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I have a new setup and pipeline and I'm really happy with it. GH7 shooting V-Log in C4K Prores 422 internally, at around 500Mbps 14-140mm F3.5-5.6 lens for daytime, 12-35mm F2.8 for night-time K&F True Colour 1-5 stop vND Pipeline in Resolve: CST to DWG as working colour space Plugin for basic shot adjustments Film Look Creator for overall look (and for taking the digititis out of the image) ARRI709 LUT to get to 709 output I went on a walk on Monday to test the full setup, and it was a crazy hot day (37C/99F) and direct midday sun, so seriously challenging conditions. Here are a few grabs (be sure to click-through rather than viewing the preview files embedded in the post). My notes and impressions - while shooting: Setup was GH7, 14-140mm lens, vND, and a wrist-strap and that's it I used the integrated screen, showing histogram, zebras, and focus-peaking to monitor I used back-button focus to AF before hitting record, so no AF-C going on while shooting (and randomly changing its mind about what to focus on) All shots were 14-140mm at F5.6 for constant exposure The K&F 1-5 stop vND had enough range, when combined with the DR of the GH7, so I never needed to change settings, despite going in and out of shadow (and even inside, which isn't included in the above images) The vND had a much more consistent sky and colour render than my old (crappy) vND, so I'm really happy with it I did ETTR and bring images down in post, but my tests indicated that V-LOG is very linear so there are a good few stops of latitude there The "tripod mode" of IBIS, which locks the frame completely, was very effective (despite me being hot and not having eaten for hours) and I could hand-hold past 70mm without it needing to drift, and even at 140mm (280mm FF equivalent) the shots will be fine with a bit of stabilisation in post (C4K on 1080p timeline) I shot about 18mins of footage in about 1.5 hours, camera was on most of the time with screen at full brightness, and didn't get any notifications about the battery, and didn't look to see how much was left since I have a spare My notes and impressions - in post: I chose a Film Look Creator preset and then just messed with it for maybe 10 mins, while scrolling back and forth through the footage, and I deliberately pushed the contrast to create a really strong sense of the contrast between the beating sun and the deep shadows Shots had exposure adjusted (obviously, due to ETTR) and some had contrast lowered and a few had slight WB tweaks, but that's it I never felt like I was fighting with the footage, and it didn't feel like work when creating the look.. I've shot with a lot of cheap cameras with tiny sensors and you always feel like you're trying to make gold out of lead, but playing in the FLC was more like choosing between a large range of high-quality options I used another copy of the FLC to adjust exposure etc per shot, with it set to not impart and 'look'. The advantage of that is that in Resolve there is a mode (Shift-F) that maximises the preview image and gets rid of the GUI except for the vertical toolbar on the right-hand-side where the DCTL and OFX plugins are, so it's a way of getting almost a full-screen view but keeping the controls visible.. very useful if you don't have a control surface or a second monitor handy. I'll talk more about my thought process and how I got to this setup in a later post, and also go into some of the technical stuff (DR, high-ISO, etc) but more importantly than that, I finally feel like the tech has come of age. What I mean by that is that I now have a setup where: I can shoot with a conveniently sized setup that doesn't need a rig and is ergonomic to use It has the right usability features, such as histograms, zebras, focus-peaking etc internally The monitor is bright enough The GH7 plus lenses (14-140mm F3.5-5.6 and 12-35mm F2.8) are long enough and fast enough to shoot what I see, without being too large, heavy, or prohibitively expensive It has enough spec that it can deal with almost all the situations that I actually shoot in, with enough DR for the sun, enough ISO for night-time, and fans so it doesn't overheat before I do, etc It shoots internally using a colour space and codec that don't look cheap/amateurish and make me think about upgrading It doesn't fight with me in the colour grade Resolve and the Film Look Creator are able to easily give me the flexibility in post to match images and correct any weaknesses from shooting (e.g. if there's a bit of movement when shooting hand-held at 140mm) Resolve and the Film Look Creator are able to remove the 'digital/video' look and instead give me a range of options that don't look artificial and most importantly, contribute a feeling to the footage without distracting from the content of the images (this is, after all, the entire purpose of what we're doing here.....) For the first time it feels like I'm getting the results I want because of the equipment I have, rather than in spite of it.

Aside from those very odd Pentax users I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a happy new year resolution of buying more cameras. What is on your wish list and how are you spending the Christmas holidays? 👍

I'm not really seeing any difference between any of them; S5, S1H, S5ii. Yes there are some very subtle differences such as that from the S1H is a teeny weeny bit softer due to the OLPF, but otherwise, nothing for me. There's some chatter about over-sharpening. I don't see it. There's some chatter about moire. I'm not seeing that either. Highlight roll off and blah di blah, - what are we shooting here with these things? Are we really comparing the results from our humble mirrorless cameras with Hollywood lighting, productions, lenses and budgets? I'm not, - to be even remotely in the ball park is hilariously ridiculous. Here's a screen grab from my S9 which is my principal run & gun unit, from last weekends wedding I am currently editing. A pretty dark hole of a room for bride prep and unless anywhere near that window, then screwed. It's SOOC and not touched it in any way; exposure, WB...nuffink. 6k 30p shot at 1/50th, 4000 iso, 5000 WB, Freewell ND 2-5, exposure otherwise eyeballed on the rear LCD with the wave form I rarely look at.

There's a lot of whining about Panasonic not pushing hard enough in raw specs. Yet, many of these critics go silent when firmware updates completely transform the camera's usability. Panasonic focuses on features and tools that don’t generate the same hype as 4K 120fps or internal RAW—but they offer things like false color, shutter angle, and a lower price point. It’s just a different approach.

Went to Manchester for the firs time (at 60!) and it's very photogenic - I will definitely be returning (with a tripod).

I think people are being a lot more pessimistic than they need to be about this release and Lumix's future in general. As much as I am loathe to admit it, YouTubers are a big part of marketing these days and tons of them either went on the trip to Norway or were sent a camera to review, including prominent Sony, Canon, and Nikon shooters. Virtually all of them made positive videos about it. That's a move in the right direction, as far as marketing goes. The real professionals who did use the camera, including in real professional settings, were all extremely positive and compared it favorably to the competition while marveling at the price. It's a high resolution stills camera with excellent video features. A total 180 from what the original S1R was. Given what folks are saying and anecdotal evidence available, they seem to have things coming down the pipeline. They could be better at conveying that to us for sure, but there are enough hints out there. See: the new monitoring app. As someone that was very doom and gloom about Lumix for a while there and who still sometimes scratches his head about decisions they make, these are all positive steps. It's almost March. There are 9 months left in the year. Lets see what happens.

