BTM_Pix

I just dropped the saturation and I was on that beach with Chief Brody  

 
I'm trying to keep mine down below 3 figures !
I behaved myself in Japan and only bought 3 so thats a start.

Shit, Jaws is my favorite movie, so that may have been subconscious. Damn you, now I am reconsidering the Zeiss ZF.... lol. 

I just dropped the saturation and I was on that beach with Chief Brody  

 
I'm trying to keep mine down below 3 figures !
I behaved myself in Japan and only bought 3 so thats a start.

Trying to compare a newer Zeiss ZF 25mm 2.8 vs an old Rollei Zeiss 25mm 2.8. I’ve learned that a direct comparison doesn’t really help me too much as I get lost in the comparison... eventually my eyes can’t tell the difference. So I decided to take each lens to a different location and just shoot with it.
First up is the Zeiss ZF 25mm 2.8...
And for a totally different location, here is the Rollei Zeiss 25mm 2.8...

So, in my endeavor I learned that I enjoy shooting with the Rollei Zeiss a little more but the ZF Zeiss is definitely sharper.
Eventually I am going to narrow my lenses down to but a few with a goal to have one “vintage” and one “modern” lens for my favorite focal lengths. The Zeiss ZF “Classic” lenses are interesting because they seem to teeter the line between vintage and modern.

The context to that image is that the lens is actually for my JVC LS300 where it becomes a real ENG setup but as it had the MFT adapter on it then it went on the GX80 for a laugh.
Having said that, when it is on the GX80, it actually handles far better than you'd imagine for handheld shots as you cradle the lens and use the tilt screen to do look down monitoring.
It is far from being the most ridiculous lens I've put on a small MFT camera by the way

Although nothing compares to this fella, who really did set the high watermark for putting B4 lenses on MFT cameras.
 
As above, it was just done for a laugh as it was for my LS300 really.
It has a doubler in it so when that is engaged it covers the whole sensor on an MFT camera. As I discussed further on in the thread you quoted, using it with the LS300, the VSM trick of that camera means that you don't have to do that and so avoid losing the light and some sharpness.

You should probably take a look at This Guy Edits channel on YouTube.
This video is possibly not nuts and bolts enough for what you are after but the concepts are there.
The more in depth stuff is accessed via his Patreon account which is fair enough as the stuff he has for free to view on his YouTube channel is always very good.
 
 

You should probably take a look at This Guy Edits channel on YouTube.
This video is possibly not nuts and bolts enough for what you are after but the concepts are there.
The more in depth stuff is accessed via his Patreon account which is fair enough as the stuff he has for free to view on his YouTube channel is always very good.
 
 

This will probably only have an audience of one - hello @IronFilm - but might be of use for anyone else who has a need for what it does.
So what is it?
Its a small(ish) box that takes an HDMI input and encodes it into a live H.264 IP data stream that can then be used for monitoring or as an input source by devices on a local network or pushed to streaming services such as YouTube, Facebook etc.

The version I have has an integrated Sony NP battery mount and hotshoe mount so is a completely standalone solution for use in the field but it can also be powered via a mains adapter. If you want to save some money and will only be using it in a studio environment then the version without the battery mount and hotshoe mount is also available.
There is also a version with an integrated 4G modem so you can live broadcast from your camera on to YouTube or whatever service you use without any additional equipment.
There is also an H.265 version available as well.
Physically, the unit isn’t massive but isn’t what you would call compact either.
Seen here on my LS300 camera (which ironically doesn’t need to use one because it has this stuff built in ) it looks in proportion but to be fair it does dwarf a small mirrorless camera a little bit.

Seen here alongside its far more expensive alternative - the Teradek Vidiu - you can see that the base units its not that much bigger but obviously it gets much bigger when you slap the battery on as opposed to the Vidiu which has a built in rechargeable one.

