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Yes, I am more of a 200-400 metre kind of guy. But sherioushly speaking, I am a fan of the larger sensor, - the 40mp and above because it does limit the size & weight of the lenses I need to use. Back in Ye Olden Times, at 24mp or less, I would have been shooting with a 24-70 and a 70-200, but even a 24-70 is a bit of a chonker today for me and a 70-200, no thanks...which is why I like stuff like Tamron's 70-180 and their even newer 35-100. I've been using my Sigma 28-70 in hybrid zoom mode (which I think is an S1Rii only mode?) which allows you to set various levels to punch in. It's only on the Jpeg and the raw file is still the same size but it allows for better composition at the time with some scope for jiggery pokery in post and turns how I use that 28-70 into more like a 28-105...but a pretty compact and light 28-105. But then again, I've gone back to primes in recent months and much preferring them. I've been looking for the 'one & done' solution, ie, one lens and one body, but below a certain weight and size, it does not exist. The Hassie with the 35-100 was the closest and next best for me would have been either the A7RV that I used to have or the new VI or even the Nikon Z8 with something like the (adapted) 24-50 indoors and 35-100 out, but next to the S1Rii with 28-70 (as anything else in L Mount is too large or heavy), what would I really gain? Real world, nada. I tried the 28-105 from Sigma but it's another chonker so went straight onto the S5ii for static duty which is what I intended it for, but thought I'd give it a go on the S1Rii as a 'one & done' hybrid set up, but nah, especially as it needed a battery grip for all day use. A twin body with primes set up is on paper a heavier set up, but it's in the hands that counts and as I might have mentioned multiple times on this forum, I can't find a better solution. And it's not just from a technical stand point, - the thing is damn good in the hands and to operate. The size, the weight, the controls, the rear LCD. Yes I would prefer it if it had a prestigious LEICA badge on it just because and better still, if it was in some kind of rangefinderesque body a la ZR or FX style, but it is actually a joy to use. Also, those Sigma f1.4's, - I don't really care about those f1.2's as in how much shallow DOF does one really need and the f2's I used to own are nice, but the more metal (than the Lumix f1.8's) and actual aperture rings for me are the sweet spot. I was building a case for myself with the Hassie V primes and would happily have bought 3 of the things...if they sent me 2 bodies to 'try out and keep'.

I haven't used the X2D II, but I am a GFX 100 II user. You're totally right that there is minimal practical benefit over a 45 megapixel S1R II or even less practical benefit over a 61 megapixel A7R V or similar. At f/1.8 or f/1.4 with your new lenses, you'll have all the shallow DOF you'll ever need or want - and almost exactly as much shallow DOF as you'd ever get by using, at least, any of Fuji's native lenses (55/1.7 and 80/1.7 are the two fastest, all of the others are f/2.8 or slower). Some adapted glass looks other worldly, though - I'm a fan of the Canon EF 35/1.4L II (doesn't quite cover, you'll have dark corners). Having the equivalent of a 28mm f/1 lens can give some neat effects. It also makes for some great low light performance - even if there's noise everywhere, it'll look pretty clean at whatever resolution you actually want to use to present it - and detail loss due to some light denoising is practically negligible. With Fuji's native glass, and I'm guessing Hasselblad's, you will definitely be able to punch in more. It's always a little crazy to punch in to the eyes on a medium-length/waist-up portrait and see myself clearly reflected in the iris. That's not a practical need, though, in any way. It is sometimes, for my needs, really useful, though. I brought the 500/5.6 on a recent trip to the Amazon and shot some wildlife. I wasn't even nearly close enough and things are really small in the frame... until I punch in. I could make a perfectly usable 8x10 print out of only a very small part of the image. But... with that said, if I had a 500mm lens on a 61 megapixel FF camera, the resulting print would be exactly the same. The animal would have just been bigger in the original shot. And given that you are shooting weddings, you probably don't need to stand 300-500+ meters away from the ceremony. That is, unless you're the world's first and only wedding photographer who is so unintrusive on the events that they never even leave the parking lot at the venue. Anyway. 100 megapixels is crazy. Now Sony have a 180 that fujirumors keeps saying will be shoved into an upcoming GFX. Unless that also translates to "same or better dynamic range, readout is much faster in video modes," I'm inclined to roll my eyes at it.

