Kinefinity has just realeased a major update for their Terra cinema cameras. The KineOS 6 update brings a completely overhauled user interface (UI) and a lot of new features, although surprisingly many of those are only available for the Terra 4K, not the 6K. You can download KineOS 6 for Kinefinity Terra 4K and Terra 6K right now as a free update. Both cameras will benefit from an upgraded UI but only the Terra 4K will get the whole package of new and improved (technical) features. Read all about these cameras here. Kinefinity KineOS 6 Update The layout of key parameters has been revamped in order to achieve a cleaner look and feel without having to search for the most frequent settings all the time. Here’s a list of all the new and improved UI fetaures: Interface redesigned: New layout of key parameters such as clip name, timecode and codec format. Key Parameters Tuning: Define shortcut buttons in order to change key parameters such as ISO, iris, color temperature, ND stops etc. A waveform exposure assistant is now available. New Setup Menu which is easy to read and operate. The Kinefinity Terra 4K is now able to record compressed RAW in cinemaDNG format. This feature is still in beta (‘test version’) but you can already try it for yourself. Choose between 3:1, 5:1 or 7:1 compression ratios and record compressed RAW cDNG directly in-camera. The Terra 4K inherits this feature from the MAVO. Note: Even though you can download KineOS for the Terra 6K, this compressed RAW feature is only available for the Terra 4K. Kinefinity offers some notes on this feature: 1) KineLog will be burned in when you record comressed RAW in cinemaDNG (which will be handled by DaVinci Resolve natively). 2) You will have to grade from scratch after importing the footage in DaVinci Resolve because cinemaDNG and ProRes footage require very different workflows. 3) Playback of cinema DNG footage will be very slow, the speed will increase in future firmware versions, though. KineOS 6 offers some new oversampling options. The camera uses all the pixels of the CMOS sensor and outputs 2K/Full HD footages which usually improves the overall image quality and reduces the noise level. Again, only the Terra 4K will support this feature. Another big improvement of KineOS is the ability to shoot anamorphic with the Terra 4K camera. You can choose between an anamorphic mode (3700 × 2700 pixels) and an open gate mode (full sensor -> 4096 × 2700 pixels). If used with a 2x anamorphic lens, the de-squeezed image will sport a whooping 7400 x 2700 resolution. When using either of these new anamorpfic modes the framerate is limited to 50 fps. You guessed it, only the Terra 4K will benefit from these new shooting modes. Other Improvements Apart from the major updates of KineOS 6, the company has squished a few bugs and polished some features. here is list of some minor improvements: Optimized In-camera LUT: more balanced color for fast workflow. Added project frame rate: 48, 50, 59.94, 60fps. Fixed the abnormal image when start up. Fixed freeze issue at some operations. Optimized black shading of TERRA 4K. Fixed system crash when adjusting ISO under certain color temperature. Fixed the mismatch of exposure compensation in menu setting. Optimized the highlight performance for TERRA 6K in some special case. Change the minimum frame rate of TERRA 4K to 6fps. The KineOS 6 update can be downloaded now for free over at Kinefinity.com. The Terra 4K is $3,999 and the Terra 6K is $5,999. If you can wait just a little bit longer, the $7,999 MAVO (read our initial coverage here) might be an option, too. Do you own a Terra 4K or 6K camera? What are your thoughts about this update? Let us know in the comments below!

