Ilkka Nissila

I thought that Super 35 mm was the traditional format for cinema, not 35 mm full frame, and video cameras used much smaller formats in the past, but buyers seem to have largely rejected those, except for many professionals (those shooting sports for TV, etc.). 35mm full frame is a relatively new format when it comes to video and things have moved up from smaller formats to 35 mm, likely mainly for the reason of hybridization where the objective is for one camera to both video and stills, whether this makes sense or not. For (still) photography, 35 mm is has been considered a small format (mainly suitable for family snapshots, photojournalism, and action) and ignoring cost constraints, I think it would be preferable to use larger formats such as medium format in many cases, to get exquisite detail, tonality and colour, and differentiate from the everyday smartphone camera user. The problem is, larger than 35 mm sensors are expensive, especially if wanting sensors that approximate medium format film such as 645. I love the rich colour and tonality of the larger formats, and the robust detail in large prints. Unfortunately the technology that has been developed to make photography easier, faster and more precise, is mostly available only in the smaller formats, in particular, 35 mm. As for the size of the camera, no pain, no gain. If something is easy and painless, others have already done it (likely better than you would) and there is no reward, financial or otherwise. To get a reward, you need to do things others are not willing to or comfortable doing, things that are messy and uncomfortable and smell of work rather than just having fun. Such as collecting the garbage, fixing people's teeth, lawyering, r carrying a lot of lighting and camera equipment. That's the difference between working and casual happy snapping. If something is easy and fun, no one is going to pay a penny for you to do it, because billions of people want to have fun and are delighted to do it for free. I think most serious amateurs and professionals rejected the smaller formats for still photography and want the higher quality, low-light possibilities, shallow depth of field etc. of 35 mm (full frame). For video, I think 35mm is excessive and unnecessary but since companies want two for the price of one, the size of the sensor is dictated by the stills side and video goes along with it. Other formats are available and if people choose them, manufacturers will follow the money. So far it seems the vast majority of interchangeable lens camera buyers deliberately choose manufacturers who offer full frame 35 mm as option in the lineup, and those manufacturers who focus exclusively on the smaller formats have a very small combined market share. The manufacturers accept the customers' wishes and put their efforts on the larger formats (such as 35 mm) as a result.

How about seeing it as a way to learn French (if you're an English-speaker)? In Finland usually international programs on TV and in the movies are not dubbed, instead they present subtitles in Finnish or Swedish (the other national language). With digital TV and/or streaming, you can in some cases choose the language of the subtitles or turn them off. But seeing all those English and American shows and movies gave the Finnish people pretty good knowledge in English, which is useful today. Similarly one could learn German or Swedish, if motivated, by listening to the words and reading the subtitles as we're used to doing. But I guess if one is not used to subtitles then it can be annoying? I think on a traditional 4:3 box the subtitled fitted in nicely but with the widescreen shows, especially with streaming, sometimes the subtitles take up too much space (in some apps one can adjust the font size). Anyway the silver lining with subtitles is that you can simultaneously absorb the same information in two languages which can help with learning those languages. The problem in Europe is that many of the larger countries use dubbing so the original sound is not presented which I think is a bit of a crime. Anyway, as TV screens get larger, maybe one can at some point see the subtitles outside of the picture area and so the text would not overlap the image area. For me the subtitles generally are not a problem except in those cases where there is some strange language in the original voicetrack which the audience is not expected to understand, then English subtitles in the original, and finally Finnish (or whatever is the viewer's expected language) subtitles over on top of that or in top/bottom parts of the frame, leading to not much clean picture area being seen for those scenes. 😉 That's bad ... As for the presentation of movies on a projected screen, I have not noticed any quality issues over time in the Helsinki theatres. I don't remember when I last saw an actual film projector, they've been digital for a while now. I think a big part of the experience is that one has to focus on the film rather than having refrigerator breaks or pausing the film for whatever excuse, so the timeline is fixed and you cannot not watch it unless you close your eyes and ears, or leave the theatre. So the film is presented as intended as a whole, with little or no distractions. Of course, the screen is also bigger than most people's TV screens in terms of angle of the visual field, but that can be a positive or a negative depending on where you sit and how your eyesight is (I wear varifocals so if the screen is really big I have to turn my head around to see things sharply). Today, with television having so many channels, and streaming platforms, there is so much material available that the choice of what to watch is diluted, whereas with going to the movies in the theatre, one has to make a clear choice and think about what one wants to see, which can be a good thing. Too many options can be a problem IMO. The quality of those options can suffer from the vast quantity available, and choosing to see some film doesn't even result in necessarily seeing the whole film; one can stop watching when one feels like it, and move to something else, which makes the whole experience less special and less memorable.