Recently saw a second hand Sony ZV-E1 on a local online market place. Price was good and I bought it. Great video camera but lacks EVF. Same is true for it's pro oriented brother FX3. Typically those type of cameras are used with external monitor on professional shoots or with camera LCD display only when vlogging. If you like EVFs and want to add one, choice is not great. No external add-on EVF from Sony like the one Sigma FP has. Portkeys LEYE III modified with better loupe is the cheapest one at 450-500 E/$ but I wouldn't call it small. Then Kinefinity EVF for 1250 E/$. Great one but definitely not affordable. There is an obvious gap and need for a relatively small, high quality, affordable external EVFs for cinema / hybrid cameras. I was looking for quite some time on AliExpress for Mini OLED displays (0.39'' to 0.7'') as a building blocks for DIY External EVF. Usually they come with controller board with HDMI input too. Almost bought some components preparing to do some 3D design and printing around them. Surprisingly found an EVF ready to be used. This type of EVFs were designed to be used with industrial instruments and were on AliExpress for quite some time. They all had lower resolution and AV video inputs in the past. For the first time saw one with 1920x1080 resolution on a 0.7'' mini OLED display and HDMI input. Also for the first time this type of EVFs is targeted toward cameras. Price was good too at 230E/$ so I decided to give it a try. Received the EVF few days ago and am happy to report that it is better than expected. Here is the list of things that I like and few that I don't like: What I Like: High resolution 1920x1080 ( equivalent to 6 220 800 dot camera EVF). Cameras EVFs have 4:3 ratio to cover 3:2 frame + some black strips on top and bottom to display information like exposure and other camera settings. The sensor on this one has 16:9 aspect ratio. To get 3:2 ratio the EVF crops the image to 1620x1080. Still great resolution at the level of ~5 mln dots EVFs like the one in Panasonic S1 series. I see in the EVF exactly what I see on the LCD screen of Sony ZV-E1 minus peaking. This is a rather good thing. Solid, all metal outer shell, good, even great quality of craftsmanship. Eye cup is big, made from rubber and fits around the eye much better than traditional camera EVFs. Big and bright screen - has at least 10 levels of brightness that can be changed and controlled manually. Picture inside looks big and bright, quite easy to see. Smooth focusing / diopter correction ring. HDMI cable is integrated, ready to be plugged into a camera. HDMI cable looks to have good quality. No need of additional power or battery. It gets small amount of power (500mA) from HDMI. This is a huge plus for me. Has mounting thread, can easily be mounted on rigs or cages or even on camera hot shoe. Can be tilted and placed in any position you want. Another huge plus. I've simply put it on monitor holder for hot shoe, which is mounted on the camera cage. EVF sits higher and is slightly tilted. It also provides 3rd point of contact and add stability. I am able to hold the camera lower and closer to the chest, which makes it more stable when shooting. Optimal size for me ! Not too small and not too big. Relatively light. Another huge plus. Optics made of glass, look high quality. Great price for what it offers - 200 Euro ($) including shipping and taxes after some Aliexpress discount. Because EVF receives its power from HDMI you don't have to switch it on separately. It has its own ON/OFF switch but if you stop the camera, EVF stops too as it doesn't receive power from HDMI. This is very convenient because it semi integrates with the camera, you don't have to switch it on/off separately. What could be better: While loupe (optics) craftsmanship is high quality, optical schema is probably not the best. Seeing tower end of the frame and in the corners is kind of difficult. In photo mode EVF has to show picture with 3:2 ratio. It crops the display at 1620x1080 to achieve this ratio. Same is true for video. This is great because this way corners of the OLED display are always cropped and dark while picture in the EVF is still high quality and resolution is still great too. So you always look at a picture which is in focus from end to end and you can see the whole of it. Brightness control has many steps but goes only in one direction. Adjusting it when you want to make picture darker or go at the opposite direction is difficult. You have to cycle trough all settings value until arriving before the setting you were a moment ago. Brightness control button is too small and uncomfortable to use. Both are not huge issues because eye cup completely isolates your eye and cuts external light at almost 100%. Once you set the brightness level you rarely need to adjust it. It doesn't have the additional tools a pro external viewfinder usually has - like peaking, False color, zebras, etc. Because it takes power from camera and becomes additional consumer, battery is drained a little faster. Hard to say how much faster. I still prefer this compared to EVF that have their own battery. Picture is not as clear as in a high quality camera viewfinder. Native camera EVF receives video stream that already has noise reduced. Image on HDMI out from the camera is more like RAW video, lots of noise in the shadows at high ISO, some noise even at lower ISO. I guess the same would be with any external EVF, even expensive PRO ones. It's not EVF's fault. I also see sometimes some texture like noise, not sure because of this particular OLED display or because of the HDMI out stream. Overall picture quality is not up to what you see in a camera integrated EVF but it is close. Surprisingly noise in the shadows helps me better judge exposure and use successfully ETTR. I live in a PAL region but camera was set to NTSC to have 24fps. There was a lot of flicker in EVF image even when only natural (sun) light was available. Maybe this can be avoided with some additional camera settings. No such problem when camera is set to PAL and 25fps. Sometimes when adjusting brightness, EVF looses sync and doesn't display any image. Have to switch camera on/off one time and problem is resolved. Not a big deal but it happened once or twice. HDMI cable is integrated. A PRO EVF has just HDMI out socket and you can choose your own HDMI cable. This one can be easily modified IMHO. Size: L=~50mm; Diameter ~43mm; weight 188g with the integrated HDMI cable Overall I like it a lot. There is nothing like it on the market and especially at this price point. I am surprised it took Chinese manufactures so long to figure out that a good market for external EVFs exists. I prefer it over modified Portkey LEYE III because of the smaller size and no need to plug and charge another battery. I may buy another one. 🙂 Now my Sony ZV-E1 has an EVF and a great one too. 🙂 Here is the link: On Aliexpress You can find it on ebay too. Search for V780H EVF Here how it sits on top of Sony ZV-E1

