ntblowz

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.

The more I use mine the more dictionary definition of underrated this thing gets
Best with small M mount prime lenses, or LTM...doesn't have to be fancy
For autofocus best with a small Sigma L mount prime like 35mm F2
Smallrig grip is a must.
The LUT feature gives everything on the display more impact during a shoot, stuff simply looks beautiful and exactly as you intended... and it's so immediate... And in general the camera is so fucking nimble and fast. Then there's the minimalism of it... the simplicity. It is truly one of those cameras that gets out the way and leaves you to enjoy shooting.
Yes, build quality could be more high-end... yes, wish it had a mechanical shutter and an EVF... but really thats where the complaining ends as it has everything else and then some, and what it doesn't have like a stacked sensor, you can't reasonably complain about because it cost me a shade over £1000 (open box deal).
Really glad they did not scrimp on the battery, it takes a big chonky one.
If it had a powered hotshoe they could have sold me an EVF to go on the top... but for now I'm using the RX1 optical finder from Sony...

They seem to be accumulating wood for an upcoming fire. Still can't tell what color the smoke will be....

So the SL2, very nice now it's much more affordable but turns out in my tests so far it's still fucking broken as it doesn't shoot 4K with the original battery and certain lenses... That is, Panasonic 50mm F1.4 S, Sigma MC-21 adapter, erm pretty much everything that isn't from Leica's own L-mount range. So it's quite a serious problem.
I thought this was fixed with the new Q3 battery and new firmware updates, and the SL2-S was supposed to work from the outset.
Now it seems the problem is more complicated than it appears when you are sold the camera.
So I took the SL2 back for a test today at the Berlin store, only to be met with a lot of eye-rolling and a blame game:
- Panasonic is to blame, apparently their lenses are faulty!
- The customer is to blame, apparently I am an idiot who is using the wrong type of L-mount lenses
- The Sigma MC-21 is to blame, and Canon too... For their EF lenses on the official Sigma L-mount adapter are so badly made that the Leica SL2 refuses to even do a burst shoot
- And of course as a customer, I am not just to blame but also WRONG! Wrong knowledge, wrong approach, wrong skillset, blah blah blah.
So I sent the feckers this link:
https://www.eoshd.com/interview/interview-with-stephan-schulz-leica-camera-on-the-sl2-and-filmmaking/
And said, here's my interview with your boss in Wetzlar.
Have a read of that... It's the battery's fault.
And he said there would be a firmware update to mitigate it, and the battery grip would also be the solution to the fact that the SL2 battery is so shit it can't even power the autofocus motors at the same time as shooting 4K.
Needless to say the Leica SL2 is now back at the store, and refunded after much finger pointing.
Doesn't make me want to go back there any time soon.
When it was run by Meister Camera, this store was a gem https://www.meister-camera.com
Now it's run by Leica, what happened? A total change in attitude and staff knowledge.
It's a pity they didn't just admit the problem still existed, was Leica's fault and not the customers, and then sold me their spare SL2-S which has better compatibility with the full L-mount ecosystem.
I would have left a Leica customer, nevertheless the experience was so shit, even the thought of buying the EOS R5 appeals more than another SL2 now 😉
And that's a bloody flame thrower!

Denizens of the internet... I present to you the Panasonic Q
It is Netflix approved with 6K open gate.
Phase-detect AF and IBIS
Leica lenses
(And some nifty Noktons)
In-camera LUTs
And still nobody cares because it has a Lumix badge - not a Sony.
Yes, it is as small as a Leica Q. Yes, it is much better for video than a Leica Q. The Leica Q3 is 6300 euros. This set me back 1299 special offer in Olive Green.
The lens can be changed... On the Leica Q you are stuck to a fake Leica lens that needs heavy digital correction to look ok.
It has IBIS... the Q of course doesn't.
And in the end, they are both the smallest full frame cameras you can get along with a Sony RX1R II or Sigma Fp/L

So in conclusion, Panasonic are doomed. The social media response to this camera made it out to be some sort of silly toy.
It just goes to show how uncreative these zealots are.
Would it have been nice to have a built in EVF, the only feature aside from extra resolution you get for your 6300 euros on a Q3?
Of course.
Would it have been nice to be Leica grade in terms of materials, looks, and so on? Well it's not THAT far off really.
There has never been such a good image and wide range of features in a camera this small or cheap, end of story. Add a Sigma 35mm F2 or Voigtlander M 40mm F1.2 and enjoy!

Live from the exhibition floor…
Well, it’s here but as expected it’s in a Perspex case making touching it impossible and the reflections and dim environment not exactly easy to get a decent picture of it especially on my ageing iPhone.


What I can confirm though which Is what everyone wants to know is that it does have internal ND.

