Seldom has a camera elicited as much controversy as did Canon’s EOS R5 and its overheating debacle. At the time, we were even compelled to call out DPReview's shameless defense of Canon, a shoddy piece of journalism which DPR technical editor Richard Butler has since retracted. Since the latest update, users are reporting being able... Continue Reading →
Best Budget Rear ND Solution for the RED Komodo?
After poring over dozens of reviews and watching countless comparisons on YouTube, we think we’ve finally landed upon an ND filter adapter and drop-in filter system that (1) is compatible with the RED Komodo; (2) whose solid NDs have remarkably neutral color rendition; and (3) that won’t break the bank. Kolari is asking $224.99 for... Continue Reading →
Origins of the Skin Tone Line
The original purpose of what we now refer to as the skin tone line on the vectorscope had nothing at all to do with the color of flesh tones. Alexis van Hurkman explains.
“I Guess It Wasn’t for You in the First Place”
We're seeing this idiotic refrain echoed over and over again in the comments sections of YouTube camera reviews and in online forums in reply to those for whom image quality is paramount and who recognize the value of objective testing, the most recent instance being CineD's lab test of the Canon EOS R5 C -... Continue Reading →
How Improper WB Hurts DR
We were aware that shooting with the incorrect white balance reduces dynamic range, but we never understood why this is so - until now. For those thinking that this doesn’t apply to raw video, we highly recommend checking out the heated exchange in the comments section of Alister Chapman’s blog post on the subject.
Motion Cadence Is BS
Over the years, in the comments section of YouTube sample footage videos, we continue to run across viewers claiming the motion cadence of camera X, Y or Z isn’t cinematic. Motion cadence is a BS term - it has no meaning whatsover. Which is not to say that there aren’t factors that impact our perception... Continue Reading →
RED Komodo: Versatility
Balancing the RED Komodo paired with the Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM on a DJI RS 2 was easy peasy! In fact, it required much less time to balance than the a7s III with the Ninja V. As can be seen in the photo below, there is a ton of clearance between the... Continue Reading →
The Advantage of A Heat Sink
HDTVTest, in their review of the Sony A95K QD-OLED, compare it to the Samsung S95B, which shares the same QD-OLED panel. After running footage on a loop with the same APL for several minutes, the Samsung becomes noticeably darker while the Sony picture maintains its brightness, owing to a heat dissipation layer that reduces the... Continue Reading →
Samsung Cheats on TV Benchmarks
A must-read article over at flatpanelshd.
Daejeon Chronicles Sees RED
We’re in love with RED, but $8,000 for the Komodo is just a touch extravagant for an English teacher in Vietnam, so instead we’re eyeing this marvelous beast - a 6K Scarlet X with EF mount for a cool four grand.
Apple Compressor HEVC 10-bit 4:2:2 Is a Memory Hog
Since Apple added HEVC 10-bit 4:2:2 to Compressor, we thought we'd look into how it impacts memory pressure on our M1 Max MacBook Pro with 32GB RAM. For the test, all apps were closed except for Final Cut Pro, Compressor and the Activity Monitor. We transcoded a one-minute ProRes RAW clip with minimal noise reduction... Continue Reading →
Teaching Daily Routines
One of the twenty-eight classes I teach each week in Ho Chi Minh City. I consider myself lucky, since many foreigners had to leave the country because of tightened restrictions on visas or loss of employment opportunities, including a large community of Ukranians.
Don’t Buy an M1 Max Mac Studio!
For video editing, the MacBook Pro has virtually the same performance as the desktop, plus you get the great keyboard and the best display found on any laptop on the market today. https://youtu.be/V8lc3ORcFL4
Why We No Longer Make Recommendations for Hybrid Shooters
This comment by a frustrated reader over at DPReview that we just came across illustrates why we no longer make recommendations for those wanting to use a hybrid camera for both stills photography and video. There are just too many features, like burst rates, pixel shift, auto bracketing, EVF resolution, stills RAW formats and dozens... Continue Reading →
Mac Studio M1 Ultra Review Raised to The Level of Art
Not only does Faruk Korkmaz set the bar when it comes to gorgeous looking reviews, he also addresses our most pressing concern from the very start - which is how fast the computer can transcode footage to HEVC 10-bit in Apple Compressor. As it turns out, the Mac Studio finished the job around 80% faster... Continue Reading →
HDR Fallacies #3
Last year, we reached out to Atomos to ask why they didn’t upload more HDR content to their YouTube channel and they replied that not all projects are suited to HDR. Which is patently false: the video doesn’t exist whose image quality cannot be dramatically improved by mastering and uploading to YouTube in HDR.
MacBook Pro Liquid Retina XDR Display Blooming
It's there, but it's much less pronounced than it was on the Asus ProArt PA32UCX and as usual, it looks worse from an angle than when viewed head-on.
Canon R5 C or Canon C70?
It's easy to get bogged down when comparing all the features offered by Canon's cameras but the task becomes much simpler when approaching the question purely from the perspective of HDR, for which the camera must meet a minimum of three criteria: low noise, thirteen stops of dynamic range and offer raw recording (either internally... Continue Reading →
The Daejeon Chronicles 