Geoff_L

Hi everyone,

Hope you don't mind that I share with you this new documentary about Blade Runner ("Blade Runner, beyond the fiction). It's available until June 26 and broadcasted on the French/German channel "Arte". You can watch it in French or German, subtitled, or in English (there are also subtitled in Spanish and Italian). I believe you can't watch it outside of Europe, but with a good vpn...
It was pleasant to watch, and I know many here especially @Andrew Reid could also be interested. Scott, actors and people who worked on the film are interviewed and share their views, their opinions on the impact of the movie and what it forecasted of our present.

https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/089086-000-A/blade-runner-au-dela-de-la-fiction/

Cheers !

Well, another one concerning the R6...He explains that the camera warns for overheating without being hot (while the R5 got really hot). Worst, he did not figured out how to cool it down, as the camera is not hot, so no indication of where he needed to... cool it, hm (this is what I understood, but maybe I got wrong, my English understanding being far from perfect). Hm, Andrew's assertions come to mind, the R6 being far from the R5 in terms of embarked technology prone to overheating. So, basically, you have to shoot in 1080, and cross your fingers for a firmware update.
Too bad, this camera is really appealing to me and tick a lot of boxes on paper. But it is really hard to justify for the asking 2600€ (!!!) body only price.
 

14 hours ago, Snowfun said:

Yes, I live in Saariselka in Northern Finland (250km north of the arctic circle)  over the winter. The downside of aurora filming in Finland is the lack of interesting scenery! The fjords and water of Norway offer so much more.  A lovely part of the world! Enjoy - let’s hope we get decent activity and clear skies.

Oh nice ! Indeed, not the impressive scenery as some parts of Norway but, seriously, a true winter wonderland ! That is my favourite thing in winter : forests of snow trapped trees, big cold, more clear skies, northern lights... You must spend great winters there ! Plus, the eastern boundary of Finland is a paradise for wildlife if you are into that.

So, shouldn't money be raised and gave to magiclantern, in order to reform the past team and hack this to give us something usable 😄 ?
Concerning the "it is not a professional video camera" argument (or excuse), something is worth mentioning : at forums, especially dpreview, everybody was complaining that canon gave the camera to videographers/ youtubers to review, thus the first infos we had were almost only on the video side of the camera. They were desperate to find a proper photography oriented review. In France, one of the biggest video youtubers came back to canon, from sony, and was given the r5 to make videos, review, long lives etc.
So yeah, "not a professional video camera", but, as Andrew said, a heavily marketed "video camera", gave to videographers by canon to review.

23 minutes ago, Snowfun said:

Where do you go to do this filming? 

Norway for the most part, and Sweden (mostly in the mountain region between Sarek National park and Abisko). But as I will soon move to Norway, I will be glad to discover Finland (where you are I believe ?) !

3 hours ago, IronFilm said:

Interesting, I hadn't yet read that the S1 IBIS beat out the Z6 IBIS
 

At least, by comparing z6 + 24-70 f4 and s1 + 24-105. I find a lot more micro jitters with the former combination. I have similar scene to compare them with, especially static shot with wind, and the S1 footage are better in that regard.
That was the top feature that sold me on the s1, and it did nit disappoint! 
I know what I will loose by going the a7s iii route, but the gain are more important to me (especially lenses, extreme low light, and less bulkiness).

42 minutes ago, zerocool22 said:

So based on youtube reviews the A7S III its IBIS is worse then the R5, what about the panasonic s1? I am planning on using EF lenses btw. Is the ibis system of the A7S III still the same as the A7III/A7S II? (which wasnt that great vs gh5/S1H)  

IBIS on S1 is really incredible. It was better than my former Z6, which was better than A7iii in many tests. I read that it is on par with the GH5 one. With careful use, plus a dual-is enabled lens, like the 24-105, plus a touch of digital stab with resolve, I had almost completely locked-on shot. Using EF lenses is not good, really. You'll find a MC-21 compatibility list (from many user reports) here : https://www.tttphotography.com/sigma-mc-21-ef-l-lens-adapter-compatibility/
I used it with a Canon 100-400 L iii and a 50 1.8 stm. Franckly, the 100-400  performs very well, even with the TC 1.4 iii attached. The 50 1.8 is so so, so does the 200 f2.8 ii I also tried (it goes back and forth before acquiring AF). To keep in mind : no continuous AF with this castrated Sigma adapter.
In short, for photography, it is miles from what we can see with Sony and Sigma MC-11. For video, it is a bit useless, outside the "single AF" before shooting type of use. There is a new electronic adapter (viltrox if I remember, but not sure) ; I read that is better than Sigma on many lenses.

