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I think there are reasons for even video folks to choose the A7V over the FX2. It's interesting, because they could put that A7V sensor into a cine camera body and mark it up $500-800 and have a successful release. Maybe they still will? Still makes the FX2 feel like a weird release that, even if it hadn't received a lukewarm reception, they undermined almost immediately. Almost feels like one hand doesn't know what the other is doing at Sony.

Are you talking about the US or Venezuela? 🙂

By the way the collapse in price of the vintage stuff is extraordinary, you can get an Iscorama close to 500 euros now, almost back to 2010 pre-DSLR video prices

Yeah, thanks this shot is exactly what I'm talking about - the muted way it handles the sun is not what a good cinema anamorphic should look like. They don't have the big stretched ovals in the horizontal flare, the fatter flare lines and blooming. All these kids putting down pretty significant $$$$ for all this sterile stuff from China No question is it more practical though.... But better image it ain't 🙂

In terms of colour in LOG and rec.2020 the only difference between cameras these days is how easy (or otherwise) they are to grade, for example C-LOG on the old Canon 1D C was so easy, it only needed the addition of contrast and barely any colour grading at all to look cinematic. Now there are massive differences between LUTs compared to between LOG curves and colour. So when you see all these reviews, tests and comparisons you are just seeing a LUT! It's almost comical really, nobody gets under the skin of what the camera is doing - they're just putting their grading skills and LUTs on show. And the codecs are all so good... no more 8bit banding. I compared the Sony a1 SLOG3 H265 8K to Nikon Z9 NRAW 8K and there was nothing in it really, not even in terms of noise and shadow detail. You could do just as big a grade or white balance shift on the H265 footage as you could with NRAW. Now the way I like to think of RAW as useful is as follows: - As a way to bypass poor camera image processing... Hardly needed now... In the old days, light and day difference between something like 5D Mark II compressed H.264 and uncompressed Magic Lantern Raw (in Cinema DNG), even at 1080p it was a different league of image quality. - As a way to increase image quality with drawback of huge file sizes. Now we get if we're lucky a 1-2% increase in image quality for a 1000% increase in file size (over H.265 10bit) - As a way to turn off in-camera sharpening and white balance (do it in post). However image processing has got so flexible you can turn sharpening off in LOG... look how smooth and natural Canon LOG looks on the old 1D C or EOS R6 III 10bit H.265 for example - A file format to show to clients that says you're serious 🙂 And we all know why the majority of videographers are fawning over raw delivery whereas ARRI ALEXA DPs casually go round doing it all in ProRes That is another comparison the YouTube bros refuse to do well... the ALEXA ProRes vs ARRI RAW and Canon LOG vs RAW I haven't seen a single good comparison!

I have the 35/50/75 Saturn in E mount and haven't experienced any focusing issues on the A1, and of course that's with no Desqueeze support. It does have a bit better EVF than the Panasonic cameras, but I haven't found the EVF to be a night and day difference. I own the 35 & 50 Saturn in L mount and have had great results on the S1RII. The 35 isn't quite as well corrected as the longer lenses, so it has a bit of character, especially against the light. Still, none of the Sirui lenses can rival the results I get with my favorite anamorphic adapters, but there is something to be said for simplicity and reliability. Also - I'm not sure if the S5II was included, but the recent update for the S1II/S1RII now provides 1.6x desqueeze. Still attached from the 35 Saturn on S1RII.

We can assume they are pretty safe yes, unless they contain a canal of major interest for international maritime trade, or mineral ressources/oil, or are not already ruled by an extrem right-wing felon-buddy😅

The modern lenses are closer to the Panasonic LA7200 in terms of look, just a lot sharper edge to edge. Whereas the Iscorama even when there's no flare still looks more cinematic and it borrows from the look of the taking lens you pair it with as well so you can play with that. There are no decent adapters as good as the Iscorama 2x. Still for £150 I am not complaining 🙂

I've yet to see any that have the rendering of an Iscorama or Soviet era LOMO, or the TOTL Hollywood lenses. They need to dial the coating down a lot and get rid of the very thin chickenwire flare. Anamorphic flare is much more than that as an aesthetic.

Well Venezuela is a dictatorship, so in a sense they're right to go after them for national security and drug cartel reasons. On the other hand, we'd be naive to think this is just about that coveted peace prize... And I'm not talking FIFA Peace Price The thing with Trump is it's weird how well he gets on with all the other dictatorships, isn't it? Perhaps it's because Venezuela's government claims to be socialist ("Chavismo") He only gets on with the right-wing dictatorships not the socialist dictatorships

The later Sony CineAlta F55 (CMOS) also had a global shutter and can be had for dirt cheap these days, as low as $1k Perhaps that's the key. To expose the entire sensor at once.

"I think some of the faster sensor readouts are losing something important. They all look like 60p in their 24p modes." probably this is why people complain about the clinical images of the latest crop of cinema cameras, the high res, plus the lack of motion blurs. probably it is better to have 24p mode only in a camera. nowadays, high frame rate modes and 24p mode are in the same camera, not good for 24p optimization. f35 has only 24p, its 60p is rarely used. probably this is why f35 is so good at motion cadence other than its global shutter.

