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Finally someone has done it https://www.benro.com/en/prelaunch/NE1-nd-filter.html It has a nifty bluetooth controller with auto-AE as well. Curious to see how nice it is to use, but no word on pricing yet.

It worths mentioning G9II, a sort of GH7 in a S5 body.

Well I just ordered an EM1X, sigma 18-35 and speedbooster off of MPB. Trading in my Nikon Z6 setup so I am almost breaking even. Will update the group on my thoughts on the camera. Seems like a beast.

I’ll write a spirited defence of the X-Half when I’ve got more time but suffice to say that having bought one and actually used it they have exposed themselves yet again as knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing.

I don’t know of anyone in my industry who does not shoot Sony. Except me, call sign Maverick.

Looks cool. I'm still a little confused about how it attaches to the lens, and if it's compatible with other matte boxes and filtration, or whether it integrates into a proprietary matte box system. I'd like to see something similar that fits into a 4x4 or 4x5.65 slot, like the prototype that LC-Tec made a while ago https://www.newsshooter.com/2025/09/14/kippertie-lc-tec-electronic-variable-nd-electronic-diffusion-solutions-at-ibc-2025/ (From the interviews with LC-Tec earlier this year, it sounds like they manufacture the LCDs for many companies, including metabones and kippertie, and I wouldn't be surprised if they also manufacture for this Benro product although I have no source on that) No polarization, but not necessarily better color accuracy or anything. Quality can vary. Yeah I've thought about the same thing, and with that sort of tool you could have arbitrary shapes instead of a straight split. I imagine the cost goes up considerably when it gets fancy.

Those last 3 shots, very nice.

The original Olympus OM3 was one of the finest cameras I ever owned. Didn’t need a battery except for the meter (if I recall correctly). Even seeing “OM” brings back memories of long gone days… ironically given the debates about MFT, FF s16 etc, I sold it to get a Bronica MF. Anyway, sorry, totally irrelevant to the post.

I may do a comparison on the blog about the E-M1X and OM1. The E-M1X is... different.

The only principle that they follow is defined by their self-interest. If a law or moral principle exists which they think would help them gain more power or wealth, they use it argument why others should follow it. But they never feel the need to obey laws or ethical principles if it would be disadvantageous to their attempts to increase their power or wealth. Similar to the Russia which cries wolf when Western countries freeze their foreign assets, but do not see any problem in the looting & killing of Ukrainians. These are examples of people who are guided by only their self-interest and will do anything to gain more and more power and wealth. What is amazing is how the common people actually voted those people into positions of power.

To misquote Niemöller: ”first they came for the media. I sat and watched. They came for the gays, the trans and those who are different. I sat and watched. They came for those they claimed don’t belong. I sat and watched. Then they came for me. There was no one left to hear my cries…”

I wish I could sit in the corner with a hot chocolate while someone wise told me that we are over the worst of it… then I remember that Vance waits to inherit, Farage hovers around No10 like flies over a corpse and… unfortunately it does seem that sitting back and ignoring it is no longer a sensible option.

A couple more stills shot with the Sirui 35. Even though I have quite a few other options, this lens usually stays on my S1RII because it’s so versatile.

No more of this slop @zlfan, thanks

I've been away from this forum for a while, since around the time I got my XT3 and thought that was the endgame camera for hybrid shooting. In many ways, I was right, until this summer when it dropped and cracked the screen. The first and hopefully last time I've ever dropped a camera. I sent it away to be repaired, however, after paying the €200 to replace the screen, I went to collect it and was informed by the front desk that they don't actually have the parts for the repair, so they've upgraded me to an XT5 at no extra cost. That's a service I can get behind and they've for sure earned a life-long customer with that! Anyone got any starter tips, or lesser known, but great features to look outfor with this camera?

I think people see politics these days as a form of show-biz entertainment soap opera drama, what a surprise they are going to get when the frogmen smash their door in next.

I have an opinion on that... https://www.eoshd.com/opinion/chris-and-jordan-select-sigma-bf-fuji-x-half-and-sony-fx2-as-worst-cameras-of-the-year-just-goes-to-show-that-some-people-dont-have-a-single-creative-brain-cell/

I have the same vague impression, but I'm not sure. I never really went looking for it. But as you said, if there's some polarization, it stays consistent as the ND is dialed up or down. Definitely, it's one of the dangers of vND. Also with wide angle lenses during the day, the sky can end up looking funky and not just different.

