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Z-CAM E2 camera is coming with 4K at 120fps
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  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @Ironfilm

    Kinda disappointed they got distracted by making a global shutter camera.

    What you mean?

  • IronFilmIronFilm

    Kinda disappointed they got distracted by making a global shutter camera.

    There are some very vocal global shutter fanatics online (worse than anamorphic shooters! As at least they're a real need and have greater real uses), and I fear their loud voices have mislead Z Cam as to what is really truly needed. (such as making the current Z Cam E2 quickly a well polished product. And then only after that, think about an E3 which can be another rolling shutter camera which is a further natural iteration and improvement over the E2. Like the E2 was a big leap over the E1)

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    @Vitaliy_Kisilev They focused some of their people on the Z-Cam E2 variation with a global shutter and others on a new firmware release for the E1 (due by the end of the month) - so it's not surprising that they are stretched thin.

    Even if they are short on manpower, any time working on improving 4:3 modes is basically wasted. While anamorphic shooters are pretty loud online, they make up a tiny minimum of people using/buying cameras - almost definitely a smaller group than people trying to use Olympus lenses. :P

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @eatstoomuchjam

    They seem to be very short of man power.

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    I guess I forgot to share that here when I put it up. Thanks. :)

    In the meantime, the Z-Cam folks have a new beta firmware today which adds a feature that almost nobody will care about while fixing a couple of actually-annoying bugs while ignoring other major issues (including complete failure to work with Olympus Pro lenses and the SmallHD Focus).

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/zcame2/permalink/312707796126839/

    Major fix:

    • Correct the image quality of ISO800 (One of native ISO)
    • Continuous AF performance

    New:

    • WDR is supported in 3696x2772P24/P25/P30
    • Show menu in HDMI
    • Refine the menu
  • MikeLinnMikeLinn

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @bannedindv

    All LSIs on market get full size raw images and process them further.

    raw compression and storage is much simpler task compared to anything else.

    It is just laziness and fear of capitalist companies that it means providing too much.

  • bannedindvbannedindv

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev would you say it is possible with average commonly available LSI chips to offer onboard raw recording - if someone were to do clever software tricks - like dumping the framebuffer into a raw capture container - sort of a DMA addressing trick to capture and rescale or truncate raw sensor data ? think about magic lantern raw recording, but on an Ambarella or Panasonic or other LSI?

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @IronFilm

    I believe whole E2 issue is attempt to repeat wrong approach used by BM and do lot of things via FPGAs.

    E1 happened as project by ex Ambarella LSI engineers. Hence it used very cheap and efficient LSI.

  • IronFilmIronFilm

    BHphotovideo Z CAM E2 only $249.00 starting October 31, 2022! :)

    Hahaha! But the E1 started from a much lower release price than the significantly higher price the E2 is starting at.

    Thus I do not expect the E2 to be dropping down to the same price level any time soon whatsoever. Probably will take much longer than 2022!

  • jleojleo

  • jleojleo

    NEW LISTING on Dr Who's TARDIS Tech Deals:

    BHphotovideo Z CAM E2 only $249.00 starting October 31, 2022! :)

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    I'm likely to keep mine (and also probably buy/try a BMPCC4K), but I'd also wait to see how the firmware evolves. The current version still has some issues - in particular, compatibility with Olympus Pro lenses.

  • IronFilmIronFilm

    Indeed if it dropped down to BMPCC4K pricing then I'd be very seriously considering it.

  • DrDaveDrDave

    @IronFilm priced comparable to the BlackMagic, I think. I also think 4K cameras are overpriced right now, except the G85 which is reasonable. If there is an inventory oversupply, steep cuts usually show up after Xmas/Festivus/YourHolidayHere.
    I did eventually score my ax100 for $950, basically a 50 percent drop, but man that cam took a long time to drop in price.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

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  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    After some more in-depth use yesterday, I can say that when some of the autofocus tracking issues are resolved (as well as some other bugs), this camera is a real contender for the GH5s and similar. I really enjoyed shooting with it and the footage looks pretty darned good.

  • IronFilmIronFilm

    Looks good. Waiting now for the big price drop.

    How big and how soon would a price drop have to be for you to buy?

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @Mckinise

    I heard that due to E2 being tight little brick time is moving slowly around it.

  • MckiniseMckinise

    How is the motion compared to the gh5?

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    @davedv Sure. I can upload some clips somewhere today or tomorrow. The footage definitely looks better straight out of camera than on youtube. :)

  • davedvdavedv

    @eatstoomuchjam Thanks for taking the time to shoot some sample footage. Would it be possible to upload some original clips out of the camera somewhere?

    There seems to be quite a bit of noticeable compression in the 35-100mm 120fps shots, but I'm not sure if this is from the camera or from YouTube's re-encoding.

  • DrDaveDrDave

    Looks good. Waiting now for the big price drop.

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    I only had a little time to shoot tonight, but I'm impressed by the WDR mode so far. The 120fps VFR mode is also pretty solid.

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    Some quick testing after work shows the camera seems to be compatible with all of my lenses except for the Olympus Pro zooms and the Olympus EZ power zoom lens - and the Panasonic 7-14/4 has all sorts of ugly purple streaks in the image, presumably due to a lack of software correction for its faults.

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