Andrew Reid

🤯 So some early doors impressions of the Nikon... It's been out a while so I won't get into the specs again. The overwhelming impression is that Nikon are mad bastards. It's as if they have taken the Z9 and gone... right let's make this better and reduce price by a lot. Everything about it I prefer to the Z9. The price, the size, the newer features and firmware updates since launch which I am discovering for first time since I sold my Z9 a couple of years back. Size wise, it's barely larger than my EOS R5. Weight is impressive given the slightly oversized body vs the Sony cameras. It feels chonky but light at same time which is a nice feeling. I am reminded how well the Nikon Z mount filter stack works at fast apertures. The manual glass I have like the Voigtlander 40mm F1.2 VM is like a different lens on the Z8 compared to the EOS R5 and Sony a7 IV. The glowing edges are gone at F1.2 and less fringing too. F1.2 looks almost as good as F2! I have gone deep into the menus and decided that there's absolutely nothing missing. The different levels of compression for both RAW stills AND RAW video is refreshing especially coming from Panasonic where's there's only ProRes RAW with very large file sizes or uncompressed Cinema DNG on the Sigma Fp-L. Nikon with the RED patent clearly will lead the RAW video codec race for perhaps the next 10 years or more. I want to do a comparison in 4K (where you can toggle between pixel binning / oversampling!) between the higher bitrate N-RAW and 700Mbit/s smaller file size N-RAW. Of course ProRes RAW is also in there. No mechanical shutter doesn't seem to be a problem so far and you can make it do a cute beep when taking a shot instead of a tacky fake shutter sound. Rather a quiet or optionally silent stills camera than one with a loud average shutter clack... although I will one day miss the 'feel' of a quiet mechanical shutter with a satisfying heft. X-H1, Leica SL2, GFX 100, to name a few. There are still a few mechanical sounds coming from the Z8. And one of them is actually quite annoying... It parks / locks the IBIS mechanism to save power / protect the camera every time you enter the main menu. It parks it with quite a loud clank and unlocks with a similar clank when it activates again. Wish there was a way to turn that off without disabling VR. The only other mechanical part is the sensor protection curtain which comes down at power-off, but you can choose whether to have that off or not. The EVF is enormous. In optical terms the best I've ever used. In resolution terms, perhaps not the absolute most detailed but right up there. Can you use it for manual focus at F1.2 without peaking? Absolutely. There's not this feeling you are looking through a tunnel. It's smooth, high contrast, a big FOV flat with no distortion. The rolling shutter appears to be a complete non-issue and there's no crop whatsoever in 4K/120p. Not tried the 8K/60 yet. I have a few 512GB CFexpress cards to test. Got a feeling I might need to go bigger. I am glad I resisted the tempting Nikon Zf. Only thing I am unsure about is whether the Z8 shares the same level of locked-down IBIS performance in video mode as the Zf, as that was quite incredible. Also tested the Nikon 28-200mm travel zoom which has been reduced recently to around 650 euros. I am surprised how small it is and how light. Sure, it's slow at f4-6.3 but it seems pretty sharp and nifty as a shot getter. The 28-75mm F2.8 Nikon Z is also incredibly small and light for a bright zoom. Not tried the Sigma ART E-mount range yet via the Megadap adapter but those are next up.

BMPCC original was niche, but cheap. £1200 I seem to remember back in 2012? Sigma BF... best friend... is like the original BMPCC. Affordable niche artistic tool.

Maybe you can use memes instead, I put a GIF button in.

Depends which Sony camera. Which firmware of Metabones. Which mode. Which era. Which year. The Sigma MC-11 has been practically flawless since 2017. Metabones also evolved into a bullet proof experience. The same is not true for the S5 II in my experience, with the Sigma MC-21. It's ok, good-ish, but not at same level as Sony. Also using E-mount lenses on Z-mount with the Megadap adapter is like a native lens experience. But you can't bring any E-mount lenses to L. The flange distance is too long.

It's the only way to stand up against a fascist dictatorship, you can't do it like the democrats with their little slogans and signs, and Micro Four Thirds cameras... You have to have a warship, and a big bazooka on the front.

Am starting to feel we are maybe a bit off the S1R Mark II trail and half way to new zealand. Please remember the other users... They click an S1R II topic and want concise info about it. It's fine to have the occasional diversion in a topic but this stuff is taking it too far my friend. And it's not a one off. I don't speak for myself but for the average lurker. It is really annoying for them to have to scroll through so much off topic chatter.