At this NAB show, we caught up with Atomos’ Jeromy Young and he walks us through the brand new ProRes RAW format and everything there is to know about it. Let’s dive right in! ProRes has always been the go-to standard (on a Mac, at least) when it comes to NLE-friendly postproduction workflows since it’s not only an aquisition codec but an intermediate and possibly a delivery codec as well. The all-new ProRes RAW is no exception, it’s RAW for the masses. Apple ProRes RAW Atomos and Apple have teamed up to develop this new format. It’s designed to simplify and streamline the sometimes cumberstone RAW workflow. Every camera manufacturer has its own RAW format and you’ll need to adapt to all kinds of workflows here. The only exception would be cinemaDNG here but that’s not a very NLE-friendly format, too. ProRes RAW, on the other hand, has usability right built-in. It is designed to cover everything from capturing straight to editing and grading. It gets you the usability of ProRes combined with the flexibility of RAW. But keep in mind: Only Apple FinalCut Pro X 10.4.1 supports this new format for the time being. Others will follow, that’s for sure. Sensor data processed in-camera. Video cameras normally process the RAW sensor data (individual sensels in a Bayer pattern) internally and create RGB video pixels which are then being compressed to the recording codec. The processing is baked in and can not be manipulated afterwards. The ProRes RAW workflow on the other hand takes all the RAW data and records it straight to the ProRes RAW format. This enables you to manipulate the demosaicing within FinalCut Pro X. Since the ProRes format is NLE-friendly, no additional rendering or transcoding is needed. You can start editing, grading and fine-tuning right away. ProRes RAW workflow. Two flavours of this new format are available: ProRes RAW could be seen as the equivalent to ProRes 422 HQ in terms of data rate. And then there is ProRes RAW HQ, which is the ProRes 4444 XQ of RAW. We’re looking at a compressed RAW format here and this actually makes a lot of sense. Uncompressed 12-Bit RAW will urge the need of bringing vast arrays of very fast SSDs to your shoots in order to keep up with the data rate. If you want to dig deeper in to the inner workings of ProRes RAW, this whitepaper (PDF) created by Apple might be worth a closer look. Atomos, Apple & DJI The more recent Atomos monitors/recorders have ProRes RAW support built-in already. You can download new firmware versions which enable the support for ProRes RAW for the Shogun Inferno and Sumo 19 monitors/recorders right now. You can download these here. These firmware updates enable you to record very high quality RAW data up to 12-Bit (depends on your cameras’ capabilities, of course) straight to ProRes RAW. Furthermore the freshly announced Atomos Ninja V is at least capable of recording ProRes RAW, too. It’s not licensed for that yet but I guess it’s only a matter of time (and a matter of cameras being able to output RAW over HDMI). A bunch of cinema cameras capable of outputting RAW data. Is yours among them? DJI have some updates ready for their X7 camera, too. You’ll need to wait just a littler for this, though. It should be ready in May this year. I’d say compressed and ready-to-edit RAW straight from a very portable drone camera sounds pretty impressive! All in all ProRes RAW could be the solution for others to follow. No more different proprietary RAW formats for each and every camera and no more ridiculously large file sizes with uncompressed RAW formats. Let’s see where this is leading us in terms of RAW and HDR workflows. Links: Apple whitepaper (PDF) | Atomos.com | DJI.com What do you think of this move by Apple? Does RAW finally become mainstream? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The new EVA1 firmware 2.0 is finally here. We’ve met with Panasonic’s Mitch Gross here at NAB 2018 who runs you through all the new features of the Panasonic EVA1 cine camera. This firmware upgrade transforms the already very popular EVA1 camera into a whole new device. Read all about this update in our already published article here. Mitch Gross of Panasonic talks you through the whole thing – and it’s really a lot! Panasonic EVA1 firmware upgrade In order to get you up to speed, here is a list af all new recording formats the Panasonic EVA1 camera is capable of once it’s upgrades to firmware version 2.0: ALL-Intra codecs 4:2:2 10bits 4K/UHD up to [email protected] Mbps 2K/HD up to [email protected] Mbps 2K/HD up to [email protected] Mbps ALL-Intra codecs for High Frame rate 4K/UHD [email protected] Mbps 2K/HD [email protected] Mbps Broadcast codecs FullHD (1920×1080) – ALL-Intra 100Mbps 10-bit 4:2:2 @59.94i/50i FullHD (1920×1080) – LongGOP 50Mbps 10-bit 4:2:2 @59.94i/50i That’s it in terms of codecs, but there’s more. Panasonic now fully supports a lot of the popular Sigma lenses for the EVA1 camera. These are the latest additions to the list of supported lenses: 12-24 F4 DG HSM 24-70 F2.8 DG OS HSM 14mm F1.8 