ntblowz

Matching Iphone colour to Arri... quite close!
 
 

The phone arrived today as expected and I've had a few minutes to play around with the camera. I shot a short test scene using ProRes RAW and ProRes 422 in the Blackmagic app. Here's a quick look at the footage with just Resolve's Apple Log 2 CST applied. Very first observations:
 
Open gate is only available in RAW or RAW HQ RAW can only recorded to an external drive. I have a great Magsafe SSD that I use for this. Sensor stabilization is not available in either raw mode Resolve is super sluggish with the raw files unlike ProRes RAW or BRAW files from my S1ii. I hope this gets optimized The normal raw controls are there and the footage is very flexible as you'd expect I used Resolve's built in Apple Log 2 CST for the test https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97PPh276M4o

Mid season report.
Actually, I am nearing end of season with just 2 more jobs to go this year until June next…which is quite normal for me.
The TDLR is I almost love it…
Why ‘almost’? 
I’ll get to that…
The Good =
The body design actually. Yes I would rather Lumix had moved to a body style more like the FX3, but I guess they thought that might scare photographers who expect a hump. Whatever the reason, it’s not as innovative as it could have been and despite not having a top screen, really is like a smaller S1H in the hand and IMO, that is a good thing. In my hands, with no battery grip or any other adornment other than the smallest Senheisser mic, it feels just right in terms of size, weight, build, comfort, ergos.
It’s a true hybrid. It would be even better with an internal electronic VND, but hey ho, maybe that will come with the S1H2? With 5x C1-5 custom settings and a simple photo-video switch, it’s fabulous for hybrid work. I don’t even use all 5 photo and 5 video settings, but have it set up basically as: landscape photo, portrait/candid outdoor, portrait/candid indoor and low-light, all with a starting f stop, aperture, WB, ISO and equivalent matching settings for video so it’s actually only one flick of a switch to flip between video and stills in any given scenario. Brilliant.
The sensor. 44mp. Perfect 👌 for me sweet spot between the more traditional 24mp and the 100mp of the bigger MF sensors. Suits both photo and video.
Video files and capability. I shoot 7.2k 30p open gate and the file sizes are not huge or slow to work with. With baked in conversion LUT, SOOC I love them. Yes raw would be even better, but an almighty faff and overkill for my needs. The open gate allows any number of crops, 30p a 20% reduction in speed on a timeline and the 7.2k quite a bit of scope for punching in etc. Having said that, not fully edited a finished production yet but I have checked and edited a few bits here and there and it’s even better than the 6K I was using before which itself was better than the 4K from Lumix FF cameras so thumbs up.
The Not So Good =
Battery life is pretty poor. I’ve always scoffed at people reporting poor battery life and never experienced it on any camera. Until now. It’s not great, but a spare battery in my pocket at all times is how I now roll and is what it is.
AF accuracy for video is good but not Sony level. Ditto for photo. Having come directly from an A7RV, I’d give the nod to the Sony for ultimate outright stills quality and AF, but the S1RII gets the nod for video and body.
I don’t think there is anything else other than I have a pair of them matched with the 35mm f1.8 on one and the 85mm f1.8 on the other.
The S9 is on lighter duties of video only, mostly longer than clips and sometimes even full length ceremonies and speeches and has only overheated once and that was on a very hot day in direct sunlight. The S1RII by the way, I have never even had a warning and has never got hot to touch, - just the usual warmth you might expect shooting a thing all day long. I may replace the S9 next year with an S1IIE for a bit more robustness and utility, but waiting to see if any S1H2 appears before doing that, if I do that. Almost certainly will trade the Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 for the new Lumix 24-60mm f2.8 next year as I think it will suit my needs better and appears to offer better AF and detail/rendering.
S5II soldiers on in its static role and just does what I need it to do. I do need to find a way to get rid of the battery grip and the heavy tripod however and working on that…
So ‘almost’ love it. It’s the battery life and good but not stellar AF plus the less than exciting body design that drops it 2 points for me so I’ll give it an 8/10.
Along with the Z8, probably the best all round hybrid camera available today? At least for my needs. Taking into account lens options and prices.

Somehow I missed this promo short film, its kinda brilliant in how it showcases a lot of the features in a pretty creative narrative, really liking the overall image from this new sensor:
 

No translation, but you don't need to.
 

Or is Mackey playing Depp playing Mackey...

I feel like this is a supercharged version of Sigma Fp

Na never, they are format standard competitors

I feel like this is a supercharged version of Sigma Fp

It's official! 🤯
https://x.com/Blackmagic_News/status/1965611991441252600

Recording 2 different ratio (1:1/16:9/9:16 etc) to 2 card... that is something new! 

Recording 2 different ratio (1:1/16:9/9:16 etc) to 2 card... that is something new! 

Nikon rumors have the image, that screen look quite big.
Not sure if this one have fan cause I didn't see any air vent

Time to revive that 18-135mm usm with power zoom add on.
 
