MrSMW

Well I checked this morning as it happens and Panny France use a company called Nexxen or something (the name I forget) and they have a proper procedure as of course they should do. The only problem is no timescales and this also being France… just saying… 😜 Unless it actually stops working, it’s going to have to last 2 more months… I tried some electrical tape but then the screen won’t fold in so even more likely to get completely knocked off. Hate the sticky out the side things with unbridled passion. Like onions, they are the work of the devil. On another note, I finally decided on a long(er) lens after going back and forth between the Sigma 90mm f2.8 and the 105mm f2.8 macro and went with the latter. Why did I not do this sooner?! Had a kit rework as a result and I think that finally, after around 30 or so Lumix based full frame weddings, I have it sorted. With a single Sony interloper (the ZV1).

Pretty sure I’d take around the same whichever device I had with me, camera or phone. I would rather have/use a camera but the reality is it’s an extra device to be porting around and whenever I have taken both, I ended up either replicating or using the phone more. Like many others, I take little to no joy using my phone. For anything. It is literally just a functional tool to me. I do not spend any time looking at reviews or news about phones (other than briefly and specifically when buying a new one) and subscribe to any kind of user or tech channel that blathers on about phones? Eugh, no! I suspect if I didn’t make a living out of photography, I’d be more likely to use a camera outside of work, but for personal stuff, I can no longer be bothered. Unless someone wishes to gift me an X100V and then I’ll make an effort. But anything less such as an F or a T, go away.

I looked at various Android options before I went with my iPhone 13 with a view to the photo side, but in the end decided I would rather stay in the Apple ecosystem. Not because I’m a fanboy (I prefer to buy unbranded products whenever I can and don’t like paying a premium to simply be a walking billboard) but rather because it works for me. I went with the 13 to replace: an 8, a compact everyday camera and a dedicated drone controller. I prefer the convenience of a phone as my every day camera, but the downside is the ergos/handling/use ability which definitely isn’t as nice as even a small ‘proper’ camera. Still a long looooooong way off any kind of ‘phone’ taking over my pro needs and unlikely within the remainder of my career, but all that ‘stuff’ you speculated about Andrew will come because that’s where it’s headed. It’s not just phone tech that is hurting actual ‘real’ camera budgets and development but stuff like AI. Perhaps even more so, ie, what is becoming possible with any old shitty footage. Or even no footage and the whole thing is fake… It’s not going to take over and dominate for the 10-12 years I have to eke out a living, but I do think the photo industry (as we know it) especially is changing. That’s just reality and either adapt or die, or find a niche. If it changes quicker than I anticipate, I’ll just start playing the retro card 😎

Oh flip… all this time I meant I switched from the AX100 to the ZV1🤪 Never had a 700! I think the sun must have gone to my head today… Apologies @stefanocps !!!!

10 or 12k square format sensor on my wishlist! But being serious, I am thinking more and more that after this current season is done, over the Winter I am going to take a good look at maybe a completely new way (for both me and the generally accepted norm) of doing things. I can’t see any way as a one man band around still using 3 cameras at certain times, but I can see ways of making my capture workflow more accurate and efficient. Interesting times… I think I may just have to pick up a used R5 and a lens towards the end of my season and tag along at a colleagues wedding and try just an 8k video and extracted stills workflow. It will test both the overheating issues and just how much I can pull stills-wise from a horizontal video format. As above, I’ve pulled stuff off both 4 and 6k, but not shot exclusively to do both (video with the intention of then lifting the stills). Might try it with my S1R’s actually as I shoot 5k and the footage is excellent…

I'm surprised my little ZV1 doesn't cook to be honest but it's only shut off once this Summer but that was in 40c/100f in the shade, direct sunshine for 30 mins plus...

Et voila: https://www.mpb.com/en-eu/product/sony-zv-1/sku-1512990

Well I am sure you can find a ZV1 for under 500 easily.

And just one further thought and that is I am even toying with ditching full frame for all my video/filmmaking needs and running instead maybe 3x ZV1... Reality though is not this year and by next, maybe the next gen will be out and that might make even more sense. The bottom line is that the quality is just about good enough for my needs but for portability, set up etc, running 3 of the things in a dedicated role 'might' be a better all round solution for my needs than lugging about; an S1H, S5 and a pair of hybrid S1R's... But back to the AX700, - it was a decent bit of kit but not really what I wanted so when the opportunity came to make some changes, I made the switch.

Only giving up the long end of the zoom for my purposes, otherwise I am using the ZV1 in 3 different ways: 1. Static unit for long recordings. With power bank it's essentially unlimited recording only limited by card size and power bank. 2. Gimbal cam. I use so little gimbal on any job and only for the same very specific purposes. I do not want any longer set up than 10 seconds. Using the QR plate means that other than switching on the gimbal and taking it off the tripod, it's around 5 seconds to transform from static to fully working gimbal camera. 3: It takes 2 seconds to release the camera from the gimbal and it's a tiny handheld unit. OK, it will not fit in the pocket with the cage but the cage adds to the handling and on a pro job, makes it look less like a compact camera. I don't 'hate' Sony as such, but rather just find them a very functional but otherwise boring camera company. Ie, their stuff works, but I get no joy from using any of it. But the main reason I gave up the AX700 is the AF. It is not reliable and the ZV1 is about as a good as it gets. The ZV1 just suits my needs better in the role(s) I use it for.

