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The GFX 100 II and, I assume, Eterna, have a 5.8k 2.35:1 full sensor width recording mode. And the Ursa Cine 17K has a 65mm sensor. And FWIW, any of the Red VV cameras have a 40mm-wide sensor which is exactly in the middle of the 36mm of a FF camera and the 44mm of GFX/Eterna. Since terms don't matter anymore, they should probably just call that "medium format" since, y'know, the GFX sensor is also substantially smaller than what would traditionally be called "medium format." Unless Sony have a big 12K sensor that can read out fast enough for video, how would that happen? There's only one 12K video sensor on the market, as far as I know, and BMD have it custom-made. There isn't huge economy of scale in it so manufacturing costs are high. But also, speaking as a person who owns a 12K-capable camera, there is almost never any reason whatsoever to shoot in 12K - including in IMAX. Mine is an 8K camera nearly all the time, except when shooting plates - and when I forget to toggle back to 8K after switching plates and facepalm.

I was excited for a microsecond when they said "vista" - but thats just name only. There is so much left to be desired... the full-frame 6K space is over saturated. Nobody is doing Medium Format above 4K. You want to invigorate and/or disturb the cinema space in 2026 and going forward??? Bring affordable IMAX 12K sensors into a small body.

Yeah, it does make me wish that an "old-fashioned-internet" niche' might be vitalized, retro-like. Can personal video online ever get boutique, avoid the corporate sadness of '"scale", and yet be worthwhile to those scurrying away to quieter internet corners? Seems like if one reflects on what happened at Vimeo, there would be a "no" to that, but perhaps the publc-corp culture of that entity made their downfall inevitable. A different mindset and private ownership might have kept it simple enough to thrive? Could some sort of modest market like that emerge from the current shit somehow? Is there a group of investors that are enthusiasts for a certain thing, like video hosting, that keep their service humming for austerity not avarice? Beats me. I'm pretty naive. If I had to guess all this is probably starting and failing in numerous places.

Agreed, I can't believe no one is talking about the only(?) camera to have native autofocus with manual/PL lenses. I guess we're too busy talking about YouTubers here these days. To me, the Vega H2 checks every feature box, so I'm excited to see if the image is usable. Too bad Blackmagic can't make a Pyxis 12k with that form factor, that would really be and endgame camera. The main issue with Bosma is that I won't consider any cameras that don't shoot log formats that are supported by Resolve's color management, which I somewhat doubt will happen. I'm not interested in GoPro, but the other standout of NAB is the RodeLink II, which checks every lav box for me. If they come out with an plug on XLR transmitter with simultaneous record/transmit and phantom power, it'll be the last audio recorder I ever buy.

This is interesting to see whether internal H.265 will be better than shooting R3D NE and converting it to H.265 RED Log3G10 with 500Mbps bitrate in Resolve. R3D NE bitrates are not that bad, but not having the possibility to save trimmed R3D NE files as R3D NE is THE problem. Shame on Nikon and RED if they don’t fix this. With NRaw it works, so it is up to RED SDK to support R3D NE trim.

Exactly, he chose to play the PR game instead with Sony and a few others, chose to focus 100% of his enthusiasm on YouTube studio tours and YouTube gear setups, there was never any interest evident in filmmaking or photography, which is strange as these are usually the thing people get most excited about! Even more strange was even after so many years of using the gear, he couldn't seem to shoot decent footage - which for me, shows that he never practiced it. Even if you're not naturally talented you can still become pretty proficient at aiming a lens. What also kills passion is having no immediate community to engage over it with (in real life) and it all being online. It might be that he's boxed into a clinical suburban environment with his wife and doesn't have that environment of fellow camera nerd enthusiasts around him where he lives, it only exists online.

His choice... It's always a choice. Needless to say there's only so long you can go on liking cameras but never shooting anything with them. And the social media skit can make one thin skinned and insecure - people look up to you like a God, which is ridiculous, or tear you down - not much in-between. So while part of me understands The Gerald Dilemma, the main part of me thinks, well, he chose to milk it for all it was worth didn't he? And it was a very privileged position that many would kill to be in, he could have used it as a springboard into an artistic career, but there wasn't an artist inside, nothing on the springy board. The problem is the system. YouTube / Alphabet is a billion dollar industry based off the hard work of content creators, who get a very small share of the overall pie and Google's Ad Business the lion's share. The internet has pivoted from a place where the artist owned the platform themselves (own website, own server) thus able to keep the benefits of 100% of their labour, to big tech owning the platforms and us becoming mere commodities as consumers/creators in a hive mind, whereas before we were founders, builders and owners as well as artists. The shift is noticeable in the language too. In 2012 we were all saying 'filmmakers' or 'musicians', but now everybody is lumped in together as a 'content creator', which got shortened even further to simply 'creator'. It's really dystopian shit. This is at the heart of what created The Gerald Dilemma - being a little pawn in a PR machine and ad industry rather than an individual. Being on a treadmill of content creation for the benefit mainly of big tech platforms. I don't see how anyone can take any personal satisfaction from it other than the money.

