Andrew Reid

Controversy is brewing!

Ever since 2017 the very significant army of Panasonic GH5 fans and Micro Four Thirds users have been waiting for the GH6. They did not all go out and suddenly change to a $4000 Panasonic S1H. Our feedback has been continually piped to Panasonic HQ in Japan about needing a professional editing codec like ProRes, phase-detect AF, 6K, 8K or preferably 4K/120p would be a reasonable expectation versus the Sony A7S III and even an internal RAW codec like Canon now has on the EOS R5. Alas our dreams are probably ended by the fact our dream GH6 camera would have to cost $3000 with all that, minimum – and in the current market who is going to buy a 2x crop sensor camera for that much? Alas the never inaccurate Nokishita has leaked specs which suggest an almost identical camera will be re-released instead, with the same 20 megapixel sensor as 4 years ago. This strongly suggests there will be no GH6 for eager Micro Four Thirds punters to look forward to.

What’s going on? EOSHD takes a closer look.

https://www.eoshd.com/news/disappointing-panasonic-gh5-mark-ii-specs-leak-in-japan-where-is-the-gh6/

5 hours ago, MrSMW said:

MBP make it so easy and yes, you might make a few quid extra selling (or cheaper buying) private, but near zero risk, returns policy, postage/delivery all taken care of and fast.

I bought my used S1H from them recently using their EU division. It arrived from Berlin within 24 hours.

MBP are great. I may offer them the gear I don't manage to sell through a Gear Store on my blog which I'm getting up and running.

I got my 1D C back in the day from them!

eBay is a great shame as there's a lot of very good sellers on there.

But the platform just takes advantage of them and fails them all the time, and we are all getting pretty sick of it.

43 minutes ago, quest said:

Very interested in your Z log for the new Z6 ll... the interanl is 8 bit... with your Z LOG, does internal change to 10 bit? Thank you so very much,

No it remains 8bit. The hardware is only capable of 10bit to an external recorder.

Certainly seems like there's been an uptick of bad behaviour in COVID times recently.

I was also the victim of postal theft in Berlin earlier this year, and my girlfriend was the victim of a serious identity fraud at the same time. Two cases were related. Police didn't bother to link them and never prosecuted.

I even found the guy selling my stolen camera with same serial number and accessories later on eBay classified ads and so I set up a police sting where I arranged to pay cash on collection with him in a public place and he hands over the camera... I went there with the undercover officers and they did their thing. They did absolutely fantastic job, very skilful and forcefully arrested the guy - but as soon as the police bureaucratic detective department gets involved everything goes limp. I still haven't even had the camera back from the police after months as the guy won't admit he was handling stolen goods and now it has to be signed off by a judge.

The back story is when this camera was ordered, it was delivered to a neighbour by incompetent DHL even though I was in. It had the very bad luck to arrive at the same time as the fraudster's goods we didn't know were being ordered from several online shopping sites to our address in Berlin! What I suspect these thugs do, is that they go round ordering a shit ton of expensive stuff on invoice using somebody else's name and address stolen from the internet, and wait for delivery by timing & monitoring it closely via online tracking.

When it arrives they pounce... One of the delivery guys in Berlin was recently chased down a street in an expensive neighbourhood by a guy with an imitation handgun.

In my case, some fucking jewellery the fraudster had ordered using my girlfriend's personal details was intercepted when the criminal sent someone round to bang on our neighbour's door, because DHL helpfully sign posted them to the right neighbour they had dumped the stuff on along with my camera at the same time. A delivery card hung on the outside door facing the pavement. Can you believe it!?! Zero fucks given for secure delivery.

I was even in at the time and DHL didn't bother going up to top floors and knocking on the door. Our stupid neighbour handed over everything without checking for ID and that was that.

Found the empty packaging later ripped open in our staircase and in a neighbouring apartment building.

In this blog post, some poor guy has been through years of handling fraudulent eBay buyers...

https://turbofuture.com/internet/How-To-Scam-People-On-Ebay

He basically says what the tricks are they use. It is so easy.

