MrSMW

They cannot have NOT looked at it as the older 18-35 had a 50-100 sibling, but maybe it’s a case of the longer lens didn’t sell well or they think it’s covered somehow with the 28-105 and Samyang’s 35-150? Or it’s on the pipeline… Up until just a few weeks ago, the pairing of their 28-45 1.8 and an ‘imagined’ 45-90 f1.8, was end game for me, but since I went back to the pairing of 2 primes, mostly the 35 & 85 f1.8’s, I’m moving more towards the opinion that I already have my ‘end game’ set up because I ask myself, what would I really gain with a chunky twin zoom set up over what I have now? A bit of range; 28-45 vs 35 and 50-100 vs 85 and yes, that would be welcome, but do I really want that weight & bulk? Probably not. I’m still interested, but I think it would only be on the basis of instead of working primarily with 2x hybrid units, going back to having 1x stills dedicated and 1x video dedicated, in which case the use of zooms would be a necessity or I really would lack any kind of range. On a single body, the 28-45 would be perfect for indoor and low-light work and something like a 45-90, perfect for outdoor. I’m talking stills or video because that pairing would work dedicated to either on a single body paired with my second S1Rii paired with either the 17-40 dedicated to video or the 28-105 dedicated to stills. We’ll see. Consistency is a massive factor and on my journey of shooting gigs solo hybrid with equal parity between stills and video, I haven’t had much stability until this year, the first I have had the same system from start to finish. OK a couple of necessary workarounds as in mid season, I broke my S9 and had to use the L10 in it’s place and juggle a few other bits of kit around and then broke my 70-200, plus playing with the set up within the set up, but consistency of familiarity with the overall tool set. Ideally, I don’t want to be doing any fiddling in 2027 and run a full season with the exact set up I start it with. If Sigma pop out something akin to this 45-90 f1.8 with internal non-extending zoom over the Winter or Spring, then that game is almost certainly on. If they don’t, I think it will be the primes locked in for the season and the 28-105 f2.8 goes into the static role which is really what I intended for, replacing the slower, unnecessarily long (and broken) 70-200 f4.

50p on the S1Rii’s, S9 and L10 but don’t really do much slow mo these days. I shoot 25p on the S5ii as what I shoot with that I would never need to slow down. Supposedly better AF shooting 50p over 25p but not sure if it makes much difference? I suspect I will prefer the 28-105 more for stills than video and my favourite video lens is the 17-40mm f1.8 APSC crop lens. 25-60mm FF equivalent with a DOF wide open more line f2.7 but retaining the light gathering capability of the f1.8 it is, pretty compact and non-extending zoom. I did like the 28-45 f1.8 full frame lens but a bit of a limited range, especially for it’s size and weight and so replaced it with that 17-40 which I MUCH prefer, but you have to be happy to shoot cropped/S35…which I am and on the S1Rii allows you to shoot 4.7k 50p in a 4:3 ratio crop, so even ‘better’ than open gate. I would flip back to the full-frame 28-45 f1.8 and use it as an indoor/low-light lens, but ONLY if Sigma bring out a longer focal range sibling such as a 45-90mm f1.8 with internal non-extending zoom…but no signs of that so I’ll stick with what I have. One of my 4 set ups I am playing with is next weekend, S1Rii plus battery grip plus 28-105 dedicated purely to stills and the other S1Rii with the 17-40 which with e stab switched on gives a focal range equivalent to 36-84mm which is a preferred outdoor range for me. It’s the set up I am most interested in along with my twin S1Rii plus any choice of 4 primes including; 18/35/50/85. The former is bigger and heavier, but offers a bit more range at any time with the stills and the latter is pretty compact and low weight…and just works so the 28-105 will probably end up on my S5ii, but we’ll see…

