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Was the title of the thread a clue to the name of the artist? If so, did the audio section of the contract say “And you may find yourself working with a shotgun mic” ?

Probably about the same… I’m just not a fan of big lenses and especially if they extend a long way. I was moving over to f1.4’s from my f2’s, but when they arrived and I put them on my cameras, it was a definite no. I’d rather shoot higher ISO, so I sent them back. The biggest lens I currently use is the Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 which only extends about an inch max when zoomed out. Maybe I’m a bit odd, but I’d rather shoot 2 bodies with smaller lens to get the same focal lengths as a single body with a bigger zoom. I think of and use all zoom lenses as X + Y and not X to Y, ie, if the 24-105 was internal zoom, I’d maybe use it more, but then again, it’s really too extreme for my needs as I use zooms like primes, ie, only at their extreme ends so 28 + 70 = good, but 24 + 105 = meh. So my 24-105 sits in a bag most of the time as back up/wet weather. I would use an all prime set up if I could, but that eternal equation of number of bodies plus focal lengths required buggers the mathematics up! I would make an exception for Tamron’s 35-150 however because it’s just so versatile for my needs. But that would require a change to Sony or adapted to Nikon and that is not happening any time soon. So my current set up for my needs are: 28 + 70 zoom welded to Body 01 16 + 28 zoom or 90 with Body 02 18 (27) + 50 (75) APSC zoom welded to Body 03 (static and gimbal use only) I would like something like a 150 as a compact AF prime, but it does not exist in L Mount, 105 being the longest f2.8 (without going up to massive 135mm f1.8) or 70-200 zooms which are not for me. I really hope that Sigma come out with either: A. A compact 70-200 Contemporary I Series to pair with the 28-70, but actually a 70-180 like the available Tamron might make more sense and be smaller? B. An equivalent of the Tamron 35-150 except make it constant f2.8 as the f2 at the wide end changes very quickly and I would rather it did not. C. Get completely funky and do something like a 40-120 f2.8 with internal zoom and I would never buy another lens 😬

Very mixed. I am not dependant on ads and never have been so that side makes no difference to me, but there is definitely a shift to YouTube and social media. People aren't researching Google or reading long articles as much as before. YouTube is a grind and I have mixed feelings about that too. I enjoy it when I have some ideas. But the thought of being on a treadmill of content is horrific. Don't post for a week and you may as well be dead. On the other hand, EOSHD is great, having your own site independent from the algorithms of social media and YouTube is much more relaxed and I can do what I like, post what I want, when I want. And then there is this lovely forum, which is pretty unique. Never was close to the PR side of the camera industry and rejected a lot of advances. The site is not in a better position to cuddle up to the manufacturers, they are putting their free loans and exclusive invitations behind social media influencers instead now. Bloggers with articles are the previous gen of social media influencers. Now it is clowns and show offs on social media. They are perfect for one another and I don't want to be involved to be honest. I am looking to the future now and that is keeping EOSHD updated, at the same time as moving onto two new sites: Full Frame AI (making most of AI for photographers) and Ultra Camera Review (smartphone cameras and apps) There is much more future development in these areas than in mirrorless cameras, or filmmaking. Video on stills camera has kind of been "done" hasn't it?

I used to be in love, and still am, with the mini dv cameras of the 90's. The practicality of it made me looking for that breeze of use in many newer cameras but have yet to find it. I don't speak about mirrorless cameras or dslrs, but camcorders with great usability and image quality. One that probably come to mind is the hated Canon XC10/15. Of course, I understand that a Sony Fx3 with a zoom lens could potentially be something similar, and better, but again, I'm talking about a camcorder with great image quality, small form factor, great usability.

