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Until recently I'd have said my most useful piece of equipment was my untethered glass balcony clamp.

I am dull enough to get my fun through utility though so it works on both levels for me. I've decided that the German word for people who get their fun through the misfortune of others who have over tightened their glass balcony clamps and caused the destruction of said glass balcony should be "Shardenfreude".

i read this and thought bloody hell, he's taken up abseiling or not paying for his accommodation 😉 remember try not to feed the trolls 😛 btw i liked your sunset

My funnest camera was probably my Sony RX100V. I missed that little pocket rocket so much I bought a ZV1 a few months back to both replace it and to be my backup. If times were better, I would have liked to have played with a latest spec GoPro with some longer lenses.

Canon & Adobe under the same ownership would create a problem - a market-controlling monopoly which wouldn't have been good for the users; it would have been pretty disasterous if Adobe software only worked with Canon camera files, which is no doubt what would have happened under their ownership. I think the approach of using the mobile phone as the connection hub to the world is sensible, and camera manufacturers have been working to integrated connectivity to their ILCs. It's a bit quirky to use but it does work. Screens have been growing, and three of my four ILCs have touch-screen functionality. There are lots of so-called computational tools in the camera including focus stacking, single-shot tone-mapping, mutli-shot HDR, dozens of different visual effects, and basic editing tools right within the camera. A lot of people claim that these things are missing from cameras but they're not. Many photographers laugh at these features because they want more control and the ability to edit the images and do the "computational" part with user input on a ... well, computer, rather than be limited by the camera manufacturer's built-in software for post-processing. The Zeiss ZX1 implements a lot of editing and sharing functionality in the camera and it has been vigorously trashed on photographers' gear forums online. I can't remember any product that got so much online hatred. These people enthusaistically don't want these features on their cameras. Personally I enjoy occasionally editing an image in-camera and sending it to friends via my mobile phone. It takes a couple of minutes to do it and people catch up with what I'm doing. I then later edit the image properly on a computer based on the RAW image(s). I also use automated focus stacking quite a lot. I'm not a big fan of combining multiple exposures in "HDR"-style effects as I find the automated algorithms don't do all that great result in terms of how I like the images to look and I prefer a more manual approach called exposure blending in most cases (with treelines I sometimes do use HDR or D-Lighting). I find the mobile phone cameras suitable for digitizing bills and hand-made drawings and for such tasks, but generally for photography I find the results disgusting. Cameras don't use the same kind of OS as mobile phones as the mobile phones take a long time to start up and people want a camera to be ready to shoot within a split-second after turning it on, instead of taking 30 seconds to boot. Additionally, many experienced (still) photographers want to time action themselves rather than shooting all moments and then selecting afterwards. It's just a creation of habit from the film world, perhaps. A mobile phone OS isn't really suitable for real-time tasks where precise timing is important. Camera manufacturers sometimes make attemtps at Android-based cameras (Nikon and Zeiss have done that) and the resulting product gets universal trashing by the online photography community. A real-time OS is what the camera manufacturers use, and it's for good reasons. The issue behind the camera sales time course is that the world now has hundreds of millions of digital ILCs and perhaps only one million is really needed. For these cameras to stop being functional it would take a long time. Which is why there is likely to be only a trickle of sales from now on. Younger generations have fallen behind on income and thus they don't have the purchasing power their parents had, and thus they don't buy expensive luxury items such as dedicated cameras, unless they work professionally in a field that requires it. Dedicated cameras are not needed in everyday life and the mobile phone camera provides the necessary everyday functionality. Artists and journalists are now largely endangered species and also don't have the jobs or purchasing power that existed in the past. People expect content to be free now so where is the compensation for the people who produce it? I don't have the numbers but my understanding of streaming services is that the compensation to the original artist is worse than it was when physical media distribution was required to disseminate the art, be it music, or photography fo that matter. News sites created by professionals still exist but they generate less money because much of the advertising money goes to google and facebook instead of the producer of the content like it used to be in traditional media (be it TV or newspaper). So everywhere the producer of the original content is stomped upon and it becomes more difficult to make a living in this way, and large international companies reap the profits, taking advantage of the content that they did not make. This, in my opinion, is one of the key problems of our time, and it is also contributing to the challenges facing camera manufacturers.