Even when the print etc. is made by machine, in most cases the content was created by a human (with some tools), so it reflects an individual's life experiences and vision. With AI it is basically given all the previous work to derive from but it has no life experiences so it's not the same. After a while the teaching material scalped online will be made by AI so it'll just become a self-regurgitating loop with little relevance to humans. Actual fully hand-made art such as paintings or sculptures are too expensive for most people to own, but they can still be appreciated in museums, galleries and other people's homes in many cases. People often frame and post on their walls and mantleplaces photographic prints where they at least took the photos of moments that spoke to them themselves. So although a machine or two are indeed involved, human choices decided on the moment and camera position etc. Usually it is of moments, subjects, people that are relevant to the people who took the photos and chose to exhibit them in their homes. People often even have drawings made of their family members (not paintings but something like a charcoal drawing). I think there is no chance that AI-fabricated collective conciousness images will replace such images in people's lives. It's not the image or its shape but the human experiences that matter to us humans.

Are you asking who doesn't do illegal smuggling? I would imagine most people don't do that. Maybe Panasonic has fewer quality problems that need fixing in service? I don't know. It could also be that Panasonic may have a company policy that they distribute costs evenly across markets while Nikon may require each subsidiary to make a profit and cover their own costs.

The Z6 III initial price is 3100€ and the Z8's initial price was about 4700€ but the current (discounted) price is about 4300€. So there is a 1200€ difference, and 1600€ difference between initial prices. In 1 or 2 years the Z6 III price will have been reduced to 2500-2700€ if I am guessing correctly. That's how it works; during first availability the demand is at its highest and this is balanced by the higher initial price; after a while the demand is reduced because those who were interested already got theirs, and so a lower price can tempt a few more buyers. The Z6 III has a number of advantages over the Z8, including 60 fps full-size still bursts (jpg though), more effective VR, more custom wide-area options, smaller body size, less processing needed to produce high quality 4K video (so less likely to overheat, since it starts from a 24 MP sensor and not 45 MP), higher-quality audio interface, brighter, more detailed viewfinder, better high ISO image quality (probably), better low-light AF, screen that can tilt into selfie mode (for those that need it) etc. The Z8 has other advantages (higher resolution and faster sensor readout, a screen that tilts two-ways without moving to the side) and so users can choose based on needs and budget. If comparing US prices to European prices then things may look completely messed up, of course.

To do that legally you need to report the camera at the customs when arriving back to the European airport, and pay VAT and possible tariff (you can get the US sales tax off by following appropriate procedures and paperwork). You also end up with the camera without warranty service available in Europe. In the end it probably doesn't pay off. Reasons why camera bodies are more expensive in Europe include higher taxes and much more stringent consumer protection laws. In my country the warranty is not limited to the period specified by the manufacturer but the responsibility for manufacturing flaws in the product extends for the expected usable lifetime of the product. In the EU, it is a minimum of two years, but specific countries have stronger protections. Being responsible costs the manufacturer money and so this is transferred into the price of the product.

How do you mean that? Many of the Z-mount Nikkors do have optical elements very close to the rear of the bayonet, so yes, they are taking advantage of the short flange distance in their optical designs.

