MrSMW

Just to add, when I talk about f4, for me it's more a low light thing than shallow DOF 'issue'. F4 is f4 for light gathering regardless of sensor size (though that one will be debated forever in some quarters) but equivalent to f6 in FF terms re. shallowness of DOF. I'll take a faster aperture over a higher ISO if I can and this for me has always been the issue, the smaller the sensor, but anyway... I'd be tempted to just go 18-55 and ONLY if it flags up any shortcomings, look beyond that. Depends on your needs... I have an f4 zoom for my FF camera and on anything other than a very bright day, it's not for me for indoor use. 2.8's are better/borderline and 1.8's and faster, night and day difference. It also depends on your screen, EVF or LCD resolutions. Not that they directly affect image quality, but how you see things when shooting and f4 at a higher ISO on my S5 vs f1.8 at a much lower ISO on my S1H, again, night and day difference and as you age and your eyesight gets steadily worse, anything we can claw back is a good thing!

As you know Dustin, the XT3 was my workhorse for 2 seasons. I would say the outright best AF lens was the 18-55 but for me, as a long end zoom user, f4 was too slow and I didn’t like the variable aperture in principle. The 16-55 was probably the best lens for video native to Fuji. A bit too sharp, but a 1/8th mist would solve that and as they now come in variable ND flavour, this world be my first choice without question, effectively covering from 24-83mm in FF terms. Fave zoom however was the Sigma 18-35 f1.8. A bit chunky, especially with the adaptor and lacking a bit in reach forcing a change to a longer prime when needed, but delivered my best results. Fujis own 23mm and 50mm f2 both good but 35mm f2 not, Avoid the faster primes for anything but manual focus, especially the 56mm f1.2 Best cheap AF lens is Canon’s 50mm f1.8 which costs about 100 $£€. Not the quietest but surprisingly good AF. It would do a little rack dance and then lock on which I could live with. If you can work with a 75mm equivalent focal length, which I could bring a 50-100mm man. Little experience of Viltrox etc but the one unit I had, had a very loose aperture ring which drove me nuts.

We’ve discussed this before but most if not all cameras seem to be artificially gimped somewhere, but the ‘somewhere’ seems to be different with each brand so you pick your compromise. I’ve never been a Canon fan or user (other than a compact about 10 years back) but seriously considered an R6 for video and an R5 for stills. Still happy I didn’t make that choice on a number of levels and chose my compromise elsewhere. How does the R6 compare to the S5 then Andrew?

I had the Sony AX100 for that kind of thing but sold it and replaced it with it’s tiny brother, the Sony ZV1. Same sensor, unlimited recording (if you set it to do so), constant faster aperture, but doesn’t have the same zoom reach obviously. If weddings start up for me in the second half of this year, it will be on a lightweight tripod doing full length ceremony and full length speeches. Next year however, it will go to backup as my S5 will take over that roll. 30 minute limit in 10bit I know, but that’s OK as I will just stop/start at an appropriate moment. Battery life is utter trash however, but easily fixed with a small power bank and a Smallrig clamp on the tripod. The AF is great and you cannot trust the AF on the AX100 camcorder…as I found out on one job! Manual focus from that point onwards! Unless you really need the long zoom, some of these compacts or bridge cameras can do the same job? In the Sony camp, the RX10 line is again the same 1” sensor and I had the last one before they went silly with the zoom for the same purpose and that also worked well. For me though, the ZV1 was ‘the answer’ all things considered. Makes a great personal travel camera also.

Smaller?! Does that exist? Sigma FP maybe, but no screen or EVF? Nothing FF I don’t think, maybe APSC otherwise it’s M4/3 but the smaller you go sensor-wise, the less capable the low-light but you can mitigate some of that using ultra fast glass. Love me a bit of environmental ranting though, Greta Thunberg fan eh?

The fella in the pub assured me that the trade for my low mileage Ferrari was fair. OK, they look like ordinary jelly beans, but I am confident they are something much more.

Willing to trade for some magic beans?

I actually wish for that and took a look the other week to see if there was anything ‘vintage’ I could adapt. There wasn’t. As expected. That 10-25 is massive though isn’t it? I hadn’t realised it’s size. OK, primes it is for me then. Shot a job the other day entirely on the Panny 85mm f1.8 and though in crop mode (4K 50p) the equivalent of a 127.5mm lens indoors was ‘a bit tight’, easily the best quality footage compared with my other lenses. The 50mm version is becoming available shortly and then hopefully the 35 and 24 soon. Stick a 1/8th mist VND on each and I’m sorted. Small, light and for me, the perfect DOF.

