BTM_Pix

The amount of heat (boom tish) the thermal issue is generating recently is quite interesting to me. Its always been there in the background of course and the R5 was a wild ride while we were investigating it but it’s back with an increased vengeance recently. What interests me is if anyone on here actually works in a camera shop and if so how much cut through does this issue have with the average customer? How far down the list - if it even appears anywhere - is it on the list of questions posed by customers when they are running through a product? And how many cameras do you have returned by customers due to them, for example, going on holiday and discovering their new toy needs more sunscreen than they do? I’m curious because manufacturers seemingly show no interest in tackling it definitively and I would have to guess that it is because they are comfortable with the amount of, erm, heat they receive from dealers and customers about it. Looked at another way, how many more ZV cameras would Sony get returned for ingress of water/sand/avocado if they adopted a vented cooling system than they do now from the inconvenient but recoverable overheating issues.

Nikon and Fujifilm need to slow these releases down. I never got round to buying the previous three nailed on forever cameras and now a new one turns up. It does look to be the last word so maybe this time I’ll jump in before forever runs out !

I’ll preface this by saying that that is some spec and it will likely be a very decent camera. However…. A smaller sensor inside a smaller body with smaller lenses at a smaller price was the whole raison d’etre of the Micro Four Thirds system. The clue was right there in the name. Panasonic seems to have looked what BMW has done since it acquired the Mini and thought “yeah, that’s the path for us too”. In a world where their own full frame S5ii exists, let alone the compact APS-C feature laden cameras from all the other manufacturers, I don’t get where they are coming from with their latter day MFT releases and, in my opinion, they have completely lost their way with the system, particularly in terms of attracting new adopters. Even for the old guard, you’d have to be pretty attached to that native lens collection to go in again. Panasonic seem to have a borderline kinky reluctance to refresh the two cameras that would actually cause a resurgence in the ideology of the system as well as sales. Namely, the GX80 and the LX100. Putting a mic jack on them and giving them 10 bit 4:2:2 internal and VLOG would be a piece of piss for Panasonic and they could sell them all day long at their equivalent launch prices. They might have to push the boat out and put IBIS in the LX but I don’t even think that is a deal breaker. I’m at loss to where they are getting their market research from that’s telling them there is. Bigger demand for small sensor cameras in large sensor bodies at large sensor prices.

Its just different naming conventions between different manufacturers - or, more specifically, a lack of naming conventions - but they amount to exactly the same thing functionality wise. So, no doubt there are manufacturers out there who landed on a different part of the thesaurus and have named theirs Adjusters or Modifiers etc. Prefixing whatever term they use with "Wide Angle" is also a bit of a misnomer anyway as it doesn't convert or adapt a lens into a wide angle lens (commonly defined as having a focal length of say 24-35mm) but just reduces the focal length by the 0.8/0.7/0.6x indicated on it. So whilst a 50mm lens with a 0.7x can be considered to effectively have "become" a 35mm and therefore a "wide angle" lens in common terms, putting the same 0.7x on a 200mm lens will only make that "become" a 140mm, which is very much not a "wide angle" lens in common terms. Basically, for "Wide Angle" read "Wider Angle".

Prompted by a tweet from @Andrew Reid about BBC drama production in the 70s/80s, I remembered this gem of a YouTube channel where the production staff of the era discuss and reproduce their work. The videos are a combination of bitesize and longer form and covers every stage of the production process such as these. It is a fascinating collection of pieces and much can be learned and applied to shooting and editing today. Not least of which how lucky we are to have what we have at our disposal. Full collection here https://www.youtube.com/@AdapttvhistoryOrgUk/videos

As someone who went to the extent of writing an app to test every single permutation, I couldn't agree more !

Funny you should mention Cinelike V.... A couple of years ago, I did a test with the Profile Stepper app that I wrote for Lumix cameras to do a bit of analysis on their colour profiles. The idea was to create a video for each profile that contained every permutation of contrast between -5 to +2 combined with saturation between -5 to +3 to see if there were any hidden gems that might bely the received wisdom of "Cinelike D with everything set to -5". The original post (and thread about the app) is here The overall conclusion was that there weren't any hidden gems in amongst the standard profiles but, perhaps more surprisingly, I also found the Cinelike V versions to be more appealing than the Cinelike D ones. Likely nothing that couldn't be equalised in post but for an out of camera look (which is what I was after) I definitely preferred it. The test scene was nothing elaborate but was set up to contain enough sky, white textured wall, primary colour and black elements in a bright daylight to subjectively evaluate colour and contrast. Each video is annotated with the profile name and Contrast/Saturation levels which update accordingly as the Stepper App changes them every 2 seconds. It was shot on an FZ2000/2500 as that is what I was targeting with the test but will be applicable in relative terms to all Lumix cameras. If you are bored enough to want to plough through them, this link contains a zip with the individual videos for each profile. https://mega.nz/file/06QmwYJb#6R8aADqvKMKgG0jaWtX1e-vdTYco019KHJxl66EduoQ

Currently waiting for a gig to start tonight with my Pocket. Fashionably early though ! Nice to have a stabilised anamorphic camera that raises absolutely zero eyebrows from security staff either on the way in or when you are using it.

