IronFilm

F5.6-F7.1 lens 🙂

I agree it's overpriced, especially when looking at the market as a whole. However, it's one of one in M43 land (minus the PEN F, which is still expensive even used). I guess the Fuji phenomena has now carried over to M43. Over the past 2 years, I've seen used prices only go up at least 50% on the small M43 cameras of yesteryear. IMO, the reason for the pricing is most certainly to squeeze out every last bit of profit and also to protect it from being over-sold like the Fuji's. I think it will go down though, probably to $1799 within 6 months if it doesn't sell out too quickly.

I don't understand how you can call the S5mk2/X trash. Yes, the EVF isn't as good as the one on the S1 but it's perfectly usable (unlike the original S5's EVF which was poor). The camera is a superb all rounder that does things that others can't. I have 2 and when I have events where I need to film the whole event (hours long), I just stick an S5mk2 connected to XLR sound and record 4K for hours on end. The other shoot B-roll, interviews and photos. They are pro cameras.

So LUMIX version of A7CR instead of A7RV type thing? I’m all for low cost and the market is trending towards cheaper cameras that’s for sure. I still would hope for a nicer A1 mk1 killer. 
 
just saw a clean A1 mk1 sell for $2,800 US last week so that’s going to be tough to beat. You’ve said it before, LUMIX really has to come up with something special to stand out in this current market. A cheaper 50mp $2,000 A7CR equiv might do that. 

That does, indeed, look great, but also...
 
So rather than the handful of friendly influencers that have received the camera and done minimal tests, I'll hold off on judgment until I see it working on my own cameras (or since I'm 10,000km away from them right now, until there are real user reviews after the firmware is released to the public).

Oh yeah can't wait to put a shitty Atomos on top of an OM-3.
Amazing.

Atomos just released raw support for the OM-3.
https://www.newsshooter.com/2025/02/13/atomos-releases-new-firmware-that-offers-expanded-hdmi-raw-support-for-ninja-shogun/ 
 

Yeah it's too new to show up secondhand just yet in any sort of quantities. 
But you can find the Viltrox DC-X3 on Aliexpress and B&H:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1842381-REG/viltrox_dc_x3_6_touchscreen_hd_monitor.html
Yup, sometimes there are moments in time when there are leaps forward in tech / affordability, such that it no longer makes sense to buy secondhand.
For instance when the OG BMPCC went on sale for $500 it killed any reason whatsoever to buy a secondhand BMCC EF (in my personal opinion). 
Nope, but I've got a very old OG SmallHD 702 that's given up the ghost, and I would like to replace it.
And from the research I've done recently, then the Viltrox DC-X3 seems like the best option right now. The only reasons I haven't pulled the trigger just yet is because:
1) only just recently came to this conclusion from doing the research into it, so still thinking over it, and I'm trying to spend less on gear in 2025. And I don't need need it just yet. Because I can just kinda get away with peeking at the other monitors at video village on a small budget shoot. Plus I have an old SmallHD Focus monitor, but it lacks loop through and lacks SDI 😕 However I have an HDMI to SDI converter. Clunky, but "works".
2) I quite like the 7" size of the 702, and if anything I'd rather go bigger than smaller with the 6" Viltrox DC-X3. However as a smaller level Production Sound Mixer I'm not sure I can truly justify the costs of a 10" SDI monitor. The leap up in price from 6" or 7" to 10" is quite significant, seems my only cheap option would be the Lilliput A11? So I dunno, haven't really decided yet if I'd rather go for the cheaper Viltrox DC-X3 (and better features/quality) vs the bigger and more expensive Lilliput A11.
3) spending money for a new monitor then opens the door to spending even more money... as I go down the slippery slope of "well, now I should upgrade / get more SDI cables?" then "but what about getting an SDI wireless transmitter? Some of these new ones look very tempting..." And before I know it I'm a few thousand dollars into monitors/cables/wireless/batteries/mounting/accessories/etc
4) with how common just casting video over WiFi is these days, maybe I could simply just live with dedicating one of my tablets to only this task and getting a cage for it? (to protect / mount it with) Am not focus pulling with it! So I can "live with" a small delay.
 

As one, I'd say yes.  That would be an improvement over now.  I'll be delighted if Nikon are able to get AF on Red to even close to where it was on Sony/Canon 3-5 years ago.  Heck, even a face-only AF mode would be just fine.