 

I just watch the latest Armando Ferreira's video and... this is really unbelievable, really... I am debating between R6, A7Siii and Z6 and, for a hybrid still/video use, the R6 and R5 seem more and more of little interest. Basically, after a video filled with overheating problem experiences, their sum up, as I understand it, is : R5 4k HQ is great, but it overheats ==> so you are forced to use regular 4k, which is bad ==> so the R6 comes to the rescue, as its 4k is better than the regular R5 one ==> but it also overheats ==> and so on... (and all that, I believe, without a heavy photography use between video takes !)
I still have time to make a decision, but it's a shame as the R6 is a sweet spot if you don't need high mega pixels sensor but good high iso performance and good videos...

I am a stranger to the Sony system (last cameras were Fujis, Nikon Z6 and Pana S1), but not to the "colour war" as we can't watch YouTube or browse forum without being drowned into it. Anyway, I like to remember that the last season of  "A Skier's Journey" serie was shot years ago on an A7S ii. I believe the makers are really talented story tellers and know what to do with an image. The serie was highly praised and, honestly, concerning, colours, hm...
As I am contemplating the new A7S iii for these type of content (+ real time northern lights), this is just a remembering...

18 minutes ago, Ashit Tandon said:

Hmm.. The Sony actually looks as good if not better than the R5 in this comparison video

 

Yes, I agree and, finally, with the overheating issue, we have an explanation of why canon skintones tend to the red 😁

1 hour ago, gethin said:

Agree. The z6 is nearly this. But the af is totally amateurish, as is the codec. 

Add to your list 15ms readout.  (And 13.5 stops dynamic range in stills minimum)

 

 

I had a z6 before my actual Panasonic S1. I believe, with the latest firmware update, the af is miles ahead than what it used to be. @Jordan Drake rates video AF very highly, and I came across comparisons with the A7iii, and the z6 is not extremely far from it (at least for my needs, which exclude eyes af, and also compared to my S1). For the codec, same thing, it punches higher than its weight. In fact, I am right now browsing "old" footages I took with it, and play with them in resolve to compare with my S1 10bit. The nikon flat profile, as frequently reported, is very good. Sure, as you point out, it is weak compared to other offerings, but it quite good. To be honest, as I browse my old footages, I find more pleasing images than with my S1. I don't know, despite the very robust specs of the S1, and the image quality, there is something in the Z6 image that I find lacking in the S1 (a bit of "soul" maybe). So yes, if nikon could raise the next Z models to the level of offering of the competition (codec and better AF like you said), it could be a beast.
I forgot about the lenses, but the Z line-up is really good, and more interesting  for me than the RF and L. Plus, as I shoot with tele, the 300pf and 500pf have no competition...

Ps : the battery problem on the S1 drove me crazy, to the point I am gonna get rid of it (plus the overall bulk and the af, that I now need, and I did not back when I bought it), and i am contemplating going back to the Z6 of entering the Sony system.

OK, I think I have enough of this ! Just picked up my S1, turned it on, check the battery indicator : 64%.
Great, so I mount my 24-105, turn the camera on, and start to play with the autofocus. 1 minute later, the camera shutdown with "low battery" message. I took a picture, cause the lcd displays this message, while the small top screen displays 3 remaining bars !
This is crazy, and I think I'm gonna get rid of it asap. I can only use 30% of a battery, which weight 110gr !! I accept the weight of the system, but carying multiple 110gr batteries that power my camera for only a small time... might as well buy a canon R6 : the overheating would let me shoot more than pany s1 and its batteries ahah.

No, seriously, I might go back to a nikon Z6 + a dedicated video camera (bmpcc4k, gh5s...). Oh, wait, why not a R6, as I will soon move to live to the arctic (no joke 😄) !

A dumb question for the vnd adapter users : is there a covering removable part for when you do not want to use the vnd (I think in a photo/video use) ) ? Thanks !

Great, thanks Andrew ! Now, let us hope Panasonic will do the same for the S serie !

17 minutes ago, PannySVHS said:

That´s a tricky one for professional projects or projects where others rely on dependable tools. @Geoff_L Thank you for your input! I will see what I will do with mine. Image and ergos and mount are just too good to let go. Will give me some thinking and maybe some tinkering, if I keep it. cheers

You are right, I am not a pro (yet 😄 ) so I will wait to see how the situation evolve... but I will have an eye on the next canon bodies, because half of my lenses are EF. As you said, image and ergos are so good, and Sigma will surely announce more lenses, so waiting may be a good thing. The camera has no problem other than that (ah, yes, the sd card door... feels unfinished, as many have reported, but I fixed it by using a smallrig cage eheh).

Oh, and on the photo side, because I use it for 50/50, it is a pure joy also !

