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I don't mind at all, I mentioned it partly to raise the topic as I'm not sure about it. What I need to do is to get a bunch of references and study how they distribute the DR of the images into the final grade, so I can get a sense of things. A bit like how cinematographers get an understanding of levels and ratios, using false colour or a light meter. I pulled a few reference stills from the movie Perfect Days which is set in Seoul to compare: and some from Kill Bill vol 2, as it's a bit more contrasty: and The Matrix, because it's got that feeling of the matrix not being a real place, which gets to the idea that Seoul is like a world unto itself: or The Killer has quite a dark grade to things: There's something about the rich dark areas, and having rich dark colours that I'm chasing, but obviously I'm yet to work out what it is and how to get it. Works in progress though!

The Insta360 Mic Air seems a rebranded Hollyland Lark M2, I hope they implemented the receiver in the X5 so is not using bluetooth for the audio.... this would be great. As you can put a full windmuff on it and place it in better position it would be a great improvement. Currently I sync in post a DJI Mic but is a pita. https://store.insta360.com/product/mic-air

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.

A few more from today, in Hongdae. Even less grading than yesterday, but trying to lean into the contrast and deep shadows more.

I'm a bit lost, pardon my lack of business sense. When you talk about selling one unit is that a camera body or body and lens or more ? because later you talk about selling 3x lumix and 5 lenses later. I presume you have 2 different scenarios in mind ? As a person who recently just recently bought one second hand camera, my mind boggles at someone contemplating selling three to buy 2 more. However this video and photography is only a hobby for me. So i bow to your superior experience. Obviously, you would not be considering it, if there wasn't a strong argument for doing that. By the way are any of those lenses m43 mount ? asking for a friend 😎

1. First I need to work out how to make the financials work and then… 2. Whether to get a can of black spray paint or spend a little more and get an Alphagvrd wrap. The longer I have the better because I still have the option next year to flip from Lumix for my video needs to Nikon… Sony e Mount has all the lenses and L Mount only some of them. My preference for bodies for video is Lumix, but e Mount has better glass for my needs. This lens actually would allow me to lose an entire unit from my line up and move from 5 current units to 4, so a strong business case does exist. It would also make ALL lenses cross-compatible between Sony stills body/ies and Nikon video. It also stacks up financially because all 3 of my Tamron zoom lenses that I currently use for stills, will adapt perfectly for video use on Nikon bodies. Actually, I should go and do some actual maths because it’s not that great an expense… Not this year, - too late for that at this point in time, but this 50-150 really is a game changer for my specific needs. A7RV + 50-150 stills 1x Zf + 20-40 hybrid 2x Z6iii + 28-75, 70-180 video Sell 3x Lumix cameras + 5x lenses in order to buy 2x Nikon cameras and 1x lens. Probably a good financial equation…

It's been forever since I've read up on it, but I'm pretty sure it was used because they were limited in how long they had access to locations. It was also an extremely ambitious film with a small budget. I wouldn't call using it to film an entire episode "very sparingly." But the point I'm making is, for the better part of 25 years people have been talking about how the industry is going to change every time "attainable" cameras are used to create a notable piece of work. "It's going to disrupt the industry." It never does, though. It's not that I disagree with your main point; most people wouldn't know the difference between something shot on a GH5 and an Alexa, assuming it's competently made. It's not like the millions of people watching the season finale of House that was filmed with a 5D Mark II noticed a difference. But that's not the reason most of the industry refuses to switch over to these more affordable, but very capable cameras.

@Photolari Somos el medio de referencia en español sobre fotografía y vídeo. Desde 2016 enfadando a los fanboys de todas las marcas. No vendemos cursos... «(...) Since 2016, annoying the fanboys from every brand. We don't sell course programs.» Funny to say the least ;- )

Seems not... Iberian (Portugal & Spain) sources look like to go ahead on this stuff, for some reason this Portuguese can confirm at 1st hand in this forum now, here is the price: https://x.com/Photolari/status/1915379454601253011 https://fotok.es/objetivos-samyang/af-samyang-14-24-mm-f28-fe https://www.estudiopt.pt/camaras/lentes/mirrorless/zoom/samyang-af-14-24mm-f-2-8-sony-e/ I guess this one will arrive at my end at least to couple my FX30... https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1881813-REG/sigma_887975_16_300mm_f_3_5_6_7_dc_os.html/specs Looks like a decent price for a daylight lens (love zooms, by the way ; ) What such a 24-450mm 615 g workhorse! You take this and this one early morning when you go to the street and you don't need much more up to your arrival back home (well, let's not forget Clear Image Zoom + active IBIS and 4K120fps on FX30 to help to make it real all this when a prime becomes a few ones in your hands... ; )

Ok, that's interesting. - Canon XL-1 was used for a particular effect in 28 Days Later. - 5D M2 was used very sparingly in House for some specific shots that required very low-light. - SS used the iPhone 15 with a bunch of different and very expensive tools, unlike a "normal user" would. - FX3 illustrates my point. The effect of that particular accesible camera changed the industry for the better. Being a Sony though, it still is part of a very conservative tech ecosystem. Now the mold has been broken again with an even cheaper kit that included almost everything you need to make a Hollywood-level movie or mini-series. I was honestly shocked at how good the technical quality of the series was when watching it on a big-screen TV. Only the most hard-core of technical specialist will notice this is not an Alexa.

