norliss

21 minutes ago, Timotheus said:

I think Tony tries in this video and many others to get manufacturers to start innovating and deliver more value. Not only for the benefit of micro-attention-spanned millenials, but certainly also for dedicated, paying consumers. As Canon's intentional crippling of camera's is often lamented here, I would reckon this notion would gather some support?

Among many, many other things: simpler menu's, touch UI, flawless connectivity through Wifi and GPS, easy firmware updates and an update of those friggin archaic top-lcd's have nothing to do with 'dumbing down'. These would be beneficial to everyone.

I did say I think usability should be improved wherever possible (many of the things you mention above would definitely fall into that) and I agree about Canon's intentional crippling.

However, I think chasing the 'yoof' market i.e. uploading straight to Snapchat/Zuckerbook/Instagram IS dumbing down as those things are faddish/ ephemeral and besides which, will make zero difference for the very reasons I outlined in my original post.

Excellent article, Andrew and I find myself agreeing with you rather than Tony Northrup. Then again, I'm not sure how much Tony Northrup really agrees with Tony Northrup: his video smacks of being one to pull in an audience with a headline-grabbing title...

Sure, I'm all for improving usability wherever possible but proper photography and "hey, look at my friends having lolz tonite" pictures on social media are two different things. There really is no point trying to make cameras operate exactly like mobile phones because for the vast majority of people, it wouldn't make any difference: they'd always opt for the phone and the phone-alone because it's 'good enough' and the extra performance of the dedicated camera just doesn't warrant the cost/size etc.

Ultimately, if people are genuinely interested in photography they'll move up to a 'proper camera' and learn to use it. I don't subscribe to this dumb-down/ race-to-the-bottom mindset that says we should gear everything toward the people that have grown up in the smartphone/iPad era.

Interesting vid from Dave Dugdale and Matt Scott. I have a feeling Matt's comments and conclusions will wind up a few people here 

Many thanks to all of you that have responded and particular thanks to @M Carter for taking the time to write such a helpful, detailed reply

I've absolutely taken onboard the 4K advice and I'm sure that the next proper full project I do will be 4K. That said, I'm not really in a position to buy a camera right now (nor am I sure there is one that I'd want to buy at the moment) meaning if I was to do 4k it would likely be a rental. I *may* just stick with HD for this given it's a very short 'taster' but I will certainly ponder this...

I'm certainly going to buy the Tascam DR-60MkII and a SmallRig cage although I'm loathe to spend too much on camera-specific kit as I don't see myself using the a6000 for a huge amount of stuff or for too far into the future. I'm hoping I shall be able to scrounge (or rent very cheaply) a mic and some lighting from my former workplace although moving forward, of course I realise I'm going to need this stuff so I'll have to acquire kit a bit at a time.

One thing no-one seems to have mentioned is a monitor or monitor/recorder. The screen on the a6000 is just too small to rely on for accurate focus (as I just proved to myself with some of the test shots I did earlier!) so I know I need some solution for this. I'm thinking it would be just as well to get my mits on a Atomos Ninja? I appreciate that the quality benefits of 8bit 4:2:2 over the internal 8bit 4:2:0 are marginal at best but it does mean I have a backup recording running in addition to the better/bigger screen. This is something of a quandary for me as I'm loath to buy an HD-only model here for reasons of future proofing alas the Ninja/Shogun Flame (let alone the Shogun Inferno) is a bit rich for my blood at this current time...

I'm currently working on an idea for a documentary film (or possibly TV) and I've decided to make a short 'taster' to use to gain funding/a commission. I have a couple of good contributors lined up with whom I need to shoot some simple talking heads. Unlike a good many people here, I am no DoP or cameraman and truth be told I don't aspire to be one albeit I do of course have an interest in cameras, lenses etc as part and parcel of being a filmmaker. I did think of posting here to see if there was anyone in (or very near London) that would be prepared to help me out alas there is no budget for this as yet and I'm loathe to ask for people's time without payment 

In any case, perhaps doing it myself would be a good thing (even if it does cause me a little worry!): not because I have aspirations to become the next Roger Deakins, but I can envisage being in a similar scenario in future and the more self-sufficient I could be at this pre-pre production phase, the better. 

However, I'm currently not adequately kitted out to do this properly: I have a Sony a6000, lenses, a tripod (with head suitable for locked-off camera which should suffice for this purpose), a grey/white card but little else! So what I'm after is some advice for kit that 1/ won't break the bank and 2/ is small/light enough for me to be able to lug to London (probably alone and via train) where one of the interviews will take place.

Sound: given I cannot record proper audio with the a6000, I have already been looking at the various Tascam/Zoom audio recorders and am leaning toward the Tascam DR-60DMkII. I appreciate this doesn't include the little in-built mics of other recorders, meaning I'd need to buy a mic and stand etc...

Lighting: I'm going to try and do these interviews in a cinema and theatre respectively meaning I *should* be ok for some sort of back-light (?) but can't be 100% sure at this point if those locales will be available meaning they could be in a house, so need something that will cover me for most scenarios.

