don't also need a monitor. If the Shogun works out nicely, it may also replace my separate audio recorder because I'll be able to feed my XLR mics directly into the Shogun. Fingers crossed that works out well.
• Century Stand--yeah, I know, people don't get too excited about light stands but can I say that I bought my first century stand and probably won't buy another flimsy light stand again? Well, maybe if I need something ultra light, but this C-stand has done a lot reduce my fears of lights tumbling to the concrete or other hard floor. And they adjust so quickly and easily and precisely without flexing all over the place. They hold flags and allow you to precisely position them and allow you to do that so quickly and effortlessly. There is a reason that the big guys use them. Now I see.

There are a couple of other topics rolling around in the back of my head as well. If any of these above are higher priority to you, feel free to add a comment and we'll see about pushing it to the front of the line.

More Thoughts on Why I Will NOT Buy the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera

I was seriously tempted to drop $500 on the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera but after giving it a little more thought, I decided not to buy it for two main reasons:

• Sensor Size/Crop Factor: With my micro 4/3 Speedbooster/lens adapter, I would still be working with a crop factor of 2x. This means that a 50mm Nikon lens is the equivalent of a 100mm lens. That's ok for some things, but not as workable when you need a wide shot. Not that I do a ton of wide shots, but still sort of an annoyance
• Battery life. Yes, I know you can just buy a lot of cheap Nikon batteries but nothing takes the joy out of shooting like impractical impositions like having to change your battery every 45 minutes. Or I could buy a big external battery, but then what's the point of a tiny camera? And I don't usually do long shoots, but I have come to love the battery life of the GH4 because it rarely interrupts my shooting.

The thing that makes the Blackmagic cameras so interesting to me is the ability to capture 4:2:2 10 bit or raw footage with a log-type profile made for grading. I'd like to try my hand at slightly more ambitious grading.

But over time, I'm finding that honing your lighting skills may be a more convenient way to work. This morning when shooting, I brought the footage in from my Atomos Ninja into Resolve and found that I didn't need to grade anything--the talking head clips all looked great straight out of the camera. And who doesn't want to get a final piece completed more quickly with the look you want?

In short, I'm still excited about what Blackmagic is doing with cameras but will look forward to see what the second generation of cameras from them look like. If they at least fix the battery issue, then this becomes a much more compelling option for me.

Thought I should explain a little. Let me know what you think.

Curtis

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera Half Price

Just heard that the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera is on sale for $495 USD for a few weeks. I had my eye on this until the Panasonic GH4 was announced and the only reasons I ended up with a GH4 were the following:

• GH4 sends 4:2:2 10 bit out via HDMI. I can use my Atomos Ninja 2 to capture this as HD until the Atomos Shogun comes out this fall
• The GH4 can be used as my backup stills camera when shooting weddings and portraits
• GH4 has a bigger sensor which potentially gives it an edge in low light and is more versatile for adapted lenses
• Better battery life and ergonomics on the GH4

Some of these ideas are probably valid but I also told myself that I could always also buy the BMPCC. Or see what the next generation replacement offers. I am quite tempted at this price...

What do you think?

Cinelike D Photo Style on the Panasonic GH4

The GH4 has a photo style called Cinelike D which is supposed to be great for capturing very contrasty scenes by compressing the highlights and shadows, sort of like a log profile on raw shooting video cameras. I was excited to put this to use when I first started shooting with the GH4 but then once I got it into post, skin tones tended to end up looking very strange. It turns out that this had a lot more to do with my lack of color grading skills than any problems with the photo style. In this episode I walk through how I use it for different situations and when I find that it speeds up my workflow to use other photo styles.

The examples are shown in DaVinci Resolve Lite 10. Version 11 comes out very soon and should work the same for this type of work. http://youtu.be/_xxzUwByz3M

Panasonic GH4: Cinelike D and Funny Skin Tones

First, an important note to keep things in perspective: I really like the GH4 for the type of shooting that I do. But it is not the perfect camera for everyone. Here is one limitation I've found. This does not make it a bad camera, just a factor to keep in mind. Ok, good, with that out of the way... While working more with the Panasonic GH4 and trying to refine the settings, I'm finding that the Cinelike D Photo Style (as Panny calls them) does some pretty strange things to skin tones. Specifically, it seems to add a little too much red/orange, like in the talking head clips in my most recent video:

http://youtu.be/1uo4ZncFKH8

I'm also finding, as others have said, that shooting with really flat settings are pretty noisy when shooting in low-light. Things seem fine when shooting outdoors with plenty of light so you still get many of the benefits there. I knew that the GH4 wouldn't be the most amazing low-light option out there (though not bad for a m4/3 camera) so this is not a huge surprise, but I am finding that the darkest shadows and blacks really get messy when working with flat settings and shooting in the dark. So, when shooting low-key, it may be best to back off the flat settings (minus contrast, pedestal, highlights/shadows) and go with something closer to the default settings.

So far, the Natural Photo Style tweaked a little bit (contrast -2, noise reduction -2, sharpness -5, saturation -5) looks way better for skin tones in my opinion, and this also helps reduce the noise in the shadows.

Any of you found good settings for talking head/interview style shooting?

Panasonic GH4 Dynamic Range Comparison

http://youtu.be/1uo4ZncFKH8 One of the biggest reservations I had about moving to a smaller sensor camera for video was dynamic range. Dynamic range is a measure of how wide a range a camera can pick up detail between the brightest lights to the darkest shadows. And smaller sensor cameras typically don't have as much dynamic range. This range is measure in stops or exposure values (EVs).

The thing I love about my Nikon D600 for still photos is that it can capture over 14EVs or stops of dynamic range. In practical terms, this means that I can recover highlights that were slightly over-exposed and detail in shadows that otherwise would have been pure blackness.

Here's a quick comparison between the Panasonic GH4 and Nikon D600 in terms of dynamic range when shooting video. This is not the most scientific test and I think part of the reason I'm seeing more dynamic range on the GH4 is that I have it set to a flatter capture style than the Nikon with the Flaat picture control. Nevertheless, in practical terms, I'm very happy with what the little GH4 achieves in terms of dynamic range.

For more information and more scientific testing of dynamic range, check out dxomark.com

GH4 Audio Sync Issue? More Likely a Playback Codec Issue...Maybe

Dave Dugdale hit me with a great question the other day--are we seeing any audio sync issues with the audio recorded by the GH4? What he described is that it seems like the video and audio are off by a frame and a half or so. I sat down and ran through a few tests and to me, it's looking like the GH4 is capturing the video and sound in sync but that some players are having a hard time playing back with them in sync. Strange... Are any of you seeing this issue?