eatstoomuchjam

11 hours ago, BTM_Pix said:

They will be very important as the cameras will be the capture device for the worldwide free training data they’ll be getting from the cloud storage/editing function that will be offered to the users who’ll be unwittingly doing the training for the company.

I'll be sure to fill up any cloud storage they give me, then.  Maybe I could treat them to a retrospective of my year in toilet flushes, but give it a bunch of other labels like "Doing a sick jump on my bike"

2 hours ago, MurtlandPhoto said:

My finger was hovering over the checkout button on that one for a few hours today, but it looks like someone nabbed it. I picked one up during the $1500 fire sale in 2024 and regret selling it later. Amazing camera for that price.

No surprise at all that someone grabbed it.  Too bad the mount can't be user-swapped - I saw one in a bit more beat up condition, but still good for like $1,000 - but with EF mount.

2 hours ago, zerocool22 said:

Allthough for me with the storage space costs at the moment. Braw isnt cutting it. It is better then h265, sure. But I just cant justify the storage costs.

It is bigger than H.265, but there's also not, in my experience, a lot of reason to fear some of the higher compression ratios.  I think I see some artifacts in some difficult places (narrow/flaring highlights) 8K at 12:1 on the Ursa LF, but I need to try exporting from Resolve and/or try some similar scenes with 12:1, 8:1, and 5:1.  I'm not sure how well ProRes 422 bitrates compare with higher-compression braw, but they might not be too far off.

2 hours ago, zerocool22 said:

My c500ii will do for now

For now, for later, for just about forever if you want it to.  That's a hell of a camera - though it'd be nice to have something a little smaller to pair with it.  The C500 II ain't tiny (though it's also not enormous).

It's also worth noting that IBC is in 1 1/2 weeks.

It's not at all out of the question that after stiffing end users with their NAB presentation that BMD are finally going to announce something that isn't squarely targeted at arenas.  With Pyxis 12K at $5,500 and Ursa 12K at $7,700, assuming that these recent price drops are permanent, BMD don't really have any compelling options in the $3,000-4,000 space.

I am going to take a wild stab in the dark and hope that it's Pyxis 8K with a cheaper variant of their RGBW sensor, supporting 8kp100 or so with a 4K non-cropped option and a 6K S35 mode.  At $3k or so, that'd be another camera that has me taking a hard look at what I have and figuring out which I will reasonably use any time soon.

You beat me to posting it.  If you want IMX410 and usable autofocus, it'd be hard to find a better choice.

Let's see how used prices react as well.  Judging by B&H, they're reacting very nicely for the CC6K - there's an L-mount one for $1,435 right in condition 9 right now.  That's...  even slightly lower than the new price was for a minute a few years ago.  😅

But for $1,435 - that's a hell of a camera.  If I didn't already have the problem of "more cameras than I actually use, I should sell some of these," I'd be furiously clicking buy right now.  Pyxis 12K used prices seem to only be about 10% off new on B&H and on Adorama and MPB, they didn't catch up at all yet so used are now much more expensive than used.

Now... if they would drop the price of the Pyxis 12K to $3,500, I'd already be in the middle of figuring out which camera I'd be making myself sell to justify getting it.

Great hack for the filter holder!  I'd somehow missed how obnoxious they made the camera bump on the 17.  Sheesh. 

I'll have to look to see if my Magsafe filter holder fits over my case (the standard iPhone 16 Pro soft plastic case from Apple).  I think I eventually found one, but it's been a bit since I used it.  But that is also my preference - just let me use the normal case and a normal screw-in filter and not some weird one with a proprietary filter system that won't work with my next phone.

And yeah, Magsafe is definitely the way to go for filters - and if your filter adapter passes through the magnet, you can also get a magsafe CF Express reader/writer.  That's really useful when shooting ProRes on the 16 - and presumably for shooting raw on the 17 series.

9 hours ago, MrSMW said:

The compromise is always 'quality (of output) vs volume, size and weight of kit' and I could make a strong case for M43, APSC, FF or MF but the sweet spot for me is FF stills and either FF or APSC/Super 35 for video.

In general, I think FF is the sweet spot for a lot of stuff - not that the format is intrinsically better than anything, but because that's where most of the research/development goes.  Lens makers and camera makers put the most work into those systems and lenses for those systems.  S35 is just behind it with one vendor putting almost all their eggs in that basket and, as you said, it being the default for a number of video-focused things.