Mid season update… Well it’s more towards the end of the season actually with my 4th to last job happening this weekend… Never did swap one of the S1Rii’s for an S1ii in the end and had a rearrangement instead which has proved to be nigh on perfect for my needs. My pair of S1Rii’s I put back into workhorse hybrid unit roles and that is where they excel with superb photo & video results matched with primes or zooms. Not quite Sony levels of AF, but otherwise I cannot find fault with them other than perhaps battery life could be a little better, but they are hardly trash in this regard and battery swaps every now and again are hardly a big deal. I have a battery grip arriving for one of them to try with a new lens, the Sigma 28-105 f2.8. I’m not 100% sure whether I will use this lens next year on one of these bodies or on the S5ii replacing the 70-200 f4 which is broken (dropped it and knocked out the OIS so it doesn’t work in any capacity anymore and need something longer than the 28-70 it’s currently stuck with). Otherwise it’s: S5ii for longer static stuff. It just works and does not have hissy fit meltdowns when it gets a bit hot and as we have had multiple heatwaves this Summer… S9 for shorter static stuff that requires a quicker set up. Capable of some pretty long takes as long as it’s not too hot. It did about 30 minutes though on sticks in direct sunlight, 35 Celcius the other day so hats off to it. Unlike the L10 that had a meltdown after less than 10 minutes…but is proving to be great as a dedicated gimbal camera and outside of work, is a great EDC/travel camera. So 4 jobs left this year with 4 slightly different set ups coming, but feel this set up is now very mature. I still look at some of the Sony lenses with envy, but I can’t see any system change at this time being anything but a sideways move, ie, maybe gain in one area but would lose in another and as above, this set up just works for my needs so anything I do now is more tweaking for the sake of tweaking than any actual need.

I dream of having a tool of this magnitude. Being serious, as someone who really does not want to rig out his cameras as after all, I am a hybrid shooter, the larger, clearer and brighter the rear LCD is, the better because I shoot exclusively with the things. It’s also why I prefer a tilt over a flip out. Fully articulated works better for me for the stills side, but tilt for video. Hopefully all cameras in the future will increasingly work on having these physical features which probably benefit more folks than massive pixel counts or bloated codecs. Less grading is financial boon to the small business as time saved is time that can be put to use elsewhere, or increase profitability. That is what draws me to the Red codec, but as things stand, that storage costs defeats any savings for me, but the grading time is a draw…

But but but but the Z6iii doesn't have a 4 inch rear LCD 😜

I’m also curious why they make some of the decisions they do (all brands) but I’d for sure have made the ZR a little more pro and it need not have been that much bigger (heavier perhaps) and charged 500-1000 more. Full size HDMI, heat sink, fully articulated screen….and a lighter Red codec would have offset some of that extra weight. The latter is a joke just in case any pedants are reading and wish to point out that firmware has zero weight 😉 Although I have one (two actually though one has no audio currently) S9’s, I would have preferred that to have had a more robust build and a mech shutter but hey ho, maybe on V2… Everything…or at least most things, seem to be built to a budget, yet cost a lot comparatively. I’d rather pay a moderate amount more and have something disproportionately better, but maybe that’s just me being in a minority.

Had it for a year. Sold it. It wasn’t for me. OK outdoors but too slow indoors/low light and I’m not a fan of lenses that extend when zoomed out unless it’s a very small movement such as with the Sigma 28-70 but would much prefer internal zoom and that is a very high priority for me. I have the 70-200 f4 (the lens I traded the above for and it’s a ‘better’ lens but obviously a completely different focal range) but it’s currently not working. Dropped my camera bag and it hasn’t worked since and suspect it’s the OIS… Back to the ‘affinity’ though, us working pros have a different criteria to the enthusiast in that we don’t shoot on a whim, but because we earn a living from doing so. We literally can’t afford to have less interest on any given day and a lack of enthusiasm for any tool probably means we should at least be considering another option! Then there is familiarity and boredom. Familiarity is of course a good thing and there is always a learning curve with any new tool that can be a bit of a PITA. I’m always tinkering with a tweak here and a tweak there such as yesterday, disabling the red video button when shooting stills because I’m sick of catching it when flipping to portrait orientation and thereby not only wasting time and a possible split second opportunity, but it’s even more annoying when it’s a bit of crappy upright video! I have also finally found a baked in LUT look that I trialled this weekend which gets me SOOC something very close to the final image with virtually zero grading required, - combo of many factors including; the stellar image the S1Rii puts out over any other LUMIX camera since the S1H, lens choices, blending 2 different LUTS in camera; one specific conversion and one other at a certain percentage, with exposure and WB choices all pre-saved on the custom mode dial. That’s massive for me for workflow and can only come from familiarity with the tools in real world working scenarios, ie, whenever I test this stuff at home, it pretty much never works due to all kinds of reasons but mainly it’s tricky to replicate my working scenarios as anything other than work scenarios! Familiarity means the tools get out of the way allowing you to focus on more important stuff that is purely down to YOU, ie, subject, composition, DOF yada yada yada. And then there is boredom which is a lot more subjective and can often be combined with GAS. GAS is probably the wrong term as my interpretation of it is more stuff generally so ‘desire’ might be more appropriate as in which do I desire the most, an S1Rii or an SL3-P? No contest but when we take desire out of the equation, it’s a bit like that, f*ck/marry/avoid scenario, the SL3-P is the first, the S1Rii is the second and the ZR is the third, for there simple reasoning for me, that the latter has too many flaws for my requirements and I know I’d resent her compromises quite quickly. Any Nikon; ZR, Z6/8/9, the Megadap E Mount lenses are for me biggest draw, but only ‘equal’ to me the L Mount equation I am already in ie, would only ever be a sideways move at this time and sideways is really only viable of you have cash to burn. For me, it’s never been about a search for some kind of holy grail setup because it doesn’t exist. It is however getting very close and I just need the love child of a ZR with Lumix internals and Sony glass…