So both camera and lens are set to MF? If so, can’t think of anything except the lens is stuck in MF internally. And changing the subject, vindicated once again in my loathing for flip out side screens as the one on my S5 is now still working but partially hanging off after a bump. Did this with an XT2 and XT3 so third body to have been damaged so. I hate flip out side screens with a passion…

I had the AX700 and used it as a workhorse every job but last year, swapped it’s role for a ZV1 and sacrificed 70+mm range for: Size/weight/genuine pocketability. Faster aperture lens. Better AF. (The AF on the AX700 can wander off and stay wandered off if you don’t keep an eye on it). It’s not a camcorder. I have mine ‘rigged up’ with: Smallrig cage Rode Wireless Go Lightweight tripod Crane M3 gimbal Powerbank File output tweaked as close as I could get it to match my full frame Lumix cameras. Obviously it does not have the same outright image quality or DR but it’s very good in it’s role as my principal static full duration single wide angle ceremony and speeches unit, but then the gimbal whips off the QR plate and it becomes uber-lightweight gimbal cam for the few times I need such a thing. The only thing I don’t love about the ZV1 is that it’s branded Sony. Maybe I will get a Lumix sticker for it…

Yep, it’s like blaming the child for the actions of the parent. Along with the Z9, ‘ultimate’ hybrid at this point in time for me. Time for Lumix to up their game…

Yes and this is where for me the R5 is interesting because ditch the ND’s and crank the shutter speed to say min 1/250th and then simply pull stills. I have tried with in both 4k 50p and 6k 25p mode with my Lumix cameras. Pretty decent results so I can imagine what 8k stills would be like. As a fast-paced hybrid shooter faced at any point with one or the other, it’s easy, go video because you have a chance of pulling stills from the footage but you can’t make a movie from your stills unless shooting 24/25fps! One day I need to do an entire job of exclusively not shooting any stills but pulling it all 100% from the video. Now it ‘does not’ overheat, that could be interesting with an R5…

Maybe so, but even 8 seconds is too long for my needs! But not a concern as I have no current plans to switch to any other system, - great tracking AF (or lack thereof) is the current (and only real cross) I have to bear…but even that is also a case of over-hyping YouTube drama queens 😜

A wedding, hybrid coverage. Snap snap snap snap snap photo, immediately flip to video mode, recompose if necessary, focus, press record. All. Day. Long. 20 seconds would be an absolute deal-breaker for me. Less than 2 seconds with Lumix and then the rest is up to me which is typically; <2 second flip from stills mode to video (or visa versa) + I'd estimate another <2 seconds to compose, acquire focus using AF and manually flick to manual focus, press record, so in total, a sub 4 second process, probably closer to 3 seconds. With 2x camera bodies, I'd repeat this process an average 250x per shoot as that's my ballpark number of clips I come back with. 20-25 second 'flipping' would flipping kill my approach to capturing a wedding! All hail Lumix.

I just ‘treated’ myself to another new (used) lens for my L Mount based system 🤑

My M3 is doing around 1150g but not sure what it’s operating capacity is supposed to be. I don’t think it’s really designed for this kind of weight and I have been using it for one single thing about 60 seconds at each wedding and it seems to be coping OK.

🤪 maybe?! I know the Panasonic’s are near bullet proof as they have had some really tough tests over this Summer! They can get hot, really hot, but not even a warning and if the S1H fan has ever kicked on, I haven’t heard it.

Canon really shot themself in the foot over this overheating thing… A couple of years back when it launched, on paper, it was as quite comfortably the number one contender for my needs but the sheer amount of negative press over the issue put me off. It wasn’t so much the Canon shenanigans, but more the fact I was not going to invest in something potentially so unreliable. There have been several times since when I have had my S1H sitting in direct hard sun with temps in the shade of 100f+ and it has not missed a beat and at the time thought, “ha, do that Canon!”, but actually maybe it could have done it… It’s back on the list as a contender for sure but I’m still hoping that any Panny rumors become reality over this next Winter…

All of that @Thpriest But if anything, my wishes are even more simple: S1H body, just shrunk 10%. Reliable tracking AF. DFD or phase, I don’t care, as long as it works. 30mp full frame sensor for my stills needs. Done. The S5 itself though has too many ergo, function and haptic flaws for me, ie, I personally do not consider it pro grade whereas my S1H and S1R most definitely are.

“The new S5H autofocuses like a charging male goat”. That’s the headline I want to read.

After saying I was done with gimbals, I gave my Star Wars stormtrooper white Crane 3 one final chance and for the very limited purpose I had for it, it worked OK with the S5 and kit zoom. Just. I think it’s on the limit and the motors are having to work extra hard to balance it. I went with a QR plate on the base of the gimbal itself, so 95% of the time, all 3 axis are locked and it just becomes part of the tripod. Slightiy wobbly if lightly shaken, but can’t fall over like a freestanding monopod would so a good workaround for me.

That’s the same ‘material’ again including the new highly anticipated Billy mode. I suspect it will make the camera the GOAT.