So by my man mathematics, DJI must have given away 10x X2Dii units for every one they have actually sold. I get the marketing strategy behind getting maybe 10 or so units out to some key Photo World 'influensters', but holy macaroni, just how many of these things have they given away? Who knew that DJI were such a philanthropic company... Jealous? Moi? Insanely, - it's a dream camera for me, but at ballpark '12k' for the body and 35-100 zoom lens, I cannot make the financials work in my favour. Even if it also did video. Which it doesn't. Not even slightly. Why is it peak camera for me? It's looks, the brand heritage, the build, the feel, the handing, the menus and of course the image quality. Except not quite the image quality. I have downloaded files from a number of sources and expected to be blown away and drink some of that readily available on-line Kool Aid, except I wasn't. Yes, they are great and super-detailed...but so are those from my whatshouldbevastlyinferior LUMIX S1Rii. I have not been able to shoot the exact same scenes side by side, or any of my own stills with the Hasselblad because I don't have access to one, so can only go on similar type shots...and as above, I'm not blown away or seeing any magic. In fact, quite a few of the shots I have downloaded with human subjects, the focus has been slightly off which suggests to me 2 things: Thing A: The focus is slightly off. Thing B: What muppet was given this camera to test and why has said muppet not pixel-peeped their own images they have put out into the world to be pixel-peeped by other (lesser) muppets like me? I was also considering something Leica. Not as well as, but instead of as in something 'more' than my LUMIX's but maybe not quite Fuji GFX/Hasselblad 100mp level. But based on my findings, I've dropped the whole idea. Are there some extra-fine details or other such mojo coming out of these bodies? Possibly, but nothing real world to my eyes. Are they better designs, better built and have more brand prestige? For sure. Does it (the pics) all look the same on social media? Of course they do, but that actually isn't the point unless your sole intention is content creation and the tools are just tools, but for some of us creatives, the tools are part of the creative process. Anyway, the point is, I'm not sure whether the shark has been jumped here, but I suspect there is a maximum amount of shilling going on because come on, you received a 12k gift and you know full well that unless you sing it's praises and go light on the criticism, you are never going to be gifted the next model to 'try out' when that comes along. Nope, you will be off the Christmas Card list faster than writing to Santa and addressing him as You Fat Fucker. I think I only came across 2 or maybe 3 reviews out of about 30 that I have seen that had bought the thing with their own money and those reviews seemed a bit more balanced, but still almost exclusively positive...but then maybe some of those folks needed to validate their own purchase and also hope to be noticed by Mount Hasselblad and be in the next model gift club... My answer to all of this? I went out and bought a pair of f1.4 Sigma lenses to replace my LUMIX f1.8's, ie, another of the most marginal upgrades. But it's my money so... ... PS: Unless Hasselblad are reading this, in which case, you fucking rock 🤘and of course I'd love to receive one and here's my address.

FFS, got to be THE WORST 'soft' launch ever as I have never heard of this until 2 minutes ago...and been in the market for something like this for months to replace my broken LUMIX 70-200mm f4!! Just bought the Sigma 28-105mm f2.8 to do the job instead not really needing 200mm but would have preferred 150... Hey ho, might consider it for next year but spent up now having just made the decision to exchange my LUMIX f1.8: 18/35/50/85 and spare Sigma 28-70 for the Sigma f1.4 trio of: 20/35/85 I was considering a different camera for stills for 2027 but dropped the idea after downloading some files and trying them earlier today...

I would have published the demo already, but I’m currently having a problem with GUI rotation between portrait and landscape modes — it used to work, and then suddenly stopped. RAW/RAWC does a nice job of compressing the full usable dynamic range of the smartphone sensor.I'm still making little adjustments

I will say that even though the Beastgrip adapters are made for phone use, they actually have very good build quality and the newest versions have pretty decent optics, with 1.33x being better corrected than the 1.55x. They also have good front filter threads - the 1.33 uses 58mm and the 1.55 is 62mm. Once you get them properly attached to your lens, they aren't going anywhere. The first versions are not as well corrected, but that may be what you are looking for. The build quality seems consistently good across all models and versions. I'm guessing you could find some on the used market for reasonable prices, as they aren't super expensive to begin with.