In purely lens terms, ie, not considering any camera body or brand, 28-50 is perfect for me indoors so either Sigma’s 28-45 f1.8 or Sony/Canon’s 28-70 f2’s are ‘perfect’ other than size, weight & cost. There is the compromise but for the way I work, it is a case of: A. 2 bodies + 2 primes vs B. 1 body + 1 fast zoom Now of we redo the size, weight and financials, we are in the parity ballpark, so it becomes a case of which option do we prefer, - the single larger heavier unit, or bouncing between two smaller & lighter set ups? I am currently in scenario A but in other seasons have worked with scenario B. Pros & cons to each! Outdoors, my ‘perfect’ focal range is 50-100 with a smaller (but essential need) to go as wide as 28 and as long as 150. A 70-200 doesn’t work for me, even if an f1.0 landed, it would still be a hard nope. Too long, not wide enough. The 28-105 is the closest in L Mount right now if I remove the Samyang 35-150 from the equation. First of all, it’s bit really an f2 other than at the widest end where really it is just an f2 35mm, but a massive and heavy one. I’d rather have the Sigma 28-105 for outdoor work and crop a bit and for indoor, as things stand, the Sigma 28-45 f1.8. This is my most likely scenario continuing with L Mount next year which is also my most likely scenario as things stand for reasons already mentioned, namely, I am already invested in the system and happy with it other than some lens niggles. I am pretty sure if Nikon had got the ZR right for me in just 2 further areas; a fully articulated rear LCD (or even just a tilt) and had a 1/4 size Red codec, it would have been a done deal. I began my career with Nikon and was was with them for 9-10 years and still have a certain, perhaps nostalgic affinity with the brand. Fuji was almost another decade and I could easily jump that way for stills, but not video and I have niggles with their lenses for my stills needs as it would be GFX in that regard and there are no rangy fast zooms so it’s a no go for me. I have zero affinity with Canon though always loved the idea of an R3…but nah, that really would be an entirely new system for me. I’ve been in and out of Sony various times and could go that direction but there is something slightly lacking I cannot quite put my finger on and the best I can come up with is that word ‘affinity’ again. They have ALL of the lenses and I really like the FX style bodies but still… And so L Mount… Leica, for all its criticism and arguably elitism, probably does have a difficult to quantify ultimate quality edge in stills over Lumix, but worth the money? Probably not real world, but does have other merits… SL3-P over S1Rii purely for stills? Hell yes. Entire S1/S5/S9 range over anything else in the same price bracket for video? Hell yes. Leica, Lumix & Sigma for lenses generally, yup they have it. This is just an early morning coffee ramble really. Another 8 months will determine following 5 years for me…

I’ve come close to pushing the ZR button a few times now and there are really only 3 things that have prevented me doing so… 1. The file sizes of that Red Raw codec. Apparently N raw is the next best option and there are of course some ‘workarounds’, but until there is a compressed version that maxes out at no more than 1000 mbps, it’s just too much and one of the principal draws of this camera is the Red codec. 2. I’m not unhappy with L Mount. In fact the opposite except for one factor and that is the absence IMO of equivalent lenses to Sony’s: 28-70 f2, 50-150 f2 and Tamron’s 35-100 f2.8. It’s ‘almost’ worth switching just for these lenses alone, but that last word, ‘alone’, but alone is not enough and lenses aside, everything else that L Mount, specifically Lumix offers, beats that of Nikon & Sony. 3. I still have hope that from within the L Mount Alliance, over the coming Winter and next Spring, either (or even both) a rangefinderesque camera will appear from either Lumix or Sigma and at least one rival for one of the lenses above, will appear. Unlikely to be a Leica, but next gen FP a possibility and even more likely, an S9ii? 4. Bonus reason, - switching not only costs money, but there is always a settling in period with any new system that frustrates. So my set up now just works, I have it and I like it and as above, my only real crit is with regard to certain lenses, but the ZR body style just appeals to me and I would like that rear LCD, but ideally as a fully articulated unit which is a bit of a missed opportunity IMO.

