Andrew - EOSHD

1 minute ago, fuzzynormal said:

I wish video documentation would stop it.

I'm more optimistic than you on this front.

Unusually, Petapixel and DPReview have found a backbone and posted some interesting stuff in relation to the Minneapolis protests.

https://www.dpreview.com/interviews/6336791578/john-abernathy-pierre-lavie-protest-photographers-ice-minneapolis-thrown-leica

Imagine for a moment if smartphones and this Leica didn't exist.

All we'd have to go on is the lies coming out of the federal government and they'd easily be able to smear the dead and do the big cover-up operation they're attempting to do now.

But the images all around social media tell a different narrative.

And I for one commend the bravery of the folk on the streets with their cameras.

The truth is constantly being debased and it really took the biscuit last week with Trump's denial of British and NATO troops service in the Gulf War, Iraq War and Afghanistan. They were on the front lines and gave their lives for it.

To anyone still thinking of voting Reform in the UK, or for those who voted for Trump at any point, surely your eyes are not still CLOSED after what you are seeing in recent weeks? If yours are, I'd be fascinated to know why.

On 1/19/2026 at 8:21 AM, Anaconda_ said:

I just read a report that in retaliation to Greenland threats, European leaders are planning to introduce trade blocks with America, and part of that is a potential voiding of American patents. What could this mean for the camera industry? Suddenly everyone can put compressed raw into their cameras without having to argue with RED? 

https://en.people.cn/n3/2026/0119/c90000-20415649.html
"The mechanism would allow immediate retaliation, including punitive tariffs, market bans, financial sanctions, and the suspension of U.S. patents and licences, without recourse to the United Nations or the World Trade Organization."

The US government twats underestimates how angry Europe is over the greenland BS and the damage we can do.

The EU and UK are one of the biggest economies in the world along with China and the US.

I am not sure why the US would want to piss us off.

But we could ask Canada and Australia to join a customs union.

We would even go all the way and have them join the EU.

UK could rejoin too.

We could sell the trillion dollars of US bonds and crash the US economy.

But what is rarely talked about is the US services industry.

They are deeply embedded in European life but this might change.

VISA, Mastercard, Apple, X and many American banks could suddenly find themselves kicked out of Europe and replaced by European companies.

Imagine the damage that would do to the Americans. eBay and PayPal would lose almost half of their global market share.

I would argue that social media is due a re-invention as well. Everybody hates what it has turned into (basically crap addictive television).

Facebook is no longer a place where you hear from friends. It always promotes clickbait, professional content creators and ads above what your friend's post, and the stories on Instagram have stolen what Instagram started which was a linear feed of photos, and turned it into TV. As entertainment it works fine, but it undermines the original concept of what Instagram was supposed to be and why people liked it.

I would have a cross between Flickr and Instagram for photographers, with decentralised hosting and no Meta copyright BS.

Interesting mentions, but it needs not to be a general dumping ground for any kind of content, it needs to be laser focused on filmmakers / artists / DPs and musicians, exactly like Vimeo was in the very early days with the full community aspect built in, comments threads, forums and really good portfolio curation. Staff Picks has to be there (under a different name of course), as a launchpad of careers like it was at Vimeo.

There is no reason why it can't work again.

YouTube is dominant, won't be going anywhere.

So it shouldn't even try to compete with that.

The unique selling point is the ad-free viewing, original file downloads and community aspect, as well as that laser focus on filmmaking & cinematography of all kinds.

A niche site for artistic filmmakers that costs £60 per year ad-free, that isn't just another copy-n-paste YouTube or Frame.io is what's needed now!

Any interest in gathering ideas for a crowdfunding?

Time for a UK / Europe Based Vimeo alternative then. Time to make our own.

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

Incidentally, FujiFilm have announced a new instax camera today that is already boiling the piss of many people in the same way as the X-Half does.

It’s basically a video focused version of the Instax Evo but retains the printer and is based on their Fujica cine cameras of the past.

The dial on the side let’s you choose the era of look that you want to emulate.

