All Forum Comments
Comment by widezu69 posted on Interesting? at 27/12/2014 - 16:35
I hope it's real. I would love to see what a FF Pentax camera can do
Comment by widezu69 posted on Interesting? at 27/12/2014 - 00:01
Sometimes the colour from the camera might be wrong and it is easier to preserve quality when trying to white balance a flat neutral image than to correct already wrong colours.
As to shooting with a flat, it is because we cannot shoot RAW video that we deal with flat. If we shot RAW, then we can have some margin of exposure corrections and blown highlights or blacks can be recovered. Because the colour is already burnt on when not shooting RAW it's best to expose so the shadows and highlights are close together so neither get blown and then bring shadows down darker to suit your taste in post. I have been experimenting today and it makes a big difference shooting a varied scene in neutral compared to in the natural setting. I'm losing a great deal of blacks when shooting with the natural profile.
As to shooting with a flat, it is because we cannot shoot RAW video that we deal with flat. If we shot RAW, then we can have some margin of exposure corrections and blown highlights or blacks can be recovered. Because the colour is already burnt on when not shooting RAW it's best to expose so the shadows and highlights are close together so neither get blown and then bring shadows down darker to suit your taste in post. I have been experimenting today and it makes a big difference shooting a varied scene in neutral compared to in the natural setting. I'm losing a great deal of blacks when shooting with the natural profile.
Comment by widezu69 posted on My thoughts on the K30 and K3 for video at 23/12/2014 - 22:55
I use the video function in the DSLR to save on buying a camcorder and some still lenses are well suited for the DSLR video shooter. I love the Sigma 18-35mm for video.
Comment by widezu69 posted on How many photographers use video function on DSLR at 23/12/2014 - 17:24
For people who are skilled at shooting stills, the investment would still be in a DSLR with some quality lenses. However if there was ever a call for some video production, some might not have the money to actually buy more gear but if they had the option of some decent HD video in their DSLRs then that might suffice. Even the lenses are good enough. My Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 is amazing for video despite being a stills lens.
Comment by widezu69 posted on Why video on a DSLR? at 23/12/2014 - 17:22
richandfleur wrote:
You risk clipping the audio doing this, which is unrecoverable, akin to blown highlights in picture terms. The K-30 at least doesn't given any visual indication of the audio levels being received, so you're completely in the dark as to what the volume/audio gain should be set at to avoid clipping or losing the audio down in the hiss.
Yes of course I am aware of this and I should have made things more clear, I haven't run into audio clipping issues yet simply because it seems I am recording fairly quiet subjects but yes, one must keep a ear out for possible audio clipping.You risk clipping the audio doing this, which is unrecoverable, akin to blown highlights in picture terms. The K-30 at least doesn't given any visual indication of the audio levels being received, so you're completely in the dark as to what the volume/audio gain should be set at to avoid clipping or losing the audio down in the hiss.
richandfleur wrote:
What is your final output frame rate and resolution? If you're after that filmic look, then you'd be targeting 24p, shot at a shutter speed of 1/50s You can play with this obviously, but it's a fairly well adhered to guideline. 24p also will give you slightly better low light ability than 30fps, that's mostly why I mention this.
I usually go for 24p or 30p and so I aim for 1/50 or 1/60 respectively. Most of the time this is quite hard to achieve in the dark but I have more and more begun to shoot at higher shutter speeds in the bright because I feel like the sub 1/100 speeds have too much blur for my liking. This is a personal thing.What is your final output frame rate and resolution? If you're after that filmic look, then you'd be targeting 24p, shot at a shutter speed of 1/50s You can play with this obviously, but it's a fairly well adhered to guideline. 24p also will give you slightly better low light ability than 30fps, that's mostly why I mention this.
richandfleur wrote:
You haven't mentioned stabilisation, specifically 'Movie SR' on these newer models you are reviewing. I think, in my humble opinion, that that's a good move (not to mention it), and it's also a good move to leave it permanently turned off. Quickly, it's warps the crap out of your footage, (in a non linear fashion, which means it's impossible to correct this in post). And this is highly disappointing, given this was potentially a massive point of difference over other brands, which you end up turning off...
