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Never recorded in log, started now with the X-S20. Will have to study a lot, because all my log gradings until now have the color quality of a Barbie cam.

LOL about leeks.. I'd just go for potato and leek soup, which is quite lovely actually 🙂 In all seriousness, I think the biggest factor in any piece of equipment is how it makes you feel, because if you're feeling good then you'll make better compositions, people will react to you differently and you'll have an easier time and the people in the images will be happier and more at ease, etc. I get a good feeling when shooting with the GH5, knowing how nice the files are in post, and also with the GX85 because I like how it is to shoot with in terms of the size and form-factor. If you feel like you're fighting with the camera all the time, it won't matter what the colour science is like, the shooting and content will suffer more than the image can make up for.

I wanted something that would carry on the spirit of the original X100 I preordered before it went on sale in early 2011 and then became my dual purpose 'EDC' (though that term I don't think existed back then) plus candid work camera. It was brilliant at that role, at that time, albeit with pretty bad battery life and sloooooow autofocus. I don't know why I 'moved' on from that after only a couple of years, - chasing something 'better' I guess, except nothing came close and I drifted into just using my phone. The phone though is just a device to me. Utterly convenient, but utterly without any joy in it's use or the in the results it produces. The only other element the X100 lacked for me was the ability to change focal lengths. I love the purity of the fixed lens approach but the reality is, for the work side at least, sometimes I need wider or longer. I tried the '28' and '50' adapters with the X100 and they were kind of OK, the 28 feeling quite natural but the 50 nose heavy and spoiled the use of that camera. Plus not quite long enough. Oh and at just 12mp, more than enough for my personal needs but a tad low for work. I had considered and came very close to opting for the Ricoh GRiiiX and if it had just been for personal use, would have been the one due to size and that 40mm focal length which I really like. But I have to consider my work needs so went Nikon Zf with the 40mm f2 SE lens. I've been flip-flopping all year long regarding going back to Nikon but the announcement of the Zf sealed the deal. I never saw it coming (wasn't really looking) but a few weeks ago when the World was alerted to it's imminent existence, I knew they had made my 'X100' for 2024> Arrives tomorrow I think... It won't be going back. Not the slightest question mark over its purchase. So many times I put something in my shopping basket only to remove it before hitting the buy button, or hitting that buy button and then within 24 hours, changing my mind. With the Zf, I did a preorder and then canceled and then looked at it again and re-pre-ordered. Not even a hint of a regret since doing that and that's the first time in a decade I reckon. As to use, personal will be 100% photo and work not entirely sure yet but probably around 50:50 photo/video, - it depends on what other unit I get to replace the Lumix S5ii's I am replacing... It's not exactly cheap, the Zf, but it's what I have been missing in spirit/ethos for both personal and work. A tad larger, but far more capable and versatile than the X100. Only real gripe is the flip out screen over a tilt, but kind of got used to flip outs with the S5ii's all this year. If I change my mind, I'll eat it's weight in leeks (I hate leeks) live on YouTube.

So you can make NZ's own "The Creator" or "The Mandalorian"? 😉 Keen to lend in a hand in whatever way on one of these little test shoots of that, while you figure it out, to be part of it. Mixed production interests me too.

Can't post the link here because it is on CineD, but never heard it before, and though that is VERY interesting. A cinema camera built with Raspberry PI, with the parts costing around $250 (if you use the super-8 sized Raspberry PI HQ camera - but there is a user that used a 20mp m43 sensor), including a 4-inch touchscreen, that records 12-bit CinemaDNG RAW in USB-C external drives. https://github.com/schoolpost/CinePI/wiki/Build-Guide

I have a 19 year old and would ideally like to retire before I’m 80, but with the shit that the French state keep giving me… But I hear you @Marcio Kabke Pinheiro we sometimes need to keep a tight reign on spending.

As the amateur here - almost no plans. Loving the X-S20, and in Fuji world, would be only interested in this camera repackaged in a X-E3 body, IBIS included. And this will not happen. Lens wise, shop closed - the customs rules were stricted a lot here, and now buying a lens means a 92% increase from US prices...but was a thing that I predicted, hence I bought almost all the lenses that I was planning for the future. Will play more with my vintage ones - the Canon FD 35mm f/2 Concave works very well in the camera, and I have the guess that the "Leicanolta" MD 35-70 f/3.5 will work too. Will almost halt buying gear - I'm 52 now, wish to retire at 65, have a wife and a 5 year old child, and have nowhere near the conditions to stop working at 65 and kept them in a confort life. Time to start saving seriously.

Exactly this one. Almost glued to my camera, barely use another lens nowadays. Works as a native Fuji regards to AF, and works good with IBIS - X-S20 IBIS is better than the X-S10s, but m43 Panasonics and Olympus still are a bit smoother.

Finding good directors, directing myself small etudes, maybe going pro for colorgrading or not. Giving my F3 and my Bmmcc good runs, S1H S35 HD All Intra galore. Trying out my Pentax 28mm F2 wide open in S35, my Vivitar 90mm Macro...