The Sigma BF, from what I’ve seen so far, looks like a design-first camera that deliberately embraces limitations and a very specific tactile shooting experience. If your baseline is “fast, familiar, efficient, and feature-complete,” then yes, it can easily feel like a compromise for the money. But cameras built around constraints are often the ones people actually end up using, because they push you into a different pace and a different kind of attention. Calling it “bad” is basically mixing up “not optimized for my workflow” with “objectively worthless.” Same story with the Fuji X-Half. If it really ships as JPEG-only and is clearly marketed as a “fun,” frictionless camera, then the fair comparison is less “serious camera vs serious camera” and more “intentional point-and-shoot experience vs phone.” In that context, price becomes the whole argument: a fun toy is fine; an expensive fun toy is where people split. And wanting RAW isn’t necessarily pixel-peeping. It’s about long-term ownership, personal rendering, and not being locked into a single pipeline. Fuji could improve the proposition a lot with a smart firmware strategy (RAW/DNG, better HEIF options, more flexible output) without changing what the camera is supposed to be.

Looks like you can just change the URL of the map camera link to get previous months.. https://news.mapcamera.com/maptimes/2025年10月-新品・中古デジタルカメラ人気ランキング/ https://news.mapcamera.com/maptimes/2025年9月-新品・中古デジタルカメラ人気ランキング/ etc.

I had the vague impression that LCD panels had some element of polarisation to them, but maybe that's not true. However, even if it was true, the fact you haven't noticed any probably means the polarisation isn't changing direction as the strength varies. I do a lot of tests where I match different shots in post, things like latitude tests etc, and if I use a vND to control exposure then I'll end up with two shots where the subject is the same WB/exp but the sky or the level of reflections in water/glass will be completely different, which ends up being the polarisation from the rotating element of the vND being a different angle between the two shots.

I wonder how it compares with sales? I imagine Sony & Canon still top that but wonder how Nikon & Panasonic sales have done over the same period…

e-ND filters (at least the ones I've seen) are LCD panels with what is effectively a single very large pixel, so yes, it won't have some of the drawbacks of a vND, especially including no X when dialed up. I've never noticed any polarization with mine which is the inline filter for the EF mount on Z Cam. They are also effectively infinitely variable (if someone wants to nitpick that, feel free) so they also make it less important to have a clickless aperture, if you're one of the people who needs stepless exposure pulls on a regular basis. As for color accuracy, that'd depend on the quality of the LCD panel used, I imagine - but at the very least, I would expect it to stay consistent throughout its range. I'd also be curious in the future if someone will come out with an electronic ND that allows for gradations or split filtering, etc. Landscape photographers would be all over it.

The FX3 really is the 2025 version of what the C300 was in 2012…every…human…is…using it. I’ve met multiple talented wedding videographers who shoot with it. So many use it. It’s ubiquitous.

Interesting to look at the trends... Canon is extending their lead over Sony. Nikon is only at 5.56%... Had expected them to be closer to Sony, after all the Z6 / Z8 series seem popular, right now DJI is a growing threat. Blackmagic are slipping back as the bigger companies cannibalise their niche of advanced video features and RAW recording. Sigma is holding steady, but obviously this revenue relates 99% to lenses, there cameras are a very small niche. Fuji is steadily going up... Their stuff especially X-mount is not really Lensrental's target market but more pros are seeing the benefits of GFX Panasonic pretty flat at 2% mark, it's a poor showing considering how good their specs are. Leica are pretty stagnant despite lots of new releases, SL3, Q3, etc. Revenue from RED halved, Sachtler also down hinting at problems we know exist in professional filmmaking

I own the Blazar adapter and have used it extensively. I like that it can go wide, most 40-45 vintage lenses will cover full frame, especially if they have 52mm threads. It will even work with a few older 35-70 zooms past about 40mm. It's a little dreamy on the sides when using wider lenses, but once you go to around 75mm, it cleans up across the frame. It also has great focusing performance - with the taking lens set at infinity, you can do it all with the focus ring on the adapter and even wide open, infinity is spot on with every lens I've tried. Below are a few samples I have handy. First two shots are the 50 Nokton around F8. With my copy of the adapter, no amount of stopping down cleans up the edges on 40-50mm lenses. 3rd Shot is the 58 Biotar. Next 3 shots are the 75 Nokton. Image is great across the frame when stopped down a bit, but there is some fringing with the lens wide open.

