[Steve.Ledger]

Long time lapse?

[kadajawi]

Why aren't those motorbikes moving?

That's how good the K-3 shake reduction is... It even freezes time!

[PiDicus Rex]

Or quit screwing around with a still camera form factor and get something purpose-built for ultra res video that's available now, like a BMCC, along with a real, robust stabilization system rather than a jury-rigged solution.

I LOVE Pentax DSLRs, but a viable serious video platform they ain't, nor will they ever likely be, given the tradeoffs inherent in what is essentially a "bonus" feature in any high-end enthusiast DSLR. Heck, after the initial 5d2 excitement, the warts of even Canon's vaunted video-capable DSLRs have become increasingly apparent over time, leading to the new focus on dedicated EOS video cams among Canon-oriented pros and other serious videographers.

Ah,... But.
Anyone 'serious' enough to want the BMD-CC won't be using the SR systems anyway, they'll be using a shoulder mount rig or a tripod.

THE BMD-CC has a Rolling Shutter sensor, it's skew is about the same as the 5D3.

And yes, the EOS-C range uses the same sensors as the the DSLR range, but IMHO they are extremely over priced for what they are. Yes they have advantages, but if you need to spend that much money on a Canon for good footage, you'd be better off buying several XF-105 and XF-305 series cameras.

Or a second hand XL-H1s with the EOS to XL mount adaptor.

For price point, for those of us Video Shooters who have a bag full of K-mount lenses, don't use SR, don't use AF, the K3 is looking very good, with the exceptions of the on-board CoDec and HDMI Clean Feed.
At it's price point, there is very little else that can compete with it.
And the BMD-PC is out of the running until they fix it's firmware to get ride of the White Orb issue.

[JonDawg]

I've been watching this thread for a while now, and figured I might jump in.
I got my K3 when they first landed in Aus. I'm a budding video shooter and produce a lot of short media productions for my church.
Previously I've owned both the K5 and K5II, but found the video time limit a real pain to work with when shooting interviews, plus they overheated quite often when shooting handheld. Not ideal :P
From there I bought an Olympus EM5, which has killer stabilisation, but couldn't work with the limited frame rates and funky audio issues. The codec was pretty lame too, with footage breaking up with any fast movement.
When I heard about the K3 with improved video, I took a shot. I can safely say it was worth it. The limitations the K3 has are far easier to work around than any of the other cameras I've used. My kit of nice M lenses are stunning for giving my video that certain look. I will be adding more though :P
SR isn't a big deal for me. As I've progressed in my video skill, handheld footage grows tiring and properly panned or dolley'd scenes look far more appealing.
I will add this though: Mechanical SR is functional in live view mode for stills. I noticed this today as I was tinkering and pondered why not for video?

[TomGarn]

K5 and K5II ... video time limit a real pain to work with
... they overheated quite often when shooting handheld.
... limitations the K3 has are far easier to work around than any of the other cameras I've used.

You are very right about those nasty limitations ...
but those K-5'ers have a good strong codec - K-3 is weaker there.
In K-3 many things have been done better - but still no display-flap helps.

SR-wobble / rolling shutter / "AF-trembling" and what not ... are mixed sometimes here.
I show you a movie with a rolling shutter starting at minute 1:30 Bad but quite good:
Watch and enjoy the best DSLM yet:

You Tube

You Tube

[TomGarn]

I also like to talk on other subjects as well ...
There are other cameras we all look up to ...

But there must be some of us who looked
deeper into the K-3 ... some may have even
worked with a K-5 before ...

Please show what you learned by doing
with the new K-3 "video camera". Thanks !

[kadajawi]

Ok, so I've had the chance to see more real life Sony alpha 57 footage. Moire/aliasing is a big problem too, I'd say like the K-5, and probably the K-3. The electronic IS seems to work ok in bright daylight with short shutter speeds (though that also means you get sturrery motion at 25 fps, or even at 50 fps), when it gets darker it falls apart. I didn't notice much wobble, perhaps the software actually corrects for that, to a certain degree. I would have to actually test the camera to see if that is the case. So it does seem to do a better job than the K-3. It seems to, occasionally, do the "overshoot" thing when panning. Not sure if it is better or worse than the K-5, but at least this suggests that it stabilizes immediately, based on sensor data rather than image analysis (which is what the Pentaxes do, and which IMHO isn't as good as it can be easily confused and lead to ugly results). However it's still unuseable due to the random stationary motion blur... and there is no way electronic IS can fix that, unless they do the de-shaking that is in Photoshop CC 25 to 50 times a second in the camera. Not going to happen anytime soon I suppose.


Though it would be very interesting if we could have that for stills... maybe to give the camera an extra boost? i.e. the mechanical IS will fix it as good as possible, and the software can then use the sensor data, substract what the SR system could remove already and do the rest in software! It'd crop depending on how much more you've shaken the camera, but that is probably better than a blurry photo. Imagine handheld tele shots at 1/10 By using the actual movement data recorded by the camera this could work much better than something like Photoshop... and perhaps be rather trivial).



