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Hello, I hope everyone is well! Even though I’m not really active on camera forums anymore, I frequently read the EOSHD blog and every now and then the forum, so I saw the thread and thought I would respond. Because it wasn’t ”poof gone”, it was announced on the channel over a year ago and mentioned in the last three videos. Before going into why, super flattered that this thread exist. I mean that. So here are some thoughts on the matter and why I took it down. Hobby vs Work YouTube was never my job, just a hobby. So was video making and photography, in the beginning. When starting the channel I was working as a producer after a couple of years as a radio/TV reporter. So I started the channel to keep my practical skills fresh. And to keep up with the development, which was huge at the time. The DSLR revolution, Blackmagic, cheaper editors etc. Fast forward a couple of years and I started making more videos at work again. At the same time I pretty much lost all interest in doing it as a hobby. And actually canceled the channel. Winston Churchill was definitely right in saying that work and hobbies should not be too similar. But what I had discovered was a passion for still photography, which I had pretty much no experience with. So I started making videos again. That’s why my videos became very repetitive and short. I didn’t care about that part, I just wanted to display my stills work and get feedback, talk to the community, experiment with cameras and develop. After a few years I became a good enough photographer that my new employer noticed and just like that I was shooting stills professionally all the time. And I still do (I work in marketing and PR). It’s a huge bonus in my field and if you are good at it you will never be out of work. So photography also became less and less of a hobby. Instead I found other hobbies. They where things that for example got me out into nature, so photography tagged a long a while, as a secondary activity. But eventually it faded. It was also nice to do things and not share it with people. I know I probably could have a very successful channel by making videos about my current hobbies, and even make some money. But I never really wanted a channel for the sake of a channel. And always had a full time job. The fact is that at no point would I had been able to live of my channel, not even at the peak. Even with sponsors it was never more that a regular salary (in my field and country). But as long as it was a hobby and I was glad to do it, it was a welcome addition to finance camera gear. Time At the same time as my channel started to feel less fun and other hobbies started taking my time, I started a family. So.. you get the idea: full time job + family + 2-3 hobbies = no YouTube. Upkeep So why take it down, why not leave it for the community? I did.. at first. Like some of you pointed out, the YouTube crowd in the photography/video space is generally nice and positive. That is my experience as well. Early on I learned that a good way of keeping the trolls away was to be present. Respond and engage. Trolls are usually idiots or cowards, so they don’t like getting push back. But once I stopped making videos, views and comments obviously went down. But the trolls started coming back. Not so much after me, and I don’t care about that. But agains the community. The people commenting started being nasty towards each other. I felt a responsibility to moderate, which was annoying. That’s when the thought about simply removing it started to grow. It wasn’t an impuls. It was an internal debate that went on for months. And the issue grew much much larger than a couple of trolls. I started thinking about five years ahead, 10 years, 30 years.. This post is already way too long so I won’t go into all of it. But I think you get the idea when I say: Privacy or when the content no longer reflects the creator. Digital minimalism, control over one’s narrative, inactive or outdated content. Risk of misuse of content due to me not checking the terms updates. Closure. So there is a looong ramble :) To keep in spirit of the forum I can charge my current gear for pro work :) For the longest time I used the EOS-R for 75% of all my work and the R5 (rental) for the rest. It wasn’t mine but my employer told me to buy whatever I wanted. Paired it with a 28, 35 and 70-200. 70/30 stills/video. The R5 is peak camera imo. Today is a little different. I started working for a new company about a year ago and again was told to buy what I needed. I would have bought the R5 without hesitation if it wasn’t for the Sigma 35-150/2-2.8.. I just had to have it. So I ordered the Nikon Z6iii. It’s not as good overall as the R5 for me and what I like in a tool camera. But it’s 90% there. And coupled with that lens it’s becomes on par. //MB

Really sad if he has indeed given up on YouTube. He's still on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mattiasburling Maybe we should ask him if he's alright?

That's really unfortunate. His Vimeo is still up, and his Instagram too, though they haven't been updated recently. His content output decreased a lot once Gunpowder passed, but he had already been less active as I think he became more and more disillusioned with the entire YouTube/Filmmaking/Photography scene. I hope he is well and creating the art that he loves.

