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I think this is about the sum of it, at least from the ‘quality’ side of things. I think raw only came to iPhone with the 12, but could be wrong and for me as someone who only shoots raw, probably part of my personal ‘disconnect’ from photography using my phone as in I have not been using it’s full potential. Also, whilst I don’t need to be in ‘full on pro mode’ all the time (when not actually working), I probably need to get out of ‘point & click phone mode’ when using my phone and use it more like a camera. If that makes sense? Something I probably need to explore…

Script and partial shortlist written. Ready for action tomorrow night when wife is out, so hopefully no interruptions!

My friend takes stills of his family holidays and has an ancient relic (IIRC it's a Canon 30D?) that he would always take with him. He is a minimalist and was sick of hauling it around so did his first overseas trip without it and used his iPhone 5 (current at the time). He took a bunch of photos on the trip, but when I asked him about it his thinking wasn't clear. On his next trip he took an updated iPhone (maybe an 8?) and took lots of photos again, but still didn't have clear thinking about it. It was only several years later that he had a good reply, he said "The photos look fine but I realised that I never felt compelled to print and hang any of the photos from it". He still can't define what it is, but something is missing for him. I've looked at the prints he's got hanging in his house and the difference isn't obvious - it's not like his prints have shallow DOF or anything, they just have this timeless sort of look about them, and his iPhone pics all look like iPhone pics (unsurprisingly). Even the RAW stills from my GF3 from 2011 don't look like iPhone pics, even the current ones. It might be a matter of blurring the iPhone images a bit, and toning down the strong saturation and contrast, who knows, but maybe they'll get over that hurdle soon. Maybe they already have - I still have an iPhone 12 mini and don't use the stills in my creative work. TBH it's probably the "everything is awesome!!" processing that Apple do to their images. Maybe the RAW images off the sensor are fine.

Also, if you've got some budget then the new BM Micro Studio Camera 4K has dual native ISO, which could radically improve the footage and lens options in conditions like these. Also, also, if you have a few BM cameras, maybe hiding them around the place would give you a few more angles to work with in post? If you don't have other fast lenses then maybe you could go down to 12fps with a 360 shutter to have a special effect angle with 1.5 or so more stops of exposure. If such an angle was static then the extreme motion blur of the shot wouldn't be so disorientating. Music videos is a place where there's huge creative license, so don't be afraid to lean into the challenges and create a strong look 🙂

I got asked to do video (and photos) again at this event this coming summer, and since I really don't like shooting video on my Sony I decided to test the limits of my Blackmagic OG Pocket (which by extension would test the limits of my two BMMCCs) by bringing it to a very dark jazz club where I frequently take photos for some young musicians in town. When I shoot photos at this place they are usually at ISO 16,000 or 20,000, far beyond the limits of the OG BMPCC. But I did some test shots in our basement and it seemed like I might be able to get something. I used the lowest frame rate (23.976), set the shutter angle to 270 degrees, shot CDNG raw, and set the ISO to 1,600 for exposure purposes. I already had white balance readings from the photos I'd taken there previously, so I set that in advance. I used my SLR Magic 10mm Hyperprime, wide open, where it is quite soft and dreamy, and for kicks I added a star filter. I wanted a handheld look so I used a Zacuto Marauder Mini as a brace, along with a Zacuto viewfinder that provided additional stabilization as it allowed me to press the viewfinder against my face. What I didn't count on was that the viewfinder fogged up at one point and I could barely see with it so I had to take it off and just look at that little LCD screen; it was hard to see whether anything was in focus as focus peaking was barely visible. I shot some footage from the front during the sound check, and asked when that same song would come up during the set. Just before that song came up I went to the back of the performance space so I could shoot from behind the musicians. What I didn't count on was that the actual performance of that song was a bit faster than how they played it at the sound check, so I couldn't align the video shot from the front perfectly with the audio. For the audio I used a Sound Devices MixPre6 with a stereo pair of Line Audio CM3 mics. I boosted the exposure by a couple of stops in Resolve, brought down the gain a little, adjusted contrast, saturation, and mid-tone detail, and that was it. The resulting footage was noisy, of course. For Instagram I didn't even bother with noise reduction as the noise wasn't very noticeable when viewed on a phone. For Vimeo I applied NR to each clip in Resolve, which softened the image quite a bit (and the shots of the drummer, who was completely in the dark, are too plastic-looking for my taste; I could have backed off the NR there). Overall, for a quick test I'm happy enough with this and I'll use my BMD cameras for the dance this summer; this jazz club is quite a bit darker than the hall where the dancers will be.