That's a funny joke, but it's good that the point has sunk in.

But only for photography, AFC for video is very limited on Sony with MC11

I worked out that I have three different purposes for cameras: my family trips / events, camera testing and learning, and Go-Shoot. Go-Shoot is the most fun one, and I'm wondering why, but I suspect it has to do with the fact that nothing is at stake. The event isn't significant enough for there to be any consequences if I botch the whole thing and there's no edit, or even any footage at all. Thinking about the psychology of it, is there's something at stake then the mood changes and you have to "stop horsing around" and "let me concentrate on this" and "it's time to get serious now" etc... Obviously on projects you can be having fun in-between shots when the pressure is off, but you'd have to be pretty darn skilled to be super-relaxed while also nailing the shot. I think it's when you can do whatever you want that it becomes fun, like in Austin Powers...

i have the 15mm f8 oly on my new e-m10 mark two, if i could find the 9mm bodycap lens at a reasonable price i'd probably buy it too. i'd hesitate to call it my sharpest lens but it does ok. For a go shoot project its probably ideal. I did lash out today and layby a 12mm f2 olympus lens which will be the most modern lens in my bag of lenses. Took the camera on a 4 hour round trip to the big smoke and tried the lens in store. it should work well with the mark 2 on the little crane m2 gimbal. Not the most fun thing perhaps but i am enjoying the little m2 gimbal i bought. i can throw either the s20 smart phone on it or the gopro or Olympus e-m10 mark ii with a lens 300 grams or less on it. that covers all my bases except for the bm p4k. Lets face it, while not everyone is a fan of the floaty look of gimbals, anything that reduces the cloverfield look of anything i shoot is a good thing, and compared to a millers tripod quite a bit more affordable at the moment.

Note that the new Sony A1 camera they put the steadyshot inside on the grip (right hand side) and we've not seen the FX3 from that side yet.

I've ordered the Olympus 15/8 lens-cap-lens to put on my GF3 as a larger (and better quality) rig for my "go-shoot" project. My Go-Shoot project is the inspiration for pushing forwards with the action camera setup, and is basically to get out of the house, film something, edit it, and publish it, just to do little experiments and to get more practice with editing and develop my editing style more. I'm really looking forward to the Oly 15/8 and GF3 combo, because the GF3 doesn't have manual controls in video mode and the 15/8 is by far the smallest manual lens around, which will give me MF and take away aperture control from the camera.

Their PR ahead of announcing the UMP12K was pretty low-key so who knows! BM seem to be a random number generator with their features, with each camera kind of being like the first camera from a startup company trying to fill a little gap they've found in the market. They could either do something sensible like creating a new camera that fits into an existing lineup and uses the same lens-mount and accessories etc, or they could go wild with another one-off offering, who knows. It could just as easily be a medium format 20K "pocket" camera with a PL mount, or a 6K 1" sensor C-Mount action/crash "cinema" camera.

You need IBIS if you want smooth footage from a 180 shutter. IBIS / OIS stabilises the camera DURING the exposure, EIS stabilises AFTER the exposures have been made. Imagine doing a jittery pan at night. With no stabilisation at all you will have a sequence of frames that aren't all aligned horizontally, and in each frame you will have motion blur that goes left to right with some little wiggles in it. If you had IBIS / OIS on then you will have a sequence of frames that are all aligned horizontally, and in each frame you will have motion blur that goes left to right without any up and down wiggles in it. If you used EIS only you will have a sequence of frames that are all aligned horizontally, but in each frame you will have motion blur that goes left to right with some little wiggles in it. EIS is spectacular for action cameras because they use SS to expose and so in good lighting have basically no motion blur, but as soon as you have motion blur at all then IBIS or OIS becomes necessary for properly smoothed motion.

I have my T4 programed the same, with the front bottom below the shutter button and dial programmed to switch between IBIS mode. If I remember mode I have turned on when I start to shoot it's great. My 18-55 F2.8/4 lives on it, so that's about 27-82 mm with added IOS stabilization.