And owners of many cinema cameras. And, to a large extent, owners of cameras with sensor shift IS. I've found that, in general, lens IS is a lot better than sensor shift IS when at longer focal lengths. There are already a bunch of used Sigma/Tamron 70-200/2.8 available in that price range. Plus even some first party options aren't much more used - the EF 70-200/2.8L IS series tend to be right around $1,000-1,200 at MPB here. If you really want the extra 10mm at the wide end, though, it looks fine.

Well, here's another interesting one from Samyang for L-mount. Previously Sony FE only... ...now also available in L-mount ; ) The new LK Samyang AF 60-180mm F2.8 weighs only 728g, which is remarkably light for a constant f/2.8 full-frame telephoto zoom (and at about a grand it is also considerably cheaper than the usual 70-200mm f/2.8 options). It has no optical stabilization (OIS), in either L-mount or Sony FE, unfortunately : ( A deal breaker for Sigma FP owners/lovers, as for instance. 60mm at the wide end is actually quite useful for video, and losing 20mm at the long end seems a very reasonable trade-off for that size and weight.

Greetings Creatives, It's been a very busy week, but I managed to create a couple of new music tracks to share with the community. They are: "NEON METROPOLIS" (This one loops.) You can listen to it here: https://soundimage.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Neon-Metropolis.ogg "CYBERPUNK STREETS IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT" (This one doesn't loop.) You can listen to it here: https://soundimage.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Cyberpunk-Streets-in-the-Dead-of-Night.ogg Both can be downloaded here: https://soundimage.org/sci-fi-15/ As with all of my music and images, they're 100% free to use in your projects with attribution. 🙂 OTHER HELPFUL LINKS: Attribution Information: https://soundimage.org/attribution-info/ My Game Music Mega Pack (1400+ tracks and growing) https://soundimage.org/ogg-game-music-mega-pack/ My Genre Music Packs https://soundimage.org/ogg-music-packs-2/ Custom Music https://soundimage.org/custom-work/ As always, enjoy, stay safe and keep being creative! 🙂

Yeah - sounds almost as good as Fuji already. 😅

The ZR does allow the main card and battery to be replaced without taking the camera off the tripod provided that the plate or rig is designed right for the camera and a suitable head is used. Yes, the micro slot is unfortunate. But for video, no Nikon camera has dual card recording anyway, so the main card is where it's at. The orientation of the battery and main card along the width of the body makes the body a bit wider than it could have been if there had been a larger grip, but if optimizing for the fraction the LCD takes up of the camera's back side surface, this design is understandable. The MKE 600 shotgun microphone is 25 cm long and with the supplied cold shoe foot, its rear end extends quite a bit behind the camera, like with many longer shotgun mics it blocks comfortable access to the viewfinder. Longer shotguns give better side rejection and can sound less distorted but because they are long and mirrorless cameras tend to be short, there is a bit of a compatibility issue which does not exist with professional camcorders that are long enough to accommodate these mics without interfering with the picture or the shooter's forehead. However, camcorders typically give lower image quality at wide angle focal lengths which are a priority for me for many situations where I want the camera to be close to the subjects. My desire for a larger screen is not without limitations, the camera must be small and light enough to comfortably use on a gimbal (for potentially long shoots), for those situations where I do want to use one. Of course, one can use a camera without a gimbal, but I have situations where it is useful and a priority. A BMCC would make the gimbal setup too heavy. I have Nikon lenses so it makes economic sense for me to use Nikon camera bodies as well, and get lens corrections automatically applied to the video footage. Yes, 3.2" is usable but 4" would be better. I find particularly for manual focusing a larger screen would be better. I already have the Z8 which has a full-sized HDMI, though it has no XLR connections. I imagine Nikon would within the next few years make a higher-end video-first model that would sit between the ZR and the Komodo, and be more head-to-head competitor with the FX5. The ZR is just one camera in presumably a lineup that Nikon have yet to make. Why do I want to use a gimbal with a mirrorless camera? Let's say I am shooting a parade with music and performances moving across the streets. I need wide angle (because subjects can be tall) with keystoning controlled, and since there is no guarantee that a fixed spot along the way will give me the best moments, a tripod is not ideal. The gimbal keeps keystoning from appearing (with a suitable lens and appropriate mode), and keeps the camera level while I'm moving. The drawback is that I need a separate sound person - which is a big drawback.