Lately I’ve been thinking about how fast new cameras and lenses come out, and it made me wonder, do these companies actually realize a large portion of the world (especially here in the U.S.) is feeling some real financial strain right now? Between rising living costs, inflation still lingering in daily budgets, and shoppers saying they plan to cut spending because things are less affordable, people in many income brackets are tightening their belts rather than splurging. At the same time, camera gear prices keep going up, with manufacturers leaning heavily into higher end products and even having to increase prices due to tariffs and costs and used gear demand is surging, which suggests many photographers are turning away from new purchases and toward more affordable options. Meanwhile the constant cycle of marketing, hype, and new products can get overwhelming. It starts to feel less like “new tech we need” and more like noise pushing us to buy things even if budgets are tight. I’m curious, do you think camera companies are aware of this, or does it not matter to them because their target audience is high end buyers? And has the constant churn of new gear given you a kind of “second hand fatigue” not necessarily because you want nothing new, but because it feels relentless and disconnected from what most people can realistically afford?

Hey everyone, You know me. I’ve been agonizing over my next camera the entire year of 2025. Countless threads, rental tests, ecosystem debates… I've got a shortlist but I’m still somewhat undecided in February 2026. Now a proper ongoing gig has landed: high-end lifestyle / product / mini-doc content for a well-known outlet. All solo run&gun: fast stories, Reels, interviews, close-up product detail, lifestyle vignettes, multi-platform deliverables (horizontal main cuts + vertical social + still assets). No crew, just me moving fast in boutiques, ateliers and interiors. Current shortlist : Canon EOS C50 (€3,500 ) Pros that keep winning me over after testing: 7K open-gate 3:2 + simultaneous 16:9 / 9:16 dual record to different cards = massive time-saver for vertical/horizontal from one take. Dual zoom rockers (body + XLR handle) smooth variable-speed creeps and fast punch-ins on primes felt magical. Built-in fan = no thermal anxiety on longer takes. Cine OS: frame guides for every ratio, false color/waveforms/zebras, shutter angle, base ISO switches. Gyro data + Gyroflow covers stabilization so well that lack of IBIS isn’t a big issue. C-Log2 grading is easy and beautiful, plus Wide DR mode (I’ve missed that since my C100/C200 days). Pro mini cine cam body look perception is important in my field; you can charge more with something that screams serious filmmaker. Cons: Body+lens investment hurts minimum RF 24/1.8 Macro IS STM (~€500) + RF 45/1.2 STM (€500) = €4500 total. Closed RF glass. EIS only (electronic), so very dynamic handheld shots rely on technique or light post-stab. Canon EOS R6 Mark III (€2,899) Pros: IBIS for aggressive handheld run-and-gun. Built-in EVF (huge for bright interiors/outdoors). Mechanical shutter + flash sync for occasional stills. 7K open-gate 3:2 for post-cropping multi-ratio. Same C-Log2 grading ease and fast hybrid menu/dial switching. Cons: No simultaneous multi-format dual recording all multi-ratio work is post-crop only. No 7K downsampled digital zoom (FHD only). No built-in fan thermal limits in demanding long takes (30–60 min in 4K/7K high-bitrate). No XLR handle or mounting points out of box. Consumer-looking body doesn't have the pro mini cine cam vibe. Sony FX3 (€3,500 ) I already have Zeiss Batis primes, so zero lens spend. IBIS, low-light is proven, and it’s the safe solo workhorse everyone knows. But in 2026 it feels dated: Still capped at 4K internal (no 6K/7K future-proofing). No open-gate all multi-ratio work is post-crop from 4K (quality hit). No RAW for high-end stuff. No EVF. 12MP stills. Spending serious money on a 5-year-old body feels like questionable investment math, especially considering an FX3 mk2 will drop later this year. Sony FX2 (€2,500) Despite its controversial usage of the old A7IV sensor, it's a real nice body thanks to its unique tilt EVF that I absolutely love. Also a proper hybrid. Its already gone down in price a little bit but like the above FX3 it feels silly investing in a cam with outdated tech and specs. Nikon ZR €2,200. Cheapest option. I could adapt my Sony glass. Internal R3D RAW is appealing for high-end grading. Big, beautiful display is the main draw. Main cons: R3D RAW means huge files. H.265 codec applies quite heavy noise reduction that turns into “mush”. No open-gate. Basic controls. No EVF, no mech shutter. Ecosystem still feels young for run-and-gun reliability on a high-profile gig I’m leaning hard toward the C50 right now. The open-gate + simultaneous dual-ratio recording + rocker zoom control feel tailor made for the exact multi-platform content I’ll be shooting. C-Log2 grading is easy and beautiful, Wide DR mode brings back what I loved on my old C100/C200 days, and Gyroflow + EIS covers stabilization perfectly for my style. Cine menu and exposure tools also feel like a step up for product polish. RAW and anamorphic support for potential high-end stuff. The handling with the excellent top handle makes it feel like an evolved FX3. It's a hefty investment although I should recoup fast once I start getting paid. Yes I'm purposely omitting Lumix, a forum favourite I know but I just don't gel with either bodies or lens choice. Appreciate any real-world takes from people who may have used above gear and/or deliver this kind of content. Thanks in advance.