What has to be borne in mind though is the functionality you are getting here and should consider how much more unwieldy things would be if you had to mount a laptop to your A6500 as that would be the only way to get the same functionality.
At this point, I’m going to have to say that if you’re not comfortable with some basic network configuration stuff then this product is not going to make you any more comfortable and you might want to walk away now
OK, after plugging our camera into the HDMI port, we have to log in to the device and configure it. 
This is done by attaching an ethernet cable to the LAN port and typing in an address in a browser that brings up a control panel of the sort which will be familiar to you if you’ve ever setup a router.
In here you set up all the options for the type of stream that you will be generating from the incoming camera signal and you can alter everything from re-scaling it, to frame rate and a wide range of quality settings from data rate to encoding profile.

Most of it is self explanatory but you’d better get used to this interface because you’ll be seeing a lot of it as you tweak the settings for the optimum results.
OK, so once its encoded your video and is merrily streaming it you can access it directly through its own LAN or WiFi interfaces or you via a wider network if you connect it to another router (which you will need to do if you want to get your stream out to the internet).
This router can be anything from your home router to an internet access point in Starbucks or your mobile phone’s hotspot function for onward broadcast to the internet.
So lets get down to some actual use cases.
The first use - and the one that @IronFilmis waiting on - is to use it as a way of remote wireless monitoring on set from a camera.  In this mode, we set it up as a WiFi access point and connect whatever device or devices to it that we want to monitor on and use a media player that can play network streams to watch it. 
Basically, any device that can run VLC will do so you use your phone, tablet, computer or even smart TV to monitor the signal. All you need to do is to enter the address that the stream is playing on into VLC and away you go.
And if there are a few of you, then as you can see here with my MacBook, my iPad and my Android phone, you can all watch it together.

Although, as I said, its more likely that you would use the encoder in access point mode for this, you could actually use a larger network infrastructure if you wanted to for extending the range and extent of the monitoring. These devices are used in this capacity to deliver digital TV service to hotel rooms so its very much a scalable thing !
The other use case that I have it for is to use to encode camera signals so that they can be accessed inside Live:Air which is Teradek’s live video production software that runs on the iPad.
In this scenario, cameras can be connected to multiple encoder units which can then be brought into Live:Air and switched and have overlays added etc and streamed out to the internet for a pretty comprehensive live broadcast.

When used in this way, the encoders and iPad are connected wirelessly though a portable 4G router to move the data around get the final output from Live:Air out on to the internet. The encoder can operate with 2.4G and 5G routers and clients.
If you just want to do direct from the camera live broadcasts then the encoder can also be configured to overlay some lines of text and graphic logos onto the outgoing stream.
Price wise, you can pick up the encoders for about £110 for the non battery version and about £180 for the version I’ve got. To be honest, you can easily knock up your own powering solutions for these for far less than the £70 difference so I’d be inclined to go for the lower priced one unless you need the really, really long run times you can get out of the NP ones.
For comparison, even the basic version of the Teradek Vidiu (which doesn’t support the RTS protocol for monitoring on VLC) to encode live video for Live:Air or for YouTube broadcast is around £700 so it represents a significant saving - particularly for a multi-camera setup.
So, is it any good?
Yes for me but maybe not for you.
It does what it needs to do well enough but the nature of the beast with these devices is that there will be latency and how much of that is acceptable is down to you and what you are using it for.
The bigger problem is that this latency is also very dependent on how you configure it and your network infrastructure and even location if you are in a highly saturated place (which is where the 5G capability actually does help).
All of this variance makes it difficult to recommend with any confidence purely as a MONITOR solution only.
You can tweak away and noodle about with scaling down, bit rate, GOP, profiles etc and mitigate the latency but its never going to go away completely and I’d say that its difficult to find an acceptable balance thats not going to be below 1/2 a second.
That doesn’t mean to say it is without utility when used as a monitoring solution but it would be in a secondary capacity as a distribution method where absolute real time instant monitoring isn’t necessary. So in this way you would loop it through from the primary operator’s monitor and allow everyone else on set to wirelessly monitor after that.
There is also the question of how much real time you may need if you are using it in the capacity of primarily a framing monitor. If you have a Fuji XT/XH for example, this offers a solution to not being able to monitor and trigger the camera over wifi without it dropping to 720p resolution like it does with Fuji’s app. For Vlogging for example where you just want a remote view of the framing then this would give you that and allied with a cheap wireless shutter trigger you can get round the abysmal state of affairs with the Fuji app.
Bear in mind that there is latency but not dropped frames.
For my purposes of using it as a (much, much) cheaper way of getting camera signals into Live:Air than using Teradek’s own encoders then the latency is not an issue at all as each channel has an individual time align control to compensate for the latency.
Similarly when broadcasting direct out of the camera to the internet, the latency at that level is not relevant.
In summary then, if you have a need for the things that it does then it works well and is a huge saving on the alternatives. Its a bit clunky getting it going as the documentation wasn’t exactly readily available so I wasted a lot of time being unable to connect to it as an access point because the router address it uses when wireless is entirely different (and undocumented) to what it is when you are using the LAN port or it is in bridge mode.( Its 192.168.8.8 by the way  )
Being able to live stream to YouTube directly out of your DSLR might not be something you want to do every day but if you ever have the need for it (especially away from the studio) then it doesn't come much cheaper and simpler (once you've unearthed the manual) than this.
If you want to use it as your primary real time wireless monitor (other than just for framing or as per the Fuji example where its the only game in town) then I don’t think its the way to go because of the latency. If you are interested in purely doing that then I have another solution for that that is really low latency but thats for another day.
Full product link here
http://www.szuray.com/h-pd-84.html#_pp=0_304_9_-1
And here is the manual that you won’t find on their site either .
User Manual Of Mini Video Encoder copy.pdf