To mount Sony E mount lenses on Z cameras. Some desirable lenses (such as the Tamron 20-40mm f2.8 and the Sigma contemporary line) are not available in Z mount but are available in E mount.

Far be it from me to encourage you to have more immediate gear angst but Megadap have just released the v3 Pro version of their E to Z adapter which promises even better compatibility with the Tamron lenses and improvements in AF generally, plus the ability to update its firmware directly from the camera. So even if they don't immediately produce the 20-40mm f2.8 you could pick up an E mount version and attach the Megadap to it in the meantime to go with the native Z mount 35-150. Opens up the a lot of other lens possibilities too from the E mount world, particularly the Sigma contemporary range. My experience of the Megadap on @Andrew Reid's Z9 was that it was already near native performance so any advance on that will make it well worth checking out. https://megadap.net/product/megadap-sony-e-to-nikon-z-autofocus-adapter-etz21pro/

No news on price but expected to be released in the Autumn. https://www.tamron.com/global/consumer/news/detail/a058z_20230725.html

Bitrate is 100mbps fixed which is near as dammit the upper limit of the variable bitrate that my iPhone 12 uses (a typical comparator for what people would use a Pocket for) and I don't find it lacking for the purpose. More important for me is that the Osmo Pockets have Cinelike D which is a good compromise and very easy to grade. I had to do a little project at the weekend using the LX10/15 (with my Cinelike D hack activated) and the Pocket and they matched easily both in terms of colour and acceptably enough in image quality. On the Pocket 2, it is derived from a 4.6K sensor which is giving about 1.2x lossless zoom when shooting in 4K and roughly 2x and 1.6x in 1080p and 2.7K respectively. In the edit, I punched in to around 2x on a 4K file from my weekend project and was comfortable with the result so I wouldn't be bothered going up to say 1.5x as a safety and then adding the rest in the edit. A big advantage of the Pocket is adding the control stick which will give you full pan/tilt/zoom controls right from the handle. That usability trumps a small loss of image quality for the purposes I use it for. The 24mm in that spec is coming from it being a drone camera though. The actual lens on a Pocket 2 is 20mm f1.8. On of the beauties of this camera though are the magnetic clip on wide angle adapters (which gives you 15mm) and of course the anamorphic versions too. As well as also simultaneously being able to us magnetic ND filters too. If DJI do bring a new version 3 out with an optical zoom and/or with 10 bit capture then that would be great but I have to say that even as it stands now the Pocket 2 is a very compelling camera for travel and, for me, it is a vastly superior proposition to my iPhone for that role. Its not only because of the creative possibilities it has with having an integrated gimbal so you are not only stabilised but can do tracking etc or the anamorphic and NDs or the ability to have real hardware controls with the control stick. Its that you can take it out of your pocket, hold the power button on and be ready to shoot 2 seconds later rather than titting about unlocking the phone, opening an app and making sure you are in the correct mode. Another bonus is that if do have a need for remote shooting or self shooting with tracking then you can operate it from your phone which you can't do with your phone as you are already using it to film with 😉

Long shot but are the USB cables that you’ve tried definitely both data ones rather than charge only ones?

Oh 🙂

There will still be negotiation between the camera and the adapter if the pins of the adapter are exposed to the camera mount that can be causing it. I have two Fotodiox EF to M42 adapters that I've just tried on my S5ii with the MC21. The EF to M42 adapter that has contacts on it does exactly as you describe with the really slow startup and the one without is an instant startup straight to the IBIS selection screen. Fotodiox has some dire warnings about using their L mount adapters with Leica bodies (the MC21 has this problem to with my SL and T and has to have the pins taped over) so I'm not sure they are fully compliant with the L mount protocol which may be complicated further with later cameras and any changes they have made.

If you are stacking it with the Fotodiox, try putting some electrical tape over the contacts on the Fotodiox. In my experience, the delay you are seeing is the camera trying to handshake (multiple times) with the adapter to get lens information to automatically set the IBIS focal length. Taping over the contacts will stop the attempts and you should get straight to the set focal length process. If that works, stacking a dumb EF to L mount adapter onto the CY to EF will provide a permanent solution absent the variable ND that the Fotodiox was providing. If you don't need to have an electronically controlled EF lens on the same day (or even at all) then the tape solution will suffice.

