ntblowz

Sony had a far better idea about how to graft an RX100 to an Xperia over eight years ago now.

And it used the whole sensor.
Typical Sony, give them an inch and they'll take 40% of it off you.

It doesn't stack up today because the computational photography, quad bayer and high-speed readouts have overcome the shortcomings of smaller sensors. That's pretty much why, when the iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max came out, nobody could tell the difference in the images! That's despite the 12 Pro Max having a considerably larger sensor.
Quad bayer is an important step, makes bigger difference than upping the chip size and pixel size.
Currently the best image quality in smartphone land is:
Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra
Huawei P40 Pro Plus
In that order.
I have the Xperia 1 II and it's got a decent main sensor in it and natural image processing. It's nothing all that special though and the other camera modules are very middle of the road in that.
I can shoot 1/5 at ISO 100 in low light on the Mi 11 Ultra, in RAW, and the shots are pin sharp. The reviews didn't do it justice, they don't know how to do anything but point and shoot. It's got a lot of unexplored options and a Pro mode, and if you turn HDR to manual, most of the time it's better off off. Also for the best JPEG/HEIFs you need to disable RAW.
Anyway it is interesting to see where this stuff is going.
With the Cinema video modes and such advanced photo features.
Still looking to branch off my interest from EOSHD and mirrorless cameras so I should get into enthusiast smartphone camera reviews because the existing guys aren't photographers, they're tech social media influencers and that is a different skill set - marketing and presentation. I don't think they even talk about RAW in the reviews and the phone review sites don't bother testing it either, because again they're not really that knowledgeable about photography. Anybody who is, point me to them and I'll reach out.

Well it is quite disappointing, only using 60% of the actual sensor size so it is actually 1/1.31" equivalent, and more pricy than A7C doesnt help.

Well it is quite disappointing, only using 60% of the actual sensor size so it is actually 1/1.31" equivalent, and more pricy than A7C doesnt help.

Announcement Oct 26.

Just bought a GX85.
It's purpose is to serve double-duty, as an inoffensive little camera that I can stealthily take anywhere, and as a 2nd / backup cam for travels.
Travel is one of my great pleasures, and if COVID has taught me anything, it's that I need to get better at travel near home.  This has resulted in my Go Shoot project, which essentially involves trying to have small, low-zero cost adventures close to home, and to film them as little videos to try things and make memories.  The key thing for this kind of thing is having a small unassuming camera that doesn't attract attention.  I've been using my GF3, due to its tiny size, but its lack of tilting screen or stabilisation are rather inconvenient and it 17Mbps 1080p is a little lacklustre to say the least.
These projects are about story first and image second, and are finished on a 1080p timeline.  This means that if I take the 100Mbps 4K image and crop 2x then it becomes a 1080p at 25Mbps image, which is still acceptable (and still better than the GF3!) so that means that the GX85 and 14mm f2.5 combo would be tiny, but with the 2.2x crop factor in 4K and cropping in post, would be 31-62mm equivalent, and the f2.5 combined with the downscaling in post should mean it'd have reasonable low-light ability too.
GX85 with 14mm f2.5 for a tiny setup:

If I want to work quickly and have a more doc-style of shooting, I can pair it with the 12-35/2.8 and get 26-154mm.  In extreme low-light (like caves), I can take the Voigtlander 17.5/0.95 and get 39-78mm.  If I want to go vintage, I can use the Cosmicar 12.5/1.9 for a 28-56mm range.  Lots of cool options available.
Once we get back to travel, which is likely to happen later here in Australia than elsewhere in the world it seems, I'll also use it for a 2nd / backup camera to my GH5.  I find that often I will be on a balcony or terrace in golden hour (either dawn or dusk) looking at a spectacular view and wanting to record three things simultaneously:
Time-lapse of the whole scene as the light changes - super wide-angle and deep DoF
This will be my action camera, which by taking 8MP (in 16:9) Jpegs, which are around 3Mb each, gives about 600Mbps when put onto a timeline at 25fps.  Not bad! Time-lapse of part of the scene - variable focal length required
This will be what the GX85 will do, and can use any of the MFT lenses I have. Video of interesting things happening, probably with a wide-angle lens
This is what the GH5 will be being used for.  People walking, boats sailing, flags waving, etc etc.   The GX85, by being able to share any of the lenses I have for the GH5, also makes a great backup camera in the instance that the GH5 is out of action.
Is anyone else using a GX85?  or small camera to fly under the radar?