The context to that image is that the lens is actually for my JVC LS300 where it becomes a real ENG setup but as it had the MFT adapter on it then it went on the GX80 for a laugh.
Having said that, when it is on the GX80, it actually handles far better than you'd imagine for handheld shots as you cradle the lens and use the tilt screen to do look down monitoring.
It is far from being the most ridiculous lens I've put on a small MFT camera by the way

Although nothing compares to this fella, who really did set the high watermark for putting B4 lenses on MFT cameras.
 
As above, it was just done for a laugh as it was for my LS300 really.
It has a doubler in it so when that is engaged it covers the whole sensor on an MFT camera. As I discussed further on in the thread you quoted, using it with the LS300, the VSM trick of that camera means that you don't have to do that and so avoid losing the light and some sharpness.

The context to that image is that the lens is actually for my JVC LS300 where it becomes a real ENG setup but as it had the MFT adapter on it then it went on the GX80 for a laugh.
Having said that, when it is on the GX80, it actually handles far better than you'd imagine for handheld shots as you cradle the lens and use the tilt screen to do look down monitoring.
It is far from being the most ridiculous lens I've put on a small MFT camera by the way

Although nothing compares to this fella, who really did set the high watermark for putting B4 lenses on MFT cameras.
 
As above, it was just done for a laugh as it was for my LS300 really.
It has a doubler in it so when that is engaged it covers the whole sensor on an MFT camera. As I discussed further on in the thread you quoted, using it with the LS300, the VSM trick of that camera means that you don't have to do that and so avoid losing the light and some sharpness.

Yeah I don't care how talented you think you are, that was a total......you know what.  Stupid is stupid no matter how smart you think you are. Off with their heads. Elitist crap.
Perfectly good show that went down in flames. What a way to end. All the lead up for years to end in a Cluster F.

Just watched the first four episodes.
I was glad to take these things off afterwards I can tell you.

Just watched the first four episodes.
I was glad to take these things off afterwards I can tell you.

Thats a good illustration of the issue you run into with video versus stills as if you were shooting stills you would just take a huge liberty and crop it like this which makes it a more directed image.

But with video you don't really have that luxury without a lot more work in post, although you could shoot 4K with the intention of it being for 1080p and do a blanket centre crop when you edit.
You could also do the faux multi camera routine by having one track with the uncropped version and one with a punched in version to switch to, which would also give you some latitude for framing safety and some post stabilisation too.
If you wanted to experiment with a 300mm prime, there are quite a lot of old f4 manual ones on eBay that won't hurt too much.

