Sanlitun, Beijing – shot on a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera and graded with Filmconvert from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

There are three different new Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera tests and all three reported Sensor Blooming and White Orbs issues.

Newsshooter reports

Overall I found the results to be quite pleasing but marred by the presence of a ‘black dot’ issue from point light sources. These can be clearly seen in several frames of the video. I had encountered this before on the larger BMCC but was disappointed to see it on this camera too. Whilst this can be removed fairly easily in cinema post-production (harder if the object is moving), it makes life difficult for real world shooters on tight deadlines – who might have been hoping to use this camera for its stealth factor.

Also present are ‘white orbs’ which other early testers have reported. When the image has a bright specular highlight it is turned into a rather unpleasing white blob. This was less visible at night but still in several frames if you look for it. It was far more evident in the daytime shots from yesterday.

Also Personal View and Slashcam (German) tested the camera and found the same issue. It looks like this isn’t a Software issue…it could be Hardware :(

The following article is a guest post by Damian McGillicuddy. Reminder: You can write articles for 43rumors by sending text and images at 43rumors@gmail.com. Thanks!
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Whitby Goth Weekender

by Damian McGillicuddy

It was a real privilege for me to “kick off” the new experience days for Olympus and the Olympus user magazine. The first one found me in Yorkshire at the Whitby Goth weekend!
Whitby is a beautiful seaside village that twice a year sheds its pleasant seaside image and becomes a mecca, for goths, steam punks and all-sorts of assorted fantasy wardrobe adventures! In truth though I didn’t know just how popular the event would be and Whitbys beautiful, cobbled, narrow streets seemed at times to be very near bursting at the seams.
One of the big advantages of my OM-D kit is its compact and logistically friendly form factor, this meant that two small Clik Elite backpacks carried everything Steve (my assistant) and I needed to have a SIX light studio with us.
As is often the case in my world once we’d got to our location and saw the intel on the ground, so to speak, are plans had to change. The challenge with the goth weekend was simply the crowds and lack of space!
So not to infringe on the other visitors to wonderful Whitby this meant we had to abandon our usual approach and par down our kit even further. There was no way we would get my 36” multi modifier through the crowds and I was conscious that I didn’t want to accidentally knock off one of the steam punks top hats, my day would have been cut short quick if that had happened, and I may have even faced the scary thought of looking down the multi barrels of Professor Joshua Caruthers coal powered gattling cannon!!!
Seriously, it meant that my modifier of choice became the “Classic” award winning McGillicuddy 19” collapsable beauty dish. I know lots of people like to use bare speedlights and their is a place for this, I personally prefer to have a smoother transition between shadow and highlight that is easily achievable with the right modifier. The dish marries up to lots of light sources but my illumination for these images came curtesy of Olympus FL50r speedlights, these are may favorites for simplicity of use. The speedlights were triggered by the very stylish and superbly performing flashwave 3 radio triggers.
The camera was obviously my beloved OM-D EM-5 and the lens was chosen dependent on the effect I needed to create for the shot, cropping compression etc.
My main aim for this Olympus “Experience” day was to share some of my techniques with the delegates and show them that minimum kit is capable of oh so much more than most “experts” suggest – most importantly the mission was to bring the fun back into photography.
A good image has many facets to its success beyond camera craft and lighting technique, composition, subject direction and styling are key. Now before you all shout out “Its ok for you with your creative team and huge budgets”, lets get the facts straight. Yes I have an assistant but as an amputee I’d have a “work buddy” whatever my profession and as for big budget my MUA / stylist put our Victorian adventurer look together for the princely sum of £44.99 from a charity shop… my advice always look for the opportunities and no problem becomes insurmountable.
Ok so here we go, the bit you all really want to know…

How was it done:

This was from the set just before we broke for lunch… yep the brightest part of the day! On a commercial shoot I’d probably choose not to shoot at this time of day but as I had 10 eager delegates in tow it would have been churlish not to.
I used the location to my advantage and selected the lobster pots as interesting background texture. there was also enough space to stand Mischkah away from the background to help with isolating her as my focal point. This also meant I’d be able to drop the background slightly out of focus If I could use a longish lens. This was shot on the 45mm f1.8 – a 90mm equivalent in full frame terms.
The ambient illumination measured F5.6 and 6 1/10ths so I knew that if I positioned the subject so the sun was the “key” light I only needed about 3/4+ of a stop of artificial flash light to control the direction and shadow on the subjects face.

