Cinegain

This counts... right? ?

?

Ainol. Didn't they go out of business years ago? ? I remember the days of their 7" tablets like the Ainol Novo7 Aurora, Fire, etc. When there was no such thing as OTA and you were messing around with root, recovery, flashing and the sorts. Glad that's behind us. Speaking of gadgets and in particular tablets... I hadn't used a tablets in years anymore due to the fact they were pretty much larger smartphones... when smartphones themselves gotten bigger over the years as well. I just didn't see much added value unless you can make it productive or use it for multimedia, but that meant a keyboard... origami folding cover and that made the whole thing to cumbersome to take with... ... but that all changed when I bought the Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro (apparently availlable still at the Lenovo US store; significantly discounted (499.99 > $224.99). The kickstand changes the game, I'll tell you. JBL Dolby Atmos speakers are marvelous as well. And it has a built-in projector! Been a couple of years and updates were never Lenovo's strong suit, but now there's a new one in town at last! It was launched at IFA Berlin 2019 earlier last month, doesn't seem to be availlable in the US, but is already shipping in the EU. I have fallen in love with tablets again thanks to the Yoga Tab-series and it's currently perhaps the no.1 gadget that adds value to my life (eBook/eMag reading, Netflix/streaming/YouTube/video, browsing, etc). Again, the kickstand is underrated! In certain aircraft you can even flip it out 180 degrees and put it in the magazine pouch of the seat in front of you (like so) so that you have your own in-flight entertainment system at eye-height. Regarding the notepadthingie. I actually have one of those. Believe I got it from Banggood.com , they're a cool site. They've got one that's $9.99 opposed to $18. Of course don't forget to look on AliExpress which pretty much is your one-stop-spot for anything these days (don't forget to check eBay... and Amazon either). You'll find big brands (e.g. Aputure) have their own stores over at AliExpress. Sticking to the topic of notepadthingies... I have this reMarkable eReader that gives you the look and feel of actual paper. Read, write, doodle! Cool schtuff. Won't go on about tablets/readers anymore! But let me think of more things adding true value to my life... what wouldn't I want to give up? My BOSE QC35 II headphones. Back in the day I was mesmerized by the effectiveness of the QuietComfort 15 and had to have it. I then briefly had switched it up next round with the Philips Fidelio NC1 where the audio and comfort were better, but the noicecancelling qualities were a bit behind and it didn't work properly anymore at all after a while. Now happily rocking the QC35 II although I've been hearing good things about that Sony WH-1000XM3. I'm in planes and trains a lot and noise cancellation and something to enjoy multimedia with is definitely a must! Wired IEM? I really like the in-ears from Alpha & Delta (through http://www.lendmeurears.com ). The AD D2 are a great bargain with a sound signature that I find to be 'just right'. For wireless audio, my go-tos are the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air. Not actually that cheap, but the fit and sound here as well I find to be just right. Where you gonna play that music offa? Smartphone? Laptop? Well, sure. But I really like this portable Hi-Res player by Hidizs, the AP80 (as seen on Kickstarter). You gotta charge all your gadgets! So I can't go without my ROCK chargers. They're on AliExpress with their own store: https://rock.aliexpress.com. This is a definite must for anyone: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32848029671.html! Universal global travel charger: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32971342589.html. Powerbank: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32960165417.html. Got ya charging covered? How about some cables? These are amongst the best in the game: https://gadgetao.aliexpress.com/store/1996286/search?origin=n&SortType=bestmatch_sort&SearchText=100W / https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33057601215.html. Got some gear that still rocks microUSB and some that's USB-C already? Still use a single cable with i.e. these AIFFECT 2-in-1 cables. I've organized my desk speaker system cables with their little cable clamps. More brands with this kind of stuff on AliExpress (and Amazon sometimes even): Anker, UGreen, Tronsmart, Blitzwolf, ORICO, Vinsic, USAMS, Floveme, McDodo, Dodocool, etc. Need a cardreader that connects to most of your devices? This Vention one is rather convincing. I'm also a big fan of the Meenova stuff (readers/cables), availlable through: https://gadgetao.aliexpress.com. Need to fight the rain? Don't get your gear wet, get this Teflon-coated umbrella from Tiohoh. Getting more into the photography side of things then... ? Kent & Faith Concept (K&F Concept) has their own AliExpress store, I'll be trying their vND soon: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000067824200.html. Bags? Love some of the Caden ones: https://cadencameraacces.aliexpress.com (tempted to upgrade my old shoulderbag for this one: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000019173719.html). For DJI OSMO Pocket accessories it's hard to beat Behorse: https://behorse-1990.aliexpress.com/store/237708 (similar store: https://www.aliexpress.com/store/3239087 ). All things mainly GoPro related? Telesin! C-mount lenses? Pixco/Rocks Photography. How about spare batteries? If you're in the EU you definitely need to have a look over at https://pts-trading.de , home of Patona. Great brand, great batteries. Need to keep in-touch on set/on location and will cheap walkietalkies do the trick for ya? Look no further then this little set of 2pcs Baofeng walkietalkies. Mmmkai. Getting a little carried away though, that should do for now. ? Will just leave you with 3 China store search engines that might be helpful and then just start browsing away... http://chinaprices.us / https://www.wholecheap.com / https://en.pandacheck.com.