9 hours ago, MrSMW said:

For example, I picked up my 4th gimbal recently after quickly returning every single one previously...and once again, absolute failure. It's not me, - it's the tool...and yes, well aware of the saying about blaming the tools, but sometimes it really is the tools, so selling the gimbal and a camera and doing something else instead because the simple reality is, the stability in LUMIX cameras is now so good, I can actually get better...or rather, more consistent footage, NOT using a gimbal, but using just the camera. (What's wrong with the gimbal? Simply having it and then having to operate it whilst not being able to do anything else is a fucking pain in the arse!).

Unless the gimbal is camera-integrated, they sort of end up being the worst for lots of stuff.  Everything ends up being harder than it should be, including stuff that should be simple like accessing camera menus.  I'm really enjoying the focus rat bag.  It's a lot less involved than putting on my Ready Rig and if I have an image stabilized lens, I can get stable enough footage.  If I were shooting Panasonic and lighter gear, I wouldn't even need/care about that!

Sure, I love my Fuji, but I'd be delighted to use an X2D II and tell people that I liked it if they wanted to send me a free one.

1 hour ago, MrSMW said:

And it's not just from a technical stand point, - the thing is damn good in the hands and to operate. The size, the weight, the controls, the rear LCD. Yes I would prefer it if it had a prestigious LEICA badge on it just because and better still, if it was in some kind of rangefinderesque body a la ZR or FX style, but it is actually a joy to use.

Ergonomics are one of the absolute top criteria for any camera.  If I were presented two cameras, one 45 megapixel and one 61 megapixel and told to choose one, my first response would be "either, that's a lot."  My second would be to pick them up and shoot a few frames.

And even that ends up subjective - if I'm using light pancake lenses, I don't care much if the body has no grip and I just have to wrap the bottom 3 fingers on my right hand awkwardly down the edge of the camera.  If I'm going to put a 24-70/2.8 on it, the body with no handgrip just got pretty unpleasant.  A 70-200/2.8 and now I strongly dislike it.  And yeah, that's why there's a 24-70/4 and a 70-200/4.  I have the former in EF mount - and I've been trying to get accustomed to shooting with a Focus Rat bag these days (third-party cinesaddle that I got from the B&H deal zone).  The EF 24-70/4 is on it a lot more than the 2.8 - I can actually hold it pretty steady with the IS turned on (and the EF 24-70/2.8 has none).   I have the 70-200/4 RF as well - can't use it on the Ursa (no RF mount), but it's fantastic on the R5 or on my handheld Komodo setup.

I don't find myself wishing I had shallower DOF very often with either.  Especially if I'm handheld on the focus rat, having a little more DOF is more of a feature than a bug.  Biggest problem is just that I'm always shooting from chest height and I'm only 5'9" or so.  If the talent is 6 feet tall, there are gonna be some nostrils.  Next thing will be experimenting with setting my elbows on the bag and using a shoulder rig so that I can get a little more height.  But a 30-pound camera setup on the shoulder is...  not living the dream.  Better to use the R4D at that point.

Anyway, for the style you've described shooting, you really are basically at endgame/perfection now.  It's always tempting to swap out for other, shinier gear, but especially now that the prices on everything are going up so much, it's hard to imagine buying anything new.  I'd guess that part of any interest in new gear is also a game to keep the job interesting - you've been doing weddings for a long time, haven't you?  Can't really change the format of weddings, but you can at least change the tools that you're carrying around them.  That might just be me projecting, though - that's probably where I'd be after a while.

I'm basically not buying anything new and I'm just watching the cameras that I find even remotely interesting until the used stocks increase to the point where price starts dropping.  ZV-E1 or A7CR for $1,300ish?  X-M5 for $500-600?  S9 for $700?  I'll be interested.  Upgrade from my R5 to an R5 II?  Refurbs caught my interest last week or the week before - something like $3,500 - but I'm assuming that also means that trade-in on my OG R5 will be like $800 and I'm not spending $2,700 for a bunch of incremental upgrades.

I haven't used the X2D II, but I am a GFX 100 II user.  You're totally right that there is minimal practical benefit over a 45 megapixel S1R II or even less practical benefit over a 61 megapixel A7R V or similar.  At f/1.8 or f/1.4 with your new lenses, you'll have all the shallow DOF you'll ever need or want - and almost exactly as much shallow DOF as you'd ever get by using, at least, any of Fuji's native lenses (55/1.7 and 80/1.7 are the two fastest, all of the others are f/2.8 or slower).  Some adapted glass looks other worldly, though - I'm a fan of the Canon EF 35/1.4L II (doesn't quite cover, you'll have dark corners).  Having the equivalent of a 28mm f/1 lens can give some neat effects.

