kayasaman

Hi and thank you! Yes I agree with all of what you say. I have been reading a lot that mirrorless cameras will be able to focus at any given aperture through the range unlike DSLR's which typically won't focus after f8. I can get round this at about f16 using the Sigma macro by engaging the lights on the MF-12 flashes to focus which is useful for skittish insects and invertebrates like bees. You spoke about diffraction which starts at around f11 - f13 and atmospheric "haze". Sure no matter what you do with sharpening things will still look pretty warped? This is a good example of *atmosphere* which I took a while back when I was trying to get used to the 200-500mm lens I have - the plane was shot at 450mm f/8: I don't have any experience with TC's but the closest thing I do have experience with is some Kenko extender tubes which when used with my Sigma gave me 1.4x magnification. The result was incredibly soft but I was able to recover it using a sharpening technique in GIMP by creating an overlay sharpening layer. The image below of the sea urchin shell was in fact shot with a 50mm f/1.8 that came from the Nikon FM originally that my parents bought before I was around. I completely agree that any lens with a TC will not have the same properties that a lens of a similar focal length will have. I'm just trying to think "light" and more affordable and practical. After all the Canon 1200mm for example is around 20k Euro. I realize that one won't be able to do everything but trying to find that balance between things is the key. If the 100-500mm is going to be sufficient and more practical then the 200-800mm and offer better image quality then that's going to be the solution for me. With a 1.4x TC it will offer a similar FoV to my D500/500mm f/5.6 combo, though the 200-800 without a TC will do the same thing. Of course that's where things start to get confusing for me a little of which direction to go in. Due to the light loss I also think it's better to use a TC with a much faster lens. Say a 400 f/2.8 and that way things won't be "so" degraded. When you say that I "haven't thought things through properly", I realize that I don't have much experience due to many factors. My only real wildlife experience is birds at various nature reserves I used to volunteer for which were pretty much the same thing and nothing very interesting and of course I had set times where I was there. Originally I started out wanting to do astrophotography which led me to my Pentax and as a result I have plenty of nightscape experience as that's pretty much all I had access (due to various reasons but most of all I live in the center of a big city and the surrounding area has no natural land around it as it's all built up with towns and more cities). The nearest place is around 5-8 hours drive away. Basically I'm really keen to get more into the other things and traveling off the beaten path away from civilization is going to help me achieve that. Once I have some experience in different environments and know what works for me I'll be fine 🙂

Haha... maybe things are a little different for me as I have both ADHD and ASD so my brain sees details rather then summaries. Lot's of Macro photographers tend to be on the Autism Spectrum for this reason. Probably why so many people got confused with what I'm trying to achieve, as sadly communication is different too as there are subtleties. I'm kind of leaning towards the R5C at this point but a little lost over the lens lineup. I wrote above what my thoughts are as I want to cover my bases and not leave anything out since at this point I don't have any experience as I've never done anything like this before. So what focal lengths will I need? Time will tell basically..... Sure for stills currently based on what is available where I live; I use the 15-30mm Pentax and 150mm Irix, the 200-500 f5.6 Nikkor, and Sigma 105mm - though prior to the 15-30mm I used the Samyang 24mm F1.4 which got crazy internal reflections at brilliant points of light. Just checking the Canon website I can see a CN-18-80mm and 70-200mm which probably would cover me on all bases but sadly these are Super 35mm E-mount lenses, so not even full frame. Something like the RF 24-240mm would be ideal as a one-stop-shop for a lens but I made that mistake with my Nikon already in the 18-300mm DX. It's awful and heavily compromised for my liking. Good for "snaps" though, great recon lens :-S I guess I made my decision on camera body, now for the lenses....??

It's a bit more complicated then just getting the 1.4x TC for my D500. Like I wrote above, I want to get a new camera system to consolidate my current camera systems and add video. So it needs to cover Landscape, Nightscapes, Astrophotography (lightly as I'll most likely get a Moravian Instruments actively cooled monocam for dedicated astro work), Wildlife/Action, and Macro. I'm slowly starting to plan traveling around the world, so I'm looking at all kinds of things that I will need and to make my life easier. I don't want to have to take 3 different camera systems with me so I'm looking for an all in one that will combine stills and video. Right now there's a lot of research even on SUV or Truck and roof top tent vs camper trailer, GPS systems, 2-way radios etc.... I know MFT would be lighter and get more reach, I have looked at the Lumix GH6 but at the sacrifice of low light capability which does not work for me. I bought the Pentax K1 II specifically for it's AstroTracer functionality which got me taking images of nebula and galaxies. More examples: https://photos.app.goo.gl/gSPeWz5gh9LK8qES6 - the Red Kite towards the bottom was an amazing catch! Cropped of course - all using the Nikon D500 https://photos.app.goo.gl/LkTeMnrKqxkoowAi7 - Pentax K1 II nightscapes The Andromeda Galaxy: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hBhgyAQgPJuAqHBRA This was a precursor, a trip up to Scotland last year - it's a 3 part playlist:

This is an example of how far away a 500mm is for my on the D500: https://photos.app.goo.gl/TUS5QRjQzKWX5btr6 Would have loved to get larger shots of the Terns on the raft or the Green Speckled Woodpecker. All were shot handheld. I think the 200-800mm with a 2x TC would have been a better choice there but maybe on a tripod with gimbal head?

I think IBIS can be overcome with a gimbal like the RS4 Pro from DJI. As for the battery life, one of the videos above suggested you could get around 5 days using a battery pack from Amazon. About grading, I just started to learn the different methods for my drone footage taken last year. My first attempts were pretty bad using first Shotcut then later Davinci Resolve Studio. Can't remember if I popped this up already - apologies as my head is all over the place right now!! but it definitely is better balanced and has no weird artifacts like Magenta or Cyan blobs in the sky or that crazy over saturated blue hue that showed up in the clouds due to the white balance being off in camera: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VewQSP0gCb2MICn8ZJEvg9QnNfxJm325/view?usp=drive_link - it was my first time using the drone so I was just getting used to it.

Hi, sorry for the confusion. I plan to use this system in place of my Pentax K1 II and Nikon D500. I am slowly planning traveling the world in a 4x4 and doing Overlanding/travel videos as well as natural world/nature documentaries. Locally I find the APSC combination with the 500mm lens is slightly short because there is no large fauna where I am, only small birds like the Eurasian Robin, Tits, and Finches. To start with I do not plan on using the articulating screen at 750mm lol 🙂 I actually would need to use it with something like a 50mm f1.2 around a campfire or in the car or just generally vlogging My idea is to use these lenses while on a multi day hike, again the articulating screen would come in handy when filming myself and another person, obviously not restricted to: * 15-35mm f2.8 * One of 24-70 f2.8, 28-105mm f2.8, 24-105 f4 * One of the 70-200 f2.8 or f4 * 100mm macro The above would let me cover all basis when I don't know the area or what to expect and still be light enough to not kill me after a 5 hour hike. I am also interested in the 200-800 for wildlife especially using the TC's for far away or small subjects but it would be used on shorter walks where the weight won't be such an issue. Last night I even checked the NiSi Aureus range of lenses at T1.5 which are interesting but if I can get by with the Canon RF lenses mentioned above then there would be no need for them. I definitely would need to be shooting CLog or other color gradable format for video. Not sure if the R5II has that? The fan is much welcome too as if I'm outside and it's say 45 degC I don't want the camera overheating if leaving the camera running (using a battery pack of course as I think you get 30mins out of the R5C internal battery) To summarize basically I'm trying to build an all in one setup that will cover all my basis and be a lot less to take along then say 3 different systems.

Thanks for the input! I don't think I'd be able to use any of my lenses as outside of the 200-500 f5.6 which is a little short and the Sigma 105mm macro (which sadly isn't weather sealed) the other lenses I have for Nikon are DX APS-C based. The Pentax K-Mount lenses wouldn't work either on the Z8 and there is no articulating screen which is really bad news. The Z6 III has that but a much lower pixel count too and I think it might struggle for landscape and even wildlife as even at 600mm I think the focal length is way too short. At 750mm equivalent FoV on my D500 I'm constantly cropping a *lot*. I think the only thing I would be able to use with the Z8 would be my Solmeta GPS receiver which is great for Geo-tagging stills or even video, though I have a Garmin GPSMAP 67i that can be used with TelemetryOverlay. I'm thinking the RF 200-800mm lens is attractive especially with a 1.4x and 2x TC. Sure things will get a little soft but can be corrected in post with sharpening. Just been working on going over my drone footage from Scotland and color grading it properly this time. I think the R5C has both CLog2 and CLog3 which would definitely be of interest, I'm using Davinci Resolve Studio for editing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VewQSP0gCb2MICn8ZJEvg9QnNfxJm325/view?usp=drive_link If I went Nikon I'd probably go for the 14-24mm f2.8, 24-120mm f/4, the 100-400mm, and the 105mm macro (which has weather sealing) Canon has a 100mm macro that has a 2:1 ratio, so all I'd need to do is get the proper XPro transmitter and I'll be able to use my Godox MF-12 macro flash system. I'm also interested in a few Venus Lens Laowa specialty macro lenses like the 24mm 5x or the probe and even the 10x-50x microscopy lenses. For multi day hikes I'd probably be looking at the L lenses: 15-35mm f2.8, something in the middle - either up to 70mm or 105mm f2.8 or f4 (no idea which is the better lens to go for), and then the 70-200 f2.8 or f4 with TC's to save weight, plus the macro mentioned above. For stills the R5 and R5C seem to be the same but for video is where things become different. I wonder if the R5C II will feature improved video AF? I'm also liking the Tascam XLR adapter with 48V phantom power, though I'm thinking of using an external video recorder instead so I would need Timecode sync too which the R5C has the capability. Maybe I should just wait for the R5C II though I have no idea of the release date and since I'm not in a rush might be worth it? It's really a bang your head against the wall situation..... lol