Storage: Built-in 240GB SSD + CFexpress Type B. Power: Native LEMO 2P DC-IN + NP-F550 support. Monitor: 4-inch High-brightness OLED Retina Touchscreen + Dual full-size 4K HDMI. I/O: Built-in Mic + 3.5mm Mic (TC support) + Headphone jack. Build: 600g CNC Aluminum body.

I’m surprised no one reputable in the YouTube space has really talked about this outside of News Shooter. When you look at what Bosma is offering with the Vega H2, especially the specs and features, it’s pretty significant. It even has an OLPF. What’s interesting is that even though it’s clearly designed for solo shooters, it feels like it’s being overlooked in favor of something like the Vista, which to me is a pretty uninteresting camera. It doesn’t even have autofocus. To me, the Vista falls short mainly because it’s missing key features like autofocus and doesn’t feel as dialed in for real world flexible, solo workflows. The Vega H2, on the other hand, comes across more like a complete, modern system that actually supports real production needs. Seriously, go to News Shooter’s site and read the specs. It’s a highly production ready camera. Anyway to me, the GoPro Mission ILS and the Bosma Vega H2 are the real standouts at NAB.

I’m waiting for retired Gerald’s review before commenting.

Another good example. I'm think we are all guilty of minimizing things because they don't appeal to us. To a certain audience Gerald's reviews were incredibly engaging. It's not what I want out of a review, but I'm sure someone enjoyed it.

well what do you think of these sorts of reviews ? Runs for 13 minutes and no examples of photos or video taken with the lens

A close relative illustrates user manuals for a high end audio equipment company. Not my cup of tea but it certainly qualifies as art.

Content is art. Not all art is equal, but it's still art. It's like arguing that the people who write instruction manuals or textbooks aren't writers. They are, but that doesn't mean they're Stephen King.

I'm sure the owner of this site would object to that statement LOL Camera reviews are not art. They are content. There's a huge gap that exemplifies why this sort of youtuber just fades away. At no time during the past 10 years did I see one of his reviews and said "wow, now that's art right there". There's no soul, just data. Clicked on a video, saw it, and 5 minutos later forgot all about it. It's NOT his fault, it's just he's made from a different material than artists. I repeat, it's NOT a deficiency, it's just his way of presenting his videos: cold, clinical, analytical, operational. Curiously enough, his pal from Camera Conspiracies has had some very artistic videos where he actually shows some soul. His technique is dreadful, but you can see HIM and his EMOTIONS through the video. Cheers.

I think it's a loss for us, as he was doing independent testing of things that no-one else was, like DR, and commenting on various combinations of modes and features, especially which combinations of modes and features couldn't work together. This is all information that the other people don't bother with because their 'reviews' are really just product showcases or first-looks. As much as the camera journalism and independent review ecosystem is in a sorry state, it just got worse.

I mean, to the extent he creates videos he's an "artist" even if it's not art that you enjoy. It's not the most creative, but it is what it is. He COULD have explored more creative artistic expression, especially as he had the means to do it given the access to equipment (both owned and loaned) he had, but he chose not to.

That's bc the man is not an artist nor a journo. He's just some dude who speaks English (this is relevant) and got really passionate about cameras during The Great MILC Video Expansion of 2014-2024. Since this is a hobby for him and not a job, the passion just ran out.

Viltrox has a L mount version on show at NAB

It's always strange how these folks always end up hating the box they put themselves into when they never had to put themselves in that box to begin with. The only thing stopping people like Gerald from CREATING fulfilling art is themselves. Having been a viewer of his since the start, he DID start out being passionate about cameras. But his transition from a guy who clearly loved cameras into a soulless content creator who acted as a promotional arm of the camera manufacturers wasn't something that happened overnight, nor was it something that his viewers didn't voice in the comments. It was a choice that he made, and inevitably it was going to end like this. There are so many people who started out around the same time who didn't put themselves into that box. Whether it was young Simon Cade/DSLRGuide or the Film Riot guys, just the first two to come to mind from the OLD days who are still around, they all started out with a similar trajectory but used their YouTube channels as a launch pad into creating art that they wanted. That isn't to say you can't criticize what they ARE creating today, but they are out there creating and, from the looks of things, enjoying it. Their work with cameras didn't just stay within the four walls of an apartment or house, but out in the real world, where they could express and create. I genuinely hope that Gerald finds something that he is passionate about and creates stuff that makes him feel good. Everyone deserves to be happy and fulfilled by what they are doing.

