eatstoomuchjam

Ugh. And to make it even worse, they don't use human-understandable names for the lenses, but use model numbers. You know, for all the people who say "I'm gonna shoot this with my H-H014." Plus they put NG for all of the Olympus lenses - wonder if that means that I was wrong about the ones that I thought went to linear when you engaged the clutch or whether it just means that Panasonic couldn't be bothered to check them. "I'd like to manually focus this, but first let me consult the table in my user manual to see if manual focus works with this camera/lens combo..."

Some of these criticisms are primarily valid for older/shittier focus-by-wire systems, though. The Canon EF 85/1.2L has a famously terrible focus-by-wire system that made almost nobody ever want to use it - not only is it non-linear, but it's also a little bit laggy. Of course, its focus motor is also slow and a bit loud. I still use mine sometimes, though, for photo shoots - the image is really nice and models who are staying more-or-less still are a decent use case for a slow AF motor. Anyway, the Panasonic 20/1.7 pancake is in a similar situation. It's old, relatively noisy, and slow, with no ability to be switched to linear response. It's fucking awful to use in manual focus mode for that reason - and yeah, AF mode also aint' great. On the other hand, I think most or all of the first-party lenses for Fuji GF are focus by wire. They're either linear or switchable to it (and I set the option in the camera and immediately forgot since there's no way I'd switch it back). When manually focusing, the damping is nice and the lens is responsive and accurate. It really feels like focusing a proper lens. Though many of those lenses also fall into your category of spending a lot of money. I think that all of the PanaLeica lenses are either linear or close enough to it that it felt linear to me. Some of the older ones are pretty affordable now - like the Summilux 25/1.4 asph goes for about $300 used. Worth confirming that they all have linear response, though - I only had a few when I shot M43 and that was a long time ago so I could be misremembering. Otherwise, I feel like the Olympus lenses with a focus clutch also were linear-ish, but maybe I'm crazy there too. As to the thinking behind a "non-proportional" focus was, I think, that for photos, you could get rough focus quickly by turning the dial fast and then get a really precise critical focus by turning slowly. At least that's what they said. I think the bigger thinking behind it was "we can make this lens for less money as well as simplifying the design by removing the coupling between focus ring and lens elements"

I also just saw that this is from the same company that did a kickstarter for the Alice camera. I think there are still crowd funding backers waiting for delivery on that one - the campaign ran in 2021. Here is a reddit thread where the OP deleted their message, but you can see a lot in the comments about huge delays with the last camera and as of 2 months ago, the company was responding to people saying that they're finally shipping. https://www.reddit.com/r/photography/comments/1brpul5/deleted_by_user/ According to one comment, the new camera seems to just be the same as the old camera (due to the previous version losing in a trademark dispute in court), but with a new name and software. So... at least that means there's less risk on them taking 4+ years to ship this one. Anyway, my recommendation is now even more strongly to just get a used OM-5 or similar. Buy from a reputable used vendor and it'll be in your hands in a few days. If they actually ship this camera someday and you're loving what you see from it, you can sell the OM-5 and buy the Caira at that time.

1) This didn't go well for Sony when they released the QX100 and QX10 years ago. It also didn't work well for Olympus with the Air A01. Of course, none of them stuck a stupid bullshit "AI" label on the end of the camera name so who knows, maybe that's what was missing. 2) Fuck GenAI. Of all the things I want integrated in my camera, that's at about the rock bottom of the list. 3) Note that at least 3 of the 6 testimonials that they include (screenshot below) don't actually say anything positive about the camera. "That's very different" is not an endorsement. In fact, where I live, saying "that's different" is usually a form of backhanded insult. 4) It looks like it only supports wifi connection to the phone without a wired option. In a best-case scenario, screen lag will be tolerable. Go to any reasonably-crowded urban area, though, and enjoy the slide show and/or "connection lost" messages. 5) Even though they say you can choose from over 100 M43 lenses, I'd be worried about magsafe supporting any moderately heavy lens. Even if it does, the camera will be really unbalanced. 6) When Caira goes out of business, there will be nobody left to update the app and the camera isn't usable without it. Cross your fingers that Apple doesn't change some necessary API during an OS update. 7) Super early bird pricing is $695. You can go buy a used Panasonic G85 in like new condition for about $430. You can get an OM System OM-5 in like new condition for about $760 or in excellent condition for about $690. The G85 is cheaper and pretty good - at least on a spec sheet, they seem similar - a little bulkier, maybe. The OM-5 should be at least as good of a camera, also is quite small (not as small, of course, but very small by modern camera standards), and will keep working whether or not OM Systems stays in business or decides they want to stop making cameras. 8 ) Phone cameras are already very good these days. Mine is more than good enough for any of the sort of images/videos that they seem to be promoting on their site. If not, I'd probably just get a newer/better phone and not some janky add-on. 🙂 9) Small company + Kickstarter means you'll probably be waiting a good long time and/or never actually receive the order. Even though they say they have 500 mainboards already in stock, actually building and shipping hundreds of units is a really hard challenge that a lot of kickstarter projects don't take into account - and sometimes not even due to fault of the creators. My 4x10 film camera that I ordered from an established brand (Ondu) who already made/shipped lots of pinhole cameras for years beforehand took WAY longer than expected, at least partly because suppliers kept sending out-of-spec parts to them. The owner is a really great guy and we had some nice conversations when I asked my camera hadn't come despite that he said they were caught up on orders (turned out that their tool to collect shipping information lost a bunch of responses so he had to go manually collect them from a lot of people). So anyway - for me, Caira is a hard no. I'm basically the opposite of their target market, though.