That would be the least exiting takeaway from a conversation about a thick S35 HD image from the S1H.😂 @kye

Just upscale it - people can't see the difference anyway!

I have some exciting plans for next year. During the pandemic, like many, I developed a bleak outlook for the future and wondered if I should even bother making art. Now things are still not nice in the world but at least where I am things are stable enough that I feel I can work on making art again. This year I finished a short experimental narrative. That was fun to do, messing around with the two genres of both narrative and experimental. (It does mean though that festivals are confused by it and don't know how to program it.) This year and next I'm working on a lengthy atmospheric film about shapes, colours and patterns in the Vancouver area. It's an extension of the photography I've been doing for several years. Finding the patterns in architecture but also including nature in it. If you want a taste of it, I took some of my footage and put together a music video for the musician I'm using. I'm pretty happy with it. Test Card - Monochrome Dreaming Softened The Broadcast https://youtu.be/Tk72eAvOoow?si=8Fron9g6IgVd2RE0 Last year I spent a fair amount of money on purchasing gear. New camera, tripod, lights, monitor, etc. Now I think I have enough gear and am just working with it. I'm fairly happy with what the purchasing decisions I made. I now have to refocus away from lusting after new gear and move towards being creative with what I have. A couple of years ago I was very much into getting more lenses and researching aspects of the different types, now I see ads for lenses and I really don't care. This is good.

Yeah, I have and use one of those:

My main changes came from my two last big trips, which were Melbourne and Korea. Partly these changes came from shooting, partly from reviewing the footage, and partly from thinking about it since. I realised my iPhone 12 Mini shoots 10-bit HDR footage internally, and the colour science is quite benign / neutral Ironically, I did a test to rule out the iPhone as a real camera, but ended up proving the opposite! I preferred the shooting experience with the GX85 over the GH5 This is just purely down to the size and form-factor of the camera. Not only is it easier to carry and therefore faster to shoot with because it's close-to-hand, but less people look at you while shooting, the kids were less intimidated by it when shooting them, and it was a generally nicer experience. I preferred the speed of AF vs manual focus lenses The AF-S on MFT cameras is practically instant and very reliable. I don't need continuous AF as I tend to compose-focus-shoot-stop then repeat when I shoot a new composition. I realised that a zoom lens would get me a wider range of shots I am used to working a scene pretty heavily, seeing shots at various focal lengths, and also anticipating compositions and moving around to try and make them work (e.g. can I get a shot showing the view in the background, the church in the foreground, and framed by this flowering plant?). Having a zoom means just quickly grabbing all the shots I can see. I realised I don't need a fast lens This was an interesting one. I shot a lot with the 14mm F2.5 and it was borderline too shallow DoF wide open, because what I want is a bit of background separation, but not so thin a DoF that I get focusing issues, especially during the shot when the subject is moving around and the subject distance changes a bit. I realised that variable aperture zoom lenses (the cheap ones!) are surprisingly constant DoF lenses I just realised this today. For example, let's imagine I have the 14-42mm kit lens and I'm taking a mid-shot of a person. If I'm taking this mid on 14mm then I'd be 1.9m away, the lens would be at F3.5, and the DoF would be 2.9m. If I take the same composition at 42mm then I'd be 6m away, the lens would be at F5.6 and the DoF would be 3.6m - very similar! This is actually what I want creatively - a mid shot is an environmental portrait so having a DoF of 3-4m will include what's around them but give a bit of defocus outside that range. For the same lens, if I shoot a close-up, the DoFs range from 0.6m/24" to 0.8m/31" which is appropriate as a close-up is more about the person in isolation so a bit more separation is a nice thing to have. I realised that my 12-35mm F2.8 lens on the GX85/GH5 has adequate low-light capability as a walk-around lens This gives me enough low-light performance as a walk-around lens, and if I need better low-light then I will most likely have enough time to pull out a faster prime. My 7.5/2, 17.5/0.95, and 50/1.2 are small and light enough to take if I know I'll be going somewhere with serious low-light. For example, zoos at night, less-lit places at night like the beach, lookouts at night, etc. I've also learned a TON about colour grading and how to get the most from what I have, with the most important thing being that one critical difference between over-sharpened digital, high quality digital, and film is how it renders the contrast on fine detail, and conveniently, a simple blur will fix sharpening and give digital the same rendering characteristics as film LOL. The name of the game is getting the images you want with the least work, so no criticism from me on how we all get there. I also decided when I started this that I'd do things the hard way and therefore learn the most, rather than just buy my way to good colour (which is realistically just buying a Canon or recent Sony camera and Dehancer/Filmconvert). I fear I may have over-emphasised the potential complexity of Resolve and colour grading, without putting adequate emphasis on the fact that the most mileage comes from the basics, and it's a game of diminishing returns that kicks in pretty quickly. I've contemplated starting a thread showing what benefits can be had from only using very simple tools. Not sure if that would be worthwhile.

Yes, it's called "being a parent".