Michal Gajdoš

John Wick! That was just pure action. A unique movie these days. 

Casino royale 

Mad Max: Fury Road!!!
Amazing production design. Tom Hardy is the man.
 

Hi Eoshd forum community and Mr. Reid
I remember days when there were new articles at least two times a week. What happened ? I miss those days. Mr. Reid please continue, I am confident  there are many who are eagerly waiting for anything you publish. Don't get demotivated by trolls and jerks, they just need to do something with their free time and jealousy. Don't leave us hanging. Thanks

I'm very happy with EOSHD being about gear, it's good to specialise and to have a niche to focus on. I love the tech, always will. From my own experience, I'm just not sure how much real value can be had from online articles about the art of filmmaking, it's something you're best off learning by actually doing it rather than reading about it. NoFilmSchool built a mainstream audience that transcended the gear community by mentioning Kubrick and PT Anderson a lot in clickbate headlines - the content was ALWAYS stolen and by someone else - the aggregation of material in a massive way. Poor original content creators make nothing from exposure at all whilst the aggregators gobble up ALL the traffic and sell ads around it, in the case of NFS they even had US venture capitalists funding huge online advertising campaigns, expert SEO and very very large social media followings acquired the non-organic way, I don't even consider them as competition to EOSHD any more, they are something different and I'd never go to them for camera advice or for a singular voice. The whole site may as well be computer generated.
Despite my temporary loss of appetite for blogging and the need to get some inspiration back in my filmmaking by moving out of Berlin, EOSHD is very strong at the moment, the forum has never been busier, the cameras have never been better and the visitor numbers are still as good as ever. Don't forget, we were first or one of the very first blogs to capture the community. That's why it was such a shame that the cat man Philip Bloom stopped blogging, I really miss his longer posts outside all the social media stuff. I didn't go back to the site at all when he stopped (apart from his very occasional reviews) because his forum didn't pull me in like it does here, there's still plenty to read on EOSHD when I am away. I think the forum could go on the front page actually with the best topics in the sidebar. It's a superb resource!
The internet has changed though. People's reading habits and viewing habits are changing. Some movie trailers even now have 8 second trailers for the trailer, because of Facebook.
There is definitely a race to the bottom going on in the content world.
There's going to be some big victims too.
First one might be Twitter.... it now has such a low engagement per post because the feed is a mess and each tweet it like a grain of sand in the beach, significant stuff is so easy to miss on there, even whole conversations. Personally I won't be focussing much on that from now on. I think Twitter is going to get sidelined by a lot of people and will eventually be superseded by an alternative.
Facebook is a monster, it will continue to hoover up half the entire internet and make it worse. Already there are very active camera discussion groups on there... why people would use them over a proper forum I have no idea... it's so viral though because of the newsfeed and sharing element. The danger is that Facebook ends up siphoning off a ton of traffic from the better independent sites and selling ads around them, just like NoFilmSchool does, as the main 'go to' source for discussions and news
Philip Bloom is now much bigger on social media than he is on his blog... in fact blogs are being hoovered up by YouTube and Facebook. He has a massively high profile on Facebook and Instagram with very regular posts and I only ever update the EOSHD Facebook page when there's a new blog post - I think that needs to change. There's a ton of stuff I'm doing behind the scenes which could go on social media but I'm not enough of a narcissist to really take it to the next level
So if forums will be superseded by Facebook groups and blogs superseded by YouTube channels and Facebook and news aggregators, it will be a real loss for the internet because there won't be a motivation for anyone to create long-form original content any more or proper communities like this one, it will ALL be about 8 second trailers for trailers, gimmicks, clickbate headlines and trolling. Very sad direction for the internet in my opinion.
The thing I am most proud of over the past 5 years of EOSHD are the regular readers and the EOSHD Shooter's Guides. I get a bundle of inspiration from people and I try to put some back into the pool too.
I will get my inspiration back soon enough and EOSHD will have a bigger presence on YouTube and Facebook and Instagram.
Thanks to those in the thread who have posted messages of support! Means a lot and really does get the fire burning again.

I agree 100% so many awesome lenses ! the cameras are good enough that we can focus on the lens and its rendering only
 
i would have never guessed. Have you tried 24mm 2.8 FD ? my personal favorite,leave it on 2.8 come close about one meter and let the magic happen ! 