The C50 is a $3,900 camera. It's quite good and I'd love to have one, but there's a LOT of competition in the $4,000 space. It shouldn't surprise cined that not everybody's talking about it. Ultimately, it will probably be a good seller for Canon. On the other hand, adding something with "Redcode" in the name as a feature for the ZR was a fantastic marketing decision on Nikon's part. With a decent colorist, the differences in a final image between the Redcode NE and Nikon raw are likely to be negligible - but it doesn't matter because people can now say that they have a camera that records Redcode RAW. These days, used Komodos are not that much off the ZR in price - and lensrentals.com has their early BF special on off-rental gear where you can get 15% off one of their Komodos which are still in decent condition - putting them almost equal to the ZR in price. But getting an OG Komodo means a bigger camera with a smaller sensor, much worse autofocus, worse/less flexible built-in screen, much ergonomics, worse media (Cfast vs CF Express), and probably buying a v-lock battery plate so you don't need to source older/expensive Canon camcorder batteries (I did exactly that), and a less flexible lens mount with fewer third-party lenses available. But you do gain global shutter and 16-bit raw with better test chart performance. So yeah, of course everybody's talking about the ZR. Not sure why anybody, cined included, should be mad about it. People are welcome to use whatever hammer they like - and more competition in the cinema camera space, especially affordable (in comparison) competition is great for us as consumers of those cameras.

The R3D files made by the ZR are actually R3D NE, a new codec which may or may not just be the same as Nikon raw, but with different processing applied. Resolve 17 was released in 2020 before either Nikon raw or R3D NE existed so you will probably need to upgrade to 20. A potential workaround would be to use redcine-x to apply basic adjustments and then convert them to a format that Resolve 17 can handle.

Speaking of disconnected, I recently got curious how much the GH7 had come down in price. I guess it's still $2,200 new (usually) but on sale for about $1,800 now which is a close match for the going price used? But... are there people out there still spending $2,200 on a GH7? I'm not saying it's a bad camera, but I'd really have expected the new prices to be <1500 by now, especially given that just about anybody who was willing to buy a GH7 at anywhere near $2,000 probably already did. (That and I've sort of always wanted one and really want the used price to be closer to 800 than 1800) That's a fantastic deal! Going rate is a lot more.

Fuji have announced the X-T30 IIi https://www.fujifilm-x.com/global/products/cameras/x-t30-iii/ It looks... fine. The price is nice - $1,000. As I said in the title, it looks like it'll be great for someone who would have bought the X-M5, but preferred a camera with an EVF. Photos are 26 megapixel. Video is 6.2k at up to 30fps, 4k at up to 60fps, and 1080p at up to 240fps. The only mention of image stabilization on the product page is electronic so I think there won't be any IBIS which will be a deal breaker for some/many.

I'd have to dig mine out to see what it is - but it's EF mount so usable on a speed booster. 🙂 (But still more expensive than cutting some cardboard)

It's true - that's a decent experience. DJI Transmission to their high bright monitor also seems to be higher quality with similar/less lag than my Hollyland Pyros. But I've had glitches/problems with all of them in the past, especially in the sort of areas where my phone shows like 40 wifi networks. The biggest problem for me is that if wireless is the only option, when it's not working, you're just SOL. It can work perfectly for weeks or months, but none of it matters if it breaks down on the day when you're shooting something that matters.

I'm still on the other side of this one. My most used lens while traveling on my GFX 100 II (and previously on my GFX 100) is the 32-64/4. Except when Etosha NP, where it was the 500/5.6 (sometimes with the teleconverter). Most used apertures on the 32-64/4 are all in the f/5.6-11 range. There aren't a lot of landscapes where I need to be at f/2.8 or faster and for environmental photos of myself or my partner (or both of us together) in places, the phone does fine - and if I do take it with the real camera, shooting at f/2 will definitely let somebody know that we were in a place with certain abstract impressionist colors seeming like a meadow or forest or lake behind us. For an upcoming trip to Thailand where I'd like to travel lighter since we're moving around a lot, sleeping on trains, etc, I'm currently giving a lot of thought to just bringing the 50/3.5 and trying single lens life. I'm eager for the day when the GFX 100RF is a lot less expensive on the used market.