These have always been good sources for me regarding flashlights/headlamps. https://flashlightwiki.com/Cree https://www.candlepowerforums.com http://budgetlightforum.com http://lygte-info.dk For purchasing... I'd strongly consider AliExpress and eBay. Nitecore is amongst the best established brands in the flashlight game (also more high-end/expensive); Fenix is up there as well (at least... when I was into that kinda thing years back). Nitecore's also good with powersupply/charging (they recently even entered the mirrorless camera market with 'smart batteries' for cameras (Sony) and even cinema optics now! Kinda boggled my mind a little, having known them for their flashlights). The best flashlights need run offa good high power reliable sources. The most common and recommended battery type is the 18650 (same sort of batteries you'll find in a laptop, Lime/Bird/Xiaomi scooter, Tesla, etc). Personally in terms of safety, quality/performance and price I think the Soshine brand is the best way to go. Get a good and safe charger as well. Too many horror stories with cheap nameless or shit brand crap, both batteries and chargers blowing up causing havoc. There are a bunch of 'Intellichargers'. Again, here as well Nitecore knows their stuff. Also: Sysmax, Jetbeam (pretty much same thing). There are sometimes diffusors availlable for various lights should you want to soften it up. There's also 'CREE COB' which are like worklight-type LED strips giving you a little bit of flat lighting (not very bright). What kind of bin? XM-L/XM-L2 (T6 BIN) used to be the popular type. Multi-LED (like 3x... 5x... you name it) as well. (Used to do tech reviews many many years ago, flashlights were a part of that) These days it's all about the XHP LED source (XHP35/XHP50/XHP70) though. Maybe start your adventure over at AliExpress, browse around and maybe it will lead to something useful for what you're trying to do. There's also tons of flashlight/EDC channels over on YouTube to check out... once down that rabbit hole you'll probably end up wanting to buy something like that floody Fenix... or how about that Imalent:

lol, my favourite thing on right now is Channel4's Treasure Island with Bear Grylls. xD

Still have to go through that one myself, believe it or not (complete watching it, that is!). ? Always caught little chunks of it, but never actually saw the whole trilogy. That's the thing if you were young and brought up with television. Usually these things started at say 20:30 and I either didn't know it was on and would perhaps channel hop and come across it only to join-in like half an hour in or it went on so long that it ended past bedtime with school the next day. It's been only a few years ago that I finally saw all Star Wars movies too for example. Or... The Godfather. Currently landed on Rocky. Want to watch the original Top Gun (from my year of birth!) as well. Think the last movie I actually saw in theaters was Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Dunno, wasn't really feeling it. That whilst The Hateful Eight has been one of the better masterpieces I've seen in the last couple of years. But that might be because it was the 70mm Ultra Panavision Roadshow version. Just gorgeous. But yeah, still a lot of catching up to do... in meanwhile there's so much new content to consume, it's a never ending battle trying to catch 'em all, much like Pokémon. xD Consume a lot of series. I'm not too much into too intellectual or artsy stuff, I'm pretty much a basic bitch, I like the popular stuff. In my freetime I like to relax my mind with some easy to watch entertainment. I randomly started watching The Blacklist. Really enjoyable first couple of seasons, still finishing up the latest few. Now I've started The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Tbh, hadn't heard of the original, but it's cool to see this kind of practical filmmaking is still alive, gave me a real Gremlins/Robot Chicken-vibe up front. Thought the series would be a little darker and adults-focused, but it feels more like a (Snow White-esque) fairytale for kids.