What are you using now? Do you already have lenses? Without having used it, the C50 seems like a great choice from what you have listed. If lack of IBIS is a big problem, you could also pair it with a used Canon body (now or in the future) which has decent IBIS for those handheld shots (or your current body if you have one, if it has IBIS). There's a reason that my R5 comes with me on every shoot. Need a quick handheld shot? Just grab it from the bag. Wanna have someone go pick up some b-roll? R5. Suction cupping it to the windshield? R5. Plus the second body with decent AF can be really useful for grabbing a second angle, if wanted. Just set it up, make sure to hit record, and let it do its thing.

I usually tell people that in my opinion it's 1) Script / Plot / Story 2) Performance 4) Sound 5) Set Design 6) Lighting 7) Camera And other stuff can come after the camera, but if you have 1-6 right, you can shoot on a T2i and you'll have a great film.

If anything good comes out of this, less dependance and less monopolies would be a great thing. [UK switching to Chinese tech in 3,2,1...]

I hope someone is able to reach out and check on him, and let him know that he's missed. He was a rare gem on these forums and YouTube; he was just someone that enjoyed sharing his passion for video and photography. He wasn't trying to sell anything, or get free stuff, he just loved sharing. There was a purity to that, and it's severely lacking these days.

I struggle myself with using US services at the moment given that our data could soon (and might be already) in the hands of a neo-nazi government. In terms of the ethics of it, I'm also disappointed with the behaviour of the American CEOs and how they have brown nosed the nazi President like a bunch of pathetic losers. It leaves a very sour taste in the mouth and not just for them. It does make me uneasy paying for YouTube Premium, Google Gemini, Apple iCloud, Adobe Premiere and Netflix, actually it makes me more than uneasy, it makes me sick. But unfortunately our leaders in Europe barely know how to use MS Paint, and have over the years completely dropped the ball on tech. So there are no decent alternatives, not really. That said, the UK & EU gets a bad rap for what it's created. The best of European technology is the most complex in the world from ASML and Zeiss. Without their EUV lithography machines, TSMC, Nvidia and Apple would not have their fancy chips. They'd be reliant on Intel fabs and old processes. Any more funny business from the US admin and the Dutch should fucking remind them of that. Also the British invented the WWW, RISC architecture for CPUs and smartphones, not to mention ARM. We've not done so badly, we've just failed to commercialise stuff properly and let the American venture capitalists snatch it away from us. If it is political and that's why he's taken the channel down, he's missed a big opportunity to publish a video saying so, and directing us to his new channel on a different and more ethical Tube. It's a real shame just to pull the plug entirely without even so much as a goodbye. But then, maybe he has good reasons to... I don't know. I just rather hope he's ok.