I’m actually seriously considering going over to Sony for stills at least, purely due to the lenses and the FX2 is a contender, but the A7RV more likely. It’s lenses. L Mount still does not have viable contender for: 28-70 f2 50-150 f2 70-180 f2.8 OK, there is the Sigma 28-45 f1.8 and the 28-105 f2.8 but the pairing of Sony’s 28-70 for mainly indoor work and their 50-150 for outdoor, would be a dream single body set up for me. Most likely Megadapted on a Z8 body… But then again, all L Mount need to do to retain me is produce at least a longer focal range sibling to the 28-45 f1.8 and I’ll be a happy boy.

The Forgotten camera! (I had myself!!)

The one thing I have not tried is the e stab, but straight out of the box with zero set up other than a quick balance, on the RS4 mini with the optional tracking module, it worked superbly. Not even close to anything like overheating, but then so far, I have only really been shooting stills with it. Start up time must be fine as I have not noticed anything other than it takes a second or so for the zoom to find it’s last setting, either; 28, 50 or 75mm as I have it set. Battery life excellent. I just came back from a week long trip to Scotland and shot well over 1000 frames and battery still showing 2 bars.

L10 update… Shot 5x wedding ceremonies plus their day prior & post events exclusively on the L10. Stills only so far… The experience and results have been great. Not S1Rii great or even S9 great (but in isolation more than good enough as a back up camera stepping up to do a job) the latter of which is supposed to be my back up camera but was in the shop being supposedly fixed…but as it turned out the fix was going to cost more than buying another mint used one, I bought another. Also one week long family adventure as my sole camera. Also perfect for that. However, now that I am back with 1.5x S9 camera bodies, I have decided to repurpose the L10 as; personal plus back up plus dedicated gimbal unit. Bought my 4th gimbal but this time determined to actually use and keep it…my previous issues being a combo of; reliability, weight, too much kit, user ineptitude…but as it’s an RS4 Mini with the tracking unit and L10, it should be a pretty sophisticated and lightweight unit. Only 3x more jobs that have video this year but at least it will be a good test ahead of 2027 where every job is hybrid. Should be GH7 level results, albeit with a fixed lens and the lack of IBIS the L10 has removed and improved…

The reality is although I would desire 1x SL3-P over 1x S1Rii… …2x S1Rii + 4x primes kills to death, any (existing) single camera lens combo from any manufacturer. The closest today might be the Nikon Z8 or the Sony A7Rvi with f2 28-70, but even then, 28mm is nowhere near 18mm and 70mm is not 85mm. And that is the ‘one & done’ camera/lens scenario, ie, it does not exist without a substantial compromise. Real world, I shall soldier on with my pair of S1Rii’s with my 4 primes because they just work. I’ve been trying to find even a single criticism of the S1Rii and other than overheating shooting even ‘just’ 4k on longer takes on hot days (no longer an issue now I have my audio-less S9 and second S9 in the house), I can’t find one. Loved my S1H and my S1R’s, but this developed hybrid of the two is better real world tool and one of the best hybrid cameras in existence to date.

Never tried it but I suspect the FX30 stab would be good enough for my handheld needs which are basically ‘static’. I move more and more however towards the combo of absolutely locked off or floating moving with nothing in between. Lumix are great in this regard because if you have everything dialled up to the max, albeit at the expense of some cropping, these things stay incredibly still. It’s really only if there is any static foreground that you notice any movement so wider establishing shots, I always use a tripod or something.

Stabilisation is to mine but not necessarily IBIS… With my S1Rii’s paired with primes, I have the e stab dialed up to the max in addition to the already great IBIS and though this crops considerably, no issue because I’m always working with slightly wider than necessary lenses. These are my ‘great stability speed’ units as in not even faffing with a monopod. The S9 is paired with a gimbal either on or off a lightweight tripod which requires a bit more faffing but gives another, but different type of stability. S5ii on heavyweight (it’s quite light actually) for ultimate stability for the longer stuff.

That would not surprise me a bit and although I have not watched a single review other than the CVP one…and even that, not all the way through, I have noticed a while recent bunch of LUMIX converts posted they have one. I imagine a bunch of them at least will shortly be posting a piece regarding why they flopped back to Sony, soon enough… I’d have no problem flipping back to Sony myself, but it would be the FX3A and FX30’s plus A7RV, all used, because all of that kit is more than good enough for me. The A7RV is still the best stills camera I have owned, though my S1Rii’s are better hybrid and as that is my bread & butter… It’s an unlikely scenario though as my LUMIX gear just works and shiny new stuff for the sake of shiny new stuff, is not enough of a draw for me personally. Still, no harm in looking and pondering from time to time!