DG HSM 30mm F1.4 DC HSM 85mm F1.4 DG HSM 35mm F1.8 DG HSM As a final addition to this firmware update, Panasonic and Atomos have joined forces to enable RAW recording on Atomos monitors/recorders. In 4K you can either record to Apple ProRes / Avid DNxHR in up to 60fps or straight to CDNG RAW at up to 2Kp120 or 4Kp30. Slow motion, anyone? The Shogun Inferno can record the RAW output of the EVA1 at up to 240fps in 2k/HD, direct to Apple ProRes or Avid DNxHR. Pricing and Availability The upgrade to version 2.0 is free of charge and you can download it right away. Head over to Panasonic in order to get your copy. If you’re unsure how to install the upgrade, please make sure to read this manual (PDF) for a safe and sound update process. Links: Panasonic | Download Firmware v2.0 | full changelog of firmware 2.0 | update instructions (pdf) Did you already update your EVA1? Any troubles with it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

No longer only a mysterious billboard outside NAB 2018, the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K is here and it shoots 12-bit RAW cinema 4K 60fps and full HD at up to 120fps — all at an impressive price point. The specs, pricing and more are below including an interview with Blackmagic Design CEO, Grant Petty:  Unlike its HD-only predecessor, the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera, the new 4K version shoots full cinema 4K (4096 x 2160 pixels) at up-to 60fps with a newly designed 4/3 (18,96 x 10mm) sensor. You’ll also be able to capture full HD 120 fps cropped (no info on how much of a crop) slow motion in both 12-bit CinemaDNG RAW and 10-bit Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) varieties. Unfortunately you won’t be able to shoot in the newly announced Pro Res RAW — at least not yet. The company promises a significant performance increase when it comes to low light capabilities and the camera tops out at 25,600 ISO, though time will tell how high you’ll be able to crank the cameras dual native ISO and still achieve “pro-level” shots. You can record to two slots using SD/UHS-II and CFast cards (they’ll switch over mid-recording if the second slot is fast enough) or record directly to an external drive through USB-C. The camera features a 5-inch LCD touchscreen (see above photo) that takes up nearly all of the real estate on the back of the body. URSA owners will find the menu system familiar as the pocket 4K runs on the URSA operating system. The camera uses the same lens mount as the original pocket allowing for EF, PL or C mounts to be used with an adapter. It may no longer truly be “pocket sized”, but the carbon fiber polycarbonate composite body feels solid to the touch. “Function” buttons on the upper right of the body are all customizable and you’ll be able to map your favorite tools (such as peaking, waveform etc.) to these keys. A high frame rate button on the back also lets you jump right to high speed modes quickly. 1/4″-20 holes are available on the top and bottom of the camera for accessory and tripod mounting. “If URSA is the camera you go and shoot other people with, this is the camera you shoot yourself with.” – Grant Petty, CEO of Blackmagic Design Notably, the camera is powered through the popular Canon LP-E6N batteries and not the Blackmagic lithium ion branded batteries of yesteryear. Another interesting power feature: when you remove the battery the camera will automatically safely power down and will power itself up once a new battery is inserted in the battery compartment. No intimidating warning message. The camera has four internal microphones and a mini xlr audio port for using your favorite external microphone system. You can also power that external mic through provided phantom power. This isn’t the only NAB 2018 news out of Blackmagic Design — the company has announced a significant update to Da Vinci Resolve which we’ll cover in a separate article and video interview with Grant Petty. Technical Highlights:  Shoots Cinema 4K at up-to 60fps, Full HD at 120fps Dynamic Range: 13-stops Ports: USB-C and standard sized HDMI Power: Canon LP-E6N or locking DC12 volt power connection Media: SD/UHS-II and CFast Bluetooth wireless camera control 3.5mm audio jack+mini XLR and headphone jack The camera is priced at $1,295.00 and includes a copy of DaVinci Resolve Studio normally priced at $299.00., While it is unfortunately not shipping until September the price point of $1,295.00 keeps the pocket 4K camera in a category of its own and being able to shoot RAW 4K potentially makes the camera an excellent successor to its HD little cousin. We’ll reserve judgement until we are able to do a full field review, but on paper the camera shows a great deal of potential. Price Point: $1,295.00 Shipping: September, 2018 Grant Petty holding the new BMPC 4K camera What do you think? Will you be picking up the Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 4K when it ships later this year? Comment below and stay tuned to all of our NAB 2018 coverage throughout the week!

