Andrew Reid

It remains to be seen how much money is burning a hole in the pocket of the cinema market after the torrid last few years. You are right that the sensor is a bit on the slow side for a cinema camera, rolling shutter might be a dealbreaker especially in the 8K modes. But it makes sense in many other ways... GFX looks very different to full frame, it's cinematic as hell. And like you say we don't know how they have implemented the sensor, it could be running much faster with the extra cooling available. I agree with you on that, it doesn't really need 12K worth of unused pixels, and a native 8K sensor would have been a better fit but one doesn't seem to exist in GFX format, and making a new sensor for one new camera would make it all a bit economically unviable. If the ETERNA is a success maybe Fuji should give Blackmagic's sensor manufacturer a call for future cameras?

It's official https://www.fujifilm.com/jp/en/news/hq/11889 Very curious to see if you can get a look at the real thing!!

It's admirable how Yamaki-san looks after his factory, his employees. The temptation to hive off everything to China to please the shareholders isn't there in Sigma's case, which makes them unique in the industry.

Favourite COMPANY or favourite cameras? From a personal point of view favourite company is definitely Sigma... Family run, different, innovative, the best of all the companies at modern lenses, and best bang for buck too on those. The Fp-L may not be the best all-round mirrorless camera... this would be the Sony a1 or a Nikon Z8... But they're a proper thinking-man's camera company and embolic of what makes Japan so special when it comes to their family run companies. Sigma behaves the opposite of American anything-for-profit evil entities. Their APS-C primes are lovely on a Fuji body, and much better bang for buck than your Sony GM primes for example or Canon RF. In terms of favourite tools by one company overall - if I had to pick just one or two then these would be by Sony, the a7 IV bang for buck is very good, Sony a1 and a9 III are all-rounders with faultless capabilities in every area - there's very little you can't do armed with one of these Sony bodies... In fact ever since the a7r II and a7s II they have been on a very good incremental improvement path, starting with ergonomic improvements, then colour, but really in every single area of a camera spec they have not put many a foot wrong. Favourite company though? Not a chance. I don't agree with their hugely inflated prices on lenses and the higher-end bodies, I don't care for any of the top brands in terms of companies - not Sony, not Canon, they are a corporate shadow of their former selves in terms of philosophy and company culture. Fuji would be second to Sigma for me as a company - their strategy is unique and there's nothing better in medium format, APS-C or compact cameras than what they're providing in 2024... X100 VI, GFX 100 II, X-H2 - wow what a trio that is...in terms of the ULTIMATE power, feature-set and specs the GFX 100 II is better than anything, even Sony a1 II. Third favourite company would be Atomos... haha only kidding.

A bit of social networking and Google as one of the big 3 tech giants can have a high influence over appointees at all sorts of smaller companies. I'm not suggesting it's true in the case of Vimeo, we simply don't know, but it can't be completely ruled out either. It just seems very suspicious that the moment they became clear no.2 competition for YouTube, someone came in and took them in a completely different direction. And for very little rewards.

And people wonder why there's not more competition to YouTube, it's because of mismanagement like that seen at Vimeo. They had the chance to become the thinking man's YouTube but blew it, to become a failing business service for videography clients and pros. The price increase reflects that too, that they preferred to focus on a tiny niche rather than the huge community they used to have. At this point the mismanagement is so bad, you could even assume Google planted a covert CEO there just to absolutely make sure it would never become a valid competitor. And today I don't think it matters that much as YouTube provides a much better platform, and the Vimeo community has been dead for well over 6 years now.

If every Ai work is stolen then every human experience is a stolen one as well, because that's how we learn about the world. This technology can't be trained on the arts or reality by putting it out there with a pair of eyes, ears and arms, it has to be spoon fed, but essentially the result is the same and very human. Info goes in. Processing happens. Self expression comes out the other end in the form of observation, both personal and subjective, and arising from that - art in various audio-visual formats. So good luck to the lawyers on that one, lol. When it comes to Musk, certainly a very complex character who has gone from being on the cutting edge of two very good businesses (SpaceX and Tesla) to being on the sidelines of both with no real decision making power, having a midlife crisis mental breakdown where he spends 44 billion on a website (still can't believe I typed BILLION not million) and proceeds to wreak the business model of it. That to me is the act of either a very sick person or a stupid person and as we know he's not your typical stupid, it must be the former! Musk is behind in Ai and desperate to catch OpenAi which of course he had early involvement in before throwing his toys out the pram with Sam. Musk in terms of his recent politics has further taken him down a destructive path / rabbit hole, and yes he clearly has fallen out with his elite corporate Dem supporting buddies and venture capitalists somewhere along the way. But then drugs will do that.

