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Ok that is a fair point. And I do agree it’s useful. I briefly owned a LUMIX S9 and sold it for financial reasons. It was a bit of a weird setup cause I had a sigma 18-35 so I used it as an APSC camera. But the 3.3k 4:3 open gate mode plus aspect ratio markers I’ll admit was incredible. The Panasonic S9 is a pretty excellent faux-APSC camera.

Indeed. Attention spans get ever shorter and if you don’t play the game, you are not in the game. Whether you like playing said game is irrelevant, - just a necessary evil. Being able to make 2 forms of content relatively easily from one source is the quickest (and cheapest) way to achieving this and why Lumix cameras especially excel, - multiple frame markers. I have mine set up for 1:2.4 + 9:16 with a 75% blackout and it’s 👍👍

I don't wanna come off as defending the YouTubers BUT vertical video (shudder) was a lot less important in 2017. In 2026 it's super important. For those of us who release long form content, but also need to create reels/shorts from that same content, open gate is very important because people are more inclined to swipe away if content isn't vertical for reels and shorts. I hate it with every fiber of my being, but that's how a lot of people consume their content now.

This is a good idea. One thing that art school students get are assignments. This provides them with opportunities to explore things and learn from them. If someone isn't in art school (or film school or whatever) they can still give themselves assignments. Set parameters that they have to get creative within, do a series on a theme, etc.

It’s all about the interplay between light and shadow. By controlling the light you control the shadow. Particularly true for monochrome photography when you don’t have subtle tones of colour to rescue a picture.

So valid haha…and I remember 8 years ago not very many people even cared about the 5k open gate on the gh5. Now a camera is “so useless” if it doesn’t have what the gh5 has had for YEARS…the marketing agencies (oops I mean YouTubers) deem it necessary for clicks.

Yeah the file sizes are def an issue. Colour science is debatable.

This is one of the 485 reasons why I look at all the latest FF cameras and just shrug then go back to my MFT cameras. Life without camera GAS is a very different experience..

The files aren't as chunky and colour science not as good as Canon.

Unless it's a hybrid video camera, it ain't in 🙂 What is the video like on it by the way, does it have any? Surely needs a hack if not.

Nikon zr should be at 1 IQ wise.

No Fuji X-Half ? Surely some mistake. Bizarrely enough, Sony have just released an update for the original a1.

Wow the things you forget... 2017!? Panasonic were always very generous with firmware updates. Can't say same about Sony/Canon

You're right, better images... but they're not 2025 cameras.

Lighting is critical - without it the files are just blackness. The debate about artificial vs natural light is a large and complex one, but the fundamental is that you must learn to understand light and its various qualities. Soft vs hard, directional vs flat, etc. Especially what it does to the human face, assuming your work includes people. Perhaps a good exercise is to practice shooting light rather than shooting the physical objects that it hits. Take your phone and go out and just shoot as many different types of light you can. Do half-a-dozen photo walks with this as the only subject and you'll leapfrog the majority of photographers.

“Panasonic GH5 ($500) – still a great image and feature-set, however lacks open gate / phase-detect AF and RealTime LUTs” Oh, also the gh5 got an amazing update late in the game 2017 that brought 5k opengate. I shot a lot of doc footage in that mode for a project in 2022 and it was very, very sharp. 200mbps data rate as well. So sharp I was able pull some really high quality stills from the video shots. https://www.eoshd.com/news/shooting-5k-h-265-panasonic-gh5-new-open-gate-mode/