The newest version of FCPX (Final Cut Pro 10.4.1) includes a new video format called ProRes RAW which offers the optimum combination of both the compressed ProRes format and lossless RAW. Furthermore, the update finally includes a closed captioning solution.  FCPX users can work natively with ProRes RAW and ProRes RAW HQ files created by Atomos recorders. ProRes RAW – High performance without sacrificing quality  The major update is the introduction of the new ProRes RAW format. This format is a combination between Apple’s ProRes and RAW, which is a huge advantage as it can be utilized and maintain high quality footage with RAW data coming out from the camera sensor, without impairing the performance in the editing process.  As stated by Apple:  Editors can import, edit and grade pristine footage with RAW data from the camera sensor, providing ultimate flexibility when adjusting highlights and shadows — ideal for HDR workflows. And with performance optimized for macOS, editors can play full-quality 4K ProRes RAW files on MacBook Pro and iMac systems in real time without rendering. Apple claims that the ProRes RAW files are even smaller than ProRes 4444 files, which have the potential to facilitate workflow and archiving. and even edit RAW on a laptop, while still preserving the performances. FCPX users can work natively with ProRes RAW and ProRes RAW HQ files created by Atomos recorders. For now, ProRes RAW will be available as a free update for owners of Atomos Sumo 19 and Shogun Inferno devices, which opens it up as an acquisition format for many cameras that output RAW. The format will also be available as part of a forthcoming upgrade package for users of the DJI Inspire 2 drone and Zenmuse X7 Super 35mm camera system designed for aerial cinematography (separate post coming). For more info, read cinema5D article about Atomos as the first enabler for ProRes RAW Recording. Closed Captioning Tools Finally, FCPX now lets users import and edit closed captions for their videos without the need of third party software. Captions appear in the viewer during playback and can be attached to video or audio clips in the magnetic timeline, so they automatically move with the clips to which they’re connected. An all-new captions inspector makes it simple to adjust caption text, color, alignment, location and more. Pricing and Availability Final Cut Pro 10.4.1 will be available on April 9 as a free update for existing users, and for $299.99 (US) for new users on the Mac App Store. To sum it up, Apple has really been doing their homework with bringing Final Cut Pro X up to a very high standard over the past few years. As ProRes RAW will be only available in Apple’s NLE for the time being, this will be a huge selling point for FCPX that simply wasn’t there before. ProRes RAW seems promising as it allows editing RAW with the performance of the good old ProRes. What is your opinion regarding FCPX 4.1? Will you give it another try in case you’re a Premiere user who’s been plagued with instability lately? Let us know your thoughts. 

Apple’s newly announced ProRes RAW (to be covered in a separate article shortly) will immediately be supported by Atomos’s top-of-the-line recorders, the Shogun Inferno and the Sumo19 via free upgrades. What ProRes RAW actually is? Read on! What is ProRes RAW? ProRes RAW is a much more manageable and editable flavor of RAW, just like other ProRes codecs. ProRes RAW files can be imported directly into Final Cut Pro 10.4.1 for speedy cut, color, and polish on Mac systems. Atomos – the Enabler for ProRes RAW Recording The hills are alive with the sound of ProRes RAW, and Atomos has heard it. Apple has a new format, and it’s everybody’s darling. The malleable nature of RAW and the beauty and (and necessity of) ProRes are together at long last, and Atomos has you covered. The ProRes RAW update will be available free for the Atomos Shogun Inferno and Sumo 19 devices, and ProRes RAW will be exclusive on Atomos recorders in the beginning. You get an update…and you get an update! Atomos boasts the only monitor recorders to offer ProRes RAW, with direct from sensor, realtime recording out of Panasonic, Sony, and Canon cameras.    Of the announcement, Atomos CEO Jeromy Young said: “We are incredibly proud to be the first ProRes RAW enabled product in the market, and it’s free for our customers. The performance and flexibility of ProRes RAW means a huge leap forward for video production.” ProRes RAW – For which cameras? Eight cine cameras with  RAW output, that’s who. More to come, but right now, you’ll be happy to know that Canon C300k Mark II/C500 and Sony FS5/FS7/FS7 II as well as the FS700 are included. Also in that pack are the Panasonic AU-EVA1 and the Varicam LT – in case of the EVA1, that means ProRes RAW with a mighty impressive 5.7K resolution is supported, which is what that camera outputs. Upgrade your Shogun Inferno or your Sumo19, and you’ll watch and record ProRes RAW, this newly developed edit-ready compressed RAW codec easily (on Final Cut Pro X’s new update, to be released on April 8) ProRes RAW performance compared to other ProRes codecs A More Usable RAW, 12-bit Color Depth, Shorter Render Times If you’ve cut RAW in the past, you know the processing can be slow, but ProRes RAW via Atomos SSDs takes the clunk out of working with RAW.  