Adept

Been banging around here reading topics for a few days. I own an Oly E-M5 II, 12-40 pro lens, 60 macro and a few others. I haven't had GAS in a long time as it has suited my purposes. Mostly product photos of my own stuff, some landscape photography, bug macros, etc. I have learned to live with the DR for landscapes and some of the other drawbacks of M43. I use pixel shift fairly frequently for product photos when I need the extra detail and I love the IBIS.
Recently, with how marketing has gotten in my industry I have started to get in to video a bit more and am looking at a body upgrade or a system switch.
I have an RX100 VI I have been using lately but as good as the video quality is, it can be irritating for what I need to mostly use it for (close up pans of relatively small objects on a slider or a gimbal, sometimes handheld, sometimes with a slypod and Aircross 2 in concert) and I would like more versatility (especially with focal length, having to stick the RX100 inches from the product at 24mm to get the closest focus is....problematic). The Olympus 1080 quality is kind of meh but I really enjoy it in use as I can just shoot some of the video handheld and it's fine with a little stabilization in post. I'm usually in a hurry!
I'm looking at getting a Panasonic G9 or switching systems to a Nikon Z6. My girlfriend has a bunch of FF Nikon gear including some old MF lenses (Bokina (sharper at 1:1 than my Olympus 60mm for macro, 12mm, etc) so with an FTZ I could get by with just the 24-70 F4 initially. With Panasonic I would probably swap my Oly 12-40 for a Panasonic 12-35 2.8 for the improved AF, keep the 60mm macro + flashes and not really be out much money after selling the e-m5 II with accessories.
I really prefer FF image quality but feel like I would be giving up a good deal for what I primarily do. (better IS, greater DOF at a given shutter speed and aperture, pixel shift, etc)
What would you guys recommend for primarily product video of relatively small objects? The rest of my video needs could probably be met with a cell phone honestly and I will be keeping the RX100 in either case for slow motion/blogging stuff
Should probably add that my girlfriend and I do some paid RE photography + other stuff from time to time.
Photos for attention
 
 

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I'd like to welcome Kazuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma and the product manager of the Sigma Fp and Cinema lenses, Takuma Wakamatsu to the pages of EOSHD for this long interview!
I have recently been shooting with anamorphic with my Sigma Fp - the video you can see above is shot with the Rapido Technologies FVD-16A focus module housing a tiny Bolex Moller 8/19 anamorphic. I have more on this soon, as well as how ProRes RAW performs on the Sigma Fp attached to Atomos Ninja V.
Ever since the Sigma embarked on the high quality ART lenses the company's factory has output higher and higher quality products, even industry leading lenses in fact. Now the Sigma Fp marks their entry into filmmaking cameras too with internal 4K RAW recording, external ProRes RAW and even BRAW - as well as being the smallest interchangeable lens full frame camera available on the market.
Read the full interview:
https://www.eoshd.com/news/the-eoshd-interview-kazuto-yamaki-ceo-of-sigma-and-takuma-wakamatsu-sigma-fp-product-manager/

Steinheil Cassar S 50mm f2.8.
Running out of trees to photograph. 😞

I'm just on the phone with Shill-U-Like arranging the flights and accommodation for Hawaii for their top 20 influencers so I'll let you know as soon as the date is fixed.

Voigtlander 40mm f2 on Panasonic S1

I can not believe that Ebay "thinks" my ancient Canon 24 1.4 L FD is worth more than my Canon 17mm tilt shift?
This photo with the TS (with a lowly 12mp "non photo" camera) got a highly commended at the Mono awards 2020 (Australian B&W photo competition that attracts thousands of entries) and highly commended means it got past the second short list but not the final thirty.
IF live music ever starts up again, I look forward to getting back to using the TS for both video and photos of full bands from next to the stage.
 