I had been searching awhile back for one of his videos I remember watching a few years ago and couldn't find it. He might just be pulling out of being online. I know several friends who have done that, (usually to stay sane.) Maybe he's not into photography anymore in his life. I don't think any of his videos were at all political, they were always about photography and his personal philosophy about it. The thing I got the most from his videos (aside from some pretty thorough reviews of equipment) was him saying that it's okay to go back to a place and take the same picture again and again, improving it each time. This was good advice for me. I guess I had some idea that every picture should be original. (Don't know where I got that idea and wasn't even conscious I held that belief before he helped me change it.)

Of course they know how powerful this anti-fascist tool is and will try to make it unlawful, or an excuse to kill. As the SS saying goes that Kristi Noem is so fond of... "One of ours, all of yours" BTW has anyone ever tried logging out of YouTube, enabling UBlock Origin and putting a few choice keywords into the YouTube home page? It is incredible what the 'other side' is seeing and the sheer amount of propoganda Google is feeding them. When there's the equivalent to the Nuremberg trials, the Google execs should be taking the stands and going down with the rest of the fuckers.

It turns out I am a bit wrong. ... That Micro Four Thirds was dead. Well near me, the G9 II came down to a much more sensible 1299 so I thought I'd give it a try. This thing... oh my gawd. Feel like putting the rest of my gear in the bin! This little box of joy is pure art in the handheld 4K/120p mode (and also in 5K open gate). The colour science, slow mo and IBIS are so, so good. The new GH7 sensor is quite something. Beautiful filmic quality to it. And I thought IBIS was good on the full frame Panasonic cameras or Olympus OM-1 but this is taking the biscuit now. You can just stand there and get a completely static frame especially in 120fps. I keep putting shutter at 1 second for long expose stills, pin sharp...The first camera that can really lay claim to being a tripod killer, in my view. Then there's the image processing... It totally defies the price. The new sensor just looks so clean in low light and dynamic range is fantastic. The real-time LUTs look stunning here. No other Micro Four Thirds camera has nearly as good colour processing (except the more expensive GH7), so in this sense I prefer it even to the Olympus OM-1 with the lovely Olympus skin tones. In some ways it is better than a flagship $4k full frame cam... I am not joking. Not missing a full frame sensor that much to be honest. It has the dynamic range, the low light, the resolution, and with a fast enough lens... the full frame look as well. The Metabones Speed Booster 0.64x fits without scraping the sensor-box. Also, the EVF is enormous and totally defies the price. Criticisms? Autofocus is very lens dependant - it's still a bit rubbish with the older stuff and adapters. Also no ProRes LT like the X-H2... With two SD card slots, it limits you only to 1080p in ProRes mode which is a bit silly... but the high-res stuff is available if you plug in an SSD via USB. GH7 has an advantage there for sure. But in plain old 10bit H.265 the image is superb. I think this body design suits the smaller lenses too... You know I'm not the greatest fan of the S5 II body design, well it is growing on me here... Micro Four Thirds and small stuff seems to go well with the G9 II / S5 II body design. It starts to make more sense. The sharp angles cut in less, camera as a whole is lighter, the grip is sufficient for everything and it's got that "GH2 feel" when you put the tiny 20mm F1.7 pancake on there whereas the S5 II with the larger lenses doesn't have that same charm to it. I am inclined to say Micro Four Thirds LOOK is back too... It's an antidote to predominance of a super shallow depth of field in commercial work and Netflix. It really makes me want to fully commit again to the system as it just does SO MUCH, far more than any full frame camera remotely affordable. It does more than a Sony a1 II FFS!

