MrSMW

But seriously, a less than 1 minute calculation says 13k investment vs probably about a 6-7k sale price on my current gear = not happening. Even if I just went the stills side it would be around 6.5k - 4k, so a 2.5k flip and…actually that might be doable in early 2026 😂 I don’t really want to go back to mixed brand systems but at the start of this year I was using Sony + Nikon for stills and LUMIX for video and I could easily carry on with LUMIX for video as I think it’s still probably my best option for that, but swapping a single S1RII plus 4x primes for a single Z8 plus 2x zooms could work…and it would give me the longer lens option that doesn’t really work for me within L Mount. For me, the only real weakness in L Mount for me is not having something like the Sony 50-150mm f2 internal zoom as that is pretty much ultimate event lens right there. In fact, unless physics can be defied, I can’t see anything more compact and as fast, being possible, but if Sigma could kindly take up that challenge…

One word: Megadap

Lenses to me are now more important than bodies and have been for some time since camera tech reached a certain point. The best glass for my needs is all in Sony E Mount…which is a bit of a bummer with LUMIX bodies 😂 Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 is better than Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 which is also good but having had both, I prefer the Tamron. Tamron 70-180mm f2.8 is relatively compact and light compared with the 70-200 chonkers available in L Mount. Sony 50-150mm f2 is waaaaaay better than the Tamron 35-150mm f2/2.8 because A. it’s internal zooming and B. it’s constant aperture and C. it is optically better. Never mind the super chonker that is the Samyang 35-150mm f2/2.8, the Tamron’s fugly stepsister. Then we have the Sony 24-50mm f2.8 G which if paired with the 50-150 would make a superb indoor/outdoor option for my needs. Hmmm, maybe I am talking myself into a flip… I’m seriously tempted…

Probably the more likely scenario, but at the same time, even the biggest of companies seem to make the most monumental mistakes. I guess that the same philosophy I have always had applies and that is just because you are in business, does not mean you are good at business and that can be applied to any size of company from one man band to massive global one and everything in between. It just takes one single person who has the power to do so to make a wrong decision and... Personally I think it is conservatism at work as in "we'll go so far, but not all the way" and that "all the way" is just one more step after nine already taken and it makes no senses to me as someone who is all or nothing. But the camera companies are all as bad as each other and each have their individual flaws. I just would have thought we were at the point (past the point) where at least one of them would simply cherry pick the pros of each, eliminate the Vons of each and bring something to market that is as flawless as it can be. These 'flaws' are more niggles than anything now for me. All the major brands offer all the tech I need or will ever need and I could easily and happily make any of them work; Nikon, Canon, Sony, LUMIX, so it comes down to personal choice and budget and there best choice for the latter is almost always the system you are in which for me is LUMIX/L Mount. The biggest example of conservatism/cost cutting within LUMIX is probably the reuse of the S5 body. OK, there S5II got an upgrade and the S1II and S1RII further upgrades, but how much more expensive would it have been to go another direction? Only they and other big manufacturers know but probably more than the bean counters were prepared to allow. The bottom line is there isn't really anything else I want (certainly nothing I need) but if I could choose just one single thing for my S1RII's it would be the same kind of mech as it already uses, but the screen size, res and brightness of the ZR screen. But that would then require either a larger body or a different type of body so I'm dreaming...

In an alleged board meeting, it was suggested but in the end, ZR narrowly got the vote.

I suspect they got cold feet after the BS1H box camera and whatever the other box one was. See, no one even really remembers their names, or in some cases, that they existed. LUMIX just seem to have been one of those companies that have focused more on the internal than the external and expect enough respect to come from what it can do, not how it does it or how it goes about it. Meanwhile, Leica and Sigma within the alliance, have possibly had more focus on the external, the build, the form etc. Between them, they could build the ultimate camera. Individually they probably could, but no one ever seems to quite manage it... The bottom line is we are probably not representative of the bulk of their sales, but I think it's a case of they are not pushing the boat out far enough. I'm going to have a t-shirt made that reads; PUSH THE FUCKING BOAT OUT. OR DIE!

I would absolutely use it and as above, it would be my first choice, clean sheet. The ZR/Nikon probably doesn't quite have the AF of Sony and it might not quite have the IBIS of LUMIX, but we are really beginning to split hairs these days when it comes to spec and performance. It's compact, has possibly THE best lens selection (IMO, there is no 'possibly' about it, - it just does including near native adaptation of Sony E glass via Megadap) and it's e Shutter only approach on the ZR and Z8 would not be an issue for me as it is with LUMIX where in certain lighting conditions, it's shit (for stills). Give me a pair of ZR's, a single Z8 and 3 lenses of my choice, 1x monopod and 1x tripod and weddings/events would be a breeze. No better than my current LUMIX set up, just a sideways one and one I would not hesitate to use. I could make the same argument for Sony and Canon. It just comes down to personal choice.

Just another normal evening in the Reid kitchen. Meanwhile, other folks around the world are sliding a lasagne out of theirs.