https://www.eisa-awards.org/awards/nikon-zr/ Interesting to see the Nikon ZR taking EISA’s Photo/Video Camera 2026–2027 award. On paper, I can understand it. The overall package is unusually strong, particularly for the money, and Nikon has clearly managed to turn the RED acquisition into something rather more tangible than a logo on the box. Still, awards like this always make me wonder what is actually being judged. A camera can be outstanding as a specification sheet, and even as an overall product, while still having one or two behaviours that matter disproportionately once you start using it seriously (codec implementation, processing, noise reduction, workflow, etc.). That does not necessarily make the award wrong. It just shows how different “best camera” can look depending on whether you are judging features, image quality, value, or the less glamorous realities of actually shooting and finishing a project with it. The ZR may well deserve the trophy. I'm rather more interested in whether Nikon keeps refining the bits that do not fit quite so neatly on the award plaque ; ) That said, kudos to ZR! EAG :- )

Quick review after the shoot this morning. I used the Pyxis as a roaming camera for a lecture hall presentation, so it was basically a 4th angle... which is a good thing. Face detect is a no-go for this situation; too many faces. I normally use the wide area AFC window on my Panasonics with great success panning across people in their rows, shots of hands writing and typing, group discussions, etc. I tried to replicate shooting this way with the 12K... no good. Pretty unpredictable. Sometimes it would perform exactly as I'd expect, other times it would refuse to change focus, other times it would hesitate, other times it would stutter back and forth between points. I used the Sigma 28-105mm f/2.8 today. I tested across a range of focal lengths and focus sensitivity settings. I stuck with a reasonable aperture of f/4.5 as well. It actually did better when zoomed in >85mm. Maybe the compression or blur helps it. I don't know. Overall, I'm not discouraged by this, though. This is a great first effort and I fully believe it will only get better.

It took a minute to find a link to what you're talking about. Doesn't seem to have made it to many of the usual suspect forums yet. Hopefully AF on Pyxis 12K means that the same is coming to Ursa LF sooner rather than later! https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=239482

Looks a lot like clickbait.🤪 Getting back to lenses i have been looking at the new 4.5mm - 10mm from laowa its a very unique lens going from a circular look to 180 fish eye diagonal. I'm not sure why but i seem to be going through a quirky phase at the moment... i realize its a one trick pony but i find myself intrigued by it. I think kye brought it up some time ago when it was in preproduction. Now that its out, i'm tempted to get it although here in aus i cant find it below $1000. B # H have it at a more reasonable $530. Its still a bit pricey i think but then it is bending light around and trying to keep it all together, i guess that does cost some r&d $$. The mission 1 is sitting in the front seat of the Mitsubishi with a little crane gimbal, sadly my dad passed away 3 weeks ago and the 3 weeks before that were a bit crappy as well. I think i just have to bite the bullet and start somewhere.

Well it’s happened! Blackmagic released a beta firmware adding PDAF to the Pyxis 12K. I’ve been playing around with it a bit tonight. It’s really impressive for a first effort. The face detection mode is superb for a standard solo interview. AFC is pretty great but takes a bit to get used to, because it operates a bit differently than my Panasonics. The object tracking mode is its weakest at the moment. That needs some real work. The other nice feature with this update enabling linear focus throws and the ability to set rotation degrees on focus by wire lenses. If this firmware will work with Tilta’s upcoming PL to L adapter, I’ll be veryyyyyyy happy. Going to try it out on an actual shoot tomorrow.

