Z-CAM user here. Missed the original video but I've seen some of the backlash in the FB group. Can I just say that without knowing the background, I just listened to 55mins of common sense and reasoned opinion. It's channels like this that lift the community. Thank you. Subscribed.
34:15 "... I've been trying for years with Olympus..." it's a bit too soon, Gerald but that's the (unintentionally) funniest thing I've heard all week.
Gerald, you do not have to apologize for your videos. They are ones of the better reviews on YT, with no arrogance, no hard selling pushes, no bs. People who get to know you will appreciate your sense of humor. Obviously it's difficult to please everyone, thus keep up the good work as you've done so far. Thanks.
Slightly frustrated and serious Gerald is my new favourite Gerald Thank you for your clarity, honesty, and matter-of-fact voice this is why we look to you!
Recent F6 owner, indie doc filmmaker, longtime Undune lurker here. Took me less than an hour to find the Ninja/F6 23.97 issue upon unboxing and it seemed to be news to the FB group, so I’ve been on the hunt for a fix. Your review was both validating and encouraging! Feel the same about the other issues too which are extremely relevant to how I shoot. I learn something in every video of yours so keep it up my dude!
Dude I live for seeing the weird issues. The more specific the better. As a filmmaker understanding my tool as completely as possible is the only way I can be positive a plan I have will succeed. And I know from experience nothing warms my brain more than finding someone else online who has already figured out the issue I suddenly have especially the weirder it is. No one likes their gear to give them the very unique problem award. Keep up what you're doing.
As a ZCAM owner and group member of the Facebook group, it really sucks that you even had to make a follow-up video on this. I genuinely thought the review was fair. If anything, it still makes me want to upgrade to the E2-S6 or E2-M4, from my E2C. There are tons of talented individuals in the world with various types of gear, but I'm not gonna lie, whenever any content creator or UA-camr makes a slightly negative review on a particular camera, some come out of the woodwork to just shit on them. It happened with Tom Antos' first E2 vid, it happened with Gear Focus with their F8 review, and to a lesser extent, it happened with your last video. I love my cameras, they are the best for my use case, but I refuse to be loyal to a brand at all, and I say this ready for all the smoke and ire from all. We gotta be able to take criticism and learn from it.
it doesnt matter what camera you buy these days, the quality differences are more of a software thing than actually physically being much different, sensors have reached a point where if you take a shot for example with a camera with 12mp and then another with say 26 and one with say 100mp the only really differences will be from software and encoder tweaks. The differences are barely present once you factor in color grading. So buying new gear really doesnt give you anything more. People will hate on anything because one person says they didnt like it. Thats just the internet and the culture we have regarding people just bandwagoning after one persons opinion because they idolize that person and will follow whatever they say even if it goes against common sense and logic.
@@pilsplease7561 The rolling shutter and poor lowlight was just too agreesive for me to work with properly. But the E2C is far from a bad camera. It was definitely an upgrade from my initial Canon C100
@@Spyder1 For me, im also a photographer and honestly my XT-30 has better video capabilities than most cinema cameras do but the recording time is limited to like 15 minute clips before you have to start another recording session because the cameras tiny and the sensor heats up but other than that its also 6k video being output at 4k, Were getting to a point where you can probably make a huge hollywood movie on a small mirrorless camera if you wanted.
As part of the non-vocal majority, I watched the ZCAM video and though 'That was a great review' and went about my day. Thorns that stick out are always prickly!
GU - I’m a owner & fan of ZCam, BMPCC4K, Fuji....your reviews are rock solid, thorough, and you always emphasize usage context “what doesn’t work for me may not be a big deal for you” . The creative video capabilities in our hands now at very affordable price points have ramped insanely over even the past year & half, and testing/video documenting issues is the only possible path to future improvement for any of these young or relatively recent manufacturers to hit the scene. You remain a fair & honest reviewer, representing the best-of-breed quality that all YT influencers should seek to emulate. And finally, you uncovering issues with products I own & use doesn’t trigger hate/anger at either you OR the manufacturer. Facts is facts, opinions are stated as such. Carry on, polite Canuck :)
I have Zcam. Thankyou for pointing out things that need to be fixed that I havent run into yet. Ive watched a bunch of your vids because youre informative. Respect bro!
16:25 i'm exactly that person. there's literally no one else who talks about these seemingly little things that actually make or break the camera, for me anyway, and i'd argue for a looot of people who just don't realize it yet. you're doing a wonderful job with these fine reviews.
I was surprised to see a balanced review in the first place - because these days everyone is only posting positive stuff. It gave me greater confidence in your credibility.
I’m just now watching this. I’ve watched a lot “UA-camrs” channel on film making and you are by FAR one of the best ones when it comes to reviews and your knowledge. I feel like you are more of a filmmaker then just some guy talking about gear.
Personally, I think your video was awesome and I appreciate the critical thinking behind it. If I was going to drop $4k on a camera I want to know all the good and the bad. Thanks for being honest!! 👏
Gerald is being far too kind calling those channels "filmmaking channels" There ARE filmmaking channels like Indy Mogul, Cooke Optics TV, and ponysmasher But the kind that he mentioned who are all about the "lifestyle" and "footage" are, well... not good at all.
Ponysmasher, will put that down on my list. Also Aputure is handy for lighting and Studiobinder on digesting shots in movies. Super recommend them! For you editors, 'This Guy Edits'.
Z-cam fanboy here. No need for apologies or explanations, Gerald. We love you as you are. With your observations and opinions. No camera is perfect, but we really want this new relatively small company to succeed and shake the market. Having said that, it's only through criticism and iterational improvement can we build great products. Thank you for wonderful content!
Gerald, 48:54. My honest answer is: please keep getting things undone the Gerald Undone way! I wish you made a video of everything I bought and was disappointed to (big chance you could have saved me or I made me aware of cons I'm getting), your attention to details and how to point them out and organize information is unique.
Most of what I want to say has already been said. I'm disappointed that the community pushed back so much in the Z Cam video. I thought it was generally fair and I hope to see everything you talked about worked on! It just makes my camera better. Tom Antos had many gripes that were fixed in further iterations. It's always a good thing.
Owners like to comfort themselves with their purchase. This is actually taught in marketing courses. Having said that, I prefer a review that's honest so I can do the best purchase decision on a product. I have been the proud owner of a Z Cam E2 for a year now and I have never had so much fun with a camera since my Bolex RX5. Before I made my purchase, I researched a lot on the camera and I knew what I was getting into when I decided to buy it. Keep doing honest reviews!
I'm a member of the Z-Cam FB group and it's a vocal minority that lashes out like this. If you read the discussion there about all this you'll see most of us agree that our compact cinema cameras have places they could be improved, like most cameras, and we largely didn't have an issue with the major points raised. Further, what I love about Z-Cam is how responsive they are to their customers and they respond with improvements and firmware updates faster than any company out there. It's amazing.
@@xXxAmadeuzxXx well that's true. I'm an early adopter. can't help myself. most recently I had one of the very first F6's to reach the US, and I have the 69th Panasonic EVA1. was a little late to the S1H but I loved it enough to buy two. And keeping a close eye on when i can pre-order a Canon R5. Add lenses on top of camera bodies and it's an expensive habit but I'm okay with that. And while everyone online picks their corner and argues over the little stuff, I'm busy having fun shooting as a z-cam, panasonic, canon, red, sony, dji, etc, etc guinea pig.
It happens with Sony A6300 & A6500 too if you "battery out" suddenly, file will be corrupt. Recording concerts I would try to quickly change a battery in between songs and didn't power off quick enough during the switch out and lost some valuable footage. So happy to have the A6600 now.
