BTM_Pix

That's the one I've got and I've threatened to do a separate post about it. Which I will do when I stop emptying Tokyo lens shops. It's an arse to set up but works good as gold when you do. There is a version of it with 4G built in but it can tether to your phone for live streaming if not. One thing I will say about LukiLink is that for Android the UVC(which I suspect it uses) support is not an exact science so not all phones will work. I've been experimenting with a generic £50 HDMI input without any joy with my devices. I've also got an issue with a wireless link based on an FPV transmitter (which will give you wireless latency free video from HDMI over long distance for less than £100) due to the same problem. I'm not saying that's why the LukiLink is delayed but it may be a factor as they need to guarantee compatibility.

Some frames from my first day out with a Sony A6500 and a Contax Zeiss 85mm f1.4 (top) and Contax Zeiss 35-70mm f3.4 macro (bottom) on a Metabones CY to E Speedbooster. I am not fond of the camera or the rain.

I went back to the scene of the crime and relieved them of the 35-70mm as for £170 its just nuts. Its a constant 3.4 so a tiny bit slow for your requirement but I'll have it on the speedbooster so no biggie for me. I'll have a run out of it tomorrow and post some stuff up in the lens section if I get a chance. Its a bit of a funny range I suppose for many in that they'd prefer it to be 24-70mm or 35-85mm but I wouldn't let that put you off trying it. Like its other Sigma brothers, its a bit of a quirky bugger, it likes light and hates AF but if you work within its limits it makes a fine image. It has 21:9 mode which I've been messing about with here today. Thanks for the tip. I'll try that tomorrow with the stolen Contax Zeiss lenses The porting is going very well. Its a bit limited at the moment with regard to replicating everything the Panasonic lets you do (though in some respects its more comprehensive) but all of the core stuff works fine. I just need some time to probe about and try and see if there is anything that can be done with focusing and to optimise the speed.

I must admit, I did make a sharp exit as soon as the transaction was concluded. I'll be putting the running shoes on for an even faster getaway when I go back in there for the 35-70mm

It was just over £300. Its about 30-40% off what I could get one in the UK for but the bonus in Japan is how good a condition its in. There is a 35-70mm from the same place which is about £170 that I'll be going back for tomorrow. Same shop has your 55mm f2.8 Nikkor for $90 if you want it! I got a Sigma SD Quattro with 30mm 1.4 ART lens and a 17-50mm f2.8 Its a laughably good camera, especially with that 30mm lens. Just astonishing really and built like a brick shithouse with nice solid controls. As I said about buying used here, they are in such mint condition that they might as well just be described as unboxed. The other camera and lens was a bit more vanilla which is a Sony A6500 with the kit lens. I needed a more elaborate test platform for porting my controller over to Sony than the RX100 so its not a love purchase but more of a necessity and a temporary one at that. The good news is the jet lag means I'm quite a way along with porting it over! One thing I did get for it though which may make me keep hold it for a while is a Metabones C/Y to E Speedbooster, which makes it a whole lot more interesting. I didn't actually know Metabones made one of these but, like their other adapters, they go for really low money second hand here for some reason (certainly compared to the UK at least). Sony do international versions of their cameras that they sell here for a premium so buying new isn't that much of a bargain but because of this there is good value in the used ones as they are locked into the Japanese menus so are much cheaper. When I say they are locked in, thats obviously the theory but as long as its not the A9, A7Riii or the A7iii its not that difficult to hack it so my A6500 is now very much an English language version but with the 30 minute time limit removed as well Total price for the SD Quattro with 2 lenses, the A6500 with kit lens and C/Y to E Speedboster was just over £1300. Against the US prices thats possibly not even any great saving but against the UK prices it will certainly do for me.

They seem to have a vision for it to be a bona fide retail product to compete with the iPhone and top end Androids so they'll need to start ordering up some industrial quantities of that Kool Aid they currently use for communion How much extra value (i.e. free stuff) they throw at the other modules is going to be proportional to how much compelling content (and improvement in performance) they can pull together for when it properly launches. If the hologram stuff just doesn't wow enough they'll need to pivot it into the cinema camera aspect being the selling point otherwise it could just bomb as a system completely. When I see people on Reduser who are invested in it and desperately want it to live up to the hype saying its more or less reminiscent of a Nintendo 3DS as an experience then I do worry what the reaction to it is going to be from the average consumer to it if it doesn't blow them away. I am barred from 02 after a "misunderstanding" about a very large bill in 1996 so I wouldn't worry on that score. Its when I say I'm in Cash Converters looking at one for £199 that you need to be concerned

Off my list, thus far, I've only managed to get the Contax Zeiss 85 f1.4 But, erm.... I've also, thus far, managed to get 2 cameras, 3 more lenses and one lens adapter that were absolutely nowhere near being on my list ! I'm here for a while longer yet though so I'll do post the final score up when I'm done.