"The best motion cadence I've ever shot was on the Digital Bolex with the CCD sensor." i wish i have a digital bolex.

Well, with Venezuela. As of now, there's minimal/no saber rattling with any of the other 11 other countries.

I think anyone can submit? Nikon probably curates the top ones based on social media reach. Honestly though it's not great. It isn't in the same league as a Panasonic Real Time LUT. All the processing seems to be in 8bit. I'll release what I've been working on soon but only when it can be made to look absolutely 100% right unlike the shitty shot above with its two green tones.

Motion cadence for me, is matching the target frame rate with the sensor and shutter speed-sensor interplay. It is also about rolling shutter vs global shutter as that plays into the look of motion. The less distortion or jello the better. I wish people would SHOW things again. Where are all the tests on the a9 III with global shutter showing what it's like in video mode at 24p vs the a1 II? I miss the Vimeo days of being able to compare with meaningful shots rather than the standard YouTube guff of a candle for low light, ridiculous whip pans for rolling shutter that nobody ever does in proper cinema, a model staring blankly at the camera for skin tones and a crazy underexposed shot with the shadows lifted until everything looks flat and dirty with no tonality - yeah that's a dynamic range test, sure. The best motion cadence I've ever shot was on the Digital Bolex with the CCD sensor. I think some of the faster sensor readouts are losing something important. They all look like 60p in their 24p modes. For 60p and 120p motion cadence has less meaning. Since there's no motion blur subtleties that need taking care of.

It's really deeply unpopular. You're right 4 year old a7 IV hardware doesn't help the marketing appeal even though I rate the image as one of the best ever. So we can chalk up the reasons as follows: 1. Filmmakers want FX3 instead 2. a7 IV old hardware cropped 4K60 / higher rolling shutter 3. Missing newer features - no open gate, anamorphic, 6K, 7K, no internal raw codec 4. Photographers will all go a7v or a7rv instead for similar price Hybrid cameras are now a crowded market so if you really want best of both worlds, I reckon they are going Nikon Zr, Canon C50, Sony a1 or some of the popular used cameras like a Z8 or even plain old a7 IV. Canon R6 III going to make it even tougher for FX2. This is great as used price will plummet and it could be under £1500 before long like our much maligned S1H

Laying the ground for a full on war with South America, to seize their oil and natural resources. He can then have a war in full flow by time the elections come round again.

alexa has no global shutter, yet has better motion cadence, say, than f35, or komodo? what is motion cadence, then? probably my om-1 in 6k 120p burst mode has better motion cadence than alexa in slow mo mode, as om-1 treats each frame as a single photo?

I think people didn't buy it because at it's heart it's a 4 year old camera re-released in a Sony cinema body (albeit in a vastly improved form, with the awesome EVF), using a sensor that wasn't necessarily optimized for video to begin with. Now that they've released the A7V it makes it an even harder sell. Now people are wondering why they didn't put that sensor into the FX2. I think there probably is something to the story of having to try and get rid of those older sensors, but almost immediately undermining it with the A7V doesn't make sense either. It was a weird release a few months back and even more so in hindsight.

Chinese lenses have gotten really good in general while remaining really affordable. I'm not shocked of the reports that the A7V isn't working well with them, and that Sony is now stressing they don't guarantee compatability. It's bad business every time one of the YouTuber shills favorably compare them to G Master lenses. The anamorphic lenses, including the auto focusing ones, coming out are very interesting. I've been waiting for a really good deal to pop up to try one out.

Had the 75mm Saturn with the S5II. With 6k25p open gate occasionally the footage looked awesome, but most of the times it looked like not in focus and crappy. All Panas have 1.5x desqueeze, and this Sirui is 1.6x so focusing was a bit of pain via S5II’s mediocre EVF, or my Saturn copy was just bad at focusing. In 4:3 3.3k50p mode it looked just bad and like out of focus all the time. Sold the Saturn, as frame graps from the 6k footage did not look as good as with spherical lenses. Miss the 2.4:1 AR though.

After two or three years of editing HDR out of S5, S5II and GH6 footage and then from GH7, Z6III and ZR I wouldn’t say they look the same. Panny’s footage can be tweaked to look almost similar than Z6III, but still it just doesn’t look as good to my eye. The ZR R3D NE also looks a bit different than NRaw, but it is debatable which one’s colors are better. In this same context Iphone 15 Pro Proress footage stands out, and not in a good way, when viewed on a big screen.

A Parrot would now be a more appropriate bird, since they are resorting to piracy... https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/12/10/venezuela-oil-tanker-seizure/?itid=hp-mv-top-stories_top-table-main_p001_f001

FX3 ended up as both elixir and poison for Sony. It established E mount as go-to choice for professional video, and at the same time became the benchmark of "good enough". They will update it with a super fast sensor (either a 6k120 from 12k, or 5k240 from a 67MP sensor with dual gain HDR, both available next year), but that makes it a $5000 camera, then FX3 wins again with just being cheaper.