All Activity

I remember that about ten years ago, an Italian computer magazine did a kind of investigation on the price difference of various electronic devices between the US, Europe and Asia. They wanted to find out whether the price differences (which were more significant then than now) were due to factors such as logistics, taxes, duties, production costs, etc. In the end, they found no repeatable pattern among the various electronic appliances analysed and concluded that it all depended on how much that market was willing to pay for that item. Perhaps the Nikon and Panasonic marketing departments simply have different views or different data on their customers. And I think the customers of the brand are completely different. I have Panasonic air conditioners at home, my mother a microwave oven. Nikon is an exclusively photographic brand. By the way, in Italy Nikon and Panasonic have official technical service provided by the same company.

probably I will stick to my epic-x mysterium-x. with rail based battery, I have a contacting point against my chest. I have the grip for the right hand, and left hand hold the bottom. I use smallhd dp6 lcd for viewing. I use Leica r 19mm f2.8. looks stable enough. 5k 60p 5:1. good enough to compare to these new mirrorless. I probably will think to have s5 3 for its ibis.

Seems pretty stellar. Dynamic Range should be tested and also whether it has heating issues in warmer environments. Also all other 24MP sensor makers need to improve their sensor tech. This had some superb rolling shutter.

The bottom line for me in 2024 is that there are quite a few options for my needs that just a few years ago there was not and my main priority now can be summed up in 3 words: Smaller Lighter Faster (combined acronym, SLF) Plus I NEED to go from 4 to 3 units. Despite my previous interest in the Z6iii and 99% certainty, I would be preordering, I am going to backtrack on that now and say I will not be. And it's not the Z6iii fault as it is everything I expected it to be and need it to be. Rather, it is a realisation that when I listed the pros & cons for an alternative option, the alternative option beat it in almost every regard. Plan B it is then...

I was watching the Petapixel review. I was more worried about cadence, but I'm not so sure of the conditions it was shot. If you watch Chris on the swing, it looked strange. I warn you it's during their KEH ad at 1m30s.

It's unfair pricing policies like this that might push someone to do such a thing. Are you saying you should never take a Nikon camera to avoid suspicion of illegal activity? It's not as if cameras are meant for travel, right? Maybe Nikon cameras are on Customs' radar? You'd do better to have your receipts, I guess.

stabilization seems not good enough, comparing to s5 2x.

Are you asking who doesn't do illegal smuggling? I would imagine most people don't do that. Maybe Panasonic has fewer quality problems that need fixing in service? I don't know. It could also be that Panasonic may have a company policy that they distribute costs evenly across markets while Nikon may require each subsidiary to make a profit and cover their own costs.

Maybe Nikon has higher failure rates after one year? Due to the 2 year warranty, they had to jack up the prices? It could also be that Nikon cameras are just that desirable in Europe? I don't I'm at a loss to understand. It seems like a flagrant "tax" on European customers. There might be an upside- buy it in the USA, sell it in Europe a year later- you might not lose any money on it after using it for a full year.

The Z6 III initial price is 3100€ and the Z8's initial price was about 4700€ but the current (discounted) price is about 4300€. So there is a 1200€ difference, and 1600€ difference between initial prices. In 1 or 2 years the Z6 III price will have been reduced to 2500-2700€ if I am guessing correctly. That's how it works; during first availability the demand is at its highest and this is balanced by the higher initial price; after a while the demand is reduced because those who were interested already got theirs, and so a lower price can tempt a few more buyers. The Z6 III has a number of advantages over the Z8, including 60 fps full-size still bursts (jpg though), more effective VR, more custom wide-area options, smaller body size, less processing needed to produce high quality 4K video (so less likely to overheat, since it starts from a 24 MP sensor and not 45 MP), higher-quality audio interface, brighter, more detailed viewfinder, better high ISO image quality (probably), better low-light AF, screen that can tilt into selfie mode (for those that need it) etc. The Z8 has other advantages (higher resolution and faster sensor readout, a screen that tilts two-ways without moving to the side) and so users can choose based on needs and budget. If comparing US prices to European prices then things may look completely messed up, of course.

z6 iii seems very promising, due to: 1. z mount shortest ff flange distance 2. buffer size, 14 bit raw 20 fps for 1000 frames (30 fps for ? frames, 60 fps?) 3. raw video 4. ibis at 8 cipa 5. 4k raw mode may be s35 for all s35 lenses

Here's my take on it https://www.eoshd.com/news/nikon-z6-iii-lands-with-video-aplomb-but-only-partial-excitement-for-photographers/ When it comes out at 3000 euros, you will be much better off spending the $100 less for a used Z8! After the price depreciates by about 2000 euros in 2 years, then it's a different proposition, I'll take ten. Once it hits the price of the Z6 (still nice BTW and better lowlight + DR for photos), sitting on eBay for £500 then I might even by an eleventh. But even then, I'm not sure I will need 6K/60p or want to put up with the file sizes in RAW. Which begs the question why bother, what else is on the table that it offers? And the RAW codecs just don't have that RAW look that a proper Cinema DNG codec has on a proper RAW camera like the Sigma Fp-L, especially in terms of noise and grain texture. I also think that the Japanese keep making cameras and images cleaner, sharper, better... Whereas the artist in me is starting to get very bored of that and looking for something different and more analogue. On the lenses side it's the same. So no the Z6 III doesn't really float my boat, especially not for 3000 euro. When the Sony A1 II comes out at $6k by the way, keep an eye on A1 OG prices... These may well be close to the Z6 III and Z8 soon. That 8K H.265 500Mbit/s 10bit 422 it does is the nicest one of all... and this is coming from an ex-Z9 owner....it is better than the 6K Z6 III N-RAW... Yet with an essential plus....a much more manageable size of recording.

