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I found this Japanese guy flexible picture profiles very pleasing. Give it a try Andrew: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/chk03x3iovaj1ewa3h6ki/ANk2wDtpX3R7ua0lv6C6LM4

OK, next gen to what I had then! I probably will resist the BF as I have just downsized my kit and I really don’t want to increase it ever again!

Ahhhh, resist, resist friend LOL The DF actually used Nikon's D4 sensor. Seems it was very very solid. Those D4 models still go for huge money used.

I have a M42-M43 speed booster and recommend getting one. It makes the focal lengths more useful and for any given FOV gives you the ability to get shallower DoF or if you stop down to keep the same DoF the lenses sharpen up a bit. Depending on what your preferences are in image and rendering, there are lots of other M42 lenses around too.

Not too bad... RX1 OG: 700 euros used RX1R: 900 euros RX1R II: 2000+ euros The Mark II price is only going to stay high and may even go up as it has features the Mark III removes such as the articulated screen, oops. The old pop-up EVF is more premium and funky too. I think the hiatus was about protecting E-mount, as for some people a fast 35mm is all you need, and the return is about trying to out-Leica Leica on profit margins. Sony are a very numbers driven company. I have always liked the RX1 series as it was one of the very few options if you wanted a full frame sensor and beautiful fast 35mm Zeiss lens matched to the sensor, in an overall package that is smaller than even Micro Four Thirds. Hands down one of the best compact cameras ever made... the Contax T3 of our times. The successor was never going to be cheap, but the price escalation in the camera industry really makes me an unhappy customer. I haven't bought a camera "new" for years.

Too late. there's a f2 35mm takumar on its way, i may also get a warming filter for the double whammy or more likely just for comparisons Lens should be here by the end of the month. It kinda rounds out my takumer set, i have most of the focal lengths i think although none are matching, there's taks, super taks, and smc's. i don't think i have a 28mm and definitely no eight element either. Next item will be a speed booster i think, to claw back some of that crop and i presume it gives me an additional focal length for each lens. Well thats how i'm looking at it anyway.

Same sensor as the Nikon D4. I had a play with the Sigma BF recently, and the controls are quite frankly batshit. I came away a bit underwhelmed and it's definitely not an intuitive camera when you first pick one up. Some very strange decisions by Sigma going on with it. It does look pretty though.

Actually, I screwed up the last image, so here's a replacement: and here's the revised node graph:

I've also started looking at things in post. First was to look at the grain section of the Film Look Creator, which softens the image as well as adds grain (because that's how film works!). I tried it on a few images and was actually surprised at how subtle the effects were, especially compared to how strong the look of some of the lenses is. It's more visible on motion rather than on frame grabs, but still. I also had a go at emulating some of that edge softness. There's a whole world of ways you can do this in Resolve, but this is one way. Here's the node graph. If anyone is curious for an explanation of why I'm doing it this way, just ask.

Another thing about lenses is the flares, which are far more than just bloom. For example, I love the way that zooms have lots of elements to their flares.

I've sort of been waiting for my adapters to arrive to shoot the next round of tests, but I figured that sharing some early impressions might be useful and help me organise my thoughts a bit too. I shot my first round of the test quite poorly, so images have different exposures etc, which is why I wasn't sharing them before, but there are some interesting things to note from some of the different lenses. The 14mm F2.5 is sharp from edge to edge and has relatively deep DoF, so this is a reference. The Takumar 35mm F3.5 is sharp in the middle and still relatively deep DoF but has significant "zoom" radial blur on the edges. ..as does the Cosmicar 12.5mm F1.9.. The TTartisans 17mm F1.4 has a lot of blooming when wide open (but is clean from F2 onwards) and the Yashica 28mm F2.8 has a lot of blooming when wide open too, although the blooming seems to be a lot larger (with the light from brighter areas being distributed a lot further away in the image than with the 17/1.4) The blur on the edges of the Yashica also seems to have a lot of colour separation too: unlike the TTartisans: or Cosmicar: The Mir-1b 37mm F2.8 is all over the place, reminding me that I have never liked it and never saw what others saw in it: The Helios is about as you'd expect - sharp in the middle but edges that are hype-worthy despite essentially being a one-trick pony: (Note that this is the Helios 44M, not the 44-2. I have the 44-2 and it's easily one of the worst lenses I own, with blooming far in excess of anything I included in this test. It sits in a drawer and stays there.) In contrast to the Helios, the Takumar 55mm F1.8 is much cleaner (bearing in mind this is a shallow DoF image and I'm standing at an angle compared to the fence so the edge softness is likely to be partly the shallow DoF) : The Voigt 42.5mm F0.95 is softer in the middle but has cleaner edges: and the TTartisans 50mm F1.2 doesn't have the blooming of the Voigt, but might not be sharper as bloom and sharpness are independent attributes: but the 12-35mm F2.8 makes all of these look positively vintage: Obviously the other lenses can be stopped down to potentially be as sharp as this is, but I shot all these wide open to learn more about aesthetics, not to perform a technical test, because that's what MTF charts are for. I'd like to say that I can draw some conclusions from this test but realistically it's too early. I do have some impressions though. I suspect I don't like the lenses that have too much bloom. I bought a Tiffen Black Promist 1/8 and shot with it on the 12-35mm and ended up not liking the images in post, and some of these lenses are a lot more bloom-y than the BPM. The purpose of using any lenses other than my AF set (9/1.7 and 14/2.5 and 12-35/2.8 and 14-140/3.5-5.6) is to get shallow DoF or DoF-related things (e.g. oval bokeh from anamorphics) which are essentially the only things you can't apply in post. I have thought before that I don't really like colour separation, like the red halation from film or CA, but the example shots from Attack on London and also from the wide angle adapter don't seem that objectionable, so maybe I'm changing my mind about this? One thing that came out of this test was how much I like the Tokina 28-70mm F3.5-4.5 zoom. It has a vintage flavour for sure, but doesn't seem to be too degraded. I am really looking forward to testing the wide angle adapter and 1.25x anamorphic adapter on this lens, as I suspect those adapters will be limited to around F2.8 anyway, so trading off the flexibility of a zoom for only one extra stop doesn't seem that worthwhile in that configuration. The only lens not yet mentioned is the 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 kit zoom, which in this situation isn't that different from the 12-35mm F2.8. The next test I'll shoot will have significant depth of field, so I can see things like bokeh shapes and rendering (e.g. swirly vs cats-eyes vs not), and I'll have to work out some way to expose all the images the same (or use the GH7 and correct in post) as exposure makes a difference perceptually. I just wish my adapters would get here sooner!