Here’s my hot take that no one asked for: I’m so happy to embrace the video production/videography community, which seems to be fun, supportive, and exciting. Anecdotally, I’ve found self professed “filmmakers” to take things and themselves a bit too seriously. All of the actual working filmmakers I’ve ever met are far too busy working to get into the weeds about gear in online arguments. I honestly think “filmmaker” sounds cooler than “videographer” to most people, which makes them want to call themselves filmmakers. I rarely share opinions like this, but I wish all groups could spend more time appreciating the cool tools that we have access to and be excited about the fact that we’re all interested in this stuff to one degree or another. I always appreciate your depth, thoroughness, and humor. 🙌🏼
I appreciate what you're saying here. I've been the cinematographer on 22 feature films and way too many commercial and corp gigs to count. I consider myself a filmmaker because I (stupidly) prioritize long form narrative projects over short-form commercials, short films, and corp shoots. That said, I've seen some amazing cinematography from far less experienced people than me on UA-cam and elsewhere. Talent is talent. When the DVX100 came out all of a sudden everyone was a DP, where before almost nobody made that claim. At this point, I don't get hung up on labels, because so many people have diluted what being a DP or cinematographer means that its just about meaningless. Being a DP on a feature film that is more than a zero-budget passion project has sooooo many pressures and responsibilities beyond worrying about what happens to the footage I shot when the camera gets accidentally popped out by the 2nd AC. But, I would NEVER step on set with a camera where that potential exists. The cost of each shot/setup/scene is far more valuable than the minor savings you experience is buying a ZCam vs a C500, Red, or Alexa. But that's my reality. I know that for many, who cannot afford to use those cameras, the tradeoff and risk is acceptable vs the quality of image it affords. Its all a matter of perspective.
I just came across this video, which I know is now 2 years old. I just found the Gerald Undone channel on UA-cam and have gone deep down this rabbit hole because the videos are all so well done. (Gerald WellDone LOL) I wanted to mention that corrupt ProRes files due to power loss has not been an issue on any ProRes capable device I've used in the past 5 or 6 years. Gerald showed that the Black Magic camera he had in his studio did not have this issue. I've been using AJA KiPro recorders since they were introduced and while they once had an issue with file corruption if power was lost, AJA resolved that issue a long time ago. If AJA and Black Magic Design can do it, why can't everyone else. Gerald has a good point. I'm also very happy that his reviews are as complete as he is able to make them. If he covers a topic that doesn't concern me, at least I've learned something. Great job, Gerald. I'm subscribing today!
Gerald, please completely ignore the trolls. Your videos are an invaluable source of information to me: professional level yet easy to understand. I learned so much.
Gerald your technical reviews are excellent and some of the very few channels that explore. Honestly, this was the only review that I saw of the Zcam that included the detail and info that I really needed. I shoot docs and commercial from very small to large budgets and overall it's this detail that I really value. Of course I'm the kind of operator that will watch 10 hour breakdown video courses by Arri tearing their camera apart just so I can understand the cameras that I use better. When I tested the FX9 I found a number of nit picky issues that made me favour the C500 more in a very similar way you did. Honestly, most modern cameras create excellent images and more and more it's the tiny details that are critical to investing in gear. The little things sometimes make the most difference when time is money and clients are stressed. Please keep up the technical breakdowns and critical nature of your content. It's extremely valuable and pros really appreciate it.
Great follow up video, man. I appreciate you giving context to the battery issue. You're right, issues/bugs you point out that are deemed to be legitimate issues, if fixed, make the camera better for ZCAM owners and ZCAM as a brand.
I know it's not your jam, but I would love to see some more "ranting and raving" style videos like this from time to time. It's fun watching you rip apart the haters and slam-dunk logic all over their faces.
Always enjoy viewing your videos as each time I learn something new and have a better understanding how something works or learn a new way to be creative in making videos. I've been around the film and audio / video industry for a very long time and as you even at my old age still very techie enjoying all the new things which help to make life better when making videos or audio recordings. There was mentioned about recording time limits and I agree that it is nice to have more than the 30 min limit which is found with some cameras. I know that many times recordings are done in segments which can be much less than 30 mins but there are times when it is nice to have that extra recording time. Over the years I have recorded variety of interviews including several musical productions which were live and some events would be multiple shows at the same venue. Many of those shows have been between two to almost 3 hour long at times not including any intermissions but actual live production on stage. Even some interviews which were live have been long and be where one could not just pause the interview because of camera time limits. There was a question about how could one keep recording or have the whole production recorded when there are time limits without loosing any of the video. One way is using multiple cameras with each one starting at a different time interval so there would always be a camera recording. When everything was done on tape recorded in the camera along with external recording I would start the recording on each camera at a different time interval, each one starting just a few minutes apart, basically the time it would take to swap out the tape in the camera. The recording time would be either 1 or 2 hours depending on the camera being used, analog or digital. Each camera recorded the time code on the tape. This way as each camera tape ended for long productions other cameras would still be recording and before any of those ran out of tape a camera could have it's tape exchanged and be recording again. Each camera was also color balance equally as possible. Many of these concerts I would use five cameras with each one recording the musical production on tape besides a master tape recording when possible which was edited on the fly. Once the filming completed I would load all the video and audio tracks into my editing bay and come up with the final production. Some of those days were before multiple camera editing was included into the editing software so was interesting at times until later on there was plug in available to allow more than one camera editing. It was almost like using my old manual base editing where you control each tape unit, each on a different video input all going out to one tape unit for final edit. I today, still have my Dad's old film editing table with editor use for film back in the early 1930's along with the camera and projector he used then. My camera layout at some venues would be where one camera would be a wide shot of the whole stage, one would be on left and one on right side of stage each at a 45 degree angle crossing the path of the other camera view so that the whole stage could be covered for wide to close up views. A second wide to close up camera up high about the audience for various shots of the stage at different angles from wide to close up. The last and fifth camera would be roaming the venue for audience capturing and close up at the stage of the performers. Many times the final edits would have of course video from each camera angle but also many times some of the video might be mixed in with the audio recorded from another camera or even from one of the other show at the same venue that was done later that same night or next day performance. Which ever edit helped to make the finial edit look the best. So yes, time limit on cameras many of the times is not an issue, but at times, one may need a camera to be recording for more than 30 mins. Things have come a long way since wire audio recorders to magnetic tape recorders to solid state recorders in use today. From video recordings which were SSTV where each frame was 8 to 20 seconds long done on cassette tape to 2 inch wide tape then from smaller 1/4 inch tapes on VHS, SVHS, Beta tapes to today being sold state drives used for recordings. It will be amazing what the future may hold as one day all of this new technology will be look upon as antiques. lol
Problem with youtube comments is the creator can make a 25 minute video, with hundreds of talking points, be 99.9% accurate, and there are people who watch just to point out one thing you missed or said incorrectly. The vast majority of viewers are great but I understand why huge channels often don’t read comments.
We must protect him at all cost! 😂 He is too good for us! Well said on every topic Gerald. When a community conspires or a buyer leaves a hateful comment even though deep down, they know it just constructive unbiased criticism can only help out the situation. Even if the company is not willing at fixing these issues and i am talking in general the owner at least knows that someone has encountered and called on that topic so that you do not have to look or reach for that same issue saving you time on set and from your free time. Only positive things can come up from it if you put aside you ego and buying decisions. Do not idolise companys and do not give hate because of that matter. The community that speaks its mind even though they know that it has more consequences for it's potential growth for just doing the right thing is at the least admirable. As you said i know that the hate is not going to stop you but there are plenty of people that they believe you are doing your due diligence without any slack and speaking for that group of people we all owe you a sincere thank you.
I admire and respect your channel and reviews. By far the best technical channel I've discovered as a beginner who likes deep explanations like yours. I've bought equipment based on your work, and I've been super happy to know and be confident about my shooting in large part because of you.
Man in all honesty.. I've been part of the Z-cam facebook group for a while now and although people feel like this is the greatest group in the world, I feel like this group might be the reason I DON'T want to get that camera :D. What is this, crossfit?
This is a simple comment but dude I appreciate you so much. You are so informative to the consumer and even if I'm not going to buy something, I watch your videos and get an incredible free education. Thank you for your ongoing honesty and unwavering dedication to getting things undone.
it's a funny thing, my relationship with UA-cam and its viewership... so i can understand your frustration. I have been in the industry for 15 years, and always been a full time photographer/filmmaker during that time. Ive seen the rise of youtube and its review culture and I can tell you i think its amazing. in a professional environment we don't test stuff on set, by that point the camera has been run through its paces for a long time which is why most professional sets are NOT using new cameras. we have to master the items before we spend millions depending partially on their usage but on smaller sets and personal projects so I am always looking for new things to play with and expand the vision and the fun. I think your channel provides me your insights into the items which i love and I wanted to thank you for that. I still get things in my hand and lay because my usage is always my own story but I LOVE that you do what you do. don't waste time on this energy with these people though, a majority of them are literally not buying anything. they aren't actually ever going to shoot anything, they just be on here talking shit all day and watching us LIVE out our dreams. Keep doing what you do honestly and fully bro, we need it.
