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It is really sad that John has to resort to such bad business practices. It is also against the law. What he is saying is false, it is damaging and that is the very plain definition of libel. That is the last I'm going to say about it because I don't want to wade in and blow it all out into a discussion... especially if there might be a law suit to follow. SLR Magic are really angry about what he is putting out onto social media. it isn't worthy of a discussion. We will SHOOT and not do politics on this forum, thanks for understanding.

I am following on FB a French Pro photographer. Cool guy, 100% independent (no sponsor whatsoever). Of course his work is top, you can check a few of his pics here: https://500px.com/BeboyPhotographies Yesterday he posted a funny post on FB so I am going to translate and summarize it here: So this guy had a 5DIII since day one. Then he tried the A7R thanks to a friend and liked the quality, compared (pixel peep) with 5DIII and was blown away by : 1- Dynamic Range (I saw his tests and when getting back the shadow informations and so on it was indeed crazy: clean on A7R, horrible on 5DIII) 2- sharpness (36mpx vs 20ish and lack of AA filter) So he was shocked and was like "cool I don't need to bracket anymore, ... .." so he just bought the A7R and used it with his Canon lenses. Almost sold the 5D but never did it. He realized at the beginning that when he edited pictures, he got wired colors and "flat" image in the way not really pleasant like it was on the Canon, even after 2 hours of photoshop on it. But he thought that it was because of the learning curve of being on a new system. And then he was just used to it, and 10 months passed. And then, he checked back his very old pictures and was like wow... There were looking really nice on the 5DIII! and he remembered those wired colors and lack of nice contrast. So he decided to do some test with the old 5DIII again but in "real world" instead of pixel peeping. And the conclusion was easy: the 5DIII produces way better RAWs than the A7R. The result he can get on Photoshop is just better, better colors, better contrasts.... And looking at the past ten months: horrible A7R ergonomics, tons of problem (died because of non weather sealing) bad handling due to small body, ...., .... So he his now going back on the 5D !!!! Well.... I got the 5DIII myself. I am super angry like Andrew about Canon and their shits (NO FEATURES on canon: they have the color science and lenses and thats it). Sony is completely focused on specs and features... Look at this awesome AR7II. But at the end of the day, what do we see ? Best results with 5DIII. In video, same with A7S and 1DC !!! what a surprise! A7S has specs (120fps, 4K, 23427490284294782048 ISO....) 1DC has nothing but the image is just miles ahead. So whatever do we say about canon, even if we split on them. If Canon does a 4K 5DIV or a 5DC because they choose to segment (and I think they will do one or the other) then it's gonna be a hell of a camera. I decided to post this stories because of the similarities with the video world (canon colors, sony colors...). I was sold with the A7R II, and now I just don't know anymore. I am still waiting for a good FF camera that does photo/video WELL... What do you think guys?

Someone needs to make a RED shell that houses other cameras. Most clients wouldnt know the difference but would be STOKED.

Someone can drive to the office in a Tesla Model S, a very respectable car and an eco-friendly choice. Or someone can show up tire screaching, engine reviing, rims spinning in some fancy ass exotic car. Unfortunately people are likely to be more wow-ed by the latter. They might even ask if they can join in for a ride. Also, putting up that kind of display is a kind of status symbol. It says 'hi, I do well for myself, I can afford such equipment, I run a business that is successful, it is because I'm awesome at what I do, so you can trust me to deliver'. It might also be less likely that people will dare to nitpick. If you show up with a GH3 and shoot your thing, they'll find some things that dissappoints them (even if there's not really). Shoot with a RED and they aren't looking for reasons to fault it. I like this kid's mentality though: But you know, running a business is something else, and taking it to the next level will include marketing yourself. You can't just take your own perspective anymore. You'll have to see things from a client's stance. It's not what you'd be happy with, it's what they'd be happy with. And unfortunately the world is superficial enough that people will look at what you camera shoot with, because it's in their interest to have the best. Now... better and more expensive might not make up for lack of creativity, but it's what trumps lack of creativity in combination with lesser stuff. So then again we get to the fact that gear reflects status. Would someone who doesn't know what he or she is doing really shoot a RED? Or would they still be shooting with a GH3? Sure people will look at your showreel, but I also think they'll compare you to others... just on plain paper. And maybe someone got tasked with selecting a few production companies and then present the options to the person is charge. Maybe the shots caller only gets to see the comparison on paper and decides to go with however shoots the fanciest camera... unless you do not need to market yourself, because you already have the status, reputation and word of mouth going for you, I think having a very expensive camera business-wise can't be a bad thing. Creatively and practically... that's a whole other thing.

selecting a suitable helicoid (you can get various units with various diameters and focus throws on ebay) is a great start. grab one that will allow you to fit the front element into it, - maybe with some step rings + nd filter rings with the glass removed to mount the glass. then attach it to the front of the b+h. I successfully did this and its a great mod. i get focus from inf to around 3ft in around 90degres. its nt a razor sharp lens, but almost gives full coverage wit ha 58mm on aps-c. a 58mm and a gh2/3/4 will deliver great things. lovely flare and character.