I had Steve remove the outer diffuser or “sock” from my beauty dish and tape a CTO (colour temperature orange) gel over the flash tube – but more of this later.
As you can see from my behind the scenes image, Steve used one of our Manfrotto baby lightweight stands to boom the dish out and above the subject to create the direction of light needed, removing the sock ups the contrast in the light giving a crisper image and making it a little more “sun” like.
To stand Mischkah off the background further I introduced two additional FL50r’s into the image and used them as accent lights to separate her and “carve” her out from the background. The accent light to camera left ran two stops above the key and the speedlight to camera right just the one.
Ok so what about the CTO ( this stands for Colour Temperature Orange) mentioned earlier. By fitting this in front of the key lights flash tube we turn it into a tungsten balanced light source, ie its a warm orange in colour when shot at a daylight balanced 5600 degrees kelvin. Now here is the interesting bit. If we manipulate the cameras white balance to believe it is shooting a tungsten light source, in other words to neutralise the orange colour, the day light and the daylight balanced flash take on a cooler, bluer, ethereal glow… this is one of my favorite tricks to add impact. The effect can be dialed up and down as the colour of the light, the degrees Kelvin, is altered on the camera. Its a very effective trick!
The image was captured at 200th of a second at f9 with the custom white balance temperature set to 3200 degrees kelvin – I shot in the square crop mode so I could maximise every pixel within the composition
What about post? Simple really – apart from clearing skin and ridding the image of stray hairs, I tend to do as little as possible. Please don’t get me wrong every image requires a little bit of post but I’m a photographer not a digital artist so I like to get as much done in camera as possible. Most of the work is done for me by gelling the lights and manipulating the cameras white balance. In Aperture I did a little dodge and burn then desaturated the image. I then added a very slight blur vignette and my favorite OnOne filter – edges to black.
Thats it, lots of impact for very little effort.
The second image I’ve chosen to highlight tells exactly the same story again, but from a slightly different perspective. In a strange way this photography is a little like Mexican food – a burrito is essentially the same as a fajita… just wrapped differently. So in this instance I’m using the same kit in essentially the same way… lets highlight the subtle differences for you. The outer sock diffuser is now back on the front of the 19” dish – this will soften the contrast of the light, giving a less crisp line between shadow and highlight. The “Key” light is also back to emitting daylight balanced flash as the CTO has also been removed. Its positioned to camera left and feathered to give a loop pattern to my light.
The CTO is still being used in the image however. Its now on our second FL50r that we are using as an accent light to create further separation – the orange colour just adds a further dimension. You can see from my behind the scenes image we approached this in a real down and dirty style forsaking the usual lighting stand for a more attractive model! This light is set at one stop over the key. Thats generally a good place to start then increase or decrease the power for effect.
I’m finding the OM-D to be a really helpful creative tool. The image was shot in the camera as a 16:9 ratio and to give myself a little creative edge I used the art filter “pin hole” to capture 80% the look straight in camera… every little helps in the creative pro’s day ;0)

So what about post?

Usual post applies but this one again had a tiny tweak of desaturation and a touch of “Edges to black” curtesy of OnOnes perfect photo suite 7.
I’ve got to say I had an absolute blast and was delighted with not only the results captured on the day but the fantastic company and enthusiasm of the delegates. There are lots more olympus days planned you can keep up with my news at www.damianmcgillicuddy.com or check out the latest in “Wow” or “Experience” days by going HERE
To me this is both evolution and revolution… I LOVE shooting with the OM-D and I look forward to sharing the details of my next shoot with you in due course.
ttfn
McGillicuddy

Image courtesy: Digitalcamerainfo

Digitalcamerainfo (Click here) posted the full Panasonic GX7 review and writes:

In many ways, this is the camera that Olympus should have made instead of the E-P5. While the E-P5 is a fantastic performer, you’d have to buy the $1,499 kit in order to match the GX7 spec-for-spec. The GX7 is a terrific camera.