What else... the a57 seems to apply quite a bit of sharpening, which does make it look quite video-like (as opposed to the rather film-like K-5). Not sure if you can fix this in the settings. The built in microphone is much better than what we have in the K-5. Video AF is ridiculously fast, and spot on (on whatever the camera thinks should be in focus ). One problem is that there are only a couple of PDAF sensors, so if the object you're tracking is moving out of the sensor coverage it will focus on something else. Also, the AF motor is being moved too fast. It's too noticeable.

Btw. I followed a small dog today with my K-5, just the K-5 being held closely above the ground, no stabilization apart from the built in SR. Sometimes I was moving quite fast. The video looks pretty good. I keep getting impressed by what the K-5 can do, if you manage to keep the range of movement small. Many quick and small movements/jerks it will perfectly stabilize.

---

Last edited by kadajawi; 12-25-2013 at 08:17 AM.

[grispie]

Ok, so I've had the chance to see more real life Sony alpha 57 footage.

Have you had a chance to play with the avchd files in post? I wonder if you consider it to be easier in grading than H264? If any different...
And in comparison to the GH series? (disregarding SR, AF,... just IQ-wise)

I'm asking because I bought an A77 (basically the same as A57 for video) before the K3 came out. Now, with a K3, a k01 and an A77, I feel tempted to sell the A77, now that it still has value..

[kadajawi]

Have you had a chance to play with the avchd files in post? I wonder if you consider it to be easier in grading than H264? If any different...
And in comparison to the GH series? (disregarding SR, AF,... just IQ-wise)

I'm asking because I bought an A77 (basically the same as A57 for video) before the K3 came out. Now, with a K3, a k01 and an A77, I feel tempted to sell the A77, now that it still has value..

I think you are in a better position to make a fair comparison between the K-3 and A77. Haven't tried anything in post yet, I must admit that I'm a bit confused by all the software... if only I could use the Lightroom controls for video


Isn't AVCHD basically h264 with certain fixed specifications (like only - for 1080 - allowing 24p, 50i and 60i) and a MPEG2 or so container? It doesn't use the now available higher bit depth h264 settings like Hi10P (which would probably help a lot in grading, IF the camera feeds the encoder 10 bit data).

[grispie]

I think you are in a better position to make a fair comparison between the K-3 and A77

theoretically I am, but the jury is still out there :-). I think the A77 is a good tool for handheld documentary work but it is fairly big & heavy. Especially with the 16-50 f2 lens.

Isn't AVCHD basically h264

I think it is, but unsure...

[kadajawi]

theoretically I am, but the jury is still out there :-). I think the A77 is a good tool for handheld documentary work but it is fairly big & heavy. Especially with the 16-50 f2 lens.

I think it is, but unsure...

Hm. The a57 SR system isn't good enough to be actually useful for anything but home videos... if at all. At least that's my impression... I didn't shoot the footage I've watched. If you do handheld stuff, to me there is only one camera. The K-5. I don't see the lack of manual exposure control as such a big issue... the AE-L button works well as a work around, and you can always (when not recording) change the aperture. And there seems to be a workaround that actually does let you set things such as shutter speed... though I haven't tried it. Thanks to the SR it is the IMHO best camera for video when you have to shoot without additional gear (ok, sound is an issue).

[TomGarn]

About shutter-speed / ISO pseudo controle on K-7 or 5

I have tried that too - if I got that text right - some weird stuff !
It didn't work at all - for me - and I think it's just pure bullshit ...
Nobody else but the author got it - must be some magic believe only.

I am ready to accept that auto-ISO for some time - but will need ND filters in the summer !
to prevent that shutter automatism to stutter on such extreme speed ... Maybe my polarizing
filter helps too - I guess it takes 2 f-stops away - did not try exactly yet ...
The results of the K-3 IQ just don't make me wanna have it ...

[jogiba]

I think you are in a better position to make a fair comparison between the K-3 and A77. Haven't tried anything in post yet, I must admit that I'm a bit confused by all the software... if only I could use the Lightroom controls for video


Isn't AVCHD basically h264 with certain fixed specifications (like only - for 1080 - allowing 24p, 50i and 60i) and a MPEG2 or so container? It doesn't use the now available higher bit depth h264 settings like Hi10P (which would probably help a lot in grading, IF the camera feeds the encoder 10 bit data).

AVCHD 2.0 expands to include 1080 50p and 60p: Digital Photography Review
AVCHD INFORMATION WEB SITE

[konquerian]

Does anyone know if the k3 has the feature for us to adjust aperture during video recording?

[grispie]

Does anyone know if the k3 has the feature for us to adjust aperture during video recording?

yes.

and it is for the first time i noticed a message needs to be 5 characters.. -