Wow. By the standards of the usual responses on there to anything that RED does its not just a lukewarm reaction but positively icy isn't it? I imagine the response to the phone's USP being less than adulatory could do you a favour there and the bolt on modules might end up delivering more for less to compensate. I suspect they don't want the (by their standards) very mediocre response from the flock bringing the vibe down in the main hall of worship. That will likely only get far, far worse as it reaches the hands of normal consumers who tend to have a different perspective on the appropriate response to a missed deadline and/or a less than promised performance or feature set. You don't want the general public showing up with their torches and pitchforks on reduser. It would be a bloodbath !

I had the 35 and 55 many moons ago and as with the 105 they'll probably be making a return if I see them at the right price. I am writing this on the bus from Narita airport into Tokyo with a small hit list of used glass to pick up over the next week. They are both on it but my priority is actually an 85 1.4 Contax Zeiss to round off my set and the 100-300 if it's the right price. The Mamiya 645 35 f3.5 that I picked up last week for dirt cheap is every bit as good as I thought it was so the 80 and the 210 will be picked up as well for the cheap prices they go for here.

Such a pity that the LX100 resisted all efforts to join the party.

Yep, it was exposed reasonably conservatively.

The tariffs pre-date the Alexa - and digital film cameras in general - by many years to be fair. It was for European broadcast manufacturers like Thomson and Philips to compete with the Japanese and US manufacturers. The upper rate was/is a leftover from the VCR days.

Those shots are completely untouched (even without JVC's LOG LUT) so it's not ultra flat.

1080p 4:2:2

I took the Nikon 105 as well. And as a 250mm with the prime zoom function.

A couple of JLOG straight out the camera for you from this evening with the, erm, quirky SLR Magic lens. The problem with that lens is that it gives you the coverage across the frame but the edges are so soft it looks like an effect. With the LS300 you can vary the scale mapping and it will correct it but I don't think its doing too much special within the area that it is sharp to be honest. JLOG to REC709 LUTS are here http://pro.jvc.com/prof/attributes/software_dow.jsp?model_id=MDL102318&feature_id=17

Shameless plug but that is one of the benefits of my controller in that it makes the operation of different Panasonic cameras identical and you could operate two of them at once in the scenario you are looking at. This is from my original post to demonstrate the hack. It shows the output of my G7 and GX80 using Cinelike D pointed at the same charts in contrasty lighting. If there is a difference then it isn't glaringly obvious.

Its definitely a real thing if it the GH5 has come into the EU legitimately. Digital cameras (EU Code 8525803000) have 0% tariff but anything that can record video for 30 minutes (EU Code 8525809190) has a 3.3% tariff. If it can record for more than 30 minutes and has a video input capability (EU Code 8525809900) then it has a 7% tariff. Both of those figures are far reduced from what they used to be and it was the latter one that caused a stink with the DV cameras as the firewire input had to be disabled for EU models to avoid the extra duty which was 14% at the time. Both of those tariffs will be reduced to 2.5% and 3.5% respectively in July of this year. So if its here and it can record 30 mins or more then the duty has been paid and Panasonic have either absorbed it into the price or passed it on. Its probably a bit of both as they will get some cost savings from not having to create and support different firmwares. Of course for those of us in the UK all of this will be a thing of the past from next year and we can merrily capture our demise on film in unrestricted chunks while waving our blue passports and tending to the enormous hole in our foot where we've shot ourselves.

When you are using the remote app can you switch from stills to video mode without having to turn the dial? So if its on the video dial when you go into the app can you take a still from the app and vice versa?

Yes, but is it 'better' than the A7iii though as that is the only true measure of 'better' isn't it? Lets cross over to the chairman for the official announcement.

Cheers I currently have a handful of them while I'm finishing them off. The wireless interface module for the recorders is just on a bit of breadboard at the mo ! I've started the Sony implementation and looking at their API, I might be able to help you with some of those A7iii woes actually..... Yes, a guest blog page would be splendid when I've done my demo video.

What exactly is it doing with the exposure stuff? Is it a different metering mode altogether or is it altering the ISO/Shutter/Aperture or adding some preset Exposure Compensation? More to the point, if its the ISO/Shutter/Aperture or an Exposure Compensation does it actually indicate its done it? Very strange.

I went to that website. Now I'm going to be fat and want to buy a new matte box Grrrr....

I guess they must have paid the additional tariff in the EU at least? There is a way around the 30 minute limit on the other A7/A7R/A7S cameras with the OpenMemories tweak but unfortunately the A7Riii and A7iii don't have the PlayMemories app stuff in it so thats not possible on those and I'm guessing on future Sony cameras either.

Yep, I think the other camera has re-defined the price of everything and the perspective of being able to buy 2 of them and still have some decent change versus the LS300 (as 'cheap' as it is in its own market) is a stark one. Aside from the obvious stuff like battery life, ND, Dual XLRs etc, the tricks it has with the VSM and the network stuff like streaming and FTP are perfect for what I use it for so that is enough differentiator for me to keep hold of it. Particularly for the used price that I picked it up for. That stuff can be replicated with the other camera by grafting (with epoxy obviously ) other stuff on to it obviously but maybe not as elegantly as it is with an all in solution. The other big differentiator of course is that its actually a fully working product and can produce images today rather than at some unknown point in the future