Depending on which source, we're the third, fifth, or sixth highest. But that also comes with highest prices for a lot of things including health care. My after-insurance cost for a dental check-up, two cavities filled, and a crown was over $2,000. To have a skilled laborer (like a plumber or electrician) come to your house will usually cost $300+ for all but the most basic things. The trend started before the current president and is applicable to every country. In general, fewer cameras are being released in the $2,000 range than are released in the $3000+ range - and far fewer still under $1,000. Even if the median salary is $40,000 (according to the SSA), after state+federal taxes, that'll come to under $3,000/month - barely enough to cover rent, food, and insurance. https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/central.html

US has the third highest median wages (PPP) of all countries in the world (only Luxembourg and Switzerland are ahead in this metric). I think it's remarkable that Americans would complain about prices when those prices are much less within reach to people living in almost all other countries in the world, and even make it a point how supposedly THEY are feeling strained. That said, camera and lens prices in the US have increased because the US government has increased/created tariffs which the customers have to, in the end, pay in the form of increased prices. Yes, manufacturers also feel this in reduced sales and because of this many of them probably have gone into the red (making a loss), but there is not much they can do apart from concentrating on other parts of the worldwide market and trying to make up for the reduced US sales by trying to sell products elsewhere. The tariffs affect low and middle classes more than the upper class because they are flat taxes without progression. The US government is using the tariffs to increase relative taxation of the majority of the population to fund tax breaks to billionaires. This is not the camera companies' fault. It's the people who voted in the latest elections who selected these politicians into office. If you have working cameras and lenses, keep using them until they stop working, then have them repaired, until there are no more parts and the repairs are unsuccessful, and only then consider the purchase of new equipment. Now, of course, marketing will try to get you to buy new stuff. Stop following internet gear forums and concentrate on your work and art.

I hear you, they are great lenses, especially L series and it was actually hard selling them.. but if I go back to Canon it will be the affordable RF STM series (mostly have IS) and who knows maybe I'll venture back to EF for the more exotic ones like tilt shift etc. Sure it is. Just wishful thinking they put the A9iii GS sensor. Gotcha, I'm trying to test it out but it looks like the C50 test footage mxf files I got don't have the meta data in them 😞

Pity about the EF stuff. I'm planning to keep mine for as long as possible and I'm still adding more on occasion. Adapts to everything, autofocus feels native on RF bodies. Plus most of the lenses were designed before it was assumed that the camera would fix defects with a profile. The M mount glass will look brilliant on any system you mentioned, though. Isn't the FX3's RS only like 8ms already? Usually that's enough even for fast action to look good. Just keep in mind that gyroflow-style solutions usually require fast shutter speeds.

I think there are a few things at play. We're in a place where cameras from 2019 (and maybe a bit earlier) are still totally great and usable. The Z-Cam E2-F6 was released in 2019. The EOS R5 was released in 2020. The A7s III was also released in 2020, as was the OG Red Komodo. You can go pick up any of those cameras right now and make great-looking content with more than enough resolution/quality to be played and look good in any theater. Because of that, there's not a huge reason for everybody to upgrade. If I look at upgrading my R5 to the R5 II, I see nothing that would be worth me spending $1500-2000 for it (assuming I sold for standard used price and bought for standard used price). What am I getting? A bit less overheating, slightly better DR, and more 8K frame rates that I won't use a lot? For $2,000? 🤷‍♂️ Assuming that most enthusiasts have purchased a new camera within the last 5-6 years, they have a camera that's good enough to produce professional results, either in still photos or video. I can sort of see what manufacturers would focus on high-end gear with big margin instead of chasing a share of the shrinking low/mid-range market. But! The good news is that if you're in the category of a person who bought a decent camera in the last 5 years, there's no need to get stressed by the hype around new models. Watch people going for corporate gigs and the like these days and you're apt to see most of them carrying a 5-year old FX3 or FX6.

Interesting, I'm usually not a fan of post stabilisation as it often crops a lot and you get weirdness depending on the shot. Gyroflow seems so much smarter thanks to gyro data. Of course IBIS on the R6 mk3 would actually be enough in most case scenarios so sure I agree IBIS is a plus vs no IBIS on C50, however I feel GF somewhat alleviates the lack of IBIS, and I'm gaining a whole lotta reliability with the C50 fan etc. The top handle on the C50 is really really nice and helps keeping the cam steady, especially with body contact point. I was actually all set on the R6 mk3 as it checks just about every box on a hybrid.. and then I tried the C50 and it immediately reminded me of my C100/C200 days, except in a so much lighter package with so many more specs. Now the C50 feels like the 5D mk3 after I upgraded to the C100. Still great but photo centric body and UI. I still have about a week to make my mind so keep the feedback coming!