If that's the direction you're going, have you considered a Blazar Mantis? It's a 1.33x squeeze and has an internal oval aperture to give what they claim to be closer to a 2x bokeh look. I've looked at them a few times and I personally find their bokeh to be a turnoff, but a bunch of people seem to like them. Otherwise, it might be worth looking into whether any currently-shipping lenses allow a waterhouse aperture. I had a modern Petzval for a bit that did. If it's a waterhouse, you could put tape over the biggest and cut out any shape you want for the bokeh. I think lensbaby have one or more lenses which have both a standard round aperture and a hole for inserting bokeh-shaping cutouts. I might even have one around year somewhere from around 12 years ago that I've only used a few times - not for the bokeh cutout, but because the front element of it is on something like a ball head so it can be unlocked and moved freely around to get all Scheimpflug-gy(?).

Looks like it supports a wired connection. If using the phone as a monitor in most places, that's preferable. In any sort of urban area, congestion in the 2.4ghz and 5ghz zones makes wifi monitoring frustrating - it'll be working perfectly for an hour and then as soon as you start to roll a take, it's either stuttering or turning into a work of impressionist art. Otherwise, apps like it (without a number of the features like storyboarding, etc) have existed for other cameras for a whlie. The Z Cam mobile app is so good that it makes you angry at every other camera vendor (it also supports wired connection). But yet, most users end up still using monitors - among other things because notifications popping up while filming is distracting - and just about everything on set needs a damn app these days and that gets annoying when that app needs to run on what is now your camera's monitor. The main place I've ended up using this sort of app is for travel - for building out a minimal rig, it's fantastic to pack just a little phone clamp and not have to think about an external screen and some np-f's.

FWIW, the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 pancake is popular among Fuji GFX users because it's the smallest (or one of the smallest) autofocus lenses that covers the GFX sensor. If there's a market for the Canon lens, there's almost certainly a market for a similar lens that's one stop faster. Not even sure why Sean would equate it to a shitty 26mm f/8 lens.

I guess that people must have been complaining to Panasonic that the S9 was too affordable and they really needed the same thing, but more expensive. 😉

Japan is not tropical at all. Tokyo sits at 35N, a little bit North of San Diego, CA which is about 33N. For buying used lenses, tariffs are a real motherfucker, since buying lenses used from Japan used to mean getting them for a bit less than US prices and in much nicer condition all-around. As can my Blazar 1.33x when I pair it with one. It's a great place to pair with an old DSO FF 58 if you can find one at a reasonable price (or just wait until Gale does another run of them, I picked one up last year over the holidays). If playing with this, you might also experiment with a lens modded with an oval aperture or with just putting an oval cutout in front of or behind the lens. It'll make the bokeh a little more stretched. It's similar to what Blazar are doing with Mantis and was one of the options with the previously-mentioned DSO FF 58. I think there are also tutorials on doing a DIY mod for the Helios 58 (the lens used for DSO) to have it.

If you're using Chrome, you can just right click on some random part of the page and select "translate to english" and it does a pretty decent job.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256809809423132.html I think it's newer than the one I got and I guess it's closer to $30 than $20. If you look around, you can also find some cases that work well with it. It can also work with some cases, as mentioned in this video by DP Journey. I got one of those cases too, but I'm not planning to switch to it until the Apple case that I got with my phone is falling apart (should just be another 3-6 months or so, based on the lifespan of my other cases and the amount of damage I've already done to it. The main change I made from his setup is that I went with a magsafe CF Express adapter that I can put on the little folding tripod gizmo. He also just made a video about an upgrade tripod gizmo which looks nice, but didn't seem to have anything compelling enough that I'd upgrade from the original.

At least for the 16 Pro, there are Magsafe threaded filter adapters. I have one that takes a 67mm filter (or is it 58?). The only real bummer is that it can't go on with my phone in the standard Apple case so I have to pop the phone out to use it. Mine cost $20 or so IIRC. Maybe something like that exists for the 17 as well?

That's true! I did guess that. Apparently my guess was off, as was my memory of the ZR price. Thanks for the reminder/correction! 😅

Wait, so the very small $1,800 camera has compromises when compared with a series of larger $3,000ish cameras? I think it's useful to understand the characteristics of the camera, but for me, the more useful comparisons would be to other small cameras in the <$2,000 price range - i.e. S9, X-M5, and even maybe EOS R6 II/S5 II (though they're a bit bulkier IIRC).

Of course - the Komodo was designed to be a crash camera for big productions. Red really didn't plan for having a bunch of people using it for A cameras. It's always been an odd one out among their lineup. Anyway, I'd also say that it's pretty impressive that the OG Komodo, a 5+ year old camera with a (supersized) S35 global shutter sensor is coming up about even in those tests with a brand new FF camera with rolling shutter. Though I'd also guess that outside of that sort of over/under test, the ZR will have better apparent/usable dynamic range than the OG Komodo and maybe even vs the Komodo-X which is noticeably better than the OG. I think that there is almost no doubt that the S1 II will win it. 😄

You seem to post nothing but angry negative stuff. Why waste your time with all of us talentless hacks?

(Including SmallHD)

It's also worth pointing out that jpeg is, as far as I know, 8-bit only. It's one of the reasons that modern iPhones (and maybe Android?) default to HEIF instead.