Andrew Reid

Just now, PannySVHS said:

Well. Cheek in tongue comments above.

Don is my friend. I like his comments a big deal. He was not over eagerly providing more posts than anyone else does. There are many examples of various forum friends focussing on their mantras.

I call my own name with my own posting obsessions. At the same time I do recognize my specific contributions as well. We all were best meaning for this forum. Now that it takes on an exiting momentum again, we won´t worry no more but be happy to see this place grow and florish even more.

I am THIS close to ending the forum and bringing the focus back onto the blog.

So either the place improves and gets it act together, or I leave and the forum ends. This week.

19 minutes ago, kye said:

It might be worth considering who your target audience really is and questioning if they really do follow a link to another website (even one of your most hated competitors) and never come back.  It doesn't seem likely to me.

I don't believe that, but at same time not willing to provide a publicity platform for my most hated click weasel competitors, or some guy who wants to flog his LUTs in every post.

19 minutes ago, kye said:

In terms of people posting without hands-on experience, it's difficult to moderate and with more and more cameras on the market the user-base is spread even thinner.  I don't think that's going to change.

It isn't too difficult to moderate, the way it works is I have a light touch for about 5 years with someone like webrunner5 and let him speak, then if I find he is STILL flooding the forum worth worthless chit chat after that long amount of time has elapsed I find I have had enough of reading it and say time's up, last orders please, out you go.

19 minutes ago, kye said:

The way you structured the site pushed people to talk about cameras and not much else

EOSHD is a site about cameras and shooting with cameras.

I don't see why it should be structured differently.

At end of the day this is not about me.

The forum is the user generated part of the site.

It is up to users to ask what THEY can do that's interesting for the forum, not point at the moderator and tell him how he should run the community.

19 minutes ago, kye said:

Once you get past the sensor size, form-factor, and exposure triangle, there isn't much difference between a smartphone, a Komodo, and an FP, so we can all chime in merrily at that point.

Sounds like a recipe for nonsense to me that does.

4 hours ago, webrunner5 said:

If it wasn't for us two there would be 5 posts a week. This forum is on its death bed. Has been for several months.

OK lord saviour off you go, leave me to die with my ship captain. I am not worthy of your help and the 3 spam posts in a row under every topic. I will sail on into the iceberg come what may (rather than read any more of it). Or maybe jump off the ship myself if the going gets really tough (and you decide to keep posting). I am sure there will be a huge mutiny now we have reached the end of your reign as forum leader. As for many decades people have been coming to EOSHD not to learn about the cameras they spend $1000s on but to hear from Webrunner5 about windows movie maker.

By the way...

It isn't "on its death bed" at all. In fact if you stop posting it will be very much on the rise again as there will be less spam under every single piece of content on half the entire site. It's not like I didn't try to hint about it again and again so you would hopefully after several years stop posting in every thread with lame duck opinions that are barely even on topic.

I know you are well meaning. But it is trashing the place.

Time's up.

@Tito Ferradans

Any thoughts?

If I pinned 7 threads would you and Webrunner comment on every single one 10 times a day?

At this rate going to need a flood control not sticky posts!

Is it this one (left)?

I still have it. Could never quite get it working properly.

Didn't even know it was single focus?!

Might have to try it again with some c-mount stuff.

40 minutes ago, Emanuel said:

Andrew, nice to see you got rid of all those annoying pinned topics... As said earlier in the former thread, seeking dynamics is nothing this community needs per se... Where do we find anything similar? ; )

Less is more at times and the cleanest layout the best.

Even though, Kye's suggestions are great as usual : ) I don't think to kill subforums might anyhow help... My 2 cents at least :- )

The sub forums are gone but the posts are not, they were moved into the main forum, as I'd like to start discussing raw shooting cameras, anamorphic lenses, right bang in the centre of the forum rather than tucked and hidden away in a sub-forum.

I think this will help the amount of activity in the main forum and the diversity of topics.