I have had 2x Go Pros a DJI Action and 2x OSMO Pockets. None of them got any real use. I guess I'm not really an 'action camera' person so instead, for anything like that, either would use my iphone 8 or my Sony ZV1. Really, my Sony ZV1 is my 'action' camera, but even that doesn't get that much use.

What phone do you have? Waterproof case for that...?

After the S1H, nothing much compares for me! The EVF is in another ball park obviously but the LCD quality is also significant, especially in brighter light.

Well, opinions are subjective of course and I am more of a prime man than a zoom one, but this is a very nice zoom. The 28-70mm f2.8 feels compact, solid, well built, not plasticky. It is some super hard matt plastic but it almost feels metallic...difficult to describe really, but it's (much) nearer the premium end of the scale than the cheap end. From all the reviews I have seen and read, it's the L Mount users who seem to rate it more than the Sony users. The bokeh and rendering. I'd class it as 'very nice'. I'd call it smooth and cinematic yes, but a little vintage/character in there? I will have some dedicated video work with it I can show in a few weeks, but client embargo on all my recent shoots until then. I should add I have been using it with a 1/8th Pro Mist with the S1H which has an OLPF and combined, this takes some of the sharpening down and adds some softness...without the result being soft. You know what I mean. As a run & gun combo, no cage, no monitor, no gimbal, no nothing, I think it's a superb 28-70mm FF or 42-105mm crop set up, pretty much SOOC with just a little tidying up in post of a few elements, but have not had to 'fix' a single thing other than warp stabiliser to a single clip, last 3 jobs. The IBIS is stellar. Tomorrow I actually have a pure video job. Not had a pure video (as in no stills job) with this system so it will actually be the first dedicated shoot, so that should be interesting for me because I can focus on it 100% instead of 50%...

Yes L Mount and the ghosting issue is with all early models below a certain serial number. It is apparent as far as I understand it when strong light hits the lens at a certain angle. I’ve had a few examples of ‘not as respected’ results and after my next 2 jobs are in the bag, this Sunday and Monday, I will send it in as I will have a window to do so.

I might be way off here but what about something like the Jackery 1000? Can't buy anything more powerful than the 500 model here in the EU at the present time so I went for another companies 500 model. It's principally to charge all my batteries and run my laptop when I am 'off grid' at or between jobs in my mobile office/bathroom/kitchen/bedroom AKA my caravan.

Well, Sigma France very kindly in the common parlance, 'reached out to me' and asked me if I'd like to test the FP-L and any lenses. So for the last couple of weeks, I have been doing just that. And it's not for me. It has several positives, but far more negatives FOR ME AND MY NEEDS. First of all, I need a camera to either be a pure stills unit, pure video, or hybrid. It doesn't really tick any of these boxes for me and I hoped it would tick at least one. The video specs don't really suit my needs and from a photography perspective, I got banding in low light due to the electronic only shutter. I'm getting ahead of myself however and straight out of the box, it was both bigger and heavier than I imagined. Everyone goes on about how Panasonic's S line FF cameras are HUGE, but I don't find them so and have the biggest of the lot, the S1H. And everyone says how tiny Sigma's FP line is and for me, it was bigger than expected and not much smaller or lighter than the Panasonic S5 with the same lens attached. From that point onward, it really began to fall apart... Handling. Awful. It needs a grip and yes, I am aware there are both native and aftermarket options and I could not imagine using it without one. Lack of tilt screen = fail in my book. I am no fan of fully articulating screens but if I had an FP/L I would at the very least need to look at that aftermarket option in this regard. The side attached EVF. If it was in the centre, in line with the lens, I'd be a fan. Attached to the side, not so and it makes the camera wider and bigger feeling than my S5. The menu. Like any menu system, you would get used to it after a while, but I found it rather infuriating and I did not have this problem when I first picked up a Sony (often criticised for their menus as are sometimes Fuji and Panny but the latter 2 are easily much more intuitive). Stills image quality for outdoor photography. Absolutely stellar, but not enough to win me over. I said the same thing in feedback to Sigma France and that is I wanted to like the camera. Ideally, I'd like to want it enough, or even just find a reason to buy one, but I can't, - it's just too compromised for my needs. FPL-2 for me would need: A mech shutter for stills. Tilt screen. 4k 60p. Centrally mounted EVF. I'd like to see a better menu system, but that would not be a deal-breaker and neither is the lack of a grip, - that is the point of modular in both these regards (grip and EVF). And that's my 'review' of the FP-L. I also had the 65mm f2 in for test and loved it. I used it for both stills and video with my S1H and it produced great results. AF, especially in tracking, was not as good as native Panny, but not utter garbage, in fact, quite useable a lot of the time. But I sit on the fence with whether I will buy one or not as I'm probably going to stick with Panny and their expanding range of f1.8 primes, mainly for the greater range of all f1.8; 24, 35, 50 and 85mm vs Sigma's f3.5 24mm (nope) and 35mm & 65mm f2 pairing (yep). I also have as a side note Sigma's 28-70mm f2.8 and it is excellent for both photo and video although I am going to have to send it in at some point as it's an early serial number and has the ghosting issue in certain light. Final note and that is I like Sigma. A lot. I think they are a great company and offer some really great products, at least in their lens lineup. The FP is probably another generation away for me, but there's always hope... Merci à Renaud de m'avoir donné l'opportunité de tester ces articles !