Always heard nice things about the Age of Ultron 40mm f/2 (EOS EF/Nikon F). Here's uncle Ken on the subject: https://www.kenrockwell.com/voigtlander/40mm-f2.htm There are also the Voigtländer SL-II N Color Skopar 28mm f/2.8 and SL-II APO-Lanthar 90mm f/3.5 (APS-C) in EOS EF-mount, but I don't think you should really bother (but you might want to look into the Nikon F mount's Voigtländer SL-II Nokton 58mm f/1.4 AI-s).

Nah, pretty sure it's attached to his thumb ring....

It's about the same, if not worse in that aspect. Rather short. If you want longer... the T2.2 Veydra Mini Cinema Primes have a massive 300° throw. Meike seems to have taken over where they left off (they officially seized operation recently, but more or less already have been considered dead a while longer now), probably negotiated some deal with the manufacturing plant to make a few new runs offa their plans. Think everything, incl. throw just about stayed the same, but now it's more affordable, accessible. Think they currently have the 12, 16 & 25mm out there (there's also been the Veydra 19mm (albeit the one oddball T2.6), 35mm, 50mm and 85mm).

It's smooth and works really well, much like the Olympus PRO integration, but the 'soft stops' are something to get used to, there's a slight feedback once you hit the stop and then by its focus by wire nature continues to turn (which luckily doesn't do a thing, but still; also, for focus pulling (repeatable) this will be messed up unfortunately). I have the 18-35mm f/1.8 in Nikon mount and I'd say it probably does manual focus just as well. Don't know, more like a spot-on 'little baby Jesus' to me. It also kind of looks like... it could use a good rinse.

Apology accepted. lol, nah of course non is needed and you well know it, c'mon now. ? And emphasis on 'jm2c' once more. The openingspost states 'discussion thread for all things lens related'. You can interpret that like me: that it's mainly about discussion or you can interpret it that you can post anything lens related... such as images shot with one. Tbh, imho for one single individual shot you can make just about any lens look cool and interesting given the right circumstances... which doesn't necessarily tell me a whole lot about the lens itself and more about the shooter. Where I can draw conclusions from is when a direct comparison is being made in the exact same spot, same conditions, really getting a feel for how different lenses handle the exact same scenario. Which is why I liked Kye's most recent post! That really gives me something to go on! Or atleast with some context to go with it. Like Zach's... so.... what am I looking at? So... this is a lens test? With a 'FD 35-105 F/3.5'. Mmmkai... do we have to guess the focal length and f-stop? Is it a riddle? Do I need to download the image and see if it's got some EXIF details? Maybe a hidden easter egg message? Just what are we looking for in this image? Sharpness? Bokeh character? Flare handling? Contrast? Chromatic aberration? What conclusion or further investigation do we want to follow from it? Or... is it just a cute cat pic you wanted to share? Like... with Andy Lee for example, we'd have discussions about micro contrast and low contrast looks and so on. And he gave me/us examples of that Tokina RMC which actually led me to buy one for myself. Now, cool shots are cool shots, no doubt, don't get me wrong, nice going, sick, dope! I would give 'em a hardy like on Flickr/IG. But without any real context, I'm not sure what I'm looking at/what to look for/do with/take away from it myself? Anyways. This is allayalls place, I'm just passing through, so feel free to do as you please, I was just noticing a trend and thought that if there's an apparant urge to share, which is really cool that there is, because seeing one another's work is inspiring and really gives you an appreciation for the work they put in, maybe it can thrive as its own thing.

@kye did an amazing job on the openingspost. It's got all the info!

Has a proper vintage look to it, doesn't it? As long as the rear still features the Mark II's style vari-angle touchscreen, not what X-Pro3 did there. xD Hopefully headphone port on the body itself, not through the battery grip.

