Snowfun

Art… Over the last couple of years I have become increasingly disillusioned by “video”. Far too much emphasis on gear. Buying the latest drone or gimbal or battery solution and upgrading this or that or, preferably, both. And to what end? To produce something that a handful of people will watch once on a phone screen? Last year I had the opportunity to produce a couple of short promotional films for a heritage steam railway. They got in the order of 10k views. Were they “art”? No, they were artistically dreadful. Was there any joy in making them? Not really - far too many hours sitting staring at a screen trying to remember how to use Resolve. (And, to be honest, the parts people liked most were the iPhone bits - the “artistic” sweeping views and thoughtful sequences were redundant…) All the time wondering whether a Canon might be better (whatever that means) than my Sony? A LUMIX better than my P6k? Or should I look good and get a RED badge? Or a Nikon? All, of course, irrelevant… the quality of today’s stuff is way more than what I’m capable of. So a change of scene. I’ve bought a M11M to produce art for the wall. Something which will last beyond a quick Vimeo view. It’s gorgeous to use. I got a mix of Leica and Voigtlander lenses (the latter’s 28/35/50 Apo are fabulous). The results are incredible. Ok, so I still need to sit at the computer with Capture One but protecting the highlights and pulling up the shadows reveals staggering levels of detail. And standing by the side of a Scottish loch debating whether to use a green, yellow, orange or red filter? Well, it ticks the pseudo-intellectual hipster box. Of course, the P6k will come out of the cupboard every-so-often but the focus - the passion - is now on monochrome art. Art. In both process and product.

True. Except that, as hobbyists, we’re not up against deadlines and there are occasions when the more stuff we have to play with, the better. In that respect raw provides more fun opportunities! That is, I suspect a very different perspective to that of a single working professional who needs to optimise client satisfaction (income) while minimising time spent sitting in front of a computer.

That will appeal to a lot of people. Yes, of course, there will be the “not for me” crowd but realistically that looks - absence of specs notwithstanding! - pretty decent for most. I like the number of physical buttons and the way it will presumably slot into a stills/video ecosystem makes it an impressive little beast. I wonder how many will be prepared to switch into the Canon garden of goodies. At least until the rumoured Nikon enters the fray.

Is it?

Unless the intention is to keep the brand exclusive and esoteric? DJI can, after all, release whatever they want under the DJI brand so I can see the attraction in maintaining a “not for everyone” product line. (But why they then add Everyman features such as IBIS I have no idea)

Some of the AI generated videos starring Trump, Putin et al are extremely well done and rather funny. I come across them on IG on a regular basis and there is definitely a high comedy value (some are more subtle than others - none, perhaps, would win a Fringe award at Edinburgh but nevertheless they are good). They are, of course, quintessentially the same as a drawn cartoon just using a different medium. But I agree with @Andrew Reid insofar as the lower end of the market will get bored and slowly disappear whereas the professional film making community will exploit what is a new tool.

Isn’t the question “what camera should I take in addition to the Insta360?” Thats the starting point. Size wise FX2/3/30 might be worth looking at? I suppose it all depends, too, on the intended audience - family & friends, film festival submission, BBC documentary etc. I think if I was undertaking such a mammoth project I’d want a decent cloud account to offload files as I go. The Blackmagic offering might be worth investigating? Sounds fun. And hard work!

There is a tendency here to equate “I can’t afford it” or “it’s not what I need” or “I don’t like it” to “it’s too expensive” or “it’s useless” or “why?”. These are very different. This camera will sell - to those who can afford it and for whom it does what is wanted and who are attracted to the form factor, build and features. Notice how it is already being mentioned in the same sentence as the Q. That is already a win for Sony. Maybe not for “us” but I suspect that buyers are certainly out there. Including potential Q buyers. I’d have been a bit tempted but I’ve recently streamlined into a non-Sony system (more on this later when the rest of the new kit arrives!).

Just as a matter of interest. what grading did you suggest for this knowingly faulty kit?

(Deleted - apologies)

And, as Sham 69 once said... 'urry up 'arry.

I thought this was interesting: https://www.filmsupply.com/articles/j-cut-vs-l-cut/ Helps to understand the relationship between audio and video and how each engages the audience.

I think the best approach here is to analyse what you like and try to replicate it. Once we begin to understand why we like something about an edit the process is much easier. Much more fun than trawling through endless tutorials explaining how to do stuff you don’t even like…

Some of the AI generated Trump stuff on IG is superb. We’re in for a golden age of stand-up comedy. Although how can you make the Trump joke any funnier?

The worst thing about this is that whereas 5 of my papers/books appear, 37 of my wife’s make the grade!