BTM_Pix

That doesn't make me wrong, it merely makes me special

My experiences with their products from the original Phantom, to the Osmo and the Mavic is that there is certainly a lot going on between the control apps and the products..... Obviously there are more than a few conspiracy theories about why exactly that much activity should be happening but it does seem to add up to potentially quite a few points of failure and I have had a number of occasions across their products where I have had to jump through a few hoops to get them to start up.

I haven't got one (and the frequency of these reports and the switch it on/switch it off/send it back response from DJI would give me serious pause) but I suspect some of the Android ones at least might be to do with having location services turned off as its part of the Bluetooth LE discovery and bonding process on Android. https://forum.dji.com/thread-158542-1-1.html My guess with the iOS ones would be that if you go into Bluetooth settings in the phone and choose to delete/forget the bonding with the gimbal and re-bond then creating the new association would restore functionality.

Don, you can criticise my life choices, my politics, my taste in music and even my wife but I draw the line about anyone having a go at the Nikon Df

" $850 for a 120 gig SSD drive? Its a disgrace. Its far too low"

There is no question that the Sigma 50-100mm lens is a superb lens. I would definitely recommend that you tried it with the camera first though to see if it is practical for the way you will be working. It weighs roughly the same as a Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 at around 1.5kg (or for context the combined weight of all three of your Rokinon lenses) which makes it a bit of a lump if you are thinking of hand holding. As neither it nor the camera have any image stabilisation this is also a big drawback in that regard. Currently (and possibly forever) the Pocket 4K has no focus control of adapted lenses so this is another drawback. As I say it is a fine lens and unique as an f1.8 zoom that on another MFT camera like a GH5 which has IBIS and focus control of adapted lenses is easy to recommend. With the Pocket4K having neither of those features though, it would be a bit more of a cautionary note to evaluate how you will be using it. If you are using it on a tripod or well balanced shoulder rig then it will be great if you are OK with its shortish throw manual focus. If you can get hold of an Aputure DEC focus controller (either the focal reducer or electronic ND version) then even better . For handheld though, I think it might be a struggle.

Not all plugins are compatible with it so worth checking if your particular one is as Affinity Photo would offer you an option to break from Adobe completely for the price of a few month's subscription. https://affinity.serif.com/en-gb/photo/desktop/

The protocol is the same so its a cautionary yes but I would need to test it on one. Yes to focus control (and zoom if the lens supports it) on the analog stick.

Bit of an update about new functionality to drive the app from a joystick. As the joystick is also bluetooth, you can essentially just use the app as a bridge to control the camera from the joystick as well as use it in the way shown here as a single RC style integrated unit. Other small thumbstick type joysticks will be supported for mounting on a gimbal arm.

You can control the aperture directly from the plug in receiver so you only need the handle if you want to do remote focus. As the other speedboosters don't allow any sort of focus control on the P4K anyway it would be much of a muchness aside from the extra bulk of the plug in receiver.

I've got drawers full of them! I suspect they animate at night like something out of Toy Story and mock me.

The F1 is very versatile in that you can use their add on shotgun mic module or their other stereo mic modules as well as the add on dual XLR module but be warned that the XLR module can't provide phantom power.

With Sony bodies, you can always count on there being major heat

It only has Bluetooth LE so that forces the decision Not using wifi is very beneficial battery wise though as Bluetooth LE (as its name suggests) uses very little power so can be an always on connection. The drawback of course is that there is no way to implement a wireless live feed without wifi but there is always more than one way to skin a cat as they say so watch this space .....

Bluetooth LE I'm sure they will in time as, of course, if this idiot can manage it .... There are a couple of challenges involved though that they will need to work around that are too dull to go into but as I say it wont be long.

To be fair you can run the Pocket4K off NPF970s as well with the £10 small rig plate and the DC cable so you can knock off a big saving with those 2 PowerEdge batteries in that cost comparison.

No espresso??!!? Looks like you really did fall in love with someone you shouldn't have fallen in love with.

The truly abysmal EVF is a joke though. And the fold out LCD doesn't inspire much confidence. But.... The release of the Ninja V changes things considerably for the LS300 as it is compact enough to address those issues without making it unwieldly like the 7" recorders did whilst adding additional monitoring functionality. Of course it also enables the recording of 4K60p which the LS300 can't do internally and offers a ProRes workflow. If the LS300 drops below £1500 (which it is well on the way to doing) then the two together is quite the package for £2000. I've said it before but if there is one company that I could see working with Atomos to do ProRes RAW over HDMI it would be JVC for the LS300. Considering how much JVC have enhanced its functionality since its release, I wouldn't say one last hurrah like that would be out of the question

I'll certainly bear that in mind.

