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Messages - mklinger

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31
My recommendation, as it was in the early 90s when I got heavily into photography, was Canon over Nikon.  Canon had a big advantage over Nikon during the early days of DSLR (early 2000s).  With modern mirrorless, the choice is harder, but it's between Canon and Sony with Nikon being a distant 3rd and maybe even 4th to Panasonic depending on the use case.

Oh, forgot to answer that, but my personal Recommendation is usually to go Nikon, especially for General Purpose Glass or if you just start out and just need any Camera, as even the G-Style F-Mount Lenses will allow full Control over Zoom, Focus, Aperture (correct Adapter being assumed), and have the Longest Flange Distance of common Camera Systems.
 So if i start out with Nikon F, i can still go with a Canon Body later if i wanted to, and use my lenses on there (talking DSLR/ F-Mount/ EF-Mount), while the other way around just wont work.
 .
 Mirrorless Systems are a Whole other Beast, which i am still not sure what to say about, but i highly expect none of them to survive for even close as long as F-Mount or C-Mount/ M42 did, and all of that Glass to become more or less obsolete sooner or later, because Camera Bodys will be outdated at some point (just look at vintage ENG-Lenses and CCTV-Lenses With electronic-only Aperture Control, nobody really wants those anymore today), and Lifespan of Camera Systems Might not be that long.
 Biggest Problem with Most Glass For Mirrorless Systems is however, because they are Mostly only Focus-By-Wire and Aperture-By-Wire (or at least one of the Two usually, some even Power-Zoom Even). And that means, there is no real Intended Way to use them without the Proper Camera Body they were Built for originally. So you cant just take any Fuji-X Mount lens and put it/ use it on an Chronos, even if building an Mechanical Adapter wasnt an issue.
 So sadly, quite a bit of those really nice Mirrorless Lenses we have around today will end up as Expensive Waste at some Point in the Future once their Camera Systems died i guess, or will need to be Rehoused or something, unless Someone is actually going to want to go through the Trouble of figuring out all of the Digital Communication that is going on between Camera and Lenses, and trying to somehow trick the Lens into thinking there was a camera there actually, when there is not.
 .
 Kind of a Difficult Topic, and only time will tell, what will happen to all those Mirrorless Lenses Made today in lets say 50 to 100 Years, and if you have any Mirrorless system you basically have to get a bunch of those Autofocus Lenses for that System if you want to use it to anywhere close to its full capacity, not really a way around it. Especially for Photography Purposes.
 .
 So my General Advise, like i already said, is to go Nikon F-Mount, if you just try to build a Decent Kit of (manual Full-Frame) Lenses for General Filmmaking or Manual Focus Photography (or AF even, if you want to go with an Nikon Body), as they just fit onto about any Camera besides maybe Pentax K-Bodies and will be usable very long Term.
 If you go for something more particular or need /heavily Rely on Autofocus and Stuff like that for Your kind of work, of course go with whatever your Camera System of choice Offers. Especially for the Newer Mirrorless Systems there are Plenty of new Lens Designs, that just were completely unheard of in classic DSLR Lenses, for Stuff like that you obviously also need with whatever you can get, if you can find any use for it. But while i love My Mirrorless 1Nikkor Lenses, and Probably would never sell them, unless i had to for some reason (they are just so damn nifty and Nimble Small, sharp Lenses. Easy to put into your Pocket to do some real low Footprint stuff (People will legit just ignore you with an ridiculously Tiny shiny silver camera and assume you are an tourist or something, which can be very useful at times...), and even have a Full kit with you, which takes up less space than an Full-Size DSLR with a Decent Zoom Lens on it), i still heavily prefer any lens that allows me full control over all Settings on it without the Need of Electronics being involved.


If you are willing to stick to all manual control and are targeting collecting old lenses, then yes, Nikon F mount would be a good way to go.  The problem is if you couple that with an era-matching body from a price standpoint, it won't be as good as the Canon counterpart.

I really can't recommend people start buying them new today though.  Even Canon EF is nearing end-of-life as RF and mirrorless in general is the future.

BTW, the very latest modern lenses are incredible and way better optically than just about anything that came before them.  While I don't own a high-end mirrorless system yet (maybe the upcoming Canon R3), a lens like the RF 28-70mm f/2L is a lens unlike anything ever made before for any system.  Full-frame f2 zoom!