You are one of the best camera youtubers and I have always appreciated that you bring these things up and it’s amazing that the companies fix the problems you point out!!!
I thought that your Z-CAM video was well thought out and brought out excellent and important points, like practically every video you do. I feel like your videos are matter-of-fact and rarely (if ever since I've been watching) descend into anything near a rant or attack on any product. I appreciate them and I know many others do as well!
I will always appreciate UA-camrs and reviewers that point our problems that are consistently recreatable. Not only does it allow for proactive manufacturers to fix them for a better product, but it means the people using the gear are aware about what situatons some cameras may be problematic and others would work better. It allows anyone to know what camera would be the best choice for their specific workflow and circumstance. The fact Gerald has to make a video defending himself for identifying problems in a product is crazy.
I look to your channel Gerald in order to help me make a correct decision in choosing a cinema camera (coming from Mirrorless) a decision that will undoubtedly represent a considerable investment, so I don’t want to make a costly mistake. I agree with your comment about brand defencivity ( is that a word?) I’m a Fuji user, i love my X-T3 , but I know it’s not doing for me what I want it to do when it comes to comes to Cine video, so I’m heavily researching on a upgrade. So .....bottom line please keep on doing what you do, because warts and all review is important . I respect your unapologetic approach, it’s trustworthy and I am learning so much in a very short space of time. You are clearly passionate about what you do, and you care about what people think. I identify with that very strongly. Thanks you for your investment in helping guys like myself who are reasonably experienced photographers, but trying to make the transition into cinema video without making some serious error in purchasing choices.
You are one of the people I trust for this type of review, you don't favor a particular brand and you try and find what's good about a camera, from software to ergonomics, and you try and find the breaking points. All very very good to know about. And from what I've seen of Z Cam, they'd appreciate knowing where issues may be, they seem very responsive as a company. I'm following another camera beta launch and they want the testers to "break" the camera, so they can improve it and fix anything they might have missed. Bravo brother, keep up the great work.
This was by far my favorite video that you have made, only because you seemed so frustrated by people who don’t understand what you were trying to accomplish with your video review. I really appreciated the way you dove into all of the cons of the Z cam. Even after watching it I decided to pull the trigger on the F6 because I know that those are minor issues with the way I shoot and I am now aware of the issues that could cause major problems on a paid job. For me, at that price point, the pros outweigh the cons. I guess what I wanted to say is thank you for helping me make an informed decision on my purchase.
i should call u bug searching because u are really good at, it's very helpful for us preventing the issue when the brand company still not fix the bug. respect Gerald
Been tinkering with me’ Z-Cam all afternoon, dipped in and out of the group this afternoon whilst tinkering. It’s good you followed up with this live stream and you know Gerald, with people like you and the owners of Z-Cam rooting for consumers, we’ve literally never had it better. ✌️
Go Gerald, always appreciate your reviews along with the videos I watch on image making. Your reviews of the tools available to film makers are unbiased and always wonderfully thorough.
I’ve learned so much from this channel. Even if it takes me multiple viewings to understand some of it. I know it takes a ton of time put these things together. Thanks
LMAO. Gerald you are more like me than I care to admit. You literally overthink everything. But, it's what makes your channel so good. Moral of the story, do you. You do some of the best technical run downs of any channel on UA-cam. Don't change a thing. You put out some of the most useful videos on all of UA-cam. Your videos are more technically useful than most anything else on here. Your lens test and camera test are top notch. And by far the most useful. The scientific approach to these tests are not lost on us......much love.
This would be a way different result with CDNG. Jusy saying. If my camera corrupted the file from any type of power loss.....it screwed me. I don't buy a camera specifically for video to have these types of problems. If I wanted 30 minutes of record time at a time and didn't care about power loss corruption, then I would just get an old ass dslr. Huge props to zcam for being in touch with their base and actually working on problems that the actual users are seeing. All producers should be like this. Where else are you going to work with the camera developer to work out these kinks?
Appreciate your indepth-reviews. I own an A6400 and I dig it. Would love to own an A7 III or A7 R IV. But I can't afford it right now. I'm a hobbyist and love tech. Everybody and their grandparents showed off the new Sony ZV-1. And I thought to myself: Yep - Sony is giving out cameras. Let's wait for the real reviews. Because every channel only shows some stuff. And everybody talked about the flip-screen - yayyy.... And then your review came along and basically showed EVERYTHING. This is the reason I watch your videos. I don't buy all the cameras - I don't make films. I take pictures. But I love tech and I want to see what the things can get me or what I could do if I had camera Y. Keep it up and I will always watch your videos because they are in-depth and informative. And this is what I want from a review.
32:30 "I saved the world! That's not what I'm trying to say here. But it is true..." Excellently placed pause haha. And you should definitely make these rants a monthly thing.
Gerald I've heard many people state they never take negative comments "too" seriously. Haters gonna hate on ya even when they don't know they're haters. Honestly you could give away free $20 bills and some people would do the thumbs down and leave negative remarks. I've enjoyed your videos a great deal and as a retired field engineering tech I give my endorsement of your channel for what little it's worth. God Bless.
Hi Gerald, I appreciate your honesty and agree with you 100%. I own the original Zcam E2 and now S6. I also use Sony, Fuji, bmpcc and was a precious Canon owner, and danced with a Red a while back. I guess what I’m trying to say is there isn’t a perfect camera and I don’t owe any camera companies any sort of loyalty when I pay hard earned money for their units. At the end of the day, whether shooting commercials, passion projects, or films, I’ll choose the camera appropriate for the project. PC and mac users have been going at it for years. These are all tools and yes, you’d expect them to work, especially if you pay for them. You owe no apologies... the Zcam Facebook community has a couple of bad apples, people fanboying without putting out the work or jus there to complain about everything. I’m sure there are a couple of bad apples in every camera group on both ends of the spectrum. Whenever there’s an issue on a Zcam, I will say the company does their best to fix it. The issues you reported are great considerations to be addressed and I’m sure Kinson and the team will take these recommendations as they are always refining their camera lines. Keep doing what you do, you owe no apologies, it just sucks that the fanboys of the group ruin the image of the whole community. A community is for sharing and building each other up by finding solutions and moving forward together. I think society has forgotten what that means. Thanks for your honesty. I hope we can move forward from the fanboy mentality very soon.
Wow brand loyalty for me is so interesting. Why? I get it that people want to feel good about what they have bought. But honestly you have to look at your tools like tools and not a piece of fashion that expresses your personalty. Keep up the good work Gerald!
Hi, I actually saw your video because I was looking at reviews of Zcam products. I'm not one of your regular viewers (but I'll subscribe, it's always interesting). It baffles that you have to make this video to defend your opinion. That really sucks. Your review seemed honest to me and you are not the only with negative points to make about Zcam cameras, and there are also many others that don't and that's how it works sometimes shit happens. Anyway, take care ;)
Mate, you have the best most in depth reviews on UA-cam. Fanboyism is dangerous for everyone. I have been guilty of it before and it only holds you back. All cameras are good these days.
Gerald - Do you still have the file that was corrupted from the Z-Cam? Do you have a file recorded with the same settings that wasn't corrupted as well? (doesn't have to be the same length, but same fps, resolution, file type, from the same camera, etc.) I'd like to try to recover it, and give you the recovered file. Just curious. Let me know if you're interested!
Loved this review. I would like to see a review like this for the URSA Mini G2. It is a budget friendly and beginner cine camera that no one is really talking about (no one that I can find that goes into it depth like you do).
