jonpais

First of all, even though I watched the video on my iPod, it was quite thorough and informative. The reviewer also demonstrates that if you have some interesting movement or subject that holds your interest, the camera shake is not always so obvious. In the real world, I would never just run up and down the street to see how steady the horizon is. ? And I agree with Michael, I don't see IBIS or electronic stabilization replacing gimbals any time soon, but they can help get even smoother looking shots when used in combination with a handheld stabilizer.

I tried the link I posted last night, and it seems to be working fine this morning. I have a Mac, so not sure about that download. Has anyone else here had the same difficulty? A buddy called me last night to ask if he could try out his his 5D III on my Crane this morning, so I'll have a chance to report on that later today. I'm guessing the gimbal should work with the GH4 and Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8, since it is just a hair over 1,200 grams, it is nicely balanced, and even before the update appeared, users said it handled fine. What I'm interested in learning is whether it can now handle the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 and 50mm f/1.4 lenses. When mounted on the GH4 with a Metabones XL, ithey are very front-heavy. The Sigma zoom+Metabones adapter+GH4 weighs in at around 1,541 grams.

The Olympus is made in Vietnam, Panasonic's GH4 hails from China and Fujifilm's XT-2 is made in Japan. Japan's hourly compensation for manufacturing jobs is over $30.00, China's is around $2.00, and while I couldn't find any statistics for Vietnam, it's the mantra that labor here is from 1/3 to 1/2 that of China. Here's a chart from a few years back. Vietnam didn't even earn a spot... For a comparison of wages in the service sector, a barista at Starbucks in the States earns from $8.00-$11.00/hour, while the average barista working at your run-of-the-mill cafe here makes under 50 cents/hour. chart.svg

There have been countless pages on that topic here and at other sites. My preference would be to dial down contrast, saturation, sharpening and leave noise reduction alone. But some think dialing down saturation isn't a good idea because with 8 bit, you don't have enough color information to work with as it is. Others like to turn NR all the way down. Some think reducing sharpening will alleviate moire and aliasing somewhat (I didn't find that to be true in my experience, but heh). What I did is just dial everything down a couple notches. When I got home, I'd look at the footage and tweak the settings gradually over a period of months. I prefer Natural profile, and that's what many of the LUTs I used recommended, but others like Cinelike D, if I'm not getting that confused with the GH4. So, in a nutshell, there is no consensus. As Andy Lee said to another forum member at the time, buy Andrew's guide and you'll find out!

@Trek of Joy I think you summed up many of the advantages and disadvantages of both systems very well. And I get the feeling from what I've read here and elsewhere on the net that crossing the $2,000 barrier for a u43 camera is a tough pill to swallow for many photographers and video shooters. But having IBIS means you can get a lot of shots that would otherwise be impossible without lugging around a tripod (and a proper one can run from $500-$1,000, but I'm expecting a lot of debate about this) or investing in a stabilizer costing anywhere from $600 on up. And in the case of Panasonic, while we don't yet know how much the GH5 will retail for - if it is actually able to record 4K 60p and 10 bit internally - that would save thousands of dollars that would otherwise be spent on an external recorder. Of course, nobody knows the true specs of the camera yet.

Perhaps it's worth noting that both popular camera reviewer Chris Niccolls of TCSTV still carries a GM camera and photographer Ming Thein regrets that Panasonic killed off the GM lineup. And he's accustomed to shooting with big guns like the Hasselblad X1D.

@mercer I color corrected it this time around.

Zhiyun announced yesterday a new firmware upgrade allowing Canon 5D owners the ability to use their popular Crane brushless gimbal stabilizer. Formerly, Zhiyun rated the payload of their pistol grip stabilizer at 1,200 grams, which many here at EOSHD thought was an overly conservative estimate. The new firmware, v1.50 5D RC2, will enable camera/lens combinations of over 1500 grams payload weight. Zhiyun is now saying over at their Facebook page that the upgrade allows the gimbal to carry as much as 1,800 grams, a remarkable 50% increase over their initial claims. Although Zhiyun recommends using the standard firmware upgrade if not exceeding 1,200 grams, they maintain that with the upgrade, the gimbal's minimum payload remains unchanged at 350 grams. I downloaded the new firmware this evening, but haven't had a chance to test it out yet. I am obviously eager to fly a couple of my Sigma Art lenses with the Metabones. The Zhiyun Crane currently sells for as little as $586.00 USD over at AliExpress. Edit: The problem is, I was hoping to test the recent Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DCDN for MFT on the stabilizer and put up a review of the Crane over the weekend, but now, I've got to test a whole bunch of other lenses. Which means, I won't be able to do reviews of the iFootage Shark S1 slider and iFootage Wild Bull T7 tripod as soon as I'd have liked.

