MrSMW

But if they (or anything else) never gets another firmware upgrade, does it matter? It wouldn’t and doesn’t for me beyond a point. The S1II/R received a major one recently re. overheating and that needed to happen, but otherwise, I can’t think of a single thing I’d need or want from them in the form of a future firmware upgrade. I’ve got bodies now with all the spec or rather, capabilities that I need and almost the lenses, - the only lens ‘missing’ for me now is a FF longer sibling to either the Sigma 28-45mm f1.8 or the APSC 17-40mm f1.8 and I’m done. But no further firmware is no biggie at this point. There are limits to what they can do!

Sorry, I meant S5II cage did not fit my S1RII. The S5 would definitely not either! Not sure where/how the Snake cages fit.

Truth bomb spat out right there and unique to you, to me, to others as our situations and needs are all different but unless you actually get out there and shoot shoot shoot, you’ll never truly know what works. And what does not. Probably always will be other than perhaps AI etc might/probably will fill in the blanks.

I don’t know but do know that my S5 Smallrig cage did not fit my S1RII due to slight differences in the bodies.

I think sometimes on forums and YouRube comments sections, too many get jumped on for wanting fast lenses with the often false assumption it’s all about getting the most shallow DOF possible, but for many of us, that is not the primary driver which is low light capability, ie, without the picture turning into a muddy mushy mess. Personally, I do like a shallow(er) DOF, but then for me it’s not a fad but something I have preferred for 25+ pro years. But not the razor shallow f1.0 in bright sunlight shallowness that causes all kinds of issues, more some clear separation and modest background blur rather than obliterated any and all context. Focal length can also of course remove said context so it’s all about balance and intent. In good light, outdoors, nothing much in it really but it’s definitely easier/more options with full-frame for low light. I don’t have anything faster than f1.8 for primes and no issues with low light.

Good call. I have spent years and years going back and forth between primes and zooms and in the end came to what should have been a very obvious conclusion and that is I need both. Depending on the circumstances. In an ideal world, I could do it all with fast zooms but fast zooms (faster than f2.8) are a rarity and come with the penalty of size & weight. I was debating (yet again) at the end of my most recent season the case for continuing with just primes (needs +1 body) or going back to zooms (needs -1 body) but there are compromises to both scenarios. Instead, I decided to go with the -1 body, but keep the primes and though it means a couple of extra lenses in my bag, that (and having to do a lens swap every now and again) is my only compromise. I took a very hard look at the G9II and I think if my needs were different, I might have gone for it (over the OM-1) but in the end decided I wished to stick with full-frame stills but would go back to shooting S35 for video. Which is what I am doing.

I love it’s size, it’s weight and it’s capability but as a pro tool, it is sorely lacking. I have used it as my primary video unit on a couple of occasions and the result has been great…mostly, - too many times I have jogged those dials etc though 😏 I would like to see a second gen, but for now/2026, I have relegated mine to back up/spare apart from one single use case (locked on to grooms face for bridal entrance…which seems a bit overkill to have a camera dedicated to and then packed away but 🤷‍♂️) and so it stays. For now.

Needs to be lockable on the next gen camera…if there is one. Plus more robust everything!

Now we are getting somewhere with I think just 3 suspects remaining… Top right, is clearly Louis Cyr, fake Canadian strongman from around the turn of the century before last. Great great grandsire of a more contemporary Canadian also with zero known photo or filmmaking skills who makes technical videos from a basement. Bottom left = Nikola Tesla, just back from the over-sized jacket store. Top left = Hitler’s favourite filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl.

Oh great; that means France will enter a state of 6 months mourning as they did when Jonny Halliday fell off his perch and even less will get done.

Now that you mention it, every time I log in to this place, somewhere in the background, I can hear ‘Midnight, The Stars And You’…

It could possibly be him, - they do look quite similar in black & white. The centre bottom dude is Cam Mackay’s great great great grandfather, Dances With Cameras. That one I am positive about. I think…

The bottom right dude, is that the notoriously dageurreotype-shy, Louis 'Rolling' Shutter?

I suspect the OP is a bot, but it’s an interesting question nonetheless. I only need one type personally and that is a compact, hybrid, hi res monster because with that I can do it all. And am, so 😛

I’d prefer the OM-1 for stills and the S9 for video but the OM-1 is a vastly better built bit of kit.