KEEP THIS UP! I couldn’t give a shit about the good of a camera because the manufacturer is going to point that out black and white and it’s plastered all over the place. I wanna know what could go wrong so I don’t misallocate my money. You nailed the buyer/owner topic and I couldn’t find a flaw anywhere in your argu ment. You’re not being negative, you’re being thorough and informative. Again, keep this up because people who don’t blindly enter into anything want to know as much as they can, good or bad, before they spend money.
It was a fantastic unboxing/review because it pointed out possible issues and current issues YOU found. People are ridiculously tribal....to a point of pathetic pettiness. You did great dude
I have often been helped because someone included a very specific “niche” detail of info, as a media director at a church, I am almost always trying to make equipment do too much, or something it wasn’t already designed to do. It has often been the case that someone /finally/ mentioned the one thing I care about. And power loss is not a rare, niche deal. Always enjoy your videos, sir!
Listen Gerald, *I still love you.* I'm a ZCam owner and honestly - *you shouldn't have to explain your opinion.* People just have to stop being butt-hurt about everything and take their discrepancies with a grain of salt. 🤘🏾❤️ Much love from Europe!
I'm disappointed I missed this livestream. 1) I am fortunate to rent and own multiple cameras for multiple use cases but I always try my best to find a camera that could satisfy all possible use cases as a creator (use cases that may not yet be determined). Learning the potential issues, whether widespread, niche or user unique, is incredibly valuable as someone who doesn't want the frustration of learning the hard way. Gerald has set the precedent I've come to expect by honestly showing pros and cons of anything he reviews. It's why I first go here instead of watching the drudging ensemble of videos by those whose priority is to sell (or an ambassador). It also is beneficial to your worshipped brands so they can improve their hardware & software. 2) I need to know the little details of any camera and these videos are a great jumping off point before I bite. You would lose your next job if any of these "little" issues surprised you on set to ruin a big take. 3) Target audience might be buyers, but as an owner of some of these cameras, I find value in Gerald shining a light on issues I want fixed. 4) You come for Gerald, you get undone. Period't. * Excited for that c300 mk III video! Want to know how the dual gain output performs before renting :)*
What do we do to avoid footage loss. Use a digital tape recorder attached to the camera? I would hate to loose anything when shooting a wedding? Or even a promotional video for a demanding client. I want everything that goes through my lense to be recorded.
in blackmagic raw you pull batterie at 20:06 and video recording is 16:08 that is 4sec in my book in prores 422 you pull batterie at 10:11 and video recording is 9:29 that is 1sec (those are frames and not seconds, anyway)
Don’t worry man, it’s a crazy world out there right now. Some people just love to lash out. Keep doing your thing. I’m happy with my Z Cam, and I was happy with your review.
Hi Gerald, so many UA-camrs have been talking about the hate and viciousness in the comments lately that I feel that being in isolation due to covid 19 is making people go crazy! Here in Australia, according to the latest figures there has even been an increase in domestic violence. I love all your reviews, you are so well researched and thorough. Keep up these awesome videos and don't let the hate get to you!
there is some great humor in this video that about made me fall out of my chair and spit out my coffee! Z Cam (hi up)..."If you touch a Z Cam again we will have you killed!" of course taken out of context so much watch this video appreciate where GU is coming from. i really appreciate this guy!
I love this. The whole thing! Don’t be negative! If you can’t handle that people have something constructive to say about a tiny detail in your camera, care about something important more lol. Love love love all your thoughts on positivity and how “negative/constructive” reviews only benefit the owners and buyers.
DSLR video shooter got a huge amount of backlash for saying he hated the pocket4k and found it hard to grade. then he deleted his video and a month later he put out a new video saying it was amazing.
Hi Gerald. I am still thinking about buying the Zcam E2F6 but... i have to admit your videos feels objective to me. I dont care that somehow you label yourself as a "youtuber". I prefer a calm and technical review to some over excited young adult bragging about how next level is his new toy. Practicly none of these haters comments you adressed seems valuable to me (except the battery dead + saving files), i understood what you meant at first and also understood the nuances. What ever mate, sending good vibes your way, keep up the good work!
I honestly feel sometimes that I am that buyer you are looking out for. I appreciate integrity. I can not afford to invest in things that have hidden hooks that will make me have to hunt down or worse come up with work arounds. I do not have extra money or extra time to set up the technical testing many reviewers do, so seeing/ hearing the results of properly executed testing is really important to me. Please continue to share your "whole truth" about gear with us your viewers, because it might matter a great deal when deciding how to allocate our budgeting. Getting a corrupted file due to a known flaw that perhaps was not known by me would or could spell disaster on a shoot. I work on a lot of projects these days that have budgets that can not compensate for many technical failures during the shoot by scheduling more shoot days. Reshooting scenes can become quite a problem on tight budgets. I try not to bring my bias about gear into evaluations but we all have some of that going on especially for what we own. In online groups I do not slam reviewers who dislike my gear preferences because I know the mental trade offs I accepted when I made my purchases and stand by them as the best choices for the information and budget I had at the time of acquisition. To make those decisions honest reviews are essential, please continue to provide them for us.
I hear you for sure dude. Great Rant. Hope you feel better and that people have listened, it was worth being said. I always like your thoroughness, and you brought it here too 👍👍
Carry on, kid. You're doing a great job and your judgement is always logical and fair to all parties. Don't worry too much about viewers with negative criticism on what you say. Like you already mentioned it's only 2 percent of them around, but as always, so loud they might appear as many more than that. That's a fact of life. Happens to everyone. (signed: a loyal fan of your work).
Black Magic could add a whole new segment of camera owners, if they could produce a product like the p4k with IS like that in the EM1 M2 and above. They could sell many more cinema cameras with that feature, but what do I know.
This is great information to have, Anyone who actually uses this equipment to make a living has at some point had to deal with a client and the embarassment equipment failures. Z cam has some awesome features but is probably best for for personal projects and not jobs where clients are involved. Or if using on a job knowing these issues a head of time is so so important.
Great initial review, and this response video as well! All of these snobs who do not make money using their equipment, for Films or making UA-cam videos, are never as smart as they think, and I find their responses are not USEFUL. I appreciate what I’ve learned from your content, and how it has helped me solve problems, and or avoid pitfalls. And you are giving this to us for FREE. Anyone that can’t appreciate that are not worthy of arguing with. People you are not you camera, its a tool not an extension of your soul. Lol. Now I’m DONE. 😜
Sorry, Gerald. This is entirely too reasonable, too well thought, and too logical. We won't accept it.
Z-CAM user here. Missed the original video but I've seen some of the backlash in the FB group. Can I just say that without knowing the background, I just listened to 55mins of common sense and reasoned opinion. It's channels like this that lift the community. Thank you. Subscribed.
Has the recording issue been fixed?
A year later, did ZCAM fix their corruption issues? I just read that ZCAM does auto file healing on reboot after failure. Does that work reliably?
I thought you were going to talk about the noise that fans in cine cameras make and interfere with sound recording. 😂
Who are you?
@@xXxAmadeuzxXx Curtis Judd. Who are you?
Hahaha, me too! Lol
It is a subject that we damn well need to talk more about!
34:15 "... I've been trying for years with Olympus..." it's a bit too soon, Gerald but that's the (unintentionally) funniest thing I've heard all week.
I almost spit my coffee out my nose :)
Some people are pretty explosive right now and such a joke can be the trigger.........
I think it was intentional, I just don't think Gerald thinks Olympus's attitude these past couple decades has been very funny 🙃
Gerald, you do not have to apologize for your videos. They are ones of the better reviews on YT, with no arrogance, no hard selling pushes, no bs. People who get to know you will appreciate your sense of humor. Obviously it's difficult to please everyone, thus keep up the good work as you've done so far. Thanks.
Slightly frustrated and serious Gerald is my new favourite Gerald
Thank you for your clarity, honesty, and matter-of-fact voice this is why we look to you!
This video made me convinced we need a Gerald Undone Podcast. I listened to the whole thing while cleaning my house. 10/10 for frustrated Gerald!