I'm happy for him to go with his native language and we can have a button in the toolbar. But it's entirely up to him 🙂

I agree the original S5, and S1 have a lovely image. Both great for the price. 10bit codecs. S1R with 4K/60p only a 1.1x crop. They should be in my top 10 but I still don't think they suit as many people as an E-mount or Z-mount camera. Sigma Fp OG should be in my list as well but again it's more of a niche tool. The S5 and S1 practically have no autofocus to speak of. The non-nerds I speak to regularly complain about it and want to switch to Sony. The S5 also has a very pokey little EVF, which makes the S1 a better deal as they're both around 800 used. But the S1 compared to a Sony a7r III or a7 III is clunky... heavy, too large, bad AF, wrong mount in most people's eyes, and doesn't play well with adapters. Whereas the Z6 has the same sensor, very similar image quality, but much better ergonomics, is smaller, lighter, excellent AF, and I believe most people would pick the latter qualities over just having 10bit codecs.

I would love to know how EF to L-mount is better than EF to E-mount for autofocus performance. On all the contrast detect L-mount cameras Canon lenses are unusable even with the Sigma MC-21. On the S5 Mark II I had numerous issues and poor performance in low light. Tried the Commlite adapter and Sigma MC-21. Also the Novoflex EF adapter for L mount which was so bad I ended up covering the pins with tape and using it for MF. And once you try the Techart EA-9 for manual focus lenses you will never go back... it's so nice setting lens to infinity and using back-button for AF with something like a Canon FD lens or a small Leica M 35mm, especially for stills work and this is something you just don't have on L-mount, although there is a spin-off Fotodiox clone for Fuji X.

Has anyone got a translator?

Full frame fixed lens camera please, half price of a Leica Q OG.

Firstly in no particular order... Sony a7r III That 42MP sensor is not the same as the a7r II which brought 4K to the masses, it had some sort of significant update. Low light is much cleaner, less moire, and they sorted the colour science too. The only reason the a7r III doesn't get more attention is the a7 III is even cheaper for under $800 second hand, and although I prefer the lovely wide dynamic range 42MP sensor for stills, the a7 III has the edge in 4K with the oversampling and no aliasing. Panasonic S9 I am seeing this just nudge under 1000 quid used and I think that's a lot of camera you're getting. It may be in the form factor of tin of Spam but if you don't need an EVF, the best autofocus, or long record times, it'll give you a really nice image in 6K and has a fun factor too. Real-Time LUTs a great feature. Canon... got to choose a Canon You know what I think it's the EOS M6 Mark II. It's cheap and although it's a 'dead' mount I think it has something of a 'GH2' spirit about it and the 4K ain't terrible. Full frame camera however, I don't really know if there is one... R6 is still comfortably above 1000 smackers. And it's heavily cripple hammered for video. The RP and R8 I just think are a bit naff. If you think of one in the comments let me know. Full frame 4K, under 1000 USD. Olympus OM-1 I picked up mine in mint condition for 950 euros. Definitely the cheapest way to get such a wide feature set and stacked sensor. It does more than some $6000 flagship cameras! Plus the ergonomics and overall speed are superb. Sony a9 Again the cheapest way to get a stacked sensor, full frame this time. I have seen these go for just under £1000 which is crazy. For stills you're not lacking much even vs the a9 III. Autofocus speed and reliability is SUPERB. For video it has a very good image, but the lack of Picture Profiles / S-LOG cripple hammer to save the A7S II's neck (back in 2017) means it is a bit feature limited on the video side. The codec is actually quite good though, even though it's good old 8bit H.264 100Mbit. Fujifilm X-T4 The best image on any APS-C camera for the price be it stills or video. There's also the X-H1, but the X-T4 has a lot of big improvements... 10bit, faster, better RS, newer sensor, no crop in 4K, the list is quite long. Nikon Z6 This isn't just under 1000 but under 700. And for that price it's a steal. It has aged well. BIG AND DETAILED EVF. No crop in 4K. An excellent sensor with fantastic high ISO performance. No 10bit N-LOG internal but the Nikon Flat profile grades well, there's also EOSHD Z-LOG 🙂 That's all off the top of my head, and if I were to rank them it would be: 1. a7r II - because of the resolution, and the fact that E-mount has the best lenses and best adapters. 2. a9 - it's easily the fastest full frame camera for the price 3. OM-1 - All the modern features for cheap 4. Nikon Z6 - It's better than an a7 III 5. Panasonic S9 - Maybe the best video quality of the whole bunch but the stills side is too limited with no mechanical shutter, EVF and a mediocre AF system. 6. X-T4 - Still the best bang for buck APS-C choice in 2025. 7. Canon EOS M6 Mark II - Fun camera, 32 megapixel stills, ok 4K, great colour science and under $700.