It also makes for some great low light performance - even if there's noise everywhere, it'll look pretty clean at whatever resolution you actually want to use to present it - and detail loss due to some light denoising is practically negligible.

With Fuji's native glass, and I'm guessing Hasselblad's, you will definitely be able to punch in more.  It's always a little crazy to punch in to the eyes on a medium-length/waist-up portrait and see myself clearly reflected in the iris.  That's not a practical need, though, in any way.

It is sometimes, for my needs, really useful, though.  I brought the 500/5.6 on a recent trip to the Amazon and shot some wildlife.  I wasn't even nearly close enough and things are really small in the frame...  until I punch in.  I could make a perfectly usable 8x10 print out of only a very small part of the image.

But... with that said, if I had a 500mm lens on a 61 megapixel FF camera, the resulting print would be exactly the same.  The animal would have just been bigger in the original shot.  And given that you are shooting weddings, you probably don't need to stand 300-500+ meters away from the ceremony.   That is, unless you're the world's first and only wedding photographer who is so unintrusive on the events that they never even leave the parking lot at the venue.

Anyway.

100 megapixels is crazy.  Now Sony have a 180 that fujirumors keeps saying will be shoved into an upcoming GFX.  Unless that also translates to "same or better dynamic range, readout is much faster in video modes," I'm inclined to roll my eyes at it.

1 hour ago, Emanuel said:

A deal breaker for Sigma FP owners/lovers, as for instance.

And owners of many cinema cameras.

And, to a large extent, owners of cameras with sensor shift IS.  I've found that, in general, lens IS is a lot better than sensor shift IS when at longer focal lengths.  There are already a bunch of used Sigma/Tamron 70-200/2.8 available in that price range.  Plus even some first party options aren't much more used - the EF 70-200/2.8L IS series tend to be right around $1,000-1,200 at MPB here.

If you really want the extra 10mm at the wide end, though, it looks fine.

Yeah - sounds almost as good as Fuji already.  😅

It took a minute to find a link to what you're talking about.  Doesn't seem to have made it to many of the usual suspect forums yet.  Hopefully AF on Pyxis 12K means that the same is coming to Ursa LF sooner rather than later!

https://forum.blackmagicdesign.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=239482

6 hours ago, MrSMW said:

Being serious, as someone who really does not want to rig out his cameras as after all, I am a hybrid shooter, the larger, clearer and brighter the rear LCD is, the better because I shoot exclusively with the things.

Yeah, a big screen is nicer.  No doubt about it.  It just wouldn't be, for me, the main selling point of one camera vs another.

That said, you are already in L mount and I've heard that the recently-released autofocus on the BMCC is quite good...

13 minutes ago, Ilkka Nissila said:

The hand grip of the Z6 III is not just a grip, it houses the battery which is in a different orientation in the ZR

I understand that the grip of the Z6 III holds the battery.  Judging by pictures, it also holds the memory cards - which includes a UHS-2 full-size SD card instead of a UHS-1 micro-SD card like the ZR has.  Oh, and you can also change the cards while the camera is on a tripod or gimbal.

13 minutes ago, Ilkka Nissila said:

EVF use on mirrorless cameras is often not practical as it's fundamentally incompatible with gimbal use,

I had no idea that mirrorless cameras couldn't be used without a gimbal.  That's quite a limitation. Without being aware of it, I've been using mine mostly without a gimbal for a while now.

14 minutes ago, Ilkka Nissila said:

many shotgun mics like the MKE 600 would not make it possible for me to use a viewfinder.

You know the microphone is supposed to point toward the front of the camera and not the back, right?  That should reduce the risk of poking out your eye with it when holding up the EVF.   😉

Anyway, the Z6 III has a screen that is still pretty decent-sized at 3.2".

15 minutes ago, Ilkka Nissila said:

Why is the size of the LCD important? I want to clearly see what I am shooting without touching the camera (potentially shaking it).

From your description, it sounds like your needs could be better met by using a Black Magic Cinema Camera 6K instead of a Nikon ZR.  The BMCC has a bigger rear screen at 5".  The EVF is optional so you won't need to use it if you don't want to.  While L mount isn't quite as versatile as Z mount, it's still quite good.  The BMCC6K also has 2 mini-XLR mic inputs which can be used along with the internal mics for 4-channel audio.  If you want smaller files, you can increase the compression ratio for BM raw.  Even at the maximum compression on the UC12K (12:1, I think?), it still looks very good.  I usually use the Ursa at 8:1 except for VFX shots where I go up to 5:1.

