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Agreed 100%! Now we just need the displays to catch up. I have an LG OLED and it's wonderful, and there are a few HDR projectors (mostly 1080p) but there's a real lack of HDR computer displays and laptops out there - and to be honest I think I know why. The brightness would cause eyestrain at such close viewing distances.

A key issue in this is what the uploaded HDR video looks like on YouTube when viewers do not have HDR capability. The good news is that YouTube converts the HDR video, if it has the correct metadata, to an SDR version and shows the SDR version if it detects no ability to display the HDR video correctly. That is, if the video is HLG and the display cannot work with HLG videos then it plays the SDR version. And, in my experience, the SDR version of HLG videos converted by YouTube look good. The downside is confusion on the part of viewers whether they are seeing HDR or SDR. The uploader usually labels the video as HDR, so many viewers might think they are viewing in HDR when they are not. And this could be true even if they have a real HDR-capable display but, say, one that does not do HLG. All in all, if uploading to YouTube is what you do I am tending to go with the idea to always create and upload HDR videos.

Lol. Allow me to disagree. Sigma make great lenses and they do not make you pay twice what it worth like everyone else. They make for great videos and pictures. That's what I want.

PhotoMatch is an app, which can auto-create LUT by a given image, and in development right now is an image-adjustments module, with custom algorithms. I'm looking for some feedback from you. Do you like the image-adjustment algorithms better than the standard ones, used in just about any other software? What do you think about the color-matching option? You can run the app through just about any modern browser: https://kinoseed.com/ Here are some examples of what it does: Here's example of "temperature change" algorithm: Color-match algorithm:

We can dream.

Interesting new product. Pretty nice idea. https://***URL removed***/news/6978265344/this-is-the-world-s-first-variable-graduated-nd-filter

Agreed... [Jim Jannard storms off into the sunset] Art Adams is a great resource. Not as in love with his work as a DP, but he somehow manages to make camera criticism useful to both readers and the manufacturers themselves.

Yeah when physics pops up with small sensor sizes and slower apertures... reality acts like a bitch in a soap opera without mercy ;-)

Try Bruxelles Midi station - they sell it there (although it might be the international edition). I don't have a subscription, I'm afraid, as I read it online. I can buy a copy and post it to you if you like. PM me your address.

Yep timecode should have been there for its intended use. Also an xlr module with phantom power would make it much more useful.

Lack of OLED monitors as well. Dell was supposed to release a 31" OLED 5k and canned it.

Good write up Jon

Looks nice, I got good results from the image-adjustments panel. However it wasn't clear at first what the sliders do, maybe titles would help. Also you should be able to reset a single slider. I can't comment on the color matching yet, but it looks like it does it's job.

Thanks again. One questions, hopefully a simple one: what kind of Thunderbolt port is that? The reviews for the BM device date back to 2013. Will an adapted connection allow it to suck power from the Mac? Nowhere on the german seller's sites is specified if there are different versions for different ports (and neither on the BM homepage). With taxes, I could get the Ultrastudio AND a Flame for ~ 1000 €. Now I'm spoilt for choice whether I should spent 300-400 € more for an Inferno, since it may turn out that my A6500's 8-bit (which is also limited to 30p @ UHD) turns out to be unsufficient. jonpais, invaluable information!

Interesting: https://nikonrumors.com/2018/01/22/nikons-upcoming-mirrorless-camera-is-rumored-to-have-two-electric-af-motors.aspx/ Was thinking they might have both an old kind and a new kind to keep backwards compatibility. (which seems quite important to Nikon)

That works better if you're never taking off the filter, otherwise you have to re-mount the hood after removing the filter, and vice versa. Collapsing the hood takes maybe a second, just put your hand across the front and push towards the camera. Pull forward when you're done. Adjusting a vari-ND would be a bit fiddly, true. I use fixed NDs so I don't need that quick access I guess. I do only bring/use one hood actually. The hood just stretches over the mounting ring and fits in a groove, I leave a ring on each lens and just transfer the hood when I swap lenses.

Oh I won't argue with any of your comments. If you can only have or afford one camera you are not going to buy a GH2. A G7 puts one to shame overall. These new cameras make every ones life easier, but I just think beautiful 1080p output is, well just beautiful. We just seem to be loosing that in these new cameras.

I found this interesting, they redesigned and recessed the gimbal in the body: https://techcrunch.com/video/dji-unveils-new-mavic-air-crunch-report/5a67c8dd2242152132239958/ That 1 inch camera in the Mavic Pro is becoming more and more a possibility.

AF with anamorphic is generally extremely hit and miss, although with a 1.33x it can work pretty well. Modern MC lenses also don’t flare as well as anything vintage. Even if you don’t care much for flare, the look that you can get with older manual lenses is well worth the effort...a Helios 44 with an oval inside is about as good as Century/SLR/Optex 1.33x can ever look IMHO. Saying that, I bought a cheap Chinese nifty fifty f1.8 knockoff and put an oval inside and that works surprisingly well as an AF taking lens...the simplistic coatings also did not kill the flare too much either. But you can’t really beat the look of using an older manual lens.