Microsoft has the argument, that the open web is fair use and can be fed page by page into the machine. In same way Google indexes the WWW. If they decide against AI and the derivative works are not allowed to be neural network influenced by other works, it might have some unintended consequences - such as preventing human artists from using their influences. After all, ai and us are working in pretty similar ways. Maybe the difference here is that the data of the literal original is crunched. It is dissolved up into numbers and understood in terms of patterns and styles by the machine. So those original 1s and 0s are stored on OpenAI's server, in totality and their entirety. Whereas a human artist, never has a precise copy of the exact original digital work in our head... only the abstract version in working memory.

Apparently Tesla marketing boffins fed Bladerunner 2049 stills into Grok to come up with the close likeness, which they then proceeded to use for marketing purposes at the unveiling of the Robotaxi. What a world. Should be an interesting case to watch to see what precedent is set for ai-generated movies and photography. Can you really copyright a lighting style and colour grade? https://petapixel.com/2024/10/22/elon-musk-and-tesla-sued-for-using-ai-generated-blade-runner-2049-images-at-robotaxi-event-cybercab-alcon/

20-60 is great. Pana have always been an innovator with the small zooms, going back to 14-42mm in GH1 days. Also underrated, on the Sony side is that 28-70 slow kit lens that has been around for ages. The rendering is actually really nice and it weighs literally nothing compared to the latest big buck F2.8 equivalents.

You have some very good points, so I've edited the OP's post to better reflect his true love.

Who says I changed what a user wrote? Replacing a misleading and spammy youtube video with a picture is not doing that. And it sends a message that if you don't check your sources, or post poor quality outlinks, you will have it deleted. That's not about being unfair, that's about good moderation. Why are you indulging an entitled whiner? The joke was made clear by me in the comments and there are far greater controversies you should be upset about, maybe gaza or something, but not this.

I've given the topic a proper title which may help.

Haha, it shows my lack of interest in all things Canon as I have never even looked at a C80. If it is really a 3:2 sensor in a cinema camera - Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me - then we'll see what else they do with it in that case.

The rumour is total bollocks as the C80 sensor is widescreen 36.0 x 19.0 mm https://www.canon-europe.com/video-cameras/eos-c80/specifications/# Whereas a plain old photographic tool needs 36x24 obviously.

Stunning!

Pinned topic, keep it going 🙂 The internet how it should be.

The price is fantastic, and the autofocus looks very capable too. There's very little action under $1k with new releases so good on Fuji for keeping some excitement going. Latest image processor is a plus too. I would like to see what Small rig have in store, grip wise. A nice wooden grip please.

Panasonic need to find their unique appeal again, they are trying to be too much like the others. Panasonic will not beat Sony at the same game. How about a captivating XPan digital camera though, with a panoramic screen and sensor, and in the same sort of body design as a beautiful Hasselblad original XPan to boot. How about a different form factor for the S1H II that leans into the video features rather than just copying the plain old DSLR style body shape that the camera industry has been defaulting too since about 1961? How about starting a whole new niche, which then becomes really popular with mass appeal. There's a lot they can do other than simply trying to out-spec and out-price Sony.

Definitely one of the best stabs at a social mirrorless camera yet. I don't like to think of it as a "Content from creators" era camera, it's more than that... like compact X100V alternative, great for travel adventures and street photography. Loving that new film dial too. Fuji have however missed a trick not releasing a higher-end $1500 X-E5 at same time with IBIS, EVF and the newer 40mp sensor. Maybe they didn't want to cannibalise the X-T5.