Thanks for the footage as ever Seb!! Will put it on the review along with my own footage which is now shot, just waiting to get clearance on the song I used on it, from a friend. Curiously I found taping the focus at around 50ft on the prime & kowa gave me a sharper image than sticking it at infinity. Probably because of the adapter (was using it on Speed Booster and infinity isn't aways right) Decided to use a Helios 44M 58mm F2.0 and Zeiss Jena 80mm F1.8 (M42 mount) for the taking lenses. The Zeiss in particularly is a well suited one, it is really small for a fast 80mm, compared to the Zeiss 85mm F1.4 it is tiny.

Pre-order the Sony A7R II now - B&H / Amazon Sony have communicated the confirmed ship date of the A7R II to me - the first batch will arrive at stores in Berlin on 5th August! UPDATE: this is now the official thread for A7R II updates, footage and user experiences..

I honestly think the A7RII will be disappointing for video. Got a feeling. Most of us want Canon products, because they do create the best images. They absolutely do. I can't help but think if Canon just pulled out their finger a little on the specifications - they would blow the competition out the water. A cinema DSLR (1DC) that doesn't have peaking, what on earth is all that about? No 4k on the C100 Mk II? No 60fps on the C300 Mk II? They just miss key stuff out. I think the reason why they get such a bashing on this website is because we do want Canon products, but we want them with the features that others are offering. Even basic ones. I know I do.

you only need about 15mm of travel. i recon a m58 helicoid will work. TBH i cant even remember which unit i used, i just ripped it apart to get it to do what i wanted. mine wasnt the right size so i had to modify/step down. just measure the body with the front element housing removed and select a helicoid that will slip over that. if needs be you can pack it with pvc tape for a tight fit.

hey, Is there a chance you could upload a short clip of ungraded c-log somewhere for download. Would be very appreciated

Give me 15 stops and I'm pretty sure I can live with applying a rolling shutter fix in post to 1% of my shots

Man i would choose 15 stops of dynamic range. But you know what there are only few situations when rolling shutter annoys me... ok when a train goes from side to side of my frame, a car, but i rarely do some fast pans... therefore i can see no problem with 2 stops down when turning on Global shutter. I think i will almost always shoot RS with this baby while sometimes i would choose GS... like a those nuclear backpacks on Ghostbusters movie... "Please put it on... Pjewwwwwwwwwwwwww... On..." LOL

Very interesting topic. I have no experience with cameras in this aspect, but have a personal experience with another piece of equipment. Quite a while back I made my living as a director and had my own small production business, where I produced mostly commercials and corporate image stof. I didn't invested in any kind of production gear at all. I rented the gear we needed for each project, as these often needed quite different setups, - 35mm or S16mm or video, different amount/quality of light and sound, maybe/maybe not dolly/crane and so on. I also hired all the people needed from job to job. Quite a few of my customers were advertising agencies. At a time I had tried a few times to get projects from one specific - a big one - agency. Had a few meetings with them and got a few smaller projects, but the day I showed up to meeting with a brand new Mac T-Book, all the doors opened up to the bigger projects. I got one of the first T-Books in my country and it was extremely expensive. This really impressed the good people at the agency. The T-Book sent the message that I was very trendy, (an important aspect in the advertising/commercials world), and was a succesfull director/business owner (otherwise I would not have the financial strength to buy this thing). The truth was I took a chance with my last savings. To me the moral of this is, that you probably won't get better business by showing up with a new/better camera. These can still be rented and this might easily be cheeper in the long run than buying "the latest camera on the block" too often. In my experience it is more valuable to "know" the way your clients acts and thinks. By that I don't mean you should crawl on your knees. Of course you need to stay the person you are.

I have a friend who runs a small production company with a RED Scarlet. I just emailed him to ask his opinion.

The kind of client that would ask specifically for RED would also probably scoff at a Scarlet, even though the Scarlet dragon looks the business. You also have to consider the OLPF situation, the skintone OLPF is pretty shocking in low light (even 1600).. As you always light your work, that might not be a concern.