I know! Thanks for your understanding But seriously, Canon won't "go down the toilet", it's a reality as you said. They are in a great commercial and financial position. I just hope they don't disappoint again (personal feeling).

18% off the already reduced price thanks to the Obsidian version, so basically 28% off! I've always wanted a drone that shoots MJPEG!

They actually lowered the lens brightness from f2.2 on the Mavic Pro to f2.8 on the Mavic air. So it gets 3/4th of a stop less light that the Mavic Pro (I hope those are the correct figures). The slightly under-exposed videos were mildly apparent. Apart from that, it seems way better than the Mavic Pro and the Spark, for the buck. I know people have relaced the broken Mavic Pro lens, which has requires a little effort because 2 screws and one electrical connection point are involved. I wonder if the Mavic Pro lens could be fitted on the Mavic Air.

Adding oval discs to anywhere other than at a lens at aperture location will introduce considerable light loss and added vignette. Solution is to locate oval aperture directly - or at the closest point to aperture level (as mentioned by whoisjsd). Easiest and cheapest is to modify a Helios 44 lens this way, and to use that as your taking lens. See diagram below to see highlighted area for proper oval aperture placement in Helios 44 (or any similar Double-Gauss lens design): With an oval aperture correctly installed and orientated, the effect is increased oval bokeh on a 1.33x anamorphot, and a sharpening effect due to the taking lens effectively being stopped down on the horizontal axis (yet maintaining near full height aperture). Here is a crappy sample of my 1.33x Century with Helios 44 with oval aperture installed...ignore the softness of the image, the proximity of the subjects was too close for sharp focus...but you can clearly see the improvement in bokeh definition:

I was in Tokyo in April, went to Bic, Map and Yodobashi as mentioned earlier. Map is your best bet for used digital gear. If you're looking at vintage lenses, there are tons of shops all over, when you go to places like Shinjuku you will see lots of camera shops, just wander into them and start checking stuff out. There's so much camera wise in Tokyo - not surprising since its the largest metro area in the world and home to most of the worlds camera makers. Its so cool coming from the US where there are no camera shops in many cities. All Sony stuff is Japanese market only, languages are locked and no warranty outside Japan. They won't even sell you a body if you don't speak Japanese. International versions are more expensive. I got a long demo from a Panasonic rep at Bic, the GH5 could be switched to English. Same for the Olympus and Fuji. If you buy anything in Japan, you can avoid paying tax. Though as mentioned, HK is much cheaper for new gear and all the models are international versions. Bic is a gear slut's dream, every camera and lens on the market is on display - and you can try everything but the high end Leica and Phase One stuff out. I went there three times - each visit was a couple hours - just tinkering with everything from the PenF, to the FS5, to the Hasselblad Xd1. Also take your passport to Bic - you can buy a tourist metro card for unlimited travel on the Tokyo trains, it winds up being a really great deal and allows you to really explore Tokyo on the cheap. Google it, it winds up costing the same as just a few rides a day, we easily got out money's worth out of it. Also, Bic is more than just cameras, the one I was in had 8 floors of everything electronic, from phones to TV's to vacuums. Its total sensory overload. My wife even thought it was cool, and sh'e not into any gadgets. Here are a few photos from our time in Japan: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.752566191617450.1073741852.558979244309480&type=1&l=ae03370d02 Cheers Chris

I was there back in 2010, thought I'd look around for some tech and camera gear... but what these guys, especially Oli, say. Price is only a bit cheaper if you buy a local market model (e.g. Kiss instead of Rebel or ___D), but they do not provide worldwide warranty, so... didn't pick up a single thing except for a tripod that time (long exposures in Tokyo is kinda cool). But they do have some cool stores to roam around... but you don't end up drooling more than you would over at a B&H... If you're into watches, I'd look at that instead, I've recently imported a Casio Pro Trek PRW-6000SC-7 and love it! They've got some cool stuff and nice prices there.

Yeap - as far as I know, specially Panasonic is known for supplying cameras with only japanese language available in Japan. Better check the camera's menu before buying.

I probably wouldn't bother looking at new cameras in Japan, I'd go hunting for secondhand deals instead! This guy runs an interesting blog: https://www.japancamerahunter.com

The price won't be much different than in the US for brand new stuff but the warranty might be a pain to manage later on. Some camera are also only availablre with Japanese menu... You would find better deal in China and Hong Kong. However for used stuff there are a lot of gems and Japanese people are crazy with gears, you can find 40 years old lenses brand new with packaging! The main stores are Map camera, Yodobashi Camera, and BIC in Shinjuku Used stuff: http://photojpn.org/news/2016/02/used-camera-shops-in-tokyo/

Not all of us are trying to make spy videos of our neighborhood coffee shop.