Z Cam E2 S6 has entered the chat. | Z Cam E2 S6 Camera Review in 2024
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- Recently purchased my new cinema camera, the Z Cam E2 S6!
I have some thoughts on how it performs after using it for about a month now, and most of them are definitely good! Also, I know that I went pretty rough on Blackmagic Cameras in this video. Don’t get me wrong, I love my BMPCC4k, but wow does the Z Cam fix so many of the issues I had with it.
Let me know in the comments what you think, should I do a rig rundown on my latest build for the Z Cam?
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I picked up the F6 recently, absolutely love it. I'm working on a review of that camera dropping soon. Z Cam is an amazing little company. They give you SO MUCH for the price, it's nuts!!
Yessss! Shoot me a link on Instagram once you post it! I’m trying to get my hands on one of them to compare/contrast with the s6
@@TheBrianMertz You bet!
I bought the Z Cam F6 when it came out and I keep trying to replace it. But I can't. This does so much I can not begin to tell you how good it is. I am glad to see someone else sees the same thing I see. I do have to use teh BM video monitor if I want to edit raw in Davinci Resovle to save transcoding time. But other than that. It is a very hard camera to beat. A super under rated gem. IMO.
You’re making me miss my F6. Definitely shot some really great stuff with mine that still lives in my reel. But I had a really hard time convincing producers to include mine in a rental package, so I eventually had to sell it for something with a little more name recognition. But if money were no issue, I would totally just own one for personal use.
What did you end up going with? I’m wanting to build out a package I can rent to productions so would love some input!
@@itsaaronmiller I’ve had the most luck with Sony and Red. But I also know guys that have built out a Canon package as well. In my experience Blackmagic, Fuji, Panasonic, and Z-Cam still have trouble with name and workflow recognition even though in many cases they’re just as good or offer more flexibility.
So if you’re wanting a safe bet on rental packages, Sony and Red have been the easiest pitch for contractor/freelance work where I have an opportunity to “rent” my own gear on the job. Everything else is a has been a bit of an uphill battle where I have to convince them it’s worth it, and sometimes just have to rent what they want anyway, or lose the gig altogether.
But a lot of it depends on the market you’re in and the people you find yourself working with. If you’re taking on the jobs/projects from start to finish yourself or with your own team, you can shoot with whatever you want. Hit up rental houses, etc, and see what they rent the most. That’s often a really clear way of seeing what producers are expecting or wanting to hire.
Chasing rental packages can also be a volatile sort of market, because the tech is changing so fast and so often. What everyone is renting today could change pretty suddenly; and then your stuck with a big rental package no one wants. So striking that balance between something you like using and something that has market value, can be difficult. It’s why a lot of people just settle in on a setup they like, and push forward to create compelling work with it where no one is really asking what it’s shot on because the results speak for themselves.
@@TheJ_G this is incredibly insightful. Thank you so much for sharing all that info!! I was leaning Red or Sony because I’ve observed the same thing so that really enforced my gut. As much as I love Blackmagic, I’d more so love to rent out camera packages. I loved using the Komodo on my last couple jobs so it does make sense to use what I enjoy the most.
Really appreciate you!
@@itsaaronmiller My comment seems to have been removed… but I’m glad it was helpful. Cheers!
Yeah, I have had mine since late 2020. Im still rocking it and even though I now also own an s5ii, the zcam just looks better every single time. So many nice things aboy this camera. It has so much soul.
Agreed. For the S6 and the F6. They look better than my old Sony F55 which cost ten times more. And love that I can swap from PL to EF to M and even MFT mounts on it.
I pre ordered this bad boy and even paid the import tax on top of the MSRP. I absolutely love my S6. I use my E2 as a B & C cam. I personally work in Premier and the tools they have provided are amazing. I am invested in Zcam and awaiting to see it grow as a brand.
Yes! I went through a few cams before grapping the S6. I had panasonic S1, FX30, Fs5 then S6. No need to looked further unless its Red etc.