 

I know it's probably a long shot, but...does ANYBODY here know ANYTHING about this thing?
I have scoured the internet, including Chinese sites, as best I can...there is next to nothing.
As I understand it, the modern Chinese government would prefer people not know such things even exist....they want people thinking that China was not capable of highly advanced industrial achievments until AFTER the so-called "economic reforms" of the ~80's+.
Obviously...they were indeed capable. Everything I can find dates this lens to somewhere in 1979 to 1983.  They studied English, French and German cinema lenses and glass in their efforts.
Obviously by that serial number...not very many of these were made. I cannot find another example literally ANYWHERE.
No rental houses...western hemisphere OR in the east. Truly...a Unicorn.
It is on the way back to me from being refreshed and modernized with PL and gears, and will be available for rental to appropriate customers/projects VERY soon...along with a matching prime lens (50mm T2, exact same coating), for low light or handheld/stabilizer use.
I wonder which films this was used on? I suspect every major Mainland-Chinese production made since the late 70s likely used this zoom, until trade began to open up and use of western cine equipment became more prevalent in China.
Think "Raise the Red Lantern", "Farewell My Concubine", etc...not to mention the many martial arts films of earlier years.
Anyway...I hope someone can tell me more about this wonderful piece of history, and I hope to see it put back to use very soon on some cool projects!! ....Would love to see this put to use on a period martial-arts feature for example...

The Canon 135 f2 L I had was wonderful (and even though it is an old lens, auto focused ok depending on camera used).
I actually still have one of those old 135 1.8 lenses (mine is a Promura) and it is a very impressive lens to look at and hold...using it? Not so much (though mine seems to have a thin layer of gunk on an element inside probably because I think a previous owner tried to clean it).
I have had it for decades but not used it for years now...will have to see where it is.
My pathetic little brain has actually started thing I might try and get one of the f0.95 Voigtlanders just to try and use on my A7s both FF and APSC with clearzoom if necessary.......does anyone know how much of FF they would cover? (my 50-200 four thirds lens covers apsc entirely).
This ancient battered 20-35 2.8 L Canon lens would need a 10-17.5 1.4 lens to give a similar look with M43 and it is coming up for its 31st birthday in January (from the date code on the lens).   Despite its looks, it still works fine (even AF) though I use it MF on my Sony).

I've been working on a project to match the GH5 to the BMMCC for some time now, and I've decided the next step is for a blind test.
In this blind test I will show a series of clips shot with either the GH5 or BMMCC, using one of the many lenses I have in my collection, where the BMMCC will have a basic colour grade applied and the GH5 will be graded to have similar colour to the BMMCC.  There will be an anonymous poll where people can guess if they think that it was the GH5 or the BMMCC.
Due to various technicalities, I have 20 camera/lens combinations, and I have been trying to shoot each combination at a range of apertures as lenses are often softer or sharper based on aperture, and sharpness is one of the things I'm matching between the GH5 and BMMCC, so lenses play a role in this.
If I was to shoot each camera/lens combination with aperture wide-open, with aperture stop down, have a shot with some clipping and likely flare, and a shot with some skin-tones in it, that would mean I may have as many as many as 80 shots, which is a lot.  It wouldn't be practical to ask 80 questions in a poll, so I'm thinking I'll group multiple shots together into batches.
Also, I'm not shooting identical scenes side-by-side, because that's not what matters.  If we make a film and someone watches it and can't tell if you used an Alexa or not then it's job well done.  The fact they might be able to tell between your camera and an Alexa in a side-by-side test is irrelevant when they're watching your film.
Therefore, I've been shooting test shots over a period of days in varying lighting situations.
So the test would be a "batches" of shots, where a batch would be shot with one camera, but would include a mixture of lenses, apertures, subjects and lighting situations.  I would then have the quiz question....   
What camera do you think Batch X was shot on: 
Definitely the BMMCC Maybe the BMMCC but I'm not sure No clue! Maybe the GH5 but I'm not sure Definitely the GH5 If I had 80 shots grouped into batches of 8 shots, then that would be 10 batches, which is far more manageable.
So, here's my question and the purpose of this post.
While I'm doing this, what other questions should I be asking?  It's a blind test between two cameras, but it's also a blind test with many lenses that probably aren't directly compared.  Obviously I'll create a thread and we can talk about it for a couple of weeks before I reveal the results, but the comments in the thread aren't anonymous and I think people will hold back in fear of saying they like the cheapest lens vs the most expensive or trendiest lens, so some anonymous quiz questions might also be useful.
Should I ask things like:
Which shots are your favourites?  (text entry so people can list as many as they like) What shots are noteworthy and what do you think about them?    (text entry so people can say whatever they like) Or maybe I should number the lenses in the test footage (eg, lens #4) so that I can ask people which lens was their favourite?
For every shot I'm making a note of which camera, what lens, and what aperture it was set at, and what focal length was set (if it's a zoom).  We can also tell from the shot if it's close focus or more distant.  It won't be a complete dataset as doing every combination would be thousands of shots, but it might be interesting anyway.
What do you think?