Anamorphic sub-forum had been around for entire history of this forum, but I always felt the topics didn't get as much attention as they deserved, so sometimes having a sub-forum on anamorphic lenses hinders the general chat about anamorphic lenses.

Now when you post about it in the main forum they stand out and everyone sees it regardless of whether they duck into the sub forums from time to time or not.

Excellent info.

It will be interesting to compare Mcpro24fps on Android to the iPhone as well. And between the different recording modes in Mcpro24fps itself vs Filmic Pro on same device.

I am also writing a guide to Motion Cam raw video which will be out soon.

14 hours ago, kye said:

Hi Andrew - some thoughts for your consideration..

A few observations.

Thanks for these @kye The most constructive advice, very helpful.

14 hours ago, kye said:

I think there are two types of topics now:
1) what should I buy / should I buy camera X? (purchase advice), and, 
2) wow - video is hard - now I have my camera WTF do I do with it? (accessories advice / technique / etc)

Maybe a buyer's guide, updated every year would satisfy (1) and then we could have more variety of other topic on the forum, as it does get a bit repetitive. With (2) being the bread and butter of any forum really, it is here to help people get the best out of their kit and talent.

14 hours ago, kye said:

The site is also a rare home to discussions that are more reminiscent of cinematography rather than technology (for example, discussions of c-mount lenses, classic cameras like early Pan models and BM models, etc).  Yes, there are more than a few people who can't see past the specifications, but many who prefer the image of a 2K Alexa with vintage primes over an 8K camera with a low-distortion zoom.

True and we can encourage this so that maybe all the info is in one place and easy to access at a glance and therefore easier to add to it?

On DPReview forums they are not having the same discussions about c-mount lenses and earlier digital cinema cameras, so that is quite a unique thing about this place. Maybe play on the strength of that. The problem with a sub-forum though is it tends to get orphaned and ignored, so it is about keeping it all very visible and all in one place together with the latest topics. So maybe the front page of the forum needs a big refresh to make it clear how much good stuff there is already on the forum.

And it could integrate with the good stuff on the blog a lot better too, so maybe new software is required on the server side.

14 hours ago, kye said:

Some suggestions.

I suggest a strategy of playing to your strengths and harnessing your interests.  What I mean by this is:

• Embrace the 'call it how you see it' approach, and just write more content.

I enjoyed doing the YouTube channel. The problem is it reduced visitors to the written side of the blog by as much as 60% and made zero income. Not been paid a single dollar of ad revenue from YouTube after a year of videos. So currently debating whether YouTube is viable or not long term for EOSHD.

14 hours ago, kye said:

• In terms of the forum, I suggest this:
• Collapse all the sub-forums into the main forum (we all know that sub-forums are where threads go to die) so just let the forum flow - it will keep it looking busy but not unmanageable and will focus all the attention on it.

Yeah as I say, sub-forums are deprived of oxygen somehow...

Unless you are presented with ONLY sub-forums.

So you HAVE to post in the categories.

DVXUser was like this.

The alternative would be to delete the anamorphic forum and move all those threads into the main one. Same with the others. This might make it harder to find specific threads, but also bring more attention to the successful ones in those areas of the site.

14 hours ago, kye said:

• The only sub-forum should be the one for hot-topics like the politics thread you recently created.  This will allow you to direct any discussions that get a little heated into that sub-forum and will 'cool off' those topics which is potentially required so that will work in your favour.

Yep that was the intention there.

14 hours ago, kye said:

Fundamentally, more people are doing video than ever before, but honesty and experience (without a vested interest) is rarer than ever, so there is more demand than ever before for your insights.  I suggest playing to your strengths and just up your output.

Hope that's useful 🙂

The call it as you see it goes for everyone on the forum too, I would be good to see a more critical eye and more cynicism especially when it comes to posting a high proportion of YouTube videos and external links, is this content really actually "call it as they see it" or really just fancy marketing in disguise?

I am just one person in this forum and it is also a matter of getting as many people involved as possible who can put their knowledge and expertise on the table.