Thanks. No, unfortunately I am nowhere near bright enough to be of any use to them.

I'm not sure there has been another product that has created a market for someone to make one. RED cameras and BM Video Assist are two products that spring to mind that use mini XLRs but they would generally expect people to be connecting microphones/mixers with XLR outputs on them hence why they are the only ones available. If you want to keep the adapters to a minimum then one option is to buy the BM Video Assist and cut one of the cables and put a 3.5mm socket on it. You can then have it the exact length you need. It would also mean you would still have the other cable of course so you would now have a cable kit to cover both 3.5mm and XLR mics.

If its the mini socket you need (I'm presuming to connect a mic with a 3.5mm jack on it?) then you can get a regular one like this to a full size xlr MagiDeal 3.5mm (Mini) 1/8inch Stereo Female To XLR Male Adapter Cable https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CY2J3DT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6gKcCbK33Q34Y And then use an XLR to mini XLR adapter . Incidentally for anyone looking for ready made XLR to mini XLR cables, BM themselves do a kit for the video assist that has 2 of them in it for about £30 https://www.scan.co.uk/products/blackmagic-design-mini-xlr-cable-for-video-assist-4k-set-of-2-195?gclid=CjwKCAiA0ajgBRA4EiwA9gFOR_ywjdHoW_RfaATfXT5pS_A-1--6PWuKCVuxWMNT6M0XyjsRsZtFBRoCEUEQAvD_BwE

There is no downside to the PF except for the price and if you want to use it on a non Nikon body. I would definitely urge you to try the original on the Z body though to make sure it feels OK in terms of balance. Bear in mind that my experience of it is using it was on big lumps like the D3s and D4 where the weight wasn't an issue. On a much lighter mirrorless it might be a different story especially as the adapter will be adding to the heaviness in the nose. With regard to using the PF for wildlife then the huge reduction in the weight in the camera pack vs the original will pay big dividends over the course of a day if you are trekking or whatever. What I would say though is that if the 300mm might not have enough reach then whilst it works very well with a TC but you are then at f5.6 (plus more money for the TC) so I might suggest she looks at the 200-500mm f5.6. Its the same aperture with a bit more reach and a lot more flexibility albeit at the expense of a bit of weight. It is a fantastic performer though and would be another compromise option worth considering, especially as it is significantly cheaper. MPB are good guys and I've always had good service and prices. They are only in Brighton so with a following wind they should be able to deliver stuff over the channel to France with a decent catapult. Which will probably be the only way to get goods off the island post Brexit !

Pleased to announce that my Pocket4K app for Android is now complete and is with beta testers so barring any calamties will be available from the Play store on the 21st of December. Here is a screen shot with a quick run through of the features from top to bottom : Across the top we have the controls for Aperture, ISO and shutter angle. Next up we have the colour temperature and tint controls, the preset white balance selectors, the Auto White Balance button and, of course, the Record button. Beneath that we have the 8 snapshot memories which you can use to store and instantly recall 8 different custom settings of ISO, Aperture, Shutter Angle and White Balance. To store the preset you long press on the memory slot that you want to use and to recall it just short press. Haptic feedback is given to indicate that the preset has been written and the currently loaded preset is denoted in orange (M1 in the shot above). Presets are stored in non volatile memory so are always available in any session. Next is the focus controller, which is operated using the slider and/or the fine tune buttons. A long press of the button moves instantly to closest focus and infinity respectively. The AF button in ths row activates the single shot auto focus. To accompany the focus controls, you then have 6 memory slots (A to F) to store focus points and you can switch instantly between them by simply pressing the required one. In addition, next to these are the controls for A-B-A focus transition and the speed control. Again, all focus points are stored in non volatile memory for use in any session. Finally we have the controls for applicable MFT power zoom lenses with the same interface as the focus controls (including long press for instant minimum/maximum zoom) and 4 non volatile memory positions for later recall. There is another function that it can do that I'll let you know about closer to release date and I will put up a little demo video of it in action late next week.