MrSMW

Oh and can someone buy Lumix a 2025 calendar because it’s May 😱

So an FX3 with a higher res screen.

Is that such a bad thing? OK, maybe…

Special exception as she made them pre 1945.

Lucky the colour from the S5ii is not shitty then, or if it is, says more about the user than the camera 😜

Read that a few times about the S5ii and hoping for a better low light camera. My thoughts to that are 😂 and 🥱

It was a lot more than that with a completely different body. Other than the brand badge and the menu system, they were 2 very different cameras and the new S1Rii is far more like a bigger brother ‘upgrade’ to the S5ii than it is to the OG S1R. This is the thing. Other than a different body style, what will be the difference and will it be enough to matter? Everyone hopes for something groundbreaking such as internal ND, but unless it’s a high end ‘flagship’, that ain’t going to happen. I really would like to see something special but not going to hold my breath… I might be interested in a single unit if it does something extra special my S9 cannot. What would that have to be? Zero crop 4k 60p (ideally 6k 60p) open gate, water resistant and twin card slots in a small/compact package. I prefer using my S9 as my run & gun over my S5ii’s but yesterday got caught in heavy rain and that has me rethinking that slightly!

Damn, that’s a much better price than I paid even just a few months back, but hey ho. I am really intrigued now what it can do video-wise, especially with the current RED luts and anything future that may come in that regard. I guess I really need to shoot a straight heads up against my S9 because I think it could easily slip into that role as at least a run & gun video unit. That would then mean a switch to Nikon for all video needs which is something I have been complementing for 2026 anyway…

First time back out with the Zf (late 2023 camera!) shooting stills alongside the A7RV this weekend after ditching it (the Zf) in favour of moving over to the Sony early last year. Glad I bought one back. It’s such a great stills camera, my favourite ever now taking over from my previous faves which were the Fuji X100 series and X Pro2. The Zf is like an X Pro2 on steroids. I need to try it for video because that could be a little bit special…

I thought that about picking up some FX3’s and my next wedding film would look like a sequel to The Creator. But stupidly, I stuck with my S5ii’s 😒

I’d also be taking a look at the new Nikon Z5ii. Those more compact Tamron lenses will also work near natively with the Megadap adapter. It would make for a great relatively low cost, compact, high performing, affordable set up.

Each to their own Emanuel but your mathematics are not quite correct. Let’s say you are buying new and instead of the 2 Tamron lenses I referenced, you went with the new Sony, then the maths (in euros anyway) are: 4350 - (840 + 860) =2 650 f2 vs f2.8 is a pretty big deal to anyone that shoots indoors or very low light outdoors as I do. Not having to switch lenses is a massive deal to someone like me, even if that ‘one & done’ in the hand is more than the alternative. I have to work with 2 cameras (for stills) regardless because no single lens covers my needs nor ever will. At least not in my career lifetime because my focal range requirements on pretty much every job is 20-200mm. My current limit is 180mm but my A7Rv can easily make that last 20mm up. It can easily make up +90mm actually by switching to 26mp APSC crop mode, so the 150mm of the new Sony is no gap at all. Yes it can’t go wider than 50mm but that is a non-issue because the limitation when using the 70-180 is it is not quite wide enough (without lens switching) and when using the 28-75, not quite long enough. Having the 20-40 on a second body though only leave a gap of 40-50mm and that just is not something even worth considering. So for my specific use case, ball park $2500 (adjust for tariffs as an when), it’s a no-brainer! Yes it will cost me a bit more than that as I will have to sell 2x lenses to make it happen, but even then, it makes sense to me. Sigma doesn’t have anything currently that can compete against this. The closest would be the 28-105mm f2.8 and that is not close at all. Tamron and Samyang have their 35-150’s but they get to f2.8 very quickly and they extend when zooming like excited donkeys.