I received my repaired Zhiyun Crane back from China this week and had my first opportunity to test it out with my newly purchased Nokton 17.5mm f/0.95 and can confirm that it does indeed work. After testing the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, I will be publishing a mini-review of the Crane with various u43 lenses.

This is great news.

Funny coincidence, I was just passing through Ben Thanh market here in Saigon this afternoon, when I saw a young woman shooting with a GH3 - possibly only the 3rd or 4th time I've seen anyone using a Lumix camera in the four years I've lived here. It turns out she is a film producer from Australia. I asked how she liked the GH3 and she said she'd gotten it just before Panasonic released the GH4, that she loved it, and before I could even ask anything else, she added that the one feature she regretted not having was focus peaking.

@mercer The GH3 was my very first mirrorless camera. If you do decide to pick one up, you should be aware that it lacks focus peaking, something which many here consider absolutely essential when working with manual lenses or a Speedbooster. There was a huge outcry from the internet community when Panasonic issued a statement announcing that they could offer no firmware update to enable peaking on the GH3. If you already have an external monitor (sounds like you do), or have eagle vision, no problem I guess. Now I shoot C4K with the GH4 and downsample to 1080p for delivery on the web. Aside from an improvement in color over the GH3, the image is virtually moire-free. Nevertheless, as you pointed out, some filmmakers are still doing fine work with hacked GH2s. And incredibly, many shooters continue to create stunning video with cameras with no IBIS, no touch screen, no histogram, no viewfinder, no headphone jack and 10-minute battery life. A couple years back, many of us were taken aback by Kendy Ty's short films shot with a mere t3i (forgive me, I'm not really familiar with Canon's model numbers) on Vimeo, and more recently, I was impressed with Jase's clips made with the miniscule GM1. I'd say if you can find a GH3 selling for around $500.00, go for it.

Yeah, stabilized lenses might be a better choice, since there is no IBIS.

@jase You are the bomb! Really nice videos (I just peeked at a few). I shake like the devil, but if I didn't drink 10 cups of coffee and smoke 2 packs of cigarettes a day, I could probably handhold better. Mercer, when he saw a video I uploaded shot with the GM1 and Vario G X 35-100mm, said he probably enjoyed the look better than Pansoniic's 4K. And now, it's my turn to say - I love the look of your clips.

GM1 - amazing fucking camera. Smaller than a pack of Marlboros. Magnesium alloy body. A touch retro. Gorgeous 1080p (a little moire here and there, but that's nitpicking). Snappy autofocus (for single point anyhow). But... no IBIS, so unless you place it on a tripod or stabilizer, your pictures will be shaky as all hell with a non-stabilized lens. Which kind of defeats the purpose of having a small, discrete camera. Now for the fun part - you'll have to either find a spacer online or make one yourself, because without one, you won't even be able to mount the camera on anything.

Sorry to be blunt, but just go ahead and buy it already. From what you've described - mostly stills, a little video here and there - that's the camera I'd purchase in a heartbeat. Most recently, the 23mm f/2 lens (35mm full frame equivalent), which doesn't cost a fortune (but which isn't stabilized either to the best of my knowledge) is excellent.

Many online reviewers seem to have no problem at all with the astronomical price of the Sony A7S Mk ii or A7R Mk ii (body only around $3,000 at B&H). Which is one reason I stopped subscribing to some reviewers who switched over from Panasonic - after all, many of us are hobbyists, not professionals with wads of cash lying around. I did speculate that the GH5 would see a big price hike over the aging GH4, but that is just that, mere speculation. On the other hand, anyone expecting it to come in at around $1,500 or so is just fantasizing, just like those wishing the Sigma Cine line would come in at around $2,000. After all, the GH5 will offer 4K 60p and 10-bit, two features which, by the way, I absolutely do not need, but which differentiate Panasonic from Sony and other manufacturers of mirrorless cameras, and which also entail a cost. And if it does indeed have 10 bit, and can really record 60p internally, I imagine that would mean not having to purchase a $2,000 external recorder, so it would actually represent a savings in that regard. (I haven't kept up with all the different recorders lately, so I pulled that number out of my ...)