I agree, the Movie SR is fairly useless. There is too much warping going on. When I stuck my K30 on a tripod and filmed an interview, the SR then began to think that head-bob was shake and I could visible see the frame shifting up and down when my subject was talking! Movie SR is only useful when one is filming a landscape on a tripod and there may be some wind interference. Otherwise leave it off. I have yet to try the SR in the K3 but I'm sure it will be a similar affair.You haven't mentioned stabilisation, specifically 'Movie SR' on these newer models you are reviewing. I think, in my humble opinion, that that's a good move (not to mention it), and it's also a good move to leave it permanently turned off. Quickly, it's warps the crap out of your footage, (in a non linear fashion, which means it's impossible to correct this in post). And this is highly disappointing, given this was potentially a massive point of difference over other brands, which you end up turning off...
richandfleur wrote:
Normally this would have been followed by a but I've since come to terms with the fact that there is no firmware fix coming for this (would have been oh so easy to have given an option in the menu) and zen like I've moved on
Its difficult but I think the codec has improved in the K3. The K30 can't even playback the K3 movie files so there definitely is a difference, hopefully for the better. I will load the clips into Davinci Resolve for a play around later Normally this would have been followed by a but I've since come to terms with the fact that there is no firmware fix coming for this (would have been oh so easy to have given an option in the menu) and zen like I've moved on
Comment by widezu69 posted on My thoughts on the K30 and K3 for video at 23/12/2014 - 11:02
Before I do my full review, I have somethings to say about the video on the K30 and now the K3. I have been shooting videos on Pentax SLRs for some time so I am familiar with the look and colour science as well as the noise response both in the picture as well as audio. Many review sites have criticised the K3's video but with some work I believe it can really shine.
I will put samples up in due time.
Pentax was never great for video. Initially shooting on the K30 without much knowledge and experience I basically used the Natural picture profile with the sharpening cranked to full. This resulted in a whole bunch of ringing and amplified the aliasing artefacts as well as blown whites and blacks. I then learnt a bit more about colour grading in post and how pro cameras have a flat profile to take advantage of dynamic range. This got me thinking of attempting to flatten out the image on the K30. On the muted profile I have everything on the lowest setting apart from saturation which is one from lowest and key adjust is on the highest. Because the resulting gamma is quite high I had to expose lower but the picture was much better. Highlights and shadow detail were more easily recovered and there is more you can do with the image in post.
The camera's video low ight performance is pretty bad though and I tend to avoid shooting video above 800 iso which means I have to be wide open and at 1/30 for 1080p30. I would much rather be at 1/60 or even 1/100. It sufficed but in dark indoors the issues really showed.
Audio was another issue. The pre-amps are pretty bad. The audio is ok but there is a lot of hissing in the audio at whatever recording level so I have resorted to recording loud and turning down in post reducing the overall volume which compensates for some of the hissing.
Enter the K3. I love this camera for the stills. Amazing picture quality at up to 16000 iso. To me the only camera that beats this is the 7d mark II but only in speed, autofocus and maybe noise. K3 is king for dynamic range which is what got me excited about this camera's video.
The camera has the same picture profiles as the K30 plus more options. When customising the picture profiles, a turn of the front dial enables some control over the highlight and shadows so naturally I turned the highlights all the way down and the shadows all the way up and this does give a really flat image when coupled with the other muted settings from the K30. It's still not Log or FLT flat but it is an improvement and works well in post. For those who are unfamiliar, this will give you an extremely dull and lifeless image but can be more easily recovered in software for best effect.
Video recording is also streamlined as you can customise it to record to your second card. There is no more hissing in the audio and the image noise is improved over the K30. I would probably be ok shooting at video at 1600 iso. I will definitely be attaching a Rode mic on this with the added mic port and headphone monitoring Jack.
With the sharpness turned all the way down in the picture profiles the camera doesn't apply any aggressive sharpening and yes the image is soft on both cameras but I think it is slightly better on the K3 and sharpening in post using a more robust software filter is always better.
