Leaderboard

Let's set a final day then, I'm too impatient Can't wait to see the bargains and unusual finds you guys have come up with. So the final day to post your video will be Monday 5th August at 20:00 GMT+0. Then we can start voting and then later in the week the big reveal of kit.

This be true. For video work they can't be beat overall for the money they cost. They are what most people really need. That and a few Pro Mist filters and you are set.

I like the funkiness of it. Looking at the close focus sample, it seemed that the Helios had more color tonality while looking at the color of the Statesman. The Leica was a very close second in that regard. I agree, the Zeiss was a good middle ground lens. If you don’t need an extreme wide angle, the Planar and the 35-70mm zoom would make for a nice two lens set. I’ve come to the same conclusion, Nikon lenses offer too much value to IQ ratio to be ignored. I am learning that I’m much more of a one lens shooter, so a “set” for me is as simple as a 24mm and a 50mm... or a just a fast 35mm. Right now I have too many mint copies of Nikon lenses to ignore collecting a decent set and it will cost less than a lot of single lenses I’ve owned. If I was a more decisive person, the Samyang 50mm 1.4 would be a no-brainer lens to keep. It has an interesting mixture of character and sharpness, like a modern vintage lens, that a lot of other lenses lack but it’s also a little boring as well. Due to my lack of 50mm primes, but love of the focal length on FF, I just bought a S-M-C Takumar 50mm 1.4 I want to test against some of my other 50mm lenses... so I may have an upcoming test as well to share.

Yeah, I agree. Lenses and approximate average eBay prices : A - Nikkor 50mm f1.8 (£100) B - Contax Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f1.7 (£130) C - Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8 (£30) D - Leica Summicron R 50mm f2 (£350) E - Helios 44M 58mm f2 (£50) One obvious candidate for the "Punching Above Its Weight" victory there.

No one that has actually seen S1 footage would call it "unbelievably bad." What a weird thing to say, even if trolling.

Right, here we go. There are in fact five lenses, as I've included a non 7Artisans mystery guest. Its not much of a guessing game really as to which one is which as each one has a different maximum aperture or different focal length in the case of one of them but I've labelled them A-E nonetheless if anyone wants to play. There are four sets of tests Respective maximum aperture f2.8 f8 Maximum aperture close focus Focus in each of the first three sets is obviously on the SpyderCal and ColorChecker with the bottle of "Statesman" on the same line to show edge performance. All images are jpegs straight out the Leica SL with no further adjustments. MAXIMUM APERTURE f2.8 f8 MAXIMUM APERTURE CLOSE FOCUS O ZIPS of less compressed versions of these attached as well 50mm-2.zip 50mm-1.zip

Hmm that might be hard to say. I have to pick the C100.

To answer your question I'm shooting internal profiles at the moment. Have not dabbled in external recorders. It's a pretty robust internal codec and I love the colors. Handling and AF has been fantastic for me. The expense of XQD cards and lack of native lenses are the biggest issues right now I think. But I really don't care because the color is spot on with what I want it to be. Shot with Wolfcrow's settings. 120 fps 1080p Edited 4K 30 fps Straight out of Camera

I ordered mine from B&H not long after Panasonic announced this. I got into a strong but polite debate with a B&H representative. I told him about the Panasonic deal, he disagreed with me and said I was wrong. after 20min it was politely escalated with a B&H manager. They literally were NOT aware that Panny was doing this for free. B&H was adamant that I MUST pay the full price. I was adamant that it was FREE. I linked them to several articles including their own B&H Q&A section of their web site. They told me they must call me back. The next day, they did! The apologized for giving me a hard time. Due to my insistence and escalation, B&H contacted Panasonic and verified that I was telling the truth. They put me on the waiting list and then got my code last week. It seems that I was the customer that informed B&H that they needed to do this. Panasonic had not even informed them yet about the free deal. I have to say that this was NOT B&H's fault, I dont think. They were caught completely off guard by my text chat and phone call to them. It was Panasonic that should have communicated this free deal to their largest dealer in the US in a better way. CT

I'm referring to the cameras I shot my entries with, but as this is a blind competition, I cannot yet confirm or deny if I have a Z-Cam E1.

That's two psychic moments in two days you've had now

Canon has Peter McKinnon, but maybe they need the combined bullshitting power of Peter AND gelaxstudio too. GELAX... is that a lubricant or a condom brand?

You sound like a YouTube trying to get canon to sponsor their 6d mark ii review

Yeah and buy it from the Apple store. Even more than half the ones that say they are Real Apple ones on eBay, Amazon are cheap knockoffs. Huge scam on those sites.