If you own one of these devices, you know the time that those SSDs save you and the headache they remove from media management.  Now they’re all that much sweeter with 2 new compression levels: ProRes RAW (same data rate as ProRes 422 HQ) and ProRes RAW HQ (same data rate as ProRes 4444XQ), both allowing 12-bit depth to hold onto your dynamic range, so HDR finishing also gets a boost with this update. What also makes it more usable are shorter render times – it’s supposedly 5.7 times faster to render than Redcode RAW 3:1, and still 1.5 times faster than Canon C200 RAW Lite. Here’s some footage recorded in ProRes RAW: High Speed Recording Atomos can record ProRes RAW up to 2K at 240 frames a second, or 4K at up to 120 frames per second. Higher resolutions out of certain camera bodies are also supported, such as 5.7K from the Panasonic AU-EVA1. ProRes RAW in AtomOS 9 The Atomos  Operating System, AtomOS 9, fully supports ProRes RAW in a portable package. The Atomos devices paired with their OS changes your onset playback game.  As always with the Atomos recorders, simply pull the SSD out and dock to your Mac over Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C 3.1 for lightening quick post…only this time you’ll have ProRes RAW! When Can You Have it? Mere days! Download the free AtomOS 9 update for Shogun Inferno and Sumo 19 from April 9th from the Atomos website. A firmware update is also coming for the DJI Zenmuse X7 camera to support ProRes RAW (we will cover this in a separate post). Atomos however, will be the only company supporting ProRes RAW in camera recorders for the time being. Will you be upgrading your Shogun Inferno or Sumo19 to try out ProRes RAW recording? Or if you don’t have one yet, is this what you were waiting for to get a Shogun Inferno for your kit?

Cinema camera underdog Kinefinity has just announced the latest addition to its line-up. Say hello to Kinefinity MAVO! The new Kinefinity MAVO is a 6K-capable Super 35mm cinema camera building upon the legacy of the company’s previous line, the Kinefinity Terra. Although the MAVO offers plenty of professional features, its price of “only” $14,000 for a complete camera package with all accessories is still massively disruptive – a strategy that Kinefinity is clearly intent on keeping up. Kinefinity MAVO The Kinefinity MAVO is a modular system similar to what the manufacturer did with the Terra line. The camera body includes the brand new 6K CMOS Super 35mm sensor, along with basic I/O, headphone output, 2.5” SSD port, built-in mic and the port to attach the SideGrip – a side handle offering basic controls and battery compartment – and the KineMON – the camera’s proprietary monitor. Like the Terra, the Kinefinity MAVO becomes a much more powerful beast when attaching the optional KineBACK module at the rear of the camera body, which unlocks more professional features such as dual XLR inputs with phantom power, SDI outputs, V-Lock battery capabilites, D-tap power outputs, and timecode in/out. The new version – the KineBACK-W – seems a lot easier to attach, requiring only a couple of screws rather than fumbling around with a delicate ribbon cable, as was the case with the Terra. This means it is a lot quicker to go from a fully built-up camera to the compact 990g body-only, perfect for mounting on a gimbal. Wireless Capabilities This new version of the KineBACK, however, offers new integration for wireless functionality. It features a slot into which you can insert a new wireless transmitter card, unlocking a system capable of wireless video transmission with a claimed zero delay, as well as wireless lens control via the Movcam system, all this without additional cables or powering.  KineMOUNT The Kinefinity MAVO still makes use of the Kinefinity KineMOUNT system, a versatile mount that allows you not only to easily change between Sony, Canon, Nikon and PL mounts, but also takes the manufacturer’s proprietary EF or PL variable ND filter attachment and KineENHANCER (Kinefinity’s version of a Speedbooster). Additionally, the Kinefinity MAVO will feature a removable OLPF. This is significant, as the Kinefinity TERRA 4K – the company’s current entry-level option, which also offers very interesting features at a very low price – suffered from severe OLPF reflection flare issues when pointed directly at strong sources of light. This has been a cause of concern for many potential buyers doing their due diligence, so having the possibility to remove the OLPF altogether, or easily replacing it when new and improved versions become available, could be a good compromise. Kinefinity MAVO Image Kinefinity’s new camera offers a Super 35mm sensor, larger than the Terra 4K sensor which was halfway between Super 35mm and Micro Four-Thirds. This new 6016×4016 pixel sensor offers over 