Bring back the 80’s, the single best decade to have lived, even though those of us who lived through it (age 9-19 for me) did not realise or appreciate it at the time. I think we reached peak civilisation around Friday October 3rd 1986. I’ll take the 70’s (rose-tinted nostalgia maybe) next followed by the 90’s (weren’t so bad) and then if I had to, 2000-2010, but since then, it’s been part living, part existing, part having to work out how the fuck to constantly adapt, but more recently, working on how to exit from it all. Not in a terminal way, - just get out of the system and all it’s BS as much as possible! I don’t hate on the World. I just can’t be bothered with it…

It’s a great combo 👍

Seeing this a lot in the wedding industry; a few shaky clips of Super 8 digitised and people go nuts for it. Same as for a handful of blurred OOF images. I have couples asking for it but there are lines I won’t cross for the sake of my artistic soul. Unless they want to pay me a lot more money and then the devil can have it…but sadly they won’t pony up for that so go elsewhere. People have ever-increasingly short attention spans and values. For instance, just 2 years ago, I had 100% take up from clients offered a free book from their wedding. Only 5 acknowledged receipt, never mind thanked me for it. I was selling these books just a few years prior for €500 and after stopping that due to massively dwindling sales to the point where it was a PITA, to do so, brought them back as a relatively low cost (to me) marketing exercise. Last year, approx 95% take up of the offer (all they have to do is confirm current address which I already have and contact number in case the courier needs to contact them) and even less acknowledgement of receipt. End of this year, just 12 months later, just 4 of this years clients ‘accepted’ a free ‘€500’ professionally printed book from their wedding and not a single one acknowledged receipt, never mind any kind of gratitude. It’s a shit show; attention spans, attitudes, just basic manners and going back to ‘The Game’ (but the bigger one as in the entire industry and what you have to do to simply survive) I’m happy I’m on a countdown to get out of it because whilst it’s not exactly ‘soul-destroying’, the joy of any of it is being sucked out of it year on year. I’m not a doom & gloom kind of guy, but the whole World is a bit of a shit show and getting worse so I am actively pursuing avenues to be an increasingly lesser part of it. And I just found out, Santa Claus is not a real person!

Battleships are the future, not drones or any of this new fangled nonsense! And stuff made out of wood.

An increasing trend in marketing today, is not necessarily being the best or the most reliable or the most anything except being the most popular. The cult of ‘vote for me’ is taking over. The ‘game’ is knowing that but whether any of us choose to play, is up to us, but without question, we are missing out on a share of the pie if we don’t make an attempt to at least sit at the table. This more a situation for the small to medium sized business. Larger corps operate under different rules and for the private individual, it is irrelevant if you use social media or not. Social Media, visually anyway, is vertical. Personally, I despise social media whether it be Facebook or Twitter or TikTok or Whatever, but if as a small business operator, I actively chose to not participate, it would be completely fair for anyone to point their finger at me and state, “your business skills are lacking”. Current status = working on it. Can we get back to talking about cameras again now?

I have my S1RII’s set up with: [4.7K] 4736x3552 (4:3) 50.00p, 300Mbps (4:2:0 10-bit LongGOP) (H.265/HEVC, LPCM) Why APSC when it’s a full-frame camera? INTERNAL zoom Sigma 17-40mm f1.8 which with the crop factor for APSC and for standard EIS, makes it a 28-66mm FF equivalent lens and all factors considered, this body with this lens, is a sweet spot for me; cost, size, weight, ergos, file sizes, quality, workflow/bake in my LUT, 1:2.4 pano crop for my films and 9:16 for my socials… The image out of the S1RII is superior to that of my S9 side by side when I shot them 6k. Every frame on a timeline, I can see which is which immediately. For me it’s camera of the year, no question.

Indeed. Attention spans get ever shorter and if you don’t play the game, you are not in the game. Whether you like playing said game is irrelevant, - just a necessary evil. Being able to make 2 forms of content relatively easily from one source is the quickest (and cheapest) way to achieving this and why Lumix cameras especially excel, - multiple frame markers. I have mine set up for 1:2.4 + 9:16 with a 75% blackout and it’s 👍👍

I think there has been some decent kit launched this year, but nothing groundbreaking and indeed, some veritable bargains on the used market. My pick, for my needs, is still the S1RII (1 new at discounted price and 1 used) plus a used S5II and a new (discounted) S9. If I was making a case to myself for Nikon, it would be a Z8 + ZR set up. For Sony, A7RV + FX30’s…and they have the best glass options. Canon is far too expensive a flip for me and I find the glass for my needs too limiting but the new R6III looks the most interesting out of all the bodies. Which leaves Fuji. I think I could make a used GFX100 work plus a couple of XH2’s but I prefer other options more. Love the OM-1 but not going back there.l for various reasons. Cameras of the year for me are: 1: S1RII (best suits my needs) 2: ZR (wish it had a fully artic screen) 3: S1II (R model has more for me) 4: R6III (great spec, dull body, expensive system) 5: S1IIE (still thinking about getting one to replace my S9 which I love but isn’t quite robust enough to be my primary unit) Wishes for 2026 (other than World peace, various prominent political figures falling under a bus, personal lottery win etc) would be for a replacement for the S1H in an FX3/30/ZR body style with a fully articulated screen plus a longer focal length sibling to the Sigma 28-45mm f1.8, such as a 45-90mm f1.8 with internal zoom.

Iceman, is that you? You can be my wingman anytime.

I don’t know of anyone in my industry who does not shoot Sony. Except me, call sign Maverick.