I think some users need to think harder before posting in 6 different threads all at once with opinions... and I don't mean this in a rude way, I know it's well intentioned, but I think much of the very frequent posting from 3 or 4 people tends to dominate the forum and it is mostly armchair observations, rather than hands on experience. This dilutes the actual hands-on knowledge side of the forum and buries a lot of interesting discoveries under endless streams of opinion soup. If we can grow the forum again so there is a bigger crowd, this wouldn't be as much as an issue.

Have to say I am a bit impressed by this result, not just how well the smartphone keeps up with full frame but because it shoots internal 4K RAW (Motion Cam) and A7 IV, erm, doesn't!

But just for kicks I did shoot a RAW still on the Sony to see how it would come out versus the RED (RIP) Hydrogen One. It is not even a very modern smartphone by the standards of 2022. It comes from 3 years ago.

HydrogenOne 4K RAW converted to JPEG:

Sony A7 IV

Yes of course the A7 IV is cleaner in the shadows, I wasn't able to push the phone as far around the wall and tree due to noise, but there's something about the way the dynamic range is handled on the phone I like. I think the A7 IV almost has an HDR effect going on whereas the phone seems more real to me.

It was much easier to do a quick grade that looked nice on the phone as well.

Anyone let me know if any interest in doing a more serious comparison and in downloading the original RAW files if you want to grade them yourselves.

We have evolved into a dangerous form of media that's for sure. It's addictive, truth bending, ADHD and heavily sponsored.

Thinking of starting PhoneRaw.com which will try and get people to take more artistic shots with smartphones and learn the whole workflow of raw, both for stills and video.

If it is time up for traditional cameras (for me at least) then you have to know when to step aside and let the Geralds and Fros take over because you know then it is a bit of a lost cause and not what it was in 2014.

On 4/13/2022 at 9:46 PM, Brian Nguyen said:

hey yall. I just purchased the pack - how do I download it?

After payment the links will show up on the website, if you stay with the page and don't close the tab. And they are emailed too but you might have to check spam folder if it misses the inbox for whatever reason.

Wonder if Motion Cam will have a go at it?

It is basically running on Android the NX1 isn't it.

Got a OnePlus 9 Pro as well.

Put GCam on it and turn HDR+ on with RAW

Results are stunning.

I would like to get this next but seems somebody has destroyed it...

Something that does work is the NX-L so it is full frame now.

With the magic of some bluetac to fool the OS into thinking there is a lens attached (no "shoot without lens" option)

A RAW frame to peep at

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1fPLD7KVWjpLdC9gQEAUjda4vkAdrlweZ?usp=sharing

Bluetac trick:

Might try rooting it then, but not sure there are any custom ROMs so might be stuck with Android 4.2 which is the latest update before they gave up on it!

Some modern apps do still work on it though...

I tried the beta APK of Motion Cam and that doesn't install unfortunately.

Samsung has made the firmwares for their NX camera available to download on their open source site.

https://opensource.samsung.com/uploadSearch?searchValue=hybrid

Calling all Russian hackers by name of Tester13.

Unfortunately no Galaxy NX (Android APS-C mirrorless camera) file but the NX1 is there. Could get interesting for those who know what they're doing.

Developer options can be enabled so will see if it can be rooted.

You could argue this is what the back of most cameras should look like in 2022.

Yeah still got it. Only downside it is Android 4.4 or something so no Motion Cam raw video or newer apps.

It would be a great thing to try and root and to install a modern version of Android on it, but have a feeling might be bit complicated as it probably has a lot of custom hardware, especially the APS-C sensor side of it!

May pop the NX-L on it and a full frame lens and take it for a walkies

Speaking of attempts to bridge the gap...

This definitely should have had more legs than it did!

Lovely huge OLED screen. Full version of Android. SIM card slot.

It was priced crazily high when it came out and photographers stuck their noses up at it because it didn't have a joystick.

Normal people just couldn't afford it or justify it.

But I reckon if they had kept this concept going and made a new slimmer mount than NX, with some nice lenses to go with it and full frame sensor, this would have been a long term winner from Samsung.