Recent F6 owner, indie doc filmmaker, longtime Undune lurker here. Took me less than an hour to find the Ninja/F6 23.97 issue upon unboxing and it seemed to be news to the FB group, so I’ve been on the hunt for a fix. Your review was both validating and encouraging! Feel the same about the other issues too which are extremely relevant to how I shoot. I learn something in every video of yours so keep it up my dude!
the group is run by zcam and it's a big problem
@@ThaexakaMavro did zcam fix the issues with firmware updates?
Dude I live for seeing the weird issues. The more specific the better. As a filmmaker understanding my tool as completely as possible is the only way I can be positive a plan I have will succeed. And I know from experience nothing warms my brain more than finding someone else online who has already figured out the issue I suddenly have especially the weirder it is. No one likes their gear to give them the very unique problem award. Keep up what you're doing.
That BlackMagic demonstration just totally sold it for me haha...
Get the canon c100
@@vizon-aryproductions6191 what a terrible suggestion
As a ZCAM owner and group member of the Facebook group, it really sucks that you even had to make a follow-up video on this. I genuinely thought the review was fair. If anything, it still makes me want to upgrade to the E2-S6 or E2-M4, from my E2C. There are tons of talented individuals in the world with various types of gear, but I'm not gonna lie, whenever any content creator or UA-camr makes a slightly negative review on a particular camera, some come out of the woodwork to just shit on them. It happened with Tom Antos' first E2 vid, it happened with Gear Focus with their F8 review, and to a lesser extent, it happened with your last video. I love my cameras, they are the best for my use case, but I refuse to be loyal to a brand at all, and I say this ready for all the smoke and ire from all. We gotta be able to take criticism and learn from it.
I made the jump from the E2C to the M4, definitely worth it!
it doesnt matter what camera you buy these days, the quality differences are more of a software thing than actually physically being much different, sensors have reached a point where if you take a shot for example with a camera with 12mp and then another with say 26 and one with say 100mp the only really differences will be from software and encoder tweaks. The differences are barely present once you factor in color grading. So buying new gear really doesnt give you anything more.
People will hate on anything because one person says they didnt like it. Thats just the internet and the culture we have regarding people just bandwagoning after one persons opinion because they idolize that person and will follow whatever they say even if it goes against common sense and logic.
@@Spyder1 I made the jump the opposite way. From a higher end camera down to a E2C.
@@pilsplease7561 The rolling shutter and poor lowlight was just too agreesive for me to work with properly. But the E2C is far from a bad camera. It was definitely an upgrade from my initial Canon C100
@@Spyder1 For me, im also a photographer and honestly my XT-30 has better video capabilities than most cinema cameras do but the recording time is limited to like 15 minute clips before you have to start another recording session because the cameras tiny and the sensor heats up but other than that its also 6k video being output at 4k, Were getting to a point where you can probably make a huge hollywood movie on a small mirrorless camera if you wanted.
All of your logic is perfect. Gained even more respect from me
As part of the non-vocal majority, I watched the ZCAM video and though 'That was a great review' and went about my day. Thorns that stick out are always prickly!
Yup, same :)
Also thought: maybe some of this will be sorted out by the software update
Am I the only one who started watching this video wondering what the problem was with the fan on the z-cam!
GU - I’m a owner & fan of ZCam, BMPCC4K, Fuji....your reviews are rock solid, thorough, and you always emphasize usage context “what doesn’t work for me may not be a big deal for you” . The creative video capabilities in our hands now at very affordable price points have ramped insanely over even the past year & half, and testing/video documenting issues is the only possible path to future improvement for any of these young or relatively recent manufacturers to hit the scene. You remain a fair & honest reviewer, representing the best-of-breed quality that all YT influencers should seek to emulate. And finally, you uncovering issues with products I own & use doesn’t trigger hate/anger at either you OR the manufacturer. Facts is facts, opinions are stated as such. Carry on, polite Canuck :)
I have Zcam. Thankyou for pointing out things that need to be fixed that I havent run into yet. Ive watched a bunch of your vids because youre informative. Respect bro!
"Excuse me... it's time to concatenate my files..." could be THE best video one liner ever. Great video as per usual
16:25 i'm exactly that person. there's literally no one else who talks about these seemingly little things that actually make or break the camera, for me anyway, and i'd argue for a looot of people who just don't realize it yet. you're doing a wonderful job with these fine reviews.
I was surprised to see a balanced review in the first place - because these days everyone is only posting positive stuff. It gave me greater confidence in your credibility.
I’m just now watching this. I’ve watched a lot “UA-camrs” channel on film making and you are by FAR one of the best ones when it comes to reviews and your knowledge. I feel like you are more of a filmmaker then just some guy talking about gear.
Personally, I think your video was awesome and I appreciate the critical thinking behind it. If I was going to drop $4k on a camera I want to know all the good and the bad. Thanks for being honest!! 👏
Gerald is being far too kind calling those channels "filmmaking channels"
There ARE filmmaking channels like Indy Mogul, Cooke Optics TV, and ponysmasher
But the kind that he mentioned who are all about the "lifestyle" and "footage" are, well... not good at all.
"Filmakers" that dont make films
Ponysmasher, will put that down on my list. Also Aputure is handy for lighting and Studiobinder on digesting shots in movies. Super recommend them! For you editors, 'This Guy Edits'.
@@kolecava Ponysmasher is the dude who created Lights Out and directed Shazam! and Annabelle: Creation
Z-cam fanboy here. No need for apologies or explanations, Gerald. We love you as you are. With your observations and opinions. No camera is perfect, but we really want this new relatively small company to succeed and shake the market. Having said that, it's only through criticism and iterational improvement can we build great products. Thank you for wonderful content!
Gerald, 48:54. My honest answer is: please keep getting things undone the Gerald Undone way! I wish you made a video of everything I bought and was disappointed to (big chance you could have saved me or I made me aware of cons I'm getting), your attention to details and how to point them out and organize information is unique.
Most of what I want to say has already been said. I'm disappointed that the community pushed back so much in the Z Cam video. I thought it was generally fair and I hope to see everything you talked about worked on! It just makes my camera better. Tom Antos had many gripes that were fixed in further iterations. It's always a good thing.
Owners like to comfort themselves with their purchase. This is actually taught in marketing courses. Having said that, I prefer a review that's honest so I can do the best purchase decision on a product. I have been the proud owner of a Z Cam E2 for a year now and I have never had so much fun with a camera since my Bolex RX5. Before I made my purchase, I researched a lot on the camera and I knew what I was getting into when I decided to buy it. Keep doing honest reviews!
damn Gerald. love it. you've been straight up from the beginning-- and not much has changed. keep it up!
I'm a member of the Z-Cam FB group and it's a vocal minority that lashes out like this. If you read the discussion there about all this you'll see most of us agree that our compact cinema cameras have places they could be improved, like most cameras, and we largely didn't have an issue with the major points raised. Further, what I love about Z-Cam is how responsive they are to their customers and they respond with improvements and firmware updates faster than any company out there. It's amazing.
Every time I see a Z Cam comment with the customer support mentions I get the vibe that it’s sponsored.
@@playwithzay6178 cool. it's not.
Your a Zcam Guinea pig
@@xXxAmadeuzxXx well that's true. I'm an early adopter. can't help myself. most recently I had one of the very first F6's to reach the US, and I have the 69th Panasonic EVA1. was a little late to the S1H but I loved it enough to buy two. And keeping a close eye on when i can pre-order a Canon R5. Add lenses on top of camera bodies and it's an expensive habit but I'm okay with that. And while everyone online picks their corner and argues over the little stuff, I'm busy having fun shooting as a z-cam, panasonic, canon, red, sony, dji, etc, etc guinea pig.
It happens with Sony A6300 & A6500 too if you "battery out" suddenly, file will be corrupt. Recording concerts I would try to quickly change a battery in between songs and didn't power off quick enough during the switch out and lost some valuable footage. So happy to have the A6600 now.
Here’s my hot take that no one asked for: I’m so happy to embrace the video production/videography community, which seems to be fun, supportive, and exciting. Anecdotally, I’ve found self professed “filmmakers” to take things and themselves a bit too seriously. All of the actual working filmmakers I’ve ever met are far too busy working to get into the weeds about gear in online arguments. I honestly think “filmmaker” sounds cooler than “videographer” to most people, which makes them want to call themselves filmmakers.