Went hot-air ballooning and if there was ever a challenge for shooting, this was it. Extreme low-light and extreme DR from hugely bright light-sources. They say you can't take bags in the balloon, and it had been really wet weather, so I decided to go small. I took the GX85, TTartisans 17mm F1.4 for the low-light, Laowa 7.5mm F2 for an ultra-wide, and the 12-35mm F2.8. I was a bit cheeky and took a sling bag and kept it under my jacket. The requirement is that nothing is loose in the basket and that you can hold on with both hands for landing, so I figured my bag under my jacket was basically the same as having a big pocket. It's a crazy early start. We arrived in the field before first-light and they started setting up in pitch darkness guided only by torches. I started shooting at F1.7 and needed ISO6400 at first to get any kind of level on anything except their torches. I shot on the 17mm at F1.7 and gradually reduce the ISO until the balloon was mostly inflated, then swapped to the 7.5mm for a few wide shots, and then swapped to the 12-35mm F2.8 and it was time to get in the balloon and off we went. I also shot with my iPhone 12 mini for some quick shots using the ultra-wide when I didn't want to change lenses, and also as we were approaching landing, as I had put the camera away in anticipation. It was super-foggy and the pilot ended up having to land early and for a while we were going pretty close to the treetops so I'd put my camera away when he told us that he'd be landing at the next opportunity. Frame grabs.. mix of GX85 and iPhone, put through a quite moderate FLC pipeline. In retrospect I took the complete wrong equipment and used it in the wrong way (so, it's business as usual!) but the FLC pipeline really took the footage to the next level, and I used just enough strength on the film emulation to get rid of the digital look to the images. Here's a comparison. Grade (same as above): SOOC: The GX85 has super-whites so despite being SOOC that image is actually slightly clipped in-post and some highlights can be recovered, which the FLC grade has done, but you get the idea. The SOOC is with the GX85 default profile and has much more of a video look to it, despite being pretty good compared to other similar cameras. If I was to take the same equipment again, I'd lean into the darkness and just use the 17mm at F2.0 where it cleans up and use the GX85 at something sensible like ISO1600. This would have the early shots as perhaps being unusable, but it would mean that the torches the crew used wouldn't have been clipped (I clipped them in favour of exposing what they were shining on). We're going to go again later this year, and for that I plan to take the GH7, 9mm F1.7 and 14-140mm F3.5-5.6. This will be a much larger setup but if I use a neck strap then I only have to have one lens in a pocket and so I won't need a bag at all. I just bought the 9mm F1.7 and it's sharp wide-open, so apart from having AF, it is both an ultra-wide as well as a low-light lens. I can crop in-camera and/or in-post to get a tighter FOV, but you don't normally need long focal-lengths when it's that dark. The more I use this FLC pipeline the more I like it. If I'd have shown these images to my 2018 self, I wouldn't have believed me when I said that it was me that made them.

Funnily enough, a former client from 2014 contacted me today to say that she had 'lost' her wedding video and did I still have it? After I stopped laughing, I thought hang on, it is probably still on Vimeo. And it was. I thought it would look so dated and be an utter cringe-fest, but actually it wasn't and I was a bit surprised. It was shot on the GH3.

I very much prefer the image of the OG S5 over the S5II X, but people really make a mountain out of a molehill when it comes to the "worse" image. It's really not that bad. In the year I've had it not one client or viewer has complained about the image; in fact it has been the exact opposite! I feel like cameras have plateaued so now people over analyze and overstate every little thing. But virtually all of this stuff doesn't matter to the audience that we are creating these images for. Anyone with any discernible talent will be able to take the S1RII and create compelling images with it. That bride is going to love the pictures you take, the corporate client is going to be ecstatic with the talking head interviews you shoot, the MMA school is going to be psyched with the promotional video you film, etc. As long as it's in focus, the colors are okay, and it's framed well, these folks aren't going to really care if it's a little noisier than the R5II or if the rolling shutter is slightly worse than the A7RV. I don't know how it is where you all live, but there are literally people making money using cheap Canon Rebel DSLRs and kit lenses in my area. I see friends post their wedding pictures, their kid's senior portraits, baby pictures, and all of that stuff on Facebook all of the time. Most of the time these photographers aren't even good at what they do, put people I know still go crazy over them and post these photos they paid for proudly on social media! These photographers still get paid work, not just because they are cheap (that certainly helps!) but because the average person's standards aren't all that high. That's not to say that we should lower our standards, just that we should remember the big picture (no pun intended) and stop worrying about the small things that aren't going to matter to 99.9% of our clients/audience.

People were pretty hysterical about the Lumix S9 when it was first announced. Now it's a relatively popular camera that people have decided is underrated. Even non-Lumix users bought and use it. If you look beyond the influencer noise and listen to what professionals are saying, they're all praising the S1RII. I know it's easy for them to be drowned out by the dudebros who were flown overseas and then flooded YouTube with videos of them listing the specs excitedly interspersed with shitty JPEGS and slow motion clips they took, but they are out there and have good things to say. Among other things, Manny says he doesn't have fun using his other cameras (he is a Sony and Canon shooter) but he actually has fun using the S1RII. He wants to put it through its paces more, but after using it on a shoot he has a lot of good things to say. Cam Mackey set up a shoot with it and showed how he worked with it in post. It sucks that so many people make videos ABOUT cameras, as opposed to making videos WITH the cameras and then giving their opinions on what using them is like.

From the reviews seen so far there is everything and nothing. GU tested it in "lab mode" and slaughtered it. He was smart to report the bugs to Pana who fixed them for him via fw updates. Other youtubers reported problems found by GU but they didn't get the updates and didn't even know they existed. So people who look at their reviews think it all sucks. For example, some say AF is not up to par. If you look at Richard Wong's review the AF is perfect and aligned with Sony. He has fw 1.0. he is the only one who tested extensively on animals and cars and there are some smart features. Other youtubers have tried it on real projects or real use cases and there is very little criticism and they speak very highly of it. Moving the camera left and right like crazy and screaming that the RS is terrible or claiming on paper that having only 12 stops without DR is like swearing in church, seems like bullshit to me. The beloved 5DMKII ML had 9 stops of DR and yet everyone was wetting their pants. In short, lab is one thing and reality is another. BTW the same youtubers who now blast the S1RII are the ones who would hate an S1R that we like a lot.