Nice piece this. I'll give him a sub.

Hmm, what could this possibly be telling them? (S1H Mark II is not enough - they need a Cinema line, and a mirrorless line, and a compact cinema camera) I would also like a Similar to FX3 cutting out warship. Micro Single Form cameras like the GH7 or the Macro Single Form cameras like S1H? Lost in translation this part! No thanks! Are users really asking for 8K/120p or is this all in Panasonic's head? Translation... the pro AV department was basically closed and remaining staff merged into the consumer division. Well an unknown date in the future is better late then never I suppose!!

Will it be 7 years again?

Depends on the person of course but these are not generally regarded as significant features. The Pixel Shift hi-res I believe has been added in firmware already. The live-view composite stuff - do you mean for stills? You can do that in post. Waveforms, false colour, the screen is too small for this not to be a mess. This is what you should use an external monitor for and the screen on the back of a mirrorless camera should always be clutter free so you can feel and see exactly what you're shooting creatively. I don't use peaking for same reason. Anamorphic modes, yes Nikon and Sony need to come to the table there, I think they consider it too much of a niche though! 100g heavier oh dear my back is breaking.

Nice for the 2.3x crop mode on the Z8 Now all they need to work on is a decent release mechanism on these thin adapters!

Not even AI can do that 🙂

I know I wang on a lot about the Z8 but if any camera underscores exactly where Panasonic have gone wrong, it's that one. 1. Nikon have formed a close custom-sensor relationship with Sony Semi. Panasonic have not bothered, they have gone in as a customer taking stuff off the shelf. 2. Both Panasonic and Nikon have had to start afresh with a new mount. Panasonic had a head start. The L-mount Leica SL came out ages ago. Yet it is Z-mount that attracts me most, as a long-time Panasonic and Micro Four Thirds user. Why is this? The Leica-M mount autofocus adapter from Techart. The Megadap Sony E-mount adapter. The complete lack of any requirement for me to suddenly invest trillions in native mount lenses. Thank you Techart and Megadap. Thank you Z-mount for having the physical and technical attributes that make it so flexible. 3. $3000 mint condition used camera vs $3600 new. OK, so the extra $600 gets you an S1R II but there's no point because it's worse than the $3000 mint condition camera. That's partly because of point 1. Panasonic's off the shelf sensor is behind what Nikon put out 3 years ago with the Z9 which formed the basis for the cheaper Z8. 4. Need and desire issues... I don't exactly have the creative need for what's on offer from them. Again that comes down to the fact that the Z8 and Sony a7r V exist and have done for more than a year! 5. Loss of unique selling points. Again, apart from anamorphic modes, Panasonic don't have much that isn't offered elsewhere. Even Fuji has open gate now. 6. Autofocus. It's been a shitshow. The late introduction of phase-detect AF has softened the blow a bit but it still doesn't work reliably enough. Especially with adapters like the Sigma MC-21. 7. Internal RAW codec situation is iffy. ProRes RAW has crazy large file size and there's no other choice. Panasonic should have at least licensed BRAW for it. Again the comparisons here with Nikon are relevant, due to the REDcode patent situation where clearly Nikon have the upper hand in future development of internal RAW video codecs. 8. Marketing. The Z8 is not pigeonholed with an H, an R, or an S. It is clearly a D850 replacement. This means flagship performance for less money than one. Now this is a philosophy Panasonic have clearly tried with the S1R II and in terms of the specs sheet they have almost succeeded in matching Canon's 2020 model, even down to the overheating. 9. Marketing. The S1R II is sold as a hybrid, when it is the S1H which is supposed to be the hybrid. The S1H Mark II release date continues to be highly speculated at, so why would I buy the S1R II for hybrid use if it might be made obsolete in 6 months by an S1H II? 10. Marketing. When the social media brigade were jetted out to catch hypothermia in Norway, I was not kept in the loop as a long time high profile Panasonic customer, and it was the same for the GH7 launch and S9. I can't help but feel a little bit personally insulted by not so much even a demo camera to try at home, or an email with someone saying Hello, or perhaps an offer to do some feedback / interviews. Point 10 however in no way makes me more or less biased when it comes to the objective reality that Panasonic are fucking up.

