nofilmschool » fs100

Micro 4/3 Metabones Speed Booster Optical Lens Adapter Delayed Until Later in 2013

Joe Marine — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 06:06:28 +0000

Just a few months ago, a company many are familiar with for their smart Canon EF to Sony NEX adapters, Metabones, introduced a brand new adapter with an optical component that can make full-frame lenses faster, wider, and sharper by focusing them onto a smaller format like APS-C/Super 35mm. Metabones also announced they were going to be releasing a Micro 4/3 to Nikon, Leica R, Contax C/Y, Contarex, ALPA, and Rollei Speedbooster adapter. Originally set to be released in the first half of 2013, it looks like we’re going to have to wait a bit longer. (more…)

Blackmagic Cinema Camera, Sony FS100, and Canon 5D Mark II Face off in a Hair and Skin Tone Test

Joe Marine — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 01:27:41 +0000

Color is just about the most subjective aspect of any visual creation. Everyone sees color a little differently, so it’s no surprise that we talk endlessly about color science and about which cameras we prefer. Certain looks are too much for some people, and others are not enough. Blackmagic spent a great deal of time developing their color science with Australian Director of Photography John Brawley, and I think working with an actual shooter in developing their camera has made a significant difference in the visuals of the final product. Adam Roberts got a hold of the BMCC and performed a thorough test to compare the camera’s skin tones to that of the FS100 and the Mark II. Click through to check it out. (more…)

Revolutionary Metabones Speed Booster Makes Your Lenses Wider, Brighter, and Sharper

Dave Kendricken — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:33:47 +0000

There’s more than one way to get a lens on a camera it shouldn’t naturally fit, particularly when adaptation has to go beyond mere lens mount disparity and extends all the way to major sensor size differences. Of course, in approximately none such case does the adapter getting the job done actually widen field of view, improve clarity and sharpness, and increase exposure levels by up to one full stop. In fact, to expect as much (and all in one device) would seem to equate to madness — especially if such a device supports electronic lens control. This is not the short and skinny of the new Tom Cruise sci-fi/action film, but that of the Metabones Speed Booster. The adapter not only mounts your Canon full frame 50mm f/1.8 lens, for instance, to your Sony FS100 — but also turns it into a sharper 35mm f/1.2 in the process. (more…)

Canon C100 vs. Canon 5D Mark III vs. Sony FS100 with Magnanimous Media

Joe Marine — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 23:12:00 +0000

If you’re looking for a camera in the $3,000-$8,000 range right now, there aren’t too many options — at least as far as large sensor cameras go. We’ve always had lots of options in this range for 1/3″ cameras, but it has taken a bit for manufacturers to start moving the prices down and really get competitive larger sensor cameras in this range. Magnanimous Media, a rental house in Chicago, Illinois, has taken the Canon C100, Canon 5D Mark III, and the FS100 for a spin and offers their thoughts about some of the advantages and disadvantages of the new C100 compared to the others. (more…)

Sony's FS100 vs. Blackmagic's Cinema Camera: a Low-Light Showdown

Joe Marine — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 14:15:08 +0000

The Cinema Camera is starting to make the rounds with those who’ve been asked by Blackmagic to test out the camera. While the test below conducted by Frank Glencairn isn’t exactly a low-light showdown (in fact it only goes up to the BMCC’s limit of 1600 ISO), it does give you a great sense of the noise, color, and definition of both the Sony FS100 and the Blackmagic Cinema Camera in a lower light situation. (more…)

Nikon Might Move Their Service Center to Hollywood, What This Could Mean for Filmmakers

Joe Marine — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:00:42 +0000

We’ve already speculated about the future of Nikon and their plans for a cinema camera, but there is an interesting rumor circulating that Nikon is planning to move their service center in El Segundo, CA once the lease is up in a few months. Why does this matter? Well the word is that they will be moving to a new site right in Hollywood, and this would no doubt be a direct response to the Canon Professional Technology and Support Center. If that does happen, what might it mean for filmmakers, and what does Nikon need to do to compete with Canon, Sony, and Panasonic in the video world? (more…)