According to Brandon Talbot, Nikon is working on fixing H.265 and adding RED Log3G10 as an option for it besides N-LOG. That will make the camera tremendously more useful for the majority of normal users who don't always want to shoot R3D NE.

I vacillate between being a cynic and a nihilist, so where on the spectrum would "F these kinds of dudes in this BS society" fall?

I half expected him to retire into YouTube Apple product reviews, as that would bring in much more dollars than pixel peeping Sonys.

Luckily photography/videography are my hobby so my decisions don't need to make any sense... so I just bought a new-in-box Nikon ZR & a 40mm f/2, both for 30% off. Same store had a Megadap ETZ21 Pro for half price. So far having a blast with the camera.. I like the form factor a lot and the screen is just exciting, both the IBIS & AF are easily better than my Fujifilm X-H2s. The H.265 is definitely subpar, but it's still ok for social media use because once it's 1080p on a phone, anything will look good. You should buy things the way they are now, but I sure am hoping they'll bring a firmware update to bring the H.265 to the same level as in the Z6III.

Great write up and thanks for making the effort. I can see that shooting the Alexa with a neutral / clean lens with deeper DOF and crushing the whites / blacks and it not having carefully sculpted lighting etc would mean it would be an easier act to follow for MFT. As I see it, the limitations of the GH5 compared to the Alexa would be the colour science on skin tones etc, DR, and shallower DOF with character lenses.. most of which weren't significant in how it was shot. I have no experience with an Alexa but I've heard that it's a two/three person camera and that operating it solo is difficult. When I think about things like that, combined with the weight and form factor, I can really understand how limiting it would be to operate compared to how fast the GH5 etc are. I do have some idea about coverage and how incredibly demanding actual "real" productions are. When I analysed Parts Unknown and saw the quantity and quality of shots required for a 40 minute episode I was blown away. Most shots were professional but not incredible, but there were something like 1000 of them in each finished episode. Which they manage to get in something like 5 days on location. I suspect the speed and flexibility difference between the Alexa and GH5 is really a microcosm of the DSLR Revolution. Sure, some of that would be shooting style from the operators and some would be camera choice (ARRI made the Amira for being much more portable/faster) but even between an Amira and GH5, if the goal was getting as much acceptable quality coverage as quickly as possible then the lighter camera has the edge for sure. Pair it with one of those tripods where a single mechanism releases all the joints simultaneously and you'd be able to really cover a scene very quickly. I remember doing a graphic design course back in the day and they said that you can use whatever stock images you like for your projects, and as long as they don't actually clash with the theme of your project then no-one will notice. Since hearing this I have paid attention to such things and it's definitely true - the graphics really don't have to be related at all. I suspect b-roll is partly like this too, as long as you have someone talking and include things that are vaguely related to the subject then it'll work like forgettable eye candy to keep the viewers attention. The Kuleshov Effect is working in your favour for sure. I love the quote "kids love colour and motion" which I think was from a movie and used very sarcastically, but I suspect some of the purpose of b-roll is just to keep that part of our brain from getting bored while we're listening to the person say the thing. Of course, there is an art to it for sure and talented people will be shooting and making edits that create magic by being a lot more than the sum of their parts. Great to hear you were able to navigate the politics and that the end result was a success in the eyes of the boss. Going back to the ARRI takeover and strategy, the fact that ARRI created the Alexa Mini as a 'special use' camera and then everyone switched to it for the whole production says (to me at least) there's a demand for smaller camera packages. It would be amazing if the new management didn't realise this and see what they can do with smaller bodies still. I'm sure ARRI would have a good idea about sales figures for things like the RED Komodo and Komodo-X etc, which are very small, which must further emphasise the demand for smaller packages. I understand that cinema cameras potentially do things like heat/cool the sensor so it's at the optimum temperature and this requires size/weight for the mechanisms and also significant battery power too, so maybe making things smaller is more difficult than we'd imagine. I like to point out to people that the GH7 has a lot more stuff in it than the smaller cameras people compare it to (IBIS, cooling, internal RAW, etc), but in this case we're comparing mirrorless cameras with cameras that literally have heaters in them, so it's not a straight comparison by a long shot.