I think so but as a LUMIX, it has to have a gazillion video options. I get why most manufacturers believe they need to appeal to the broadest base possible, but at the same time, they miss the mark as a result. Personally, if I was Mr LUMIX, I’d offer 2 cameras at the same time and say, this one is the photo one and this one is the video one and both would be able to tread on each others toes a little, but would otherwise be clearly defined. Here though we have folks running 8k 1 hour plus tests and calling something a failure because it overheats. FFS, who needs to record continuously in 8k?

The holidays haven't been the same since my Mom passed in 2016, but I am trying to make the most of them after beating cancer last year! As far as cameras, I think I am set for 2025. I MIGHT swap out my two S5s for S5IIs, depending on how the year goes. Not that I am unhappy with my S5s, it would just make matching them with my S5II X in post easier. I also might snag a S9... we'll see! But overall I am pretty settled until I see how things look next year or in 2026, as far as Lumix goes. What I have (two S5s and a S5II X) are honestly cameras I could use until the wheels fall off and I'd be happy with them, I'm more just looking at the long term big picture as far as where I end up. Happy holidays to all of you!

I think Lumix is damned if they do, damned if they don't. I think we only have to look back to the GH6 to see why they may be holding back. Just months after releasing it they then released the G9 II with PDAF. Within a year they'd go on to release a GH7 with PDAF. With hindsight it feels as though the GH6 was rushed out. I think Panasonic might be in a similar situation with their higher end offerings. I hope that Lumix works towards improving their marketing and becoming more transparent with the photo/video community. When you're that far behind the other companies there really isn't a reason not to be. Even if you cannot be specific, letting it be known that you're not abandoning higher end users would probably help.

The more I use mine the more dictionary definition of underrated this thing gets Best with small M mount prime lenses, or LTM...doesn't have to be fancy For autofocus best with a small Sigma L mount prime like 35mm F2 Smallrig grip is a must. The LUT feature gives everything on the display more impact during a shoot, stuff simply looks beautiful and exactly as you intended... and it's so immediate... And in general the camera is so fucking nimble and fast. Then there's the minimalism of it... the simplicity. It is truly one of those cameras that gets out the way and leaves you to enjoy shooting. Yes, build quality could be more high-end... yes, wish it had a mechanical shutter and an EVF... but really thats where the complaining ends as it has everything else and then some, and what it doesn't have like a stacked sensor, you can't reasonably complain about because it cost me a shade over £1000 (open box deal). Really glad they did not scrimp on the battery, it takes a big chonky one. If it had a powered hotshoe they could have sold me an EVF to go on the top... but for now I'm using the RX1 optical finder from Sony...

Official review, mentioned in another thread, it’s fucking awesome. I didn’t expect to like it as much as I do, but actually… So the OG S5 I really liked and I switched from Fuji for video and stills because I wanted a full frame system over a cropped one. For a while, I actually carried on shooting a ‘cropped system’ for video because the 4k 50p in the S5/S1H/S5ii is of course cropped, so it was more for the stills I wanted full frame. My overall feeling at the time was it was a marginal step up, but nothing anyone else would really notice. Bought a pair of S1R’s and whilst the image quality could not be questioned, did not care for the body too much and it was just a bit old school DSLR and too different from the S5 and S1H. Bought an S1H for video. Stellar camera. Would still be using it today if it just had a couple of features the S5ii has. But it doesn’t so had to eventually go. S5ii’s became my video workhorses and can’t really fault them but hated them for stills, especially coming from S1R and S1H which were MUCH better IMO as photo cameras. S9. Bought it. Sold it. Bought it back again. Love it, - my favourite run & gun video camera ever. Yes I have a few niggles with it such as it’s too easy to knock the dials etc and when I thought I was shooting 1/100th notice I am shooting 1/80th or 1/160th from time to time and aaaargh. I need to look at maybe even just a small bit of tape or something to prevent that. S1Rii vs Sony A7RV and Nikon Zf, because it has replaced both of those cameras. Vs the A7RV I’d say it’s about equal. Near identical sized and handling bodies, build, rear LCD’s etc with zero real world image quality difference. The Sony is a touch better in the AF department but not by much. Vs the Zf, the Zf is more ‘fun’ and my favourites point & shoot camera ever and again, very little real world image quality or AF difference, but the Lumix is a better lens platform and as a single body over a pair, it’s very very good. Pros: Size, weight, handling, build, image quality, hybrid crop zoom. Cons: I honestly haven’t really got any. I was hoping originally for the sensor from the Leica SL3 and a mini S1H body and whilst we did not get the former, I’m over that and re. the latter, it actually has that vibe. I had a few minor niggles first job I shot it, but then realised I had missed a few things on the set up so tweaked those areas for the job I am currently working on. What’s missing and any other comments? Well as above, hated the 28-200 zoom and it’s going back. I prefer primes but recognise they are not always practical for what I do or shorter zooms, preferably with internal zooming (or at least very short extension) are my preference. And do not care for slow, variable aperture lenses. So it’s going back and getting the lens that I know will work for me and that is the Sigma 28-45mm f1.8. What is missing for me now is just one more lens, a same size but longer focal length to the above lens, ie, something like a 45-90 f1.8 internal zoom. Please Sigma, make this lens 🙏 But for now, I will have to make do with hybrid zoom which is a bit of a revelation to me. It’s a massive thumbs up from me and now having 1 less camera, 3 less lenses and everything in one system, just a much better way of working.

According to a book, Dutch company ASML got into a big fight with Nikon a few years back. They both make lithography tools for semiconductors industry. ASML's optics supplier is Zeiss. To pressure Nikon into a settlement, they had to take the patent fight to them in cameras. So ASML got Zeiss to make them a camera. It also doubled as a marketing adventure, shown off in stores but rarely really ever in stock. Until one day this popped up on my radar, with the serial number XXX XXX. The AF wasn't working, or the manual focus (fly by wire), lens stuck at macro 30cm. So I cracked it open, mopping sweat off forehead. Inside is 256GB SSD, final release model was bumped to 512GB. Android 6, with Zeiss test suite of apps onboard including FCC certification test suite 🙂 A music player. A Dutch full frame 36 megapixel sensor with some analogue colour. A Zeiss 35mm F2 lens (but different optics to the Sony RX1), 4K video (Super 35mm crop) and an EVF. And some weird prototype issues. I'll make a YouTube video on it. Sample shot And I still have no idea how I fixed the AF. Just wiggled the lens and sensor ribbon cables a bit and it started working properly, but there was no sign of either cable being loose in the first place! It is quite a fun tool, and a bit different. Android is decently snappy on it, the camera app is well designed, the physical dials are lovely but it doesn't have a joystick or command dials... So a lot is on the touch screen, but it's well done. Shall I root it? Update to 3.0 production firmware? (Risks bricking it). Given the rarity factor... I probably won't!!