Sadly sold the G9II. I realized I need good high ISO performance, and seems PDAF is disabled at real high ISOs. I scored a canon r6 for $929 and other than the overheating it’s great. And I can live wijt the overheating for how I shoot. IBIS can genuinely compete with LUMIX by having DIS on standard and using adobe’s warp stabilizer, somehow warp stabilizer absolutely thrives at stabilizing the type of leftover shakiness and artifacts of canon’s IBIS + DIS combo. Very consistently stable without warpy artifacts. Great high ISO performance. Lovely image in CLOG3. I did like the G9II. Its image was great. Best Ibis I’ve ever used. Very comfortable. Just realized I need better high ISO performance. Yes I could have gotten a super fast zoom like the sigma 18-35 1.8/speedbooster or Panasonic 10-25mm 1.7. But sometimes I REALLY need to push things at weddings or concerts, shooting at ISOs like 25,600. That’s beyond what the Gh7/G9II can handle.

Something interesting about canon bodies with IBIS is that I find with a good walking workflow and adobe’s warp stabilizer the results rival gyroflow. Especially on wide lenses I can very consistently get beautifully stable resultS across multiple canon bodies with IBIS. For some reason adobe’s warp stabilizer absolutely thrives at stabilizing the type of footage coming out of these camera bodies with a good workflow. I’ve been able to get amazing results on an original canon r6, r5 and r7. For best results put DIS on Standard and then use warp stabilizer to carry it the rest of the way. 1-3% on warp stabilizer smooths out the jittery IBIS motion. 5% looks like a steadicam. 10% is near gimbal level. 50% is insane. so in some ways the r6 iii with this workflow could be more useful. The IBIS helps in this workflow meaning you in a lot of situations can keep your shutter at 1/50 and stabilize. Gyroflow without IBIS you really have to shoot at 1/200 or above.

Thank you for letting us know! I'm glad you're well! I do wish the content stayed up, as it was still useful, but I understand your reasoning. At the end of the day, it was YOUR content and you could do what you wanted with it! I hope that you check in from time to time and thank you for all your input over the years! And congrats on the family!

Apparently putting numbers in order in a list isn't my strong suit. 🤦‍♂️

If they filmed The Creator on FX3’s, then on the Eterna, it would be a piece of piss. Which all goes to show it’s: lenses + lighting + talent + grading + budget + everything…and the camera is pretty much the least important component.

This is why I've never put my work on YouTube (and some people were suggesting that I do). I've had enough rejection in my life, I don't need to set myself as a target for more. Who needs to show the world their baby they put a lot of care in to making just to have some dweeb say that it sucks or something.

It would not surprise me in the least if Mattias packed it all in due to: A. Having a YouTube channel can be very taxing, especially if trying to do it as a business rather than just for fun as it’s a beast that never stops increasing it’s appetite, plus, B. It can get so toxic in the comments and most take it too personally and it only takes one or two toxic trolls and it can stress them out so much, it ruins it for them. Based on a couple of pals and their own YouTube experience…

Now they are trying to take away our free press rights. Don Lemon was arrested for doing what journalists are supposed to do. Show up, document, and report. Not for inciting violence. Not for committing a crime. For pointing a camera and telling the public what was happening. That is a line you do not cross in a free society. When the state starts treating the cameras we use and reporters as threats, that is not about public safety, it is about control. This is how authoritarian systems work. You intimidate the press, you criminalize documentation, and you teach people that witnessing power is dangerous. The camera has always been an anti fascism tool. That is exactly why they are trying to silence it now. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/30/don-lemon-minnesota-protest-charges

I will wait until nikon fixes the h265 codec on the zr. Then I will buy it, I just can't shoot RAW video all the time. the ibis I can work around, the AF seems pretty good, the image is gorgeous, not the fastest for photo's but for travel it looks like a dream camera (if they fix the h265 codec).

