Matthew Sonnenfeld
Forum Replies Created
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For the money, a used Miller Compass, Sachtler DV 10, Sachtler FSB-8, or Manfrotto 509HD.
Co-President at fourB Productions, Inc.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
2008 Mac Pro 2.6 Ghz 8 Core, 10GB RAM
AJA IoXT, Blackmagic Intensity Pro, Blackmagic Mini Monitor
Adobe Production Premium CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Final Cut Pro Studio 3 -
Both are nice monitors and I think you would be happy with either one.
In a nutshell;
1) The Small is sharper than the Marshall – 1280 x 800 versus 1024 x 600
2) The Marshall is brighter than the Small – 800 nits versus 400 nits
3) BOTH WILL NEED A SUNSHADE – NEITHER IS A “HIGH BRIGHT” DISPLAY – (For example, the SmallHD DP-7 High Bright is 1500 nits compared to the Marshall at 800)
4) The Marshall has more exposure tools – Waveform and Zebra are two notable things that the Small does NOT have
5) The Small will be easier to calibrate with Blue Only which the Marshall does not
6) The Small is an 8bit display which shows a much wider color gammut than 6bit – Marshall does not report this data so I cannot comment on what that display is.The question is, what do you need this for? Do you need it to basically be a light meter? If so, get the Marshall. It has way more tools for that.
If you need it to be a calibrated reference for framing and viewing and color, get the Small.
Co-President at fourB Productions, Inc.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
2008 Mac Pro 2.6 Ghz 8 Core, 10GB RAM
AJA IoXT, Blackmagic Intensity Pro, Blackmagic Mini Monitor
Adobe Production Premium CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Final Cut Pro Studio 3 -
I don’t own one personally. I have a TVLogic myself but that is a bit out of price range at nearly $1200.
They have an aluminum frame wit ha rubberized ABS (high quality plastic) housing. I have held them though and I find build quality to be very good especially considering the price.
As compared to a Marshall, I think you get more monitor for the money with the SmallHD. I think the screens are better.
It does not have Waveform/Histogram which I would like to see. These features are on the DP7 which is more money. But it DOES have Blue Only which makes it easy to calibrate with color bars. Blue Only was NOT on the Marshall that I used last week. The Small also has false color, and focus assist options.
Before you rule out the Small though for not having Waveform/Histogram, remember that these features are in the current software of your CAMERA. I.E., you can use the exposure tools on your camera’s screen, and keep a clean, calibrated image up on your monitor.
Co-President at fourB Productions, Inc.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
2008 Mac Pro 2.6 Ghz 8 Core, 10GB RAM
AJA IoXT, Blackmagic Intensity Pro, Blackmagic Mini Monitor
Adobe Production Premium CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Final Cut Pro Studio 3 -
On sale now. Look no further;
https://www.smallhd.com/products/ac7/index.html
Co-President at fourB Productions, Inc.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
2008 Mac Pro 2.6 Ghz 8 Core, 10GB RAM
AJA IoXT, Blackmagic Intensity Pro, Blackmagic Mini Monitor
Adobe Production Premium CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Final Cut Pro Studio 3 -
Absolutely ND filter over stopping the lens all the way down. I would want to have the ability to control my depth of field which if I am exposing at the mercy of the sun, I have no chance.
So you can use ND and you can use silks and flags to knock down the ambient light on your subjects.
If shooting outside in bright daylight, always use a circular polarizer. This will lower exposure further and it should be calculated in your overall exposure.
Co-President at fourB Productions, Inc.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
2008 Mac Pro 2.6 Ghz 8 Core, 10GB RAM
AJA IoXT, Blackmagic Intensity Pro, Blackmagic Mini Monitor
Adobe Production Premium CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Final Cut Pro Studio 3 -
CineForm has a comparable bit rate to ProRes though it is a different type of compression. It is a “wavelet” codec similar to REDCODE and JPEG2000.
Compression times are VERY fast and playback is super smooth. It also holds up very well in grading due to its compression type.