It would be a dream if Panasonic and other camera manufacturers weren't such huge, aloof entities beyond reproach, that they would regularly scrutinize forums and respond to customers' issues, rather than greeting us with silence. After all, how much effort and cost would it entail to hire a college graduate whose job it was to do just that, or to offer a bonus to other office workers, who spend all day reading Facebook or playing Candy Crush anyway, to handle these issues? But we don't live in that world, at least not yet. There are still a few, like John Brawley (Black Magic), and Brian Caldwell (Metabones), who regularly contribute to the online community, but they are the exception rather than the rule. I think it was Chris Oh who said he only had $1,100 dollars or so, I think that was for both body and lens, though that figure seems rather small...but, if I were him, I would beg, borrow or steal to get a Nokton, new or used.

One negative of using the Nokton with the GH4 on the Crane is, it must be re-stabilized each and every time it is refocused because the elements are moving, which is a pain in the butt. On the plus side, even when shooting at wide apertures, say between f/2.8 and f/4, when set at hyperlocal distance, the images are sharp as a tack. Which brings up a point I'd really like cleared up, if anyone can: why is it that so many here say to focus the camera at infinity when shooting with drones, which is obviously not a good thing to do, when what they should be doing is setting the lens at hyperfocal distance? Or have the rules of optics changed since I graduated in 1984? I hope to post the 100th review of the Crane since it was released a few months ago and move on. I'd really like to share some stuff shot with the iFootage Shark S1 slider, most likely the best slider on the market nobody's heard about, as well as their superb Wild Bull T7 carbon fiber tripod, not as sexy as the Olympus OM1 or Fuji XT-2 for some, but for me, they are.

Back to the original Zhiyun Crane, some readers might be interested in knowing about their customer service. As several of you are already aware, communication with some of these manufacturers of gimbals and drones is not always a great experience. After owning the Crane for a couple of months, I discovered that the screw that tightens the roll axis arm kept coming loose. Had I noticed the problem sooner, Zhiyun would have simply replaced it, but in this case, all they could do is repair it, which is fine. I sent the gimbal back to Zhiyun in China by snail mail (from Vietnam) on Oct. 8th and they received it on Oct. 25th. Rose over at Zhiyun kept in constant touch with me by email during the entire process. When they'd finished the repair, I requested they return the Crane by FedEx (because DHL Vietnam is incompetent and perhaps corrupt), which they did. I received the gimbal yesterday, and so far, it appears to work fine. The company also scrutinizes customer reviews online daily, so I know they are very interested in making sure users are satisfied with their products. I've been eager to get the Crane back to test out my new Nokton 17.5mm F/0.95 on the GH4, which is just about at the limit of the gimbal's payload capacity. I haven't had the chance to shoot with it yet, but balancing took substantially longer than with the feather-light LUMIX G X Vario 12-35mm F/2.8. If rotated 180 degrees, with such a heavy combination, the yaw motor will obstruct it, because the roll arm must be extended much farther, but it shouldn't matter during actual filming. Whith such a heavy load, it is possible to hear the motors straining when the camera is tilted very far in any direction, so I would really be hesitant about exceeding 1200 grams, at least with the GH4, because with an all-metal and glass lens like the Voigtlander, it is too front-heavy. Heavier camera/lens combinations that aren't so front-heavy might work fine for all I know. Update: I took the Crane out for a shoot this morning, and I'm still not sure whether the problem has been fixed: I had to adjust the roll arm screw once while I was out and about. Also, viewing the clips, they looked jittery as all hell, pretty much the same as the Vario G X 35-100mm f/2.8, so not sure what's going on. Maybe I didn't balance carefully enough? Maybe I've got to practice the ninja walk? Funny, 'cause I've seen a couple of videos on YouTube where the Nokton looks fine on the gimbal. I was hoping to upload a mini-review with various lenses on Thursday, but now I've decided to contact a buddy who does professional work to try this gimbal out and see how his stuff looks first. I'm still waiting for him to get back to me.