Hi everyone, a while back I was looking into the Canon C70 and C80 as I wanted to add a 3rd dedicated video camera to my lineup of Pentax K1 II and Nikon D500 stills cameras. Currently circumstances have changed as I realized that on a multi day hike it's impractical to have too much equipment and now I am looking at a single system to combine and consolidate my stills photography needs with video where I can additionally make simple nature/wildlife documentaries as well as vlogging. Has anyone got any experience with the Nikon Z8 or Canon R5C? At the beginning I was leaning towards the Nikon as it is a powerhouse but the negatives for me is that there is no fully articulating screen and I have heard reports that like the R5, the Z8 can potentially overheat while recording video. Does the Z8 even feature videos scopes like the R5c? I'm not sure how the R5C compares to the AF of the Nikon in stills mode or even video mode, though reports state that the R5 has better video AF then the R5C version. How significant would that be when videoing wildlife for example or tracking people or vehicles? I do like the Canon lens lineup and in particular the 200-800mm lens idea as I find I can never have enough focal length as my Nikon 200-500mm f5.6 definitely comes up quite short on the APS-C sensor in the D500. Though I'm totally confused what the best options for me would be in the mid range... 28 or 24 - 105mm , 28 or 24 - 70mm , 70 - 200mm ; then f2.8 or f4 version in all cases? These videos were really helpful to me but I think in both cases use the 100-500mm lens:

Thanks! I have looked at these too but not too much - guess I should read and watch more of what people are saying on them The FX6 would be unsuitable as it doesn't have an articulating screen so not very useful for vlogging and in a confined space like a car, it would be hard to handle FX3 seems more suitable so will take a look at some sample video of that Oh yeah... one thing about Sony.... it was said that there was some compatibility issue with Davinci Resolve - what was that? I did a quick Google and looks like everything seems fine as Resolve support slog3! Maybe something to do with difference between Studio and Free version?

@MrSMW @eatstoomuchjam - thank you so much guys!! I really appreciate it 😄 Sorry if I sound like a total lost cause, but hopefully I will get there..... 😉

No idea on the budget side right now... what I'm trying to look at basically is parts then get everything together and work out the rest once I am satisfied... it might be that I build things up gradually too so maybe just get say the 4x4 to start with then take local journeys before going further kind of like a telescope if you like The key thing is that I am able to travel and comfortably. With the main agenda being to get out of the city and into environments more suitable for my health issues so that I don't stress out and end up with high levels of anxiety and depression Before I took up photography, I had a period where I couldn't even leave the house for 10 years. It was caused by a panic attack on the way to work one day and that was the end of me... it was only later we found out the reason and learned enough about things to know that the city and crowded places just don't work for me. So hopefully finding something that I can do and get good at like making adventure and nature videos in the middle of nowhere will be more suitable and fun. Life is difficult is all I can say....

