MrSMW

If folks don't like this, the solution is easy, - don't buy a VW. Other cars are available. But it won't happen because out of all the cars they sell per annum, a couple of hundred will complain on their favourite social media platform, a couple more hundred will buy something else purely because of this and the other near 9 million, will just shrug and accept it.

I don't know but wouldn't expect it to be much different and the Lumix might even be better. No evidence either way that I have seen or am aware of. But cost, size and ease of use. Obviously MASSIVE difference. I need AF for certain things and it's been more than goof enough with Lumix since the S5ii. For the times I don't need AF, I still tend to use it to acquire focus and then lock focus manually on the lens and when I've finished that scene, flick it back to AF. Same as turning cameras on and off after every clip or still, I do it subconsciously as in just trained myself to do this.

Ultimately a combo of trust/knowledge based on: build/lack of weather sealing + no mech shutter for stills + single card slot. Now arguably, 99.9% of my use, the lack of weather sealing/ultimate build quality, is not an issue. The single card slot isn't either as I have my S1Rii set up for stills to CF Express and video to SD. But mech shutter, or lack there of, dealbreaker. Probably with something like the Nikon Z8/Z9, it would not be an issue, but with the S9, it is. But then also to be fair, I didn't buy it for that, but simply tried it and it did not work so...

I considered getting one as my primary video unit but the cost plus the weight, but mainly the weight, put me off. Big time. I decided that for my needs, this would be a FAR better option full stop. And that is where it started and stopped for me, ie, massive overkill in so many ways…but for my specific use case which is a hybrid shooter. If I was pure video, it would be different and actually, I could see myself using one as a principal unit along with something static or semi-static.

If only it was lockable… I keep jogging it myself and then discovering I am shooting 1/80th or 1/125th when I have set 1/100th, but I suppose it is built to a price. I don’t mind needing a cage for video or a decent grip for photo so any next gen, the format is fine. I prefer modularity. I didn’t think the lack of a mech shutter would bother me, but it did when I tried using it for stills and got either quite a bit of jello effect and/or banding in certain lighting conditions. This reverted it for me to being a pure video unit. I would rather it was weather sealed but not a big issue for my needs. If it was going to be my only camera or camera type, it would need to be. I did almost sell it a couple of weeks back with that second S1Rii inbound, but then decided I might have taken my kit streamlining one body too far and it made more sense to keep it as at least backup due to the not so great trade in price. In the end, I decided to simply ‘repurpose’ my S9. That second S1Rii has not turned up in time for my next job I leave for later this day but when it does, both units will be fully hybrid use shooting 7.2k open gate and stills. My sole remaining S5ii with battery grip, lives on a sturdy video tripod and shoots 4k longer stuff where there is no fear of overheating or running out of card space or battery life. Not for my use. Just plain old reliable workhorse. I’d rather use the 6k mode, but for the 30 minute recording limit. My only crit for this unit. The S9 now lives on it’s very light but sturdy freestanding monopod (or lightweight tripod) for ceremonies and speeches and has 3 roles: longer fully stabilised clips, clips when I also need to shoot stills at the same time, gimbal mode (ie, highest e stab) and slow mo in 6k except for the latter two options which are about 2% of my needs. I think if I had sold it, I would have regretted it so now it has found it’s true role, I am even happier with it despite it’s limitations. Is it an A cam? It could be but not for me. It shines though as that second or third purpose unit where anything larger or bulkier would just be a pain. I miss my Zf and the A7RV I sold to go fully L Mount/Lumix, but have no regrets and genuinely am 100% happy with that decision with zero criticism of my new set up. It just works.

Husband and father.

I don’t mind…and in fact, welcome AI, if it is for specific tasks rather than replacing creativity. When it replaces the; pen, paintbrush, camera, then yes, strong dislike, but if it can reduce my non-creative edit time, then great.

And that is just Section 13b in building 21 on site 17. There’s also an entire empty facility just in case ‘missing’ deliveries from MPB via DHL, turn up.

I like perfection because you can muddy it up but as the saying goes, you can’t polish a turd. Anything I can do that makes my workflow better, enhances creativity because it allows a greater effort to be focused in that regard. I feel and have felt for a long time that the tools have been getting in the way hence the streamlining. Arguably the tools have been good enough for quite some time, but there have always been real world niggles. No excuses now, anything I don’t manage or get wrong is on me. Again, has been arguably for a long time, but being realistic, as a one man band hybrid shooter and with no manual, it’s been a learning curve and though that curve has flattened significantly long since the 15 years I started (shooting hybrid), it’s still a ‘work in progress’. And always will be.