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1433713-REG/canon_rf_28_70mm_f_2l_usm.html

This is of course a bit off-topic, as that lens, and none of the RF lenses for that matter can be used on the Chronos (without a custom modified mounting system), but who knows, maybe the next version will support them.

I have experienced the difference between the latest generation of conventional EF lenses and the ones made 10 and 20 years prior.  They are typically sharper, better color/contrast, and much lighter as well.  Most really good lenses have about a 10-15 year lifespan.  Not in terms of becoming unusable or getting worse, but in terms of being obsolete wrt better performance at the same price with a new generation replacement.

FWIW, that type of lens performance improvement is also not really realized with the Chronos as the sensor quality is worse than DSLRs from 20 years ago.  Not a knock on the LUX2100 at all, those cameras from 20 years ago couldn't shoot 1000 fps!!  But the Chronos isn't going to be used in any high end movie productions anytime soon either - which isn't its intended use at all.

32
Sorry, my only experience is with Canon lenses where it absolutely does work.  He referenced a Sigma lens, so maybe it'll work with that, not sure.
Fair, but even the Third-Party-Lenses like the Sigma ones will have the Exact Mechanism as original Nikon Brand ones like Shown there (Must have to Work on Nikon Cameras...). Nikon Went with an Mechanical Aperture Control Mechanism back on Analog SLR Cameras, and Since then never changed that, until they recently Changed Mount and Went Mirrorless with the Z-Mount. But F-Mount went through Several Iterations of Focus and Metering-Systems
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_F-mount#Designations
 But they Kept the Mount Itself and The Way Aperture is Controlled basically all the Way through from Start to now. One of the main Reasons why F-Mount is so crazy Popular, because there are just so many Lenses Around from Nikon Making them For Ages Like this, and almost all of them Being Backwards- and Forward-Compatible (there Is some Exceptions, but overall Compatibility and Legacy-Support across all of their Lenses and Cameras and All Adapters Ever Made for that System is pretty amazing). Also one of the Only Bayonet Style Lens Mounts where Dimensional Drawings are openly and Easily available in the Internet (at least the Only one i found any for, back when i spent quite a while Looking some Years ago, hope this would have changed by now, but wouldnt be surprised, if this was still the Case today).

I never knew Nikon lenses had a default aperture closed condition.  Seems very backwards as the lenses need to be fully open when auto-focusing for maximum light and only stop down right before taking the picture.

All Canon EF lenses (from ~1987 to present) are default wide open.  The down side being that they are only electronically controlled, aside from the Cinema line of lenses.  Being electronically controlled, it's easy to pull off the stop down/take the lens off trick.

At least there is a simple solution (as you show in your video) to force it wide open to make it useable on the Chronos.

My recommendation, as it was in the early 90s when I got heavily into photography, was Canon over Nikon.  Canon had a big advantage over Nikon during the early days of DSLR (early 2000s).  With modern mirrorless, the choice is harder, but it's between Canon and Sony with Nikon being a distant 3rd and maybe even 4th to Panasonic depending on the use case.
 

33
As awkward as it is, I recommend using an external camera to stop down the lens first if needed.
This Literally WONT WORK!
 On Canon thats a Thing Maybe, never really worked with Canon Glass much, but on Nikon F-Mount G-Style Lenses i can tell you for sure it wont.
 Please go and watch the Video attached to the Post i linked in my first post in this Thread, here is the Link again:
 https://forum.krontech.ca/index.php?topic=516.msg2836#msg2836
 Nikon F-Mount lenses ARE ALREADY STOPPED DOWN ALL THE WAY NORMALLY!
 You CAN set the Aperture to whatever on the Camera and remove it, while camera still on, wont do anything.
 Once Removed from the Nikon Camera Body, the IRIS will fully close again!
 Your Image will just be stupidly dark if you dont use a Proper G-Style Adapter with a G-Style Lens, except you figure out a workaround like shown in the Video i Reference for the 5th time or something now.
 So stopping a Nikon G-Style Lens down is the Least of your concerns, Main Problem is how to get it open in the First Place without the Proper Adapter. It WILL try to close at all Times, unless Broken or Modified.

Sorry, my only experience is with Canon lenses where it absolutely does work.  He referenced a Sigma lens, so maybe it'll work with that, not sure.

34

Regarding the adaptor with the external aperture control,  I haven't tested this myself, but when I originally communicated with the Kron folks before I bought my camera, they didn't recommend using the the external aperture ring control.