To the fully working in electric blue case with separate bluetooth remote controller stage thank you very much
I'm looking for some bigger glass as there is currently a limitation on the size of lens it is suitable for.
I did say I'd do a build along thread for it for anyone who wants to have a go as is (cost for the glass and controller is around £50-60) and I will get round to it.
 

To the fully working in electric blue case with separate bluetooth remote controller stage thank you very much
I'm looking for some bigger glass as there is currently a limitation on the size of lens it is suitable for.
I did say I'd do a build along thread for it for anyone who wants to have a go as is (cost for the glass and controller is around £50-60) and I will get round to it.
 

To the fully working in electric blue case with separate bluetooth remote controller stage thank you very much
I'm looking for some bigger glass as there is currently a limitation on the size of lens it is suitable for.
I did say I'd do a build along thread for it for anyone who wants to have a go as is (cost for the glass and controller is around £50-60) and I will get round to it.
 

To the fully working in electric blue case with separate bluetooth remote controller stage thank you very much
I'm looking for some bigger glass as there is currently a limitation on the size of lens it is suitable for.
I did say I'd do a build along thread for it for anyone who wants to have a go as is (cost for the glass and controller is around £50-60) and I will get round to it.
 

To the fully working in electric blue case with separate bluetooth remote controller stage thank you very much
I'm looking for some bigger glass as there is currently a limitation on the size of lens it is suitable for.
I did say I'd do a build along thread for it for anyone who wants to have a go as is (cost for the glass and controller is around £50-60) and I will get round to it.
 

Yeah, the 300-800mm is not the sort of lens that I would have fancied smuggling in if I didn't have the accreditation.
Even with accreditation, it still raised a few eyebrows at the security check at the press entrance !

Apologies if I have inadvertently offended you with that remark Don.
It was just a failed attempt at some levity based on your personal ability to cause trouble in an empty house

Thats a good illustration of the issue you run into with video versus stills as if you were shooting stills you would just take a huge liberty and crop it like this which makes it a more directed image.

But with video you don't really have that luxury without a lot more work in post, although you could shoot 4K with the intention of it being for 1080p and do a blanket centre crop when you edit.
You could also do the faux multi camera routine by having one track with the uncropped version and one with a punched in version to switch to, which would also give you some latitude for framing safety and some post stabilisation too.
If you wanted to experiment with a 300mm prime, there are quite a lot of old f4 manual ones on eBay that won't hurt too much.

Yeah, I'm not familiar enough with that particular sport to know exactly what sort of groupings the shots would need so it was more a general point about shooting from a fixed position with the 100m+ range that @kye was looking for. At that sort of distance, even a five or six player grouping is going to be challenging with a 400mm FOV equivalent. For stills, when you can crop then its not so much of an issue but for video, purely at the range he's talking about, its going to leave you a bit short in my opinion. 
For Test cricket, I used to shoot on 300-800mm but still wasn't averse to throwing a teleconverter on or using a cropped body to get a bit more reach but with 5 days to grind out you'd take any chance you could to add a bit of variety in the shots  

Yeah, the 300-800mm is not the sort of lens that I would have fancied smuggling in if I didn't have the accreditation.
Even with accreditation, it still raised a few eyebrows at the security check at the press entrance !

Yeah, cricket is a pain even with 300mm on APSC let alone FF.     I don't have many cricket photos (for major matches, Cricket Australia doesn't allow lenses over 200mm unless you have accreditation though I have been allowed in with my 300 2.8 at the local ground and only searched once when I didn't have anything longer than 200mm).   Even here (not the biggest of grounds), for cricket 300 is way to short more often than not but it is the same ground I shoot Australian football at.      Not a great photo but to show the reach limitations for cricket.  (The batswoman is the only person, male or female to have topped the one day international batting AND bowling lists- Stephanie Taylor, the West Indies captain).    Taken last year.