As a mastering codec, CineForm is available on both Mac and PC so you would have a master that is capable of being encoded and decoded on both platforms.
Co-President at fourB Productions, Inc.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
2008 Mac Pro 2.6 Ghz 8 Core, 10GB RAM
AJA IoXT, Blackmagic Intensity Pro, Blackmagic Mini Monitor
Adobe Production Premium CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Final Cut Pro Studio 3 -
That’s correct. All parts being equal with the codec as the only difference, you won’t actually gain quality by using HQ.
If you will be doing heavy grading, you might want to consider it. But at that point I would seriously take a look at a codec like Cineform.
Co-President at fourB Productions, Inc.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
2008 Mac Pro 2.6 Ghz 8 Core, 10GB RAM
AJA IoXT, Blackmagic Intensity Pro, Blackmagic Mini Monitor
Adobe Production Premium CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Final Cut Pro Studio 3 -
Yes, for FCP7 you will need to convert to ProRes.
It depends on your data rate though. You won’t “gain” quality shooting at 100mbps and transcoding to HQ as ProRes 422 is already higher than the acquisition format. If shooting at the 200mbps modes, you should use HQ.
If you are trying to build a standard workflow HQ would be more of a “catch all” I suppose but depending on what you are shooting, you may have larger files being stored than necessary.
Co-President at fourB Productions, Inc.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
2008 Mac Pro 2.6 Ghz 8 Core, 10GB RAM
AJA IoXT, Blackmagic Intensity Pro, Blackmagic Mini Monitor
Adobe Production Premium CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Final Cut Pro Studio 3 -
Technically yes, 800 is native for the Cinema and Pocket Cameras while 400 is native for the Production Camera and I would imagine the URSA.
There is an argument that has been made that 400 is better for the Cinema and Pocket as well but I typically try to shoot at 800. The upgrade doesn’t really effect performance of the sensor. The new sensor calibration does have sharper images in compressed codecs where debayering is concerned, but it doesn’t change, and a software update really can’t change, the low light performance.
Low light performance is largely a hardware limitation based on factors such as pixel size, and sensor component and circuitry design. For instance, a global shutter has different circuity which blocks more light from reaching the photo sites and as a result tends to have less overall low light performance. All of these factors contribute to the overall signal to noise ratio. There’s a lot more to it, but that’s the basics.
As I’ve stated. Whenever possible I try to shoot at the native 800 ISO. This though would imply that I have the time and the resources to do what I want in reference to light control and modification. If it is a matter of getting the shot or not, and time is a limiting factor (as it often is), I change the ISO and move on.
“Pro results” too is an incredibly subjective term. I don’t know the type of work that you’re doing so I don’t know what “pro” is in your field. In the reality world, getting the shot and capturing the moment is pro enough. In cinema, the most “pro” thing is your lighting, not your camera.
Co-President at fourB Productions, Inc.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
2008 Mac Pro 2.6 Ghz 8 Core, 10GB RAM
AJA IoXT, Blackmagic Intensity Pro, Blackmagic Mini Monitor
Adobe Production Premium CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Final Cut Pro Studio 3 -
It sounds to me like there was a problem in the initial upgrade itself that now might have done something wonky to the operating system of the camera. Obviously you’ve tried different batteries etc……
Usually reinstalling firmware can be a solid general software fix but in this case it sounds like something went wrong early on. Maybe a bad USB cable or something damaged the signal itself during the instal. I hate to say it but at this point I would contact Blackmagic support. It might need to be sent in for service.
Co-President at fourB Productions, Inc.
Blackmagic Cinema Camera, RED Scarlet-X
2011 Macbook Pro 17″, 2.3 Ghz Quad Core, 16GB RAM
2008 Mac Pro 2.6 Ghz 8 Core, 10GB RAM
AJA IoXT, Blackmagic Intensity Pro, Blackmagic Mini Monitor
Adobe Production Premium CC, Avid Media Composer 7, Final Cut Pro Studio 3