DPC

mechanicalEYE - Very nice ! Would you mind sharing your Photo Style settings? At the moment I've settled on Natural -2 -5 -5 -2.

I think you were lucky not not have woken up. I personally know someone in the Montpellier area who was attacked by an armed gang in his home. You really do have to be vigilant all the time. I now chain my bags together or to something fixed when I take the train.

Sorry for you. Perhaps you could say a little more about the circumstances? I had all my gear stolen on a train before Christmas and know of at least one other photographer who had the same problem recently. Station / train theft here (in France), I discovered afterwards, is a big and organised thing. Camera cases and Manfrotto tripod bags are clear signals to thieves. It got me thinking very seriously about how much kit it was reasonable to carry vs the revenue generated working with it. Decent camera insurance in France is virtually impossible to find.

I recently sold a three year old 5D MK III to fund an A7R II. even after intensive use, the Canon was like new and I got a very good price. Within two days (yes, days!) the paint had started to rub off the Sony and has continued to do so ever since. Same for the lenses. Although the Sony seems particularly shoddily built, last year I had to repair under guarantee a GH4 (touch screen broken), LX100 (sensor filth), EM5 MK II (buttons stopped working) and a Sony A6000 (circuit board fried after less than a month). That's more cameras to fix in 2015 than in the previous 25 years of pro work. Seems to me that cameras are currently brought to market too soon and that early adopters pay a high price to be beta testers of equipment that is often built to minimum acceptable standards.

This is why I got confused about the LX 100 http://noamkroll.com/why-of-all-cameras-i-just-bought-a-leica-point-shoot-for-4k-video-stills/ Not that the detail matters really. It's the principle that counts.

You're right about the LX7. I get lost with Leica rebadging! I guess that's even more impressive.

This is a bit old now but I thought it might be of interest. https://fstoppers.com/bts/it-possible-produce-high-end-video-600-point-shoot-53485

The benefit to Canon of leak like this is that makes anyone thinking of switching brands think twice. A rig like that suggests that cutting edge stabilisation may not be a key feature of the new camera (if that's what this is).

For anyone having trouble opening the raw files (in Lightroom etc), just use http://basepath.com/site/detail-ExifChanger.php and modify the camera model to (for example) GX7. This is a great camera. Excellent value. I wish my A7R ii would focus as well!

Can anybody suggest which profile on the RX10 II would best match PP4 / Cinema on the A7R II? I'm currently using Cine 1 / Cinema on the RX 10 II but have to add a bit of contrast and saturation to match the A7R II. I'm sure there must be better... Thanks!

Agree completely about the shiny spec sheets. Currently shooting with A6000, RX10 II and A7R II, all of which fall short of the hype in real working conditions. Especially the rolling shutter of the A7R II...

I can't share 95% of my stuff either, probably for the same reasons. It's just that reviewer's opinions gain in value for me when I know we are doing similar work, in a similar economic context, faced with similar working challenges and requirements concerning equipment reliability and ROI.

"Do you think the EM5II is a camera that could help me with the transition from hobbyist to more serious?" Depends what you mean by "serious". I'm not sure that "serious" work has much to do with equipment. You can work on your story and editing skills using just about any camera. Skills which, unlike the camera, won't become obsolete in 24 months (or less)...

Just what I was wondering too. All I ever see here are little camera test films which, although informative, don't really relate to (my) real-life paid shoots.

This year I've shot 5 interview-based corporate documentaries all by myself. I have a Tascam DR70D, Zoom H4N and Zoom H1s. Out of all these available options, I far prefer the H1s because they are small, simple and easy to deploy. I use wired lavalier mics with them. My experience is that, unless you have a dedicated sound person, you need to simplify as much as possible. The most important thing with the H1s is getting your levels right.

Xavier, it's also on the list...

I've been (happily) using GH4s since they came out but had them stolen recently. At the moment I'm renting but wondering what to do next and how soon "next" should be. The more I investigate, the more I come to appreciate what a great compromise the GH4 is but I'm reluctant to re-buy a camera that's coming to the end of its life cycle.

Thanks for your replies. Thing is, if I'm going to spend that amount of money on a camera that is supposed to be able to shoot 4K internally, I would like it to be able to do 4K internally.... And if I'm going to need to add 700 euros of batteries to get me through an 11 hour day, this isn't going to work.

A7R ii owners, do you have overheating problems? How is battery life? I do a lot of event and documentary work, long days filming things that can't be repeated. The A7Rii seemed like an obvious buy but I've read a lot about overheating problems and can't risk spending 3500 euros on kit that might let me down... All information welcome!

Ed, thanks for that! Sounds like an excellent reason for using Olympus cameras ;-) Please keep sharing your experience : I love my EM5 MK 2 for stills and suspect that, if I just tried hard enough, there might be some way to usefully use it for film making, despite its shortcomings... Yes, fizzy codec and moiré...

Can I ask why you're using this camera? My solution to the ND problem was to use Metabones + Tokina 11-16 (instead of the 7-14). At least that way you can use regular flat filters.

Quick test. Ungraded. Sony A6000 at the end to compare. Sorry about the light. I have no mastery over winter... You can download the original ProRes LT file from Vimeo. (.SO = ISO. FCPX title problem...)

Actually - today's discovery - you can have dial control while filming. Just press the OK button first. For stills, at least, the EM5 MK2 is a lovely camera. I use it more and more on jobs. Makes my 5D MK III feel quaint.

I'll try to do some tests tomorrow if I get time. The "flat" profile isn't all that flat. Initial reaction is that I've probably got the camera I thought I was buying...

Has anyone else updated their Olympus EM5 MK2 firmware? With the flat profile, the video seems much better to me and I wondered what others think...