I gave in to the darkside. :) Mine arrives next week.

@jazzroy Well, you can compare whether you see more detail in the highlights and shadows (though there could certainly also be differences between the amount of contrast/brightness when recording internally vs outputting to hdmi). You could also bring them into your NLE and try pushing curves on the files pretty hard to see if one breaks down more than the other.

If you can't discern a difference between 8-bit and 10-bit files of the same scene, then are you absolutely certain that 10-bit matters to you that much?

You can see more detail in the keyboard keys because they are not blown out in the prores file and they are blown out in the h.264 file. They are blown out in the internal h.264 file. Similarly, I can see more stuff in the shadows in the prores file. It could be encoder or hdmi output differences or it could be 10-bit. I dunno. I'm more interested in how much dynamic range the footage has (and how much I can push it using curves) than I am interested in how many bits that it has.

What sort of test would actually help you? You've now been given a 10-bit file from outdoors (from markr041) and two files recorded simultaneously indoors in a scene with some very bright and very dark areas (from me). Along with that and the numerous other clips that have been posted, you should have sufficient data now to determine whether the camera would meet your needs. I'm willing to do one more comparison test of internal vs external for you, but you will need to be specific.

Otherwise, just order the camera and give it a try for yourself. I think B&H have a fairly reasonable return policy if you find it is insufficient.

Hey guys. Thanks for recording that. I'm on phone at the moment and don't have enough to download it. But some observations.

The guy who started imagine vision and did did this camera used to head up ambarella's Chinese engineering division for some years. So if anybody would know if you can get the HDMI to output better, he should be over of them.

Observation two, even pre HDMI 2 they could get HDMI 1.4 etc on gpu cards to take HDMI 2 modes which fit in the lesser data rates by passing the signals HDMI 2 signals on it. So even uhd p60 4:2:0 was doable. So, a good 4kp24/25 mode should fit. It's a matter of how tied down (or hard wired) ambarella or the camera has made HDMI here.

They were selling a smaller cinema camera in China, the C1 l, which some stockist still advertise for sale. There was to be a C1 R RAW version for $599, which I wanted to buy, but it disappeared. Interesting. The C1 was the externally recordable versions. Which might be why this one was not promoting such, but also might indicate the chip in this can do up to 4kp30 HDMI) the chip and firmware may not be the ultimate limiting factor in the camera though. Who knows what's hardwired inbetween the port and the chip (probably HDMI interface circuitry). However, surely with the absence of c1 and c1r, they should try to reprogram these to fill the gap?

H264 4k at 60mb/s is not too much, you can expect culling of image levels. 4:2:2 fhd can deliver more image level and different detail from the downscaling accuracy of oversampling per fullhd pixel. But if this is really uncompressed, it does indicate a really excellent choice to be used with BM video assistant, if the can make HDMI stable etc. A lot of people, still prefer fullhd. So, looking for additional broad white and broad black levels, ignoring details for the moment, is worth doing. Or downloading a dynamic range chart and setting it up locked down. You should see additional dynamic range in the broad tiles from extra bits, and maybe more noise.

But, what is needed is cheap high quality HDMI recording options. Does anybody know any? The VA looks expensive and a screen is not needed for many cameras (unless monitoring). $100 should doable.

Now that ProRes raw is available, I wonder if ambarella might do some chip with it. They supply to camera companies and technology to the professional market (which is hidden often in manufacturers chips).

Well being an 'enhancement' site I thought making something better of this might suite people better. You certainly can out do the BMPC in ways with the right setup. But if 4K can happen, it leaves the PC behind.

Wrote to one of them.

When I write to people, the quality of their answer affects if I write to them again, or buy their product, or recommend their product, or recommend against it.

The E1 uses an early 4k chipset, I don't see you getting much out of it. Definitely.not as much as the yi 4k+ does.

Nothing you have said, short of possible physical impossibility, is a reason it can't be done. If it is possible, it is likely a simple firmware update. But there could even be licensed obligations preventing it. So, let them bring it on, and we'll see if it's in there.

Z CAM E1 - NAB To Be or Not To Be!

1. Shakespeare - To Be or Not to Be
2. US Army motto - Be All You can Be
3. Z Cam CEO on the E1 - "It is what it is" ( see PV NAB interview with Z-Cam at 3:30 )
4. Person who can't afford RED Dragon, Kinefinity MAVO, BMPCC4K - The E1 should be what it isn't! NOW :)

P.S. On a related note, Detroit Auto Show Keynote by Elon Musk : How to turn your Honda Civic into a Electric Lambourghini!

@eatstoomuchjam. Why be so glum? Do you have any proof, and without investigation you can't conclude. It doesn't need a high end hdmi chip to output 4kp50 4:2:0, only that a 1.3/4 circuit can be setup to do so (as done before). They can and have even been programmed to pass RAW bayer data. Again, this is a hack forum isn't it. Do people say that a camera isn't meant to be hacked, therefore don't try? The point is not wherever or not an E1 can, the point is to find out if it can be improved.

Tilting at windmills is a term that can be applied to those with no proof who insist they know negatively. Unless such a person is prepared to prove something is actually impossible, is there any point denying the possibility. It isn't scientific.

There's been some confusion - I think that some people from here (maybe Mark?) were saying that the E1 uses the same sensor as the GH4. It doesn't - just one with similar specs.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/zcame2/permalink/217029022361384/

I can find no option on my camera for that either. If you have the camera in Av/Tv mode and use Auto ISO, in my experience, they look pretty much the same, at least. You may want to request the feature on one of their facebook groups - they actually seem to pay some attention there and they've mentioned another firmware upgrade coming in the future (though I'd imagine that's mostly on hold since most of their engineers are probably focused on the E2)

This is a new recent review of the Z Cam E1, and he is quite positive about it:

@eatstoomuchjam Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by Av/Tv mode? ///where can you find that?

Are just calling the general 'picture' mode Av/Tv mode?