Fro Knows Photo - NEW SONY FX1 MADE ME SHIT MYSELF Gerald Undone - SONY FX1 is a bedwetting moment Philip Bloom - FX1 CURED MY LOVE OF CATS Jordan Drake - I JIZZED MY PANTS BECAUSE OF SONY Camera Conspiracies - SONY FX1 ABSOLUTELY CRAP VLOGGING CAMERA Camera Labs - SONY FX1 has been released and it shoots video Tony and Chelsea Northrup -

Not cinematic enough. I fixed it for you. Now that's cinematic.

My favourite AI outcome would be for it to fuck right off.

First day out shooting in Seoul. Here are some images. These are all frame-grabs, were ETTR, had a look put over them with Resolve FLC plugin, and I adjusted exposure on each (and contrast on the odd one or two) and that's it. I'm sure I will finesse them once I start editing for real, but this is essentially just looking at my dailies. Setup is incredibly easy to use thanks to the huge DR, AF is super-snappy, the 14-140mm zoom gives so much flexibility and I'm finding I'm using the long end a lot more than I thought I would. I'll post some video footage of it later, but I'm also finding that I can hand-hold at 140mm (280mm FF equivalent) and with the OIS + IBIS working together get almost no movement in the frame at all, and with a slight crop in post I'd get locked-off images. At anything below 80mm or 100mm the frame is locked and won't need any stabilisation in post. Incredible results.

Autofocus!

I live on the Detroit River... still plenty of Prohibition-era smuggling relics in this area- secret canals and tunnels and such. Maybe I should get a little dinghy and start making midnight runs for barrels full of bodies and lenses 😄

Great value in every country in the world except the US where it will cost 17,000 US dollars.

Maybe they meant their OWN FX3 rather than Sony’s.

To save you bothering to watch that video (as pretty as the visuals are) here is what it ended up being about.

After being in a pretty heavy accident on Saturday that has written my car off, my new favourite art camera is the Ring Doorbell camera. My car was hit at a 90 degree angle from the side by some clown who sped out of their driveway and across an empty bus lane flipping my car round and causing the rear tyre to blow. The art that the Ring Doorbell camera produced was in two parts. The first being a beautiful record of my hitherto unknown stunt car driving prowess to correct the induced swerving to avoid the trees on the pavement side and then the oncoming traffic in the other lane and bring the wreck to a controlled stop. The second and best bit was when the homeowner of the Ring Doorbell came outside and showed the footage to myself and the other driver who had thus far ludicrously been somehow claiming it was my fault. Upon which the other driver, faced with the reality did their own rendition of the Larry David fake fainting. As the Ring Doorbell was still active, it caught that too 🙂

So the forum is pretty good at the moment thanks to some spicy discussions, it would be boring if we all agreed all the time, but I also think we should encourage people to come back - big names from before like Mattias Burling , Dave Maze, they are missed. Maybe we could occasionally drop them a note to say so. I can't promote the forum myself, it just looks like I am spamming people with my blog. Maybe that's where you all come in 🙂 Would some of you be willing to post a few links here and there in popular Reddit groups, on DPReview and on social media groups? It would supercharge the place and get us noticed more... Then we'd have some great discussions with new people, and regain some control over the camera community in an independent way, rather than everything being hoovered up by the big US social media giants who are opening supporting a fascist regime at the moment. Never been a better moment to get our independence back from social media. Mark Zuckenberg and those like him are pure evil. The forum way is a better way. It offers everyone here a higher profile and higher involvement. The better our content, the better the discussions, the more people will come... I know a lot of forum posts have to reference other people's talking point or content, so a topic can devolve into lots and lots of URLs to social media, or YouTube video embeds. But rather than have rules around this, which I don't want to do, it would be great if we could encourage people to join who will use the forum a bit like having their own blog - Posting original hands-on opinions and content about cameras and shooting... Our own insight is better than constantly referring to that of others - It would be good for the community. Just some thoughts and open to more ideas too about how to grow this rather nice place that we've got.

I've lurked here for years but this S1RII stuff has gotten real silly. It's like there's resentment it's not an S1HII even though we all know it's the R series. And the criticisms of the S1RII are especially strange considering the Z8 (which I've owned) was subject to criticism when released (overheating, dynamic range, AF = nice try, but no Sony/Canon, no Bird Detect, not 1 but 2 recalls, did I mention overheating?). Now the Z8 is the model camera the S1RII just can't match. Almost as if firmware updates make a difference. Is Panasonic good at firmware updates? Gee, I dunno. The new Slashcam review certainly seems bullish on the S1RII.

I'm honestly a little shocked at the reception to the camera on some forums. It provides a fair bit of upgrades to both the S5ii and the S1R while still staying at a lower price point than the competition, and even it's own predecessor. It seems to me that every brand's offerings are more or less the same with little differences here and there while also offering their own distinct competitive advantages. I can't help but notice that many folks want Panasonic to do everything Sony or Canon does, PLUS their own thing. Or that these manufacturers have running checklists that they compare and contrast to each other line by line when developing a camera versus largely doing their own thing. I preordered the S1Rii so my bias is clear, but as someone heavily invested into the Lumix S system I can't see this as anything but a solid camera for their lineup.

Right, I am getting myself sponsored by NordVPN and Bingoplus.com because whenever I am on Bingoplus.com which is the only on-line betting platform I use for all my on-line bingo needs, it is always whilst using NordVPN and I wouldn’t trust anyone more for my on-line privacy than Nord.VPN Thanks NordVPN! Thanks Bingoplus!

This is what will interest me the most going forward (and also why I skipped the S5II/x) and I won't be looking at any more reviews until the camera has been out in the world for a bit. We now know what the camera fundamentally is and can expect certain ranges of improvement via firmware over time. Some things such as rolling shutter values are locked in. It is what it is - a likely very good 4k camera with excellent high-res stills. (Was the ability accept timecode added via firmware later to the S1 or was it there at the beginning? I forget.) While I have also been frustrated with Panasonic's silence, etc. and we can go on and on about how late-to-the-party the S1RII (and Panasonic overall) is, none of that has much bearing to me in deciding whether this camera will keep me in the Panasonic fold or not. I can see the S1RII being my hybrid for events and other commissioned work and continuing with the S1 as my second 4k filmmaking body for the next number of years rather than jumping ship to some "big three holy grail" - all of which have loads of compromises in their own right. I look forward to hearing and learning from what users here will have to say about the image and other more tactile things.

