Mushroom Adventure: EOS-M, 4k anamorphic

Started by IDA_ML, November 11, 2020, 09:07:33 PM

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IDA_ML

This video called Mushroom Adventure was filmed last weekend in the Vitosha mountain nearby Sofia where we enjoy the beautiful fall colors in this time of the year.  I wanted to test the new 4k anamorphic mode of the EOS-M implemented in the latest October 27-th 2020 experimental built by Danne.

Gear:  EOS-M, EF 35/F2 IS, EF-S 10-18/F4,5-5,6, EF to EF-M converter, VND filter
          All clips were filmed hand held at 1280x2160p resolution, 12-bit lossless and 24 fps

Workflow:  Basic corrections and export to ProRes 422LT: MLVApp
                Video editing, stabilization in post and adding music: DaVinci Resolve 16

The video:
https://vimeo.com/478147414
Your comments and critical remarks will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

70MM13

wow, that is really great!
those are some nice mushrooms...  it reminds me of when i visited back home in 1980 in the mountains of yugoslavia...

thanks for the beautiful video.

it's amazing what that little camera can do in the right hands ;)

felinefurnishings

I like your style, approach....I am not of the opinion that doing videos means your have to stick to the middle thirds of a scene.  Too limiting, I feel.  So, you have some great content going on in this video....really dramatic colors

IDA_ML

Thanks for the nice words from both of you. 

I should also mention that the camera is quite reliable in that mode.  I shot a total of about 40 GB of footage on that day and did not have a single crash.  Also entering and exiting 3x-crop back and forth for focusing and zoom recording, (at 1800x1012p), works very well.  Great work, Danne!  Battery life is quite reasonable too.  I only changed the battery once for the entire filming and still had some juice in the second one when we got back home.   I always bring a total of 4 cheap replacement batteries with me and think that this is enough for a whole day of shooting, (total of about 120 GB of footage in the above 4k mode).

One more important thing.  I wouldn't hesitate filming in 10-bit lossless at day light.  This gives me continuous recording at 4k anamorphic/24 fps and image quality is indistinguishable from 12-bits lossless where I am limited to 12-15 sec. of recording with ETTR.  The only problem that occurs with 10 bits is when I crush the blacks.  In that case those crushed areas become reddish brown instead of deep blacks.  Also some red noise blotches that are difficult to remove occur in the underexposed areas.  For such critical high-contrast scenes, the 12-bit option provides better results.

Finally, a drawback.  I have noticed that most of the time, while previewing the scene, the histogram reading is not correct - it shows 3-4 stops of underexposure.  It jumps to the correct reading only after recording is started.  I typically use the graphical histogram representation and push the exposure to the right without crushing the highlights.  I also activate zebras which are extremely helpful to protect the highlights.  So these wrong histogram numbers are not a big deal.  The readings used to be correct in earlier builds, so it would be nice if they could be fixed in the future.

Overall, very satisfied with the October 27-th build.  My favorite mode is still the 1736x2928/16 fps/12-bit due to the full sensor readout (no crop) and amazing fine detail rendering but I wouldn't hesitate using the 4k-anamorphic one every time 24 fps is a must.