ntblowz

This conversation feels like it's about freedom, debt, and burnout. Debt traps us, stealing our freedom and leading to burnout. Sometimes, you don't even realize you're caught in this cycle until it's too late. Societal norms, the pressure to consume, and the desire to 'keep up with the Joneses' often play a bigger role than most will admit. The only way out, for some, is to simplify their lifestyle and buy back their freedom by escaping debt. I've done this myself—it was hard, but worth it.
I'm not in video creation beyond family videos, but I see parallels in education. Educators often start out wanting to make a difference, finding meaning in their work. Yet, burnout looms. Many students seem uninterested in learning or disrupt others, reflecting the challenges of our current society.
Ultimately, no job is meaningless, but life itself can feel trivial if we lose perspective. We take nothing to the grave. What endures is the relationships we build—primarily with family and friends. Occasionally, you might be remembered for something you've done or created, even if you never know it. So, enjoy your time. Treat others with respect. Honor those who came before you, and perhaps you’ll be honored in return. Reaching retirement is a gift—not everyone gets there.

Don't want to start 2025 with a negative post, but I saw this depressing new year resolution today:

Nothing wrong with being a train operator, but we're at a point that being a train operator is a better career option than shooting pro video with RED cameras. 

I’ve never really compared what I earn with anyone else or anything I do with what anyone else does, or charges for.
In fact I don’t really know. Or care.
I don’t mean to sound in any way flippant or pretentious, but I genuinely have little to no idea what anyone else is doing in my industry or who my ‘competitors’ are, but simply/instead ask am I hitting my own set numbers?
If so…and I have more or less for 25 years now, then that is where my interest and time spent on that ends.
If I broke it down, pro rata, per hour, I’d probably be on an ‘above average’ rate, but then factor in everything else from number of hours worked per annum to full-time employment perks and benefits, then pretty sure I would be ‘below average’.
It’s all relative and yet irrelevant if the overall big picture of life vs income etc works for each of us as individuals.
My neighbour have a Porsche parked on his drive, a 5 bed mansion and earn 250k a year…but he also works 80 hours a week and has no life other than working relentlessly to support that lifestyle.
If that’s his choice, fair enough, but would not be and isn’t my choice!

I wonder does shutter close when shut down contribute to this issue, I know on Sony people have been recommending not to close shutter when shut down to keep their life longer.
I myself mostly use the R7 for video so it's not like I take photos a lot, even if I do take photos it is mostly electronic shutter anyway. 

Start using the S9 yesterday, I really dig the LUT implantation on Panasonic, quite intuitive actually.
The 3.8k opengate 50mbps to keep file size small is a huge plus over 200mbps 6.2k opengate for quick social edits on ur phone
 

 

Hello everyone,
I've invested months in making this free tutorial on how to achieve the best possible quality from color negative scans made at home with a digital camera without using plugins.
https://github.com/alchemy-color/color-negative-inversion
Based on my previous work with digital camera calibration and emulation, I decided to dive into negative film with a mission in mind:
- What could be the most accurate way of capturing and inverting the color negative in the digital domain with simple means such as a DSLR and an iPad backlight?
After extensive measurements and intensive testing, I developed a method that allowed me to scan and invert a Kodak Gold 200 photograph of a ColorChecker SG with a resulting average color similarity DeltaE of around 2.70. This exceptional value serves as a testament not only to the accuracy of the method but also to the virtues of color negative film in terms of its color accuracy.
Thank you to Reddit users Aaron Buchler (u/Ab_film_92) for the inversion technique and Jack Whitaker (u/jrw01) for his informative article on scanner backlights. Both were fundamental in helping me understand where to go with my methods.
Full disclaimer: Close to the end of the video, I promote a product created alongside this research. https://alchemycolor.com/film-emulation/.
Color negative emulation is an innovative method if turning digital images into accurate facsimiles of film negatives and ingesting them into plugins such as Negative Lab Pro or FilmLab.
Looking forward to hearing opinions and seeing your results.
Cheers

It really is an excellent lens. I use it for pro-wrestling around ringside, because if it gets damaged it's not a big loss since they are so affordable but I also don't feel like I am sacrificing image quality by using it.

The real question is whether you'd rather be cool in summer (living in Italy) or a new camera? It can get pretty bad there. Also, if you don't make more money with a new camera, this air conditioner is likely to save you quite a bit- paying for a new camera, of course.

Bought a S9 and gonna use it to do a tribute video of my mum while she is still in good shape this holiday.

Just got the S9 from airport, that 15% discount on tax on top of promo discount is pretty good value, and given it is only NZ$100 more for the 20-60 kit so I got this combo instead of the 18-40 which cost $1000 more 😂 ( another ridiculous pricing from Pana)
I m thinking getting the Meike 35mm F2, should go well with 20-60mm. 