That QX thing was definitely ahead of its time.

I can see why nobody bought it though.

Not good enough for enthusiasts. Not slim enough for consumers to pocket on a night out.

8 minutes ago, BTM_Pix said:

They caused this themselves by still even now having terrible integration with phones when the writing has been on the wall for years about how people would make and share imagery.

Indeed that had since around 2014 to do something about it, but when you look at how long Canon and Nikon milked DSLRs, it's easy to see something as radical as a shift to connected devices and apps might be a bit beyond what their management understand.

Sony had Super 35mm size CMOS sensors back in the high-end R1 with live view and back of lens really close to the sensor like a mirrorless camera, all they needed to do was a mount!

Instead they badgered on with DSLRs for 5 whole years until the NEX system came out then didn't bother doing a "proper" mirrorless camera until the full frame A7 in 2013. From 2005 with R1, to 2013 with A7 that is a lot of time lost dicking about isn't it?

I am surprised there is not some sort of dock that in 10 seconds makes a Facebook size proxy of all the shots on your mirrorless camera and puts them in a folder on your smartphone via USB C.

Fast, easy, charges both camera and phone whilst you wait!

Smartphones have done a quiet revolution in the past couple of years with the much larger sensors and huge dynamic range. DR in GCAM computational DNG RAW files rivals the Fuji GFX medium format cams.

If I had my crystal ball out I would say there is going to be a very nice growing filmmaking and enthusiast scene around high-end flagship smartphones.

Super 16mm is back.

7 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

Sure is. 

We had the renaissance just over a decade ago and now we're finally in a different landscape.  In the early 'Aughts consumers really couldn't make cinema level image quality.  I mean, the best we could do back then was rig up those goofy lens adapter machines and film a rotating disc capturing light from vintage lenses with a camcorder.

I completely agree. Would be nice to turn back time, but of course we are where we are.

I think a few things are going on... Shift to social media posts, shorter content, YouTube. Big shift to personalities, clickbait, TV style content, away from magazines, articles, blogs. Shift to Facebook groups instead of forums. Shift to phones instead of laptops. It all encourages a lower quality of discourse and content. The shills and PR industry completely control the popular influencer scene which in itself gobbles up 90% of the attention in the camera community online. It is a dreadful state of affairs.

Then there is the fact that not just the consumer camera market has fallen away, but the entire enthusiast sub-$1000 market as well has gone. In fact there will be no more interesting new cameras under $1500. Lines like the Fuji X-T stuff will soon be over $2000. The existing kit is all really capable especially if you look at eBay. So the Sigma Fp and Panasonic S1 for £1000 is now what enthusiasts on a budget will go for. Not new models. Nothing new can compete with that for same price. So that market is completely gone now. It has been killed by phones AND by itself!

So the days of the $1000 Panasonic GH1 being more creative and better looking than small chip expensive pro camcorders where a one off special era. Nearest modern equivalent I suppose would be to go and buy a Fuji X-T4 instead of a Cinema EOS camera... It isn't the same kind of creative choice. They are both so similar in terms of the image.

So with the affordable stuff dead, and new stuff will be at $2500, $3500 and $5000-$6000. So enthusiast/pros, pros and pros.

That is where the manufacturers are all now concentrated on. It is a high ticket price for entry now to a new camera system with cutting edge new technology.

The other thing is that there are much bigger gaps between camera releases now. GH1 was on a yearly cycle, then 2-years. Now it is not uncommon for 4-5 year gaps.

So behaviour of average enthusiast is probably along the lines of... Search YouTube for general topic, like what is best camera for weddings and video. Salesmen disguised as photographers will advise. Customer will go to B&H or Amazon via an affiliate link and buy the camera. Then talk about it on Facebook and post all the results from it on Instagram. They will not go so deep as to visit a forum like this. It's a shame but that's the way it is.