A fraction behind the ultimate 6K -> 4K oversampled image on a chart, but better in real-world due to larger sensor, would be a better topic title ?

The original is... 69 bucks? That ain't too bad. I bought an extra original charger for my ASUS for around 100 (I wanted official and these universal all brand I don't really trust that much). If I look through all Amazon listings they all sound kinda dodgy. Non of the usual suspects in charging that I know (mostly USB chargers/cables/powerbanks) pop up (with well-recognized stores on AliExpress (and usually on Amazon too): Anker, Blitzwolf, ROCK, UGreen, Vinsic, Baseus, Orico, Tronsmart, Flovme, Mcdodo, WSKEN, USAMS etc). I only see one of the brand 'Rocketek' which I have seen around before and do as well have their own flagship store on AliExpress (which is usually a good indication they're quite legit: https://rocketek.aliexpress.com . The one on Amazon.com however is a 45W version. The one I see on the Amazon.de site is 85W. Can't seem to find it back on AliExpress though... Don't have any Apple products myself. Don't have any experience with Rocketek. So... you're on your own, but atleast some pointers, eh? Would be careful going brandless/extremely cheap. Same goes for camera batteries. A renowned B or even C-brand without all the premium, sure. An X, Y or Z-brand selling them for peanuts? Eh... might want to skip 'em. I've had bad experiences cheaping out on that kind of stuff. Really... whether it's a laptop or a camera, they're friggin' expensive. I personally don't feel like cheapskating it on powersupply risking it all... (had something similar to the following happen with DSTE batteries for my GH2) Don't want to get situations like that now... stay safe out there

Unfortunately you have to buy his guide to access it. But it is $100 and I think it is worth it.

The funny thing is Helios is also one of the most beloved lenses chosen to shoot anamorphic. It's perfectly imperfect and organic.

And here I am voting for B. To each their own, I guess. ( :

You can just use an FD to L adapter https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32862542584.html

It is my mission in life with these test to make all lenses look identically bad ! So, thats one for E and one for D then. There's probably only us three remotely interested in this test, shall I just list them now ?

D is the best of the bunch.

@BTM_Pix great little test thanks. Actually, it’s amazing how different lenses, become less than different in a controlled test... granted I am looking at these on my phone but even still, I would have suspected a greater difference between all of the lenses. With that being said, E was the clear winner for me in every category except close focus where C was my favorite. But E came in second and A was the solid third best imo in every category.

A complete troll of a headline, from somebody who doesn't even know what he's looking at. He's crudely re-scaled the screen grabs... Looks like they are off his phone! Here are the full JPEGs from DPReview. Click, download, crop in and look at 100%. Sony A7 III Panasonic S1 The Fuji X-T3 is the best resolving camera on the market at the moment. However the difference is very minor. The chart is designed to show even minor differences that vanish in normal viewing conditions when not pixel peeping, or on a normal subject. Viewing footage in a cinema, the small differences would also vanish due to viewing distances. And we've had the argument before with the EOS R that pin-sharpness is not what you want. It isn't cinematic. You need a natural looking image, which you can add sharpness to in post when needed and 99% of the time it isn't. Also Dpreview did the chart test before the V-LOG codec upgrade came out and the don't specify their sharpness settings. The S1 doesn't have a moire problem and it resolves 4K as well as the top 5% of cameras DPReview have tested over the years.

The market is in a shift. Video is in more demand than ever as a medium for ideas, thoughts, and art. Camera manufacturer have been slow in adapting. Canon is the biggest name brand in cameras. They will be fine.

My thoughts are start watching all the new vlog videos people are posting with their S1 and be honest with yourself with what you see. That chump gives me heartburn. He’s the master of bullshit clickbait YouTube. He’s not afraid to contradict himself, so he covers all the fanboy talking points.

You stole this headline from Tony Northup ? ?! Joking aside, thanks for the links. I am gonna check that on a real screen and not my phone. But given the look of the S1 videos and the first impressions of VLOG users, I think that the dpreviews demo scene is one thing, and real world use another...

C100ii by a large margin.

... *imagines... ? 'Dang, my stomach is growling, gotta get some food in ma belly. I'd just about kill for some BigMacs right now' *Turns appetite ring 'At second thought... nah, I actually think I'm good' ?!

It is a terrible design with awful ergonomics and engineering. I would rather have any other small camera that exists. I am recording 73 straight minutes on the NX500 on scorching Mediterranean heat and has never overheated to me.

S1 + 70-200 f4 S, iso 6400, VLOG 10bits 422, UHD2160p25, all handheld. Link in the description to the non graded. He said in the comments section he feels the S1 as a mini varicam.