I am actually in the camp of ‘gear is great’ and love a chat about kit, but just saying that too many focus on the camera and only the camera above all else as in, “if only I had Camera X, I would make it in this industry”. I’m all for filmmakers large and small to break away from the norms and don’t think kit should be restricted to just the most expensive stuff when some very very ‘low’ end gear has been proven to work just as well and in some cases, has made certain shots possible on the first place. As already referenced, The Creator being shot on FX3’s and The Batman (for certain scenes) using a lens that can be purchased of eBay for under 100. I think the Ronin is such an example but could this show have been made without it? Yes. Will the way this show was shot influence others to emulate? Probably. Will some of them buy or rent a Ronin as a result? Probably, but the result was not solely down to a single piece of kit.

A7iv IMO might be a better hybrid unless prioritising low light video over stills? Tamron 20-40 + 28-75 + 70-180 would make a pretty sweet 3x compact zoom set up. I know this because it was my set up last year for stills and is again for this year. Next year, pretty sure I will trade the 28-75 and 70-180 for the new boy 50-150 f2, both for the convenience and extra stop, albeit sacrificing a bit of reach. But then with my A7Rv I can crop quite hard if required. Personally, I’d go for an A7Rv over an A7iv as it’s a better camera pretty much every department, but A7iv’s are cheaper. All this stuff is available used of course.

I’m intrigued… Does it begin with S?

Jon Snow lives his life on YouTube.

It's so easy to focus on the camera as the single most important element and if some folks wish to believe that's what it's all about, best of luck to them `and their lives within the comments section on YouTube. It's not the camera. It's not the lens. It's not the grade. It's not the lighting. It's not the budget. It's not the creative talent. It's all of these elements and that is what a camera body is, just one single element, but alone it is nothing.

Cam Mackey hears your call to action and is now working on it.

If just one of these ^ happens, it would be ossum 🫡

It's like a wedding where the fella wears a dark suit and the bride, a white frock. In bright sunlight. And insist on doing everything outdoors, early to mid-afternoon. Welcome to my world 😏 😉

I am going to predict not. I reckon it will be S5ii spec in a Sony FX3 style body and that's about it. Possibly a better built and beefier S9... Interested? 'Mildly curious'. I have literally just finished packing up my van after updating software, resetting all the settings and clocks etc on all my kit ahead of this seasons opening event. I have ZERO interest in changing anything until this season is done and in the bag. Mid-season changes just cause problems!

Nah, they will pass, but then these are night shots rather than day so would expect them to be darker 😝 I re-watched The Batman yesterday. Last time was big screen with French subtitles 🥸 but at home on this occasion and that movie I think is a great example of ‘dark’ for reference.

Pretty stable and even with the post stab, not a huge amount of cropping going on 👍 I'd say FF Lumix is about the same level with S5ii.

I'm finding this last set a little too dark Kye...but that might just be my personal taste. I often do the old 'Squint Test' when it comes to images and these are just a tad too dark for me. Hope you don't mind me saying...

+ Currently = 5 bodies: 2 stills + 4 lenses (within the Sony e Mount/Nikon ecosystem) & 3 video + 5 lenses (within L Mount), so considering a switch to: 4 bodies (1x Sony + 3x Nikon) & 5 lenses, ie, 5 bodies + 9 lenses currently across 2 incompatible systems for 4 bodies + 5 lenses within 1 compatible system, ie, with the Megadap adapter, Nikon Z has access to anything E Mount with near native autofocus. Ie, 1 less body and 4 less lenses and within ONE single compatible (lens) system. And yes, it is my full-time business so everything I buy (or sell) is a business decision and expense. Well maybe, but anything I say I always qualify with 'for my specific needs' any time I talk about gear. Sorry, all FF Lumix or Sigma glass...and as above, if it happens, won't be until October soonest with any kit for sale UK or EU only! It's more likely I will do it than not because as I am always saying to my missus, no more 'sideways' steps when it comes to business expenses, - any major changes have to be because the thing is quantifiably better. Or I broke something. But hardly like I could break an entire system so, the former.