Pretty much describes the same things happened to me. These people know every trick in the book and know eBay let it fly and that the police don't deem it serious enough to prosecute.

So basically eBay know there is a huge problem and do nothing about it.

As long as buyers keep coming and the billions of revenue keeps stacking up, they literally don't give a toss.

It is obviously a much more flawed platform than I thought and dangerous to trust.

They advertise "Seller protection" on PayPal, etc. It's nonsense. Did't protect me. Didn't protect the other guy.

If you do use eBay to sell expensive cameras I recommend taking everything off it immediately as this is now becoming a common occurrence.

They simply cannot be trusted. I was told one thing by their customer support, then the opposite and never any consistency in the way the cases were handled. It feels like you are being kicked in the head by several people at once including the buyers.

Then there's the uncertainty. If you have a successful sale but some idiot comes back after nearly 1 month to get his refund, what do you do? Do you suddenly have to find a spare £3000 for the refund out of the blue all that time after? What will the state of the valuable be in when it comes back to you? Will it even arrive back with you? Will eBay refund them anyway without them even sending it?

eBay can even directly debit my bank account.

I am thinking of phoning my bank's fraud department and having them block all future payments to eBay and PayPal.

6 hours ago, newfoundmass said:

I agree with a lot of what you wrote, but Gerald isn't allowed to keep the cameras they send him. After he sends them back he has to buy them like everyone else.

He keeps something much more valuable, which is the relationship with Sony.

I do not blame anyone for wanting contacts at Sony or any other company but I'm not buying this 'poor Gerald' is left with nothing idea.

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you're allowed to take part in the lucrative lifting of the press embargo day where YouTube is flooded with stuff

This is an orchestrated sales pitch, coordinated across the internet by one company.

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but Gerald still does his deep dive while everyone else does the typical YouTube lifestyle thing.

It's still a sales pitch. If he isn't seen to be useful, he's out of the gang.

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In an ideal world these channels that have sponsors and generate considerable ad revenue would rent these cameras like many folks used to for their reviews. 

In an ideal world he would go it alone. Buy the cameras himself and not have any PR contacts.

And maybe shoot something too.

I could certainly try opening my own camera store here at EOSHD. Need a clear out and really would hate to be scammed over something like an Iscorama or Leica SL2.

I think I will continue raising some awareness of how dangerous eBay is for sellers and then go my own way.

Thanks for the support guys.

The full story is here:

https://www.eoshd.com/news/story-of-a-fraud-nightmare-sellers-beware-ebay/

6 hours ago, newfoundmass said:

Yep. It would seem that they agree to send you something even though you tell them you'll only do a video on it if you like it. Then they badger you about it.

Obvious this is wrong of Small Rig but I just think nearly all companies are pulling similar stunts and content creators are happy to enable it in 99% of situations.

I don't know this guy but it's good he has spoken out.

But it is a bit like watching two sales people arguing about principals.

If this was Sony sending him a free A7S III would he have called them out for blackmail?

If Canon had sent him an EOS R5 but he didn't like the overheating, is this blackmail when they expect content from him?

It is the unspoken rule.

If you want free stuff, they expect you to return the favour and do your part.

Is it a quid-pro-quo when nobody complains and blackmail when somebody does?

No they are the same thing really.

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A not so subtle way of telling you that if you want free stuff you have to play ball.

The only difference between Sony with Gerald Undone and Small Rig with this guy is the degree of subtleness.

So it's blackmail when they don't like the product enough to do a video.

But THIS RIG WILL BLOW YOU AWAY *shocked face* if they do?

Yes I have confirmed this with Nikon's technical representative too

https://www.eoshd.com/news/nikon-z6-ii-firmware-update-fix-for-eoshd-z-log-and-custom-picture-profiles-in-4k-60p/

All is fixed!

