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"Canon doesn't want you to know about this camera" "This camera changes everything" "Why I sold all my gears to get this camera" "Why Hollywood loves cropped 4k"

Somehow all this camera does is make my A74 feel more valuable…

It's 3200 EUR here in Germany compared to the A7 IV for 2100. This could have been an amazing camera if it came out a few years ago, now it's just kinda 'whatever' with the hardware limitations. Personally I couldn't life with the rolling shutter, the PetaPixel video has shown well in some shots the kinda crazy wobble/jelly you can get shooting 24p handheld (same reason I hated my A6300 back in the day). But the real disrespectful part is the resolution of the display, that's like tech from 10 years ago with not even half the pixels of the FX30 screen. I find the form factor great and if this would have had a sensor more like the Z6III / S1II it would have been an amazing option.

The GH2 is pixel binning to produce the 1080p, so the digital-edge comes more from that than the built-in sharpening algorithm. When you view the image at a longer viewing distance on a larger screen, it looks a lot better than up-close on a laptop.

They released the video 1.5 hours sooner than Sony's own scheduled video.

Ok I bought the C500 mkII. Can't wait to create the first project with it. First tests the AF is so much smoother then my S5II, maybe not faster, but it feels more natural. As does the image. The dynamic range is not crazy better over an S5 or S5II it seems. The highlight rolloff seems smoother though. The internal Nd's are fun too.

One of the reasons I don't blog as frequently or review stuff any more is that I have literally zero interest in spending $3k on a new camera every few months, and there's this strange urge by camera companies to inflate prices at the same time as going backwards in specs from the Sony a1 which is now nearly 4 years old. I fear it will be the same with the FX2, where I pick one up to try it once and then feel absolutely zero creative need for it. Same with the new Panasonics too. And at the same time, my interest in plain old photography is probably stronger than in video now, and what the Xiaomi 14 Ultra was able to do on that side had me thinking that even enthusiast level cameras for photography are on the way out. When are we going to see some real innovation from Japan?

Sony seems to have better pricing strategy, but I'd say the S1II is still worth a premium over the FX2.

That doesn't match the usual style (FX3 is more expensive than A7S III, FX30 is more expensive than A6700) - and if $2,500 is MSRP for A7 IV, selling the cine version for around $200 more is right in line with those other models. If I were choosing between A7 IV and FX2, FX2 would win hands-down. I'd definitely spend $200 for the flippy EVF. But then I might have my head checked because the Z6 III + Sony FE adapter would still cost less, use any Sony lenses, and record 6K full sensor width video internally with decent RS (and with a raw option!) - and going from 24 to 33 megapixels for still photos is... 🤷‍♂️ (Looking for a B Cam to FX6 that can also take some nice still photos, it's totally fine and people aren't crazy for buying it - but it's just not the choice that I would make right now) ----- The other thing that seems interesting with this release is that it seems to suggest that Sony don't have a lot of other new bodies in the pipeline. If they do, this release would seem to be an attempt to grab cash from people who are still willing to buy the older sensor and will be annoyed when cameras with the new sensor are released. Otherwise, if Sony have a bunch of shiny new mirrorless cameras coming soon and supporting better-than-4k recording, etc, why release this one now? The competition is releasing cool mirrorless bodies with superior capabilities and Sony is re-releasing a camera from 2022, but stuffed into a different body. If they keep sitting on these models for another year, we might see the production pendulum swing back to Canon (or Nikon, if they write "RED" on some upcoming mirrorless model and make no other changes from one of their existing cameras).

Nice. Out of curiosity, could you unsharpen the included profiles in the GH2 in video mode?

Jumping the gun makes a lot more sense than Chris/Jordan being actually critical of Sony. 😅

"Finally, the A7IV, but in a more differenter body."

I ended up redoing the balance on the crane today. I was trying to do a vortex shot or 360 spin. However the gimbal wouldn't do it, really struggled once the camera was almost vertical. I did try increasing the motor strength and all that did was give it a bad case of the shakes. So i had to watch some vids concerning vortex mode. Seems like i had the camera too low in / on the mount. It seemed to work fine in pf and L mode Once it got close to vertical it was struggling. Once i rebalanced the gimbal and moved the camera lens up and inline with the roll axis or that's where it ended up after rebalancing, It seems much improved and would perform a vortex spin. The lens is actually a little above the back axis however it seems to work ok. I can get to pretty much all the modes on the gimbal except vortex mode, the easiest way for me so far is to access vortex mode is from the zhiyun app on the phone, If i have managed to do it from the gimbal its been more good luck than good management, i'm sure i'll figure it out eventually... Once i get a bit more comfortable with this mode i'll try underslung or upside down and play with that for a bit. I have developed a tendency to work on one thing at a time otherwise it all goes pear shaped pretty quickly. I have noticed that the e-m1 breaks long shoots up into segments, roughly 3 gig sized files. I had heart palpitations when i noticed that although in resolve it seems to play fine. So no need for a defibrillator just yet.

Was it necessary to make the EVF so long? Its like a camcorder from 90s.

Congratulations to Kasey for having another case for black and white meating with Japanese boss

I'll credit @Andrew Reid for the look with EOSHD Pro Color. I only tweaked it a little. From what I've understood about Panasonic in that era, even their pro video division was surprised by the hacked GH2. I remember many videographers were saying the 1080p out of the GH2 was WAY too sharp and digital. Some of the hacks even offered less sharp versions. After with 4k, it didn't seem we had to worry so much about detail anymore. IBIS meant we could now actually see the detail because with no IBIS, it turned to mush.

That looks really good. The G7 has much nicer and warmer colors. For a doc-style scenario it could be a great option. Other than the obvious jello effect of the tortutre test it could stand up to any modern day camera. As we've said in this forum quite a lot: from about 2010-2018 Panny was a true disrupter in the videocamera world.

It’s just ‘advanced juggling’… 3 balls to 4, to 5, to 6, to 7, to 8, to 9, to tea cups and saucers, to live chainsaws. Which are on fire. Welcome to Cirque du Soleil Weddings!

Thanks for the kind words, John. I remember an old friend of mine, who is a very experienced DP, once said - with regard to "unmotivated camera movement" - that you "shouldn't move without a reason". For the purpose of the camera test I just enjoyed finding the CinemaScope compositions and letting the action (a very busy location) move within the frame instead. I now have a GH5 and a S5, but my use of IBIS is still very modest - it's more useful to me to simply iron out the micro jitters in my hands than to try to emulate a gimble.

I don't know the 'industry definition' of it, but I would think a 'locked down' or 'locked off' shot is just that - the camera can't/doesn't move at all. If you pan a camera, it's a 'panning' shot (tilting is just panning it vertically instead of horizontally, so I guess comes under the same name).

pardon my ignorance, is it still a locked down shot if you pan or tilt while on a tripod or is it called a different type of shot ?

$3500, wow. It's almost as if the Trump Tarrifs have given everyone the excuse to globally raise prices in unison like a big cartel / monopoly. Not good.

Ouch LensSEL24F28G $599.99 $799.99 33.3% LensSEL50F18/B $349.99 $449.99 28.6% LensSEL50F18/S $349.99 $449.99 28.6% When is a cheap lens no longer a cheap lens! The irony is this will only benefit the CHINESE lens makers!!