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Digital zoom is definitely an underrated feature of these higher resolution cameras. On my GH5 I used the 2x punch-in on my 17.5mm F0.95 to get 35mm and 70mm FOVs, and on my GX85 I used it with the 14mm F2.5 pancake lens to get 31mm and 62mm FOVs in a pocketable form-factor. The crop function on the GH7 is different and a bit more restrictive. You get continuous zooming, but only to the point where the resolution you've chosen is at/near 1:1 crop into the sensor. So, if you've got the 14mm lens on there and you're shooting in C4K, you enable the feature and it pops up a box on the screen saying "14mm" and you can zoom in more and more by pushing or holding a button and it goes from 14 - 15 -16 - 17mm, but it won't let you go further. If you're in 1080p mode then it goes from 14mm to 38mm. Conveniently, if you disable the mode then it goes back to 14mm but if you re-enable it then it goes back to whatever zoom you were at previously, so it's easy to set a zoom level you like and then jump in and out of that FOV. My testing didn't indicate any IQ issues with it, in 24p mode anyway, so I think it's probably downscaling from a full sensor read-out. Not only is it really good for getting more FOVs from primes, but it's also great in extending the long end of your zooms too.

Also the crop zoom function is so cool. Turns my little DJI 15mm 1.7 into a 30-40mm FF equiv. Just wish I could map the crop zoom to the lenses focus wheel when in af

The IBIS is so good that I’ve found that with e-stabilization low which barely crops in, if you have a really good heel toe walk the ibis can rival e-stab on high. It’s that good.

I have this camera since its release in late 2023. The G9II is lightweight, has better IBIS and video details rendering (in 5,7K/Open Gate only) than the S5II, S1II and S1RII (with non raw modes) and lenses like the small 20mm f1.7 II are really fun to use with this camera. I'm not tempted by the GH7 because the 5,7K/Open Gate mode of the G9II has very nice detail rendering, so I don't need the Prores Raw of the GH7. But to be honest, I think the best image out of the box comes from the GH6, colors are the best I've seen on a Panasonic camera. The GH6 with the 25-50mm is something else, even my S1RII doesn't look as good. For now the cameras I use the most are : The GH6 with the 25-50mm (insane rendering) and the 25mm f1.2 (pretty nice and soft look at f1.2 even if the colors are a bit muted). The G9II with the 20mm f1.7, the PL 12-60mm and 100-400mm. The S1II with the 35mm f1.2 DG II (only in Prores Raw). The S1RII with the 50mm and 24-70mm S Pro. The Z6III with the 50mm f1.2S/35mm f1.2S and sometimes the Batis 135mm f2.8 and 35mm GM (only in N-Raw).

2021? More than a decade later. Well, too late for me then... :- )

Maybe these rigs might help? 🙂 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2650765 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4944392

I don't regret jumping to full frame. The S5 and S5II X have treated me well and both are really good values. It was the right choice at the time, for a multitude of reasons. BUT if I'd known that the G9 II and GH7 were in the pipeline I probably would've stayed with M43. The main benefit for me has been the better low light, but these newer M43 cameras are pretty darn good at that. FF still has an edge, but it's not a huge one. I also don't typically do a lot of work where I need really shallow depth of field. Often times I'm closing the lense down to get similar results to what I got when filming on M43, except these lenses are much heavier and more expensive than the ones I used on my GH5, G85, and GX85 bodies. I could fit all my lenses in a bag and it didn't weigh much at all. The same definitely cannot be said for my FF lenses! The stabilization, to my eye, also looks a lot better on the G9II and GH7 than my S5 and S5II X. I hope Lumix keeps M43 alive and even gets back to innovating with the system. A return to smaller bodies, and possibly even smaller lenses, would definitely pique my interest. I don't know that I'd ever jump back into the system completely, but I could see myself buying a couple lenses and a body if it was compelling enough.

That new Fooj does look interesting… Utterly gimmicky for sure, but a great way to get folks at an event actually going to your website after the fact. It’s like a SteamPunk TikTok gen business card machine!