I call my rig the dragon slayer cuz I’ve shot stuff alongside some friends who had a Komodo and my footage came out cleaner 😂😂😂
@@TheBrianMertz LMAO! Coming from stabilized cameras that shake it not the bad once rigged.What V mount battery are you using?
@@MinisterTravis I use the cheapies rn, the bp-95s
I have a Panasonic S1 and want to upgrade to either the S1h or Zcam S6. What would you say the benefits are over the Panasonic? I feel like I don't want to go back to a camera without such good IBIS. Is the dynamic range as good on the Zcam?
I’ve currently got the fx30 as my main cam. Would pairing the z cam with my fx30 as a B cam work well?
What did the z cam improve on over the previous cameras?
I treat the material from my M4 in Resolve exacly the same way.. Its a Sony chip, fool Resolve, letting it belive its shot on a Sony cam and it works really good. Ive tried Arri Alexa colorspace to Davinchi wide gamut also and it works pretty good to.. Any way.. Best cam ever. Not a crap load of buttons, easy to understand settings. I had it out in rain on a car, had my dirty muddy fingers on it and it just works! Knock on wood..
Being inspired by your camera is so important for creatives. Great review and it's indeed a Sony sensor.
Please make a video on how you edit the ZLog and what LUTs you use👀🔥 just subbed
the E2S6 is such a beast.. had it for 4 years and i refuse to sell it... For color grading maybe trying th arri log when doing CST really makes a difference
yeah, still one of the best for me in this price range ( even the best and only to me ) , and with the BM video assist 12g shooting Braw, it is wonderful !
That’s exactly how I’ve decided to shoot with mine haha
Awesome review!!!🎉 Dude, I love your enthusiasm and natural realism personality. Subscrbed.
Haha thank you so much!
Love my E2-S6's. I have one fully rigged out that stays in the cine bag, and one that lives on my gimbal. I want another for run and gun work... that's the beauty of it, having 3 of these is affordable :)
Absolute goals haha
Just got rid of my E2 M4. Switched over to the Sony fx30. Enjoying the autofocus.
Yeah that would be the biggest thing I miss, but I’m looking at getting a wireless follow focus I saw that uses lidar to basically give you auto focus for cine lenses
I will be rocking the DJI Focus Pro Hand Unit and Motor along with my F6 and a Teradek Bolt 6. Trying to look the part all I'm missing is a SmallHD 😅
Fellow z cam user herein ft worth. Thought those b roll scenes looked familiar. Good stuff. There is a trick I figured out for the Wi-Fi issue I haven’t used the Wi-Fi in a bit but you can probably find my solution post in the user group
I love mine! I have an e2-m4 as well as a turbomount to get back to s35 for times when i need a faster sensor readout. I love it so much!
I want the turbo mount so damned bad lol, I wanna take my s6 and go full frame 😂
@@TheBrianMertz It's so nice!!! I don't use it all the time, of course, but for certain projects it's so good. I have an eND so I also weigh that in when I choose to use it because I have to switch to a front variable ND or filters.
Hi man, u can actually download the zlog plugin for Davinci resolve to convert without using the color space transform. Will select automatically input color space zlog2 and output as u prefer (r.709 or ax2 that is like more close to arri final look)
I agree on most everything said here but its still is a great camera.
Re: storage I grabbed the zitay adapter and shoot as much as I want. I believe when S6 was announced back in the days, cfexpress was still a new format so thats the reason for cfast, the same format used in Canon c200. Yes its been years since then but CFast is still expensive compared to other media. Prices are much more reasonable now and the formats make it so you can maximize the space you have vs the c200 where you can only shoot rawlight to cfast.
The F6 pro is the first new wave of models and they retained the cfast but also gave the option of a new propietary media called ZBlade which costs a lot less. Take this as the future direction? But the only other model announced is the M5G but its massively delayed to market.
No hints on what the next thing may be but my S6 will probably last me a good while with all the formats and frame rates.
Hell yeah bro welcome to team bro !!!