Resolution 8208x5472, pixel size 4.386μm, high dynamic range mode readout time 2ms, high speed mode readout time 1ms, same readout speed for both video and stills, double stacked back illuminated CMOS sensor

One is a video focused camera, the other is a hybrid with good video specs. You can't say the A7iv matches the S1H when it can't do 6k, doesn't have as good IBIS, doesn't support anamorphic recording, doesn't have video focused features like timecode sync, doesn't have shutter angle, doesn't have nearly as nice of a EVF, has worse rolling shutter, etc. 
All the little things the S1H has that are meant for professional videographers and cinematographers add up. 

One more thing that DJI got a lot of manufacturers on the wrong foot: built in NDs.

Lot of others lying saying "we did not put internal NDs because there is no room for it" - meaning "if you want internal NDs, pay a lot more".

DJI inserted internal NDs in a minuscule camera with a VERY shallow mount. Liars exposed.

Lots of outside the box thinking in this camera.

Yup, when I saw that green I went wow. 
But it is even better than you think, because do you see that green line too? And the yellow line. That's the focus plane of the lens itself, makes it so easy a baby could align those two lines together. (ok, am joking.... as there is a certain art to it. Plus you need to anticipate moves, not be reacting to the image)
And having the waveform data presented as well, helps gives you insights for when the camera gets it "wrong" and you need to be a bit further in front / behind of where the calculated line is. 
They need to make this be A Cam standard. 

If you're shooting on an ARRI Mini / RED V-RAPTOR / Sony VENICE / etc as A Cam, why on earth would you want to use a DJI Ronin 4D as the B Cam for say 20% of the shots? You wouldn't! All of those other cameras are perfectly easy to rig up for a gimbal, they won't even mind having a second camera fully dedicated to that. 
Thus the Ronin 4D will only be used for very niche usages. 

But this is what I expect will happen next: DJI will release a DJI Inspire 3 for the X9. And they'll release a non-gimbal system that heavily supports the X9 camera, so it can be used with massive PL lenses or anamorphics. That will be "the X9 in A Cam form factor". 

Now the math changes, and it becomes much much more interesting. An X9 camera that can quickly swap from being your A Cam, to Ronin 4D, to Inspire 3? Hell yeah! 

The only remaining questions are: can the X9 be premium reliability? (don't be another RED, be another ARRI) Can the X9 have a premium experience? (no random crippling / "gotchas", don't be like Canon) Does X9 have the premium image quality? (can it compete with ARRI?) Does DJI give premium support? (don't be Blackmagic, be ARRI)

if it ticks off all of those checkboxes, then yup, it could be the next #1 A Cam for Hollywood. But you could say that about anything. Those are some high targets!
 
What are the answers to those questions? Will take a while to find out all those answers, the answers are not discovered quickly. And I am definitely not the right person to answer those questions either. (neither are any of the YouTube "reviews" uploaded today! None of those have even 10% of the expertise level to answer those questions definitively)

 

Yep!
I don’t think the price would be considered expensive for what you get. 
let’s compare : 
- full frame camera body that records in ProRes or 6K RAW . Shall we compare it to Z Cam E2 F6? That’s $4000USD
- Ronin 2 gimbal $900
- Tilta float system (for stabilizing 4th axis) $1800
-5” 1000nit monitor (Shinobi) $300
- Lidar system (the one for RS2 is $200 but this looks much better) $200
So around $7200 for the above which is a much clumsier, bulkier setup. And  you would need to spend much more than that to get everything to interface so I’m going lean on this setup by not including things like ND filters as the 4D has internal)
The D4 6k is 7199 and it’s a much more complete and easy to use package. The biggest issue really is because it’s an all in one design, if you have an issue with the gimbal that means your camera is unusable as well and vice versa. Also, cameras date quicker than gimbals but it looks as you can replace the camera and gimbal assembly on these pretty easily so hopefully when dji release a new 12k (😝) sensor you can update just it and the gimbal assembly. 
 

That LIDAR Waveform focus asset is quite awesome, way more advanced than peaking for manual focus.

Have to say it looks really cool! Not sure how many lenses you can actually fit onto this thing but the feature set looks amazing.  Really good ideas they combined into one package. 
The LIDAR wave AF system is really innovative too, plus the wireless transmission.  0% chance I can actually own one but I'm still excited about the advancements, hopefully it will spur others to actually innovate!