It's funny as I was thinking this just the order day. Even as a producer of the medium itself, I have come to hate how video is used as a learning/tutorial/review tool.
I can buzz through a text tutorial and get right to the problem I am trying to solve. How do I know what sound the Phantom makes after the firmware has been updated? With a text article, I can Google/control-f right to my answer. 2 seconds and done, it's there or it's not. With video, I find nothing but 20 minute firmware update video that spend the first 5 minutes explaining how to unzip a freaking zip file and have to guess click around until I find what I want, if it is even there in the first place.
Or with a lens review, I might just want to see how bokeh renders in high contrast areas, not sit through a stupid 2 minute intro for your channel personality or a total of 3 minutes of footage cut in between 17 minutes of your ugly mug. With a longform text article, I can breeze by everything and get right to what I'm looking for. I can consume the content at the pace I desire.
That's why I've always gone to EOSHD at least, in the way reviews were well outlined and presented, and also how it seems to stay away from the Buzzfeed/clickbait style headlines that fill up almost every other site out there.
 
 
 

Whahahahahaha :D we did some good work in here today

I wasn't talking about unboxing videos at all. I mean taking a new camera the day you get it, and filming a "short film" of footage edited to music (which you've done a lot in the past.) Whenever a new camera is out the most popular examples are people in their house with a cat or a flower. I just mean you could shoot something substantial with a new camera, share it, sell the camera, move to the next one.
 
EDIT: To add to this. You could make a raw file available for people to download and view/grade for themselves. I really don't see anywhere that does this online other than specific brand forums.

Andrew, just a small note as a sort of modest reminder... New people are popping up in a daily basis everyday. Reviewers of all kinds, you are actually the earlier one. Don't let yourself going blackout. We'd all be losing something worthy, (y)our lunch for these last years.
Just my 2 cents :-)

I think you might be getting the videos I made confused with the 30 second buzz unboxing video for YouTube there, which is what Aaron was referring to. As I said, people are pathetic They seek comfort and justification in material objects by watching other people buy the camera, open the box and say on YouTube "look isn't it great!" I am not in that market.

If there aren't many blogs like yours, that seems like more reason to keep doing your thing. I've read your longest articles like 8 times each. To me that means you're one of the best sources out there now, if no one is doing it right. I've missed your blog posts, but not whining about it seemed more like a courtesy. Please don't take it as lack of support

if I was limited to one lens from here on, it would be the helios 44.  There are plenty of lenses I love.  but only one that I couldn;t do without and that's the 58mm/2.
for a 'working lens' that will deliver almost every conceivable shot I'd go for the summicron-r 35mm/2 on a full frame sensor.  shooting full frame 4k on an a7rii gives you the ability to use full sensor for your wide, aps-c for your normal and crop in a bit more with clear image zoom for a tele.  a lot will wonder why the summicron vs any other 35mm/2..  it's because very few other full frame 35mm/2's deliver good enough resolution and image quality wide open.
 
with a summicron-r the iq is good enough to use wide open on full frame.  using sensor crop of a nice clean 4k full frame area gives similar look to a 50mm at 2.8 when at aps-c and an 85mm/4 when windowed in to just under fullhd's worth of pixels.

Yo Andrew.  Don't be put off by the huge influx of unemployed people who've recently gone into blogging/vlogging in an attempt to make a commercial name for themselves.  The days of celebrities like Philip Bloom are gone - gear nerds literally looked upon him as a god 3 years ago.  Personally I'd like to see you in a permanent product development position at Sony, while still keeping this blog running with details like your beautifully carefully written and informative articles.  I've been hoping to see your response to the Leica SL - I'm amazed you weren;t sent one before the rest of the hopeless 'brand ambassadors' who would sell their mother if it gave them a little more online respect from gear heads.
 
Lots and lots of readers here can focus on things for longer than 5 seconds.  Even a few millenials might be able to keep reading to the end of the article.  Your depth is why eoshd is the best of the lot.  One problem is that since the A7S arriaved, we literally got everything we always wanted.  most of those who are willing to learn how to use a tool are no longer looking for anything else.  I think the acquisition of a a7s and a 1dc makes one less interested in looking for and reporting on better gear - the improvements are so small the other bloggers need to resort to click bait titles.
 
finally, I think a few adverts wouldn;t do much hard to the site.  rather than brands, maybe partner with a retailer?  