Someone raised again the problem in the facebook group : https://m.facebook.com/groups/330013897545969?view=permalink&id=681491229064899&anchor_composer=false
 

There are already many answers... Something is really wrong with Pana S serie and batteries !

yesterday, I put a freshly charged battery in my s1 and grabbed a notebook. I will monitor what's going on every day or ywo days !

Some news :

I did not really use my S1 for weeks, but let a battery inside. Do not remember the % of the battery when I put it in, but I regularly checked the remaining juice while grabbing the camera from time to time. Last week, When we discussed the problem here, I checked and the battery indicator was at more than 20% remaining (and weeks before more than 30/40%). I just checked it, now, and "no battery power remaining", the camera stopped. So, I think there is indeed a real issue (the guy at dpreview, in the link posted before, investigated it more), we are many to face this, and my 5 batteries are originals and not used a lot.

Very annoying, because the camera uses a lot of power and dries the battery quickly. So having 20% cut from the battery's full power is not very good...

39 minutes ago, James_From_Raglan said:

So the XT4 doesn't have an crop mode in the sense of using a smaller portion of the sensor (equivalent to the a7sii's "APS-C mode") in order to punch in and get more range from lenses?

And does anyone know if the S1 has this function? I assume it does since it's full frame but I can't seem to find a clear answer anywhere.

Crop mode "apsc" on S1, and "ex.teleconverter" like in the gh5, to crop even further, but only in 1080.
I use apsc crop a lot for wildlife. Ex.teleconv is great, with a fixed nd filter or no filter. With vari nd, even a very good one, quality is not very good as it magnifies the quality degradation (I speak for my use with a canon 100-400 ii and sometimes TC 1.4x iii).

44 minutes ago, Mark Romero 2 said:

When you say that the supplied fast charger is causing you problems, which charger exactly is it?

Is it the DMW-BTC14 charger??? (That is the charger that came with my S1)

No, sorry Mark, I replaced this supplied AC adaptator :

By this ravpower ac adaptor:

It has 2 ismart ports that I use for charging more slowly and (I hope) preserving the lasting of the batteries. It also has a PD port, in case I need to quickly charge as with the supplied AC adaptor. Very handy when travelling.

I did this after having watch th comprehensive video from Panasonic about the charging options for the S1 series (and before a long hiking trip).

I also brought this ravpower powerbank :

Same story : 2 regular ismart ports, and a Type-c PD in case I need it.

Fun facts : I recharged 2 or 3 times the batteries inside my tent, by sub zero temperatures and high humidity, with the powerbank. I had to put the charger in the camera bag or sleeping bag because the charger detect the humidity rate and do not start the charging if unhappy !

Bought my s1 last year, with real time auroras filming in mind. I added the sigma dg dn 14-24 2.8 art, and will later try a sigma art 20 1.4.
I only used it for photograph the northern lights, not video yet.

I wanted a good video and still camera, and with this type of video in mind, it was a7iii or S1. Back then, I read on some reviews that the s1 was better.

Ah, I forgot : I stopped using the supplied fast charger some weeks after having received my camera. Sure it charge very fast, but charger and batteries got very hot, and I believe the batteries will not last long with such a fast charge (I may be wrong). So I now use a regular wall charger, in which I plug the panasonic battery charger. I can't remember if I had battery problems since...

Many people report battery problems, on the dedicated s1 Facebook groups, and, for example, on dpreview where someone tried to investigate the issue : https://***URL removed***/forums/thread/4461103?page=5

I encountered problems too, like the conflincting infos between camera and charger... One day, I had my charger indicating 100% for 2 batteries, and when I put them in camera, it showed around 70 or 80%. I also had shutdowns with many % remaining.
I have 5 original batteries, not very used so no time wearing at work here.
I will pay attention to this when I will be back to Shoot.

On 5/4/2020 at 11:55 PM, jgharding said:

I chatted to Alex and he said he’d like to update specifically for the S1 but maybe in the mean time try the emotive LUTS for GH5s as it’s also a little more magenta

Yes great, I will wait for a S1 version. Will buy it as soon as available !

11 hours ago, TheBoogieKnight said:

I love the S1 body.

 

Same for me !
Used a lot of dslr by the past (mostly Nikon), then Fuji (X-T1 and X-T2), a Nikon Z6 and now a S1. We read a lot of "the camera that inspires me to shoot" concerning Fuji, and this is exactly the same for my S1. I loved my Fujis, but the S1 suits me like nothing before, handling, buttons, grip... I often shoot in challenging situations (cold, snow, shitty weather...), and the S1 is the perfect tool for that. It is big and heavy, sure, but offers so much that I forgot about it !
I will soon be in the market for a complementary body, smaller and lighter if possible, to share lenses (L-mount and Canon ef) with the S1. My list is now reduced at : Fuji X-T3 and Sigma FP if I find a good deal.