I feel like every couple of years there's a film or television show that causes this same discussion to happen. I remember when 28 Days Later used the Canon XL-1, and when House used the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Or more recently when The Creator used the FX3. Or even when Steven Soderbergh used the iPhone. I think we'll see people continue to buck the system and use "cheap" cameras to create high profile art, but I don't think that the rest of industry will change anytime soon for a variety of reasons, one of them being financial. The industry is content with the status quo, and changing it would impact everything from rental houses to folks who work full time on sets doing jobs that are dependent on film production continuing the way it does.

I hadn't considered that.. if it comes in clear your could do the lens as well. Bonus points for the all in one glow / blemish remover filter. Wedding photos will no doubt sell like hotcakes !!

Why stop with spraypaint? Hose that sucker down with line-x and never worry again about scratches!

Thanks for the link! I stand corrected - so that's about $25k instead of $30k by my above estimates. That's a surprise about the 6K vs the 8K version! I suppose that'd also be a great counter-argument to people who complain about cameras with rolling shutter speeds > 20ms. The 6K is 22 or 24 or something like that. Gladly! Here are a few off the top of my head (some codecs/frame rates may vary with the 6K, mine are based on my 8K): - Recording modes are either a mediocre H.264 or a very nice ProRes HQ or ProRes RAW. There's nothing in-between. The 6K has 4444 XQ available if you don't buy the raw license. The 8K does not. - To record in the nicer modes, you need to buy DJI's overpriced SSD ($800-1000 for 1TB), it doesn't matter if you have super fast CF Express cards. - You can choose from 17:9 (full sensor width) or 16:9 recording modes and nothing else... unless you go to the high frame rate mode when it will go to 2.4:1 (or something around that) and nothing else - When the 4th axis is enabled, if you have it set to "lock" and you're standing still, sometimes it has some sort of freakout and the gimbal starts going up and down like crazy. Numerous people have reported it on various forums, setting it to "follow" seems to result in fewer freakouts. This seems to have been around since the start. It definitely happens with mine. - There are tripod mount holes on the bottom, but even a narrow Arca-Swiss plate partially blocks the 4th axis cameras/depth sensors, people have complained that this makes their 4th axis work weirdly. I have just avoided putting a plate on it since most of my uses for it don't involve putting it on sticks - The object tracking is really good... most of the time. If it loses the subject mid-take, it is difficult (and it might be impossible) to re-select it on the touch screen - The autofocus is really good... sometimes. Sometimes it seems to lose the subject (even when in tracking mode) and drift to infinity. Then it picks them up again and comes back. It's also laggy. This is less noticeable with wider angle lenses and when stopped down a bit, but it's clearly visible with a 75mm lens at f/4. If I set it on a box on a shelf in my living room and walk slowly toward it, the label on the box will become unreadable until I pause for a half second and then the AF catches up - that's even with the AF sensitivity set to high. I noticed this at first when experimenting with a tracking shot using a 90mm Summicron-M at f/2. I bought the DJI 75/1.8 since native lenses focus faster than mechanical lenses and turned off AMF so the only motor would be the lens' focus motor. Still visibly out of focus when approaching/retreating. The lag when stopping is less than the manual one, but it's still there. I stopped down to f/4 or f/5.6. Still visibly laggy. If I use their 17-28 and zoom to 28 and stop down to f/4, the label stays acceptably sharp - but so far, I don't see any way to use AF if you want the subject sharp while approaching/retreating. Trying to dial in focus in those instances using the thumb wheel is too fussy for me (it's like 3mm of turning from 1.5m to 4m away, the look is similar to the AF with the subject in focus at the start and end and maybe for part of the walk). This weekend, I'm going to experiment with a friend to see if it can do better with a person. If not, looks like that 75 is getting sent back next week. Professional productions probably address this with the 3 channel follow focus (add another $900). - The first-party Sony E mount is actually made by a third party and doesn't update firmware through the body like every other part, you need to do it separately. Many people think it doesn't work well for this reason. - The internal microphone is completely unusable and has lots of high-pitched motor noises. Many people say that the XLR ports on the port expander plate randomly stop working. I think the 3.5mm input is reliable, but for a run and gun shoot, this is very limiting for audio. For me, the internal mic has been at least been good enough to sync up audio to an external device. Then I mute that track so I won't get a headache. Timecode works when available, but you will need the expansion plate for that too. I'm sure that I could add more if I spent a little more time thinking or I wrote this up after the next time I have it out on set. If you read any discussion thread of people who have used it, you'll find that it's an extremely polarizing camera - a number of people who have used it hated it and described the whole thing as an ordeal - and the others generally loved it. I'm more in the latter camp.

