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Three videos: three cameras
  • ahblezaahbleza

    Recently, I just finished three casting videos for three actors, each of whom is trying for the same part. Just for fun, I used a GH2, Nikon D800 and BMCC MFT for each video. See if you can guess which video was done with which camera, without looking at the comments. Here they are, in no particular order:

  • 18 Replies sorted by
  • shianshian

    D800, BMCC, GH2

  • majoraxismajoraxis

    Thanks for sharing this! I guessed wrong and learned a bit about my perception of what I was expecting from each camera.

  • Ian_TIan_T

    What Shian said.

    EDIT: Well Dang!! I should have known better.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    I knew the first one had to be the Nikon right off the bat. I've never seen anything like it and to be honest, thought it didn't look that good at all. I really don't know anything about that cam though. The BMCC was easy to pick out since it had the Alexa flat look thing going on there and the last one had our old friend, mister green tint, so even though Shian got it it first, I would have figured it out since they all look so different.

  • BurnetRhoadesBurnetRhoades

    Why was the BMCC so flat? It could have easily looked as good as the GH2, which I was sure was the BMCC video.

    "Alexa flat" isn't real, it's a phenomenon created by bad post production. You see it in the early films shot on Red, the Sony Genesis, Viper, etc. It's a meaningless term.

  • _OZ_OZ

    @vicharris

    except that the correct answer is not the one Shian has given, according to the comments for the first two videos. I won't type the answer here to avoid the spoiler for others.

    btw, green tint or not, the last one is far and away the best looking imho, although it is also the best acted, most interesting variety of shots, most polished, etc.

  • shianshian

    I had to keep quiet - every fiber in my being said "That has to be the GH2." and so I thought "but it's too obvious....I must be wrong..." So I flipped it with the other one obviously NOT the BMD

    But I nailed one of them - it's distinctive.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    @BurnetRhoades It means something to me and many other people know exactly what look I mean when I say it so it's not meaningless. Maybe in your mind but not everyone.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    @_OZ I agree the last one is the best. I'd cast that girl out of the three!

    Damn, I just saw what was what. Hmmm, maybe that nikon shoots a nice image, like I said, I know nothing about the Nikons, just saw a familiar look and thought that's what it was. Interesting.

  • last_SHIFTlast_SHIFT

    Damn - don't hate on Nikons - LOL ;-)

  • BurnetRhoadesBurnetRhoades

    @vicharris Except that the Alexa doesn't have that look. Alexa footage improperly graded (or not graded) has that look which is the same as Red footage improperly graded (or not graded) and is similar to looking at scanned film, at a raw Cineon file without a proper lut or grade, like a total noob and thinking, "my god, this film looks horrible!"

    You can't classify the look of a camera, the best looking digital cine camera available today, based on a common operator error. It's kinda absurd.

  • ShaveblogShaveblog

    There's apples and oranges, and then there's apples, oranges, and baboons. This is more like apple, oranges, baboons, and a tube sock someone threw out of a car window.

    Three different sets with different lighting, grading, and why not throw in another monkey wrench by letting YouTube squash two clips and Vimeo crunch the third. Comparisons just don't come no fairer than that.

    Honestly, this is just silly. Of course #2 is the Black Magic. It's like, flatsville daddio. The other two could be a Samsung phone and Rebel for all it matters. All you can take away from this comparison is that none of them suck. But we sort of knew that going in, no?

    I understand the novelty of the opportunity but as any kind of substantive comparison between the three cameras, c'mon man. If you really want to compare the cameras, shoot the same scene in the same light at the same time with all 3 cams and post the ungraded footage on the same platform, be it YouTube or Vimeo. That's a fair comparison. The comparison as shot is like judging hifi speakers by listening to rock on one pair, jazz on another, and a spoken word podcast on the third. Pointless.

  • ahblezaahbleza

    @Shaveblog Instead of complaining, why not go out and shoot something? ;-)

    Actually, I will try to shoot with all three cameras in a short feature over the next ten days, so might be able to come up with a better comparison, cetus paribus.

  • BurnetRhoadesBurnetRhoades

    And if you're going to shoot raw: grade it. You didn't do anyone any favors not finishing the job on that BMCC example.

  • vicharrisvicharris

    @Shaveblog I think @ahbleza was just doing it for shits and giggles. I really don't think it was meant to be some sort of upper level comparison for us here, just something fun to show. Made me look dumb, but that's not hard to do and it was a little fun :)

  • ShaveblogShaveblog

    @ahbleza My criticism wasn't personal, and unless Dear Leader has introduced new forum policies, no one here has shoot something and post it here in order to earn the right to take issue with an unfair comparison.

    I have no problem with sharing the three clips as samples of your work. That's completely valid. But presenting them as a comparison and inviting us to guess which camera is which implies that the cameras' own characteristics are on display for comparison, when in fact they are so utterly swamped by different lighting/location/actor/grading/web compression that, aside from the obviously ungraded and flat BMCC footage, it doesn't really matter what camera was used for each clip. That was my point.

    I look forward to your planned comparison of the three cameras when the playing field is flat. Even ungraded footage of the trio shooting the same moment under the same conditions at the same time would be a much fairer and more valid comparison.

  • ahblezaahbleza

    @BurnetRhoades Totally agree, but the actress said she liked it exactly how it was, and it was a freebie, so didn't really have time for much of a grade.

    @Shaveblog No problem, and I accept the criticism. It wasn't really a well-controlled comparison -- it just worked out that I used three cameras for similar videos, and thought it would be fun to share -- plus pretty girls with skimpy outfits are always a win. ;-)

  • ShaveblogShaveblog

    @ahbleza I look forward to your next comparison using a more controlled methodology. Not to get to pointy-headed about it, but the whole point of a comparison is to discern differences. So eliminating variables as much as possible is not merely recommended but essential. It also requires a lot more effort and planning, which is why such comparisons are so rare.

    Obviously you can't use the same lens on three different cameras at the same time, but I would say that if you managed to mount the cameras as close together as possible on a stable platform, shot base ISO, used lenses which combined with each camera's crop produced similar DOF/FOV, shot the same scene at the same time, and simply made the three uncompressed files available for download and comparison, that would be about as fair as one could expect outside of a lab. It would take more work than merely culling clips from a work in progress but it would be an inarguably valid and respectable comparison. I hope you do it, as not all of us are lucky enough to have all 3 cameras at hand at the same time. Good luck.

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