Also consider the S1IIE if the budget will stretch. Sits right between the S5II and the S1II. Really nice bit of kit and overlooked by many… I really wanted to like the ZR but for me it has two issues; I love the form factor and screen, but wish it would tilt and not just flip out to the side, plus in order to get the best out of it, you need to shoot the insanely large raw files. I’d rather have my Lumix spec in that style of ZR/FX3 body for sure and hope it happens sometime.

Me too. Ergonomically it's nice. Holding up to your eye with the loupe is good for both stability and keeping out sunlight from the screen. If it was all programmable, even with a third-party firmware hack, it would be great! I agree again. There's several nifty retro style cameras out now that are fun but just have such crappy image quality. The early days of digital photography had such a variety of shapes that were tried. Kind of like the Burgess Shale fossils. No, but CMOS has come a long way in image quality, global shutter and colour depth which are the things that people like about CCDs. A new camera could be made with a good CMOS sensor. My first miniDV camera was the Canon ZR10. Amazing little thing. Pretty good quality for its time and tiny. (Truly a palmcorder.) I shot lots of stuff with it. https://global.canon/en/c-museum/product/dvc673.html If they came out with the same body and features, but recording HD, 2K or 4K in ProRes (or raw) to a card it would be great!

Yes, it's very difficult right now not to feel dirty. I've always been pretty far left politically, and as such pretty critical of the style of greedy capitalism that has won out, but today there is virtually no ethical way to do much of anything because EVERYTHING is wrapped up in some pretty deplorable shit. The way the tech companies especially kneeled to this administration, it just feels dirty to even use their services but it's virtually impossible not to. Everything uses at least something from Google or Amazon to operate and run. Look at how many sites and services become unusable when Amazon Web Services goes down, for example. The internet itself grinds almost to a complete halt. It's such a bleak time.

Absolutely love the form factor, hate the image quality. If they'd do an X-mount Bolex with 1" sensor, we could put some proper Bolex 16mm glass on it. Actually the Evo is a fun toy. And for 350 euros, it's never going to be an XF camera in terms of optics or the sensor, is it? But the concept itself deserves so much more. The eras dial, the loupe on the little screen, the grip and shape, the looks, I love everything about it. But the digital images that come out of it really very bad... ProCCD on a smartphone is much better at replicating the analogue look or y2k digicams. Also the 15 second limit on video clips sucks... It would have been nice to have an option to turn that off. It's there for the Fuji cloud storage feature, for quick uploads, quick downloads with the printed QR code, and there to prevent Fuji needing to spend more than 10 dollars on their server! I really, really, hope they do an enthusiast level version of the concept, even if that means it has to be without the Instax printer built in. Also EVERY camera manufacturer should be trying new form factors. There's such a lack of variety. The Bolex form factor is wonderful and there are others that should be making a come back as well. From the MiniDV era there's the Sony PCe1 handycam, there's the Canon Tx digicam which was like a tiny aluminium Bolex, just beautiful, and of course there's the Digital Bolex form factor and that Kodak sensor... These are the cameras I'd like to see modern versions of, and in the case of the Digital Bolex, maybe not so modern but we have to be realistic about CCD... it ain't coming back to a Canon or Sony! There's also a massive gap in the market for a Micro Four Thirds or Super 16mm size sensor Handycam with a proper camcorder lens that can crash zoom and take fisheye adapters, yet remain as small as a MiniDV cam from the early 00s. These lenses had very small sensors behind them... but if someone would even slightly upgrade the lens and sensor size whilst keeping the same zoom and autofocus characteristics we had in the MiniDV era, including the variable speed zoom rocker switch, it'd be a winning combo with the modern image processing we have now and RAW codecs. Perhaps Nikon can be brave and try something? There's a 'video' lens for the Fuji X mount camera, but it's really very large and bulky by MiniDV or Handycam standards. So I wouldn't mind a smaller sensor than APS-C if it gave us a modern 4K RAW shooting "Sony Handycam" the same size as we had in 2003.