So for all you out there who want to try shooting video and have some grading experience, try my recommended settings for better colour response. In summary when shooting video on the K3 try using the muted profile with everything turned down except the saturation which should be at one from lowest. Key adjust at the highest, turn the front dial to reveal highlight and shadow controls and flatten them out. Expose 0.7 stops under or dial it into the exposure comp if you are using a auto or semi-auto mode. Will post videos demonstrating the differences
I will put samples up in due time.
Pentax was never great for video. Initially shooting on the K30 without much knowledge and experience I basically used the Natural picture profile with the sharpening cranked to full. This resulted in a whole bunch of ringing and amplified the aliasing artefacts as well as blown whites and blacks. I then learnt a bit more about colour grading in post and how pro cameras have a flat profile to take advantage of dynamic range. This got me thinking of attempting to flatten out the image on the K30. On the muted profile I have everything on the lowest setting apart from saturation which is one from lowest and key adjust is on the highest. Because the resulting gamma is quite high I had to expose lower but the picture was much better. Highlights and shadow detail were more easily recovered and there is more you can do with the image in post.
The camera's video low ight performance is pretty bad though and I tend to avoid shooting video above 800 iso which means I have to be wide open and at 1/30 for 1080p30. I would much rather be at 1/60 or even 1/100. It sufficed but in dark indoors the issues really showed.
Audio was another issue. The pre-amps are pretty bad. The audio is ok but there is a lot of hissing in the audio at whatever recording level so I have resorted to recording loud and turning down in post reducing the overall volume which compensates for some of the hissing.
Enter the K3. I love this camera for the stills. Amazing picture quality at up to 16000 iso. To me the only camera that beats this is the 7d mark II but only in speed, autofocus and maybe noise. K3 is king for dynamic range which is what got me excited about this camera's video.
The camera has the same picture profiles as the K30 plus more options. When customising the picture profiles, a turn of the front dial enables some control over the highlight and shadows so naturally I turned the highlights all the way down and the shadows all the way up and this does give a really flat image when coupled with the other muted settings from the K30. It's still not Log or FLT flat but it is an improvement and works well in post. For those who are unfamiliar, this will give you an extremely dull and lifeless image but can be more easily recovered in software for best effect.
Video recording is also streamlined as you can customise it to record to your second card. There is no more hissing in the audio and the image noise is improved over the K30. I would probably be ok shooting at video at 1600 iso. I will definitely be attaching a Rode mic on this with the added mic port and headphone monitoring Jack.
With the sharpness turned all the way down in the picture profiles the camera doesn't apply any aggressive sharpening and yes the image is soft on both cameras but I think it is slightly better on the K3 and sharpening in post using a more robust software filter is always better.
So for all you out there who want to try shooting video and have some grading experience, try my recommended settings for better colour response. In summary when shooting video on the K3 try using the muted profile with everything turned down except the saturation which should be at one from lowest. Key adjust at the highest, turn the front dial to reveal highlight and shadow controls and flatten them out. Expose 0.7 stops under or dial it into the exposure comp if you are using a auto or semi-auto mode. Will post videos demonstrating the differences
Comment by widezu69 posted on My thoughts on the K30 and K3 for video at 23/12/2014 - 00:55
K3 No longer WTB either. Thanks for looking!
Comment by widezu69 posted on WTB: Pentax K-3 K3 and Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 k-mount at 18/12/2014 - 18:17
Sigma no longer needed, still looking for a K3.
Comment by widezu69 posted on WTB: Pentax K-3 K3 and Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 k-mount at 17/12/2014 - 20:42
Bought one from percy. Great guy and awesome dispatch speed. Was packed and ready before I even paid him. Thanks!
Comment by widezu69 posted on WTB: DA* 50-135mm at 15/12/2014 - 00:13
If it doesn't cost very much then I hope Ricoh also throw in 4K video in the 1.5x crop mode which will be a full pixel read out eliminating moire and aliasing. I know some people might not need this but I'm just saying Ricoh should add it if it doesn't add too much to the price to stay competitive.