These are exactly things that I need to think about.... which I'm *not* able to consider at the moment as a) I have no experience and b) I have ASD so that means I "hyperfocus" in directions that I like and don't pay attention to anything else unless there is someone kind enough to make me aware... As for server this is probably more to what I'm looking at: https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/chassis/compact mini-tower/721/sc721tq-350b2 But yes battery drain will be a key issue.... I have around 20 of those things in 3x racks at home which we didn't actually have space for so I installed them into what was supposed to be my bedroom. Of course that rendered the room unusable for anything else and you have A/C in there permanently on too... Oh yeah and the A/V rack in the living room downstairs so: Constant 12A current draw basically - haha Not sure about Windows gaming laptop? I have a Lenovo P1 Gen5 with integrated Nvidia card running Arch Linux. I do have another slightly smaller 15" Lenovo again workstation based laptop with Nvidia Quadro GFX but currently that's running the house so A/C and central heating etc... is going through that one on a VM. Thanks by the way for all of this!! In the Kazakhstan vid posted above the family took a pop-top trailer linked to an Eneos Granediar. I initially thought it was a Merc G-wagon though... shows you how out of phase I am with things... very different to the 1990s where I used to be able to remember every make, model, price, and spec from a car magazine I collected for many years. Gas should be available everywhere as in central Asia I heard that diesel was a problem?? But I know this from Turkey too in that they don't have proper diesel but something they call Mazot (in Turkish). I think it's low quality diesel mixed with something else that really screws the engine and has wafts of black smoke bellowing out the tail pipes... They do a lot of things here like build vans out eg. Merc Sprinters and then go travel round Europe using those... I wouldn't like that though... as I really want to get off the tarmac and away from civilization as much as possible...

Obviously right now I'm talking about the "ultimate goal".... during my trip up to Scotland I had a blast filming but everything was first time use so rushed and I got a few things wrong!! I even got to drive a LandRover Defender 110 here (at about ~4 mins in) which was my first *real* 4x4 experience: At about ~3 mins in, I used the DJI Action 4 to film inside and through the window. I had the camera set to ISO 100 which was a big mistake!! It caused a heck of a lot of unnecessary noise when if I had, had the thing set to Auto ISO, it would have exposed correctly for me rather then me trying to fight it. Difference in technique basically between stills landscape photography set to M or Manual mode. It worked much better for part 3 after some experience.... Lots of learning post videos of how I could have made things better but lighting conditions were challenging to say the least and I think even with Auto ISO the DJI's struggled.... basically small sensor and noise in shadows syndrome! Other then that my 4-door managed most places, even straddling the track with high central rise (like a monorail), it still managed LOL - though that was by putting the wheels onto the center and the side (not bad for something with stiffened and lowered "sports" suspension - as is claimed from the standard Spec sheet):

Ok these guys were a total team: with 3x vehicles that had all the bells and whistles... In some of their other videos the kids of the main guy usually just slept in the back of the SUV... I think it was either a 4Runner Gen5. , a Sequoia, or LandCruiser? What I do like is that they also were using the Canon C70 (I think?) and the DJI Inspire 2 drone. They also had the Garmin Tread Overland XL for navigation, a RedArc system to control the rigs, and Icom 2-way radios for communication. There was even a thermal scope for nightvision - those things are cool as some can even record video and even at 4k!! As far as NAS, I will check out SuperMicro - which coming from a server and network engineering background anyway, I would be installing FreeBSD on it and then using ZFS across the drives. I'd probably be looking at SATA SSD's or possibly NVME type stick HD storage if they have made one? Looks like I'm in luck!! https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/nvme Coupled to a 10GbE switch and it's a formidable setup. for trailer I was actually checking out the ROA videos for various models and it seems currently Pause is one of the best you can find: sadly the 4Runner that I fell in love with only has a 6000lbs tow rating so these fall above that! But something like this would definitely work: plus loads of storage space to store the camera equipment.... I really like the dinette area as it has space for 2 which in my mind means 2x laptops 🙂 Of course these are just current thoughts for the moment. Something that Jim Baired (adventurer from Canada) normally does (he's got a teardrop) is mount the action camera on the top of the trailer to give a view of the road plus the truck towing it. It's a nice perspective and it works.... though I was thinking about doing that directly on the 4Runner Trailhunter which has the ARB roof rack on top.

Last night I was watching something about a Volvo FT Expedition vehicle... looks nice but I wasn't too impressed... and for $250k (US) yikes! My current thoughts are to import something like a Toyota 4Runner gen6. Trailhunter from the US and then maybe an Imperial Outdoors X145 or MDC XT16 trailer again from the US. No idea... will need to contact an importer and find out if the 4Runner could even be made legal over here. I had a look at the Toyota Hilux too which *is* sold here but only a 2.4 or 2.8 liter diesel engine which is small and I really don't like diesel. Right now I just wish there was somewhere I could go and rig up my current equipment on my car, including drone and practice and see what kind of things I can achieve.... Due to laws I can't fly my drone around locally as I need to be 150m (492ft) away from people. That is hard because even at 2am in the morning I was in the middle of nowhere (well not quite but it was quiet) and someone drove up to me so I had to land and move. Somehow I need to find a solution to things and maybe even relocate if that is the best answer....