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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.

Yes, the conspiracy theorist in me says they increased the prices for the rest of the world in order to sell cheap to the US market taking into account any tariffs. Based on current pricing including tariffs, stuff still seems to be cheaper in the US? That has been the other option I was considering, but decided it was neither long enough nor fast enough (the Sigma f2.8) and whilst I could live with one or the other, both didn't make sense compared with what I have which is the Tamron 28-75 and 70-180 f2.8's. I don't think I have any option but to wait until these are sub 4k euros either new or used from somewhere like MPB. Paired with the Sigma 28-45mm f1.8 for indoor/low-light scenarios and paired with my Nikon Zf with 40mm f2, I think I will have my perfect set up for stills. Perfect as in I can't realistically expect that 50-150 to be any smaller or lighter because...well, physics.

I think personally that while I can make the 24-70 & 70-200 combination to work for me, a lot of the time something in-between would be useful, as I mentioned before, in portraiture. In the 1980s and 1990s, there were still a lot of lenses with intermediate ranges such as 50-135/3.5, 75-150/3.5, 35-135/3.5-4.5, 35-105/2.8 etc. but somehow these disappeared and standard zooms started at 24 mm and telezooms at 70 mm, 80 mm, or 100 mm. In portraiture a range that is between the two (24-70 and 70-200) would be ideal. I think the reason why 24-70 became the standard "pro" zoom is that when the first digital SLRs came with 1.3x, 1.5x, and 1.6x sensors they needed the standard zoom to have shorter focal lengths, so instead of a 28-105 or 28-80 they would make a 24-70 and 24-105. Of course, then came lenses like the 17-55/2.8 specifically for 1.5x / 1.6x sensors. But anyway the 24-70 range stuck and now some photographers would consider a zoom that starts at 28 mm too limiting even "useless". This I don't agree with, and I'd be happy to have an in-between range zoom such as 50-150 or similar. To me this sounds a very practical lens and not at all weird. However, the f/2.0 maximum aperture does make it a bit big and heavy and I can see the objective is to replace primes for some users. If it becomes popular, perhaps they can make an f/2.8 zoom with a similar range. The f/2.0 makes the lens expensive as well. I notice a 4600 EUR initial price in Finland (incl. 25.5% VAT) vs. $3900 (not including VAT) at B&H. This seems absurd considering the tariff situation, it's like they slapped on the price increase from the tariffs on both regions instead of just where it is actually applied. I think it's completely unrealistic to expect most European customers to even consider this lens at a 4600 EUR price point. I would expect the price to fall rather quickly if Sony wants to sell these lenses.

To me this is the only advantage I see with the introduction of the 2025 model and is not little, even though the room to improve in future versions with a larger sensor size when will come... Brandon Li's entry: And this is the other reviewer I'd rather recommend for everything 360º related (which brings some other 10-bit contender to the equation and is a 2024 model instead) -- apples to oranges but not exactly a minor upgrade which each year devices actually are, driving your pocket just lighter. Buy wise/informed.

It’s unfortunate that AI has such a weird issue generating hands as it would be ideal for the camera to also create something that looked more natural when it is doing the selfie stick removal. Aa it stands everyone is walking round in these videos looking like a 1970s Action Man with the gripping hands. Its an impressive camera though all the same.

Well I am one of those, but not the other...

Chinese competition is getting serious so Japanese are trying to take advantage of their only weakness: fast, unconventional and complicated zooms. Its more about showing six pack muscles of expertise. The results are expensive niche lenses that you have to be rich rat in recession economy to buy, and gym rat to hold for more than 30 minutes. Of course "competition is good", but I'm afraid they run out of weird ideas in the not too distant future.

Apparently one of those people on the fence was me? So far, I like it. Views from the 8K mode might be enough to use as quick inserts on a 4K timeline without being overly jarring. The 71 megapixel photo mode is really pretty good too. I shot the thing below into the sunset. The tree branches near the setting sun don't look awful and there's some detail on my face. I just need to remember to hold the selfie stick more casually so the hand is less noticeably funky after their software subtracts it out. The image SOOC (as below) isn't too bad. It'd probably only be a few minor tweaks in curves to get the look as I'd like it. Pureview HDR seems to introduce artifacts on things that are moving more than a little bit. Like holding the selfie stick at a 45 degree angle in front of myself, my feet looked a little weird as I walked. I'm still not sure about using the camera for more than inserts for anything serious, but if I can get over my shame at holding a selfie stick with a little UFO on the end, it could be a pretty great tourist camera.

Hope this week 🙂 I'm thrill to try the Alexa lut.

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Thanks for chiming in. I'll probably grab one in the next two weeks. Got some video and a Bunch of photos today, so i watched some youtube tutorials on resolve and made a slideshow. I used the e-m1 iii with the 24mm sirui anamorphic. Not entirely convinced i did the carpet snake justice with the focus peaking but i reckon i got better as i progressed through the day. There's probably a million things i done wrong. i did watch a youtube on desqueezing and i'm not convinced that going though the clip attributes and changing the ratio from square to anamorphic is the best way to desqueeze footage, something seems a little off to me. I didn't use log just the standard video setting. i didnt do much to the colour apart from clicking on the @ symbol in the colour page. If you have 2.30 or so to waste...

Exactly. I have a second smaller/lighter camera for wider stuff but it's always a choice I have to make otherwise, ie, do I go short (up to 75mm) or go longer but accept I can't go wider than 70mm, which is almost always far too tight. The Tamron 35-150 exists but extends too long when zoomed out and is just a bit too 'geeky' as is it's Samyang sister, so a pretty hard no for me. There's a compromise, there always is and if it's to be a bit of size and weight, so be it. I mean I was looking at the Sigma 105mm f1.4 fairly recently and the Nikon 135mm f1.8 Plena and whilst the latter is a little smaller and lighter but barely faster and FAR less flexible, the former is 300g heavier. And has zero flexibility. OK, it's faster, but that (beyond a point) is not the primary factor for me. A relatively fast: 50/70/85/105/135/150 all in one single lens? I just need to find the funds! I'd have been happy with a 50-150/2.8 had it maxed out at no more than 1kg, but if it was over, I'd suck up that extra weight and have that extra stop.