My Dear E it is sometimes hard to understand what you mean. Do you mean Blackmagic are a synonym of Leica/expensive? Surely not. Blackmagic Pocket series is made of hardened polyester, and has the fun factor of a wheelie bin. Whereas the Sigma Bf is as if Apple themselves have entered the full frame market.

How's the autofocus in video mode with that jolly combo? I used to have the 32-64, it's a spectacular lens, virtually flawless. Is there a Super 35mm / clear image zoom crop style mode? I know, a bit silly on a GFX camera but curious if you can use some anamorphic adapters on there with a crop.

I think Panasonic just need to show a bit of creativity and throw a bit of weight behind the new stuff, they have clearly had to deal with some budget and R&D cutbacks, also perhaps the retirement of some of the old guard engineers from the earlier days. The marketing and product strategy is the biggest problem though, from my point of view. The lenses side is a disaster. It's so important to get this right when establishing a new mount. Mistakes too numerous to mention with L-mount, with the latest being the S9 launch with a pinhole F8 lens rather than waiting 2 months for the compact 16mm zoom to be ready to sell with it from the off. In terms of creativity, they've spent too long trying to imitate Sony's product strategy but in a weird way. So the S1 was to be the 'basic' model like the a7, except now it isn't... So the S5 came along instead, and the S1 appears to be dead. Imagine if Sony had introduced the original a7, left it there on the shelf for 5 years and then replaced it with an a5? Instead Sony built a big system around one badge... a7 is now a huge range of stuff. a7r, a7c, a7s, and the flagships are different numbers so you can tell that they're different. a1 and a9. Right down to the "R" models, and an a7s type model for video (S1H) Panasonic has tried to mimic the basic strategy of the a7 cameras but mishandled the implementation. For a start the S1H should have been "Cinema Lumix" branded so people understood it had cinema features not just video. Still missing from the range are any a7c rangefinder style bodies, R or otherwise! We have the s9 but it isn't equipped with an EVF. The S1R Mark II is NOT a bad camera. I repeat NOT. Neither is the S9, it's great fun. It is the circumstances around them which are the problem and I believe will kill its chances on the market vs other brand options both new and used. I also think that if you're going to start finally after 7 years also copying the sensible Sony approach of unified ergonomics and similar body designs / sizes aka Sony a7 III vs a9, or a7 IV vs a1, and now the latest evolution with the a9 III and a1 II, don't fucking use your cheapest most uninspired-to-use entry level body as the basis for this. Yeah, yeah I know Sony started the same way, but this was in 2012! The standard of Sony's rivals to the S5 and S1R now (the a7 IV and a7r V) are at a much higher level than the entry level 2012 a7 / a7r series, they're a decades worth of evolution. Panasonic has only evolved the S5 body once, and now the S1R II is lumbered with it a gen 2 design when it should by now have been a gen 4 or 5. That is to say, the S1R II should have evolved from 2018 onwards from the original flagship, NOT a pause and THEN stuffed into a mid-range body. It's the same with the G9 II... Great camera, great spec, totally uninspired body design with angular sharp edges and weird button placement. Rear jog dial is also shite. This is the sort of thing the Japanese kaizen is supposed to iron out over the years. They are not like Apple where they come out with a really strong design straight off the bat, they are iterative designers. Considering Panasonic started with mirrorless cameras before anybody else, they have had enough time to refine things. But I think the problem is they have chopped and changed so often, it's as if they start from scratch every few years. Let's consider the evidence... GH1/GH2 - lovely small intuitive cameras, and yeah, filmmaker's kept saying they were like toys, too much plastic but could have evolved into something really nice with the same compact design, just with higher quality materials and an AF joystick. The basic layout was fantastic. Instead they were COMPLETELY thrown out for the GH3 / GH4 body design, the 'pro' DSLR look. OK fine, so this was 2013 and now you have 10 years to evolve a set mirrorless camera concept... but no. These evolved only once into the GH5 which was a lot better but then they chucked that out as well and started again with the clunky GH6, thick vents and all. And look at the G9... Why throw out the original design for the S5 body? They have scrapped more camera concepts than Fran in Barcelona.