Same. But, if they added raw they'd change the whole ballgame for me.

well as an X-Half owner I have to say, it's a very fun camera to use, overpriced, yes! A bunch of years back, they voted the Canon XC-10 the worst camera and lens of the year, and to date that camera did so well for me and paid for itself over and over again! I don't shoot puddles! am

Got any shots from that?

Nice frog, thought it was real for a second 🙂 I have recently picked up another 'faulty' anamorphic from Sirui, cost 160 euros and this time is the Sirui 50mm T2.9 1.6x anamorphic for Sony E-mount. Repairing it was quite easy as whoever put it in the spares & repairs bin doesn't seem to know that the anamorphic squeeze and 'de-centered internal elements' are not the same thing 🙂 It's definitely not in same league as an Iscorama for character but it still has a cinematic look and much less distortion than the little Saturn from earlier. https://store.sirui.com/blogs/guides/full-frame-anamorphic-sirui-50mm-t2-9-1-6x-lens-review?srsltid=AfmBOooPLqqtjgePHhwDkxLrA3fHpbTeyJOCB631Vf1LeSC6Fh2TRP1N I think for $450 it's a bargain really.

Oly cameras are charming. I have had plenty come and go. I don't like NOT having at least one. Currently own a EM10iii. The intangibles just make them "funner" to use.

"Passionate people in a time when there's not a lot of courage going on" Too right Ms Obama.

G9 II has a few gotchas: * no fan, so overheats * audio nerfed so you can’t use TC1 / tentacle etc * no hdmi out when recording with hybrid zoom Otherwise, I really liked it but it’s gone to MPB and been replaced by GH7.

Was it all a bit of a sham? EOSHD investigates... https://www.eoshd.com/news/users-are-complaining-openai-wreaked-sora-2-eoshd-takes-a-look-at-what-happened/

Dear @zlfan These posts are like spam. So I am going to put your account on pause while I look into whether you're a bot. Too many incidences of low quality posting recently and I have to make an editorial decision to protect the place, ok?

It honestly gives me a "plastic feel". I don't know, it's like the texture of the things appearing in the video can't be related to anything "alive", anything that materially exists and so can transmit an impression of actual feeling. And on a side note, that disappearing shoe... The channel's description : H E L P

A lot of this criticism assumes that value only comes from personally inventing things or never having bad ideas. That’s not how execution works. Ideas are cheap. Execution is what matters. Plenty of people had ideas about reusable rockets, EVs, satellite internet, or brain–computer interfaces long before Musk. What almost no one managed to do was turn those ideas into working, scaled systems in industries where startups usually fail. SpaceX didn’t win because Musk designs fuel tanks. It won because it executed faster and cheaper than legacy aerospace giants with decades of experience. Tesla didn’t invent EVs, but it forced the entire auto industry to electrify years earlier than planned. Starlink is the largest satellite constellation ever deployed, providing connectivity where no real alternative existed. Yes, he has bad ideas. Every aggressive executor does. The difference is that his companies survive them and still outperform competitors. You don’t have to like Musk — but dismissing his role because he isn’t the inventor misses what execution actually means.

There have been numerous stories over the years, apocryphal maybe, but they were coming out even when the media loved Muskrat... anyway, the stories were frequently about how employees of companies like SpaceX believed him to be an absolute idiot and upper management believed that their main role with him was to block him from getting in the way. One of the most famous stories was about some fuel tank that was fracturing in flight. The engineers had some ideas, but Muskrat came up with some idea to put a layer of fast-set glue/resin on the outside that would stay liquid - and when the cracks started to appear in the tank, the adhesive would leak out and set, automatically healing the crack. All of the best engineers in the company said that the idea could not possibly work and explained why it couldn't. Yet, Muskrat insisted on an all hands on deck and everybody worked non-stop with the vessel and the resin until... Muskrat finally acknowledged that the idea couldn't possibly work. It sort of fits with a man who has basically failed upward for most of his life - such as how he got fired as CEO of PayPal after nearly running the company into bankruptcy with his bad ideas, but still owning a bunch of stock so that when Thiel transformed it to a profitable company and sold it to eBay, Muskrat came out with billions. Would SpaceX exist without him? No. Would Starlink exist without SpaceX? Also no. Did he invent Starlink? Also no. Would Neuralink exist without him? No, and who cares? It's a good accessibility play for people who can't otherwise operate a computer, but for the rest of us, do you know anybody who is loudly complaining that they don't have some shitty device in their head that will ultimately be used to shovel ads directly into their brain? Do you spend every day glaring at your computer wishing that your brain could directly control it? For Tesla, he didn't invent it at all. Outside of having a strong first mover advantage in terms of modern electric cars, they aren't very good. Quality control has always been lacking. Muskrat decides that for full self driving, they don't need industry-standard tools like proximity sensors, but instead they'll rely only on cameras. He did, apparently, invent the truck that looks like a small child drew it and which is almost universally reviled. So yay. Otherwise, what has Muskrat invented? Hyperloop - the dumbest mass transit invention in the history of humanity? 12 years later, there isn't a single operating hyperloop that you can go ride. And it turns out that vactrain concepts had existed for years before he "invented" that too. So... has he had a single novel idea in his entire history? Or is his "genius" really just in ways to exploit existing wealth to extract more money, mostly from the government?

