MrSMW

Because neither of their own bodies have it, possibly a bit of an omission to not have it in the majority of their lenses? Many of the slightly older now Tamron primes had VC, their nomenclature for ‘OIS’ but fewer lenses these days, prime or zoom, seem to have anything, I presume because of the rise of IBIS? I was shooting an outdoor mehndi ahead of a Bengali Muslim wedding today and once again, it highlighted the gap in my lens arsenal… The 28-70 is great indoors. Light, compact, fast enough at 2.8, but outdoors, I don’t want to be in people’s faces, it’s not how I work and the Lumix S 70-200 f4 (underrated sleeper lens IMO, due to being relatively compact, under 1kg, constant aperture and internal zoom) is perfect for the longer stuff…but sometimes…most of the time even, I want to be able to shoot wide’ish and a second later, long’ish. I am still considering the option of the Samyang 35-150 because with that, I could possibly do away with both the 28-70 and the 70-200 and would have no need for the 28-105. But it’s big. It’s heavy. It’s not internal zoom. Well neither are (internal zoom) the 28-70 or the 28-105 and with the former it’s neither here nor there, but less keen on how far the 28-105 appears to extend. Hmmm…choices, choices, choices, which is actually a good thing to have, but maybe I do need to go for the true ‘one and done’, the 35-150, albeit at the expense of size, weight and external zoom… The curveball in all of this is not actually not so much the lenses, but whether an S2H and/or an S2R appear because then having an all L Mount lineup of 4 bodies rather than my current 3 Lumix for video and 1 Sony for stills, because my stills unit can then double up for hybrid duty… Anyway, it’s not a big deal or a ‘need’, just a potential option. I won’t make any moves until early Spring 2025 so still plenty of time to see what happens in the L Mount camera and lens space.

I probably won’t though for stills for a couple of reasons. First one is it can’t really replace my current line up of; 20-40, 28-75, 70-180. It’s a near perfect line up for me with the 28-75 being my all day workhorse, the 70-180 being my ceremony, speeches and couple lens, with the 20-40 being my after dark dance floor lens, so it’s not like I am continually lens swapping all day long, just at a certain points. Could I swap all 3 for the 28-105? Maybe, but with compromises at both ends plus having a lens which yes, does weigh less than all 3 combined, but individually makes for a relatively heavy unit with the Sony A7RV compounded further because I’d want to swap my baseplate for a battery grip. I think the system I have is a better one. For video though, yes. The compact and lightweight 28-70 has been my sole workhorse now for 2 seasons, but with a criticism. Shooting 4k 50p last year, it was perfectly long enough at 105 equiv but too tight at 42 equiv. This year shooting 6k 30p, it’s plenty wide enough at 28, but 70 is a bit short for my outdoor needs, which is about 70% of any job. 28-105 constant aperture f2.8 is both of the above use cases solved immediately so this lens is a no-brainer really for next year. I had the Leica 24-90 last year but too big, too heavy and not constant aperture. It was a great photo lens but less so for video. The weight of the 28-105 is just within my self-imposed limits and the only thing I do not like is the external zoom, but hey ho. The next thing I’d like to see is Sigma make a sibling to the 28-45 f1.8. That WOULD change the game for me, for stills at least. The 28-45 for indoor work paired with something around 50-100 f1.8, also with internal zoom, on a 60+mp sensor body and that’s it, I’m done for the remainder of my career, whether that be on my current A7RV, or on a potential future Lumix S2R. Ideally, an S2R so it’s all within one single system, but either way I would not be too fussy as both options would be unbelievably good.

I’m sure he was a character from Viz back in the day? Fnarr.

If only there was a member of this forum who uses L Mount for video and Sony for stills who has been praying for a ‘one & done’ constant aperture f2.8 lens ranging from 28 to about 100mm whilst weighing max 1kg. If only there was a member of this forum this lens was designed for…

That’s what I think. Did Nikon just buy it so a competitor did not, or do they actually have a plan? Because if they do have a plan and don’t get the fuck on with it, that ship won’t just have sailed, but most likely be sinking fast. Time will tell, but I suspect the former owners of RED who cashed in are breathing great sighs of relief when Nikon signed and then actually gave them money.

