jonpais

I bought the Zhiyun Crane from Coog Tech: they have excellent communication and shipped my gimbal out almost immediately after paying through PayPal. The parcel arrived in Vietnam practically the following day and I picked it up at the DHL center here. I just put it together this morning, and balancing was a breeze: I just downloaded the App, but I'm not sure how to use it yet, though it looks very simple. Anyhow, just wanted to say the gimbal has outstanding build quality, is easy to balance, and does not shake or vibrate even when you adjust exposure on the camera. https://jonpais.wordpress.com/2016/07/21/zhiyun-crane-pistol-grip-brushless-gimbal-stabilizer/

Are you by any chance Zach? What relevance do your videos have to do with this thread?

Will you need permission to use the cameo videos by Sir Drum et al? hii

I'm really intrigued by the XT2, but I wonder about lens selection. I was just glancing at some tests of Fuji's wider lenses, as well as one test of a Zeiss Touit, and while the lenses appear to be solidly constructed, it seems as though their performance isn't extraordinary - but the price tag is. I've heard several reviewers recommend using Fuji lenses, as the bodies are optimized for them. Can anyone share their own experiences with Fuji or other glass for X-Mount cameras?

I went ahead and bit the bullet... The Crane can't be worse than my Nebula 4000, which it seems I can't even give away now.

@Mattias Burling I love your dog! Was the longish handle grip awkward to use at all? Did you do any shots holding the stabilizer at 45 degrees like in the Zhiyun videos?

Personally, if I were to do it all over again, I'd check out the Aputure LensRegain: a focal reducer and electronic follow focus all-in-one. I believe it costs no more than a Metabones, and has additional functionality, which can come in quite handy when shooting on a gimbal stabilizer like the DJI Ronin. According to Cheesy Cam's tests, the optical quality doesn't suffer in comparison to the Metabones, either. I was quite disappointed when, after paying over $700 for my Metabones adapter (incl. shipping and customs fees), it was unusable because the infinity screw had come loose. I had to take it to a local repair shop, where it took a technician around 30 minutes to adjust. And according to Lens Rentals . com, this is a common issue with Metabones, which is why they can't recommend the device.

@OP What exactly will you be shooting?

I agree with most of what you're saying, but I still insist that design is an important consideration, at least to me, and that goes for anything I purchase, whether it's a camera, a sofa, a computer, an audio recorder or even a lowly pair of sandals. I happened to walk into a Fuji store this afternoon, and some of their cameras just beg to be held. I'm not knocking Panasonic by any means though: my last four cameras have all been Panasonics.

@John Matthews While I agree that TCSTV may have been a bit dismissive in their review of the GX/85, it might be hasty to conclude that their test was superficial. I did feel, however, that saying the camera is obviously for amateurs who don't know their way around an NLE was a bit off: for sure the GH5 will have the very same ability to do 20- and 40-second pans and zooms of 4K clips in-camera. But apart from the lack of a microphone and headphone jack, the lack of weather sealing, a flat profile like V log Lite and a swivel LCD screen, I believe the GX85 battery is also lower capacity, and that is one of the things I cherish most about my GH4. And while I personally could care less about the absence of a microphone input and headphone jack, what TCSTV has to say about their usefulness for vloggers can't be denied. The built-in microphone did sound atrocious in their test: so much so, that it would be all but unusable in a situation where you had to grab and shoot on the fly. If I were a vlogger, I'd probably regret the lack of a swivel screen as well. Finally, I think TCSTV was also spot-on regarding the unexciting minimalist approach to the design of the camera. Concerning the design, I really hope that when Panasonic does release the GH5, they do away with the annoying, microsopic, mushy-feeling buttons.

? For one thing, Samsung is no longer in the camera business. For another, I don't think I'd want to be processing RAW for things like family gatherings. Lastly, a 6K consumer camera isn't in the pipeline for a couple of years yet, but there is no question, stills extracted from 6K ought to be amazing. For the time being, I occasionally make screen grabs from video clips shot with my GH4, and they look fine on a 27" monitor. But it isn't so much resolution as color that interests me.

I believe all the newer Panasonic cameras already have a built-in feature that allows shooting 4K video and selecting stills. To my knowledge, there isn't another manufacturer that makes it this easy. If I understand you correctly, I would just pick up Panasonic's newest camera, the GX80/GX85. And that way, you won't have to invest in more lenses. Especially if a good portion of your shooting is for your students. I consider the two Sony cameras you mentioned to be professional cameras. Do you really want to lug those things around at parties and family get-togethers? I know I wouldn't. Incidentally, if you're experiencing a lot of noise with the GH4, you might be underexposing a little. The sensor does not tolerate underexposure very well. I might suggest opening up the aperture a bit. And if you're doing a lot of low-light photography, a Metabones Speed Booster is a good investment.

I'm no expert by any means, but I've done recording outdoors with the GH4 where I had an assistant hold a boompole (I prefer the Rode) along with a Rode mic running into a Sony audio recorder. I used the camera's audio to synch using Plural Eyes, though I guess FCP X already has synch capability. I don't see the lack of a microphone input to be such a handicap, as on-camera sound is unlikely to yield very good results, particularly when doing interviews. Actually, using a shotgun mic on a boompole still captures tons of ambient noise - a lav mic connected to an external recorder would give far better results. The only scenario where I can see the lack of a mic input being a serious handicap is for a single-operator shoot. For the best sound, I would not use the Panasonic's built-in preamp anyway, even if it had a mic input.

Sorry Zach, but a salesman at Best Buy hardly qualifies as an authority I would trust when it comes to purchasing any electronics. And this is in no way meant to disparage your brother. [Edit] Actually, your brother's comment that any new Mac would do is exactly the type of nonsense I would expect to hear from a salesperson at Best Buy.

I'm stoked too, more interested in using it with a handheld gimbal than flying, though. But yeah, it's priced out of my league, since I wouldn't be earning money with it. Also, apparently, adding ND filters is going to mean fussing with balance all over again, one of the main reasons I'd be interested in this at all (I'm still trying to unload my Nebula 4000 because I never could get it balanced properly).

My sister says to have a look at the high end Radeon graphics card.

If you want a fast wide prime, the Sigma 20mm and Metabones seems like the obvious choice to me. You won't need stabilization with such a wide lens. You can always pick up an inexpensive shoulder mount if you so desire.

Anthony- are you referring to the Sigma 50mm f/1.4? If so, this is incredible news!

?

This has already been discussed in these pages. It's complete nonsense.

Thanks, Pablo. I see in the Sigma user manual that there is indeed a slider built into the software allowing adjustment of the focus throw. If anybody has tested this, I'd be very interested in learning the results. Because my biggest and maybe single complaint about the 50mm f/1.4 is the short focus throw. I went ahead and ordered the USB dock out of curiosity. Supposedly, it'll arrive in around 10 days here in Vietnam.

I see nothing either in Sigma's literature or reviews at DPReview and Lens Rentals indicating any adjustment for focus throw. Could you point me in the right direction - where did you find this information?

Looking forward to seeing the video.