My combo is usually the 14-140mm plus 25mm F1.8. On my last 'serious' trip (almost two weeks of railway video/stills photography in Southern California), I took a G9 + 14-140mm + 25mm F1.8 (for low light), used hand-held, with G80 + 12-32mm used as an occasional tripod-mounted 'B' cam. I took the G80 instead of the (smaller) GX80 because it has a mic jack. If I were doing a similar trip now I think it would be OM-1 (main) and ZV-1 (B-cam), but lens choice for the OM-1 would be harder as I recently bought a used Oly 12-100mm F4 IS Pro. It's much larger and heavier than the 14-140mm Pana, but it supports Sync-IS on Oly/OMDS bodies and the overall stabilisation performance is fantastic. If you buy a used Pana 14-140mm F3.5-F5.6, be careful about which version you are getting. Panasonic sold the Mk 1 version (H-FS14140) in two different markings - white, gold and red 'HD' lettering (earlier lenses) or all white lettering (later lenses). Then they updated it to the Mk 2 (H-FSA14140) with weather sealing and all white lettering. AFAIK all are optically the same, and support Dual-IS and Dual-IS2. I've come across dealers who've mixed up the white-lettered later Mk 1 and the Mk 2 versions in their used listings...

For me, my willingness to use kickstarter is perversely whether or not the company already has a track record of delivering quality products successfully, either through kickstarter or through other platforms. Like recently, I backed a 4x10 film camera being made by a guy who has been selling a well-regarded line of pinhole cameras for years. I'm very confident that it will ship eventually. I've thankfully only been burnt a couple of times on pretty small things for products that never delivered... products that delivered and were awful? That's another story. Anyway, as I said, my interest in it, if I have any at all after it's released, would be as something I can mount on the back of a telephoto lens - or as something that can turn a pretty normal portrait lens into a long telephoto. Could be nice for travel where (at present) a long lens (200mm+) is a big and heavy thing that I often leave home.