Of course this is true; but the main business in photography, as far as the consumer market (and businesses that target it) is concerned, is selling gear and not the art or teaching techniques for making that art. The attitude in online forum discussions is that everything should be easy and automatic, and people are willing to pay significant money towards that end, but many people are not willing to accept that there is a skill component to photography. If skill is required to get results, the camera is considered flawed. People spend more time online complaining about (perceived) camera flaws and performance comparisons than learning the skills that they would need to do meaningful work. And the youtubers who talk about gear target this population who has been mislead to believe that if they shop for the next great thing, then they will become great artists. They get paid to promote gear, and have been misnamed "influencers" or so some such strange term when in reality it is what used to be called advertising. Somehow the social media "influencers" are supposedly more genuine and authentic than professional actors and models in advertising but this is really just an act.

intoPIX's patents describe the algorithm. If it is the same as used in another previous product then it is unlikely to have been granted a patent. Of course this assumes the patent office can understand the algorithms and the novelties in context, which is not necessarily the case. Given the patent text it should be possible to implement it.

A lot of people use external monitors because it allows them to see the image properly without having to look through a hole for a long time and inadvertently shaking the camera from time to time by the eyebrows/forehead/glasses touching it. The recording function is useful because fast and high capacity storage for an external recorder can be an order of magnitude cheaper than for a camera. It also reduces the likelihood of overheating as the card inside the camera does get hot if used for longer takes at high data rates and it and the processor contribute to overall camera internal temperature. At events such as sports or big concerts I rarely see people use the EVF even when it is present. This is probably because it is more relaxing and easier to work with a tripod-based long focal length setup, you don't have to position your eye so precisely and the bigger screen gives leeway to change posture. Wanting to do spontaneous, high-quality video is like desiring cheap intergalactic space flight. It's just not in the cards a lot of the time. 😉 I can see the integral recording reduce the risk of cable falling off and terminating the recording accidentally. But then if the camera stops or malfunctions because of overheating, the outcome could be the same or worse (if the camera needs to cool down it takes more time than plugging in the cable).

Economies of scale would benefit the cost of producing more samples of the same design, so if considering the combined economies of Nikon and Sony, likely it would be cheaper to produce the same sensor for both Nikon and Sony cameras. But, there is the brand identity thing, and Nikon want to do their own thing so e.g. the 45 MP sensor that Nikon use in the Z8, Z9, Z7 series and D850 is not used in any Sony camera. Nikon could be doing that because they want to maintain their own brand identity or they want specific features that Sony do not want in their cameras, such as the ISO 64 which was developed first for the D810 and D850, and Nikon engineers interviewed by imaging resource felt it was the most significant thing they achieved, a true ISO 64. Originally this was implemented reportedly to allow sports photographers (e.g. in motorsports) to pan with slower shutter speeds without having to use an ND filter to get to the right shutter speed. But of course landscape and other photographers can also use it and benefit from the larger number of photons captured (increasing color sensitivity & tonal range), and for photographers who want to use very large apertures in bright sunlight as well. In those ISO 64 capable sensors the high ISO PDR seems to have experienced a slight drop compared to equal ISOs on the 36 MP sensor that had a base ISO of 100 (D800), as well as compared to some Sony models. So there is a tradeoff that Nikon wanted to make to achieve this base ISO and it's not a clear win for general-purpose use, rather it's useful for specific applications. I believe a part of the reduction of ISO was achieved by using a different color filter array (there are some published measurements on DPR and nikongear) which had a more flat blue curve maybe improving colour accuracy (?). Anyway this is an example of a feature which Nikon claims is their sensor designers' achievement. Of course, no one outside of Nikon and Sony know exactly how they work within their partnership, and this shouldn't really matter. Only how the cameras work for the users matters in the end.

There is no "one" patent, it's a series of patents, and patents or some of their claims can be invalidated if new evidence is discovered.

intoPix's web site lists Nikon Z8 and Z9's N-RAW as using TicoRAW for stills and video (Zf doesn't have N-RAW video but does have the corresponding stills compression options HE and HE* which are similar to Z8's and Z9's HE and HE* so we can safely guess it too is TicoRAW). Nikon's Z9, Z8, and Zf manuals state that they are "powered by intoPIX technology". Z8 and Zf were launched in 2023, so there you have mentions "after 2022". Since RED's earlier lawsuit against Jinni Tech was also withdrawn when the latter used the same argument as Nikon did with the same outcome, yet Jinni Tech didn't need to purchase RED the company to reach this outcome, so we can fairly safely assume Nikon's decision to purchase RED is unrelated to the lawsuit. Since Nikon's argument is that the patents are invalid they aren't likely to sue others for infringing those invalid patents. But RED may have other patents or aspects of patents that Nikon may want to use. And very likely they do want to enter the high-end video camera market since some customers won't purchase hybrids without system compatibility with higher-end video cameras.