I have a form you can download! Hankering after either/both the X2D 100c and the new Leica SL3-P, but in regard to the latter, it’s really not more than an S1Rii in a fancier body…at 2.5x the price. And it has massive LEICA lettering on the front that needs a black sharpie pen taking to it. However, I am seriously considering it though as my sole photo camera to see out my career and what will swing it is if Sigma do pop out my desired 45-90mm f1.8 internal zoom lens because that paired with the existing 28-45mm f1.8 is endgame territory for me. The Hassie really just remains in pure fantasy territory because unless I had a pair of the things, the only lens that would really work for me is the 35-100 and it’s a bit big and just it a bit too far over budget.

Balls. Sent the S1IIE back without even opening the box and picked up another S9 instead. My first 8 jobs of the year were 7 hybrid and 1 pure video. Of the next 7, I knew 1 was photo only but ‘assumed’ the other 6 were all hybrid. Nope, only 3/7 are hybrid and not worth spending that money for just 3 jobs when 2027 is a bit of an unknown… Unknown as in almost fully booked and every booked job is hybrid, but I am still hopeful for either a genuine S1H successor or an S9II. Or even some kind of Nikon/Sony mashup but that is as unlikely as my Hasselblad dreams… But then also still ‘waiting’ for Sigma to build a sibling to the 28-45mm f1.8 such as a 45-90mm f1.8 with internal non-extending zoom, but probably dreaming there also… And then there is my Leica fantasy, but let’s not go there either.

I dip in from time to time what is happening in e Mount land because I am envious of the lens line up. L Mount is decent, but it’s got holes for me that I want filling and I am always doing a slight workaround, but with e Mount, it’s easy. Easy albeit, at a higher price point. The FX5 from what I can see is an ‘FX3.2’ isn’t it? At twice the price you can score a brand new, UK stock, FX3a, the one with the better rear LCD. What has the FX5 got that would tempt me over that? Nothing that I can see and I could pick up an FX3a AND a pair of FX30’s for the same price as a single shiny new FX5. Not that it’s all about the money, but also is. I need 3 video units and a single photo (assuming zoom for the latter) so chuck an A7RV (that I used to own) into the pot regarding the latter. Also used. But that has nothing to do with the FX5. Not really sure if it’s a 5k camera…

Let the chat commence…

Yes, I preferred it when it had the much shorter zoom. What was it? Something like 24-120 and constant aperture of f2.8 which on a 1” sensor was already borderline for me.

Happening mid season, so right now… I sent my S9 in for repair (audio side of things not working) and yesterday, finally received a repair quote…which is not only more than the trade in value, but more than buying an ‘as new’ one from MPB! Nope! Instead, I have requested a return and will make it a dedicated gimbal camera where not having audio is not an issue. Which still leaves me a camera short… I have been juggling what I have with the L10 picking up the slack and managed the situation for the last 5 jobs, but it’s not ideal as the S1RII’s definitely DO overheat and shutdown on hotter days at around 15 minutes max. Step forward a used S1IIE which has all the tech (but upgraded) from the trusty reliable S5II but in the much better (mainly rear LCD) body of the S1RII/S1II. It doesn’t have quite the ability of the S1II, but for my needs, that’s fine and the reliability is more important to me. So the re-jigged line up now is: Pair of S1RII’s for hybrid, but pretty much 95% stills, with the 18/35/50/85 f1.8 primes. S1IIE primary video unit with the Sigma 17-40 f1.8 S5II static video unit with Sigma 28-70 f2.8 S9 with Sigma 17-50 f2.8 + gimbal as err, dedicated gimbal unit L10 candid, closeups (has excellent macro function), details, plus doubles as my personal EDC/DadCam. Should be able to function properly for the second half of my season…

Had the OG…or was it the II back in the day and quite liked it as I’m quite partial to a fixed zoom camera. Changed it for a camcorder with the same sensor in the end but that was about 117 cameras ago or something…

Well just edited my first full set of stills and as expected, my S1RII utterly obliterates it in that regard. Even without pixel peeping, it’s instantly obvious on my MacBook. Probably on a phone or social media, would not notice, but actually editing the files, enormous gap including; detail, micro-contrast, WB handling, colour fidelity, higher ISO, you name it, it’s not any kind of contest. But I never expected it to be and it’s where and what I expected it to be and that is good enough for the specific purposes I have for the L10. Not tried the video yet and would expect that to be a closer contest. Battery life is great!