Well if you do and are interested in buying a used 24-105 in mint nick, let me know...and postage from France to Espagne is cheap 🤑 Nothing wrong with it, just no place in my kitbag and it’s gathering dust. The only reason I still have it is I need to exchange my Sigma 28-70mm at some point due to the ghosting issue and I have been holding on to the Panny zoom for that eventuality, but it’s not critical.

This lens for me was always the temptation to go 4/3rds for pure video work. For stills, nah. My previous 4/3 cameras could not quite match my at the time APSC cameras and there is zero doubt in my mind if I were to compare to my current FF pairing. What the combo of 4/3 with this lens lacked for me however was a longer equivalent. With the GH6 officially coming, though spec not yet fully known, it makes for a very interesting potential set up for me for 2022. I do need one more camera (yes, ‘need’) and a GH6 with twin zoom set up would tick probably every box, so my S1H could go full-time stills and S5 hybrid. And yep, that Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 is great. I shot 2x commercial jobs (hybrid) with it last week and another with the Sigma 65mm f2 which was also very nice but a bit limiting at times. But the GH6 with this twin zoom set up looks a very promising proposition for ‘22!

Yes, that’s about the sum of it and here in France even more so where rules apply to ‘other’ people. Pretty much nothing is enforced. Most of these systems rely on folks following the rules and the only people that do that are those people that follow the rules anyway which makes anything that is not realistically enforceable, pointless. And 35 million to develop an app and then 1000x that to implement it... How many fully staffed hospitals could you build with that? Or spend the money on helping countries like Brazil. Though in that particular case, it’s more the lunatic in charge than a question of chucking money at it I think. Yep, we live in a pretty wishy washy world in Western Europe and the US.

That’s very sad news. I’ve watched many of his YouTubes.

The summary of which is even if 99.9% follow the rules, it only takes the 0.1% and the system (and point) of it is fucked. So what is the point? Some people just feel a need to do ‘something’ and the rest see an opportunity to make a few quid.

Dam (sic) 🤪

I'm not that interested, but 37 Billion on an app?! If that really is the figure, there's a bunch of people somewhere that need blindfolding and lining up against the wall 🤪

The other thing about the S1H is it's overlooked by just about everybody as a photo camera. I'm not sure how it's marketed without checking, but my 99% of everything coming from everyone who is not Panasonic is that it's primarily a video tool. It's a bloody good photo camera I can tell you! I really liked the files coming out of my previous Fujis, but the raws from this are another level up. And the fact it has an optical low pass filter and therefore is supposedly less sharp, good, - results coming from most cameras and glass these days are far too sharp! I shoot mine with an 1/8th mist filter also and in post, stills get a -20% clarity reduction automatically in Lightroom. The one thing I would not mind though are a few more megapixels... If the next gen has anything around 30-40, that would be fine with me. Anything over is getting a bit too much for my needs and these 60-100mp monsters...well I can appreciate why some might like/need them, but not for me. For 95% of my work that is and for that 5% I do, tripod and hi res mode et voila.

Digital ND shutter?

Well, if Panny do release a new S1H ii by next Spring, it would be a pretty tough call as both would almost certainly meet my min spec requirements as cameras. So really, it would be lenses that could make the difference and the one thing I always struggle with for my specific needs, is glass. This pairing of 10-25 and 25-50 is the closest of anything on the market. I'm just not a fan of 4/3rds for photography and no way could I go there from FF. APSC, yes, but nope 4/3rds. For video, I have zero preference really and if anything, prefer APSC...which is what I shoot with the S series anyway.