John Matthews

7 hours ago, MrSMW said:

My parents still believe Great Britain has colonies and rules the world…

Many in France believe that too.

On 11/29/2023 at 12:31 PM, BTM_Pix said:

Of course, the videos are also a body of work for one of the presenters who fled Hong Kong for political reasons as he discusses here.

Sounds like the direction of France and many other governments.

At least he still has all the digital rev content. He could put it up on thepiratebay or something without getting it taken down. After, just make a website or youtube video saying which one is which. It wouldn't be too much effort.

I felt so sad after Drewnet either had much of his stuff taken down or took it down himself. It's part of history and it shouldn't happen. I love going to the digital archive for stuff, but it's not really for obscure things.

Saw this:

I don't understand why this is so hard for some to understand. Just watch the footage. The more frame per second, the more it looks like a Broadway show in a theater, not a movie like the ones most of us grew up with. Are there technical advantages to "seeing more data"? Yes, absolutely. Is that "better"? No, not always.

Here's the rub: if a film takes you out of the story, it's bad. That's exactly what happens when I watch high frame rate stories. Is the inverse true? When watching 24p, does it take you out of the story? I'm rather certain it almost never does.

20 minutes ago, Jedi Master said:

The goal of the entire industry that creates cinema and TV is to make money. That may sound cynical, but it’s true.

I didn't see Lord of the Rings The Hobbit because it was 48p because it makes the film look cheap and theatrical- not a fan. That cost them in my case.

3 hours ago, newfoundmass said:

I don't expect this to be another S5ii variation. I think they view the S5 line as their affordable entry level full frame camera and a high resolution version would be anathema to that, even if it was competitively priced in the $3000-3500 range.

The only reason I said that is because Panasonic seems to be recycling the S5 body (S5ii, S5iix, G9ii).

6 hours ago, ac6000cw said:

If it is that, any bets on it supporting 8k video?

4 hours ago, kye said:

I have a very vague recollection that a Panasonic rep said that they weren't interested in going to 8K, but who knows if that was correct or if something might have changed.

It's a spec war; they'll have to, regardless whoever says what. Of course, the same argument could have been make about PDAF and it too them how long? I guess we'll soon find out if they learned something from all of that.

17 minutes ago, kye said:

How long is it normally between wild YouTuber parties and NDAs elapsing?

I think it's 1 to 3 months.

There's a possibility that it's a high-speed shooter of sorts, just in time for the Olympics, a common release version for manufacturers in General. Then again, it would seem rather late for that as photographers and videographers would want ample time with the camera to see any bugaboos.

27 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

GH7 or S1 replacement for sure.

I hope it’s the latter because it’s far more interesting. To me anyway 😉

Josh Cameron was invited and he's an L mount guy. It could be a high-res version of the S5 ii or S1H ii.

So, a bunch of Lumix Youtubers are again together in California. We also know they've signed NDA's. What do you reckon this is about? GH7? That's my guess.

17 minutes ago, Beritar said:

Yes, on M43 it's hard to get the same look than a FF 35mm f1.4 or f1.2.
I have the 35mm GM for that, awesome lens, ultra sharp wide open with nice bokeh, and not so large and heavy. It's one of the best lens I ever used. I would love to put this lens on my Panasonic S cameras ...

My god, how many systems do you actually have? That's quite a collection.

34 minutes ago, Beritar said:

The 25mm and 45mm Oly Pro lenses are even heavier than the 50mm and 85mm f1.8 S. But yes both the Oly share similar size and weight.

Technically, you can say they are close to f2.5 for DOF and Bokeh, they are also less sharp wide open than the S 50mm and 85mm Panasonic FF. But their bokeh and rendering are great, and we can't get the same IBIS quality, the same rolling shutter and the 4K 120fps when using the S lenses on the S5II. 

I've always said those Olympus pro lenses weren't really in the spirit of M43, but that doesn't mean they aren't great lenses. I have the 17mm pro. When you look at the final image at any reasonable magnification, they look more than great. As for the 17mm, it's difficult, if not impossible, to get that sharp, shallow DOF on a wide lens, that 17mm gets you close as long as the subject isn't that far away.

9 minutes ago, Beritar said:

The AF-C is relatively fast on the G9II, it's very surprising :
 

 

And how was the noise? Did you not record? I didn't hear it, which would be a first!

29 minutes ago, Beritar said:

And just for fun, a comparison with the little 20mm pancake 😅 :

My guess is that you're not getting anywhere near the AF performance (if even allowed in C-AF). Am I right?

There were some other important point of the lenses + bodies I put up earlier and would probably favor Panasonic L mount:

• Breathing correction
• Consistent colors
• Size for gimbals
• Consistent AF motors
• Consistent fall-off
• Consistent look

Actually, I really only see Olympus PRO lenses being similar to the Panasonic FF lenses. Maybe I'm wrong? It would seem Panasonic is developing from the get-go whereas others are developing by answering the question: "where's the hole?" E-mount and M43 is kind of understandable because they've been around for so long. Cinema glass seems similar to the Panasonic method as they need them to quickly swap on follow focus systems.