Ha. This was the number 1 trigger which made me think "sod this", get a 1D C. The A7S being such a TINY camera, to bolt on a massive recorder which an invisible screen in direct light was just horrible. The 1D C is small but it also self contained and 'just works' unlike 5D3 raw or recorders that exhaust huge bulky batteries in 30 mins. I like simplicity!!

Lovely stuff Rich and Volker. The Iscorama will always be a gem. It is 1.5x though so quite a different look to 2x anamorphic. Imagine a single focus 2x version of the Iscorama. That is what the Kowa 16H turns into with the Rangefinder attachment First test went well, was sharp at F4, sometimes at F2.8 but definitely usable at all apertures aside from F1.4, but then the Iscorama is quite mushy that fast as well! It focusses closer than the Iscorama, as essentially it has a variable diopter on the front. The flare was very pleasing, oval streaks and blue hexagons. yum yum yum. No breathing either. Only weakness so far is the chromatic aberration, it is quite strong at close focus when you have a backlit subject. The light creeps in and puts a veil over the edges of your subject sometimes. And yeah, Iscorama still smaller - but the Kowa, ironically, is now easier to focus... butter smooth and light, no stiffness. PS - chances of Iscorama going down in price due to the Rangefinder = zero. It's still too rare and too good to depreciate. In fact it is now getting extremely rare compared to 2 years ago. PPS - I sent my pre-36 away to Van Diemen to be rehoused for more practical focus with gears along with some others like Andrew Wonder and we are still waiting for them to finish it, cost me £1800. SLR Magic have given me the close focus, easy focus, cine focus all in one small adapter for $599... and done it quicker than Van Diemen could even get the CAD drawing to us... Says a lot.

Here´s some footage of this pre-36 version, recorded with the Panasonic GH2: I loved this lens! It´s far more accurate than any other anamorphic lens (from other manufacturer) I know!

So, are we back, where we have started? I mean, instead of “inventing” 4K, first the industry should have implemented “proper” HD… Has maybe Mr. Canon right, when he doesn’t want to jump from line-skipping HD to whao-whao 4K? I don’t like Mr. Canon, because he hasn’t jumped anywhere in the last 5 years, but I believe, 4K has come a bit too fast for filmmakers. Like this post. I have checked very accurately both footages on my 1366x768 laptop monitor… and what can I say? Honestly, what could I say? Please don’t tell it anybody, I just share this information with you. I don’t have any 4K monitor home… How should I argue over things, I don’t see? Probably, the magic word is bandwidth. How much information you can write in a given time. 50 Mbs sounds good, but is it color or resolution or dynamic range information, what is being written? What do you prioritize? It could be the future profile of companies, to focus on color, or focus on dynamic range…. The industry promises you anything. That’s why, such an independent site is so important, where we can find “our” holy stuff among all the marketing BS-s. So, thanks for sharing :-)

The m43 ULTRA version is for all intents and purposes optically perfect over the entire m43 format. It's intended as a general-purpose Speed Booster for both stills and video shooters, and it replaces the original m43 Speed Booster. As a general-purpose Speed Booster, the ULTRA can be mounted and used with all m43 cameras. The XL version is more specialized, and gives the maximum possible focal length reduction for video shooters using the GH4 and a limited set of additional m43 cameras. Performance is extremely good, but is not as good in the extreme corners of fullframe m43 as the ULTRA.

Have you thought about a Scarlet Dragon?

You can rotate it and flip it down so it's right in front of your eyes in a shoulder configuration. You can also tilt it back if you're doing low shots. Not sure how easy it is to change the whole configuration, though.

You can't be serious. Did you watch the original 4K download? NX1 stood its ground beautifully and even topped 1Dc in resolution (not sharpness) in several spots. To say 1Dc annihilates NX1 is serious hyperbole. The only place I thought NX1 looked cheap in comparison was the garden (trees and bushes) shot.

Does anyone have any tips on reducing the handling noise on the Zoom H1? I find gripping it really tight works OK but that plastic body seems to pass through any slight movement.

a few more clips. forgive the camera bounce on the focus pulls, I hadn't had my coffee yet.

​It depends on the individual lenses. Some in the Zeiss range are actually much better than their Canon L equivalent. Hell even Sigma destroyed the Canon 35mm F1.4L with their version recently. A lot of the Canon L lenses are decades old now. Yes they are beautiful but some of the models are long due a replacement. If you take the Zeiss range as a whole especially the Otus and Batis lenses they DO blow Canon away in many ways. We are talking orders of magnitude here and sometimes it doesn't make a massive difference in the real world but the highest end Zeiss glass - OTUS - yes that is definitely currently a step ahead of Canon's equivalents.