14 stops of dynamic range, and various maximum frame rate, resolution and sensor windowing combinations including Open Gate and 4:3 for anamorphic capture, as you can see in the graphic below. Despite the larger sensor, Kinefinity claims improved rolling shutter speeds, putting it in the same ball park as the RED 8K-capable cameras. Source: Kinefinity Live Stream In terms of processing, the Kinefinity MAVO also has some great improvements, with the addition of ProRes 422HQ, ProRes 444, ProRes 444XQ codecs to the previously available ProRes 422. Kinefinity’s own flavour of Raw has been updated to KRW 2.0, and now allows for an adjustable compression ratio from 2:1 to 10:1. Kinefinity previously offered a free software utility to transcode KRW to cinemaDNG, so what is even bigger news is that MAVO can record cinemaDNG internally at 3:1, 5:1 and 7:1 compression ratios. Pricing and availability Kinefinity MAVO will be available in four packages: Body Only: $7,999 Basic: $9,499 Pro: $10,999 Full: $13,999 If the Terra pricing scheme is anything to go by, the Basic package will also include accessories such as the KineMON, SideGrip, a couple of BP-U 30 style batteries, charger, KineMAG SSD and power cables. The Pro package will also include the KineBACK module, case and shoulder rig kit. I would guess the Full package includes all the necessary accessories to unlock the wireless capabilities of the camera. There will also be trade-in deals for owners of earlier Kinefinity cameras. We are still awaiting information regarding worldwide shipping dates, so stay tuned! New Large Format Camera Too? Kinefinity MAVO LF In the age of Sony Venice, RED Monstro and ARRI ALEXA LF, it is clear that there is a tendency towards large sensors at the very top tier of cinema cameras. Clearly, Kinefinity didn’t want to lag behind. During the live stream today, Kinefinity also announced an upcoming large-format cinema camera, the MAVO LF, which will pack a 36x24mm sensor, just a wee bit smaller than the ALEXA LF. This camera – which will no doubt become Kinefinity’s flagship after the now ageing KineMAX – will benefit from all the improvements of the upcoming Kinefinity MAVO, and will become available in August 2018. Source: Kinefinity Live Stream For more information about the MAVO camera line, head over to www.kinefinity.com/mavo. New MAVO Prime range of cinema lenses As if the announcement of two new cameras wasn’t enough, Kinefinity also announced a complete range of cinema lenses for the MAVO platform. The MAVO Prime lenses will cover 25, 35, 50, 75 and 135mm at T2 with full-frame coverage, and a price tag of around $12,000 for the whole set. So there you have it: a news announcement to shake up your Sunday. Also, NAB 2018 is just around the corner, so we look forward to seeing if Kinefinity will have a working MAVO to check out. NOTE: It seems that the updated Kinefinity operating system will also become available for Terra cameras. Bear in mind that not all functions will become available, likely due to hardware limitations. Have you shot on a Kinefinity camera before? Could the MAVO finally be this manufacturer’s breakthrough into the big leagues in the cinema camera market? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

This is a guest review by drone expert and cinema5D reader Chris Boyes from 5kdigitalfilm, who had a chance to work with DJI’s new high-end camera on a job. He created some beautiful imagery and made this DJI Zenmuse X7 review for you. Enjoy! (Intro by Sebastian Wöber) DJI Zenmuse X7 Review We have been using the DJI Inspire 2 and Zenmuse X5s professionally for the last nine months and regardless of much that I have read in the forums, ours has proved very reliable. Yes, the props are a bit loose and it’s irritating having to drive to get a connection to log in sometimes, but let’s not forget it’s a highly complicated and technologically advanced bit of kit that, for us, always delivered when it mattered. I think many of us were excited after the press release revealed the specs for the Zenmuse X7. A few weeks after we had an offer for an ad job filming Tirol’s beautiful landscapes for the Cine Tirol Film Commission. For this project, DJI provided a sample of the DJI Zenmuse X7 along with a complete set of lenses, which led to this Zenmuse X7 review. Preparation We were running a Beta software from DJI on the Inspire 2, with 2 CrystalSky monitors and the latest firmware on everything else. The test flight went well with everything more or less working as it should, we filmed a few minutes in a few different formats just to check we were up and running. We decided that 4K ProRes 4444XQ was the best option for the project. Winter had arrived a month early making our story board obsolete and planning extremely difficult as our primary brief was to capture the Autumn/Winter transition in the mountains. Shooting in Difficult Conditions From the next morning on, we went out daily, battling the cold wind and snow waiting for a moment where the clouds parted to try and catch some colour before the