To everyone I offended this year... work on yourself so I don't have to do it again next year. If after all you have seen, you still drink the Elon koolaid you deserve all the personal attacks coming to you. I have absolutely zero respect for your opinions or your feelings on the matter. It is entirely your responsibility that you feel insulted by what I said above even though it was objective fact and not at all personal. Elon is not a rocket scientist. He's a fucking twat face, alleged Nazi drug addict. I suppose you think his little fascist bromance with Trump was furthering the future of Planet Earth as well?

I don't remember Bill Clinton's government combing through a non-US citizen's personal politics at customs. It makes tourism a bit shit, doesn't it? If I had to go to NAB or to the US for work I would just not bother. Really I didnt know that It was him was it? Have you ever considered it might instead be the thousands of employees of these companies backed by billions in venture capitalist funds and government NASA contracts. Also as far as "the world" and "the future" goes, they haven't moved the needle that far. SpaceX is just a private NASA contractor and they haven't even gone to the moon. Tesla is a failing car company, completely outgunned by China. Starlink consists of some satellites that ruin photos of the sky. And Neural link is an allegedly deeply immoral pig experiment. No. Critical thinking, and criticism is not the issue. Gullible bastards are.

I haven’t been there for a while and was toying with a trip next year. To paraphrase King Arthur now though.

I guess you only need a couple of months to inventarise all your socials of the last five years. Is that including public forums like these ? also, every person you emailed, even if you got a new computer a year ago and do not have your complete history. On top of that all addresses and phone numbers of all family members, best friends, exes and current affairs you might be having. Probably that includes the number of deceased parents or family, if they did that within the last five years. so we basically need a P.I. to investigate ourselves to get into that shithole the US have become ? i think I’ll give a pass then … My guess is tourism will be booming the next couple of decades !

I definitely like the way these look better but I still thought the 35 Saturn image looked good! To me, I'm just grateful that there are more options out there, as anamorphic has been out of my price range for a long time. And they'll only get better as they fine tune them.

The Chinese are great but they need to watch this And this...

By the way the collapse in price of the vintage stuff is extraordinary, you can get an Iscorama close to 500 euros now, almost back to 2010 pre-DSLR video prices

Yeah, thanks this shot is exactly what I'm talking about - the muted way it handles the sun is not what a good cinema anamorphic should look like. They don't have the big stretched ovals in the horizontal flare, the fatter flare lines and blooming. All these kids putting down pretty significant $$$$ for all this sterile stuff from China No question is it more practical though.... But better image it ain't 🙂

I have the 35/50/75 Saturn in E mount and haven't experienced any focusing issues on the A1, and of course that's with no Desqueeze support. It does have a bit better EVF than the Panasonic cameras, but I haven't found the EVF to be a night and day difference. I own the 35 & 50 Saturn in L mount and have had great results on the S1RII. The 35 isn't quite as well corrected as the longer lenses, so it has a bit of character, especially against the light. Still, none of the Sirui lenses can rival the results I get with my favorite anamorphic adapters, but there is something to be said for simplicity and reliability. Also - I'm not sure if the S5II was included, but the recent update for the S1II/S1RII now provides 1.6x desqueeze. Still attached from the 35 Saturn on S1RII.

I've yet to see any that have the rendering of an Iscorama or Soviet era LOMO, or the TOTL Hollywood lenses. They need to dial the coating down a lot and get rid of the very thin chickenwire flare. Anamorphic flare is much more than that as an aesthetic.

I think a lot of people would be surprised to learn how many movie theaters are still projecting in 2K. Movie theater projectors are expensive as hell and overall profits for theaters are down compared with 10 years ago. Exhibitors aren't going to rush out to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on anything that doesn't have a direct positive impact on their profits. Being able to count the pores in the lead actor's skin doesn't put asses in seats or sell more candy.