With that thickness and lots of vent this one wont be overheating at all, Lumix really need to take a cue on it

You are welcome. 
 

There is, car wobble, and thermal won't be as good as sensor sticking directly to thermal plate.

There is, car wobble, and thermal won't be as good as sensor sticking directly to thermal plate.

53 minutes recording 6k 30p continuously 31 degrees Celsius in the shade before the heat warning came on but it kept rolling and the speech ended before I got to experience a shutdown.
Not too shabby!

You forgot Chris and Jordan LOL

Casey Neistat and Candice?
Matt Granger and his 200/2 Nikkor?
DSLR video shooter and his entire camera studio attached to a rolling lightstand?
Gerald Undone and his own ego (or Sony?)?
Bloomie and his cats?
The Camera Conspiracies guy and his most 3d popping lens?
Snapchick and Raymond?
Cam Mackey and yellow-toned footage of cars driving around in the sand?
Pooter McCubbins and ugly poorly-made leather goods?
Potato Jet and his FPV drone?
Matti H and Pooter McCubbins' leftover views?
Mathieu Stern and other peoples' lens adapter ideas?
FroKnowsPhoto and his Canon rep?
 

Cue all those who recently made, ‘Why I moved to Lumix’ pieces on YouRube gushing over the S1II, scrabbling for a piece of the Canon pie. Or Nikon pie. There’s 24 hours between the two so plenty of time to choose which ship to jump to next.

Received the V780H EVF today to try with my Canon C70 (and Feelworld F5PROX monitor) but unfortunately I can't get it working properly with these devices. I've tried powerin the EVF via the included HDMI voltage injector (5V via USB, using several USB power supplies) but this didn't make a difference. Canon C70 HDMI out is set to 1080p and "Linked to HDMI Monitor" is set to "Off".
Canon C70 -> EVF = not working
Canon C70 -> HDMI voltage injector -> EVF = not working
Canon C70 -> FeelWorld -> EVF = working, but EVF image is strobing/flickering
The EVF itself does work when connected to my MacBook (but I wasn't able to make it work with the FeelWorld monitor in between.
MacBook HDMI -> EVF = working (1920x1080@60fps)
MacBook HDMI -> FeelWorld -> EVF = not working (resolution 960x540@60fps, 1920x1080@60fps, 1920x1080@60fps (low resolution))

Had a fun time trying out my X-M5 micro cinema rig on a low budget, 3 day music video shoot last week. No overheating or issues of any kind shooting 6.2k prores raw in open gate mode to an Ninja V+. Insane what this little guy can do for an $800 purchase (body). 
 
 

That is all.  Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Had one of my first intense shoots with the S9; this was a concert with a well-known rapper in the Christian Music scene.  Used the Panasonic S9 with my Sigma 18-35 (haven't sold it yet).  So was using the APSC crop mode; honestly this is a great faux-APSC camera, image quality still phenominal and noise performance isnt bad.  I filmed using the 3.3k 4:3 mode which is lovely and allowed me to really easy make a 9:16 edit while still framing for 16:9 or 2:35:1 as well.  It's nice too that I can do 48p or 60p without a FOV increase.  I am content with this mode so don't have a massive urge to sell my Sigma 18-35 and get proper full frame glass.  Eventually i will though.  Double aspect ratio markers on the S9 is sweet; I had a 2:35:1 AND 9:16 aspect ratio marker going at once making framing for both mediums so easy.  IBIS is so good; I filmed 90% with e-stabilization set to high; this did crop pretty heavy but you forget about it when shooting, and the performance was so good I rarely had to post-stabilize and could easily replicate gimbal tracking shots with a heel-toe walk and holding the camera a bit loosely.  The cage and hand-grip definitley helps, and I don't find the camera to be uncomfortable; the Sigma 18-35 is definitely front heavy, but the setup is still a lot more comfortable than my old Z6 with the Atomos Ninja V bolted on.  I will say over time the smallrig handle seems to come slightly loose so i have to tighten it every now and then, but when not shooting I also tend to hold the camera in one hand by the grip.  
Other notes:
Battery life is great.  Only used two batteries for the entire shoot filming multiple concerts over a few hours.  Didnt' even fully run through the second.
Lack of viewfinder is not a dealbreaker for me as I only do video; screen could use to be a bit brighter but still usable in direct sunlight.
The rear dial feels so cheap; you can easily nudge it half-way between its click points.  I don't like it.  At least it's very functional.  I do find the function button placements to be good, and i can efficiently change settings.  A joystick would have been cool. 
Lack of hot-shoe a non-issue for me as I am 98% video.  If I really need it I can whip out my Nikon Z6 for photo work.
Camera never overheated once, and it was a very hot day.
 
Definitely love this camera.  I do see myself picking up an S5 II on ebay down the line, but I don't see myself ever needing anything better; just would like weather sealing and a more robust build.  But the S9 is still totally usable as an A-CAM and can work really well in that capacity if your needs are comparable to mine.  Given that I paid $860, its easy to overlook the flaws of this camera.