This guy has talent... This is shot on the Sony a1 and an RX100, and it's very nice. But then a funny thing happened... I discovered his Super 16mm stuff and liked it even better, although you have to appreciate it on a big screen for the texture, and not a phone. Film, being film has an imperfect nature. So more emotive. Now in the current digital camera landscape, full frame is king. And for a good reason. But what if you could have both Kodak Vision3 Super 16mm and full frame in one camera... Now, I considered the OM-1 as a Super 16mm 4K camera, because I very much liked the E-M1 Mark II since forever. The OM-1's OM-LOG however has a bit of a thin tonality, and is it a bit tricky to get looking right. Lovely ergonomics and EVF though. Now the Sony a1, has the resolution to do a 4K Super 16mm crop (close to, it's actually Micro Four Thirds at 2x-ish which is good enough for most c-mount lenses longer than 25mm like the Kern Switar 26mm F1.1, work of art that it is). The a1 I had but ended up selling to somebody far richer, because I feared it would depreciate from 5 grand to something like £1. This hasn't happened yet, as the new one is 7 grand. Anyway, sod Sony and their pricing... Doesn't shoot internal RAW anyway. Now N-RAW, BRAW, Canon RAW, I have tried them all, and to my eye at least they all look like H.265. There is just something so smooth and perfect about the modern faux RAW that it kinda defies the point, RAW should be raw and not processed. Those codecs are heavily processed and the file sizes are ridiculous. There's only one RAW format that has come close to FILM to me and that has always been Cinema DNG. Starting way back with the original BMCC and Ikonoskop, uncompressed 2K Cinema DNG. Following on from that the miracle of Magic Lantern RAW video, with the 5D II going from some very dodgy 1080p H264 to the best ever looking 1080p Cinema DNG RAW which still stands up today for tonality, grain, texture, micro contrast, motion cadence and colour... you know, all that stuff which gets chucked away in N-RAW! Then the 5D Mark III upped the ante to 3.5K RAW eventually, at 24fps in 10bit. The drop to 10bit didn't hurt it much. A little noisier in the shadows, but worth it for the huge resolution bump from a 1:1 sensor readout, which did away with the moire or aliasing without the need for a Mosaic Engineering AA filter. Then the Sigma Fp came along, but the first model has two drawbacks. The first is that it doesn't have the resolution for Super 16mm crop in 4K. The second is that the 4K RAW appears to be binned. It's a bit funky looking. Now the Sigma Fp-L has a 9K sensor instead... a whopping 60 megapixel. But I have not used it much... the reason being, I haven't quite found a lens that really suits it... Then I thought, well it has the best crop modes of any camera, and stays in those modes when you cycle the power or switch between stills and cine... Perfect for C-mount, Super 16mm stuff? It has a nice oversampling in these modes, from 1.3x crop to 2x... Sampling upwards of 7K down to 4.8K, which makes for some very finely textured UHD Cinema DNG footage, superior indeed to that of the first model. (It also adds into the mix phase-detect AF but it doesn't work very well) Now the Fp-L I thought could work well with my C-mount stuff and indeed, it fucking does. But I also think of adding a Panasonic OIS lens to the mix, for handheld run and gun Cinema DNG. So the 28-200mm looks attractive and yes, slow aperture but it's absolutely tiny. This tiny-ness is very important for the Fp-L, as it feels naff with big heavy lenses. And the Fp-L is very good in low light, because the sensor is enormous - the high megapixel count doesn't really hurt it, same with the Sony a1. The 28-200mm also adds OIS... the all-important missing stabilisation on a non-IBIS camera. So I think I have found the best full frame proper RAW camera that is best able to emulate the look of proper Super 16mm film and work with c-mount lenses, and offers you a full-frame walk-round zoom camera as well... And that means best of both worlds in one small affordable tool. Pop a 28mm F1.4 on there and it will also do a very good Leica Q3 impression. We may moan about the lack of IBIS and LOG, but then a Bolex doesn't have these either. And just think about the absolute massive pain it is to shoot with a Bolex and the expense you save going with a trusty Fp-L! Food for thought. .... The 8bit Cinema DNG to SD card is actually really good BTW

Well, my little black X-M5 finally arrived from Japan and wow, it’s tiny. Had some fun rigging it up as a tiny little micro cinema cam today LOL. USB C dummy battery arrives tomorrow and a couple little accessories to mount the Ninja V+ in a way that doesn’t look too ridiculous. Only complaint so far is the smallrig cage for it is a little overpriced and doesn’t come in all black. Just the strange steampunk looking retro vibes.

I'm in the same boat. I work for a non profit, so it's a steady 9-5. But I love the work, most of the projects are my own creations, so videos I can get somewhat excited about. My salary is modest, but steady. We drive a 14 year old vehicle and live in a 900 square foot house in the country. No debt other than the mortgage. Most of my work is from home in a small mini barn I converted into an office/studio. It's amazing the peace you can find from living a simple lifestyle. Our income is pretty small compared to many these days, but we live really comfortably. Owning things in cash, buying used, and not trying to keep up with the Jone's can go a long way in building a comfortable life.