 

So it shoots video which transfers to the app and then it prints a key frame still from it complete with a QR code on it that people can then scan to download the video from the cloud.

It looks beautiful and based on my experience with the X-Half, if they made this with that larger format sensor (sans printer obviously) then I would be all over it for all the same reasons as I love the X-Half.

 

I really like the idea of the time travel dial

A really elegant way of switching the look.

Good to see the Super 8 / Bolex form factor make a come back as well.

Fuji of course, now should do a high-end version of this with Cinema DNG.

4 hours ago, feanorfinwe said:

Wow. Yes.

That's a perfect example of when you get your exposure wrong by 5 stops.

4 hours ago, feanorfinwe said:

The dynamic range in this shot is about 3.5 stops!

On 12/29/2025 at 9:47 PM, FHDcrew said:

I just freaking bought this thing.  I so agree with you.  The camera is unbelievable for the price.  I genuinely will never need anything more than what this camera has.  Lowlight was quite impressive.  And I'm coming from having shot on the OG Nikon Z6 for nearly 4 years; that camera was very good in low light.  Like "lets shoot a wedding reception at 25,600 ISO" level good.  And on this G9 II...you can actually use it at 12,800 if you are fine with some somewhat pleasing grain, or just denoise the image in Davinci.  Cleans up easy.  Colors are VERY thick. Dynamic range is great.  IBIS is the best I've ever used.  E-stabilization high is amazing and crops less than 1.3x according to my tests.  Planning on getting the Panasonic 12-35 2.8 OG and the 25mm 1.7 and pairing those two together for a nice compact kit.  I think its the most underrated camera of 2025.  A real steal.  Also I consider this camera to be a real tempting alternative to an FX30.

Once they brought the price down it made so much more sense to me, $2k region was always asking just a tad too much for a Micro Four Thirds camera, at least that was the perception.

But this now has the specs of a $6k camera, only it's a Micro Four Thirds size sensor.

So even at $2k it's a good deal.

At nearly half that it's a total must-have.

In the old days, the smaller sensor lacked dynamic range, low light performance and decent autofocus.

This is just not the issue it used to be, gap has closed up.

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!

14 hours ago, lalan45 said:

First is the do-it-all, high-spec work camera. This is the one you use when clients ask for serious specs like 4K/120p or even 8K, or when you just want the best possible image quality. Cameras like the EOS R5 II, Nikon Z8, Sony a1, or Panasonic S1R II fit here. They’re expensive, but they can handle almost anything.

Having owned (and sold) a lot of the high-end stuff I have given up a bit on the idea of an 'end-game' camera, because limitations breed creativity and part of the enjoyment of camera tech is experiencing 'camera culture', all the rich tapestry of ways to get an image and how different tools inspire different shooting styles, altering the creative vision.

So when you lock yourself into 1, or even 3 capable models, you always yearn for something more weird. Well, I do anyway.

Everyone should have an old beater camera for instance where carrying flashy experience gear makes you nervous. I always feel tense with an expensive camera, if an accident happens, or it gets nicked, it'd be a fucking disaster.

Everyone should try an old CCD model, they do have a different look. I recommend original Canon 1D with Panasonic APS-H CCD, Minolta 5D or a Canon Powershot G10.

And the reason you can't stick to just one format is there's so many nice and unique lenses for other sensor sizes.

Actually that's where a Sigma Fp-L comes in handy with the crop modes and Cinema DNG 4K even at 2x crop for the Super 16mm look and C-mount lenses.

I'm still in favour of small sensor options, like a Panasonic G9 II or Olympus OM-1... Full frame look is not always what you want.

3 hours ago, John Matthews said:

I'm a little surprised that the S5 or S5D didn't make a mention. Pick it up for about 550 euros new and get one of those nice Konica lenses- you're ready to go for under 600. Get BlackMagic recorder and you'll even get B-RAW.

It's a bit of a vanilla option when you can get a used S1 for same price which is same spec but a much more premium body, or pay a bit more and get an S9 with PDAF

3 hours ago, Ninpo33 said:

Honest question, Do you really think people would notice if you center cropped your 4k or higher 16x9 videos to vertical for social media?