I didn’t actually but did same sensor cameras which would have been D3/D700 or something of that era because I was all Nikon back then. I am getting curious about the Sigma BF now…but must resist, must resist, must resist…

I think they saw the high prices the previous RX1 models go for after 10 or more years. As for a electronic tech goes, the RX1 line has held up like no other tech out there, maybe only surpassed by the Digital Bolex videocam and the Fujifil X100 line in this regard. Other than those two outliers, I can't find any other old or very old digital cameras that still garner such high prices relative to their age. So Sony saw that and the recent compact camera fad and thought that they were leaving a ton of cash on the table.

Just out of curiosity, did you by any chance ever shoot with the older Nikon DF? Seems it was a banger for stills.

Well the 28-200 is going back. Hate it. Suspected I might… I just cannot stand slow, variable aperture zooms, even in good light. Going to find me a used Sigma 28-45mm f1.8 ASAP and just skip the second whole long zoom thing as after all, I already have the f4 70-200. Oh well, I tried. Switched it for the Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 and phew, crisis over 😉 The S1Rii is working out OK so far for stills. Not as snappy as my A7RV which itself is not as snappy as my Zf, but neither of those fit in with The Greater Plan. S9 still my fave for video.

Allthough it is not entirenly only my issue. Clients (production companies) ask footage to be shot in log. And while it is no longer my issue but the editor or color grader issue. I prefer the colours coming straight out of camera to be nice. Especially when they are combinging footage from different shooters and camera's. I don't want to be the guy where they have the most work in post with. As most production companies ask feedback forms from everyone involved, and if an editor writes down "I prefer the footage from shooter B because the colours are ready to go, and I am shooter A, then I might move down the list of shooters to call for a new project". Alllthough I will try to always use the C500 ii for these types of clients when possible. Where the colours are stellar straight out of camera.

Awesome.. a new market opportunity opening up, for buying cheap plastic lens caps and grinding RX1R III into it with the dremel. Obviously i couldn't sell them too cheap as one of the smarter cookies might smell something fishy going on...

Herbie goes to monte carlo 1977. Even more vintage... or the village people that was 1980 as well.

After all the social media shilling of the last 10 years maybe Sony want to see if they now have the brand power to pull off Leica level mark-up (without the German bits) and enter the luxury goods business.

Hi Max you will get much more reliable results using a warming filter than a thorium lens Ive got a yellowed Super Takumar 55/1.8 & can hardly tell much difference with it !! Color filters are not cheating they were in photographers bags in the film era my Dad used to use a yellow filter for shooting snow scenes as it gives better shadows.Some of my Soviet lens arrived with a color filter still attached. !!

Can you please do ratings for Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) 🙏

Right, is it the hood or the bag that is made in Japan, because if it’s not both, I’m not interested as I prefer cloth and plastic from Japan and find similar items from countries such as China, Vietnam, Thailand etc, to be far inferior with their shitty cloth and plastics. I’d pay no more than $195-197.

as @newfoundmass said above, you can do your own thing and it’s easier than ever these days. Too much weight given to SOOC colour science…

Yeah I need to create my own lut, as so far I have not found one with good contrast. Have not tried baking in a lut.

Isn't all your personal issues with the image moot when you factor in the ability to add your own lut, thus giving you the color you want SOOC?