The main limitation against the ZR is that the BMCC is a bit bigger and heavier.  But as a person who wants "the best back LCD I can have," the BMCC blows the ZR and its puny 4" screen out of the water.  You'll also get a full-size HDMI port and not a garbage micro-HDMI port in case you want to connect to an even bigger 7" screen.

Yes, a mere 3.2 inch.  Yet another time when people might be wishing they had just 0.8 inches more.  😆

Part of what's crazy to me is that the ZR isn't that small.  If you compare it with a Z6 III or an EOS R5, the actual bodies are almost the same with the main differences being that the "bigger" cameras have a handgrip and EVF protruding from the small body.

Looking on camera decision and comparing the ZR to the Fuji X-M5, the ZR is gigantic.

And I feel like the Z6 III was more expensive when the ZR was released, but as of right now, their prices are almost identical with used Z6 III costing less than used ZR.

So if you don't need the sort-of Redcode RAW or internal 32-bit float, the ZR becomes a somewhat weird choice.

This is why I am waiting for the used prices to go down a lot once people figure that out or when the next shiny camera drops.  😉

50 minutes ago, eatstoomuchjam said:

Well, it wasn't in May, but mine just arrived!  Let's see how/if it works...

Well, my initial review is very short and succinct.

"Doesn't fucking work.  At all."

Judging by their FAQ, I received a defective unit, as on my R5, it just shows F00 and won't switch out of MF mode.  On the C80, it displays a communication error and won't autofocus.  After updating the adapter firmware, no change.  Their utility to program it also does not find it after I follow their instructions to connect it... at least on my Mac.  I'll try it on a Windows computer later tonight, maybe.

Also, even if it did work, it won't be usable on an RF mount Red.  On my OG Komodo, the chin/motor of the adapter hits the chin of the camera.  I didn't try it on the Komodo-X, but the horizontal/vertical dimensions are identical or nearly identical so I don't expect a different result there.

Asked Amazon to replace it.  I think they ship the replacement before I send back the original...  though it ships from China.  So I guess we'll see in 7-14 days whether the replacement works.

On 5/14/2026 at 6:18 AM, eatstoomuchjam said:

If Megadap's website/YouTube is to be believed, sometime this month or next, their M mount autofocus adapter (M2RF) will be released this month sometime.  🤞

Well, it wasn't in May, but mine just arrived!  Let's see how/if it works...

29 minutes ago, Emanuel said:

Get a good excuse and go for it!

I ordered one, should be here by tonight.

At this point, I am pretty sure that I'll still be asking for it next January - and the January after that.  😉

It makes some sense that BMD would bring all of those upgrades to two of their most popular cameras first - now let's just hope that they don't leave the higher-end stuff out.  Judging by their last set of announcements, there is some hope for new features coming to the Ursa LF, given that they're focused so heavily on pushing it into the broadcast market, but I could also see them pulling most of the people working on camera firmware and shoving them over into the firmware that runs on their boxes that are designed to fit in a server rack (the main focus of their recent announcements).

Mission 1 and Mission 1 Pro are now $100 off everywhere.  It's still on the pricey side for an action camera, but my Insta360 One R/RS's are getting older/a little beat up and the batteries seem to be showing signs of age too.

I'm not sure how this person did such a deep dive on the imaging pipeline, but it was an interesting read.

https://gethypoxic.com/blogs/technical/gopro-mission-1-gp3-image-pipeline

Info on the sensor:

https://www.sony-semicon.com/files/62/flyer_industry/IMX06A-AJ1R-J_Flyer.pdf

(Also saw that Sony now has a 247 megapixel MF sensor while digging that up, that's a lot of dots)

FWIW, PDAF has been in beta on the CC 6K for like a year or more now and reviewers were saying that it was working great.  This release just formalizes it as released.

My hope now is that BMD will finally follow through on their statements that PDAF coming to other omdern cameras, including the Ursa LF.  That and 4-channel recording would be a nice update for it. 

I think the closest thing to what you're looking for is the cinepi project.  That or there was at least some project recently where somebody removed the glass from a smartphone and juryrigged a lens mount to it.  That'd be another place to start.

8 hours ago, mercer said:

I meant the $10,000 Ronin 4D cinema camera, not the Pocket 4 Pro.

The Ronin 4D can be great, but it can really make you crazy.  It is definitely my favorite gimbal. If you go used, you can get a usable 6K setup for around $5,000 which, while still expensive, is a lot more affordable than $10,000!

The Flex really makes the system interesting.

As a person who is waiting for used ZR prices to drop a bit more before picking one up, this all sounds good to me.  😅

It looks like a beautiful place.  Glad you had a nice trip!

Were you looking for additional feedback on the video?