I also found this video below, which combines a cheap adapter from Aliexpress with 17mm rear-filter and the Viltrox 28mm F4.5 lens. He just sticks the mounting plate from the smartphone clamp for the anamorphic directly onto the Viltrox lens with tape, so hardly and ideal situation, but it is more proof of concept, and it covers FF too! Test image: Video:

Yes, the Beastgrip might well be a better candidate - not only due to having a filter thread I can convert to but also potentially with a larger rear aperture for better coverage! I found this comparison between the Moment M-series (left) and Beastgrip (right) which shows the rear openings: Some rough measurements of the Beastgrip suggest that the rectangular opening is almost exactly 17mm across, which would make the image circle significantly larger than my Neewer, which uses a 17mm threaded mount. The rectangular opening looks to be on a separate plate - I wonder if that could be removed somehow to really open up the rear element? Wow - full frame coverage! I really didn't expect that, and it's very encouraging to hear! I also realised the 1.55x makes everything pretty wide, and have been contemplating what FOVs I'd want to get and what focal length taking lenses I'd need to use to get them. You reminded me of my ultra-cheap Risepray 35mm F1.6 C-mount lens, which has a 37mm filter thread. Assuming it doesn't vignette (and therefore doesn't need any cropping) that would give me a 45mm F2.1 equivalent lens, which would be pretty good for shooting street and run-n-gun like I do.

But speaking of ‘peak camera’, what would be a future, ‘next gen’ option for me, not because I needed it, but because I wanted it? A better built, chunkier, fully articulated rear 4 inch LCD, spec of the S1Rii, ‘S9ii’ body. Essentially take the whole internal spec and articulation of the S1Rii and pop it in and on a ZR/FX style body. Now that truly would be a Thanos with all the stones camera for me!

It’s never sorted! Well it both is and it isn’t… For circa 15 years, without any manual or handbook, I have been exploring hybrid capture as a one man band and there have been; limits (earlier on), many (many!) dead ends and of course compromises. 2026 has been the first year I can truly say, yep, I can no longer find fault. Further tweaks, for sure, one of those being possibly…and even though I have just got it, swapping the gimbal and L10 for the Pocket 4 P. But for the main stuff, as things stand, there are no ‘better’ options, only sideways moves. The S1Rii is quite simply, in my opinion, the best hybrid camera, or put another way, the least compromised, but I’d stick with the former and say best. The combo of; size, weight, picture quality for both stills and video, at a flick of a switch, is superb and more than enough for my needs. The fact that it’s in essentially a modified S5ii body has proved for me to have been a good choice. Yes, I still prefer the S1H body, but the reality is the difference in size & weight is an entire prime lens so… The S5ii just gets in with job, - a workhorse static unit, but in other uses, really is not real world far off the S1ii. The S9 could be better built IMO, but the quality of the output offsets some of that for me and as mine is in an XLCR full cage jobbie, it’s actually bigger and heavier than the S1Rii, even with a Smallrig half cage…which is why it lives on a lightweight tripod. Nope, the tweaking & twiddling will never be over, but 100% there is nothing further I ‘need’ to do and scrapped previous plans to try 3 slightly different set ups for the rest of the season as they were primarily based on using the Sigma 28-105 for stills, but I’m done with lenses much over 500g for all day handheld work and a lens like that, for all day use, really does need a battery grip, especially if continually rotating into a portrait orientation and back and it’s that combo really that makes it undesirable to me, ie, it’s 2kg+ combo compared with something a little over 1/2 of that.

Maybe late to the party.. Left-Handed Girl is maybe the latest film completely shot in the wild (and with a phone)

I'd be happy to help you test it, I'll join the group later today. Have about 25 android phones!!! I can imagine how difficult it is on Android to test on so many OS and hardware combos, the number is just insane. I am actually working on a stills camera app for Android and iPhone at the moment. So have been learning the ropes for just over a year now

at least it's sorted 😉

Well that was an easy decision… Put the battery grip on one of the S1Rii’s and then the 28-105 and… …immediately took both back off and put the prime back on. The battery grip is being returned and the 28-105 getting welded on to the S5ii with battery grip that lives on a chunky medium-weight tripod. NOT ever going back to any big zooms or anything that requires a battery grip. The best system (for me) at this current time is the one I’ve been running.

Honestly, publishing an app on the Play Store is a nightmare for me.