Leaderboard

I have both the Pan 24-105mm f4 and the Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 and would say that the Panny is the better video lens…just…but…if you don’t mind the size/weight/length it extends over the Sigma. Plus it has greater range…but sacrifices a full stop. So pros and cons. I personally find the 24-105 just too big for my tastes. If it was 2.8 and even if it cost twice (or more) as much and was slightly bigger and heavier still, I’d then probably go for it because if I was a Canon user, I’d make a case for their 28-70mm f2 despite the cons. But based on what exists, the 28-70mm f2.8 from Sigma is currently the sweet spot of: range, f stop, size, weight, how far it extends (not very) and cost, though the latter is the least most important factor to me. Folks often criticize the S1 series for being ‘too big’. With smaller lenses, I disagree. S5 with 24-105 compares size & weight with an S1 with Sigma 28-70, but I feel loses out on balance and handling. The bottom line…as is always the case, is that word ‘compromise’, because it always is a factor! And yes, comparing the looks/feel/build quality of Sigma’s f2 primes with Panny’s f1.8 primes, it’s no contest, - the Sigma’s are on another level. I suspect the Sigma’s are also optically ‘better’ but cannot prove that statement though I own the Panny 85mm f1.8 as well as the Sigma 35 and 65 f2s. Again, compromise and as above, if I was shooting on paired bodies, I’d go Panny…because it makes more sense (for me), but shooting specific bodies tasked for specific shooting (S1R stills, S1H video and S5 hybrid) using the Sigmas works better right now.

I have been thinking about renting it as well just to make sure it isn't for me. I have really studied the handheld footage from the C70 on YouTube and it always seems to have this jittery look no matter what they did; even basic standing still panning and tilting movements seemed to have this slight jitter that just isn't present in cameras with IBIS. Maybe they just have bad hand holding technique but I can't be sure. For me, running back and fourth between photography and video systems at events, there's no way I have time for a gimbal let alone a tripod so handheld performance is key for me to replace the S5. On a gimbal, tripod, monopod, etc. of course it looks fine, and of course slow motion footage looks fine, but that jittery look really bothers me. Maybe I am just looking too hard for it, but lack of IBIS is really my main show stopper. Maybe if I rent it and try it for myself I'll see that I've been overthinking it. I did consider the R3 when it was announced, but a lot of the price comes from making the sensor readout so fast and since I don't shoot sports or fast action, I would be paying a premium for a camera that is still lacking WFM, False Color, ND filters, needs a separate XLR adapter, etc. Canon continues to excel at ensuring their market segmentation stays in place and their cripple hammer never rests.

Wow Tested on my Poco X3. TLDR: barely functional but promising. Settings: anything aside RAW10<->RAW16 show little effect on performance. "Raw video memory usage" seems to benefit from being maxed out but it's more a feeling than fact. You'll have to select "raw video" and exposure settings every time you switch from app's main screen (like switching between apps or entering settings). OIS can be activated but doesn't work in my case, thus the image is shaky. Focus control is kind of distributed strangely: 90% of slider is mapped to nearest 1m, the rest of focusing range is cramped in the tiny space at the right end. Nice for macro, I guess, not for anything else. AWB should be locked or it will affect the image otherwise. Raw: I was able to get mostly reliable recording in all conditions at max crop (40% H/V, 2772x2082) at 24/25 fps for durations about up to 1-1,5 min. Was not testing for longer times because of huge file sizes and some quirks. I was able to record 4K-ish resolutions (4112x2082) outdoors (it's about 0°C now) but it drops frames starting from 15-20s indoors. Overheating? No framing guides for crop area - use your imagination looking at full sensor image feed. Raw images are initially written in chunks of 900 frames as zip archive somewhere in system folders (haven't found location yet). You have to manually unzip and transfer them as dngs in "manage videos" by tapping "queue" button. You can set the destination folder once at first conversion, I was not able to find this setting anywhere else, the only way to change this directory was to reinstall the app. And yeah, no sound at all yet. Processing: transfer times are huge on my phone mostly because of USB2 transfer speed. Files are bulky, I filled 60GB of free space just with a dozen of clips. Considering buying TF card to unzip dngs and swapping it out to card reader (if projects goes well in this direction). AE2021 and Resolve 17 work well with dng sequences, Premiere 2021 refused to import. I had to rename dng sequence according to unique folder name manually because they were named with same base name - frame-#####.dng. There is some glitchy "transitional zone" between two 900-frame chunks where frames are randomly tossed to different chunks. At first I thought it was just frame dropouts but later I was able to reconstruct frame order manually at post - see image. Image quality is much better, especially at moderately high ISOs (800-1600). Compressed image degrades at this range - details are getting mushy, colors - muddy. Raw on the contrary has very manageable grain structure and highlight rolloff, lacks any sharpening. DR is better in a sense that you're getting more usable DR but it's far from being cinema camera wide - you should be careful with highlights, and the absence of any exposure assisting tools doesn't help at all. Is it worth trying? Yes, I think. It's not the way you'd shoot something for fast turnarounds, or for a long duration. It's more an artistic experiment. The project is in a very early stage now but it's all about polishing interface and performance, adding useful features, improving general stability - the core idea is functional. I'm really happy to stumble upon this project - I haven't feel such joy and excitement since shooting photos with Nokia 808. Basically it's a 8mm raw camera you have no excuses not to carry with you all the time.

Thank you very much for the feedback dear friends. It is very stressful to make these types of videos when out of 15 people, only 2 really know what they are doing, and the rest are waiting and chatting. So I must dedicate to adjusting the lights, the camera, the set, explaining to an administrative staff how to turn on and start recording the mixpre. Unpack the sweets, distribute the sugar, help to dress the companions ... Two different locations in 6 hours in total. The total production budget was 0. In the end you can't be at all ... Luckily more and more people want to participate selflessly in our projects, so I think we can only improve for the next time. I leave some photos of the filming. P.S. At the end of the day, the administrative person told me that he did not know why the battery level went up to the red zone and to the green zone so fast. It was the audio level (vu meter) and he thought throughout the recording that it was the state of the battery. At that moment I wanted to die 🤣