The problem with LOG is first of all that the gamma assists are a bit rubbish. (Aside from the Panasonic S9 and cameras where you can load on a LUT and monitor with it, without resorting to some shitty external monitor) But on the more common and better specced cameras you can't do that... Nikon Z9, Z8, Sony a1, a7 IV, GFX 100, Z6 III, EOS R6 II and so on. Secondly you should never really shoot it WITHOUT a gamma assist. Contrast, tonality and light are a really important judgement in cinematography and you can't really see any of that with a very flat display. Sure you can toggle LOG profile on/off quick in the menu and judge... but doing so is a PITA every time you want to see the real contrast and lighting. The gamma assists are all quite bland looking and flat with not very much pop, I find. Then we come to the LOG profiles themselves... EOS R6 Mark II / R5 / R3 all have C-LOG3, which a lot of people complain about but I don't mind. One of the better ones and easier to grade. C-LOG2 is reserved for the Cinema EOS line. C-LOG3 is closer to the original C-LOG on the 1D C, I seem to remember. Sony a7 IV has S-LOG2 and S-LOG3, they offer the widest dynamic range of the bunch but you still have to get exposure perfect for optimal image quality. Gets noisy really fast if you under expose. N-LOG on the Nikon cameras needs the most colour correction, otherwise you have very green-olive skin. By the way, there is a very small difference in image quality between 50Mbit/s 10bit 420 H265 on the Sony a7 IV and the higher bitrate LOG formats in range of 200-500Mbit... yes even in S-LOG3! So you can save a lot of money and card space there. With standard gamma picture profiles you don't need to shoot 10bit... 8bit will look the same. People tend to overestimate higher numbers on the specs sheet. So those tips in summary: Don't shoot from a flat image off the back screen Nail exposure to get the maximum dynamic range benefit from LOG With modern codecs like H.265 in 4K/24p - don't bother with the higher bitrates in most cases, the laws of diminishing returns apply big time (Although if you're shooting 8K or high frame rates then 200-500Mbit/s is recommended) C-LOG3 is easiest to handle, with N-LOG last Hope that in-camera LUTs/monitoring becomes a common thing, it's really bad that it isn't even 12 years since LOG first came on the mirrorless camera scene.

Live from the exhibition floor… Well, it’s here but as expected it’s in a Perspex case making touching it impossible and the reflections and dim environment not exactly easy to get a decent picture of it especially on my ageing iPhone. What I can confirm though which Is what everyone wants to know is that it does have internal ND.

As far as the FX30 goes - well it's an excellent little camera. Very easy to use, produces a nice image and with the latest update even has shutter angle! A few of the lower light shots needed some NR adding in Resolve, but nothing outrageous. For the video above I didn't use Cineprint. CST, NR, Balance, Contrast, A dab of Film Look Creator then out through the DVR Kodak 2383 D55 LUT, via a CST to Cineon.

Feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone where Gerald releases a glowing review of it, while Lumix users are stressing out about it before using it. It's usually the opposite!

These kind of posts are always my favorite. Thank you for sharing!

Part 2... how did I get here? I've written about this previously, but the summary is that I went through a sequence of trial and error, continually bumping up against the limits of the hardware, the software, my skill, and mindset. Setup: GH5, fast manual-focus primes I shot a bunch with the GH5 and a set of very fast MF primes. I chose this setup as it had 10-bit LOG, IBIS, and the fast primes gave good low-light and some background blur. I knowingly sacrificed AF, essentially swapping a fast / accurate / robotic AF for a slow / human / aesthetically-appropriate focusing mechanism. The MF worked, but not always (especially for my kids, who wait for no-one), and took time and effort to operate the camera away from the things that literally every other crew member does on set. The 10-bit LOG worked, but wasn't a properly supported LOG profile so didn't colour grade flawlessly in post. The primes provided the low-light and shallow-DoF but the shots I missed because I couldn't change lenses fast enough were more valuable in the edit than having shallow-DoF. The DR was lacking. Setup: GX85 with 12-35/2.8 I owned the GX85 and 12-35mm zoom, so I did some testing. I loved the speed of AF-S, and the deeper DoF meant that the number of shots unusable due to missed focus dropped to almost zero. I tested it with low-light and for well-lit night-time areas, like outdoor shopping malls, it was sufficient. The Dual IS (IBIS + lens OIS) was absolutely spectacular and a welcome addition, and having a zoom made me realise why doco and ENG shooters have them as standard issue. The DR and 709 profile was a real limitation though, and I really felt it in the grade. It was around this time I figured out proper colour management, and the Film Look Creator was released. These made a huge boost to grading the GX85, despite its 709 profile. The mindset shift The fundamental pivot was in mindset. As social media became faster and more showy, I noticed the gulf between it and 'real' film-making more and more. I went minimalist, thinking more and more about the days before digital where the process was to shoot as best you could, cut it, do sound-design, and that was it. The focus was on what was in-front of the camera, how the cuts made you feel, and sound design that supported that vision. Even those shooting docs on 16mm film could make magic. Without throwing away the baby with the bathwater, I decided to re-focus. To shoot what I could shoot, to learn to cut with feeling, and to simulate a film-like colour grading process where the look was applied and only very basic adjustments were made. Setup: OG BMMCC with 12-35/2.8 I owned these already, and on my last trip to South Korea I took these as well as the GX85. My shooting moved from shooting people I knew to shooting more general scenes, giving me more time and taking the time pressure off. The setup was large (comparatively!) and very slow to work with, but it validated my mindset shift. The images were organic and rich, but in a way that drew you into their contents, rather than towards the medium. The DR was finally sufficient, and the colours were delightful. But the monitor wasn't bright enough, the lack of IBIS meant that the OIS stabilised tilt and pan but not roll, so the images all needed to be stabilised in post, but had roll motion blur due to the 180 shutter. The low-light wasn't ideal either, even with fast lenses. The moire from the 1080p sensor was real and ruined shots. I also got a lot more comfortable shooting in public with a more visible camera setup. New Setup: GH7 with 14-140 and 12-35..... So what I wanted was the best of all worlds. Dynamic range. I knew the OG BMMCC and OG BMPCC were the same/similar sensor, and I knew the GH7 had more. What I didn't expect was how much more that would be in real life. Here's a high DR scene from Monday. Here it is without the FLC, which I set to add contrast. Now with the shot raised by 3 stops. Notice the detail in the railings and under the eves on the right. Now with the shot lowered by 3 stops. Notice that the roof, and even the body of the car are still not clipped, with the only clipping being the sun reflecting off the car window. In grading, there is more DR than you can fit in the DR of the final shot - assuming you haven't developed Stockholm Syndrome for your LOG footage that is. Low light. I had previously established that the GX85 and 12-35mm F2.8 were good enough for well-lit night locations. I also knew that the BMMCC at ISO800 and the 12-35mm F2.8 set to a 360 shutter was good enough for semi-well-lit night locations. I also knew that the BMMCC with my 50mm F1.2 lens was passable at the darkest scenes I shot in Korea - which were from the hotel window at night. I've compared the GH7 vs the GX85 and BMMCC and the noise profiles are all very different, but I concluded that the GH7 had probably 2-4 stops of advantage over those. This means that I might be able to shoot well-lit night locations with the 14-140mm lens, and might be able to shoot from the hotel window at night with the 12-35mm lens. I'm still contemplating if I should take my F1.2-1.4 primes on my up-coming trip, but if I don't I'll still be able to shoot 99% of what I want to with the zooms. Camera size. Perhaps the only drawback when compared to my previous setups. I'll be taking the GX85 and 14mm F2.5 pancake lens as the pocketable tiny camera. This combo is no slouch by itself, so although it lacks some of the specs from more serious cameras, it is easily in the capable category, especially when helped by Resolve+FLC and from a shoot-cut-sound-publish mindset. Absolute speed. When it comes to absolute speed, nothing beats a smartphone, which is always in your pocket, can be pulled out and rolling in seconds. This is also a serious tool when combined with Resolve+FLC and a shoot-cut-sound-publish mindset.