Nikon use intoPIX's TicoRAW for high-efficiency encoding of raw stills and raw video. It's a different algorithm from what RED is using. RED's patent has been suggested to be invalid anyway, as RED demonstrated it in a camera more than one year before applying for the patent (which was Nikon's counter-argument when RED sued them and so the case was settled outside of court, which also happened with Jinni Tech who used a similar argument). I doubt very much Nikon bought RED for the patents but simply to get a foothold in the higher-end video camera market.

The Mk II has subject-detection available also in wide-area L AF box, instead of only in the full-frame auto-area AF as in the Mk I. For me limiting the search area for the subject is key to obtaining controlled and reliable results in photographing people. In the newer Zf, the AF box size and shape can be adjusted with many different options and subject-detection is also available there. For me these are the most typical modes I use the cameras in, and the most useful as it gives just the right compromise between user control and automation for me. I would expect the Z6 III to feature also the same custom area AF as the Zf has (which is ahead of the Z8 and Z9 in the number of box sizes available).

You need to go to the custom settings menu and the g settings (video). There is a setting where you can assign the hi-res zoom to a pair of custom function buttons (such as Fn1 to zoom in and Fn2 to zoom out). You can also adjust the zoom speed. In addition to buttons on the camera itself, it's possible to control the zoom from the remote video grip that Nikon makes. The main limitation of the high-res zoom is that it limits the AF area to a central wide area of the frame. You can't move the box off center or control how big it is. So you lose some control over the autofocus. Subject detection is available though. I guess the limitation is because the box sizes are tied to the phase-detection sensor positions and those positions with the zoomed-in frame would then change as you zoom. But other than that I like the feature.

These things can be done. I just configured my video shooting bank A for Prores 422 HQ 25 fps and 1/50s SDR, and bank B for h.265 4K 50 fps 10-bit 1/100s with N-Log, and I can now switch between banks by pressing and holding Fn3 (which I programmed to act as shooting bank selection button from the video custom settings custom controls menu) and rotating the main command dial. Very handy.

The b type has lower capacity than c (and the difference is significant). Recording time may also depend on which codec you use, some are more processing-intensive. Django: You can use shooting menu settings banks (A-D) for video and the bank selection can be set to Fn1, Fn2, Fn3, or Fn vertical, for example. I am not a settings bank user so I would have to check if you can select the record file type, resolution and frame rate there but I would guess that you can.

What is a C1-3 dial? If you mean custom settings like U1-U3 on some Nikons, where the mode dial has customisable options which remember most settings, then no, neither the Z8 nor the Z9 have those. But there are photo shooting banks and custom settings banks.

In my experience it isn't bad. A single Z8 battery (EN-EL15c) lasts about 2 hours of continuous video recording or 3-4 hours of active still photography (about 2000 shots). I often have the MB-N12 mounted with two EN-EL15cs inside, and that basically gets me through most events with the exception of all-day sports events that can last 8-10 hours - in those cases a third battery may be needed, or recharging during the day. If you need to do more than 2 hours of video recording or 2000 shots / 4 hours of active shooting then you do need two batteries for the Z8. For winter weather conditions I'm not quite sure yet but with the dual battery setup in the vertical grip I just don't run into situations where the battery capacity becomes a limiting factor. The Z9 battery is no doubt better, and the camera has some other advantages but with it you lose the option of having a more compact camera by taking the vertical grip off. It's just a personal choice of what you prioritise.

It doesn't quite work like that. If you shoot a sequence at 120 fps & 1/240s with the GS camera, and compare the results after processing (by taking the images and processing them to reduce noise) to native RS camera at 24 fps, 1/48s, then the latter will still have more dynamic range (unless an ND filter was needed to get the slow shutter speed in too bright light). Phone cameras get away with a lot of stuff, including somehow merging the images even in the presence of moving parts in the image by algorithms only because the images are viewed as a tiny part of the human visual field so the imperfect guesses by the AI don't bother us as much as they would if they were shown on large screens. The images often look unnatural and fake to those who are experienced in looking at actual photographs, though.