In the same vein as the XC10, have a look at the Panasonic FZ2000/2500. Its a stills camera style form factor but it can be considered a full on 4K/HD camcorder, complete with integral 4 step ND filter, V-LOG, 5 axis stabilisation, servo zoom (with LANC input to support external control), audio monitoring etc etc. The 24-480mm zoom lens makes it ideal in the tourist camcorder role to get that broad range of coverage and shot sizes and here are some frame exports from footage that I shot with mine in that role, shot in v-Log using the 200mbps all-i HD codec. \ Panasonic made a camcorder style version of it (with additional high frame rate capability) but it obviously was significantly more expensive (at least double if I recall correctly) as these things tend to always be. You can pick up a used FZ2000/2500 for around €700 or under which makes it a very decent option for a camcorder role. As long as you ignore the fact that it doesn't actually look one 🙂

Liking the 6k 30p ‘open gate’ (3:2) on the S5ii… Testing it ahead of the arrival of that pair of S5iix’s due hopefully soon… I think I will probably be using it as my go to for the bulk of my work going forward because it does have an extra edge of detail over 4k and allows for better quality 9:16 highlight films using the same material, on top of my regular wedding films/videos. The only issue I seem to be having is my M1 chip MacBook doesn’t seem to like it much whereas 4k footage flies through it. Not sure what’s going on there… The baked in LUT works great so will also be using that going forward. Using the Gamut conversion LUT which is my preferred one and the footage coming out is nicer than using any profile with more DR. After some minor adjustments, it’s then just a case of the grade but I am much preferring getting an ‘a good starting point almost ready to go’ SOOC image. No ‘worthy’ examples at this time as I was just messing about really trying out some different set ups and getting round any potential flicker etc (using 30fps in a PAL region). It’s tungsten that is the only occasional issue but these things have synchro scan so as long as you don’t mind breaking the 180 degree shutter rule, you can tweak it any which way. Or just shoot 108/216/324 degrees if you know it’s just going to be awful. Most of my work is daylight plus some LED so not really an issue anyway.

Am afraid the standard Zoom F2 is useless for using with TC, you need the Zoom F2-BT version. (plus the TCS Ultrasync Blue, and 2x TCS USO for each Blackmagic Pocket 6K. Oh, and TCS Ltd has been bought out by Atomos now) If you haven't yet got the Zooms, I'd recommend you get instead the Tentacle Track E instead, it is a better/easier setup. If you can wait, you might want to get the Deity PR-2 pocket recorder instead. https://deitymic.com/products/pr-2/ https://www.newsshooter.com/2023/04/18/deity-releases-the-pr-2-pocket-recorder-with-32-bit-float/ https://www.gothamsound.com/product/pr-2-pocket-recorder

Such an awesome discussion here. Thank you everyone!! Small update: the concert has happened. I ended up using only the 24-105mm f/4. Thanks to many of you I realized that changing lenses would have cost me shots, no matter how much I wanted the look from my primes. Light wasn't an issue as the FX6 is amazing at its second base ISO. Technically speaking the shoot went very well. I was on-site for 2 days capturing all sorts of BTS footage of load in and set up. There were a few pretty dramatic setbacks, though. As with many big name acts, there were some strict PR guidelines put in place that I could not control. So, I wasn't able to get many of the types of shots I'd originally scoped for this project. The video is being reviewed by the band's management now. So, hopefully another update coming soon.

AI video just keeps on getting better and better: The video to video feature is especially interesting, I could imagine a very rough video being made cheaply, then being heavily stylized to create a much more polished output for use in an advert. A longer look at AI tools for video:

A video that motorcycle lovers will understand! Made with a7iv & Tamron 28 75 in a demolished very old church somewhere in Kavala in Greece.. The video was made after acquiring a popular motorcycle. Νeeds a little patience! Here's the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWSFLwbChcw

I'm fed up with Atomos, I wasted a huge amount of time doing tests for them for the stuttering issue in ProRes RAW. They didn't even try to replicate it. I reported the problem at the 8th of February, since then I provided tons of test material. And where are we now? They still think it's my unit, or my SSD or my HDMI cable even when I told them I tested with multiple units, multiple cables and SSDs. Unbelievable. In the meantime some other guy asked BlackMagic about the same issue (so apparently this is related the the X-H2s), and they sent it to their engineering team right away, they reproduced it and notified Fujifilm about it. HUGE difference between the two supports. Seriously, even Fuji is better than Atomos, because they don't reply at all, so you won't waste your time with them 🙂