Yup. Yup. Me. Bloody banding in low light LED’s 👌 They are a bit more but I would rather they had been in an FX3/ZR/C50 body style 1000%

100% Same here (eyesight slipping!) but would prefer a larger, brighter and more detailed LCD. A monitor would be better, but that doesn’t work for me for my use case. Tried it and it just doesn’t. Hence why the ZR has HUGE appeal and I just hope other manufacturers take note and follow suit because for too long we have had crappy little screens! Yes, I really don’t know where they go with that because it can’t out FX3 the FX3 and… I just don’t know what it’s going to be that the A7IV isn’t? That’s exactly what I did with my single Z cam earlier this year, but both of my zoom lenses (Tamron 28-75 and 70-180) MKii versions are now available in native Z Mount and are still the best options out there from any brand/Mount for my needs…but I can’t access them with L Mount and there’s no equivalent of the 70-180 sadly. Which reminds me, I still have 2x expensive Megadap Sony E to Z adapters I need to sell as I can’t realistically see any future for me with Nikon at this time.

@Django the ‘crippling’ I was referring to (for want of a better term) was the lack of IBIS in the C50 killed it for my needs and the rear LCD on the R6iii. Not that the latter would have saved it for me but the C50 had HUGE appeal to me but IBIS is absolutely fundamental to me. And the Sigma BF, yup, it’s a piece of jewellery. I really hoped they would have developed the FP and added a couple of features it was missing for me such as IBIS and a tilt screen. Re. the ZR, I also think it’s a bit overhyped at the moment and has a few missing elements, but for price especially, has been the ‘best’ overall release of 2025. At least so far, - Sony are popping their next A7 out later this month if the smoke from the Dolomites is correct and they may pull a surprise? My interest and commentary is more an impartial one. I’m 99% happy with the gear I have but at the same time if something else comes along that is quantifiably better (for my needs) and it’s financially doable, I am going to at least check it out. Right now, I’d like the C50 body and spec but with the ZR screen, (the size & res of it anyway but would prefer a tilt or fully articulated) with with Z or E Mount and the IBIS and video tools of LUMIX. Maybe one day someone will get it right for me and it all exists, just not in any single brand or camera! The closest is probably Nikon…

Nope. Approx 20 days of shooting with temps up to mid 30 Celsius and cameras get warm, especially in direct sunlight as all black bodied cameras do, but not a single overheating warning, never mind a shut down. No lock ups either. Well might have been one now I think about it but had more than that on my A7RV I had prior and a none issue. Most of the overheating talk is from; folks unfamiliar with the camera in the first place + use age of non-recommended cards + incorrect heat management settings + tests deliberately designed to cook the thing and so combined, well yes, you probably will make it have a meltdown but real world shooting with proper cards and set up? Err no. Actually, 99% of the overheating talk is people talking about overheating who do not have and have never had or used the cameras and are in reality expelling more hot air than the cameras do!

It’s a bit small and lower res in 2025 I think… As someone who will not rig out beyond a cage and a mic and only uses the rear LCD, 3” and 1.6 million dot isn’t great, especially when the ZR has 4” and over 3 million dot screen. OK the Nikon is a bit more cine orientated and the Canon, more hybrid, but I know which I’d choose between the two. Canon just don’t seem to be innovating enough or if they do, still cripple hammering too hard. Looking at you C50. The bodies are also looking more and more old hat unsexy plasticky blobs, even if they are well built. No IBIS is a very hard sell in 2025 to the more mass market. Or maybe they don’t need to sell to the more mass market/prosumer? What do I know… Canon, as it always has been for me, just don’t have that ‘want it’ buzz about them and it was Nikon who used to always seem to play second fiddle to them, but looks like Neekon have jumped them in recent times.

Ah, the forgotten LUMIX. At least by me, but whenever it is mentioned and I am reminded of it, I start to think how I might get and use one. But then I remember it needs rigging out with at least a screen and it dies for me. I suspect for at least the run & gun brigade, the flatter and wider ‘rangefinderesque’ body style is more desirable in 2025? Folks don’t want to rig out which is why the ZR is so popular, the RED association aside, - it’s all about the form factor and that 4 inch screen. It’s the wrong screen of course and should be fully articulated so it can remain behind the body and in line with the lens, but it seems we can’t have everything 😏

I think your current GH7 set up is giving you all of the cinema already, but an S9 could be an exceptional full frame option in a pretty small package. There’s a new TT Artisan 40mm f2 which suits it perfectly and is cheap and has ‘character’. It’s decently sharp and contrasty but also has a certain glow to the highlights reminiscent of a subtle mist filter. Sharp of course is not necessarily a desirable requirement for ‘cinema’ but it’s something that is easier to dial back than add. The main appeal of this set up for me is it’s pretty small and pretty small means more likely to take it everywhere and use it and it has that ability to be both a personal/family camera and decent cine camera as you wish. I had been using mine as an A/B cam for work but now repurposed it as a personal/C cam with either the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 for cropped video or when I pick it up, this new TT Artisan. Also toying with getting a Thypoc Simera or two for my slightly more pro S1RII’s and turning my S9 back into my working B cam purely for autofocus situations. Options options options…