Happy new year everyone, been a bit chaotic here. My mum fell over and broke a leg, Thats thrown a spanner in the works for the last 9 weeks. Things are slowly getting back to normal. Theres now 16 bits of metal holding here leg together, 17 if you count the drill bit that broke off inside... Had a bit of brain fade with the e-m1 iii battery. Somehow i ordered a bln-1 battery and dummy battery which is in the middle of the photo. e-m1 on the left and em10 on the right. which doesn't fit anything i have and i'm a bit disappointed with my self for messing that up. My second attempt at a battery was cancelled and refunded, however the stars aligned for the third attempt and i now have an extra e-m1 battery. Yay Another almost fail was buying a metabones speedbooster. It was an ex rental although it looks immaculate. My issue is there is no glass. Going back through the order it seems like i miss read the description. I can only presume i bought this late at night ... Still its well engineered great tolerances and rock solid on the camera. If i'm honest its a better mount than the other no name ef to mft adapter i have. So the hunt for a speed booster continues. Not sure if this counts as a xmas present, however a Zhiyun focus motor turned up yesterday I'm excited to get this installed onto the zhiyun gimbal, but that will have to wait till later as i have some fencing to do before it gets too hot.

Then you'd probably like DSMC3. Standard batteries, standard CF Express cards, etc. If the CFE card isn't on the compatibility list, you'll get a warning, but then the camera will let you try to record whatever quality you want.

@MrSMW yea, once clients trust your taste and the look becomes part of what they’re hiring you for, baking it in just makes sense. It shifts the work from “fixing” to actually shooting with intent. I’ve found it especially useful on doc and news style projects where speed matters and consistency is more important than endless options later. As long as the look is designed thoughtfully up front, it’s hard to want to go back.

They’ll arrive at my Danish supplier by mid-January (next week for the adventure combo) and the end of the month (for the standard combo). That said, DJI deserves credit for cross-generation battery compatibility when not between distinct models such as the Action series and the new 360. It saves money, reduces clutter, and it’s a real factor in choices like Osmo 360 vs X5 and Action 6 vs Ace Pro 2/1 (all of them are great devices BTW). Let alone the single piece Osmo Pocket series is. I was into RED for a while, but the proprietary stuff eventually made me step back. - EAG

Ditto and it has been an absolute game changer for me with my workflow, especially as 100% of my clients what a result in ‘my style’, so effectively carte blanche. As long as I don’t do anything radically different…

Thanks for the info. I have ”Use Mac display color profile for viewers” and ”Viewers match Quicktime player when using Rec.709 Scene” enabled in Resolve settings. If you google ”viewers match quicktime player resolve” you can find a thread from Resolve forums about the issue, where it is explained which combinations work and which do not.

Trump would be locking his on the 1930s. They’d still get people whining about autofocus and IBIS.

I really like the idea of the time travel dial A really elegant way of switching the look. Good to see the Super 8 / Bolex form factor make a come back as well. Fuji of course, now should do a high-end version of this with Cinema DNG.

Excellent insight, Thank you for the write up!

So true, I find myself shooting way more random snaps with this camera than any other camera I own, and it's fun! Ditto, Couldn't agree more! I only use my phone camera for visually documenting something!

Incidentally, FujiFilm have announced a new instax camera today that is already boiling the piss of many people in the same way as the X-Half does. It’s basically a video focused version of the Instax Evo but retains the printer and is based on their Fujica cine cameras of the past. The dial on the side let’s you choose the era of look that you want to emulate. So it shoots video which transfers to the app and then it prints a key frame still from it complete with a QR code on it that people can then scan to download the video from the cloud. It looks beautiful and based on my experience with the X-Half, if they made this with that larger format sensor (sans printer obviously) then I would be all over it for all the same reasons as I love the X-Half.

As many of you will have guessed, I’m not a rich teenage kawaii girl so take my opinion on this camera with a grain of matcha. What I am though is a member the unspoken demographic for it which is the jaded old photographer with a bad back. So I’m not her, I’m not you and you aren’t either of us so I’m predicting your mileage will vary wildly. Which is a good thing. I enjoy it for what it is, a genuinely pocketable holiday camera that makes me take silly snaps with far more frequency than I would do with a “real” camera because I’ve long since understood that holiday doesn’t mean assignment. Anyway, some silly soft, noisy snaps I took with it. Could I have taken these with my phone and at likely better quality ? Of course but the question is would I? No, because getting my phone out of my pocket and wrestling with it like a wet fish when I see something interesting is not my idea of using a camera.

I think a lot of people wrote Micro Four Thirds off before really paying attention to what changed. Once you start working with the newer Panasonic bodies as a system not just a sensor the color, IBIS, and real time LUT workflow start to make a lot of sense, especially for documentary and run and gun work. I’ve been baking looks in camera more and more instead of relying on heavy grading later and it’s honestly sped everything up. I just put out a short video showing how I’m using that approach on the GH7 if anyone’s interested: My YouTube is more of a testing and experimenting space rather than where I post my “serious” work, but a lot of these ideas end up feeding directly into professional gigs.