We were shooting at a recording studio and an A6300 and A6500 both overheated while filming. Had to continue the shoot with a spare G85

Sorry, it's not a modified or regular Helios. Sorry, it's not a Fujinon 1.7 c-mount. Funny, it's sounds like a TV show game, and now behind the curtain I will reveal the mystery lens... it's a... wait, I cannot say anything until Monday 5th August at 20:00 GMT+0.

I dont want to tease you,...BUT! When your VLog comes in, forget everything you have seen in your S1 thus far. Just forget that stuff. VLog makes it a completely brand new camera! You will understand what I mean when you get yours!

I think you are living in a dream world thinking the young are going to embrace Leica, MF cameras. Smartphones are what they grew up with. It fits their needs. Social media, YouTube is what they know. They don't need Cine cameras. They have what they need in their purse or pocket. They will get better and better, and Cine cameras will be less and less desirable. A Smartphone IS the ultimate Hybrid. For the masses it already has been. We are already Dinosaurs on here. Stick a fork in us, we are done.

True but Leica were at death's door in 2004. In 2005 Dr Andreas Kaufmann put them on the path to digital, and that got Leica back on their feet. Cooperation with Panasonic helped too. The luxury goods market is almost as fickle as the consumer one, just more robust in an economic downturn. If normal people, whether rich or poor start leaving their cameras at home, eventually they forget they need one and they'll be out of sight, out of mind, a big cultural and fashion shift away... I know people who just "aren't in that game anymore" when it comes to desktop PCs for instance, and once these people leave, it's very hard to get them back. Japan needs to face the growing crisis head on. The enthusiast market alone is just not enough to sustain the level of investment necessary. Hate to be a doomsayer, a gloomster, but it's the truth. I only hope the next generation who start on smartphones, graduate to something a bit more exciting later. The young are our only hope.

Worth a shot at buying a battery to have a go. My battery is charged so I've just took a quick couple of frames with the 25mm f1.8 for reference for you in case you decide to lash out the additional £79 for that one too

Right, I'll fire the SL up and do it over the weekend. There will be an additional mystery guest 50mm as well.

Right, I've done this setup picture now so we will be having this test whether you want it or not One of these lenses should absolutely cane the other three but we shall see.

Does the 17-50 have a manual appetite ring? I want to get it with a manual speed booster to save $$ This lens has killer range at 2.8, and for $300, WOW

This sounds like a job for the granite worktop and colourful bottles of booze to me. I have a "couple" of 50mm lenses.

I'll shoot 30 seconds of FF VLog and Super35 VLog and upload the files straight from the card to my Google Drive this weekend. There is, of course "some" difference is noise shape and pattern between FF and Super35. I did some lens cap noise tests between the two modes. The full frame mode has the advantage of 6k oversampling and the Super35 does not, it's of course a 1:1 4k readout. So, the ff scaled down noise is a finer grit. It's texture is very small. Whereas the Super35 is a larger, more common looking pattern but still truly excellent for a super35 camera. Panasonic amazingly gives us some noise reduction control! As you know, noise reduction is a DESTRUCTIVE process. Once it's applied to an image, it can never be removed in post. It's artifacts are burned in. I record entirely with noise reduction pulled back to "0". I would MUCH rather surgically and more carefully remove noise in post than have any camera do it in real time for me. (for serious projects that I care about, not simple dumb stuff) Again,...this S1 sensor is clean, clean clean. Even the tiny noise that it does produce is "pretty" looking. I can't stress enough just how much it's dynamic range is in VLog.....wow! CT

Yes, great colour separation and pleasing, natural look (without any processed harshness). I don't know what else you could do for colour or texture to make this more organic.

Nice work guys; sure, Aces is a viable route (VLog -> LogC -> Aces). With the next release though, EC will really exceed the aesthetics of standard LogC routes in every way Well, I've certainly blown through my own deadlines. Best steer clear of further prediction until the exact date can be guaranteed beyond a doubt. Progress on the P4K is good (which directly benefits the S, and 5). Here is the first 'P4Ka in the wild': EC MAIN EC LINEAR

The e2c (and the e2, to some extent) has features aimed at live streaming. They have ethernet ports on the back, and the e2c even supports POE. Much simpler to stream with than any dslr or cinema camera. No accessories required.

Here goes nothin'........ Camera #2

It is kind of so bad it is great. I really like that look. That was about the best a "Normal" person could do 30 years ago. And everyone Then thought it was great! Things don't have to be perfect to be interesting. I think we spend Way too much time looking for perfection. Well done.