Other kit: there's also going to be stands for the lights/mics plus numerous other things which I doubtless haven't even considered!!

Any help/advice greatly appreciated!

4 minutes ago, mkabi said:

I'm sure you aren't interested in A-mount cameras (and neither am I), but from my perspective... A-mount wasn't abandoned. Even before this announcement, they were releasing A-mount cameras. Last year (2015) they announced and recently released the a68

Voila: http://www.cnet.com/products/sony-alpha-a68/preview/;

And the year before that (2014) it was the a77ii.... http://www.cnet.com/products/sony-alpha-a77-ii/preview/

so... how that translates as abandoning or giving up or anything else of the sort... makes me wonder....

Ok, 'abandoned' may have been a bit strong but it's fair to say they've given the A-mount system scant attention in recent years. It's a shame as it's good and there's also some nice legacy Minolta/Sony & Zeiss glass for it too...

This is an unexpected and fairly bizarre development, given that Sony had looked to have abandoned the A-mount.

This is going to raise the blood pressure of a few people, I bet...

Someone really needs to do a "Hitler reacts to yet another Hitler reacts" video...

This really is a dismal release in 2016. Sadly, it will probably sell really well....because it's Canon.

Thanks @Blue Fox I'll give some of these settings a whirl.

From the tiny bit of filming I've done with it thus far, I've used the Neutral, -3, -1, -1 setting which gives a flat-ish look and it grades reasonably well.

I'm doing a small amount of filming later for someone on a quick turnaround and the footage won't be graded, so does anyone have any recommendations on settings to use for the best in-camera results?

2 hours ago, John Matthews said:

What are "NLEs?"

Non Linear Editing software i.e. Final Cut, Avid MC etc.

41 minutes ago, Nick Hughes said:

The new Pelican Air cases have an option for Trekpak inserts. 

They certainly do. Alas I want to store my lenses vertically and they just aren't deep enough until you get to the 1605 case which is too big in size/overkill for what I need.

This is why I've opted for the Storm iM2450 - it's nice and deep but not too large.

I guess that's a "no" then! 

10 hours ago, The Chris said:

There's a giant Contax Zeiss thread on reduser. The German versions of many lenses show what's regarded as ninja star bokeh while the Japanese versions do not. Something to be aware of, I personally can't stand the ninja star look, so I've always bought MIJ lenses. Supposedly the MIJ versions have updated coatings too. The other drawback for me is 6-bladed apertures on most lenses, Zeiss moved to 8-blades with the ZE/ZF's and many can be found for less than the C/Y versions without worries of internal fungus and dust.

They're fine with 36mp stills on the A7r, they're more than up to the task for 4k.

Not strictly true.

There were two versions of the Contax Zeiss lenses: the AE variant made up to 1985 and the MM variant made from 1985-2005. Both were made in Germany and Japan - hence AEG, AEJ, MMG, MMJ - and it's the older AE models that exhibit the 'ninja star' effect you referred to, so it's this (rather than where they were made) that is the determinant of this phenomenon.

Hi,

I'm looking to get myself a Peli case (most likely the Storm iM2450) and TrekPak divider kit. I think I'm going to buy both from B&H but they don't sell any of the accessories and unfortunately TrekPak's rates for international shipping are really high.

Would any of you guys based in the USA consider being able to make a purchase on my behalf (you could get free shipping) then ship them over to me in UK? I could then send you money via PayPal.

I think it would purely depend on which NLE you were planning to use. If Avid MC, I'd use DNxHD. Anything else and ProRes may be a better bet.

There's no getting around it: this is an expensive camera. It is a Leica, after all.

I'd be interested to see Andrew get his hands on one with the new 2.0 firmware to see if they have addressed the original issues...

The whole Samsung NX (& lenses) story is another cautionary tale: a really great product is not in of itself a guaranteed success. Sadly, marketing, brand recognition etc are arguably more important - you only need look at the continuing success of Canon DSLRs for that...

10 hours ago, Andrew Reid said:

Celebrity endorsement as a substitute for knowledge.

I worry for humanity sometimes.

Only sometimes?!

Admittedly, the a6000's successor took a while to appear but given the rate at which Sony turns out consumer cameras, we'd be silly to assume they're ever likely to bother sorting that out. 

Seems like Sony has released new firmware for A5100, A6000 & all variants of A7 (bar A7SII) today.

Sadly, no mention of the 'wax-face' issue being solved but perhaps that was a silent fix…?

I've noticed the a6000 also seems to drain pretty fast when not in use. I've turned off the wifi but not sure what else I can do to stop it. This surely can't be normal/acceptable?

In all seriousness, there are a lot of very enthusiastic people here that really understand (or strive to understand) the strengths and weaknesses of all the cameras out there and I think you need to do that to get the absolute best out of them, in addition to a great grasp of lighting, of course.

It would be cool to collaborate with some guys from this forum on this (or another) project, for sure.