At the end of last year, I almost…almost, went to Canon and the R3 for a number of reasons, body and glass, but what stopped me from pulling that trigger was their used ‘like new’ prices, so I temporarily went Nikon with adapted Sony E Mount glass. The latter is another story and in the end, I went fully E Mount for all my stills needs, but the ‘funny’ thing was, MPB dropped the price by around 1k shortly after. It was almost as if someone had got the pricing wrong and then realised or it was dropped in anticipation of the R1…but then they put it back up again! Not all the way up, but IMO still over-priced. I think sometimes it’s just a timing thing with them because I have had some great deals from them on kit, both cameras and lenses and sometimes if you are not desperate, it’s worth having a stock list email set up with them so when new stuff comes in, you get pinged. Wish I’d held on to my Leica 24-90 now as those things are selling at around 200% of what I sold mine for last year 😏

Yep, it's a big issue for me also. I still like to read stuff over being talked at, but some sites just do not help themselves, sometimes with multiple ad pop up shit all happening at the same time. It just repels anyone with half a brain...

MPB used prices for 'like new' are often like that for some stuff I find...

It’s a tricky one for sure because sometimes it’s just his wife burning the toast again.

Best dunno, but I use Freewell and have zero complaints. Mostly 2-5's but I also have a 6-9 for the most super sunny of days, but rarely need it and prefer to stop the aperture down a bit. Screw in because I was always knocking off magnetic's. Never seen an X in camera or in post. Barely any colour cast and because they are on the whole time unless it actually gets dark, the image is always the same.

As a low-key hybrid wedding shooter, that’s a mainstay for me as folks act differently if they become aware the focus is on them. Sometimes they do something that works as part of the whole, but mostly I just want to observe the candid. Top down, rear LCD, limited or zero eye contact. Not because I’m a social freak or wannabe hipster, but because it gets the result I want. I tried the viewfinder the other day and can’t go back now despite having cut my teeth back in the day as a film photographer in the 90’s and early 2000’s.

Indeed. The only thing that bothered me about this test was that it was of a chart and who shoots charts in the real world? I appreciate Gordon doing this and he did put various caveats in the piece, but real world, 90%+ of all video shot has people in it. On that basis, I’d rather see at least a static head shot. Outdoors for anything up to say 800 iso and anything higher indoors. And lighting will/can create contrast which will add to at least the perception of sharpening. But then as we always say, how much sharpening do we want on a face? Detail even? Personally, I prefer as much as to the point of it not being over-sharpened so in post, when not desired, I can dial some of that back. I’ve tried the ‘advised’ dial back the sharpening in camera, but the footage to me in post, looks like mush/shit, so leave my cameras at the default level.

Well that’s a bit of a shame then, considering the price… I haven’t watched a single review but based purely on the YouTube thumbnails I have seen plus the price, dismissed it out of hand for my needs. I do however like the fact that it exists as I do anything ‘different’. Even the Pixie camera.

Nope, I did not now that. I still have a sub-Hasselblad Mavic Air 2S which won’t have as good image quality without that branding 😉 But that was my point as in the badge DOES have an effect, even if it’s just a placebo one! Also there is a Hasselblad phone, a tie up with someone I presume… As a photographer, do I want a Hasselblad phone? Hell yeah! (Aware of it, but beyond that, not actually looked). Please no. I don’t want to see the X2D become the next X100vi and become known as ‘The Tit Tock Camera’ 🤪

Their image as a brand or the quality of the images they produce? If the former, yes, I think of DJI as being THE drone company. Hasselblad though, I see as the epitome of stills photography cameras. Outside of large format brands no one has ever heard of. But then are the great unwashed even aware of Hasselblad? Outside of photography circles, very few I suspect and the majority of cameras are sold to people who are not 'photographers' as such. If DJI can market anything with a Hassie brand association at the very least, that surely has to be in their favour though?

Phones was one the missus and I were discussing just the other day and how, other than some photo/lens options, there hasn't been anything we have been slightly interested in with the last 3 or 4 iterations of the iPhone. Nope, nothing, nada. I think I have peaked for my needs on all things tech whether cameras, audio gear, laptop, phone... Now it's not even a case of 'want', but rather 'might like' at some point if it floats my boat. I'd rather see innovation now rather than incremental steps of 'progress' of essentially 'the same thing'.

That’s a good point and even how many of ‘The Chosen’ are actually using the things after their initial review despite hailing it The Messiah? Food for thought…or maybe DJI just want to give it a go as in have a punt and see what unfolds?