Happy to be here 😎😂😂😂
S6’r since 2021, learning to use the camera forced me to think as a cinematographer - just got an F6 - love ZCAM
Ohhh that was your music video project. I saw it on the Facebook group page. I loved it
Thanks for sharing, mate. Wondering if it's too late to jump into the ZCam wagon and I should step up in 2x the price to get a Lumix S5 IIx, considering I want open gate feature to shoot anamorphic.
I have the ZCAM E2 M4 its pretty good.
Yes color grading is a bit weird. I can get it right but its a bit tricky. I heard about using sony for color grading
Love how I can plug in power via gimbal power which is powered from mains, use a USB SSD then I can timelapse and slow pan for many hours.
The screen is very limited.
Price is great.
I dont like is the lack of integration with davinci resolve.
I did get an internal card, I found it more reliable than USB-SSD when doing higher frame rates
Looks good my dude!
Sir you can plug your phone stright into the camera no interference or lag. i use an ipad 12.9 inch for camera controle and monitor its the best
Absolutely, and i ended up doing that as well. Just weirded me out that it has this wifi antenna and my phones within 6 inches of it yet I was still losing signal.
@@TheBrianMertz yeah ive never used the wifi because of that
Maybe it's the antenna that you're using, if it isn't the stock one that is. Heard you should be using a specific wireless band, I believe it's 5Ghz, so you should use a corresponding antenna
where the hell did Z CAM E2-M5G 5K go? It was claimed to be the highest dynamic range Z Cam have ever made and it also had global shutter
Blackmagic been able to change mounts fam. 4.6k g2 is amazing and 3k now 😊
sir please make the post production work flow please, your videos are so good.
Never thought about using my MFT anamorphic on the Z Cam. Gonna try that today! Thanks for the idea. :)
As for the Blackmagic cube cam. Even though they have a new one coming out I have no interest. Love BRAW workflow but I'll take the image quality from the ZCAM F6 (even just recording in MP4) over anything BM has put out any day. Not even the same league.
Yea man, it looks awesome, can you tell me if you have global shutter on this one?
No global shutter on the s6, they make a variant of the s6 with one called the s6g, but I do not have one to compare
Zcam has great camera's for the budget. You can use the Zcam pluggin for Davinci resolve and record in Zlog2 profile. Made my workflow a lot better.
(You can make a DCTL and use Acces transform nodes in the node tree but that is a little bit of a challenge to get working in Davinci)
Have Zcam E2M4 and S6. Using it mostly for projects where i do my own editing.
Probably when working with others Blackmagic/sony camera's are bit more accepted.
For my use it is the box style and formfactor. The changable lens mounts is great to switch between different lens mounts like EF and MFT.
Love shooting on the Sirui Anamorphic set with the M4🎥
There is Davinci Log plugin that works well.
Does this plugin work with zraw? Can you change ISO?
I loved my zcam but zraw was a pain in the ass to deal with. Can you edit zraw in davinci now without using their zcam software?
love that camera
hey im interested in getting this camera. I want to know what mft lens would work as a fisheye feild of veiw (to get close to a 6mm mft equivilant) . (think skateboarding). Just curios if thats even possible on this camera...
Does peaking get deactivated at 4K 60fps or above 60fps when recording to Prores internal?
Shooting in prores, I use arri log and it looks great
How does it compare to fx3
Should check out the Storyboard RAW Firmware for the S6. I use it, it's a little complex, similar workflow as PRR, But I LOVE the image from it. but be hush hush the community doesn't talk about it. Kinson hates it in the groups. In fact once you read this, delete it, hide it. Glad you like Z Cam too!
??? Never heard of storyboard raw
can this recording into external drive, across the usb c port?
ty!
Yeah absolutely, just make sure the drive you’re recording to is fast enough. I use the sandisk extreme ssd’s and a fast cable so as not to bottle neck the signal.
@@TheBrianMertz ty!
CineD already demonstrated the dynamic range of a Zcam vs Blackmagic. You can clearly see the Zcam has LESS dynamic range than the Blackmagic in the CineD shadow window test. The Zcam dynamic range of 15 stops is marketing fluff. The Zcam only has 12 stops of usable range not 15 stops. FYI: You can export ProRes from Fusion Studio with the Saver node using your same DaVinci Resolve license key. Fusion Studio can export Apple ProRes on all platforms.