Mechanical (focal plane) shutter produces some rolling shutter. You can see it e.g. if photographing a propeller plane or helicopter at fast shutter speeds. You can also see it when there is artificial light that flickers, in the past the advice was to use a slow shutter speed to avoid the banding from fluorescent lights; today the lights are often LED based but still there are circumstances where the lights or screens show banding even when photographing with mechanical shutter. The GS eliminates this problem. I would think that photojournalists, sports and music photographers would like it, but it's a pricey camera for sure. Golf, yes, quite likely there even the fastest rolling shutter would show distortion, and the club swings quite fast so you can get some interesting timings at 120 fps or 240 fps. But those are kind of special applications. I guess specialists who work on these kind of sports with very fast motion would get it.

But how much would you be willing to pay extra for the larger sensor and lenses that cover it? After all, many lenses have masks that minimize flare but also limit the image coverage to a rectangle. Let's say lenses for a square 36 mm times 36 mm sonsor would have 1/2 stop smaller apertures and 50% higher price as a result, and camera body would also be 50% more expensive. Flash sync speed would be 1/125 s and sensor read time 50% longer. Would you still want it, and would you expect that everyone would be fine with it so that mass production would be realistic and square sensors would replace rectangular ones all over the market?

Hasselblad has the advantage of use of central shutters in each lens, so you can flash sync normally at all speeds (Fuji is limited to 1/125s and slower, which is very slow). For daylight + flash shoots this is very useful, one can use much smaller flashes to balance with bright daylight. The Hasselblad is also very well-designed ergonomically and compact with some of the lenses being quite small. Fuji has focus drift: https://blog.kasson.com/gfx-100s/focus-drift-with-the-110-2-gf-on-the-fujifilm-gfx-100s/ https://blog.kasson.com/the-last-word/fujifilm-gfx-af-accuracy/

I think the problem originates from photography (and video) being originally quite difficult to do technically so that when there is a really good photo or short movie, it was viewed with excitement, and people gathered around online to celebrate such things and try to learn the craft themselves. Online forums were quite active. Eventually the cameras got better, easier to use and cheaper, and so hundreds of millions of people bought them, and making a decent photograph was no longer unusual, not a luxury or a rarity. Thus it became progressively more difficult to make a living from it, or be noticed with your images (whether amateur or professional). Forum activity reflects this - if it is no longer possible to make a difference with photos or videos then fewer people will enjoy the pursuit, or chatting about it. Of course, it is still possible but there is such a quantity of it readily available for consumption that people no longer stop to watch this content. And they don't value it because they don't see it as special. Even if the photo is special, they are looking at it on a tiny screen the size of their hands at reading distance away, and that's really small. If you try to come back to it, chances are you will not find it again, as the feed has changed with new material. Rarely is the creator of the photograph mentioned online. What's the point then? I think rather than give information for free, a lot of people are giving workshops and may try to commercialize their knowledge. In the beginning of the internet, people were so excited about sharing and it was not about making money. Social media tends to show people what they've liked before, so then all the content gets likes and there is no space for criticism, or if you do, then your comment probably gets deleted, you might become unfriended, or get a fierce rebuttal to the criticism. No one bothers to read through the discourse. Forums are full of discussions where disagreements and agreements are on more equal footing, but in social media, it's all about likes, and agreeing with the opinion of the poster. The algorithms ensure that you basically only see things that are similar to what you have "liked" before. And if you do give a more neutral or negative comment, people get offended as you're clearly not subscribing to the same bubble that they are. There is no room for genuine discussion on social media. That people don't read any more is a serious problem. It means they aren't being informed, and they probably aren't thinking much, either. Finding facts in videos is very time-consuming and that medium is more suited for dissemination of stories, emotions, etc. and experiences whereas text and illustrations usually are better in disseminating facts. All these media have their place and should be supported. How this happens, I don't know. Personally I enjoy watching videos from time to time, movies, documentaries etc. but find that often it is faster to find the information I'm looking for outside of the video medium. I would be surprised if young people can get through life without reading.