And ‘we’ are pushed into vertical content. I shoot increasingly (photo) in a vertical format at time of capture rather than cropping simply with one eye on marketing. Video, 6k open gate so again, I can maximise how I can present to potential clients. But I don’t much care for it…

S5ii is very good, especially after the I think it was April firmware. Boost is almost tripod like. I still find I need to take a deep breath, hold it and hold absolutely still and there can be a tiny bit of movement, but I have used that method to capture impromptu 2-3 minute speeches etc. Not the holding my breath part obviously as I am not a pearl diver, but otherwise, it’s really good. Then there is the highest level which with a bit of ninja walking is close enough for me to being gimbal-like, I managed to ditch the hated thing this year. There is a crop though in that mode but it just means I keep a bit more distance. The one last factor is I don’t use anything wider than 28mm for the best result.

I can’t see Hasselblad themselves using the L Mount. Adapted maybe, but they just live in another plane of existence so whilst any new DJI camera might use some Hasselblad tech, I would suspect that Hassie would not want their brand ‘dumbing down’ and having any DJI product branded as HASSELBLAD. Or maybe under new ownership they would just as Leica have done previously with Panasonic? But that one seems to only have happened with the low end compact stuff and the I think actually semi-officially announced last year, new Leica/Lumix camera never appeared. I don’t know but DJI has some momentum and seem to be one of the more innovative camera companies and Hassie arguably have an even higher status than Leica, so there is potentially a lot of ammunition there…??

Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fuji, L Mount combining Lumix and Leica surely = ‘Big 5’, but semantics aside, could be an interesting move… If Lumix for instance do not bring out a next gen S1 line as some think might be a very real possibility, then this may very well leave a hole that DJI will gobble up. Why? Disillusioned L Mount users is who! Ie, if we feel snubbed by Lumix effectively stopping with the S5ii and any new DJI body is up to snuff, we may very well port all our L Mount glass in that direction. The X2D is beyond my means and the Ronin jobbie a bit overkill for my needs and then there is the Pocket series… I can very well see how they could produce something quite disruptive. Potentially very interesting…

I did say stills and for me, with my workload, it equates to approximately 1 extra 5TB HD plus upgraded my on-line storage from 20GB to unlimited. Total cost, just under +€400 per annum. Having on my person, 2 bodies instead of juggling 3, plus 3 lens options rather than 4 is a massive bonus re. logistics and creativity. It’s a win for me. But YMMV and if you are shooting and storing 20 mins of raw footage per day when previously it might have been log, yep, I can see that your storage costs will be considerable!

Each to their own, but I find it a seriously useful tool, especially with 6k as it extends the focal length of my lenses by up to around 2x. This allows me to use shorter and lighter lenses which are also cheaper to buy in the first place such as a pair of Lumix 20-60mm’s which I can easily get over 100mm of reach with in post. Arguably, you can crop any footage, but 6k has an advantage over 4k as 8k does over 6k, but sweet spots and all that… Same approach for me with stills these days as in using a higher megapixel camera as it allows me to use less hardware which means a lighter load and more flexibility from less kit, albeit at the expense of some storage, but that in itself is much cheaper than extra bodies and lenses etc.

I went with the RX10ii back in the day and my only criticism was the lack of low light performance otherwise it was a superb bit of kit for photo or video. At the time.

Yes, the S5ii I think has very much claimed the place of the S1. The S9 is a bit…well not very robust in terms of feel compared with the S5ii. The G9ii using the same body I kind of got and made sense. No S2R 6 months after the SL3 makes me think what was all that L3 alliance bollocks then because to the best of my knowledge, other than if Panasonic gifted Leica some video tech, it was a one way street. Maybe the delay (not that anything has been announced so nothing official anyway) is a bad sign…or maybe it’s a good sign… Fingers crossed though as Lumix were just beginning to get some traction. Their two biggest problems IMO have always been: A. Too slow to market (with limited official announcements) and B. Limited if not absolute piss poor marketing. As with so many companies, maybe there’s an element of ‘chicken and egg’ going on in that they haven’t, or more likely choose, not to spend enough on marketing, but then sales are poor? It’s not enough simply to be the best. There needs to be hype or you might as well not exist and someone else (Sony) WILL be eating your lunch. Or maybe next week, they will announce the greatest product line ever…