The camera earned an overall score of 9.8/10 points. Impressive!

One more thing: Panasonic (Click here) issued a new firmware update for the GF6 and G6. Just a fix with Apple connection.

GX7 preorder list (Click on store name to open the GX7 price, specs and preorder page):
Silver GX7 body at Amazon US, BHphoto, Adorama, Samys, Wex Deutschland, Wex UK , Amazon JP.
Silver GX7 with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Samys, Henrys, Wex Deutschland, WexUK, Amazon UK.
Black GX7 body at Henrys, Wex Deutschland, Wex UK, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan.
Black GX7 with 14-42mm lens at Henrys, Wex Deutschland, Wex UK, Amazon UK.
Black GX7 with 20mm lens at Henrys, Wex UK, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan.
Silver GX7 with 20mm lens at Henrys, Wex UK, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan.

Notkon lens test by Steve Huff.

The new Nokton 42,5mm is finally shipping in USA too at BHphoto (Click here). And there are new reviews to check out if you want to know more about the lens performance. On top I have embedded the video from Steve HUff. But there is also a review at Henrysnote (Click here), Mapcamera (Japanese) and Xitek (Chinese).

A great lens…what’s coming next from Voigtlander? A 75mm f/0.95? :)

Magnum Photographer Thomas Dworzak tested the GX7 and you can see him in this video I embedded on top. Not as famous as Thomas but still enjoyable to watch if you speak German, there is a presentation video at SystemKamerForum on Youtube.

More GX7 bits: GX7 presentation in Japan at DC.watch. Image samples at Focus Numerique. And Spanish test by DSLRmagazine.

GX7 preorder list (Click on store name to open the GX7 price, specs and preorder page):
Silver GX7 body at Amazon US, BHphoto, Adorama, Samys, Wex Deutschland, Wex UK , Amazon JP.
Silver GX7 with 14-42mm lens at Amazon, BHphoto, Adorama, Samys, Henrys, Wex Deutschland, WexUK, Amazon UK.
Black GX7 body at Henrys, Wex Deutschland, Wex UK, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan.
Black GX7 with 14-42mm lens at Henrys, Wex Deutschland, Wex UK, Amazon UK.
Black GX7 with 20mm lens at Henrys, Wex UK, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan.
Silver GX7 with 20mm lens at Henrys, Wex UK, Amazon UK, Amazon Japan.

Image courtesy DSLRmagazine.

DSLRmagazine (google translation here) compared the new GX7 vs the E-M5. The tester writes that he expected a better result from the newer GX7 sensor. The image quality is more or less on par, the E-M5 has a better saturation and clarity, and the GX7 looks a tiny bit better at High ISO settings. They also discovered that the sensor size seems to be slightly different between the two cameras. The GX7 is a tiny bit more wide angle compared with the E-M5 (same lens used). Here is the GIF that proves it:

Do you know guys why it is so?

copyright of Andre Arthur.

……..

This is a guest post from Andre Arthur. If you want to write an article for 43rumors just contact me (Ale) at 43rumors@gmail.com. Thanks!

All images on this post are under copyright of Andre Arthur. Credits:
Fashion Editorial for The Gallerist / http://www.gallerist.com.br
Photography: Andre Arthur / http://andre-arthur.com
Model: Carolina Thelin / Women Management NYC
Styling: Mari Cassou
Hair & Make Up: Emma Jean

——

Hi! Here`s my story shooting with the OM-D.