9 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

I love the fov coming from a 40mm lens on a FF camera. A native 40mm 2.8 pancake would be sweet, with Af and a clutch for hard stops when in manual focus.

That is exactly what I want too. I'm really hoping Panasonic makes one, but if it were Sigma, Viltrox, or Samyang, I'd be happy too.

Heck, if OM System released a point and shoot full-frame or M43 with a 40mm, I'd seriously consider it.

Here are a few more:

Which lens f/1.8-ish + small-ish telephoto line-up looks best? Which would you rather shoot with?

In doing this exercise, I realize that it would seem Panasonic M43 and the Sony lenses were seemingly designed rather independently whereas Panasonic L was really designed all at once.

4 hours ago, ac6000cw said:

Most of the above list would not actually be issues for the vast majority of potential buyers if it was cheap enough, but it would be a hard sell if it's almost as expensive as a G9ii

Speaking of the G9 ii:

• It's too expensive;
• It's too big;
• It's not good enough in low-light (meaning high-ISO);
• It's too sharp;
• It doesn't have shallow depth of field;
• It doesn't have that "full-frame look".
• Do you really want to "invest" in M43?
• Other full-frame sensor cameras are the same price or cheaper.

And on and on we go. I don't think there's any way to universally "win". In fact, I don't think any manufacturer has any real incentive to make the "perfect" camera. If they did, why would you ever buy anything else?

My Priorities for Panasonic:

1) Release a VERY SMALL M43 camera body with PDAF and full-sensor readout in 4k NOW!

2) Release a GH7 with variable ND and PDAF.

3) Release a high-end video camera with variable ND and PDAF for L mount.

4) Release a pancake (28mm or 40mm or both) lens for L mount.

55 minutes ago, Beritar said:

Yes, the 70-300mm is a nice "little" zoom. I have both the 70-300mm and the 70-200mm S Pro f2.8.

The 70-300 seems especially good with dual IBIS. I've seen some really decent footage. It's the only telephoto lens I'd consider. I'd much rather have it because you get an extra 100mm and only lose a stop over the 70 200 F4. That's an easy tradeoff; also, it's a bit lighter.

57 minutes ago, Beritar said:

The 70-200mm S Pro f2.8 is a different beast.  Yes, it's sharp, but the rendering is outstanding, maybe because of the implication of Leica (or not), one of the best lens I own with the 24-70mm and 50mm S Pro. 

I've heard good things about it terms of IQ, but apparently it's rather heavy for what it is.

35 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

And part of me hopes it isn’t so I can stick with L Mount for video as I am not exactly trying to flip for the sake of something that might be better, ie, grass greener elsewhere, but only if it actually is!

Yeah, who knows with the Z6iii? And you know, if it's great, we'll something decent from Panasonic. In fact, I'm fairly sure all of them sit on cameras to the last minute, trying to wait until the other guy markets their camera; this way, they can either quickly add a feature or include something to get a USP. I think Panasonic is savvy at least in terms of value, especially in France where the price is even below US prices.

34 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

That’s the only fence I am currently on and I’m just sitting on it right now waiting on news on the Nikon Z6iii as that is now the pivot point.

As always, we all seem to chase the latest and greatest. Panasonic will most likely release something just after- round and round we go. It sounds like you "settle" for one season and then move on, always staying ahead of the curve.

38 minutes ago, MrSMW said:

Yes, FAR too slow. The 70-200 f4 is borderline as it is, plus zero requirement for anything longer than 200mm and 150 would be enough for my needs and that is why I have the 70-200 f4 which is under 1kg, not much heavier than that 70-300 but nowhere near the size & weight of the f2.8’s

L-mount seems a little heavy on telephoto, except for the 70-300. M43 makes more sense for most of that stuff but only in good light as they aren't great at high ISO. Only the 75 f/1.8 on a GH5s trumps that (a little), but it's a prime and not great AF. Maybe the Sigma 135mm f/1.8- never tried it though? You probably already thought of it.

16 hours ago, MrSMW said:

I doubt if there is any combo I have not considered!

Have you considered the Panasonic 70-300? I've actually heard a lot of good things about that lens, even though it's a little slow. It probably does ok at ISO 4000 indoors.

57 minutes ago, sgreszcz said:

I need a zoom so thinking of g9ii with p10-25/1.7 and p35-100/2.8 or keep o40-150/2.8.  not sure I can be switching primes as can’t miss live action and can’t easily move around.  The s5ii with something like 24-100/f4 could be handy but then would lose the goodies like ibis and good AF on the em1ii.

For interior work, FF will outperform M43, but it also comes at the cost of lack of DOF. Also, you might be surprised how good the S5ii's AF is; IMO, better and more advanced than the EM1ii (which is also good on faces). The S5ii's IBIS is about the same as the G9ii. The G9ii is probably best for outdoors. It's the same size as the S5ii. Fitted with the 10-25 f/1.7 (690g), I think the g9ii would be out-performed by a S5ii with a Sigma 28-70 f/2.8 (470g). For ultrawide, use the kit 20-60 lens. I haven't used any of those lenses though.