Many years ago, when footballers were still earning only a bit more than the average working man, they used to have their wages further reduced in the summer period when no games were played.
One of the finest players of that era, Tom Finney, told a great story about his colleague Tommy Docherty trying to get a better pay deal for himself.
"Tommy came down from Celtic, and had a fairly good season with us. In those days we used to line up in the corridor before going in to the manager to find out our terms for the following year. I went in to see Bill Scott, the manager, and he said I'd be on the same terms as the year before, £12 a week during the season, and £10 a week in the summer, which was known as 12-and-10. Tommy went in after me, and was told he'd be on 12-and-eight. `I'm not signing,' he said. `I've just found out that Finney's on 12-and-10.' The manager couldn't believe it. `But Finney's a far better player than you,' he said. `Not in the bloody summer he's not,' Tommy said."
I've been reminded of that story again by numerous comments I've been reading about the S1-H and its AF system.
Yes, the R5 and A7Siii might have much better AF systems than the S1-H but not when the camera has overheated they haven't.
 

Buy an S1H.
It's actually a bummer to see so many youtubers/bloggers/influences/blah supporting Canon and Sony as they continue to under-deliver. And here is Panasonic, who for 4-5 years now has been on an absolute roll (GH5 > GH5s > EVA-1 > S1 > S1H), giving us super reliable products with the best IQ and specs on the market with things we ask for (dual XRL, timecode, video tools).
Please, everyone buy Panasonic. I don't want to use a Sony in the future. And while I love the C200/C300III/C500II, I don't want a mirrorless camera that craps out after a few minutes. 

Speaking of Voigtlander, I'm (finally) editing the trip we took to India in late 2018 and pulled out a few hero shots and did a basic grade to get a feel for the project and to get some inspiration.
That was the first trip I took with the GH5 and Voigtlander 17.5mm and one of the concerns that I had was low light performance as the GH5 isn't known for it, but it wasn't until I got back to the hotel and looked at this footage that I realised how good the combination really is.
Here's a sample grab of the tour guide when we went to Varanasi to watch the nightly religious celebrations and see the cremations on the shore.

No idea if it was wide-open or not, but this is a basic grade, some NR, and some film grain over the top, no sharpening applied, and it's even got a small negative amount of mid-tone detail.  GH5 was in 150Mbps 4K IPB and HLG.  I can't recommend these lenses enough.

Well, it was hardly the biggest mystery in the world but confirmation at least that the Meike lenses are the genuine successors to the Veydras and good to see the co-founder being involved and discussing how they have actually been improved rather than being the low quality rip offs that many were widely opining they were.
The real mystery this video solves for me though is how you actually pronounce Meike.
 

There will be PREs if the codec is lacking for the main log format; only the Cine-D Pre would be needed, but I like that HLG on the GH5 could use the default saturation setting.
The standard bar is absolute for each new camera; I'd like to do a comparison in the future, wherein the same subject is filmed with every camera. Here are the Alexa, P4K, and GH5, with the most recent conversions/EC709:


It will interesting to see; I hope to explore it soon!
All-I will give you a codec advantage over 8-bit 60 (and 10-bit 150mbps 24). There is less macroblocking and denser color gradients. The exception is 1080p 100 Long, which was similar to All-I in my gradient motion test. 1080p on the GH5 is very detailed (at the limit of 1080). Cine-D is better than VLog for 4K 8-bit