Yes the bargain super specced equipment can be a motivation, but without anything decent to film, that soon fades.
Like I say, I need to get out of Berlin and start a new chapter... try to capture some magic somehow.
Until then, I'll continue to update the blog, there's no chance of me stopping because this stuff is my life-long passion.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate those who appreciate the blog and forum.
Let's hope that the ugly competition to EOSHD and boring corporate mentality of other blogs and 'managed communities', as well as the sheer lack of good content out there doesn't bury the whole endeavour along with my motivation with it.
Not a single day doesn't go by without emails in my inbox offering sponsored content and gear for review... it's soul destroying and debases the entire internet.

Actually Andrew got busy trying to save the site from the sex toys and chinese viagra ADs. hehehe

I think another review is around the corner, and I suspect its the Panasonic GX85/ 80/ 7 Mark ii. 
Also, I realised after Andrew mentioned, that since most people in Film and Video think of things mostly from their perspective, other could chip in, and maybe (if it sounds good to other people too), EOSHD could become a Platform for Collaborating/ Crowd Sourcing.
The actors, director, cinematographer, sound guy etc could be in the same city, and the Writer, Musician etc could be in another city (or country or continent). It could be a interesting collaborative effort. 

What do you guys think?

I can imagine how you feel.
A big reason I dont put the same effort into review videos these days is also the toxic atmosphere that now have reached the video gear sites. It used to be a thing among smartphone and computer geeks.
I remember Griffin on Indy Mogul saying "a great thing about filmmakers is that they don't bash each others camera choices, like other tech crowds".
Well, that time has certainly passed. If a reviewer critique or praise a camera there are 500 people there calling him/her an asshole (speaking of Huffs SL review).
There is not one single filmmaker commenting on NFS. There are just trolls.
My little theory based on prior experiences with smartphone forums and computer forums is this,
The DSLR boom created a fad. All of a sudden every man and woman was a still or video shooter. The industry exploded and so did the community.
Like all fads it ended.
Most people went on to the next like cooking, cross fit, micro brewery or what ever. The true talent are out there shooting and couldn't give to shits and a popsicle about minor updates in cameras.
Left in the community are mostly the assburgers. You know, the peepers who only really cared about having "the best" camera so they could roam the internet and go on about it.
You all know the kind.
For me EOSHD was a sanctuary where those types often got their ass handed to them. Here most users are hybrids. We enjoy shooting, creating, art but also gear without being blinded by numbers. They also kept away because Andrew is a gear junky like most of us but also an artist who understand that higher number on a spec doesn't mean "better". He is one of only a handfull reviewers I know that don't get side tracked by the specs.
The unfortunate part is that I've always been aware that when eoshd grows, the assburgers come lurking. So I've always known its a story with an end.
I just hope it doesn't happen to soon.
(BTW I'm in a bit of a creative hole when it comes to video. I'm just not feeling it right now. My tip to still keeping the creative flow is stills. Shooting stills is pretty much the same thing but with less stress IMO.)
 

Hi Eoshd forum community and Mr. Reid
I remember days when there were new articles at least two times a week. What happened ? I miss those days. Mr. Reid please continue, I am confident  there are many who are eagerly waiting for anything you publish. Don't get demotivated by trolls and jerks, they just need to do something with their free time and jealousy. Don't leave us hanging. Thanks

I would encourage the beginner with less to spend on a body to go with the excellent Panasonic G7 ($400 used) and spend the savings on better glass, lights, a nice tripod, etc. 
To me, A6300 is typical Sony: great DR, noise, and resolution, but not much else.

Seriously? Do you think a crap job using high-end gear makes everything else less "special"?
Here's an amazing idea - it's not about the gear. The only way to make a WalMart spot "special" is with great concept, writing, talent, lighting, shooting and editing. 
Another shocking concept: A crap job shot on an Alexa 65 will still look like crap.
A stunning and radical suggestion: amazing and moving stories have been made with really low-end gear, few lights, and tiny crews.
A soul-shattering observation: very few people can discuss at length the cameras and lenses used for "Citizen Kane", "2001", and… well, you get the idea (sheesh, I hope anyway).
An intriguing question: Can you tell me, off the top of your head, the gear used by Wong Kar-wai to shoot "2046"? Does it even matter? (It's, umm, really damn gorgeous if you haven't seen it).
And finally, an earth-shaking idea: many "true high end jobs like features" are crap, even when shot with amazing gear.
I would sit down in a dark room and ponder those ideas and see if they make any sort of sense.