Sony made Canon users switch in the DSLR days in huge quantities. It can be done. The amount of Metabones EF adapters sold was extraordinary. They were EVERYWHERE in 2014-18. Now it is harder to switch from some mounts to others. And I'm afraid it's harder to switch to L-mount than others. This is because with Nikon Z-mount you can bring the Sony lenses over and they work perfectly. You can also bring the Canon EF stuff over to Sony and Nikon, again perfect with a Metabones, Sigma MC-11 or Fringer. The EF lenses on L-mount forget about it. They work terribly. The reliability is wonky even on the phase-detect Panasonic bodies. That's with Sigma MC-22. L-mount even makes it difficult for existing Panasonic users to switch to Panasonic. Micro Four Thirds anyone? Ah yes. This makes sense. I don't agree I'm afraid on this however, the best value is Sony. You can get an a7 IV for S5 II prices and it's a far superior camera in terms of beginners who need reliable autofocus and cheap lenses like the Sony FE 28mm F2. LOL you can't say that it makes no logical sense to say that because some prefer new, used prices are irrelevant. It is very relevant to a LOT of people. My Z8 has a shutter count of 600 and is mint. A far better deal than spending $800 more on a new one. I agree it's about the system, and lenses. Not one camera will spring them into pole position. But wait a minute... Panasonic WERE in pole position once upon a time in mirrorless land. They had 100% market share with Micro Four Thirds before Sony came along, and then the rest. That system, Micro Four Thirds was the textbook example of a good camera ecosystem. Wide range of lenses at all price brackets. Huge range of third party lenses - Sigma, Voigtlander, Tamron, SLR Magic. Very attractive camera and lens prices, good bang for buck. The timing and rhythm was far better too. In the earlier days we had a new GH series cameras every 2 years. Firmware updates have never been a problem for Panasonic, they bang them out with enthusiasm. But it's the full frame era where they have lost the plot. Even when the original S5 came out (2021 was it?) I had the feeling that they should really have done an S1R II in reply to the EOS R5 a year earlier. That they have left it to 2025 is just nuts.

The business case is pretty good. I think $2k for a boutique unique concept camera is pretty decent, considering it's obviously going to be made in smaller quantities than most cameras at $2k, with higher quality materials too. If it were Leica they'd be charging $5k for it. Also a lot of people, myself included are quite hungry for pocket sized full frame cameras. Otherwise the Leica Q3 would not be doing as well as it is. And they are FUN. The Sigma BF is quite unique, it's not got a lot of competition. The Panasonic S9 is quite different, it doesn't have the artisan looks or handling, or the high quality workmanship, or the innovative control scheme and it doesn't have the uniqueness either. What it does have is IBIS and a very competitive price. The Sony RX1 / RX1R originals are very nice, but both have a very old sensor and old autofocus. It's contrast detect and the video mode is as primitive as it gets. The RX1R II meanwhile is the same price as the BF used, and although it has a 4K capable sensor only heavily line-skipped 1080p is enabled. The Leica Q series are all more expensive than the BF, Q2 and 3 by a considerable amount... i.e. up to 3x more!! Yet the BF is more versatile due to the interchangeable lens mount. The X100 VI is another competitor, which also goes for around $2k due to the hyped up demand and shit supply. But it ain't full frame. If the 6K video on the BF is at least as good as the Panasonic S9, then out of the RX1R II, Leica Q2 and X100 VI, it takes the cake for image quality. Although I'd have to compare it to the Q3 more closely I dare say it has some advantages on that as well especially in low light. Only downsides for me are: The missing IBIS and EVF. The seemingly missing Sigma Fp-L video features like Cinema DNG. But the BF does have a real H.265 10bit LOG profile finally, rather than just Flat as with the Fp cameras which somewhat makes up for lack of raw.

Just came across this while searching for a C-mount adapter for the Nikon Z8. https://www.amazon.de/-/en/BORYOZA-FX-Z-AF-Adapter-Fujifilm/dp/B0CPBRTMTX/ Crazy if that works as well as the Sony E-mount adapter from Megadap / Techart, with full AF and electronic control.