Zraw worked for me in resilve
is the Black Magic Pocket 6k a good comparison to this camera?
Image quality wise, yes. Ergonomically, not even close lol
Had one for 2 years. Shoot countless weddings and commercials. Had to sell and buy Sony 😢. Still regret. Waiting for an update
Ahhh sad time 😢 what Sony did you move on to?
I posted my Z CAM E2 M4 on facebook market place but nobody cares, might as well invest in good lens and keep on using it for my projects. This camera is one of a kind!
The M4 is amazing and probably the most cinematic of all the Z Cams in terms of dynamic range, colour profile and sharpness. Not to mention 4K 160p and 4:3 open gate for anamorphic
@@champagnesocialist9301 Exactly, this is why I kept mine and started rigging it out on the next level. Definitely a camera for the next 10-15 years. haha
Bacon!
why not the E6F2 pro ?
Oh trust me. I’m getting that soon lol
@@TheBrianMertz It just looks so freaking cool...! I just filmed a big sports event (The official Marathon i Copenhagen) and one of the other press people in the press area had one.. wauw.. it looks so dope!
When you say weatherford, are we talking Oklahoma?
Texas
Predovic Valleys
There is no difference between CDNG vs pro res raw 😅 ??? That’s a funny one I guess you heard wrong 😅 flexibility of CDNG is not even close to pro res raw
I very well might have. If you have or have a link to some shots in both formats I’d love to play with them and see for myself what can and can’t be done with each.
Hell that’d be a cool video to make and compare/contrast the two.
dead pixels ... ?
Are you talking about the blue pixels in the studio monitors? (I'm genuinely curious because i dont see any lol)
Jennie Walk
f..k cfast :)
Shot show many productions what to eat to come to thousand 19 all the way set the last set of Zara ads put the Global and yes its sony
zigty cfast m2 adapter
I love this camera, I love my Z CAM, BUT - I don't understand why people by an S6 and a BM recorder just to get what's not even real B Raw when you can get a used pocket 6K for $1,200 and record it internally. A used S6 is around $1,800 and a used BM 7" 12G is around $600. But don't get me wrong, things like interchangeable lens mounts and form factor are a big bonus depending on what you need.
you are right, but the form factor of the Pocket 6K is just not possible ...
@@pasegers I thought that too until I got one and I was like oh it's actually not bad 😂. Plus you have the option of actually using it as a "camera" in spaces that won't let you in with cinema cameras.
@@KurruptedDataYouT Different strokes for different folks. All depends on what you intend on using your camera for ie. the type of work. On a set, you don't have to worry about disguising your professional camera. Modularity also comes into play with z-cam vs BM as well as ergonomics as mentioned. Again, use what works for you, happy shooting!
BM cameras are fantastic but the form factor isn't great, they are made of cheap plastic, battery life is so-so (Z cams run foreeever and you can use large npf batteries with them whereas BM pockets require the additional battery grip and 3 batteries to get even close to Z Cam battery life on a single large npf battery) and the frame rate options are far more limited. I wish more than anything that Z Cam could implement internal BRaw. Honestly, if BM would just release a pocket camera that could shoot 4k120, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
Z-Cam E2-S6 was found bleeding on the floor after BMD's announcements. Gone too soon.
Idk about that. Lack of an hdmi out, no interchangeable lens mounts, and less dynamic range has me really questioning whether it’s a true improvement.
@@TheBrianMertz Professionals don't use HDMI. The device looks like it might support interchangeable lens mounts (we're not sure yet) and not everybody needs 16 stops of dynamic range.
@@TheBrianMertz I think Im with you on this one. The weight is what did it for me. The Pyxis is 3.3lb which is the same weight of the Kinemini I have and its a drag bringing it out. That alone turned me off.
None of your footages looks good so why is this camera good again 😂😂
Wow