landscape turned monochrome. We worked in very difficult conditions with extreme temperatures of sometimes down to -15°C, high altitudes of up to 3300m as well as strong winds. We had to keep batteries in our pockets and even hover 1m over ground to heat them up quick enough as to not miss a shot. The DJI Inspire 2 was so solid, I thought more than once that it would never come home. But it did. Again, and again. The DJI Zenmuse X7 felt great in the air, the gimbal was smooth, and operation over CrystalSky reactive. Lens changes were a breeze and restart occurred immediately, which in these harsh conditions was a godsend. We filmed mostly landscapes in early morning or late evening, I found my 1.2 & 1.5 ND filters that I used on the x5s had a tendency to be a bit much. ND 8 seemed to keep me where I wanted to be aperture wise. Filming mainly big panoramas the camera performed well at its native ISO 400 and open to about f5,6-f8. On this project, apart from a few shots closer to the ground, we didn’t really benefit from the shallow depth of field obtainable from the larger sensor. Images From the Zenmuse X7 I noticed that monitoring exposure of areas with brightly lit snow was causing me some headaches, as my CrystalSky was often blown out even though my histogram told me I was safe. Later, the results seemed to be somewhere in the middle. Some of the snow in the bright sunshine was blown out, which seemed to be some kind of firmware issue that I soon had to get used to. The images are not over sharpened off the sensor and for some uses they may be a bit soft. Some may worry that the lenses do not perform well, but if you look at the image in a proper post environment you can see that processing off the sensor seems to be the reason, as it is uniform across all material. We shot two sequences at dusk: it was very dark and I found myself quickly pushing the ISO to 1600 which is the max in EI mode. The low-light performance is inhibited by the slow lenses and might in comparisons or charts not be outstanding. However, in the grade and handled professionally, the images came up great and looked organic and natural. The DJI Zenmuse X7 does have much better highlight roll-off than the DJI Zenmuse X5S. This was evident when shooting against the sun. An improved dynamic range was also noticeable in the material, but in order to get the best out of both of these, correct exposure was critical and, in my opinion, could only be achieved after more experience with the camera.   File Handling & Post Production We have used the X5s and inspire 2 on quite a few high-end jobs, and the amount of Raw we have actually shot is percentage wise quite low. Is this likely to change with the X7? I don’t think so. At the end of the day running out of media is just another reason to have to come down and land. ProRes 4444XQ is good enough for most situations unless you have extreme lighting/contrast problems or your shot will have heavy VFX or will be used for background replacement. With one 480GB SSD we had over 30 mins of 4444 XQ footage which was more than enough for one location, meaning we rarely had to change SSD´s in the field. We edited the ProRes files natively on a windows based high end machine running the latest Adobe software. We use a powerful  i7-6900 with 64GB Ram and multiple m.2 SSD drives along with two fast 4TB spinners in a Raid 0 for footage playback. We can edit and playback the ProRes 4444 D-log footage in full res with effects and a basic grade without issues, which results in a very pleasing straight forward editing experience. When locked we play out a XML/EDL and the footage was send for grading in Resolve. The 6K RAW DNG feature with the X7 is a nice and useful addition, but if you are not being rung up regularly by Hollywood or BMW then the chances of you really needing it are small. Conclusion My personal conclusion to this Zenmuse X7 review is this: the DJI Zenmuse X7 is a great camera that produces great images in the right hands. It’s not as plug-and-play as the X5s, and you have to get to know it and get a feeling for its strengths. I have always been someone who prefers to look subjectively at the picture over graphs and figures. And to me, the X7 has a very cinematic image that we have never seen from a drone camera before. It is obviously designed to fit into a high-end production environment and deserves proper handling in post. Exposure is more critical especially in bright scenes like sunlit snow, and it seems that the Log footage from the X7 likes to be exposed a tick under what I am used too from shooting different logs. There will always be those moments where you just don’t have much light – for these moments I would like to see at least a couple of faster lenses become available in the future. If you shoot aerials professionally and already own the DJI Inspire 2, then it makes sense to invest in this small but powerful bit of technology. We hope you enjoyed this DJI Zenmuse X7 review. Have you worked with DJI’s new high-end camera yourself? Share your experience in the comments.