It makes sense that the external control using the adapter won't be the same as the aperture control inside the lens as the spacing is completely different.  Just be aware there may be some weird effects if you stop down the lens/converter combo that way.

As awkward as it is, I recommend using an external camera to stop down the lens first if needed.

These cameras are not run-and gun by any means and I've found it's usually required to plan out the shoot a bit first for best results.  An extra 30 secs to stop down the lens if needed isn't a big deal.  At least in my experience.

35
Hey folks, I feel this is a bit of a noob question - but I'm the new owner of a brand new Chronos 2.1 and I can't wait to try it out. Based on the recommendations on the website, I bought the Photodiox  Nikon F to C lens adapter (https://www.krontech.ca/store/FotodioX-Nikon-F-Lens-Adapter-to-C-Mount-p140659144), as I have a whole bunch of Nikon lenses available (Like the Sigma 24-70/2.8 listed as a recommended lens on the website here (https://www.krontech.ca/store/Suited-for-the-Chronos-2-1-HD-c52765838)

So here's where I'm stuck: for the life of me I can't figure out how to change the lens aperture as it's internal and usually controlled via the camera. I've read through the forum but can't seem to make out if I'm missing something really obvious. Help appreciated!

Cheers,
- A newbie slow-mo guy


One more thing, don't forget the Chronos 2.1 has an effective 2x crop, so the field of view of your 24-70 will be 48-140mm, which will typically move you back from your subject giving you more depth of focus.  That means for most subjects, you can probably shoot that lens wide open at f2.8 and not worry about changing the aperture by stopping it down.

If you are doing macro or even moderate close up work, you may need to stop down, but you'll need tons of light. 

36
Hey folks, I feel this is a bit of a noob question - but I'm the new owner of a brand new Chronos 2.1 and I can't wait to try it out. Based on the recommendations on the website, I bought the Photodiox  Nikon F to C lens adapter (https://www.krontech.ca/store/FotodioX-Nikon-F-Lens-Adapter-to-C-Mount-p140659144), as I have a whole bunch of Nikon lenses available (Like the Sigma 24-70/2.8 listed as a recommended lens on the website here (https://www.krontech.ca/store/Suited-for-the-Chronos-2-1-HD-c52765838)

So here's where I'm stuck: for the life of me I can't figure out how to change the lens aperture as it's internal and usually controlled via the camera. I've read through the forum but can't seem to make out if I'm missing something really obvious. Help appreciated!

Cheers,
- A newbie slow-mo guy

If the Nikon system works the same as Canon, you can change the aperture on the lens with an external camera (Canon has a DOF preview button which stops the lens down - this is what the Nikon will need to duplicate this), and with the camera still powered on, remove the lens and the lens will retain its aperture setting.  You can then attach the lens to the Chronos and it'll have the new aperture.

You'll need to reattach the lens to the "real" camera any time you want to change the aperture, but this process has worked very well for me.


37
Chronos User Discussion / Re: Post Chronos 2.1 clips here!
« on: August 21, 2021, 04:19:15 AM »
"Still Life"
 .
 Shot as an attempt to provide a Sequence of High Quality untouched DNG frames to the Community, so even people without a Chronos can have a play with some nice RAW Footage (Chronos Owners are welcome to do so as well of course).
 This Short Sequence is trying to show what the Chronos 2.1 is capable of capturing in decent Light, and also an exercise for me to improve my color workflow with Resolve.
 Attached to the Post is a Short Sequence of 7 Untouched DNG Frames straight from the Camera, as well as what i was able to make with them in Post Production (Resolve) as an High Bitrate .mp4. (Resolve for some reason cant even export as .png or anything like that, which is kind of disappointing..)
 Result is obviously still visibly Limited by the Amount of Light i have available at the Moment (had the Lens almost wide open, so its not as sharp as it could be. Shot at about f/1.3) and also my current Skills with the Camera, but still about the Cleanest i am able to produce for now. 
 Fairly happy with the Result i was able to get from Color Correction/ Grading in Resolve, apart from the reds still looking kind of strange to me (but i have not yet figured out why that is). But i am no professional Colorist or anything, so i just processed it to a look i liked. If you think you can do a better Edit, feel Free to share it here.
 .
 I also didnt have any vibrant blue Fruits or anything, so i just put an old SD Card there, so the image would have a nice range of color in it.

I took a quick stab at adjusting the colors in Resolve.  Without a color chart to create an accurate LUT with your lighting, it's just from what "looks good".