Yeah, I noticed the first time when I saw the pricing for the Nikon Zf, $2000 in USA, and $2500 in France. I thought at the time it was a one-off, but I guess not- this is apparently Nikon's pricing policy. Again, this is not the case with Panasonic. For that reason alone, I'd wait until I go to the USA, seriously. For the price of 3000 euros, you could two Panasonic S9s. Granted, the usage isn't the same, but I find that fact amazing.

Panasonic S5ii has line level too. Nonetheless this z6 looks to be another great camera from Nikon

That pricing in Europe is a bit controversial isn't it? €3k which is quite a big step up from the Z6ii and not too far short of the Z8... I wouldn't NOT buy something that fitted the bill purely based on cost, but what I thought for me was a foregone conclusion, I'm actually having second thoughts over now... Nothing so much to do with the Z6iii per se but more because I have a couple of alternative options lurking in the background and now when it comes down to pushing the button, I'm sitting on the fence a little longer. Hmmm...

No, its not stacked fast. Its just faster than non-stacked sensors.

You've got to be kidding. Who does that? Granted, if you buy ten of them, it's different. Why is Panasonic almost always less expensive then? You have the same warranty laws. Seriously, Nikon is screwing the Europeans. Why? I'm not trying to be difficult. I just want to know why.

To do that legally you need to report the camera at the customs when arriving back to the European airport, and pay VAT and possible tariff (you can get the US sales tax off by following appropriate procedures and paperwork). You also end up with the camera without warranty service available in Europe. In the end it probably doesn't pay off. Reasons why camera bodies are more expensive in Europe include higher taxes and much more stringent consumer protection laws. In my country the warranty is not limited to the period specified by the manufacturer but the responsibility for manufacturing flaws in the product extends for the expected usable lifetime of the product. In the EU, it is a minimum of two years, but specific countries have stronger protections. Being responsible costs the manufacturer money and so this is transferred into the price of the product.

This is a bit of a pity isn't it? Also the file sizes in ProRes RAW and N-RAW are not nice. Hopefully Nikon will do away with both in favour of R3D in future. Does it lack a mech shutter as per Z8/9? Apart from the above mentioned points and the bulkier body vs OG Z6 (not to mention bulkier price), it does seem like a very solid option but until it comes down in price, Z8 is surely the better choice.

My feeling is that the GH6 is prioritizing the midtones whereas the G9ii and S5ii are prioritizing dynamic range. Could that be the reason? As I'm 50 years old, I cannot honestly tell that much of a difference between the 4k and the 1080p that is oversampled. Also, I always turn off sharpening and NR. For me, the image looks acceptable. Is it 2024 awesome image quality? Maybe not, but I doubt anyone could tell the difference that much. It sounds like the GH7 is the one for you in that it really has that internal raw capability and you can add what you want in post. For me, I know way less than those Panasonic engineers and I'm just going to tweak the settings they gave me- good enough, job done, and Bob's your uncle. (I was looking for an opportunity to use that phrase- not British).

Yes, but you'll pay $2500 at the end of the day (including sales tax) with that Payboo B&H card scheme. In Europe, you're going to pay about $715 dollars more. No joke. We're back to 1990's price differences where you can purchase a ticket to NYC and back, buy your camera, and have a good weekend of travel.

VAT... but U.S. in the most part of States also has sales tax, although much lighter...

Why is it that Nikon hits Europeans so hard. USA price is roughly $2500 at B&H (with their credit card scheme) and in Europe it's 3000 euros ($3215) with tax. In Panasonic world, the prices are almost always lower in Europe than in the USA. That's a heavy hit.

To notice you need to watch footage on big/high resolution screens, or cropping a lot (to make zoom or pan in the image by exemple). Skin textures by exemple looks more mushy. The S5II also has worse detail rendering than the S5 and S1, but this time the S5II uses a lot of sharpening to try to hide the lack of details. Honestly, in 4K and the standard profiles, the S5II image sometimes look like a bad oversampled 1080P. I was always interested by Panasonic because they always had very good detail rendering like on the GH5, G85, GX85, S5, S1 etc. But now, I only seek cameras with internal raw because most brands use too much sharpening and noise reduction to get a better DR score. Yes I agree PDAF is essential, but I didn't think the GH6 could have worse AF accuracy (below 48fps) and worse pulsing in Open Gate than the old GH5. Especially when most youtuber said the AF of the GH6 was much better. At first I thought I have a bad sample of the GH6, but after using 3 GH6, I confirmed it was a general issue.

The problem with Seafrogs are the low quality domes and ports. P.S. I have a housing for the GH4 that I use as a paperweight 🙂