Your welcome 😉

Thank you, that's great info. They used the 6K model which costs a measly US$5,000. The 6K US$9,999 model includes a very decent T3.0 lens. Again, for Hollywood, that's less than drinks on a Friday. There's some more technical info here ---> https://ymcinema.com/2025/04/16/the-heroes-of-adolescence-dji-ronin-4d-and-cooke-sp3-32mm/ We're about to see come huge changes in the industry now that hegemonic power are being shifted. The camera industry is not impervious to that huge seismic tech shift.

Could you elaborate on this?

FWIW, if you watch the BTS, they were most likely over $30,000 on the camera package alone. I'm not sure if it was specified whether they used the Ronin 4D 8K or 6K, but I'm assuming the more expensive one. $10,000 - camera $5,000 - lens $280 - focus motor $400 - DJI transmitter Then add in the set of master wheels that I saw in at least one BTS photo and at least 3 high bright remote monitors + handles that I saw in another. $10,000 - DJI master wheels $1,700 - monitor (x3) $730 - handles (x3) And then add in the car mount and a drone strong enough to carry a 15 pound camera, and it's not out of the question that that all would total about $50k. If your definition of "serious film project" is $1m+ budget, then that is indeed a small portion - but it definitely ain't cheap. I can also say that as an owner of a Ronin 4D and a person who loves it, it would not be my choice if I could pick only one camera. To say it has quirks would be the understatement of the century. As a second camera? It might be top of my list. And I'll be in that "wave of new pro and amateur projects" filmed with one - for the feature that I've been asked to shoot, it'll likely be UC12K as the A camera and Ronin 4D for most of the handheld, car-mounted stuff, faux-jib (Flex mounted on a monopod), etc.

Since this forum has taken a strong liking to cinema this past couple of years, I'd think it be useful to point out the gear used in this very popular series. As you probably know, they used a DJI Ronin 4D and a Cooke SP3 32mm to shoot the entire series. That's about US$12,000 in total (not counting storage media). Either way, it's a breakthrough in the film industry that wishes to distance itself from the Arri/Sony duopoly. For the independent film industry this is even more important. Yes, for a mere mortal that's quite a bit of money. But for a film project -- any film project that wishes to be taken seriously -- it's basically peanuts. Arguably, it's a pretty decent looking media product. Only the most ardent film aficionados will notice any difference, if any, from an Arri or Sony film cam. For 99.9% of the rest of the world, it's great quality. I can see the American film-industry boycotting the Chinese DJI to protect their American gear. The wave of new pro and amateur projects filmed with the setup seen in Adolescence will be huge. We are "there".

That is some stability Kye! Various Netflix and other productions should take note; I hate all this super handheld jittery stuff.

I just worked with a "director" on a mil+ budget doc that completely failed at this fundamental. God, what a waste of time. Got paid, but it was soul crushing trying to make an edit out of a pile of crap. Bleh.

First day out shooting in Seoul. Here are some images. These are all frame-grabs, were ETTR, had a look put over them with Resolve FLC plugin, and I adjusted exposure on each (and contrast on the odd one or two) and that's it. I'm sure I will finesse them once I start editing for real, but this is essentially just looking at my dailies. Setup is incredibly easy to use thanks to the huge DR, AF is super-snappy, the 14-140mm zoom gives so much flexibility and I'm finding I'm using the long end a lot more than I thought I would. I'll post some video footage of it later, but I'm also finding that I can hand-hold at 140mm (280mm FF equivalent) and with the OIS + IBIS working together get almost no movement in the frame at all, and with a slight crop in post I'd get locked-off images. At anything below 80mm or 100mm the frame is locked and won't need any stabilisation in post. Incredible results.

Just waiting for the price of this AF 14-24mm f/2.8 beauty... https://www.lksamyang.com/en/product/product-view.php Who else?

It is more a 4.1 version than a 5, but some good refinements: - Mics with integrated wind shields, on my X4 I use the velcro wind muffle but they are quite bad and I lose them often. From the reviews audio in windy conditions seems much improved but who trust reviewers nowadays... - Replaceable lens, I never scratched mine but I got very close a few times. - Finally a quick release mount! - Pure view + larger sensor, curious to test this with MTB as the X4 needs really good light to work, already in daylight in the forest the X4 breaks a part. They now have also an external mic but nobody is speaking about.... unfortunately it does not seems like the DJI Mic 2 and Osmo Pocket 3 that can do 32 float internal in the transmitter while sending good quality to the Pocket 3. Insta360 X4 Bluetooth mic just sucks, not sure something has changed in the X5 and if the new Insta360 Mic Air is a normal Bluetooth Mic then is a big miss.