I think there is room between the USRA Mini Pro 4.6k G2 and the USRA Mini Pro 12k for an USRA Mini Pro 8k for $7,500 that is basically the USRA Mini 12k that restricts the resolution to a downsampled 8k image. This could also be upgradable for $3,500 to 12k including installing the 12k enabling board at a local Blackmagic dealer. I would like to see the Pocket 6k sensor with M4/3 mount in a Micro Cinema Camera body with SDI output and dual micro XLR microphone inputs for $2495. I would like to see a 6k global shutter sensor with M4/3 mount in a Micro Cinema Camera body with SDI output and dual micro XLR microphone inputs for $2995. I wold like to see a Pocket 6k with M4/3's mount for $1995. I assume there is very little research and development that is required to create this product variation. I would purchase any of the above 6k M4/3 configurations if and when available.

I am assuming the XLR Module can be placed directly on top of the camera bypassing the top handle. I love my Panasonic XLR Module. Its a game changer for me. Sony's IBIS at least on the A7S3 is actually really good. Panasonic goes the route of making the footage super stable but at the cost of weird warping if there is too much movement or if the lens is too wide. Fuji has those issues but a lot worse. Sony IBIS is much less stable looking but it can handle a lot more movement without looking odd. Basically the Sony looks more like natural handheld footage while Panasonic IBIS looks more like you are using a tripod.

A buddy of mine who shoots Sony emailed about this camera talking about how I'm going to be into it for a cine camera and how far ahead Sony is going to be than everybody else. NOPE! This form factor for a "cinema" camera is a big nope for me. At least the C70 is big enough to include a lot of function buttons and (mini)xlr inputs right on the body. And it has built-in NDs. Putting a pre-amp several inches above the body and out over the lens? Yeah, that's going to help stabilize my footage. I'm not a big fan of mounting recorders like the MixPre 3 or pre-amps under a camera, but it sure is better than this. I'm assuming this one is going to have Sony's e-ND system. It better, that's the only place Sony IS actually out ahead of everybody. And this box is definitely going to need real IBIS. Problem is, to this point Sony's IBIS is what, third rate. From everything I've read here, it's miles behind Panny's excellent IBIS and not even as good as Fuji's, which can be pretty good if you learn how to use it correctly. I'll pass.

As long as the rolling shutter is low S35 is fine with me, especially if its a 6k 24mp sensor. With Sony auto focus a lot can be forgiven. Interesting release though.

Maybe I'm jaded after last year, but I'm struggling to get any excitement in a camera that is more speculation than fact. Aside from what it looks like, how much do we know? With the way this year is going, my investment in gear will again be low. If BM release a new camera, it may get me to cough up some of my savings.... however, I have plans for lighting, lenses audio gear and updating my graphics card more on my list of needs. Its great that Sony have joined the small cinema camera group. I'm still wondering what the catch is. If they offer a codec like ProRes and have internal NDs, then it will be of interest to me. I'm not too fussed about IBIS. Canon C70 came very close to being of interest, but a high price tag and limited to H264/5 codec puts me off. Only a year ago, everyone was jumping up and down in excitement over the announcement of a new Canon mirrorless hybrid, and we know how that story ended. So I struggle to feel too much excitement now. Though partly thats because its hard to get too keen over a camera when I lack work to both pay for it and use it.

@tupp I give up. You obviously think that working for years and learning the names of all the clamps is required for anyone to exercise any judgement or awareness of safety and that I'm an idiot because I think I might know things when I can't because I've never worked as a grip or learned the names of the clamps. I wonder how much you could possibly know (beyond knowing the names of the clamps) if you fail to understand that the universe is literally maths and physics, and I'm also wondering why you haven't come up with literally thousands of photos of those little camera clamps sitting in the middle of piles of shattered glass - there are no shortage of images of people using them that way. I could debate this forever, but your method of assessing judgement or practical ability seems to be one-dimensional and I don't fit that narrow definition, and am never going to because I don't aspire to the same career path as yours, so how about this: you have fulfilled your legal and ethical duty to tell me (and anyone else reading this thread henceforth) to never even look at tempered glass until I am the god of all grips (and can name all the clamps), and I will go ahead and use the judgement I have and when it all inevitably comes crashing down just like you have predicted I will not hold you responsible.