Philip Bloom Shows You What the FS700 Has to Offer (And How It Stacks Up with the FS100)

E.M. Taboada — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 03:24:09 +0000

The FS700 is expected to start shipping in less than a month, and as we await the flood of beautiful slow-mo videos that will surely come in its wake, Philip Bloom has recently put up his review of the camera — yes, slow-mo abilities are featured, but Bloom also looks at other important factors such as low light sensitivity and ergonomic considerations. You might be weighing whether you want to buy this camera over the FS100, or perhaps you’re a current FS100 owner wondering if the FS700 is an upgrade. Bloom offers answers to these questions and more: (more…)

Want a Specific Look with Your FS100? Try These New Scene Files from AbelCine

Joe Marine — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:00:26 +0000

The Sony FS100 is a fantastic large sensor video camera for the money, but one of the chief criticisms is that its highlight roll-off is less than pleasant. If you’re trying to squeeze as much dynamic range out of that camera as possible, your options are limited, as it does not provide any sort of log mode like its big brother the Sony F3. By utilizing scene files, we can make the most of the limited color space and dynamic range. Andy Shipsides, who is an essential resource for all things color profiles and crop factors, recently updated his custom scene files for the FS100. (more…)

Will Nikon Enter the Large Sensor Video Camera Market to Compete with Canon and Sony?

Joe Marine — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:00:07 +0000

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Nikon has been pushing video extremely hard with their latest DSLRs, the Nikon D4 and the Nikon D800, and at least in the case of the D800, they’ve got a worthy competitor on their hands. Somehow the D4 didn’t get the sharpness of the D800, but it still got full, clean HDMI that can be recorded using a number of external devices to get a better codec like ProRes. If you’re curious, that’s not a real photo to the left. It’s what would happen if the D800 and the C300 had a full frame 35mm video camera child. Far-fetched? Maybe not. (more…)

Cinevate Shows off Their FS100 Rig, Axis Jib, Dromos Hi-Hat and More at NAB 2012

Joe Marine — Thu, 10 May 2012 20:34:18 +0000

This is the very last video I did at NAB just before the show closed, and Dennis Wood of Cinevate showed off all of their exciting products, including a complete cine kit for the FS100 that bolts to the camera in a similar way as the Zacuto FS100 rig. He also gave a walk-through of their Axis jib, which is designed to be mobile and simple to assemble. If timelapse is your thing, and you’ve already got a Cinevate slider, they are partnering with DitoGear to add timelapse functionality. (more…)

Zacuto's Plasma Light is the Cheapest and Softest 1x1 in Existence, But is It Better Than LED?

Joe Marine — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:18:36 +0000

We all know that LEDs are the next big movement in lighting technology — or are they? Zacuto is introducing a one-of-a-kind light panel that uses a patented micro-plasma technology not unlike what is found in a plasma television — which has phosphors that glow when energy is introduced. Of course, it’s a bit more complicated than that, but the bottom line is that this panel is softer, and has a greater lumen rating than any other 1-foot-by-1-foot panel on the market today. In the embedded video below, Steve Weiss from Zacuto gives us an introduction of the panel, as well as a walk-through of their Recoil rig, Tornado Follow Focus, and FS100 rig. (more…)

Sony NEX-FS100 to Get Global Frame Rates with Free Firmware Upgrade

Ryan Koo — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:23:54 +0000

With all the news about the Canon C300 and RED SCARLET-X lately, it’s easy to forget that both of these cameras are out of the price range of most DSLR shooters. What many were looking for from either company was an announcement at the price point of the Sony FS100, which, though it has some ergonomic quirks, is a very nice camera for $5k. It looks like it will be getting nicer in early 2012, with a firmware update from Sony that makes it a global camera — adding PAL recording rates to the North American model (and presumably vice versa) — as well as some nice other free feature additions. Here’s the list of expected upgrades: (more…)