I substantially edited my previous post, if you haven't seen it, take a look. I would bet my life that Panasonic issues a firmware update very soon to address the issue with IBIS, and I think those who are returning their G80/85 cameras are making a big mistake. Several online reviewers who abandoned Panasonic for Sony lost me a long time ago, because not all of us have $3,000 lying around for a body only when Panasonic's flagship can be had for somewhere between $1,000 - $1,500, and not all of us require a camera that shoots one trillion ISO, and even the A6500 still lacks the battery life and articulating screen of the Panasonic. I would love to own the Fuji XT2 as well (beautiful build quality), but it also lacks articulating screen, has weak battery life and no IBIS. For now, I'm eyeing both Olympus and Panasonic. I am however, expecting groans from the online community when they see how much Panasonic is going to charge for the GH5. I'm almost certain it is going to cost as much as Sony's A7 cameras. Brace yourselves for a shock. Edit (again!): I realize that many readers here are all excited about the 10-bit of the upcoming GH5, but those of us who don't do heavy grading, or who don't own super-duper monitors, or who just publish stuff for the web (YouTube) probably won't see any benefit, but we'll be paying a hefty premium for it nonetheless. If you haven't already done so, you should check out a recent video of Dave Dugdale's, where he invites Matthew Scott to chime in about the value of 10 bit.

@Chris Oh Single AF is fine - continuous AF, face tracking, not so fine. Also, AF with other stuff in the frame, like shiny objects, a bright light or a contrasty subject in the background (or even contrasty clothing or shiny accessories) will fool the camera. I've tried them all when testing the Zhiyun Crane, and none of them worked consistently. I'm not trying to trash Panasonic, I know I've been pretty harsh about their lenses: but I've owned four of their cameras already and even intend to get the GH5 if it lives up to expectations; but I really can't get over the fact that their lenses feel so cheap (incomprehensible how so many reviewers found the build quality of the 12-35 and 35-100 so incredible). To their credit, TCSTV, after trying out the 100-400mm Leica, dismissed it out of hand (if I'm not mistaken), because the zoom felt so horrible. In fact, I hadn't used the 12-35 and 35-100 in ages (I had fallen in love with the S35 look of adapted lenses with Metabones), but after getting the Crane, I had no choice. And I learned the hard way that they perform best when manually focussed. At the very least, I'd check out the excellent reviews over at CameraLabs or Max Yuryev's YouTube channel before spending so much money. Edit: I recently saw a several years-old comparison over at Lensrentals.com of top rated 50mm lenses, from esteemed manufacturers like Leica all the way to Zeiss and including Voigtlander and Sigma. And the $950 Sigma (actually around $850 nowadays) compared favorably with the $11,000 Leica lens, and the Voigtlander was no slouch either. Which is another reason why I feel Panasonic made a huge mistake partnering with the legendary German manufacturer. If you haven't done so already, you should go to a camera shop and handle the Sigma and see how it feels compared to the Panasonic. And the Voigtlander is the equal or better of Leica and Zeiss as far as build quality is concerned (I much prefer the feel of the Noktons to the Milvus lenses). Once you've held a Voigtlander in your hands, all these other plastic-y lenses will feel insubstantial. The weather sealing of both Panasonic lenses and bodies is no more than advertising fluff, they are 'splash proof', that's all - and for most of us using external microphones, sliders, adapted lenses, digital audio recorders and focal reducers, this is a moot point.

@Chris Oh How has tracking worked so far with Panasonic? Which camera and lenses are you using?

Why are you selling GX85?

Any reason you're getting the 12-35mm? And which 15mm are you considering? I own the 12-35, and I think its work against bright light is pretty marginal, plus I almost always shoot at the wide end anyway, so something like the modestly faster Samyang or whatever would probably suit my needs better. But I've never handled Samyang/Rokinon, so I have no idea about build quality. Also, Panasonic is sure to issue a firmware update for the G80/85 soon, so I wouldn't get my panties in a bunch. I bought the 12-35 and 35-100 when I picked up the GH3: the 35-100 has nice image quality, beautiful even, but the OIS is garbage; and the 12-35mm isn't super wonderful either; no way would I pay the premium for an overpriced plastic lens for OIS and garbage AF (for stills it might be okay, but for continuous AF or face detection, forget it). I would still recommend a genuine lens like the Voigtlander, or any other wide. The IBIS in either the GX85 or the G80/85 when firmware update is released should be enough to iron out the wriggles anyhow.