You can crop whatever but it's much more difficult to shoot & frame vertical video 16:9 than in open gate.

And nobody seems to want to turn the camera 90 degrees

16 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

OK, we open a  DJI drone shop in one of the Canadian border towns and Americans come across, buy one but only take the controller back with them.

As soon as they are over the border they message us and we switch their drone on, put it on the roof of the shop and then they fly the fucker over the border themselves.

 

Much more doable than same ploy at the Mexican border.

Black market import shenanigans anyone?

https://petapixel.com/2025/12/23/us-government-bans-new-dji-and-other-foreign-made-drones/

@stephen

Thanks for the heads-up on the iPhone raw Cinema DNG app. Is it by the same people (or associated) with Motion Cam?

Phones are not meant to replace mirrorless cams for video, and the file sizes in the raw video apps are of course enormous.

But you have to admit the image is rather lovely and it's fun to play with.

I like that it is open gate with optional 18fps mode, you can get very close to a vintage super 8 look with that.

Interested to compare it to Blackmagic Video app LOG in terms of the unprocessed look though.

10 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

It has video.

If you thought people got into a hate frenzy about the stills side, that’s mild compared to the video side.

I'm actually surprised there's not a camera with a vertical sensor yet, for portrait video seeing as it's basically the dominant social media format.

No square sensor either.

And if Open Gate didn't pretend to be for anamorphic shooters, it'd be 1:1 not 4:3!

9 minutes ago, zerocool22 said:

Nikon zr should be at 1 IQ wise.

The files aren't as chunky and colour science not as good as Canon.

1 hour ago, BTM_Pix said:

No Fuji X-Half ?

Surely some mistake.

Unless it's a hybrid video camera, it ain't in 🙂

What is the video like on it by the way, does it have any?

Surely needs a hack if not.

1 hour ago, Ninpo33 said:

Oh, also the gh5 got an amazing update late in the game 2017 that brought 5k opengate. I shot a lot of doc footage in that mode for a project in 2022 and it was very, very sharp. 200mbps data rate as well. So sharp I was able pull some really high quality stills from the video shots.

https://www.eoshd.com/news/shooting-5k-h-265-panasonic-gh5-new-open-gate-mode/

Wow the things you forget... 2017!?

Panasonic were always very generous with firmware updates. Can't say same about Sony/Canon

11 hours ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

I'd be inclined to put the R5 II over the a7V on the IQ chart.  The A9 III is probably worth mentioning somewhere too.

You're right, better images... but they're not 2025 cameras.

Do you agree with my choices...

And did I miss anything?

https://www.eoshd.com/news/the-2025-hybrid-mirrorless-camera-rankings/

The 2025 camera rankings for video quality and value for money are in!

Rental market very different to buyers market isn't it? The MapCamera one is interesting but is always heavily skewed to what just got released. I'm more impressed when I see an older camera like the a7c II at number 3. That's quite some sustained sales pattern... Or maybe not, maybe it just got a big discount sticker on it last week 🙂

Finally someone has done it

https://www.benro.com/en/prelaunch/NE1-nd-filter.html

It has a nifty bluetooth controller with auto-AE as well.

Curious to see how nice it is to use, but no word on pricing yet.

Interesting to look at the trends...

Canon is extending their lead over Sony.

Nikon is only at 5.56%... Had expected them to be closer to Sony, after all the Z6 / Z8 series seem popular, right now

DJI is a growing threat.

Blackmagic are slipping back as the bigger companies cannibalise their niche of advanced video features and RAW recording.

Sigma is holding steady, but obviously this revenue relates 99% to lenses, there cameras are a very small niche.

Fuji is steadily going up... Their stuff especially X-mount is not really Lensrental's target market but more pros are seeing the benefits of GFX

Panasonic pretty flat at 2% mark, it's a poor showing considering how good their specs are.

Leica are pretty stagnant despite lots of new releases, SL3, Q3, etc.

Revenue from RED halved, Sachtler also down hinting at problems we know exist in professional filmmaking