MrSMW

I want the green one and I wants it now! But reality... I sent mine back for a full refund and then bought a used S5ii which also put €200 back into my pocket and aesthetics aside, it's a better camera. I wish they had launched the S9 at €999 and then I could have swung one as an 'additional camera' and maybe one day I will (I have an unopened box Smallrig cage for one thing) but that simple reality is, as my primary video unit, it's too high risk. But autofocusing M Mount lenses!

And that is exactly it. I would prefer to get the cleanest/nicest image as in, 'like a raw file' and edit it to taste after the fact. Also, shooting for that in the first place as already knowing what the intended grade etc might be, but if there is some great fooking flare across the thing...and you don't want that, then you're fooked! Bladerunner in 1982 was fantastic and one of my all time favourite movies, but then Michael Bay came along...

I’ve never really understood the appeal of anamorphic myself and absolutely hate those flares. Whether it’s a big budget movie or a wedding ‘film’, it adds nothing and to me is the opposite and is like bad audio, - intrusive and avoidable. As has already been mentioned, if a wide screen ‘crop’ or end result is the intention, just shoot for that in the first place. I do wish more cameras had crop marks but Lumix is great in this regard as you can add them and reduce the rest by 25/50/75/100% which is fantastic. Just shoot with a wider lens. It doesn’t even need to be at a higher res, just a wider lens. IMO. Unless I am missing something? Oh yes, the difficult to work with in camera anamorphic squeeze, the out of focus corners, warpy and edges and odd bokeh. But apart from that, it’s fooking cool man 🤪

I hope not…but at the same time, the S5ii’s are perfectly fine in the role I have them in. I would rather start next year with just 2x S5ii’s having traded the third for something new and shiny just for the sake of having something new and shiny, but at the same time, will make for a cheap year if not! I do think my now dearly departed S1H needs replacing with something equally special at some point though…

And anyone remember this? I thought it would be the answer to the single unit body zoom lens…except 4mp. But 4” rear LCD! These things always bomb. Zeiss was another but ‘only’ a 35mm fixed lens killed that one for me, but internal SSD! If it had something like a 28-70 zoom…

Possibly a decision that has delayed any successor? In the eyes of the great unwashed, more is better and 8k beats 6k in that regard. Well actually it beats it in resolution so it really does beat 6k…but when we factor in everything else, is 6k more than enough? For most of us, most of the time, yes. For me it’s the sweet spot and if Lumix go 8k because they feel they have to more for marketing purposes, then fair enough, but I hope they can excel in other areas and retain 6k. I suspect the bean counters will have forced an 8k scenario… All assuming we get a successor and there are more signs we will than will not. What and when remains the biggest Q… My biggest fear though is they take too long on this. They have momentum from the S5ii and a fairly loyal fan base from the S1/H/R and even the S9 launch has caused some additional publicity, but they really do need to get their finger out when the loyalists start getting impatient. They already lost me for stills and though no danger for video at this time or even the foreseeable future, but if no successor to the S1 line appears at all, I would probably end up moving my video needs over to Sony somewhere down the line. And then they will have lost me forever. I could still come back to L Mount for stills but were one camera and one lens away from that for me. I do think they are the best all round option for my level/needs for video and so so close for stills and just need one more step and they will be there. I hope so because Sony for me is like the Borg. It can be beaten in certain areas but it’s just a relentless overwhelming option that can tick just about any box…but I find it just lacking a bit in soul. Like the Borg.

Personally, I’d say that a lot of ‘TV’ productions are simply just feature films on steroids ie far too long for anyone to watch in a single viewing (well for normal people anyway) so are broken down into 45 minute episodes. In fact I’d go as far and say some are more cinematic than many of their big screen siblings. And then there is this nostalgia for older movies. My teenage years were the 80’s so those are the most memorable and iconic movies for me, but other than a few exceptions (mostly Spielberg), they look like shit next to even your average Netflix series today. I guess it’s like anything and there is good and bad… There is old stuff that looks great that will never be and probably cannot be, ever replicated due to the use of the tools of the time and then there is stuff today that was not possible even just a few years back. Something I have never prescribed to is the rose-tinted spectacle that everything was just better in the good old days. However, give me back the 80’s 😜

Makes sense and I am sure that is where we are heading and could be heading there a lot quicker other than for the fact that most people and most companies are possibly too conservative? Anything like this would put a massive number of people (and businesses) out of work so there would be obvious resistance. However, those factors aside, I’d love to get rid of a bag of lenses from this perspective. It’s a direction I have sort of taken, especially in the stills side of my work with a bigger sensor in a smaller body and cropping, eliminating the need for at least what would have been my previous longest lens. Plus compact powerful lights. It’s not AI as such, but I have moved as much as I can on more of the physical side of ‘miniaturization’ as I realistically can. A single camera/lens combo would be very welcome! If I could also be one of those flown all expenses paid to try out the AR-2030X in a few years time, I’d be up for it.