I rarely share opinions like this, but I wish all groups could spend more time appreciating the cool tools that we have access to and be excited about the fact that we’re all interested in this stuff to one degree or another. I always appreciate your depth, thoroughness, and humor. 🙌🏼
I appreciate what you're saying here. I've been the cinematographer on 22 feature films and way too many commercial and corp gigs to count. I consider myself a filmmaker because I (stupidly) prioritize long form narrative projects over short-form commercials, short films, and corp shoots. That said, I've seen some amazing cinematography from far less experienced people than me on UA-cam and elsewhere. Talent is talent. When the DVX100 came out all of a sudden everyone was a DP, where before almost nobody made that claim. At this point, I don't get hung up on labels, because so many people have diluted what being a DP or cinematographer means that its just about meaningless.
Being a DP on a feature film that is more than a zero-budget passion project has sooooo many pressures and responsibilities beyond worrying about what happens to the footage I shot when the camera gets accidentally popped out by the 2nd AC. But, I would NEVER step on set with a camera where that potential exists. The cost of each shot/setup/scene is far more valuable than the minor savings you experience is buying a ZCam vs a C500, Red, or Alexa. But that's my reality. I know that for many, who cannot afford to use those cameras, the tradeoff and risk is acceptable vs the quality of image it affords. Its all a matter of perspective.
I just came across this video, which I know is now 2 years old. I just found the Gerald Undone channel on UA-cam and have gone deep down this rabbit hole because the videos are all so well done. (Gerald WellDone LOL) I wanted to mention that corrupt ProRes files due to power loss has not been an issue on any ProRes capable device I've used in the past 5 or 6 years. Gerald showed that the Black Magic camera he had in his studio did not have this issue. I've been using AJA KiPro recorders since they were introduced and while they once had an issue with file corruption if power was lost, AJA resolved that issue a long time ago. If AJA and Black Magic Design can do it, why can't everyone else. Gerald has a good point. I'm also very happy that his reviews are as complete as he is able to make them. If he covers a topic that doesn't concern me, at least I've learned something. Great job, Gerald. I'm subscribing today!
Gerald, please completely ignore the trolls. Your videos are an invaluable source of information to me: professional level yet easy to understand. I learned so much.
Gerald your technical reviews are excellent and some of the very few channels that explore. Honestly, this was the only review that I saw of the Zcam that included the detail and info that I really needed. I shoot docs and commercial from very small to large budgets and overall it's this detail that I really value. Of course I'm the kind of operator that will watch 10 hour breakdown video courses by Arri tearing their camera apart just so I can understand the cameras that I use better. When I tested the FX9 I found a number of nit picky issues that made me favour the C500 more in a very similar way you did. Honestly, most modern cameras create excellent images and more and more it's the tiny details that are critical to investing in gear. The little things sometimes make the most difference when time is money and clients are stressed. Please keep up the technical breakdowns and critical nature of your content. It's extremely valuable and pros really appreciate it.
Great follow up video, man. I appreciate you giving context to the battery issue. You're right, issues/bugs you point out that are deemed to be legitimate issues, if fixed, make the camera better for ZCAM owners and ZCAM as a brand.
I know it's not your jam, but I would love to see some more "ranting and raving" style videos like this from time to time. It's fun watching you rip apart the haters and slam-dunk logic all over their faces.
Always enjoy viewing your videos as each time I learn something new and have a better understanding how something works or learn a new way to be creative in making videos. I've been around the film and audio / video industry for a very long time and as you even at my old age still very techie enjoying all the new things which help to make life better when making videos or audio recordings.
There was mentioned about recording time limits and I agree that it is nice to have more than the 30 min limit which is found with some cameras. I know that many times recordings are done in segments which can be much less than 30 mins but there are times when it is nice to have that extra recording time. Over the years I have recorded variety of interviews including several musical productions which were live and some events would be multiple shows at the same venue. Many of those shows have been between two to almost 3 hour long at times not including any intermissions but actual live production on stage. Even some interviews which were live have been long and be where one could not just pause the interview because of camera time limits.
There was a question about how could one keep recording or have the whole production recorded when there are time limits without loosing any of the video. One way is using multiple cameras with each one starting at a different time interval so there would always be a camera recording. When everything was done on tape recorded in the camera along with external recording I would start the recording on each camera at a different time interval, each one starting just a few minutes apart, basically the time it would take to swap out the tape in the camera. The recording time would be either 1 or 2 hours depending on the camera being used, analog or digital. Each camera recorded the time code on the tape. This way as each camera tape ended for long productions other cameras would still be recording and before any of those ran out of tape a camera could have it's tape exchanged and be recording again. Each camera was also color balance equally as possible.
Many of these concerts I would use five cameras with each one recording the musical production on tape besides a master tape recording when possible which was edited on the fly. Once the filming completed I would load all the video and audio tracks into my editing bay and come up with the final production. Some of those days were before multiple camera editing was included into the editing software so was interesting at times until later on there was plug in available to allow more than one camera editing. It was almost like using my old manual base editing where you control each tape unit, each on a different video input all going out to one tape unit for final edit. I today, still have my Dad's old film editing table with editor use for film back in the early 1930's along with the camera and projector he used then.
My camera layout at some venues would be where one camera would be a wide shot of the whole stage, one would be on left and one on right side of stage each at a 45 degree angle crossing the path of the other camera view so that the whole stage could be covered for wide to close up views. A second wide to close up camera up high about the audience for various shots of the stage at different angles from wide to close up. The last and fifth camera would be roaming the venue for audience capturing and close up at the stage of the performers. Many times the final edits would have of course video from each camera angle but also many times some of the video might be mixed in with the audio recorded from another camera or even from one of the other show at the same venue that was done later that same night or next day performance. Which ever edit helped to make the finial edit look the best. So yes, time limit on cameras many of the times is not an issue, but at times, one may need a camera to be recording for more than 30 mins.
Things have come a long way since wire audio recorders to magnetic tape recorders to solid state recorders in use today. From video recordings which were SSTV where each frame was 8 to 20 seconds long done on cassette tape to 2 inch wide tape then from smaller 1/4 inch tapes on VHS, SVHS, Beta tapes to today being sold state drives used for recordings. It will be amazing what the future may hold as one day all of this new technology will be look upon as antiques. lol
Problem with youtube comments is the creator can make a 25 minute video, with hundreds of talking points, be 99.9% accurate, and there are people who watch just to point out one thing you missed or said incorrectly. The vast majority of viewers are great but I understand why huge channels often don’t read comments.
We must protect him at all cost! 😂 He is too good for us! Well said on every topic Gerald. When a community conspires or a buyer leaves a hateful comment even though deep down, they know it just constructive unbiased criticism can only help out the situation. Even if the company is not willing at fixing these issues and i am talking in general the owner at least knows that someone has encountered and called on that topic so that you do not have to look or reach for that same issue saving you time on set and from your free time. Only positive things can come up from it if you put aside you ego and buying decisions. Do not idolise companys and do not give hate because of that matter. The community that speaks its mind even though they know that it has more consequences for it's potential growth for just doing the right thing is at the least admirable. As you said i know that the hate is not going to stop you but there are plenty of people that they believe you are doing your due diligence without any slack and speaking for that group of people we all owe you a sincere thank you.
I admire and respect your channel and reviews. By far the best technical channel I've discovered as a beginner who likes deep explanations like yours. I've bought equipment based on your work, and I've been super happy to know and be confident about my shooting in large part because of you.
Man in all honesty.. I've been part of the Z-cam facebook group for a while now and although people feel like this is the greatest group in the world, I feel like this group might be the reason I DON'T want to get that camera :D. What is this, crossfit?
