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Slow weekend. Watched "Anatomy of a Fall" and "The Zone of Interest" on streaming back-to-back. Both were nominated for a ton of different awards, including this year's Oscars. Now I understand why. They are truly fantastic narratives produced in creative poles other than Hollywood. And yet, I couldn't help but notice that BOTH films feature scenes full of mosquito-noise in the last third of the narrative. You cannot not see it. High contrast scenes in both of them. From extreme shadows to extreme brightness in the same frame. A good amount of time of on-screen mosquito noise, not a second or two. The director just said to the editor "fuck it, lift the shadows as much as you can and we'll show it that way, with all this digital noise. Who the hell cares". Just saying guys. Maybe we're just too close to the trees.

Hello 🤗 For those that are interested, finally, I reached 'peak camera' for my needs. When I say 'peak camera' I really mean 'peak set up' which includes; camera bodies, lenses, audio gear, tripods, etc, ie, 'everything' I need to do my job. My job is a multi-day coverage, destination wedding, hybrid shooter and has been for the last 24 years, the most recent 22 full-time and the hybrid part for the last 14. It's been a real battle these last 14 years as a one man band to get that balance of kit that allows for 3 factors: A. Creativity, not stifled by... B. operating issues which could be anything from too many units, to too big & heavy, through ergonomics to...well anything that is more operational and logistical. C. Repeatable consistency at or above a certain level. I haven't tried every combo known to man because that would be impossible, but far too many to mention, but as above, 100% confident I have now reached 'peak set up'. As the title suggest, that is a combo of principally Lumix and Sony for bodies, Lumix, Sigma and Tamron for lenses, Rode for audio, Smallrig for cages/grips and tripods. Specifically: My previous set up to date was: 1 static video + 1 roaming/semi-static video + 2 photo It's now 2 static video + 1 roaming video + 1 photo So it's still a 4 unit set up, but with two considerable exceptions: A. Instead of 1 static and 3 cameras on my person, I now only ever have 2 on me, which is a big deal. B. Both of those units on me are smaller and lighter than they previously were, which adds even further in significance because smaller & lighter = faster, more creative and less fatigue. I did want to go to a 3 unit set up and it's possible, but it's just that one step too complicated and financially starts getting very silly, so just a no. I'm sticking with L Mount for video. For my needs, whether static or roaming handheld with IBIS and no gimbal, it just works for me. The output is very high quality and the log footage is very easy to work with and the file sizes not stupidly large. A used pair of S5ii's are doing the business here. One I already had and has been my workhorse since it came out last year and the other just arrived with a pair of used (most of my gear I buy used if and when I can) battery grips as during longer ceremonies and speeches, a single battery gets me concerned whereas two I have no concerns over. A brand spanking new S9 is inbound next month. Until then, the S1H will solider on until it arrives but then sadly, has to go as it will be surplus to requirement. Sadly, because it's the best camera I have ever owned (to date) for video and stills. OK, it does not have the AF of the S5ii, but otherwise kicks its arse everywhere. But gathering dust serves no purpose and it cannot do what the S9 can do at a fraction of the size and weight so... And for stills? Well that's the Sony, obviously. A7RV. It was always an option lurking in the wings which is why even though I went back to Nikon with the Zf and Z6ii earlier this year purely for stills, I did so with adapted E Mount Tamron glass so that I could go either direction, remain with Nikon or go Sony, any time I felt. That time is now and Sony won. Z9? Too big and heavy and not 100% convinced by the e only shutter. Probably would have been fine, but it's a MASSIVE LUMP. Z8? Nah. I'd rather have a Z9 as there are too many compromises with the Z8 IMO, but see above. The Zf I have? Nope. Ergonomic pig to use. Z6ii? Nope, too slow. It's like wading through mud operating that thing, unlike the Zf which is fast, but ergonomically shite. Z6iii? I thought it was going to be but I am having a few niggling issues with the adapted E Mount Tamron lenses. They work well enough most of the time, but not ALL the time. They do require more processing work as they are not native. Posted in error so with only a brief opportunity to edit, will have to continue in another post below!

Every system needs a cheap nifty fifty! Either for the beginner starting out, or even just as a back up lens for someone more established. That was one of the issues with L Mount, their lenses are too high priced. But now one of those pieces of the jigsaw has been solved: The Meike 50mm F1.8 Full Frame Auto Focus L-mount Lens (already available in Z Mount and E Mount) https://meikeglobal.com/products/50mm-f1-8-auto-focus-lens-for-portrait-photography

leitz lenses are great, no doubt about it. just style is kind of different from the movie itself. not sure why.

That's interesting, thanks.

The Sony ZV-E1 is smaller and slightly lighter, has the same full-frame, video-orientated, fast readout 12MP sensor as the A7S iii & FX3, I assume records gyro data for post-stabilisation and has a much wider range of lenses available. It's more expensive than the S9 at the moment, but E-mount versus L-mount lens costs might reduce that difference.

Yes, and they are much distinct pieces of glass despite their same focal length:

Isn't the 'mosquito-noise' more likely to be the result of the high levels of compression used for the streaming? (Mosquito noise as defined here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compression_artifact#Mosquito_noise )

Well, if so, no dreams would happen to be nor real... ; ) but loved the title for what it is not ;- ) - EAG

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-zone-of-interest-review-jonathan-glazer-1235496467/

Yeah def gotta do what makes sense for your workflow. I get by np with this being the consistent core of my setups - so obviously very easy to swap batts out.