Actually, I did have one on loan from Sigma France but only tested it for stills where it failed pretty badly. In that regard, I do have the Sigma FP-L in an ergonomic body with twin card slots, decent IBIS, fantastic rear screen and better battery life. It’s called a Sony A7RV 😂

For the IQ, I do I do I do! But, being pragmatic, I’d be causing myself a ton of issues. Similar scenarios with cine zooms and primes on something like the S5ii, - something else that would hamper me at times. I was very interested in the NiSi Athena Primes with drop in filters but kept circling back to the same conclusion and that is I would be limiting myself and therefore my clients, at certain times. So no, a ‘sensible’ camera body and system it has to be and that means at least decent if not great AF, and AF zooms, even if I mostly use them in MF mode. It’s a good thing actually because it allows the tools to get out of the way and the ‘art’ then has to come from the operator, though possibly at the ultimate expense of outright image quality because as the saying goes, something is better than nothing and without the right tools, the risk is nothing in certain scenarios in Wedding Land.

I do like the idea of being able to shoot direct to SSD, but 3 cameras so I always need to end up with time matched footage on a single drive. Stop it!

And my beloved S1H has gone forever… 😞 in the end, it came down to compromise as it so often does. The S9 I had already decided, was not for me for my use case. Yes, I could have made it work, but the risk factor was too high and just the thought of having an issue you know you could have avoided as a working pro, ruled it out. I would have gone back to the S1H in a heartbeat except for one factor and that is I can’t bake in a LUT. That was a big part of my workflow last year when the S5ii became my video workhorse and my S1H was my primary stills camera, but I forgot until @Andrew Reid mentioned the other day that it lacks this feature. I just went back to using this feature on my last job and reminded myself why this was the way forward for me after shooting without it for the first half of this year. No-brainer then, picking up a 3rd used S5ii body either long term, or to be traded when (if!) a successor to the S1H appears. The X model has no appeal to me. Not a single feature I need although I like it’s all black look, I am not paying a €500 premium for something I can do with a black sharpie. A 3rd S5ii does make the most sense anyway as it’s 3 identical pieces of kit, all set up the same and simply using different lens options as required. So a bit sad the S9 did not work out and even more sad about the S1H, but happy to have a 3rd S5ii because I know that it is actually the best video set up for my needs. Considered scratching the Sigma FP itch but then came to my senses 😂

Can’t really go wrong with a used one because even after a few months if you decided it was not for you, you could sell it for minimal loss and much less than renting anything for the same period. Zoom lenses I’d be looking at myself right now would be: Sigma 16-28mm f2.8 Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 Sigma 28-45mm f1.8 Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 mkII Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 latest version Samyang 35-150mm f2/2.8 Lumix 20-60mm f3.5/5.6 Lumix 24-105mm f4 Lumix 70-200mm f4 I personally have a pair of Lumix 20-60’s (because I have 2x identical static set ups), the 70-200 f4 as an option for one of them if needed) and the 28-70 as my run & gun workhorse. I think that out of them all, the 28-70 is an absolute gem due to the combo of constant f2.8, focal range plus size & weight. However I will switch to and never want or need another pairing beyond the new 28-45mm f1.8 if a longer sibling arrives around 50-100 also at f1.8 and internal zooming. I would also trade my 3x stills use Tamron E Mount lenses for this same pairing. Without even needing to give it another thought.