All the footage on this one (between approx 1 minute and 2 minutes 15 seconds) was shot on the Zeiss 40-80 f3.5 handheld. I programmed 2x custom settings for the IBIS on the S5ii, one at 40mm and the other for 80mm and then only shot at these focal lengths. I bottled it for the wedding day and went back to Sigma and Lumix AF lenses, but I am considering bringing this lens back as part of my workflow for these day prior and day after parts of a wedding where I am not under any real time constraints and can afford to be more 'creative'... https://firehorsephotographyfrance.com/weddings/jenniedan

Nope, only have the 40-80. The only things I don't like about it are the highlights are a bit too glowy and it's a heavy little fucker!

Try it. It’s basically your any 5 personal settings at the turn of a dial. OK, in C3, also requires a menu selection of 1,2,3 but still, far FAR quicker then fannying about with actual settings etc. The only real issue in shooting hybrid as in flipping between stills and video, is ND’s. The options are: A. Shoot either higher shutter speeds, or with a greater depth of field, or, B. Flip up VND, or, C. Shoot stills with a VND, but on it’s lowest setting so if it’s a 2-5 stop, pretty OK actually, but if it’s a 6-9… I have tried all 3 and could make a case for and against all of these and use C. It’s OK usually with short clips, but longer stuff or matching multiple camera angles which always have a different WB… Each to their own, but you might as well pick an outdoor WB and am indoor WB and get consistency. It’s never exactly the same just as it isn’t with stills unless it’s just one single light source, but it rarely is and instead a balance of artificial and ambient and proximity and angles and all that physics stuff. Vlog and a baked in LUT has been a game changer for me. I still haven’t quite dialed it in and it will probably always be a work in progress but getting there and more than happy with it. It’s not Hollywood or even Indie movie colour grading, but I don’t have the time and am not being paid enough! Nope. Never shot in anything sub 4k even though I deliver the longer form stuff such as ceremony & speeches in 1080. The 7.2k out of the S1Rii looks fantastic to me and it’s my next area of exploration… 1. Nail down the tools. Check (finally) 2. Work on the next level of creativity from a purely storytelling perspective. 3. Work on the capture quality and grade ie, bringing that beautiful 7.2k into the process and that grade I’m still working on. I think we get to a point where we are at about 90% with every and anything and that last 10% is always a work in progress…

A little bit of trial & error plus fine-tuning in the final (all LUMIX) line up and I really did think the 28-45 would be perfect and Job 01 I was kind of OK with it but Job 02, it was niggling me and I flipped to the 50mm f1.8 just to see the difference and the penny dropped. I think even if they popped out a 45-90mm f1.8 with internal zoom, I wouldn't bother now as with a 35 and 85 (which is how I used to work pre L Mount, 90% of my work), I can real world do anything a 28-45 + 45-90 pairing can, but at 1/3rd the weight, 1/2 the size and 1/2 the cost. It doesn't but you can do exactly the same thing with C1/C2/C3 etc. For the brief period I used the S5ii for hybrid, I had: C1 outdoor stills (5600K) C2 indoor stills (4500K) C3-1 6k 30p 5600k Low auto ISO outdoor video mode C3-2 6k 30p 5000k High auto ISO indoor video mode C3-3 4k 60p e stab on 5600k auto ISO, gimbal-like / slow mo mode (obviously goes into crop mode for this) The photo/video switch on the new bodies simply gives you 5 options for each instead of 5 total as with the S5ii. Those were the 2 lenses and for the same reasons, I was using the year before last. I wouldn't trust the S1Rii statically, on a tripod, in direct sunlight, on a 30+ degree Celsius day, say filming a ceremony. Not tested it, but no need because I have no need and the S5ii does it just as well if not better, so right tools for the right jobs and all that. Unless you need above 6k video or stills above 24mp, absolutely no requirement for either the S1Rii or S1ii and even the S5ii can shoot raw for anyone that needs it to with a paid software download. I think if I had 10+ years left in the industry, I'd be at least looking very hard at raw video, but I haven't got 10 years and don't want to get into a whole new learning curve and massive hardware/storage updates for something my type of clients would never notice, so nah. Your plan for a pair of S5ii's with an S9 makes sense. I could live with 3, but having 4 in the end I decided now makes most sense with 1 permanent static (the S5ii) and 1 semi-static (the S9) with the pair of S1Rii's hybrid in the hand.

Carl Zeiss Vario Sonnar f/3.5 40-80 ‘push-pull’ zoom. I have that as my ‘oddball’ lens and used it a few times with an EF-L adapter with built in VND. Quite a few focal lengths covered there in a single lens!

For the S5ii, unless they slipped something in, no. And if they slipped anything in of slightest interest, they generally say, but I suspect they do sneak in little corrective things they don't wish to tell us about, but then again, probably only with the free firmware stuff?