[kadajawi]

Couple of K5 samples wouldn't hurt!
I haven't been able to get my hands on a K5 to play with, lack of full manual control would drive me nuts, same as the pre-1.03 K-01 firmware did.

I'll try to shoot you something with high dynamic range so you can look at the waveforms.

[PiDicus Rex]

PM'd you a dropbox folder link Kadajawi

[Steve.Ledger]

I'd like the sample too please. Can you just post a link?

[bmesc]

Really want to thank everyone for all the responses. Learned a lot and have a lot to think about. Thanks!

[Leonid_Krainov]

Maybe it's just my opinion, but I believe that the camera is not designed for video. If you want video in normal quality and no problems with the conversion - buy a video camera.

[kadajawi]

I've recorded a couple of videos these few days, will have to look through to see if I can find some nice samples. Not sure when I can upload them though, cause they are really big (80 Mbps...) and right now I don't really have internet.


@Leonid: Video cameras are convenient, but they usually come with sensors that make the ones in smartphones look big. So depth of field is huge. Low light sensitivity is relatively poor, dynamic range is poor. Certainly no competition to a good DSLR. Plus you get that shallow DoF if you want it. Of course if you are willing to spend more... and I'm thinking of at least 645Z money, you'll be able to find video cameras that have APS-C sensors. They lack AF etc., but will take beautiful video, that might even surpass DSLRs and mirrorless cameras (really depends on what you compare with). In terms of handling they win of course.


You're right though that these DSLRs and mirrorless cameras are (for the most part) not designed for video. They are however still great tools. Imagine a lorry. Not really designed to transport people, but if you don't mind a bit of discomfort, you'll be able to transport MANY people with it. It does the job really well, better than cars (that were designed to transport people in the first place).

[Steve.Ledger]

@Leonid: They are designed to take photos. Video is also photos, 24 or 30 of them per second.

[grispie]

If you want video in normal quality and no problems with the conversion - buy a video camera.

Here is a challenge for you. Please find me a video camera with a super 35 (apsc size) video camera for the price of a K3.

[Steve.Ledger]

BTW: Who is having problems with 'conversion' of the .MOV files created by all recent Pentax VDSLRs?? (And what are you converting for and to?)
Not me that's for sure.

[PiDicus Rex]

Here is a challenge for you. Please find me a video camera with a super 35 (apsc size) video camera for the price of a K3.

Sony's CX900 comes close, but the cheapest interchangeable lens unit is probably the NEX-VG30, it's more the double the price of a K3 with Kit Lens. (B&H prices,..)

BTW: Who is having problems with 'conversion' of the .MOV files created by all recent Pentax VDSLRs?? (And what are you converting for and to?) Not me that's for sure.

Nope, no problems, but I do use Edius

[PiDicus Rex]

Right, oh,...
So our dear friend Kadajawi has uploaded a couple of samples to one of my dropbox folders, which, assuming I've done this right, should allow me to share the folder here,...

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/maqeyb0h6u3srku/AAB_iy63_7TzmpdMpGe7JpjXa?dl=0

Here should be a still frame from one of the video, where the video has very dark and very bright elements.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/bzisqjfet6sqwo7/K5%20Cat%2001a.jpg?dl=0
And the waveform of that frame.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/04pxk8sjgo4l5je/K5%20Cat%2001b.jpg?dl=0

When you look at the waveform, note that it's not clipped at 0 or 100 IRE, but is instead clipped at around -5 and +110
To my eyes, it's showing me that the K5 actually clips a little sooner then the K-01 does.
(I'll have to put up a sample of that.)

Now, with a 2 minute fiddle about with the YUV Curves colour correction tool, I turned the kitty to this, with the corresponding new waveform.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kup4zleibn0mffw/K5%20Cat%2002a.jpg?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/i7vbyejz68dy1dw/K5%20Cat%2002b.jpg?dl=0

So, even in severely clipped footage, the K5 is still recording information, even though the NLE, and any viewing screen, will not be showing that information at just all, just a white/overexposed area, or all black/underexposed area.

In comparison, in it's 'Film' gamma curve move, and BMD Cine or Pocket Cine camera, will be hitting that had clip at about 20 and 75, but it is designed to have it's footage stretched out to 0 and 100 IRE, whereas our footage needs to be compressed back to 'safe video' levels.
The real difference that matters to me, and especially compared to other DSLR type cameras, is that the Pentax's are encoding information in areas that appear clipped, and not just throwing that data away.

If they only had a high enough data rate (min 45Mbit/s ) to take advantage of all that data properly,.... and a HDMI Clean Feed 1080p 422 or 444 output that could be hooked up to a Shogun or Samurai recorder,...

[Steve.Ledger]

If they only had a high enough data rate (min 45Mbit/s ) to take advantage of all that data properly,....

According to MediaInfo application the clip of the cat by the window is 44.9M/bits video.
The clip of the cat laying down is 52.3M/bits

General
Complete name : C:\Users\Steve\Desktop\IMGP0402.AVI
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 276 MiB
Duration : 51s 0ms
Overall bit rate : 45.4 Mbps
Mastered date : 2014/12/28 17:51:46
Writing application : PENTAX K-5

Video
ID : 0
Format : JPEG
Codec ID : MJPG
Duration : 51s 0ms
Bit rate : 44.9 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.866
Stream size : 273 MiB (99%)

Audio
ID : 1
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Signed
Codec ID : 1
Duration : 51s 0ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 512 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Sampling rate : 32.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 3.11 MiB (1%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 1000 ms (25.00 video frames)
Interleave, preload duration : 1000 ms

General
Complete name : C:\Users\Steve\Desktop\IMGP0415.AVI
Format : AVI
Format/Info : Audio Video Interleave
File size : 69.3 MiB
Duration : 11s 0ms
Overall bit rate : 52.9 Mbps
Mastered date : 2014/12/28 18:04:00
Writing application : PENTAX K-5

Video
ID : 0
Format : JPEG
Codec ID : MJPG
Duration : 11s 0ms
Bit rate : 52.3 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 1.010
Stream size : 68.6 MiB (99%)

Audio
ID : 1
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Signed
Codec ID : 1
Duration : 11s 0ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 512 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Sampling rate : 32.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Stream size : 688 KiB (1%)
Alignment : Aligned on interleaves
Interleave, duration : 1000 ms (25.00 video frames)
Interleave, preload duration : 1000 ms

► https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo

[kadajawi]

Thanks for the analysis. The settings are btw. 3 stars (I believe), i.e. 80 Mbps on average (but that can vary widely depending on what the scene demands).

Muted profile with saturation at -2, hue 0, high low key 0, contrast -4, contrast high and shadow 0 and sharpness -4. So I am already trying to get as much DR out of it as possible (not found of the other settings that can increase the DR... They make it very crucial to get exposure right, and you should have enough light).

I've recorded a couple more videos that I shall upload these days. Some low light stuff, some SR stuff...

[jimr-pdx]

If you want AF video I suggest a Samsung nx300 body, their 30 f2 pancake.. and a k adapter . I think Pentax is waiting for on-sensor PDAF before video AF will happen.

[PiDicus Rex]

I'm looking forward to seeing those SR enabled clips

I noted the data rate too, and it's pretty clear from what I'm seeing that the Mjpeg was definitely superior to Pentax's implementation of Mpeg4