I like the red in the tomatoes and I think overall, it has a bit warmer feel than your original which make the cookie and bananas more appealing to eat :)


38
Chronos User Discussion / Re: How does the Color Matrix work?
« on: August 10, 2021, 07:49:27 AM »
You're absolutely right, I find myself underexposing often. Even when I am pushing to where I am seeing zebra lines and backing off slightly, it still doesn't seem right. I don't have an external monitor for it (yet). When you're adjusting exposure with your monitor, what are you basing your correct exposure off of? Or how are you obtaining proper exposure?

I'm still on this color correcting adventure and have been attempting to calibrate using an xrite passport II but can't seem to get it to where our numbers match up to their given color checker hue values (even after running it through the xrite color calibration software). I just want to make sure we are balancing correctly, it is of the essence for this project we're working on.

Xrite's customer service has been dismal. Would you happen to have any advice?

Hi! If you want to learn about post-production color correction, I highly recommend checking out Gerald Undone's video on the topic.

https://youtu.be/71ebKrT2XlY

If you have a proper color calibration target like the xrite you are talking about, you definitely want to learn how to use the Vectorscope in a tool like DaVinci Resolve.  Gerald's video linked above is a really good place to start for that.

Once you have created a proper color correction for a given lighting condition, you can create a custom LUT for your Chronos and apply it in similar situations for a very good starting point.

FWIW, proper exposure on the Chronos 2.1 is a bit tricky as it seems to change sensitivity based on things that shouldn't change the sensitivity (like changing resolution).  They are working on fixing this issue in the firmware, but for now, be aware that this happens and that it doesn't behave as nicely as a DLSR or conventional video camera.  If you are in a controlled studio environment shooting critical work, I would recommend taking test shots and bringing them into post on a computer to properly check for exposure.  If that's not possible, yeah, try using the tools on the camera as best as possible, but that's not ideal.

39
Software Dev / Re: Will there ever be a 100,000 FPS version again?
« on: July 30, 2021, 06:38:51 PM »
Actually, I spoke a little too soon... while that does change the resolutions setting in the drop-down, it's not that simple unfortunately and it looks like it breaks the black calibration process.  I'll poke around a bit with this to see if I can find something that works reliably as it would be really nice to be able to change those default settings.

OK... one more update... good news this time.  It's actually the changes that I made to the lux2100.py file to attempt the 1.4 changes on the 2.1 that broke the black calibration.  So, yeah, don't do that :)

BUT, it looks like changing the "resolutions" file in /var/camera works great.

I now have all my favorite custom resolutions (using 1920, 1472, 1152, and 832 horizontal resolutions) programmed into the drop down menu and they all auto-calibrated properly using the "Util->Factory->Black Calibrate All Resolutions" button.   This is a VERY nice feature and worth the effort of going through Sanjay's steps IMHO.

I would recommend using a backup microSD card though in case something gets messed up.

40
Software Dev / Re: Will there ever be a 100,000 FPS version again?
« on: July 30, 2021, 05:41:46 PM »
ill also take more exploring and it'd really be nice to have the full data sheet before messing around with that.

One thing I did find, which is pretty awesome, is the location to change the default resolution settings that show up in the drop down menu.

If you follow all of the steps Sanjay outlined above, you can just:

cd /var/camera

and edit the plain text file called "resolutions"

You don't even need to rebuild or re-install as that file is dynamically read when you go to the Record Settings page.  Nice!!


Actually, I spoke a little too soon... while that does change the resolutions setting in the drop-down, it's not that simple unfortunately and it looks like it breaks the black calibration process.  I'll poke around a bit with this to see if I can find something that works reliably as it would be really nice to be able to change those default settings.

41
Software Dev / Re: Will there ever be a 100,000 FPS version again?
« on: July 30, 2021, 05:31:40 PM »
And yes, If you can have a play with it and give some info about if that even works on the 2.1, that would be great, so i know if its worth putting my time into even trying to getting it to run on mine. Thanks!

I can confirm that those changes alone aren't enough to get faster speeds on the 2.1.  I have a feeling there are potentially changes in the sensor files that might do it, but I haven't played around more than to confirm that these changes aren't enough.  Maybe Sanjay can help point us in the right direction to play around with???  :)  I think there may be gain settings that help the issue with lower resolutions as well, but that will also take more exploring and it'd really be nice to have the full data sheet before messing around with that.