US allows spectacularly large campaign contributions from companies and billionaires and so their interests are heavily weighed in elections, making the candidates they support (who then later owe them favors, legislative and executive decisions) more visible. The underlying belief that rich people should have political influence proportional to how much money they can spend is astonishing. Additionally, currently there are contributors from foreign countries and domestic entities to Trump's vanity projects such as Trump's Inauguration and the White House Ballroom project which seem to correlate with tariff exceptions to those who donated to Trump. The level of corruption is just mind-boggling. I think US needs to set term limits to Supreme Court justices and somehow change the system so that they cannot make political decisions but have to strictly follow the law. The constitution should be updated so that it's more clear in what is meant. The executive's ability to change the career officials should be limited so that the qualifications and experience are the deciding factors rather than political affiliation or willingness to break the law when the Great Leader says so. Another thing is that the election districts should be redrawn so that they can only be simple shapes such as squares or rectangles with limited aspect ratios to put an end to gerrymandering. The system's performance should be measured by how well the popular vote matches the actual election results, if there is too much of a discrepancy, then adjustments should be made. Otherwise there is no equal voting rights in effect. Politicians should be put out of office if it turns out they lied before electrions about what they were going to do if elected. And possibly prosecuted. I don't think there is such a thing as a "benevolent dictator". When given power, people's morality tends to crumble and soon enough they become malignant and won't leave office.

I don't see fundamental changes for good happening without widespread and surgical reforms happening. I'm talking about dismantling the billionaire "news" networks. Enacting some kind of "capitalist equality reforms" putting caps on compensation for corporate owners and leaders. Something like enforceable laws requiring executive leaders never make 30x what their lowest paid worker makes. Abolishing the "two party" system (it's really one party; the rich), educational reform, the list goes on and on. How it will ever happen? It would require immense upheaval of an entrenched, broken system by the concentrated intentional action of many or of one benevolent dictator. Anyone that has a MAGA friend or family member knows what I'm talking about. No discussion can happen when they argue in bad faith and change their moral and social goal posts ON A WHIM and on COMMAND.

Certainly has a much better screen than the original 😉

I miss Gunpowder! Burling's YouTube channel went down a few days ago, and the only thing that remains is the title, "ICE was here." It's a shame, because he created some exceptionally informative videos. Some of the transcripts from his videos are archived here.

Miss him. He also randomly deleted or privated a bunch of his older videos; I noticed this happen maybe 2-3 yrs ago. Tons of old Blackmagic videos, his awesome Canon XC10/XC15 review, etc etc.

MFT has been dead for decades now - everyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the last 10 years knows this. What people don't know is that due to a quirk in quantum physics and the way that time works, MFT was actually dead before it was invented. This means that my GH7 and GX85 and OG BMPCC and BMMCC never existed, don't exist, and when MFT finally "dies" somehow will disappear from my house. I bet you even think the earth is round... some people are just too much!

At least we're not checking people's political persuasion and social media history at airports. If the online posts are right wing incitements to violence, I am on the side of the police. While I disagree with some of the heavy handed methods used, there are certain people who deserve to be prosecuted and only have themselves to blame. And at the same time, the government is also making bad decisions, and some decisions that are straight out of the right-wing playbook rather than what you'd normally associate with a centre-left Labour government. For example the whole approach to the pro-Gaza protests has been baffling, the arrest of peaceful anti-genocide protesters completely wrong, the overzealous roll out of facial recognition technology is wrong, the attempts to roll back encryption, all quite wrong and the police getting involved with online 'hate speech' resulting in them arresting people like Graham Linehan for his opinions, just because a lot of people find him offensive. (It's a real pity that he chose to die on the anti-trans hill and it's classic depression... why couldn't he keep giving us more IT Crowd and Father Ted instead?) The government is reviewing the hate speech policing and quite rightly too... https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2922w73e1o But when it's online literal nazis inciting people to attack others, they deserve to have the police at the door and I've no problem with it. That's less about censorship, than it is about law and order.

Good! But still there is hate speech published daily online on some platforms. Hopefully European countries soon shut those sites down before someone like Adolf or Nigel or Josif or Donald gets elected here alao and does their worst.

Anyone know where he went? It would seem his "Gear Doesn't Matter" doesn't exist anymore.