Yes a lot to like in the S9, my vision for Panasonic is just more ambitious - we want them to take customers off Canon and Sony, and compete on cutting edge. The new strategy has its merits... Micro Four Thirds topping out with phase-detect AF on the GH7 is a nice surprise, I'd thought they'd cancel after GH6. The focus on small full frame bodies and lenses to replace Micro Four Thirds is a clear new direction... 18-40mm lens on an S9 is an able replacement for a Micro Four Thirds cam. But Panasonic risk losing the halo effect on the high-end stuff unless they get the S1H Mark II out soon at very least. S1 is probably dead, the S5 series has replaced it. The S1R is probably dead, the Leica SL3 has replaced it 🙂

Let's look at the bright side now... The LSI and firmware keeps being developed, this is a good sign as they are expensive to do. Panasonic may have cut the budget but at least they are still getting access to the latest chips, new encoders, ProRes, and so on. Also, both the GH6 and GH7 had brand new sensors, seemingly not from Sony - perhaps this indicates a switch to OnSemi, makers of the ARRI ALEXA 35 sensor, or even a switch to a joint-venture Panasonic managed fab. This would explain a delay for the flagship full frame cameras with new full frame sensors, if they cannot just pick a Sony up off the shelf. The S9 was certainly a lukewarm move... The lovely but niche Sigma Fp has shown that there's not a particularly mainstream demand for very small full frame cameras, as the Sony a7 stuff is small enough for most but with the extra features you need such as an EVF and IBIS. The S9 is also a very cost driven product, when you pick one up in your hand you will realise it. But again there's the new processor and firmware, with extensive LUT support and latest gen phase-detect AF. The S5D is of course the strangest move imaginable, but it also could have a positive connotation... The S5D is born of a collaboration with DJI who are in the L-mount alliance. It could be a sign that DJI and Panasonic are developing a closer relationship with the intent to produce a full frame DJI mirrorless camera with L-mount. DJI are an extremely innovative company and this could really be quite a special beast if it was to come to market next year along with a Panasonic S1H Mark II with a similar sensor (and huge DR) to the ALEXA 35. So I've not lost hope yet, just a bit concerned and worried because nobody least of all me wants to see a diminished Panasonic presence in the camera market. One of the great things about the Japanese is that they have largely avoided the monopolies and duopolies and mergers that you see in the US tech sector... Does one country need 6 or 7 camera companies all taking sales off eachother? Probably not, but it is good for us.

We wanted democratisation of the art of filmmaking not so much the business of it. It is important in the business end to always have demand outstrip supply. When anyone can pick up a cheap piece of kit and go and shoot adverts, then you have a problem. Evidently not everyone can pick up a cheap piece of kit and shoot something artistically interesting, so it's still of value to do that. The problem with that however is that you have to be very fortunate to make any money doing so. The film industry has put group-think, profits and franchise filmmaking before creative interest, and is now struggling with an unappealing product that is watered down and too much in abundance, i.e. mediocrity in creative terms now passes for the gold standard as long as it has a high production value and gets made by one of the big streaming channels. It doesn't grab people's attention in a world that is very demanding on one's time and attention. This isn't the fault of the EOSHD Forum btw. There's the technology side which is causing the supply and demand problem in the low-end of production and the lukewarm content, oversupply of material killing the high-end of production.

The thing is, this was the last chance for 2024 to do something. Which means heading into 2025 there is not an update to 3 important 2018 cameras. That is quitting.

I'd say the A7 IV has a better sensor in a similarly priced body ($1500-2500 market). The Z6 III clearly is a new generation of sensor, in that same mid-range price bracket. The S5 Mark II is competitive on price, but Panasonic may as well give up on taking any sales away from the others. I really do think now that they have quit the flagship enthusiast and high-end market, in order to leave it to Leica. There can be no other explanation. The S1 series didn't sell well enough, so why throw good money after bad when they can use a tiny fraction of the budget on very low-cost stuff like the S9 with a 7 year old sensor? And they have continued to get new LSIs and new firmware features such as on the GH7, new codecs, ProRes, etc. So maybe there is a built up to a new S1H or something like that. But I just find it all very strange that in the 6 years between the big important S1 series launch and now, they have absolutely nothing to show for it. https://www.eoshd.com/news/panasonic-hiatus-worries-as-flagship-cameras-remain-nowhere-to-be-seen-in-2024/