Just got the S9 from airport, that 15% discount on tax on top of promo discount is pretty good value, and given it is only NZ$100 more for the 20-60 kit so I got this combo instead of the 18-40 which cost $1000 more 😂 ( another ridiculous pricing from Pana)
I m thinking getting the Meike 35mm F2, should go well with 20-60mm. 

Just got the S9 from airport, that 15% discount on tax on top of promo discount is pretty good value, and given it is only NZ$100 more for the 20-60 kit so I got this combo instead of the 18-40 which cost $1000 more 😂 ( another ridiculous pricing from Pana)
I m thinking getting the Meike 35mm F2, should go well with 20-60mm. 

Just got the S9 from airport, that 15% discount on tax on top of promo discount is pretty good value, and given it is only NZ$100 more for the 20-60 kit so I got this combo instead of the 18-40 which cost $1000 more 😂 ( another ridiculous pricing from Pana)
I m thinking getting the Meike 35mm F2, should go well with 20-60mm. 

Just got the S9 from airport, that 15% discount on tax on top of promo discount is pretty good value, and given it is only NZ$100 more for the 20-60 kit so I got this combo instead of the 18-40 which cost $1000 more 😂 ( another ridiculous pricing from Pana)
I m thinking getting the Meike 35mm F2, should go well with 20-60mm. 

First you might like to watch this video on Mr Beast's youtube channel, so you get to see what the end result looks like:
 
Then check out the behind the scenes, of how it got made:
Check out the camera plan (well, one of the camera plans) they show thirteen minutes into it (yes, that's one THOUSAND GoPros):
 
 
Two more BTS videos about this same YouTuber production series:
 
 

Merry Christmas and happy holiday to everyone.
 

Bought a S9 and gonna use it to do a tribute video of my mum while she is still in good shape this holiday.

Bought a S9 and gonna use it to do a tribute video of my mum while she is still in good shape this holiday.

Thanks for the wishes of you all here! : )
 
In this year I lost my best friends ever, my father and dearest aunt, a mother to me, hope 2025 may only become better than this 2024...
No complaints at professional level though...
Five/six awards (the 6th 'cause we're working on a sequel of a previous TV series not yet under my umbrella by then despite a determinant role in the nomination towards this prize this time) ten days ago for two feature movies shot in NZ and Macau, China, respectively, as producer with two of my partners in crime by this scribe of yours too.
 
North of Portugal. My brother's new home. With my core family of three, brother, sister-in-law, nephews and his brother-in-law, sister-in-law and respective mother, very likely. Our mother is still recovering from a surgery two weeks ago, the 2nd one this year from another fall and same broken leg... so the youngest will be with her instead. Just life, I guess.
 
While waiting for my FX30 next week arriving from a U.S. trip, Osmo Pocket 3 (have you already bought this jaw-dropper?) and their really small and handy accessories are the ones I regret today to not have discovered earlier from the previous model anyway. As never enough to have been reported before, that larger sensor, 4K 100/120fps and 10-bit D-Log M (even 4:2:0) are a thrice must : )
4th axis stabilizer just to mention one of the plus size : D of this little toy is simultaneously-plainly-and-luxuriously a simple joy... : X
The set of filters and extra add-ons, no less ; ) Testing all of them for these holidays! : P
 
Happy Christmas and the best 2025 to everyone!

 
EDIT/PS -- @Andrew Reid Thanks for extending that infamous 5-minutes editing limit here, serves to share more in the same post and in age of a big fail to twitter/X model without useless multiple posts so dispersive and annoying I intend to believe LOL :- )

Bought a S9 and gonna use it to do a tribute video of my mum while she is still in good shape this holiday.

I do like Lumix's prime lens and some zoom is using the same 67mm filter (except 1.4), and similar size and weight make hotswap on gimbal/filter much more convenient
 
Meike does make the entry level L mount lens with their 85/50/35mm f1.8/f2 lens, I hope there is a 24mm coming from them.

Bought a S9 and gonna use it to do a tribute video of my mum while she is still in good shape this holiday.

The holidays haven't been the same since my Mom passed in 2016, but I am trying to make the most of them after beating cancer last year!
As far as cameras, I think I am set for 2025. I MIGHT swap out my two S5s for S5IIs, depending on how the year goes. Not that I am unhappy with my S5s, it would just make matching them with my S5II X in post easier. I also might snag a S9... we'll see! But overall I am pretty settled until I see how things look next year or in 2026, as far as Lumix goes. What I have (two S5s and a S5II X) are honestly cameras I could use until the wheels fall off and I'd be happy with them, I'm more just looking at the long term big picture as far as where I end up.
Happy holidays to all of you!

I was interested on the S9 but the initial launch was so lackster with stupid recording limitation and f8 manual pancake that really extinguished my desire
 
But now with the 18-40 and recording limit removed it is on the table again.. and they have some special which is not bad, but then the used S5II is still tempting too, except no pdaf in 1080p50/60 which is dumb as I do still use that sometimes.