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Z-CAM E2 camera is coming with 4K at 120fps
  • 336 Replies sorted by
  • FirworksFirworks

    Yeah I was not surprised by their response just sort of noting it down here before probably postings of "I wonder if Z Cam will add BRAW".

    Also I've been wondering the same thing. If maybe BMRaw is going to be easy for BMD to add because their digital side is an FPGA instead of a purpose built LSI. Other manufacutrers will have to build that in from the start of their ASIC development and then it'll be a long time before we could even see it (if we ever see it from other manufactureres that is). Then there's also a risk in adding that hardware in the event that let's say, BMD loses a lawsuit with RED and suddenly gets an injunction against BMRaw and then other camera manufacturers bodies are caught up in that mess.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @Firworks

    Then there's also a risk in adding that hardware in the event that let's say, BMD loses a lawsuit with RED and suddenly gets an injunction against BMRaw and then other camera manufacturers bodies are caught up in that mess.

    No BRaw had been possible without some private agreement with Red. But content of this agreement...

    I fear we won't like the consequences.

  • perderperder

    So, I've seen people saying bitrate is 1.6gbps (~200MB/s), but the specs on the website says 230/200 Mbps (bits, not bytes). So which is correct and which is wrong? 230Mbits/s is more likely, no?

  • perderperder

    Man, where is the hype for this camera? Literally started arriving on people's doorstep late last week, and I can't find a single peep about it anywhere except on the closed Facebook page. I guess they don't have a marketing dept... Any pv-users order one?

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @perder

    I'll try to ask Z-CAM about this :-)

  • perderperder

    @Vitaliy_Kiselev I saw on the Facebook page that prores is coming, just pending license approval, so I guess there will be a few updates on bitrates and formats in the coming days/weeks, but then at least the early speculation that you'd only get the insanely high bitrates seem to be wrong

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    My order got stuck in customs for a few days, but it cleared today. Supposedly it will be arriving by around 10:30 am tomorrow.

    As far as where the hype is, z-cam is a small company without a big marketing department. It seems unlikely that they will be flying youtubers with 100k+ subscribers to Hawaii to try out their camera. From the responses to my post complaining about the customs headache, it seems like nearly everybody in the US had to fill out paperwork to get their camera through customs. Also, the camera is not done yet - the only orders which are shipping are for the folks who took a chance on "early bird." On the facebook group, people are complaining that autofocus (and in some cases, manual focus) doesn't work on their lenses. The iPhone app is also not done.

    I will put it through its paces, though, and put together at least a short-form review. I'm excited - the footage I've seen so far looks really nice - a whole lot better than the E1.

  • perderperder

    Sounds good, looking forward to it!

  • konjowkonjow

    +1 @eatstoomuchjam

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @eatstoomuchjam

    I'll be nice to make small video preview for PV channel.

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    Mine has arrived - so far, I've seen some what may be some small bugs, but the usability is a lot better than the older camera. The picture looks really nice on my external screen. It could still use some dials and some more buttons, but so far, it seems "good enough" and changing basic exposure settings hasn't been a headache. I'll go out and shoot some stuff after work this afternoon (I also have a c.fast card on order since that'll come in useful for actually recording anything).

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    Some quick testing after work shows the camera seems to be compatible with all of my lenses except for the Olympus Pro zooms and the Olympus EZ power zoom lens - and the Panasonic 7-14/4 has all sorts of ugly purple streaks in the image, presumably due to a lack of software correction for its faults.

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    I only had a little time to shoot tonight, but I'm impressed by the WDR mode so far. The 120fps VFR mode is also pretty solid.

  • DrDaveDrDave

    Looks good. Waiting now for the big price drop.

  • davedvdavedv

    @eatstoomuchjam Thanks for taking the time to shoot some sample footage. Would it be possible to upload some original clips out of the camera somewhere?

    There seems to be quite a bit of noticeable compression in the 35-100mm 120fps shots, but I'm not sure if this is from the camera or from YouTube's re-encoding.

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    @davedv Sure. I can upload some clips somewhere today or tomorrow. The footage definitely looks better straight out of camera than on youtube. :)

  • MckiniseMckinise

    How is the motion compared to the gh5?

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    @Mckinise

    I heard that due to E2 being tight little brick time is moving slowly around it.

  • IronFilmIronFilm

    Looks good. Waiting now for the big price drop.

    How big and how soon would a price drop have to be for you to buy?

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    After some more in-depth use yesterday, I can say that when some of the autofocus tracking issues are resolved (as well as some other bugs), this camera is a real contender for the GH5s and similar. I really enjoyed shooting with it and the footage looks pretty darned good.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

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  • DrDaveDrDave

    @IronFilm priced comparable to the BlackMagic, I think. I also think 4K cameras are overpriced right now, except the G85 which is reasonable. If there is an inventory oversupply, steep cuts usually show up after Xmas/Festivus/YourHolidayHere.
    I did eventually score my ax100 for $950, basically a 50 percent drop, but man that cam took a long time to drop in price.

  • IronFilmIronFilm

    Indeed if it dropped down to BMPCC4K pricing then I'd be very seriously considering it.

  • eatstoomuchjameatstoomuchjam

    I'm likely to keep mine (and also probably buy/try a BMPCC4K), but I'd also wait to see how the firmware evolves. The current version still has some issues - in particular, compatibility with Olympus Pro lenses.

  • jleojleo

    NEW LISTING on Dr Who's TARDIS Tech Deals:

    BHphotovideo Z CAM E2 only $249.00 starting October 31, 2022! :)

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