Ok, first 2 week trip behind with the ZR, 35mm F1.4, 50mm F1.2 and 135mm F1.8 Plena and here are some thoughts about the ZR. First the good sides. The ZR screen worked well enough for nailing focus and exposure, even when shooting into shadows in bright daylight, but you may want to max the screen brightness. Zooming into the image with the zoom lever was handier than with Z6iii plus and minus buttons. Even with screen brightness maxed occasionally battery lasted about as well as Z6iii with it’s EVF on normal brightness. Had to use 2nd battery only a few times during 4-5 hour shooting days in cold, 0 to 10C conditions. Brought also the Smallgrip L cage with me, but did not use it, as it makes the ZR body taller than Z6iii and about similar weight. Even with 1kg lenses ZR felt quite comfortable to use and hold, but as a climber my fingers are not the weakest. I missed the Z6iii EVF a bit, but used now also different shooting angles and heights more due to the bigger screen being handier than EVF for that. 32bit float saved the few clipped audios I had pretty well, even though I don’t know if it is true 32bit pipeline from Rode wireless go mic to the ZR. Still, the audio sounded a bit better than what I have gotten with Z6iii and Rode. Exposing clips with R3D NE took at first a bit more time than with NRaw, but by using high zebras set to 245, waveform, and Cinematools false color and Rec.709 clipping LUTs it was quite easy to avoid crushed blacks and clipped highlights. R3D NE has manual WB, so I took always a picture first and set the WB by using the picture as preset. It worked pretty well, but not perfectly every time. Shot also NRaw in between to compare, but used auto A1 WB for it. It seems the auto WB did not always work perfectly either, but it was relatively easy to get R3D NE and NRaw to match WB wise in post. In highlights R3D NE clips earlier than NRaw and it was clearly seen in the zebras and waveform. Still with R3D NE there was not much need to over expose and even with under exposing I needed to use NR only in a couple of clips, where I under exposed too much. On last year’s trip with Z6iii, when it didn’t have the 1.10 FW yet, that improved the shadow noise pattern, I needed to use NR in many clips, until I realised I could raise high zebras from 245 to 255 without clipping. With R3D NE and NRaw 4 camera buttons and one lens button was enough. I had 3D LUT and WB added to My menu and that mapped to a button, so it was quite fast to change display LUTs or WB. WB mapped directly to a button or added in i menu won’t let you set the WB by taken picture as preset. WB se to i menu let’s you measure the white point and set that though. In post I preferred the R3D NE colors over NRaw in almost all of the clips I took, except in few clips where NRaw had more information in the highlights. Changing NRaw to R3D with NEV to R3D hack brought NRaw grading closer to R3D NE, but they were still not exactly the same. NRaw as NRaw seemed to have more blueish image in some of the clips due to the blue oversaturation issue it has, but the NEV to R3D hack fixes that. Then the bad sides. After coming home I picked the Z6iii, looked through it’s EVF, felt all of it’s buttons and thought, this is still the better camera, a proper one. Z6iii has also focus limiter and mech sutter which both I missed during the trip. The worst part became pretty clear after every shooting day. Not the R3D NE file sizes itself, but the lack of software support to be able to save only the trimmed parts of R3D NE clips. Currently Davinci Resolve saves the whole clips without trims, even though NRaw works just fine, and Red Cine x pro gives an error during R3D trim export. If you happen to fill 2TB card a day with R3D NE, you need to save now everything. I saved like 6TB of footage from this trip when it could have been only 600GB. If this does not get fixed I could as well shoot NRaw with Z6iii and get rid of the damn ZR. Changing trimmed NEV files to R3D does not work either, as Resolve does not import the files. ZR is fun to shoot, no doubt about it, but it’s R3D NE workflow is almost unusable at the moment, at least for my use.

If you set your Davinci settings to use Apple Profiles for display, and then use Rec709 for your profile, it gives an accurate output for YouTube, at least it does for all of our workstations

This is why I check all my final grades on my macbook pro screen. It's not perfect, but it seems like it's a good approximation of a lot of screens out there

Another question! On the S5ii I used SAF for foto as it seemed more accurate than CAF. What is everyone using on the newer cameras?