It's this:
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1280873-REG/sony_selp18110g_e_mount_lens.html
It's a cine lens design spin on their much much much cheaper Sony 18-105mm F4 photography lens (one I've had for years and years, a great run and gun lens):
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1001011-REG/sony_selp18105g_18_105mm_f_4_g_lens.html 
Kinda wish I had this lens for my Fujfilm camera, maybe the Tamron 17-70mm f/2.8 is what I should give into temptation and get instead. Slightly more expensive, very slightly wider, somewhat less range, but a full stop faster. 
I'd imagine Komodo users will be happy to simply get moderately good enough AF for simple sit down interviews. 
Means they won't have to:
1) rent an FX6/FX9 instead
2) or pay for a 1st AC for the day
3) or pull it themselves and have to divide focus (ha!) between being in focus vs camera operating vs directing vs lighting vs audio vs etc everything else they do when doing a simple OMB sit down interview 
It's been normal for years that RED would do massive price slashes to their cameras as they near their end of their lifecycle (or even early into it!). 
People should stop getting upset about it. 
Even ARRI does this now. 
https://ymcinema.com/2025/01/28/arri-unveils-new-alexa-35-entry-level-model-with-flexible-licensing-and-affordable-media/ 
That's the expectation/hope. 
And I would personally be shocked if we don't eventually see RED cameras broadly roughly speaking "matching" Nikon mirrorless performance for video AF. 
The question is only if it happens this generation or in the next generation. 
As doing it this generation is severely limited by both the hardware architecture and the software architecture RED has been using. The hardware their current generation RED cameras are using might flat out prevent them from ever matching Nikon mirrorless video AF performance, or even coming vaguely close. But even if it's not a barrier, and it has enough horsepower to do it (and the right kind of horsepower), then the entire software architecture that RED is running on might require a total overhaul from scratch to allow good enough AF performance. And Nikon might feel that's not worth it for a generation of cameras that only has a limited lifespan left, and would rather put all those efforts into instead the next generation of RED cameras, and have an entire new software stack built for them to run. (perhaps sharing something with Nikon mirrorless, for productivity efficiencies)
In the long run I expect RED/Nikon to drop support for Canon RF Mount, it might even come as soon as their next generation of camera releases ("DSMC4" or whatever they call it, or Komodo Gen2, or whatever) which then will be only in PL / Z Mount. 
If I was to take a wild guess, that's what I'd think as well. Keep RED as the "luxury / prestige brand", but put in RED the good stuff from Nikon (such as lenses / AF), and put in Nikon the good stuff from RED (such as redcode raw, and matching color science. Make it super very easy to use a Nikon mirrorless with the RED cine cameras. Such as a person might use a Sony FX30 with a FX9 camera, or a Canon R5C with a C400)
 

That's what I remember as well, the LX100 sensors had standard size MFT sensors (not the oversized GH2/GH5S "MFT sensors"), but the LX100 lens designs were for slightly smaller than MFT size (thus they were extra compact sized) which made the LX100 sensors "oversized" (allowing for their multi aspect ratio design) relative to the lens being used on them. 
 

That's what I remember as well, the LX100 sensors had standard size MFT sensors (not the oversized GH2/GH5S "MFT sensors"), but the LX100 lens designs were for slightly smaller than MFT size (thus they were extra compact sized) which made the LX100 sensors "oversized" (allowing for their multi aspect ratio design) relative to the lens being used on them. 
 

I suspect Nikon might not care too much about grumpy existing RED customers, if the lower prices increase the total RED sales revenue (and they sell expensive Nikon 'cinema' lenses alongside them). Nikon seem to be pretty aggressive on camera body pricing/value these days, and also seem to be taking video seriously as a way of increasing sales and 'market presence'. It'll be interesting to see what their next move is in the 'cinema' market.

Blackmagic made a bold attempt to appeal to the mid-market that sadly kinda doesn't exist. 
It's exceptionally hard in 2025 to sell any non-ARRI camera in any price bracket that's above US$10K. 
Sony with the VENICE is the only one who has been successful. 
RED kinda has their little niche. 
Panasonic? Gone. 
Canon? Only their sub $10K cameras are successful-ish.
Thus BMD made the decision to move their price back down into the sub $10K region, where I suspect/hope they'll find a lot more success. 
The URSA Cine 12K LF still has very high media costs, however there are ways to work around that, you could for instance record most formats directly to a connected USB drive over USB-C (like you can do with most other BMD cameras). 
  