It's weird u feel no mojo for Panasonic colour, I was dropping my mouth when I edit footage from GH6 to my Canon and I was like I actually prefer Panasonic colour more. 
I was rocking with FX3, FX30 and E1 earlier this year, but all sold and only just got E10II recently cause it was cheap, back to mostly Canon now but still thinking of getting Panasonic in the future 
I guess if u stick with one brand all these u might try other stuff to see if glass was greener on other side, I was on R5 all those years but last year decide to give Sony a try again being A7iii was my last Sony.

No desqueeze and no ibis specific support for anamorphic for s3 and e1, Fx3 got anamorphic desqueeze (2.0x and 1.3x) since ver 2.0, Sony's ibis is weak anyway so that one doesn't matter.
And no opengate for all those Sony.

But Pana have the 10-25 and 25-50 1.7 zoom, it is quite nice for sure. My friend got those for his 2 GH6.

It's weird u feel no mojo for Panasonic colour, I was dropping my mouth when I edit footage from GH6 to my Canon and I was like I actually prefer Panasonic colour more. 
I was rocking with FX3, FX30 and E1 earlier this year, but all sold and only just got E10II recently cause it was cheap, back to mostly Canon now but still thinking of getting Panasonic in the future 
I guess if u stick with one brand all these u might try other stuff to see if glass was greener on other side, I was on R5 all those years but last year decide to give Sony a try again being A7iii was my last Sony.

No desqueeze and no ibis specific support for anamorphic for s3 and e1, Fx3 got anamorphic desqueeze (2.0x and 1.3x) since ver 2.0, Sony's ibis is weak anyway so that one doesn't matter.
And no opengate for all those Sony.

It's weird u feel no mojo for Panasonic colour, I was dropping my mouth when I edit footage from GH6 to my Canon and I was like I actually prefer Panasonic colour more. 
I was rocking with FX3, FX30 and E1 earlier this year, but all sold and only just got E10II recently cause it was cheap, back to mostly Canon now but still thinking of getting Panasonic in the future 
I guess if u stick with one brand all these u might try other stuff to see if glass was greener on other side, I was on R5 all those years but last year decide to give Sony a try again being A7iii was my last Sony.

No desqueeze and no ibis specific support for anamorphic for s3 and e1, Fx3 got anamorphic desqueeze (2.0x and 1.3x) since ver 2.0, Sony's ibis is weak anyway so that one doesn't matter.
And no opengate for all those Sony.

l recently acquired a used E10II for the same price as new E10, which I think is a much more reasonable price now that X-M5 had come out with better feature (OG, mechanical shutter) and quite bit cheaper than new E10II price.
E10II's new price is nearly double the E10 in where I live.. that is so nut!
First thing is image is exactly like the FX30, so much better than E10 especially the 1080p which I feel is 720p upscale. 

Went to Manchester for the firs time (at 60!) and it's very photogenic - I will definitely be returning (with a tripod).
 

Nikon recently released a new universal N-Log technical LUT for all their cameras, which replaces Nikon's original camera-specific LUTs. The original LUTs handled highlights particularly poorly. In fact they didn't really handle them at all - they inexplicably clipped all N-Log values above ~68% to white.
Here is my analysis of the new LUT. First here are the tone/gamma curves for both the original vs new LUTs, which I calculated by converting both 3D LUTs to 1D and graphing the resulting curves. Notice how the original LUT clips all highlights above 68% to white, whereas the new LUT has a nice, smooth roll-off.

Here is a visual comparison showing the original vs new LUT in action. This is a high DR N-RAW capture from a Z6 III, with the original vs new LUT compared, along with a comparison to the same scene using Davinci Resolve's CST with tone mapping.

For reference, here is how Nikon describes the new LUT in the comments at the top of the LUT file:
# Development Color Space = REC709
# Output Gamma Curve = BT1886
# Output Tonemap = MEDIUM_CONTRAST
# Highlight Rolloff = Rolloff 2 - medium

Panasonic has added a new S9 firmware update 1.2 to replace the withdrawn FW 1.1:
 

The record limit in the first place was really dumb

Hey guys, wanted to share with my short Video. It was recorded with GFX 100ii with lovely fujinon 110mm f2 at dunes of Maspalomas. I uploaded stilgars voice to voice cloner and let him narrate my favorite quotes from Dune series. Edited with Dehancer plugin. Film emulation was Ambrotype (by Anatolee Green). Music is ofcourse hans zimmer from the original first Dune. 
GFX100ii settings: 5.8k mode 24fps 720mbps 422 FLOG2. (5.8k mode has the wide aspect ratio but uses the full width of the sensor) Unfortunately no open gate 4:3 that would have been awesome.
 What do you think? did I match the color from Dune? voice cloning gives me creeps. 
 
 

Yeah man, GX9 was their greatest compact cam... and they abandoned it completey.
They definitely have the tech to do a XM5 that is for sure
 
If I hadn't got x100vi I will be really considering this cam, perfect for social  

This is so good, I m pretty sure any camera in his hand will turn cinematic.

The record limit in the first place was really dumb

R8 + 24-50 should be 671, 24-50 is only 210g but some website report it as 270g

This music video was shot on the 5D II, still looked good today