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The way it works in the camera industry is that you sign an NDA, with an embargo date. This way the manufacturer can orchestrate a coordinated release of reviews for maximum clicks on the announcement day. There is a select few - a handful of people - in each country that are privy to the camera launch details about 2 weeks before the release date for the public and are legally bound not to say anything until the embargo is lifted. However usually always 2-3 weeks before or even earlier, the scumbag rumours sites will leak it all out anyway. So that effectively mutes you on the topic, whilst everybody else is free to talk about it. So the only advantage of signing that NDA is you get the info from the official source rather than the same info from a rumours site. For sites like Camera Labs or DPReview then, it is 100% necessary to get the actual camera early and do your review in time for the launch, otherwise be left out of the circle jerk and launch day manufacturer publicity drive... The review would have to come out a week or 2 after most customers have got the first batch of stock in their hands. Also you save money this way naturally, by not buying anything and just taking loans that go back. There is no enjoyment for me in this, as for me the camera is a personal item and a long-term investment in my work. I only accept a loan if it is long term with no strings attached. The manufacturers never stipulate that you have to write only good things about a camera. It is an unwritten rule that if you're too honest of course you'll be phased out of involvement in future. Even in feedback sessions and market research you get the sense that some marketing people only want to hear from the yes men. The marketing approach of each company differs. Panasonic is more honest and straight forward. Sony have a tendency to play the big hype game with social media influencers. Canon seems to delegate a lot of their marketing to outside PR companies. What I enjoy with Panasonic is the technical side, the ability to send feedback direct to the engineers in Japan. I value this very much. I deal with Panasonic in the UK who do a very good job on all fronts and sometimes Panasonic in Germany who just aren't as helpful at least in my experience. After 11 years in this industry, Panasonic are the only company who have stuck by EOSHD and made sure our voices get heard in the development of their cameras. Almost all the other companies I have dealt with see this community as purely a marketing channel to be exploited for their own gain, and not for the advantage of us. Fujifilm in particular, once sent me an interview in a fucking spreadsheet of one line answers and expected me to publish a strictly censored version of it with key questions taken out. Needless to say, I sold both my GFX 50S and 50R afterwards and GFX 100 is next.

I feel that the Panasonic Varicam LT is one of the most underrated cinema cameras of the recent era. Just the timing and market was bad for it. Varicam S35 before it wasn't too successful (too expensive, and too heavy? And late-ish to market), thus even though the Varicam LT was 98% of the Varicam S35 but at a cheaper price and a lower size (addressing the two biggest issues of the Varicam S35), there wasn't the strong success of the Varicam S35 to build upon. Plus by the time Varicam LT arrived, it was already too late, ARRI had their claws solidly into the higher end market, and the Varicam LT was still too expensive when the likes of the Sony FS7 / Canon C300mk2 did the job well enough for the low/mid budget and were massively cheaper. The Varicam LT just couldn't find a large enough niche to be a huge hit with.

Based on the same 28MP design of the S5KVB2 announced in 2014 and used in NX1 camera, but with completely refreshed logic layer. BSI & Stacked All pixel dual cross-type AF 14+6bit readout 100dB single exposure DR Dual native ISO 40 & 160

@Andrew Reid I am enjoying your videos more and more! You are a unique, voice putting into words what people are thinking and feeling about the consequences and benefits of working against or for the "machine" that is devouring our freedoms by a system of economic damages or rewards. You have made a great point that those taking the rewards offered by the machine are as much of the problem as the fact that the machine damages those economically that do not comply. Freedom of speech is the key to breaking the corporate information monopoly.

It's a little worse in Open gate but probably not noticeable for most people. The 4k S35 mode is probably acceptable rolling shutter wise, though its still noticeable. The 1080p S35 mode is really fast, Alexa level, but the HD on the S1 is pretty sucky, especially in S35 mode. I know, it would be an instant buy for me. Or more like an EVA2 as I feel the Panasonic S1H is too consumer of a sensor to put in a varicam, even though its incredibly good regardless.

I couldn't agree more about size and form-factor, and how smaller setups are more fun and, in a way, more spontaneous than larger more serious setups. This is why, despite owning a BMMCC, I bought an OG BMPCC (the P2K!). Paired with the 7.5/2 (giving a 22mm FOV) or 14/2.5 (giving a 40mm FOV) and the obligatory IR cut + vND + diffusion filter stack, it's a fun setup that still fits into the "tourist with camera - nothing to see here - move along" category. Combined with the (much larger) 12-35/2.8 lens gives you great OIS and a 35-100mm FOV. Both combinations give a handheld setup that rivals the best cinema cameras that amateurs who haven't inherited could buy, even up until a handful of years ago. Just for fun, here's a video from the OG BMPCC: and even a full cine-sized rig is getting smaller and smaller these days if you want to rig it up "properly": (courtesy of Tommy Do on FB)

I rarely shoot music videos but I made one for a friend a couple of months before the pandemic. Shot with GH5, with Pana/Leica 15mm 1.7, 25mm 1.4 and 42,5 Nocticron. And two Aputure HR 672s. No pre-production, no storyboard, It's was all improvised, a very stressful couple of hours so bear with me 🙂 I used Emotive color v3 when editing.