Love how I got my OG BMPCC back in the day when it went on sale for just US$500! (plus the NZD was strong then too against the USD than it is today)

Right now, I think the very best camera monitor (if you don't need a recorder) on a low budget is the Viltrox DC-X3 (or DC-X2 if you don't care about SDI), which is super cheap on Aliexpress. I'd take this over anything you mentioned. 

Maybe the Sony 18-110mm cine zoom with an E to Z Mount adapter?
  
They do.
  
At least two big factors:
1) there are a tonne of Sony E Mount users, now they can very easily transition over to RED
2) Nikon will bring better AF to RED than Canon ever would have 
 

I've said for a long time that the look generally accepted and desired as 'filmic' is, in fact, 'Arri'.

Yes it is mostly about cost, and weight/bulk. I'm no longer shooting for money and my financial position is not nearly good enough to justify keeping ~$6-7K of kit for personal shooting, when I think I could probably be happy or at least satisfied with ~$3K worth, and put the rest into savings/retirement. 
A good chunk of my shooting is also in fairly risky scenarios, and I guess as I get older the idea of a ~$3-4K body with $500-1,000 of lens and rigging on it getting smashed or stolen is increasingly less appealing than risking a $1200 body with $50-500 on it.
I'll definitely be happy about heading out the door with a 20lb backpack on instead of dragging a 35lb Pelican!
We'll see. I've started buying the m4/3 setup, and am going to sell off the L-mount stuff I haven't really used as much first. Maybe the GAS/shiny new toy instinct will take back over, but I like to think I'll be able to continue being an adult about this 😄

https://www.l-rumors.com/surprise-lumix-s1rii-will-not-use-the-same-leica-sl3-sensor/
 
Will they use that new 45MP sensor?!

The LX100 & LX100 ii also had it for stills (different aspect ratio crops out of 16MP & 20MP m4/3 sensors, but none gave you the full sensor area).

There’s a rumor that the S1Rii that might be announced next week and will have a different sensor that’s in the SL-3. Will be interesting to see where things fall with LUMIX moving forward in 2025. Maybe this is the shift away from the previous partnership?
I would love to see Sony give up the 50mp sensor that’s in the original A1. Get a $3,500 version of the A1 from LUMIX here soon? Yes please. 
 

Canon is expected to announce the V1 compact with 16-50mm (FF equiv) lens and 1.4" sensor before CP+.   We will soon see Canon's take on this.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt - as CVP are not usually into the breathless hyperbolic nonsense- it is the greater flexibility of the Z mount over the RF mount that opens up new paths for more people to move into RED.
Both Z and RF can adapt EF with AF but the Z offers the same with F, E and even Leica M with adapters.
Stretching a point, even manual MFT lenses can be used with the K-X via an additional cheap E>Z adapter as most of them will cover Super35.
That’s a lot more existing lens collections that people can use and could tempt more people in who have been reluctant to lock themselves into RF.
But, yeah, whilst it’s very interesting (a compact cinema camera with compact M mount lenses with AF for example) and a more flexible option, it’s not really in the “this changes everything” territory.
Changing the mount AND a price cut further towards PYXIS territory would’ve been though !

Cool that Reds will now have the most flexible lens mount on the market!  I suppose that opens up a ton of Sony E mount options too since there's an adapter for E->Z.

For most of the shoots I do, a 28-135 on the K-X wouldn't be ideal - but if you don't need anything wider than 37mm FF equivalent, it'll probably look great.
For affordable zooms on an S35 camera, I still can't think of any that I'd rather have than the Fujinon MK's.  I finally picked up a used set mid-last year (along with a kit to replace the E mount with RF) and I've been delighted!  The 18-55 has barely been off my K-X since then.   With A Z mount and the E mount adapter, there's no longer even a need for the RF conversion!

Multiple businesses? Yikes, hope that does not include LUMIX. 
True, but it's also not unheard of for massive company cuts to come out of the blue. 
The people inside LUMIX might have already seen the writing on the wall for the last few years and thus were trying their best to boost their financial stats with a slimmed down range, but will it be enough for survival? I guess we'll see how 2025 goes.
Yikes! If we saw an A7CR with an L Mount and a red dot, then that would be big scary writing on the wall indeed for Panasonic.