I get a couple hours on the F3, max. Not enough to get through an 8-hour shoot without changing them. I mean it would be okay to use AA's exclusively, but considering the placement of the battery door, and my preference for completely solid rigging, it's sort of a pain to change them at all. I think I would be annoyed having to move things like @BTM_Pixshowed, and then tighten it back down and all (not to say it's worse, just that it's not for me). This is my setup now. The F3 and battery plate are bolted onto a bracket with a NATO clamp on the other side. For all-in-one setups, I slide it onto the camera cage. For separate audio, I also have a NATO rail on the boom pole, so we can quickly move the whole unit from camera to boom. It would be nice to shave the NPF's weight but the ease of use wins out for me at the moment.

Battery life can be impacted by settings, keep in mind. If you don't need phantom power, you could be getting up to 2x the battery life of someone who does need it. On a fresh set of 8 AA batteries, the F4 is estimated to get 4-6 hours. However, turn on phantom power? 2-3 hours. That's why I power mine from V-mount. I haven't noticed a hum on the F4 yet when doing that - would be a surprise since the d-tap is going directly into the DC power in port, just like it would be when using the wall adapter. The F3 could be a whole different thing, of course. Though Zoom do advertise power by USB as one of its features.

It's very expensive, but the Sonosax M2D2 is a small, extremely high-quality preamp that has two mini-XLR inputs. It outputs line-level stereo analog to a camera; it also outputs a digital signal via USB or AES. It has some of the best preamps and converters available anywhere. It's powered by one battery and can run for hours even with phantom power on both inputs. Sonosax doesn't sell a camera mount for it but you can download a 3D-printable file for one from their website. I use it mainly for music recording (I recorded our last album with it) but might use it for video one day.

Take away that downside and put down that hacksaw for me then.

Looks like you can remove the rods based on what I can see from skipping around this video.

For anyone looking to a roll your own version of these top handles, here is my S5ii and F3 handle. Advantages are cost, 32 bit float, wireless sync with the UltraBlue and flexibility in mounting orientation and position (XLRs up and mounted forward in my case). Downside is that the F3 has a pair of mounting bars to enable it to be strapped to a pole or a wrist and they make it awkward to mount with a regular 1/20 to 1/20 screw from the handle to it base so I need to get a longer one at some point. Downside is presuming Zoom might have been silly enough to not make the mounting bars removable.

Blasphemy! Don't you want the FF cinematic look? Here's me in NY: Here's me in Seattle: Here's me in LA: Here's me in Texas: (appols for the DOF, I'm saving for the F0.95 version of my lens)

That's a pity you didn't put in a little extra effort to look further. There is one listed right now for only US$12K: https://www.ebay.com/itm/175568291816 You missed out on a bargain!

And PS, I'm not laughing at you, but laughing at the imaginary scenario where as a one man band hybrid shooter, I attempt to juggle 3x zero IBIS or AF cameras that weigh about 5x as much and cost about that also. If not more. I also 'dismissed' anything from BM, the Sony Burano and the Alexa LF.

I didn’t dismiss it because it wasn’t even in the conversation. It would be like, “OK, you were shopping around for a hot hatchback circa €15k on the used market, why didn’t you consider a lightly used €75k Porsche Cayenne?” Pair of bare bones S5ii and a single under 1kg with lens S9 vs 3x rigged out Red Komodo? No offense, but it would be an utter fucking nightmare! 😂

Will do for sure. It wasn’t even on my radar and I didn’t even know it was coming until a few days prior to the big Japan launch and even then, initially dismissed it as I was not looking for a ‘content creators’ tool and there was so much negativity…but enough positivity from some of the actual filmmakers who attended. For stills, nah. For ‘proper’ filmmaking, nah. But for what I am interested in which is basically a smaller and lighter S5ii, bingo! So it very rapidly became of interest to me. Having extensive use of the S5ii, I can’t see it as being anything but that smaller & lighter unit that suits my needs.

Well I can’t do that for at least another month as I think the release date is 23rd July? At least in Europe and then with delivery, might even be early Aug… I don’t shoot in any of those modes but can certainly try them for you at some point. I think there’s an equation for the ‘gimbal-like’ crop IBIS mode and I think that info is on the S9 topic? Fortunately, for my needs, I don’t think I will have any heat related issues, A. because I will never be shooting more than 10 second clips with it and B. never had an overheating issue with a Lumix camera before but including the OG S5 which if I remember correctly, lacked the vents of the S5ii? Never even had a warning or heard anything from any unit, ever, even in 40+ in the shade, full sun, 30+ minute conditions. Goes back to consistency and trusting your kit. I trust Lumix for anything like this because it has proved itself time and time again to be as good as it gets. Unlike those flakes over at *cough* Canon 😜

And as I was saying before I rudely interrupted myself, the A7RV was always lurking in the wings. Fantastic stills camera with option of 60mp full frame super-detailed files but ability to shoot 26mp crop at a slightly higher res than 24mp FF cameras. That's flexibility! AF is just best in class. Rear screen is superb in both resolution and how it rotates and tilts etc. All 3 Tamron lenses are native so all niggles re. performance, reliability and corrections etc removed. It's tiny for what it is and so fits with my mantra of 'smaller, lighter, faster'. My only criticism is it takes a stoopid cfexpress type A card, but hey ho, I got a 500GB for €270 so can't really complain... So in summary, happy days. The proof of the pudding as they say is in the eating and that will be the rest of this season, but as far as I am concerned, I have now removed every issue I previously had to juggle or deal with, whether it be cameras, or lenses, or audio, or lighting or tripod heads sagging or gimbals having an electronic jerking fit mid shoot, all whilst sweating profusely on a 35+ degree Celcius French Summers day. Not that we have head any of those this year. Yet... To conclude, anyone that is interested, feel free too ask anything.