Not sure if Andy Lee still hangs out here or if he's too busy working but I'm wondering if anyone knows if any clips from Pandora, which I think is the film talked about earlier in this thread as having been shot on the Panasonic G7, are around and can be shown ?.
It's listed on imdb as completed and review copies sent out. So sad that the director passed away and hopefully it will be picked up and his (and Andy's) work will be seen.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5490720/
I think the film with the Arri and GH5 is Principle Deception. There is a "Cannes 2019 Teaser Trailer" on Vimeo :
 
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10150644/?ref_=nm_knf_t1
The colours look like Panasonic Lumix, maybe ? but that could just be me not knowing what I'm talking about 🙂
The film's director talks about it here :
https://closeupculture.com/2019/05/29/interview-jamie-lundy-talks-principle-deception-and-transitioning-into-filmmaking/

These are some stills from a recent GH5 doc project

S35 "normal" lens comparison:
 

Nikon 16-35 F4, 24-70 2.8, 70-200 2.8G (First Version)

These lenses offer a great range and color with a matched look. For used prices they are a great way to cover a huge zoom range with full frame coverage.

Do NOT go for the 17-35 2.8, overpriced with ugly distortion and bokeh.

Nikon 24-70 2.8G  on Sony F3

$300
Unfortunately crap.
In terms of the concept - what the Panasonic G100 should have been?
Needs much smaller optics.

LX100 II, G95 and now G100
I also think no IBIS on GH5S was a major misstep, or at least not having that sensor in ANY body WITH IBIS was!
I cannot see sales doing very well if they are going to make big mistakes with every new release.

Another M43 shooter here. 
The G100 is trash, even in the context of a "starter" vlogging camera. It pains me to say but no amount of excuses will change that. It's inexcusable. There's literally no reason for it to exist; no one asked for it. Not vloggers and certainly not enthusiasts or professionals. 
I don't even mean to encourage them to just take a GX85 and add a flip screen and mic, because that'd have been bullshit too, but it'd still be much better than what they did with the G100. 
It is genuinely concerning that this thing even moved beyond a pitch, let alone production. The Lx100 II and G95 might've been disappointing updates, but at least they improved and added something. This though? It's a crippled camera that would make even Canon blush. 

I think metabones recently released their own gfx to hasselblad speedbooster, which also boosts the gfx into an insane 6x6 0.56x crop factor, and it should be quite a bit sharper than the kipon, but for some reason not a single review or sample footage has been posted on the internet. I think that could be interesting to test out.

A few stills from a shoot last night all on the Pocket 4K XL and CZ 35mm 2.8. 

Expecting the worst shooting into a light source after some of the ( few) posts about this lens around the internet, I was pleasantly surprised and it seems no worse than most lenses in that regard (and if i am shooting right into a very bright light up close, it is not going to be pretty regardless of the lens).
It also seems ok as a general purpose lens at longer distances.
For close in at 2.8, it does seem to have some magic and much more than i expected.
A couple at 60mm at a distance 2.8 and f8 and a couple into a light at 2.8 and f22 (another surprise, this lens produces pretty much ZERO sun stars).
I really can not wait to use this for both video and stills at a gig (indoor pub or outdoor concert) though with the current climate that might be a while.    Portraits hopefully will be a lot earlier.
 

Hallo friends,
I won´t bother with a SI2K Mini due to lack of opportunity. But this has been bugging me ever since Cesar Charlones photograph hit my eye.
Unfortunately I missed out a big opportunity to ask Cesar Charlone himself at Camerimage last year when he was sitting right behind me: What in the name of mankind is this awesome tiny monitor / EVF you were wearing? I was researching about master Charlones movie sets. Was enlarging BTS photos, was doing my google research tricks. Nothing. No insight found. It is not a Cineroid, which would be way too bulky. It is a phantom. What a DP and what a kewl EVF! So dear lens nerds and camera geeks, what is that EVF or monitor that was in Cesar Charlones box, whenever he put it away from his eye? May your research begin. Here is the man himself shooting with the Si2K on set of "La Redota". Smiling like an enigma of cinemagic. What a legend!
cheers