PJ is clearly impressed - has even used it on a paying job.
 

It is still possible to do 4K60 at full frame mode in bining mode or lineskipping, as it have with a7R series when doing FF 4K30p.  I guess we will find out on the day!

Music video I did back then is finally released, that took quite a while!

I'm as obsessed with the Alexa look as just about anyone. I had a major shoot on Friday, I was toying with renting the Amira, as it is very affordable in my area. I don't have a lot of experience actually using it though, so ultimately, despite having plenty of budget available to rent a big boy camera, I decided to just shoot it on my tried-and-true S1. I didn't even use pro res raw, just regular 5.9k internal hevc. I monitor using the GHAlex LUT on my ninja v, so I can nail the look "in-camera" before I grade. I think it's pretty dang close. This screengrab has zero adjustments or color alterations besides just dropping on the lut. 

If I can get 95% of the way there, and have higher resolution to boot, at the cost of maybe a stop or so of extreme highlight retention in certain situations, I think it really starts to be hard to justify, beyond just impressing clients and feeling super cool and hollywood. 

Tens of thousands of people were completely content to watch Porn Movies when I was young shot on 8mm, super 8mm film cameras. They ignored the horrendous handheld jitters, terrible low light ability, and just crap film skills for what, Content, and Content is king. The camera, be it an iPhone or an Arri is the least of your problems.

I expect the inflated prices of cards will last as long as this current covid era lasts. 
As there a lot of factors which have caused the high prices, but a major major factor is that covid messed up supply chains around the world (leading to greater costs of manufacture and delivery, and lower supplies) and that lots of people have been stuck at home (thus more inclined to splurge out on home entertainment, such as a new gaming PC, rather than spending that same money on an overseas holiday instead). 

None of what I just mentioned will change completely until covid is behind us. People won't tomorrow suddenly shift their spending from buying gaming PCs to going on overseas holidays. Neither are these supply chain screw ups and manufacturing issues going to resolve themselves speedily.

Now for your question, will this ease up within the next six months or not? 

I can't answer that, but I think this Star Trek meme sums it up best: 

New gear is great but if you have nothing to shoot what is the point? I think that sums up the sentiment we've all been through this past year and a half. It's been brutal for a lot of us independent pros. I sold a lot of cine gear and lost a lot of money in the process. Seriously considered leaving the industry as well. Fortunately for me, business has picked up again and that's really all it takes to get excited about shooting. Because for me its really all about shooting, gear is just means to an end. Too much gear can also be a buzzkill. I saw a great video the other day shot with just a G7 and a macro lens. I'm a strong believer in limitations spark creativity. Not just in filmmaking but all creative areas. Its a hard motto to live by these days within a gear-driven industry. Speaking of apple and tech GAS, I had to resist the urge for the third year in a row to get the "pro" model. My phone died so I did cop the iPhone 13 but went with the mini. Love the form factor and my phone will remain just that a phone. Photos & videos shot with it will remain on social media. No ProRes on smartphone for me, oh well. Also thinking about getting the iPad mini, it feels like a Moleskin notebook. I hate big tablets, might as well just use a notebook at that point (also just got the M1 MBA). Just waiting to see how the A15 compares to M1 as I would like to do some basic editing on it and need HEVC support. 
Anyways I'd be sad to see this place disappear. I haven't been around since the start but it's been an incredible resource and community, even with all the riffraff and drama. I think we all owe Andrew a big thanks no matter the outcome. I don't always agree with his views but at least he has a freaking opinion unlike 99% of the internet shills. As a primarily Canon shooter I also thank him for being so outspoken on the overheat-gate issue that got us solutions and even got Canon to somewhat address the situation. Who will have the clout & balls to do so if this independent voice disappears? Keep going Andrew, your doing the community/industry a great service by being vocal on matters that matter!

Keep the site. Look at what happened today....Facebook, IG, WhatsApp all down.  Decentralized content will make a comeback.

All you need is a new camera or lens . Works for me.