My name`s Andre Arthur and I`m a brazilian fashion photographer. My main gear is a Canon 5D Mark III with a 24-70 II and a 70-200 II. But I always loved the M 4/3 system. My first camera of this system was a Panasonic GF1, with a 20mm and a 14-45. That was something that I used most for casting and location scout, but never for something really big.

When I went to NYC last year, I`ve changed my M43 gear for an [shoplink 29074]Olympus OM-D[/shoplink], with a [shoplink 23110]25 PannyLeica[/shoplink] and a [shoplink 34914]17 Oly[/shoplink] and [shoplink 23577]45 Oly[/shoplink].

On the beginning of this year, on April, I went back to NYC to shoot a fashion editorial. Well, I had no photo assistant and I must shoot a lot of looks. So I decided not to take my Canon gear, but the Olympus one. That was when I realised how powerful is that big little camera.

FIRST OF ALL, IT`S FAST.

I used to shoot a lot of continuous shots, with the girl walking and crossing the streets. That was amazing how fast and accurate the OM-D could be.

IT`S NOT HEAVY, SO YOU DON`T GET TIRED

As I wasn`t with a photo assistant, I had to carry my laptop and all my Olympus gear. So I bought an ONA Bag called The Bovery at B&H. It`s a messenger bag, with a shoulder strap, that`s light and divided inside. Using that bag, I could change lenses and carry batteries and memory cards without the help of a photo assistant. My laptop was inside a backpack.

FOCUS

Even using the widest apertures, focus was accurate. I could completely trust on my camera and worry with the composition and not with the focus.

Gallerist A/W 13 from Andre Arthur on Vimeo.

VIDEO

While I was shooting, I made a fashion film. So I was using a small Manfrotto Shoulder to shoot this movie clips. That was amazing and video quality really surprised me.

LOW LIGHT PERFORMANCE AND HIGH ISO

For this editorial, I shot a LOT of night shots. I was really afraid of how the focus would be. Well…again, highly accurate. ISO is amazing until 800. 1600 is extremely usable. As I was using a lot of prime lenses, I didn`t have to shoot with ISO higher than 800.

LENSES

One of the great reasons to buy a OM-D are the lenses. I really don`t like the zoom. But the primes are a joy to use. Light, clear, beautiful. I even think that images created by those lenses are better than the prime lenses from Canon.

APPEARANCE AND LAYOUT

Well…that`s something important for me. I bought the silver OM-D, because I really wanted it to not look like a professional camera, but a vintage one. That`s better for me, because I shot a lot of street photograph. People who look at my camera, just don`t realize that I`m doing something really important. And that`s great, because I can take photos anywhere. Police, robbers and civilians just don`t give a damn for you, when you`ve got an OM-D in hands.

About the buttons layout, I`ve got big hands. Sometimes my fingers pushed the wrong button, but that`s something I can live with. And I really think the next OM-D will have a better layout. I really think it can get a bit little bigger. I don`t want to buy a Battery Grip.

BATTERIES

I have two batteries. One is not enough for an all-day shooting. The perfect environment is to have three of them. But two can get you there.

COMPARING WITH THE FUJI X-PRO 1

I used a X-Pro 1 for a moment. For me, it`s a slow camera with a weird appearance. It`s lighter than it should be, looks like a plastic camera. Image is great, but it`s not a pleasure to shoot with. M 4/3 lenses are way better.

WHAT I DO EXPECT FOR THE NEW OM-D

– A slightly bigger camera
– 20+ megapixels
– Better buttons layout
– Better viewfinder (like the EV-4)

CONCLUSION

Me and the client just loved the result. I could worry only about the photography itself. With the 5D Mark III, I don`t think I could do this job without at least one photo assistant. And even if I had one, I probably would not be able to explore nice angles all the time. And the most important, I wouldn`t be able to shoot the video.

Andre Arthur Photography & Fashion Films
+ 55 11 983 514 000
Sao Paulo, Brazil
http://andre-arthur.com
contato@andre-arthur.com
http://vimeo.com/andrearthur
http://www.facebook.com/AndreArthurPhoto