They won't. The camera comes packaged with the Prime 65 lenses as well as the Codex Vault 65 data management system. The day rate is somewhere near $10k per day. And beyond some extremely high-end commercials, I can't imagine anyone using this but Hollywood features in the nine-figure budget range. The post-production costs for 6K Arriraw are astronomical.
Some day, maybe fifteen years from now, I'm sure that these Alexa 65 bodies will wind up on the used market selling for a pittance, much like the Arri D21 and Sony F35 have. But by then, I'm sure we'll have 12K IMAX-sized sensors in our DSLRs. Maybe not Canon. They'll still be doing 8-bit HD.

It's super trendy at the moment to bash, or be 'disappointed with' Sony colour, but it's really not an issue.

This is a common misconception among stupid people and the facts are very different.
I have seen market research at meetings with Sony and Panasonic, also information on how the cameras are marketed.
You have not.
Canon's market and marketing is not that different.
By the same token you can also argue an iPhone is for stills. Yet a lot of iPhone owners use those for casual video shooting.
The 80D is quite an expensive consumer camera - more prosumer and hobbyist, middle of the pyramid, than something a super-casual consumer would use.
It's in exactly the market where video usage peaks.
In fact I cannot believe you are still bothering to put across this kind of argument in 2016, when every DSLR press release mentions video (and a significant proportion of the text too, sometimes as much as 50-50), a GH4 sells like hot cakes and the manufacturers are spending vast amounts of R&D putting 4K into stills cameras.

Seen as there worldwide EOSHD forum users, I thought it would be an interesting topic to see how the business of video production differs for each other across the globe - and see how similar or different it is. 
I'm from Manchester UK, and make music promos, commercial video and offer another pair of hands for other production teams. The city is a media monster, with Media City (home to peeps like the BBC) at the heart of it all. 
There is everything from your production companies, boutiques, one-man bands shooting everyday - video is becoming even bigger with creative agencies and the tender for all the work is fiercely competitive. 
Generally I have found that expectation from the clients is higher, yet the price for video is going down. Music videos especially have gone rock bottom for budgets. Some of the ideology is why pay more when Mr. DSLR can give you something decent for literally nothing but the "exposure"? 
Same goes for commercial and corporate jobs. The price is going down, and it gets more difficult for some of us to competitively quote. 
Clients here come to you for your ideas, content and quality. Unless it's a TV drama or major commercial, they couldn't give a rats ass what camera you are shooting on. As long as the end result is of excellent quality, they don't care. I shot over 100 music videos on a GH3 and no one ever said anything negative. You can get hired as an owner operator, but because the rental price for such cameras is cheap - people who want to hire one can just do it themselves. Or try. Does happen. 
I'm finding that the one to two man bands are the "go to" people for a majority of your lower to mid end video productions. Agencies are actually employing their own "two man bands" so they can save money (salaried earnings and reduced commission), have creative control and oversee the entire process with their own eyes.  My business is generally two-man band with the appearance of a company, as we regularly work with numerous freelancers on every project as a team. So for us it's a bit of a middle man thing. 
As you develop and your price goes up, this has friction with the fact the price of video is going down. The quality, content and service has to be excellent to be justifiable. If Mr. DSLR has better creative work than Mr. Arri Alexa Owner and charges less than half - everybody will go for the cheapest option. Everybody wants to save money, but needs video that's "good enough". 
Video is booming like mad in my region, but everyone with a brain and a camera is after it! It's positive. I try harder. It's fun  
 

. Yes and in my opinion that's horrible. the a7rii have more options for recording, less rolling shutter in FF mode, who cares if the ful lreadout is crop? you can use more lenses and use the speedbooster, are they even aware of the speedboosters ? it is dissapointing that a7s is not better in video. At this point, after seeing all the test shots, I am disappointed and have to absolutely agree that a7s ii was rushed, and not needed. It is simply a rip of for the guys who bought atomos. Moreover this camera doesn't offer anything more from the a7rii but a bit better lowlight (really in all the tests i ve seen, unless you want to shoot in moonlight, which you still can with the a7s mark i) and the 120fps in 1080p which is still not that stellar. i am dissapointed, rebranded sensor for 2899USD with a major sunspot issue ? WTF SONY ?! they should have waited, bring out a mature product , and separate it from a7rii with video completely like 10bit, (i dont care if the current processors do not support it, change them) so that we dont need to hesitate between those two. oh god sony why ?!