Then it went to bride.ru and now it's no longer single anymore. Sorry, I'll show myself out. ? __ But yeah, awesome challenge. Been a huge proponent of vintage Zenits! Especially the elusive 'Red 'P'' ones with focal length in 'cm' and special coatings. There's a good joke that 'when you see Red P, please go to the doctor!'. xD But indeed. The Jupiter-9 is dope! That's a wicked aperture. So is that of the TAIR-11A. Blades for days! But 135mm on a crop... good luck with that here. ? You know, both that TAIR-11 and MIR-1 won Grand Prix awards back in the day. Nice starry aperture formation on the Industar-61 L/Z 50mm f/2.8 Macro. If you really want something hilarious, get the tiny Industar 50-2. A 50mm f/3.5, it's sooo cute and inexpensive. Really always wanted the Helios 40-2... and they started making new batches again. But... 85mm (f/1.5). Used to shop a lot at my go-to Zenit dealership if you will, a well-kept secret for many years: https://www.ebay.com/usr/artemstore , but sharing is caring, no? Always superb condition, great details and info with the listings. Like... who knew about the 16-bladed Helios 44-3? I love browsing that place and learning a thing or two every now and again. You'll also still find a bunch of NOS (New Old Stock) lenses around on eBay. If you need adapters, I'd suggest Kent&Faith:

Well, if for some reason, like cheap components, they can't technically squeeze out 4K30p, they can't really just call it a day at 25p if they want to sell it in a NTSC region as well. In typical Canon fashion though FHD/1080p goes up to 60p no problem, but here of course 24p has been omitted. ? And don't get started with the '24p codec means more expensive!' xD . Why not leave all those 720p framerates either. Like who ever shoots 'HD Ready'?!

I mean, it's great proof that you're applying yourself and getting stuff done, so by all means, keep it up! ? But... for recognition, inspiration, feedback and likes... maybe it would be a pretty dope idea to have an own topic for such thing (suggested title 'Did you get your shot yet?' and tagline 'Be an inspiration! Post stills and framegrabs of stuff you're working on'). Of course and again, jm2c.

Ah, that's what you're after. ??

When the E-M5 II came out the press release didn't even mention the filthy word 'video', it is was all about 'film' and 'movies', I thought that meant they made the E-M1 line-up the stills focused and the E-M5 range the 'motion pictures' one. It will be interesting to see how they'll market the Mark III. But firmware has made the E-M1 Mark II a very capable contender, that gives good hopes for the E-M5 Mark III. Looking forward to that launch.

It's the most pretentious gimmick (wouldn't go as far as calling it a 'feature') I've seen in a while. Only the Leica M10-D which shares a similar mindset but hardly similar pricing trumps it. I'd rather have a digital camera be ahead of its time rather than stripped back as some kind of 'ode' to the good ol' days. If essence is what you're after... go shoot actual film, already? Really limit yourself to shooting without a screen, max. 36 consecutive shots, etc. This?! I think it's bollocks, but hey, if people were waiting for this, good on them.

Ermm... did you approach BMD or store it was bought from originally at all? I did when I had a hot pixels issue and got it exchanged. They might be able to do more for you than you tinkering around with and possibly bricking it. Silly thought, I know.

Solid assumption. MF lens indeed.

You just have to look through the topic's history. Start by page 1 if you will, lots of wisdom being exchanged (mostly due to Andy Lee). More discussion, actual in-depth lens tests, comparisons, recommendations, news... not just unsolicited dumps of random pics and framegrabs. If it comes up in discussion, sure, show and tell. But this topic is slowly turning into Flickr. I like Zach just fine, but maybe if you feel like sharing some of your work in the form of stills and grabs, we should have a topic just for that?

When did this topic become a 'let's post a bunch of stills' one? Like... elaborate lens tests and comparisons, awesome. Someone curious about a lens, sure support your argument for the lens by illustrating it with examples. But, maybe open an own topic for framedumps (which sounds like it would be a cool one) so we can keep somewhat of an overview here? jm2c

Size/price are quite alright. Don't really care much for the feel or menus (they're all crap if you compare it to say the BMD Video Assists or imho way overpriced SmallHD ones) as long as the image is nice. Yeah, in the early days I had (very obvious) stuff fly under the radar. Not so much these last 2 years or so, they seem a little more vigilant. But... after 11 years having lived in Austria, I'm back in The Netherlands once again, received a couple of orders from abroad already and so far so good (got lucky with a Sony mic imported from Japan, which from JP usually gets shipped by EMS with true values on 'em which in my experience always pop up on customs' radar). There's also some stores with EU Priority Direct mail or something along those lines where it's guaranteed you don't pay any import fees however or they have something set-up with Express shipping where it's first send to some EU warehouse and from there gets forwarded within the EU borders.