Version 1.20 firmware on the Z6 II / Z7 II notes from Nikon -

https://www.eoshd.com/news/nikon-z6-ii-firmware-update-fix-for-eoshd-z-log-and-custom-picture-profiles-in-4k-60p/

It officially contains a fix for Z-LOG in 4K/60p and 50p where frame flickering / white frame corruption was occurring at these higher frame rates.

You can now use the custom profile again in all modes!

On 4/12/2021 at 11:49 AM, Wren said:

Tried these picture profiles also and same issue

I've been in touch with Nikon. Let's see what they say.

They need to put a technical person in touch with me rather than PR, so I am waiting on them now...

Yes you can use Z-LOG at very low ISOs, no problem. Either external or internal.

25 mins doesn't sound right to me. How's the battery health reporting?

Fuji smartphone printer?

I know which one I'd use.

This is a very small premium to jump from 24MP to 61MP by the way. That is class leading resolution. I am not suggesting this is the right camera for video users, but they did their best not to sacrifice anything on that side either. It still does 12bit 4K RAW, which is pretty amazing from 61MP. The A7R IV doesn't do that does it? Yet Sony charge a much bigger premium for high resolution, compared to the standard model A7 III.

So for a lot of landscape photographers this is going to be a great deal, and for a lot of cine shooters who also need a compact high resolution camera (medium format league resolution!) what is the alternative exactly?

6 hours ago, nathlas said:

I trully respect him.

You can still disagree with someone you respect, you know.

On 4/18/2021 at 3:17 PM, Hayk said:

I am just curious, is there any websites which allow to purchase camera, lenses, video accessories in cryptocurrency? 

None that I know of.

What would be the advantages?

Crypto is for two things... Invest as a speculative long term hold... And for private untraceable transactions. Why do you need to secretly buy a camera? 🙂

19 minutes ago, currensheldon said:

Yes, the Youtube influencer machine is awful, but Gerald is the least offensive offender. He does all technical reviews, true, but at least he does a thorough and honest job. Only CVP is anywhere close to the usefulness of his reviews from a pure tech standpoint.

I have nothing against him as a person, in fact has done some very informative stuff, and I've praised him for it in the past... just think he is part of the same machine, and that in the case of the Fp series he hasn't given it a fair crack of the whip. It is a direction for the internet overall that I'm just not too glad about. It is becoming just all powerful brands paraded on TV, brands influencing the influencer, and the incredibly anodyne nature of the personalities bores me to death... to the point of provoking them even, just to see if there is a real person there.

I also don't get the same filmmaking inspiration I do from tech guys as I do from an actual Dp. It's what makes Bloom so persuasive - the pretty pictures - makes people overlook the person he actually is in my opinion, but we won't get into that again.

I find it strange. Sigma created a new concept, first full frame mirrorless camera with internal 4K RAW recording.

Gerald didn't even review it.

And now this, with the follow-up model that is a sensor swap for landscape photographers.

Bit odd I think.

1 hour ago, Alan Halfhill said:

the one fatal flaw with the FP series viewfinder is that it does not pass through the HDMI. Use it while a director has a monitor. NO. While client has a monitor. NO. When sending a wireless signal to video village. No.

Picking right tool for the job instead YES

3 hours ago, Video Hummus said:

To be fair Gerald’s audience isn’t who the fp camera is for and he knows it.

I was recently looking at the fp-L + tiny sigma 24mm f3.5 as a small b-cam and backup high-megapixel photo camera (electronic shutter not an issue for my use case).

I agree the 61MP sensor in such a small body is pretty cool and the ability to strip it down by taking off a modular grip and EVF is attractive. Lots of options.

I would still like to see a bit more ecosystem pop up before I drop some money. 

Why not review the one that was for his audience instead then?

Maybe next he will do a review of a Hasselblad film camera and complain it can't shoot video.

It depends what you plan to shoot with it. Far from ideal for certain situations. Brilliant for others... And silent too.

Mechanical shutters will be obsolete within 5 years.

If we concern ourselves about most reviews, most sales, most people, we may as well give up filmmaking.