I suspect the reason that the entire original S line did not sell that well was for 2 reasons: Size & weight. None-PDAF AF, particularly for video. That combined with more limited marketing compared with say Sony, especially on social media and YouTube = limited sales compared with comparable cameras. But the S5II changed that and is a popular camera, at least in 'talking' circles. What's happening now re. any future S'2' line...?? I have zero evidence and can only speculate but 'expect' to see something soon... Perhaps not a 3 body line up as previously, but at least 2; a video-centric unit and a photo/hybrid-centric. Maybe 3 again as in an; S2H, a S2 and an S2R? The Leica SL3 hints at what any S2R could or should be surely? Re. any S2H, personally, I'd like to see a 10% smaller and 10% lighter body, PDAF, uncropped 6k 50/60p, but beyond that, zero needs. If it had internal ND, that would be great, or at least develop a drop in filter system for between the lens and body as some third party options do exist! The latest line of NISI Athena primes offer this built into the lens and there is the Fusion system I have. All for manual focus only lenses, but I presume would all work with a LIDAR based AF set up? Does it not have it? Balls, might need to rethink my approach for the rest of this year then. I thought it had... My S1H is with MPB right now (where they valued it incidentally +€145 more than I did!) and I have asked them to return it in light of me not keeping the S9. A bit of a hasty move on my part. I thought I had used a baked in LUT feature on the S1H last year, but that must have been with the S5II then. Damn...I think I will need to continue with the sale and pick up a third used S5II body then as baking in a LUT really is part of my workflow now.

First of all the output for stills. Exceptional. A step up from any of the 24mp files. Yes, on tiny screens and social media and blah blah blah, no one notices any difference, but YOU do when you edit the things. Same with my A7RV now. It’s no imaginary or placebo effect and the same I am sure for anyone that tries or has one of the Fuji 100mp medium format cameras. And as for the Hassie X2D…but I’m veering off now. You tend to lose a teeny bit at high ISO’s, but I batch run all my culled files through DXO PureRaw and happily shoot these larger sensors up to 12800 all the time. Video. True, no log but I found the 5k Flat profile was more than good enough for my needs and as someone who appreciates a great but still workable SOOC workflow as much as possible, it did the business. Am I right in thinking there is a record limit for 5k though? If so, that was one of the reasons I stopped using it for video but probably my favourite SOOC footage ever. Ergos etc. Great, but different from the S1H and S5/ii. I tend to prefer identical bodies whenever I can, but it’s not a dealbreaker. SOLD! But I sold them for one reason and one reason only, and that is lenses. For my work, I need ideally a max of one camera for run & gun video on my left hip and one camera for stills on my right. I have tried all kinds of options including flip out filters and using different focal length primes but identical cameras and shooting them hybrid…and could go back to that, but prefer a dedicated video unit and a dedicated stills unit. This means zooms. For stills, I need approx 28-200, but could get away with 150mm. For run & gun video, 28-105. Other than the Samyang 35-150mm f1/2.8, no lenses exist in L Mount that get anywhere near to those unless they are either slow or big & heavy. The Samyang has only just come out in L Mount of course and I stopped using the S1R about 12+ months ago and went over to the S1H using a pair of S5ii’s in the video role. The options for lenses for stills I had were the Leica 24-90mm f2.8/4 and the Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 paired with an option 70-200mm f4. The ‘one & done’ Leica was too wide for my tastes, not long enough as a ‘one & done’, I did not care for the variable aperture, but mainly just too big and heavy, especially because for me, it required the use of a battery grip. That lens plus battery grip meant adding something like 1.6kg to the weight of the body! All day long, zero joy. The Sigma by comparison requires no battery grip and is 470g. Game over for the Leica/battery grip combo. The 70-200 just lived in a bag dumped in a corner until required. So could I go back to the S1R today? From a stills only perspective, if I had to, but I would rather not because the A7RV with my 3x zoom lens combo is just a better option, particularly on the size & weight side of things. For me, at this present time, it’s just an unbeatable combo, but it is a €6500 combo for the body and the 3 lenses I have…but a combo of 1 body + 3 lenses that weighs less than my previous 1 body + 1 lens set up! So for anyone that does not have my lens requirements, for stills, the S1R is an absolute steal on the used market.

Err, nah. First of all, 2-3 visits per annum won't make any difference and second, it ruins the enjoyment of the film. I could though watch French TV shows daily and that would have a far greater benefit, but ruin a decent movie? Nope!

Too many productions are too dark IMO... We are currently watching 2 series on Apple TV; Servant and The Lady In The Lake. My missus keeps asking why no one ever switches any lights on in their houses. And can she have subtitles on because some characters speak with such muffled and mumbled voices... "It's high level art dear, you don't understand". In reality, I think it gets pushed too far sometimes and that is to the detriment of the viewer.