One thing I did find, which is pretty awesome, is the location to change the default resolution settings that show up in the drop down menu.

If you follow all of the steps Sanjay outlined above, you can just:

cd /var/camera

and edit the plain text file called "resolutions"

You don't even need to rebuild or re-install as that file is dynamically read when you go to the Record Settings page.  Nice!!

42
Software Dev / Re: Will there ever be a 100,000 FPS version again?
« on: July 30, 2021, 07:48:05 AM »
I have requested a full datasheet from Luxima.  I'll be curious to read some of the actual details and limitation of the sensor.   I would bet the 700k FPS figure is something crazy like 32x8 pixels and the rest of the hardware would need to be specially configured, but the datasheet should spell that out.  Because the Chronos 1.4 can actually do ~110k FPS, my guess is that the image overhead for those kinds of speeds would also be possible on the 2.1 as the rest of the hardware is essentially (maybe exactly) identical.

A quick check of the H.264 codec wiki makes it seem that very small vertical resolutions should be possible, but it's extremely likely that the library they are using on the Chronos has a limit.  H.264 is a very complex codec and is really optimized for large resolutions and block sizes.  Just having raw image support at these experimental resolutions would be totally acceptable to me, but they might not want to do that.  Personally, I never use the H.264 output and always using DNG for maximum quality.

I have quite a bit of software development background and am very comfortable reading their code, but it's complex not because the code is complex, it's complex because the algorithms implemented to handle the hardware are complex.

Once I see the datasheet, I may make a copy of the firmware and start playing around with it for fun.



43
Software Dev / Re: Will there ever be a 100,000 FPS version again?
« on: July 30, 2021, 04:58:02 AM »
Wow, huge thanks for providing that info!
 Will this work on an 2.1 also?
 I am aware, that the 2.1 will be nowhere near able to match the 100kfps of the 1.4 just from Sensor Hardware Limitations, as far as i remember that correctly, but i mean is there Any more Framerate to be gained on the 2.1 or is this Mod working on the 1.4 only?
 Thanks anyways however, i am sure this will help a bunch of 1.4 owners out a lot, that just want to go as fast as the hardware possibly can.

Actually, from the Luxima datasheet from the LUX2100 sensor, used in the Chronos 2.1, it can achieve 125,000 fps at 1920x8 and they mention it can achieve 300,000+ fps windowed down, which I presume would be 832x8 (but that's not specified directly in this simple datasheet):

https://www.luxima.com/product_briefs/LUX2100.html

I believe I have read that aside from the potential quality issues, the reason they're not supporting these smaller/faster vertical resolutions are due to limitations in the H.264 encoding algorithms that can't handle it.

What would be fun to add as a wish-list feature would be to open up these faster resolutions in the raw modes only, like DNG. 

Like Sanjay mentions, all this code is open-source, so anyone can mess around with it, but without access to the full sensor datasheets and the Chronos camera hardware details, it might be a lot of trial and error.

44
Software Dev / Re: V0.6.0 1.4 to 2.1 comparison
« on: July 17, 2021, 05:16:17 PM »
Thanks for sharing this.  It also confirms the quick study I did awhile ago (see the attached image) showing that the sensor sensitivity and color accuracy seems to drop by a fairly significant margin when lowering the resolution and really only the 1920 and 1472 horizontal resolutions (your 1280 would be similar to my 1472 test) comes close to the stated ISO 500 base sensitivity as compared to my DSLR reference.

FWIW, the Krontech engineers have responded to me about this and are looking into it, so hopefully there will be a solution in the future.

45
Chronos User Discussion / Re: Chronos 2.1 color study
« on: July 07, 2021, 01:12:15 PM »
Yes, I'm currently using 0.6.0.

I'm just speculating here, but I would guess that there is not one "best" firmware settings wrt sensor gains and configuration for all possible resolutions and speeds.  The current firmware has probably been optimized for 1920x1080, 1000 fps, and 0 dB gain (and it does look very good at that setting) and everything else just falls where it falls.

We'd need some of the Kron engineers to chime in here to know for sure. 

I'm not sure what tweaks are possible at the firmware level regarding the amplifier gains and exactly how the resolution windowing works.  The fact that we're losing probably ~2 stops of light sensitivity going from 1920x1080 to 832x1080 at the exact same framerate, shutter, and gain tells me something odd is happening. 

Hopefully they can run some controlled lighting tests like this in their lab to see if they can find a good solution.

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