So much wrong with this. First of all, "this" IS happening. We are all witnessing a major shift on social media platforms from photography to video. Why? Simple: storytelling. 
Second, "waiting for the right technology" is missing the point. Human beings will mess around with things to create (See: 2001: A Space Odyssey). Apple is putting these filmmaking tools that nobody asked for into their iPhones and people WILL start using them. 
Intent doesn't matter. Steve Jobs didn't plan on iPhones revolutionizing the world through social media. Nobody intended phones to be used to disrupt the hegemony of traditional media corporations. But the technology was there. And out of a billion people, a good number will eventually start using them. Mess around enough, some kid from nowhereistan will make the best film of the year.
And you're mistaken about the democratization of filmmaking tech. First of all, traditional filmmaking is far, far still prohibitive for most people. You're still spending thousands - at least tens of thousands of dollars to make even a watchable short film. And by you, I mean you, trust fund kid who wants to make movies but have shit stories that doesn't resonate with any normal people.
So it is all about technology, in the same way that camera phones, inferior as they are, have disrupted the professional photography industry. 
And it's not just about the camera. It's about technologies (both hard and soft) that will reduce the need for gear and crew and any other prohibitive costs that have otherwise prevented billions of people on this planet from making their own movies, telling their own stories. Not cat videos, TikTok clips, or dick pics. But stories. That hasn't happened yet. But it will.
The obvious trajectory of this evolution is for ONE PERSON to tell a STORY, as we have always done for thousands of years. Except this time, millions will be gathered around the fire to hear the best ones.
 
 
 
 
 

So my friends I am fed up, burnt out after the lockdowns, lonely in my job.
I can't go on like this for much longer.
I'm considering closing the blog and forum, but no decision made yet.
Unless I revive my passion for cameras and tech, and indeed even shooting - I'm done!
Hope you can stick around for what happens next.
And any ideas about changing the direction of the site, are welcome!
Cheers!

Just looked now, joined here July 26, 2013. First comment, in your post about the first rumours about the GX7 (which I bought when launched). But probably was just a reader for a long time before - got my GH2 (still have it) after knowing about it and the hacks here. Still have your GH2 shooters guide, bought my first manual lenses because of it (even my concave FD 35mm f/2, which ended as a very good investment...).

It's been a long and pleasant ride. Already told you that EOSHD is almost single handed responsible for my video / stills passion (and this become a personal gap filling staple in my life, bringing me kind of a MEANING to life that I've always missed). I've read EOSHD almost every day since I've discovered it - and considering that the other filmmaking site that I've discovered about the same time is turning into a conspiracy theory site, this daily visit is even more valuable to me.

I'm no professional, I work in IT, stills and video are just a passion. It is hard to gave advice when filmmaking is not my living income, and even more that I don't have a website that is my main income (which is obviously your concern beside the passion). But I will try.

COVID put a lot of stress in everyone - here too. Will not digress to much about me - I was kind of privileged to work from home since March of last year, no income reduce, no cases in the family. But my state of mind is in a all-time low too, 3 cats died in one year (2 of them with me in 15+ years, was really a part of my life that gone), haven't touched my cameras in almost 2 months (too much work, a 3 year old daughter, and having to move to another house for the 2nd time in 12 months), and living in a insane country with a genocide president. Much less problems than most of the people here, but stressing.
 
And in the past year, I saw a lot of photo / video sites and channels having being affercted by this general felling and / or the state of the photo/video "ecospace" state. Ming Thein got fed up, stopped his (amazing) blog and go full time to be a watch maker. Kirk Tuck had a very similar post than yours some days ago. Even Gerald Undone looks like fed up by making the same videos all over again, in his last post (of course it could be just marketing - being a skeptic is almost a constant state on these days). I think that there are some causes to it.

Gear is becoming unexciting, compared to past years. From the 1080p24 of the 5D MK II to (now the beginning) of the 8k cameras, it was a rocketing climb in the quality and availabiliy of the filming tools. Not only in resolution, but in codecs, colors, AF, IBIS, things that we can only dream about in the GH2 days. But there is not so much to grow - 8k, 10-bit everywhere, better AF, more RAW formats and probably global shutters. But the jump in final quality would be nowhere near of we got in the past years. The cameras releasing pace already become much slower, and the prices are rising.

Ming Thein had a good concept of "point of sufficiency" - that most of modern cameras are already too good for most of the people; that changing to a better camera don't make their output better. And I think that people are already starting to realize that - buying a newer camera, spending tons of money and seeing that the results are not improving in the same magnitude.
I started to see more and more channels talking about techniques and primary filmmaking concepts - even with smartphones. Framing, focusing, grading. Most catering to (probably) the most growing market in flmmaking - youtubers, low budget music filmmakers, amateurs. 