I dunno. I honestly think that the same techniques and skill they were applying to work within the parameters of the medium then would have been adapted and transferred to work within the parameters of the new medium now. Of course, I'm not saying it doesn't look good. Far from it actually. But, in my opinion, its because they are proper productions and, again, its the skills of everyone and everything from the back of the lens forwards that is making the biggest contribution to that. In those terms, and its only my opinion of course, the difference made by what is behind the lens capturing the image is almost negligible compared to the difference that is made in what is coming into it. I've shot absolutely horrible looking stuff on both film and digital so I should know 😉

Looks good. I could certainly do with another product that isn't compatible with my Atomos Connect 😉

If you google the net worth of family then they could make a decent fist of buying a fair chunk of Arri in its entirety let alone one of their cameras 😉

There were over 500 people involved in the creation of Born On The Fourth Of July. It was nominated for 8 academy awards. The writer, director, editor, cinematographer, composer and sound department have all won at least one academy award. The actual camera and film stock only captured the end result of the direction production design, lighting, composition and performance of what was in front of it. As such, it was the least influential aspect of what you were watching. Resolution matters, "colour science" matters but being realistic matters most of all. Waft the same camera loaded with the same film stock around without any of what they had in front of it and it will look as shit as if you did it with whatever the next great thing in cameras is. We've all got the means now to capture a great image but still lack everything that goes into creating that image in the first place. In this case, what we would be lacking would be the other 499 people.

On mine, I can get it to take an inordinate amount of time to release when the AF is in Tracking mode and then it will still occasionally do it when I switch it to Area but its not consistent and sounds like a different issue to what you are having anyway. By the by, I sometimes don't think the AF ON is performing properly but I need to look into that further. You could try using the Save/Restore Camera Setting function to make a copy of the settings of each camera onto their respective SD cards then swap the cards and load the settings up on each to see if the behaviour transfers to each camera. If Unit 02 doesn't start misbehaving in the same way as Unit 01 when it is using its settings then that would imply it is a hardware fault. Similarly, after saving the settings, you could do a factory reset on Unit 01, check its behaviour with defaults, then re-load your settings from the card to see if it then does it which would imply something within the custom settings you have made.

I'm guessing you've ruled this out so forgive the sucking eggs advice but it could be in the Focus/Shutter Priority settings you have in combination with AF type ? Set to Focus can give the impression of too long a press while focus is not locked and set to Release can give the impression of a hair trigger. I've found that if the AF is in Tracking mode then you can be holding the shutter full down for a loooong time before the shutter releases. Quickest way to test both would be to put them both in Release priority.

It has a great feature set for the purpose but, for me, more so as a holiday camera. The magnetic mounting pendant is very good for staying in the moment of what you are doing on holiday whilst still filming. The pre-record function is particularly good for using it in that way as you won’t actually have to worry about missing anything. Let’s face it, trying to do holiday videos with a “real” camera is a pain in the arse for EVERYONE concerned and is actually a contradiction in terms as it’s no holiday when you are titting about with lenses and ND filters and offloading footage. Let alone carrying it all and making sure it’s safe. It always ends up with the bulk of the footage coming from the first day and tailing off to nothing after a few days as it’s too much hassle to keep up. The AI editing is good too not just for taking out the tedium of doing editing but likely for taking out the tedium of the actual end result for whoever has to watch your holiday videos. No full size HDMI port means it will be a hard pass for a lot of people on here of course.

If I was Blackmagic, I’d skip the L mount and be beating a path to Nikon’s door to use the Z mount. Natively, you can get fast Z primes up to 800mm so there is a much broader range there whereas L mount tops out at 135mm but it’s the adaptability where it scores. Adapters for EF with autofocus, E mount with autofocus, even any manual focus lens with M mount and deeper mount can have autofocus too and even PL mount with integral variable ND filter. Last but by no means least F mount with full autofocus, something which no other mount can offer. Between these adapters a customer for this speculated BM camera could use pretty much any lens they’ve acquired over the years with full autofocus. Minus X mount and of course L mount itself but weirdly with the MFT to E mount you can even use those lenses too. Z mount is hands down the most versatile mount around* with the added bonus of BM not having to deal with Leica who, let’s not forget, wouldn’t do firmware to make their cameras compatible with an adapter from one of the actual members of the alliance. My MC-21 still isn’t and won’t ever be compatible with my Leica T or SL. Nikon are unlikely to get into the true cinema camera market so there is less perceived challenge versus Panasonic who are very likely to want to do so with an L mount cinema offering in the near future. *This amazing and comprehensive compatibility didn’t of course stop me somewhat hypocritically not buying into Z mount and spending all my money that I’d intended to use on increasing my L mount collection of lenses instead 🙂