Behaviour of a pro is more along the lines of, I already know what I want pretty much... Time to upgrade from Nikon D850 to a Z9. Or EOS R5 to R3. Locked in by huge investment in existing lenses. Might occasionally drop by on a blog to read a long article from a fellow professional. Then too busy working and making money to contribute to a forum. Gear and technology fully established and nothing new. Even guys like John Brawley probably don't have much new to say about Blackmagic cameras for the time being. They are definitely less engaged with the regular user online, than they were. Perhaps also partly because of not being able to take criticism or alternative views to their own 🙂

So future for this site?

I don't want to do social media much. Find it boring and frivolous. Prefer to get stuck in to an obsessive big topic and really go for it. Go deep into it. Write a book about it. You can't do that in 180 characters or whatever. It is a drip drip of stills. YouTube is a treadmill you can't get off. I am not sure what future has in store for my livelihood, going to be a big hole in it if EOSHD is obsolete.

7 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

The Sea-change unfolded starting with the 5DII and it was always a wild ride.  Now?  Damn near everyone has a pretty awesome motion picture imaging device.

Yep, but we always want more, never satisfied or fully settled. It is just that with the sheer image quality and capabilities we have now it seems more and more silly to want the next great thing, and we are taking incremental steps rather than seeing any big changes in concept now.

7 hours ago, fuzzynormal said:

I know for myself I'm actually retro and like to play with things well behind the bleeding edge.   For instance, there's not a lot of people in general that would be interested anymore in me hacking another GH1 like I did last week, but in 2010?  Man, that would launch a thread of a 1,000 responses.

Yeah true. The community around that camera was amazingly varied wasn't it? So many subjects to discuss. Whereas I feel with the newer cameras it is always about shopping advice and which one to pick.

Hello everyone.

Forum is 50/50 sharing EOSHD with my content. So half the traffic goes to posts on the forum and half goes to my articles and content.

I would like to make some changes to EOSHD to make it more sustainable and grow again after a difficult period.

1. Definitely want to keep in touch and talk to my mates here on the forum. So not going to close the place down or suddenly let it go dark. How do people feel about a Reddit group or a Discord server, which are more smartphone friendly and a bit more about realtime chat and problem solving compared to a thread on a forum which may stretch over many pages and takes a lot of time to delve into? Maybe a better medium for lighter discussions and chat?

2. Financial side of EOSHD is not good at the moment. The forum might have to make way for the blog to put the attention 100% on my content. I can't see a viable way to make money from the forum. I don't think I want to put advertising everywhere either. If you can suggest a way to fund the forum and keep it going, I'd like to know your thoughts on that.

3. Small number of regular users are creating most of the content. We need to grow. Any ideas related to this very welcome. I can't really get my head around it. A very busy forum has crossed into that dangerous territory where a very small minority of regular users are making 99% of the posts. We need a more diverse range of topics and to not have the few interesting pieces flooded with 20 pages of armchair opinions 🙂

4. How the forum shares the domain with my own content needs to change especially on smartphones. If anyone can suggest new forum software that integrates seamlessly with a blog I am all ears as cannot seem to find any at all.

5. If forum is to come to an end after 11 years, it will because all replacements, shake-ups, redesigns and all ideas are exhausted and it becomes financially unviable for me to run it. I didn't agree at all with the way Cinema5D suddenly dumped their forum. All that info and all those posts in the bin. I didn't know what the rationale was behind it at all. Selling it to Mitch at Planet5D was a complete dick move. People (and their opinions) are not pawns to be traded around for money.

So I am all for constructive criticism on how we can make the forum grow again, be more interesting again and be financially viable.

How can we get some of the members back we lost?

Why are they not interested in posting here any more?

Is the general topic of cameras and video in decline?

And let's look to the positives of this place as well.

What works best? How can we play to our strengths and be relevant?

Over and out.

Andrew

The E-M1 Mark II does 60fps RAW. You get very short clips that you slow down to about 2 sec. max.

Didn't really bother repeating the experiment as you're better off using Magic Lantern or a Sigma Fp.

It has no legs really.

There are so many better options available in 2022.

It actually has a S16 crop mode in 4K