HAVE YOU GUISE SEEN THIS?!?! IT IS A WORK OF ART idk where the overwhelming amount of negative reviews are coming from -- bloggers, influencers, theater goers -- but what about disney themselves!?? THEY like it!! thats why they spent half a billion dollars making it and advertising it. the 'empty theaters' are clearly propaganda what i like to see in filmmaking is some low contrast shots that are poorly graded, with bad art direction, costume design, etc. i like a script that would be borderline unreadable on the page, one that has been brought to the big screen with some surprisingly terrible acting, insane casting, and a healthy dose of girlboss wokeness. and i HATE the old fashioned boomer 'rotoscoping' from 'beautiful footage' that looks 'naturalistic' -- so lame!!! who came up with that!?!?? i dont want any kind of visual unity in sfx, vfx, whatever -- i LOVE uncanny valley stuff. it speaks to my generations post modern malaise in a way that old ppl just cant understand ~ i mean this sucks (below). i especially hate how friendly and cool the animals seem despite being kinda anthropomorphic in the face and theyre not EVEN REAL!!! the ppl who made this were morons w no tech. if only theyd had more dr THIS, on the other hand, looks GREAT to me. it needs a few more stops of dr but it is highly naturalistic i thought these were all real ppl until...... someone told me that IT WAS CGI!! i also though these characters were deformed dwarves (and possible aliens) until i was told that they are 'magical creatures' !!! fooled again by those hollywood geniuses! most of all, i like that turquoise color of her dress. what a great design! classic what do you all think of this contemporary masterpiece? im sure it will recover its $500 million within minutes and go on to be a timeless masterpiece that we show to our children, and our childrens children nice hoodie

Am sure this is the first and last time I'll ever see rifles being used to construct a diff frame! As on the weekend I was working on a friend's little short film, he was the Director / DoP / Writer / Editor / Gaffer / DIT / 1st AC / "Everything" (even acting in some of it!), except for Sound (which I of course did. Although I helped out a little teeny bit sometimes in other areas too, such as lighting). Due to the nature of the shoot (almost no crew, basically no budget, and out in the middle of nowhere) we had very limited amounts of gear at our disposal. So while a couple of combo stands with a proper diff frame was constructed for the first scenes of this film we shot down at the beach (which even that took a fair bit of hiking through the bush to get to), later on when we went further up the hill/cliff, then the heavier stuff was ditched. As wasn't viable to keep on carrying everything with us (and even a little dangerous? A little further on up from here is where one of our actors ragdolled their way down when they slipped and fell. Luckily they're still ok! Pity that moment wasn't caught on camera). Thus you see the improvised situation here! Making the best out of what we had at hand in the moment.

Everyone is talking about how they used the Ronin 4D on the "Adolescence" and how well it did. I bet they only used it in like 4 shots though.

I don't know what some folks are doing (or smoking) but I've been shooting with S5II's since they came out and not experiencing all this crazy rolling shutter, moire, open gate long lens talk. I have at least 20 hours of total finished work on-line from just last year alone shot exclusively on S5II's in 6k open gate and if you can spot any of these issues, you have sharper eyes than I do. I just have my fingers crossed that the S1-2RXii is slightly more useable than the piece of shit S5ii. Because it's been holding me back and if only...

Obviously we all want cameras with as little rolling shutter as possible, but there really isn't a major camera released in at least the last 10 years that I'd say has enough RS as to make it useless. Maybe in certain circumstances, like filming trains, fast cars, airplanes/helicopters or something? Everyone has their own standards, I guess, but out of all the issues I have with my S5II X the rolling shutter performance is pretty low on my list and there's really nothing about the camera overall that make me call it "unusable."

This conversation feels like it's about freedom, debt, and burnout. Debt traps us, stealing our freedom and leading to burnout. Sometimes, you don't even realize you're caught in this cycle until it's too late. Societal norms, the pressure to consume, and the desire to 'keep up with the Joneses' often play a bigger role than most will admit. The only way out, for some, is to simplify their lifestyle and buy back their freedom by escaping debt. I've done this myself—it was hard, but worth it. I'm not in video creation beyond family videos, but I see parallels in education. Educators often start out wanting to make a difference, finding meaning in their work. Yet, burnout looms. Many students seem uninterested in learning or disrupt others, reflecting the challenges of our current society. Ultimately, no job is meaningless, but life itself can feel trivial if we lose perspective. We take nothing to the grave. What endures is the relationships we build—primarily with family and friends. Occasionally, you might be remembered for something you've done or created, even if you never know it. So, enjoy your time. Treat others with respect. Honor those who came before you, and perhaps you’ll be honored in return. Reaching retirement is a gift—not everyone gets there.

Interesting post. I'm not familiar with him, but he's in my city (Portland, OR) and I ride the Max often. As a full-time freelance videographer for the past ten years, I just did my end of year accounting for 2024 and I can officially say that my income has been on a downward trajectory since the pandemic. Video production is just not considered a specialty skill anymore. 2023 was so bad that I almost threw in the towel. 2024 was better, but still barely a living -- probably around half of what my friends with office jobs made. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, I'm currently underperforming the average income for other videographers in my area by a wide margin, but I have to wonder about the accuracy of their numbers. A lot of my local colleagues have been exiting the industry just as Airview has. People with genuine talent. One trend I've been noticing in the past couple of years is that I'll show up with a car packed with lighting, multiple cameras, dolly track, etc. and yet some of my clients will often just tell me to hurry up and get the shot with no lighting or movement. And then we wrap early, which is nice. But overall, I feel like my work has been going downhill and this is really bothering me. And then there are discussions like this taking place on Reddit, so I know that I am not alone. Overall, I'm pretty discouraged and I need to figure out whether to ride it out or try something new.