Pretty much. Over the years, I have used various bits of kit that most would consider not being 'pro' in a pro situation and to be honest, it's always been with a bit of risk! By nature, I don't like change and am not really a gambler or even much of a risk taker, but quite conservative...but at the same time, have pushed the envelope a few times when it comes to kit... Shot an entire season of stills on a single OG Fuji X100. Shot an entire season of video on a single Sony RX100V. It fills me with horror to think about that now 😵 But at the same time, I have still had to push trying to find the balance as a one man band shooting 100% stills and 100% video, by trial and error. Video is now just nailed as in the tools I need for the job. Between the S9, S5II and S1H, all do the business almost equally in terms of being able to produce the end result. It came down to which was the least risky. The S5II is the least risky IMO as it has the equal best AF and moderate (of the 3) weight, but sacrifices rear screen quality and a tiny bit of outright image quality. The S9 risks the most and by quite a margin, ie, potential for overheating and single card slot and lacks the ability to slot into any other role as well as anything else I have. It's the least 'pro' camera of the 3 and by some margin. The S1H though is like that old soldier that is not too old too retire, is vastly experienced and can not only keep up with the youngsters on the battlefield, but move past them. It can slot into any role with ease; run & gun, long static duty, stills... It just keeps 'soldiering' on. Nailed, based on the current lineup available from LUMIX. That combo also on the used market is just nuts. If I was going to build a budget 3 camera hybrid set up today, I'd go with that.

I think it's highly unlikely it would be cropped based on the fact that there was and still is so much criticism of 4k 50/60p being cropped. It's pretty much the only criticism folks seem to be able to come up re. the entire S line apart from perhaps size/weight in the S1's. My only real criticism of the S1's is that each body was too different. The S1H from the S1R anyway... That used to really bug me when using that combo as the handling was so different. I'd also prefer it if they stuck with 6k and didn't go for 8k, but that's maybe just personal preference. And I quite like that size and weight if not using a grip or cage. My ideal S2H would be 10% smaller and 10% lighter, uncropped 6k 50p open gate and great AF. Job done, just a really solid pro unit. Which is what has put me off the S9, the lack of 'pro-ness' to it. Having thought on it even more, I've moved to an identical pair of S5II's as in; same cameras, same battery grips, same lens, same tripod, same audio, same settings. One has a white A written on it, the other a B. The set up for my needs is what I consider 'pro'. The A7RV with 3 option lenses for stills is just 'pro'. The S9 within that line up just does not match my definition of pro. Until I went out and shot it, I can't see how I couldn't see that prior, but some things seem so obvious in practice that didn't on paper. Hey ho.

It does indeed look pretty cool, but actually being pro wins for me over pure aesthetics! But as a personal camera, yup, looks great! Looks identical to me and not heard a peep it’s any different other than the slight differences you can get between the same models, ie, manufacturing ‘tolerances’.

I really think they are not that bright in the Vatican City because how does anyone know the place is not actually on fire? Something like red or purple smoke would be perfect. Or rainbow coloured smoke to demo how PC they are these days. Oh hang on, they don't allow even ladyfolk to join their cult so maybe not...

I won't make any future moves until he has 'spoken'.

Well, it’s like so many things in life and that is we can research and analyse and talk all we want about something, but it’s only real world experience that gives you the answer. So many times I have come close to ditching the S1H but every single bloody time, it keeps coming back to the same result and that is it is The Daddy. Not for stills, the new Daddy there is the Sony A7RV, but as my run & gun unit paired with the Sigma 28-70 f2.8, it is The GOAT. Yes the S5ii has better AF and…well it has better AF and is lighter but otherwise, nope. S9 lighter and smaller still and with better AF but otherwise nope. Whatever comes along in terms of the next gen S1H will probably dethrone the S1H but for video, best camera I have ever had and was for photo until the Sony came into my life.

^ THIS ^ ^ AND THIS ^

Well, having slept on it for another night, I have concluded that I'm sending it back. Somewhat reluctantly because I do like it and the cost difference aside as in, is it worth €1000 more (with cage) than the S1H? the answer is no. It's not worth anything more and in fact less. To me. It's not so much a case as I went too small and too light because there are certain qualities to that, but the loss of all the other factors I listed above; the screen, the card slots etc, ie, the sheer 'pro' qualities and confidence that comes from that, for me outweighs what, the S9 gives me. And yes, I could go with a third S5ii very easily and it would make a lot of sense and is IMO a better option than the S9, but the S1H is better still as an individual unit. That extra bit of chunk negates the need for any kind of grip (compared with a S5ii with battery grip or cage) and my only very slight reservation is outright AF...but I have other units to cover that. The other upside of keeping the S1H and sending back the S9 is it leaves the potential open to see what Lumix might do with any S1H successor next year, ie, potentially trading in an already massively devalued S1H vs losing a whole chunk on a lightly used S9, is also preferable. And I hate change. Detest it. I think I was just a bit too rash with this one, but hey ho.