Same TBH, now looking elsewhere
This is a simple comment but dude I appreciate you so much. You are so informative to the consumer and even if I'm not going to buy something, I watch your videos and get an incredible free education. Thank you for your ongoing honesty and unwavering dedication to getting things undone.
it's a funny thing, my relationship with UA-cam and its viewership... so i can understand your frustration. I have been in the industry for 15 years, and always been a full time photographer/filmmaker during that time. Ive seen the rise of youtube and its review culture and I can tell you i think its amazing. in a professional environment we don't test stuff on set, by that point the camera has been run through its paces for a long time which is why most professional sets are NOT using new cameras. we have to master the items before we spend millions depending partially on their usage but on smaller sets and personal projects so I am always looking for new things to play with and expand the vision and the fun. I think your channel provides me your insights into the items which i love and I wanted to thank you for that. I still get things in my hand and lay because my usage is always my own story but I LOVE that you do what you do. don't waste time on this energy with these people though, a majority of them are literally not buying anything. they aren't actually ever going to shoot anything, they just be on here talking shit all day and watching us LIVE out our dreams. Keep doing what you do honestly and fully bro, we need it.
You are one of the best camera youtubers and I have always appreciated that you bring these things up and it’s amazing that the companies fix the problems you point out!!!
I thought that your Z-CAM video was well thought out and brought out excellent and important points, like practically every video you do. I feel like your videos are matter-of-fact and rarely (if ever since I've been watching) descend into anything near a rant or attack on any product.
I appreciate them and I know many others do as well!
I will always appreciate UA-camrs and reviewers that point our problems that are consistently recreatable. Not only does it allow for proactive manufacturers to fix them for a better product, but it means the people using the gear are aware about what situatons some cameras may be problematic and others would work better. It allows anyone to know what camera would be the best choice for their specific workflow and circumstance.
The fact Gerald has to make a video defending himself for identifying problems in a product is crazy.
I look to your channel Gerald in order to help me make a correct decision in choosing a cinema camera (coming from Mirrorless) a decision that will undoubtedly represent a considerable investment, so I don’t want to make a costly mistake. I agree with your comment about brand defencivity ( is that a word?) I’m a Fuji user, i love my X-T3 , but I know it’s not doing for me what I want it to do when it comes to comes to Cine video, so I’m heavily researching on a upgrade. So .....bottom line please keep on doing what you do, because warts and all review is important . I respect your unapologetic approach, it’s trustworthy and I am learning so much in a very short space of time. You are clearly passionate about what you do, and you care about what people think. I identify with that very strongly. Thanks you for your investment in helping guys like myself who are reasonably experienced photographers, but trying to make the transition into cinema video without making some serious error in purchasing choices.
You are one of the people I trust for this type of review, you don't favor a particular brand and you try and find what's good about a camera, from software to ergonomics, and you try and find the breaking points. All very very good to know about. And from what I've seen of Z Cam, they'd appreciate knowing where issues may be, they seem very responsive as a company. I'm following another camera beta launch and they want the testers to "break" the camera, so they can improve it and fix anything they might have missed. Bravo brother, keep up the great work.
This was by far my favorite video that you have made, only because you seemed so frustrated by people who don’t understand what you were trying to accomplish with your video review. I really appreciated the way you dove into all of the cons of the Z cam. Even after watching it I decided to pull the trigger on the F6 because I know that those are minor issues with the way I shoot and I am now aware of the issues that could cause major problems on a paid job. For me, at that price point, the pros outweigh the cons. I guess what I wanted to say is thank you for helping me make an informed decision on my purchase.
i should call u bug searching because u are really good at, it's very helpful for us preventing the issue when the brand company still not fix the bug. respect Gerald
Thank you for all the work you do, Gerald. You've helped me immensely - I know I can speak for several thousands of others as well.
Been tinkering with me’ Z-Cam all afternoon, dipped in and out of the group this afternoon whilst tinkering. It’s good you followed up with this live stream and you know Gerald, with people like you and the owners of Z-Cam rooting for consumers, we’ve literally never had it better. ✌️
...and that ladies and gentlemen, is how it's done. Gerald came with the receipts.
"I'm Gerald Undone and sometimes I care too much"
Thanks for all the useful information and your integrity, Gerald 😊
I appreciate everything you do Gerald! 👍👍👍
Go Gerald, always appreciate your reviews along with the videos I watch on image making. Your reviews of the tools available to film makers are unbiased and always wonderfully thorough.
44:39 “Okay, last page!” haha Seriously, great commentary, Gerald.
I’ve learned so much from this channel. Even if it takes me multiple viewings to understand some of it. I know it takes a ton of time put these things together. Thanks
LMAO. Gerald you are more like me than I care to admit. You literally overthink everything. But, it's what makes your channel so good. Moral of the story, do you. You do some of the best technical run downs of any channel on UA-cam. Don't change a thing. You put out some of the most useful videos on all of UA-cam. Your videos are more technically useful than most anything else on here. Your lens test and camera test are top notch. And by far the most useful. The scientific approach to these tests are not lost on us......much love.
This would be a way different result with CDNG. Jusy saying. If my camera corrupted the file from any type of power loss.....it screwed me. I don't buy a camera specifically for video to have these types of problems. If I wanted 30 minutes of record time at a time and didn't care about power loss corruption, then I would just get an old ass dslr. Huge props to zcam for being in touch with their base and actually working on problems that the actual users are seeing. All producers should be like this. Where else are you going to work with the camera developer to work out these kinks?
Appreciate your indepth-reviews.
I own an A6400 and I dig it. Would love to own an A7 III or A7 R IV. But I can't afford it right now.
I'm a hobbyist and love tech. Everybody and their grandparents showed off the new Sony ZV-1. And I thought to myself: Yep - Sony is giving out cameras. Let's wait for the real reviews. Because every channel only shows some stuff. And everybody talked about the flip-screen - yayyy....
And then your review came along and basically showed EVERYTHING.
This is the reason I watch your videos. I don't buy all the cameras - I don't make films. I take pictures. But I love tech and I want to see what the things can get me or what I could do if I had camera Y.
Keep it up and I will always watch your videos because they are in-depth and informative. And this is what I want from a review.
32:30 "I saved the world! That's not what I'm trying to say here. But it is true..."
Excellently placed pause haha. And you should definitely make these rants a monthly thing.
As a Z CAM owner myself, I can only thank you for pointing those things out!! Keep up the good work and ignore the fanboys.
Gerald I've heard many people state they never take negative comments "too" seriously. Haters gonna hate on ya even when they don't know they're haters. Honestly you could give away free $20 bills and some people would do the thumbs down and leave negative remarks. I've enjoyed your videos a great deal and as a retired field engineering tech I give my endorsement of your channel for what little it's worth. God Bless.
Hi Gerald, I appreciate your honesty and agree with you 100%. I own the original Zcam E2 and now S6. I also use Sony, Fuji, bmpcc and was a precious Canon owner, and danced with a Red a while back. I guess what I’m trying to say is there isn’t a perfect camera and I don’t owe any camera companies any sort of loyalty when I pay hard earned money for their units. At the end of the day, whether shooting commercials, passion projects, or films, I’ll choose the camera appropriate for the project. PC and mac users have been going at it for years. These are all tools and yes, you’d expect them to work, especially if you pay for them. You owe no apologies... the Zcam Facebook community has a couple of bad apples, people fanboying without putting out the work or jus there to complain about everything. I’m sure there are a couple of bad apples in every camera group on both ends of the spectrum. Whenever there’s an issue on a Zcam, I will say the company does their best to fix it. The issues you reported are great considerations to be addressed and I’m sure Kinson and the team will take these recommendations as they are always refining their camera lines. Keep doing what you do, you owe no apologies, it just sucks that the fanboys of the group ruin the image of the whole community. A community is for sharing and building each other up by finding solutions and moving forward together. I think society has forgotten what that means. Thanks for your honesty. I hope we can move forward from the fanboy mentality very soon.
I literally come to your channel because you go over the little details others don’t.
Wow brand loyalty for me is so interesting. Why? I get it that people want to feel good about what they have bought. But honestly you have to look at your tools like tools and not a piece of fashion that expresses your personalty. Keep up the good work Gerald!
Anyone who is being negative about your Z Cam review doesn't deserve you.