I own the original version of that 14-42mm kit lens, but I also own the 12-35mm f2.8 lens, and it's only larger at full extension by about the thickness of a lens filter and is slightly fatter, but it's also 1-2 stops faster, which matters on these single ISO MFT cameras if you're walking around at night. In reviewing my footage from previous trips I concluded that in reasonably well lit exteriors (like outdoor shopping malls) my main iPhone 12 camera is fine (it's got similar noise to GX85/GH5 with a F2.8 lens) but the iPhone 12 wide rear camera has the noise performance of the GX85/GH5 with an F8 lens, and the footage was so noisy it was hard for me to use on my home video edit. So if I'm going to potentially be in less-well-lit interiors or anywhere at night, I'd appreciate the F2.8, and with the GX85 you can always crop in post on a 1080p timeline to get the slight extra reach. I haven't really had an issue with the internal audio of the GX85, but I mostly use the camera audio as ambience and have music over the top. Of course now we have these AI tools in post it's easy enough to clean up a voice if someone says something I want to put in the final edit. If you haven't seen them, they're absolutely stunning. A mic input changes everything, of course, including radically altering the camera size and conspicuousness, unless you are running a lav to it, but even then, having even "a touch of the Borg" attracts attention. The general public are very vigilant against assimilation - oddly even including those that never watched Star Trek. I definitely agree that the 14-140mm would make a great option. I only do a few trips a year and so think carefully in preparation for them. My current thinking is this: Full tourist mode is the GX85 and OG BM camera setup, and is where I don't care about weight and want the ultimate options: GX85 + 14-140mm for walking-around during the day GX85 + 12-35mm for walking-around well-lit places at night GX85 + primes for less-well-lit places at night BM for high-DR situations where I have time to manually expose and shoot (lookouts at sunset, for example.. these are strangely frequent on my holidays 🙂 ) Equipment: GX85 + 14-140mm P2K or M2K with 12-35mm F2.8 Primes: 7.5mm F2, 14mm F2.5, 17mm F1.4, 58mm F2 with SB This all fits into a camera insert inside a generic backpack Stealth tourist mode is the GX85 and is where I want to be stealthy and shoot quickly: GX85 + 14-140mm for walking-around during the day GX85 + 12-35mm for walking-around well-lit places at night This fits into a sling bag, which are now fashionable, how convenient! Non-tourist mode is the GX85 and 12-32mm zoom (and maybe the 14mm F2.5 if it'll get dark) slipped into a jacket pocket. If I'm travelling this is what I would take if I was leaving the hotel but didn't want to take a bag. I don't own the 14-140mm or 12-32mm lenses currently, but assuming my thinking doesn't change in the interim, I'll buy these in preparation for our next trip. I ended up shooting a lot with the GX85 and 14mm F2.5 in South Korea (almost exactly a year ago) and got a lot of great shots with the combo, and I really liked the size even though I took a backpack almost everywhere due to being in full tourist mode. I've shared some images from this combo before in other threads but happy to re-post if you haven't seen them.

If you're not so bothered about the lens length when the camera is off, I'd seriously consider the non-pancake 14-42mm 'Mk ii' kit lens (the H-FS1442A, in the 3rd photo). The change in length over the zoom range is only about 10mm, it's got proper zoom and focus rings, supports dual-IS (with FW 1.1 installed) and is cheap used. Yes it's quite hard to beat the combination of size, performance and flexibility the GX85 (or GX9) offers. Main reason I bought a ZV-1 was to get a compact camera with better audio - versus the GX85 it has much better sound quality from the on-board mics plus a 3.5mm mic input. But otherwise the GX85 is nicer to use, and paired with say the Pana 14-140mm becomes super-zoom travel cam, which is smaller than 1" sensor cams like the FZ1000/FZ2000/RX10. Which is the main reason I still own one...

I have flip flopped so many times over the last...well, 6-7 years at least, between the best camera I have on me, ie, my phone and any/everything else. I always feel a little disappointed not so much with the end result, but the quality of the end result using the phone but even more, a little guilty as a full-time pro photographer, I am using such a thing in the first place. At the same time, our annual photo books have suffered by not having an 'ECD' compact camera. I was thinking/hoping that my recently acquired Nikon ZF might fulfil this role, but the reality is, it's too big, even with a small lens. It really is a decision to 'take a camera' whereas there is that 'magic' size which if you do not go above, removes the question and you just stick it in your pocket as you walk out the door because it actually does fit in your pocket. I also appreciate the flexibility of a zoom, but prefer that purity of a fixed lens. The X100 series are all too big for this IMO. I love them, but not pocketable at all other than a jacket and my definition of pocket is a jeans trouser/pants pocket, so it's out. Had the Sony ZX1 and RX100v and both great, but just a little too 'fiddly'. I keep circling back to the GR3x as I have done since it came out as the 'sweet spot' in everything really, ie, 'big' sensor in a tiny body at my most used focal length and one for the purpose I have the requirement for. But not this year... Just bought the final piece of the puzzle (a lens) for my work needs and it's a pretty tight year financially with an extra large tax bill plus a re-roofing the house job which combined are sucking up every bit of excess cash. And then some. So maybe next year. Or by then, my iPhone 13 Pro might need replacing and some of the latest, never mind future, multi-lens phones could sway me...