I can speak from my point of view of an enthusiast - and by no means I want to sound detrimental to the bunch of pros here, a lot of them that I like and learn A LOT from. But I miss the amateur side of EOSHD, the less cutting edge equipment side of it.

Just open you GH2 guide, as I have it now here. Look how much info there was NOT camera related. This is what is valuable now. I have a friend that become a good an very booked photographer - and, since this is the market now, he needed to improve the video side of his business, for clients and for his personal channels. He started to do some Stories videos with simple tips on how to make moblie photos better - VERY simple tips, and extra light (that could be only a flashlight), posing, very simple tips. His audience exploded.

And on the other side, he NEVER asked me any gear related tips. He is a Canon shooter, loved the R5 and the R3, but have no plans to buy one. For his work, it's 5D MK III and his iPhone have more than enough quality (and even for some simple videos for his clients). But he DEVOURS filming technique sites - lighting, composition, grading, editing. And it works - he started making videos about 5 months ago, and the quality jumped massively, using the same gear.

Since I started to offload my m4/3 gear, I entered in some trading forums, and seeing some of the work of the buyers. In m4/3 forums, the rage are not the GH5 of Blackmagics. Are the G7 (yes) and, mostly, the GX85. And lots of people are doing music videos (specially funk, rap and country ones) with very good quality with these tools - not the most cinematic ones, not good for my tastes, but in a look that their audiences like. I sold my GX85 for a gospel rapper, and he is all in into grading in Cinelike-D, cheap vintage lenses and framing - his budget is near to none.

All these people could not buy an R3, Canon Cxxx, or a Red. They are not interested in gear review - they already have the ones that they could afford, or what they could afford was already reviewed to death in the past. They starve for information in HOW to shoot, not in WHAT to shoot.

Of course I'm in a 3rd world country, and this is the scenario here. But (I guess) that in US or in the EU kind of happened the same. The people that were here since the beginning evolved to pro filmmaking, have the best or best-ish tools, and already have a very good knowledge of gear. Here still is one of the few places that pros discuss pro specs instead of fighting - and this is a valuable thing that must happen.

But it is not anymore a place that a newbie would come to find useful info for a newbie. And I guess that it made EOSHD missing renovation.

You and all these amazing guys here have a lot to TEACH. Keep talking about the latest gear - new people learn a lot about it too. But this is a thing that mostly stills / video youtube is doing - with a lot of corporate backing.

But teaching how to use these tools - these guys are not doing it. How to compose. How to focus, how to grade, how to edit. How past hardware could bring amazing results. How to make good filmmaking without cutting edge gear. Revisitng the GH3, GH4, GX85, older Blackmagics, 5D mk ii AND iii, lower Fujis, the Olympuses. And older, and newer manual lenses. 

EOSHD, in the older days, catered to newbies, enthusiasts, and mobile pros - simply because the tools that all these could use were the same - GH1, GH2, OG BMPCC, 5D MK II and III, E-M5 MK I. The market changed, mobile pros and whealthy enthusiasts have the current top gear (FF mirrorless and top APS-C gear). But newer filmakers, amateurs and enthusiasts were getting older and cheaper gear, and it is sufficient to them (my main camera now is the X-S10, and is more than enough for me and my skills). 

This new public need to know about lenses, techniques, grading. They need what you have in the GH2 guide.

And maybe with this public, you will focus less in tech - and more in technique. In how to extract the best result with less, having more constraints. And maybe you find your joy again.

Do not do the same that all other sites do. With this, you could get a new public. Better yet, you will not bother with what the Northrup-ish sites are doing, or if they are being paid to do, which will be good to your mental health. Forget them.

Your "Tokio Storm" (https://vimeo.com/31835141) was probably one of the most mind-blowing pieces of my life. I WANTED to do that. And I still want - holy shit, it still looks AMAZING after all these years.

This was you, this was EOSHD. And I miss that.

Sorry for the long post - and yes, all this could be bullshit, and just my personal point of view, and not valid in the grand scheme of things at all. At last, just wanted to point how EOSHD is important to me, as a person. And how you was, and is, important.

Just wishing that you find that what is best for you. Take care of your mental health. Find the best way for you. 

And thanks. A very big thanks. That will not be big enough, never.