Hi,
I actually saw your video because I was looking at reviews of Zcam products. I'm not one of your regular viewers (but I'll subscribe, it's always interesting). It baffles that you have to make this video to defend your opinion. That really sucks. Your review seemed honest to me and you are not the only with negative points to make about Zcam cameras, and there are also many others that don't and that's how it works sometimes shit happens. Anyway, take care ;)
Mate, you have the best most in depth reviews on UA-cam. Fanboyism is dangerous for everyone. I have been guilty of it before and it only holds you back. All cameras are good these days.
Gerald - Do you still have the file that was corrupted from the Z-Cam? Do you have a file recorded with the same settings that wasn't corrupted as well? (doesn't have to be the same length, but same fps, resolution, file type, from the same camera, etc.) I'd like to try to recover it, and give you the recovered file. Just curious. Let me know if you're interested!
Zcam sucks
3 years ago... This is AMAZING. More of this with @cameraconspiracies please :') great stuff!!!!
Loved this review. I would like to see a review like this for the URSA Mini G2. It is a budget friendly and beginner cine camera that no one is really talking about (no one that I can find that goes into it depth like you do).
KEEP THIS UP! I couldn’t give a shit about the good of a camera because the manufacturer is going to point that out black and white and it’s plastered all over the place. I wanna know what could go wrong so I don’t misallocate my money. You nailed the buyer/owner topic and I couldn’t find a flaw anywhere in your argu
ment. You’re not being negative, you’re being thorough and informative. Again, keep this up because people who don’t blindly enter into anything want to know as much as they can, good or bad, before they spend money.
It was a fantastic unboxing/review because it pointed out possible issues and current issues YOU found. People are ridiculously tribal....to a point of pathetic pettiness. You did great dude
I have often been helped because someone included a very specific “niche” detail of info, as a media director at a church, I am almost always trying to make equipment do too much, or something it wasn’t already designed to do. It has often been the case that someone /finally/ mentioned the one thing I care about. And power loss is not a rare, niche deal. Always enjoy your videos, sir!
Listen Gerald, *I still love you.* I'm a ZCam owner and honestly - *you shouldn't have to explain your opinion.* People just have to stop being butt-hurt about everything and take their discrepancies with a grain of salt. 🤘🏾❤️ Much love from Europe!
I'm disappointed I missed this livestream.
1) I am fortunate to rent and own multiple cameras for multiple use cases but I always try my best to find a camera that could satisfy all possible use cases as a creator (use cases that may not yet be determined). Learning the potential issues, whether widespread, niche or user unique, is incredibly valuable as someone who doesn't want the frustration of learning the hard way. Gerald has set the precedent I've come to expect by honestly showing pros and cons of anything he reviews. It's why I first go here instead of watching the drudging ensemble of videos by those whose priority is to sell (or an ambassador). It also is beneficial to your worshipped brands so they can improve their hardware & software.
2) I need to know the little details of any camera and these videos are a great jumping off point before I bite. You would lose your next job if any of these "little" issues surprised you on set to ruin a big take.
3) Target audience might be buyers, but as an owner of some of these cameras, I find value in Gerald shining a light on issues I want fixed.
4) You come for Gerald, you get undone. Period't.
* Excited for that c300 mk III video! Want to know how the dual gain output performs before renting :)*
What do we do to avoid footage loss. Use a digital tape recorder attached to the camera? I would hate to loose anything when shooting a wedding? Or even a promotional video for a demanding client. I want everything that goes through my lense to be recorded.
Gerald, I have to say. You sir, are freaking amazing. Keep up the awesome work.
Appreciate your work! Keep it up! ✊
in blackmagic raw you pull batterie at
20:06 and video recording is 16:08
that is 4sec in my book
in prores 422 you pull batterie at
10:11 and video recording is 9:29
that is 1sec
(those are frames and not seconds, anyway)
Don’t worry man, it’s a crazy world out there right now. Some people just love to lash out. Keep doing your thing. I’m happy with my Z Cam, and I was happy with your review.
Hi Gerald, so many UA-camrs have been talking about the hate and viciousness in the comments lately that I feel that being in isolation due to covid 19 is making people go crazy! Here in Australia, according to the latest figures there has even been an increase in domestic violence. I love all your reviews, you are so well researched and thorough. Keep up these awesome videos and don't let the hate get to you!
there is some great humor in this video that about made me fall out of my chair and spit out my coffee! Z Cam (hi up)..."If you touch a Z Cam again we will have you killed!" of course taken out of context so much watch this video appreciate where GU is coming from. i really appreciate this guy!
I love this. The whole thing! Don’t be negative! If you can’t handle that people have something constructive to say about a tiny detail in your camera, care about something important more lol. Love love love all your thoughts on positivity and how “negative/constructive” reviews only benefit the owners and buyers.
Gerald saw the bridges he built with ZCam and said "Dracarys"
DSLR video shooter got a huge amount of backlash for saying he hated the pocket4k and found it hard to grade. then he deleted his video and a month later he put out a new video saying it was amazing.
Hi Gerald. I am still thinking about buying the Zcam E2F6 but... i have to admit your videos feels objective to me. I dont care that somehow you label yourself as a "youtuber". I prefer a calm and technical review to some over excited young adult bragging about how next level is his new toy. Practicly none of these haters comments you adressed seems valuable to me (except the battery dead + saving files), i understood what you meant at first and also understood the nuances. What ever mate, sending good vibes your way, keep up the good work!
Gerald once complained about the weather in one if his videos...the next day my uncle lost his job as a meteorologist.
I honestly feel sometimes that I am that buyer you are looking out for. I appreciate integrity. I can not afford to invest in things that have hidden hooks that will make me have to hunt down or worse come up with work arounds. I do not have extra money or extra time to set up the technical testing many reviewers do, so seeing/ hearing the results of properly executed testing is really important to me. Please continue to share your "whole truth" about gear with us your viewers, because it might matter a great deal when deciding how to allocate our budgeting. Getting a corrupted file due to a known flaw that perhaps was not known by me would or could spell disaster on a shoot. I work on a lot of projects these days that have budgets that can not compensate for many technical failures during the shoot by scheduling more shoot days. Reshooting scenes can become quite a problem on tight budgets. I try not to bring my bias about gear into evaluations but we all have some of that going on especially for what we own. In online groups I do not slam reviewers who dislike my gear preferences because I know the mental trade offs I accepted when I made my purchases and stand by them as the best choices for the information and budget I had at the time of acquisition. To make those decisions honest reviews are essential, please continue to provide them for us.
Appreciate your honesty even above your thoroughness in reviewing gear that company’s loan or give. 🙌🙌
Bro don't bite into this shit, you are feeding their egos by making this video, you are an honest guy and haters gonna hate.
Thanks for helping with a possible video topic: Film Maker vs UA-camr. I tell yea, some viewers are some opinionated.
I hear you for sure dude. Great Rant. Hope you feel better and that people have listened, it was worth being said.
I always like your thoroughness, and you brought it here too 👍👍
Carry on, kid. You're doing a great job and your judgement is always logical and fair to all parties. Don't worry too much about viewers with negative criticism on what you say. Like you already mentioned it's only 2 percent of them around, but as always, so loud they might appear as many more than that. That's a fact of life. Happens to everyone. (signed: a loyal fan of your work).
Great work, these are good things about which to think. Your videos helped inform my decision to buy a Pocket 4k, thanks
Black Magic could add a whole new segment of camera owners, if they could produce a product like the p4k with IS like that in the EM1 M2 and above. They could sell many more cinema cameras with that feature, but what do I know.
Arri would gain a whole;e new set of customers if they just lowered their price to blackmagics!
@@bmefilms6879 right! hahaha
This is great information to have, Anyone who actually uses this equipment to make a living has at some point had to deal with a client and the embarassment equipment failures. Z cam has some awesome features but is probably best for for personal projects and not jobs where clients are involved. Or if using on a job knowing these issues a head of time is so so important.
Great initial review, and this response video as well! All of these snobs who do not make money using their equipment, for Films or making UA-cam videos, are never as smart as they think, and I find their responses are not USEFUL. I appreciate what I’ve learned from your content, and how it has helped me solve problems, and or avoid pitfalls. And you are giving this to us for FREE. Anyone that can’t appreciate that are not worthy of arguing with. People you are not you camera, its a tool not an extension of your soul. Lol. Now I’m DONE. 😜