I agree with all but would add the S1R for $900 as the cheapest high mp image out there with 5k bonus s35 mode. Also, Fuji Xh2s on the used market. BUT certainly not new with the recent price increases. X-m5 is a baby X-h2s for $800 and does 6.2k ProRes raw external, 6k open gate internal. I second the LUMIX s5 original with last raw/anamorphic update still an amazing bargain at $750 used. Instead of fx3 I would submit ZV-e1 instead at 80% of the way there but with newly added features for less than half the price. As well, the fx30 over the fx2. My list is dated for sure but that’s because the value for 2020 cameras in 2026 is astounding. The Sony A1 is the pinnacle of this and that’s my next buy in 2026. We reached peak resolution for stills in 2019 and are close to video in 2020. Good news for us is that prices should keep dropping on older cameras like the A1 and the GFX line. In the meantime I’ve been buying vintage lenses LOL. Also, the yen is at an all time low so the used market in Japan is a solid discount for all of us looking for deals. Kowa anamorphic adapters for $200 all day long while newbies have them listed for $1,200 in the US on eBay… Harsh depreciation going on right now and a bad time to sell gear in Trump’s amerkkka. Great time to buy for the informed enthusiast who’s not out there following shilltubers.

I think there has been some decent kit launched this year, but nothing groundbreaking and indeed, some veritable bargains on the used market. My pick, for my needs, is still the S1RII (1 new at discounted price and 1 used) plus a used S5II and a new (discounted) S9. If I was making a case to myself for Nikon, it would be a Z8 + ZR set up. For Sony, A7RV + FX30’s…and they have the best glass options. Canon is far too expensive a flip for me and I find the glass for my needs too limiting but the new R6III looks the most interesting out of all the bodies. Which leaves Fuji. I think I could make a used GFX100 work plus a couple of XH2’s but I prefer other options more. Love the OM-1 but not going back there.l for various reasons. Cameras of the year for me are: 1: S1RII (best suits my needs) 2: ZR (wish it had a fully artic screen) 3: S1II (R model has more for me) 4: R6III (great spec, dull body, expensive system) 5: S1IIE (still thinking about getting one to replace my S9 which I love but isn’t quite robust enough to be my primary unit) Wishes for 2026 (other than World peace, various prominent political figures falling under a bus, personal lottery win etc) would be for a replacement for the S1H in an FX3/30/ZR body style with a fully articulated screen plus a longer focal length sibling to the Sigma 28-45mm f1.8, such as a 45-90mm f1.8 with internal zoom.

Has anyone had success with the Viltrox EFM2 and an Olympus PDAF body in video? I may still order the EM1X. I want to get the sigma 18-35 and speedbooster. But if AF doesn’t work I’ll need to get the Olympus 12-40mm 2.8 instead.

I'd be inclined to put the R5 II over the a7V on the IQ chart. The A9 III is probably worth mentioning somewhere too. The OG Komodo is almost worth including, even though it isn't a hybrid mirrorless - but I have seen some in the approximately $2,000 range on the used market - pair it up with a $500 RVLVR Clutch handle and a $300 Portkeys monitor and you have a setup that's not much heavier than most mirrorless cameras on the market, with good ergonomics. The main bummers are the battery (I use a V mount adapter from Wooden Camera instead of the Canon batteries that it uses natively) and the recording media (CFast).

I'd still put the Lumix S5 as one of the best values when it comes to used full frame cameras. I know with the S9 being so cheap, and having notable benefits like better AF, some might opt to go for that instead but I think the image quality is nicer, and I prefer the size for handheld shooting, especially with larger lenses. It's also compatible with the XLR1.

Do you agree with my choices... And did I miss anything? https://www.eoshd.com/news/the-2025-hybrid-mirrorless-camera-rankings/ The 2025 camera rankings for video quality and value for money are in!

Happy Holidays Everyone, Here's another brand new music track on my Fantasy 13 page: "DREAMING OF FARAWAY PLACES" https://soundimage.org/fantasy-13/ As always, it's 100% free to use with attribution, just like my thousands of other music tracks and sounds. Enjoy and have a safe holiday. 🙂

for pHotography def not. Use flash, so MUCH MORE power in a smaller body. For video its ok, but I would go for something more with an bowens s mount (so you can easy use softboxes, fresnells, spotlights,...)

And with SD card, no RAW video. Unless heavily cropped 4k30.