The multi-interface shoe is also capable of supporting an EVF as Sony did with the RX1 and the RX100M2 so it would be interesting to see if a new version of that appears for this camera.

I will take an internal variable ND over IBIS every single time. Stab options include Catalyst Wotsit or mono/tripod. This thing looks VERY interesting, - the love child of the FX6 and the Sigma FP.

yeah this is it, I threw on my panasonic 85mm 1.8 and it sorta works (slowly). So this kinda sucks. Is the same problem present when using EF lenses on A7S III or R5?

So for a GH6, my wish list would be... Dual Gain Output sensor similar to that in the C70 (but in m43 sensor size) that expands the dynamic range. A better LOG codec that can handle that increased dynamic range. Ability to output Black Magic RAW (BRAW) 6K ??? 4K 120 ??? Oh, and one other thing: Add some phase-detect autofocus pixels. I mean, just get the cameras to focus as well as my 7-year-old Sony a6000, which has about the most rudimentary sony phase detect AF system and still blows my $2,500 S1 out of the water 😞

I was reading the most recent 5 pages of this thread and this made me literally laugh out loud Andrew, you have this weird thing against Blackmagic that I think is personal. Things you complained about on the BMPCC4K (no IBIS, no AF, no tilt screen, no EVF) are all literally true for the Sigma Fp. Not all cameras are made for vloggers and hybrid shooters. Cinema cameras fall into that category. It's ignorant to expect a cinema camera to conform to the same expectations as a stills camera that shoots video. None of the cameras you listed output better IQ nor do they have the ergonomics or user interface of a proper cinema camera (a la BMPCC). Please, for the sake of your readers - myself included, get over your grudge against Blackmagic. It's childish.

Well I havent tried recently, but in the past they would be clipped because they are out-of-spec. You can check a video by opening it with vlc, it will look “wrong” if its out-of-spec.

Thanks for the link, but the article demonstrates everything that one shouldn't do when rigging on a balcony. Nothing is safety'd, so that fact alone makes the rigs hazardous. Also, the reviewed clamp happens to be a strong cam-action clamp -- they can generate enormous clamping power that can crunch through soft/brittle materials and tubing. Only use Super/Mafer style clamps on solid metal, pipes with a minimum schedule 40 wall thickness or solid wood (be aware that these clamps can leave jaw indentations in wood). Also, the article shows this: There is so much wrong with what is happening in this photo that it is difficult to know where to begin. There is no safety line. The rig's CG is off-axis which suspends most of it's weight precariously beyond the "rail's" edge, and which puts flex stress on a small, local area of the glass. However, the big doosie is that a cam-action clamp that generates huge clamping pressure is tightened onto a sheet of tempered glass. NEVER DO THAT! Glass (and particularly tempered glass) isn't very stable/reliable when subjected to stresses, especially if more than one stress is applied to it simultaneously and/or if one of the stresses is focused on a small local area. If the above clamp is reefed down to set up powerful, unseen stress on the glass and if there is any imperfection in the glass, the pane(s) could shatter if someone merely hits the pane with their wedding ring. Here's what a little tap can do to unstressed tempered glass. Here's what mere flex stress can do to tempered glass. Here's a short primer on what can cause glass to inexplicably shatter (which happens occasionally). Never rig to glass at a location, especially if it is on a balcony! No. It's not the size of the clamp. In fact, if I was forced to mount a camera on a balcony rail of unknown width, I would likely bring a large (relatively light weight) Space Clamp and plan on at least one tag line, with a bailing wire run between the different rig items. The main point is to avoid altogether rigging to a balcony rail. Again, If one doesn't know enough about rigging to even know the names of the grip items, it is probably a really good idea for one not to attempt any rig on a balcony that could pose a hazard and/or possibly cause property damage. Rigging items small or large to a glass balustrade on a balcony hugely complicates the risk. You could have the lightest action cam mounted with a Super Clamp, and that Super Clamp could still crunch right through that tempered glass, or the clamp set up stresses that cause the glass to shatter at an imperfection when someone lightly bumps the pane with a chair. Mount your camera on balcony rail at your own peril, or, more accurately, at the peril of those who venture below your rig.

Let's find out...