jonpais

Everyone knows or should know, there's much more to a camera than image quality alone. The menus, ergonomics, lens ecosystem and even style. If I were to choose a camera costing $2,000 or less for image quality alone, I'd purchase a Fuji, Sony or even a BMPCC. The reason I choose Panasonic is because it's extremely easy for me to use (I actually have the X-T2, but I end up shooting more with the Panasonic). And if Olympus works for you, great.

It's not that big of a deal. We're shooting videos here, not test charts. And I don't even own a 4K monitor. It's actually more complicated than that. We shoot at 24 frames per second in order to introduce motion blur. Our brain then takes those blurred images and assembles them into what appears to be a sharp image. Check out this demonstration. If you shot a still photo of a moving car or even a bicyclist at 1/50 second, it would be blurry. But shoot them with a motion picture camera and project them on a movie screen and nobody would say the images were blurry.

It happens every time you press the shutter button. If in my last field test of the Olympus 25mm f/1.2, I had locked the camera down like I did with the Fuji, all the images would have appeared sharper.

Yeah, I think it's been there for a while now. Kind of took me by surprise when I first started watching television again a couple years back.

This from an interview with Newsshooter According to ARRI, if you are filming in 2K or 4K at 24 frames per second with a 180 degree shutter angle (1/48th of a second) and the camera is moving quickly, the amount of motion blur means the image will look the same in 2K as it does at 4K. The only way to perceive a difference between 2K and 4K when the camera is moving is to use a higher frame rate and shutter speed – with less resulting motion blur. ARRI maintain that if you want to have higher resolution for motion pictures where objects are moving and the camera is moving, then you need to use higher frame rates for capture and display to see a difference. Within the industry, the jury still seems to be out on whether HFR material still looks at all like film and whether strobing artifact effects are needed for it to retain its film look. Kraus told me he was aware of the ongoing debate but added that if we don’t move to higher frame rates, then we need to end up with images that are more static, or forget about higher resolutions altogether.

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The Sigma Art lenses are all superb. If you check the Lenses thread, you'll see a small discussion about using adapted lenses vs. native glass. My own experience with the Sigma Art 50mm f/1.4 and Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 when used with a Speed Booster is that they are sharper than some native m43 lenses, as well as being much faster. Excluding the one-time purchase of the adapter, the Sigmas are no more expensive than some recent lenses released by Panasonic and Olympus. I shot a couple videos with the Sigma Art 50mm f/1.4 and G85, and IBIS worked really well. The Sigmas can also be used on other bodies should you ever decide to switch from m43 to APS-C for example. If you don't mind the bulk and weight, there is no reason to spend a lot of money on a second set of lenses. Here are two videos shot with the Sigma Art 50mm f/1.4, MB SB XL and Lumix G85.

Max Yuryev's complete review of the Olympus OMD E-M1 Mark II. Some of his conclusions: much lower bit rates than advertised, unreliable AWB, no real flat profile, no center weighted or spot metering in video mode, dynamic range limited, worse low light performance than the G85, can't trust the AF-C, audio preamps the worst he's ever heard.

Yes, I'd pretty much given up on adapted lenses myself, I much prefer having a smaller, lighter kit. My back was about to give out this morning. But I thought since so many are considering pairing the Sigma 18-35mm with the GH5 that there might be some interest in seeing how it performs on the G85, which is why I'm making another video.

I think having that big, beautiful EVF and LCD screen with such high resolution will help a lot with manual focusing.

The camera doesn't hold still long enough in your wonderful video to really tell. That brings up another point - that when the camera is moving around a lot, you're throwing away the 4K resolution. I'm a little surprised you weren't impressed with the Sigma as much as you expected, since I'm not easily impressed with much myself (those words should be engraved on my tombstone!), but the Sigma fairly blew me away. @Fredrik Lyhne Why is it that the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 became an overnight success with filmmakers all over the world if not for its wide aperture and high resolution?

You make some good points, and I really should eat more fruits and vegetables. While I don't often shoot wide open, many of the clips in my field tests have been shot between f/2-f/3.5, which would have required raising the ISO on a slower lens, which, true enough, wouldn't be the end of the world. I haven't done a direct comparison between the Fuji 90mm and the Olympus 75mm, but I think that would be a very close race, they're both exceptionally sharp. You just gave me an idea for another video there.

Yeah, even though this is the 25mm, all the videos I've seen with the Voigtlanders look fine, so I've got no idea what I was doing wrong.

Hi Fritz, I only took the Nokton out a few times, it's been a while now, so I don't recall which apertures I was using, but it wasn't wide open. I really don't even recall if I was using a tripod or not - I believe I used it on the Zhiyun Crane and on a slider. Really frustrating, it's the only lens I've ever used where I just couldn't get a sharp picture. Crazy, because I know the lens is great, I've seen plenty of sharp looking videos online. After I finish making a field test of the Sigma 18-35mm, I've got two more lenses left, the Nokton and the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8. So maybe in a couple weeks, I'll have another go at it.

All's good. One less item I've got to buy.

Oh! Misunderstood then.

This has already been posted in the Zhiyun Crane thread. Unfortunately, my experience with the Nebula 4000, which has remained in my closet for a couple years now, has forever tainted my feelings towards Nebula. It remains to be seen whether it is actually self-balancing, I believe others are skeptical as well. After all, why wouldn't Nebula have made this ability a headline feature rather than burying it halfway down in their promotional literature? The video does not really clearly show us how this works in practice either. If this really was a self-balancing gimbal, you'd think the vide would be titled, The World's First Self-Balancing Single Handed Gimbal! Actually, I don't believe it's self-balancing at all, it's just got more powerful motors. Not only that, but Zhiyun is supposed to be releasing a new model very shortly that also has a higher payload capacity as well, and they are very responsive to customers, whereas I'm not so sure about Nebula. So if the only party trick is that the Nebula's got more powerful motors that make perfect balance less critical, the Zhiyun should be able to do the same.

Continuing the field tests of all my lenses, the next in line is the venerable Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 with the Lumix G85. I was suffering from back pain when i woke up this morning, still am, so the last thing I wanted to do was carry around that honking piece of glass, but I did anyway, though I didn't end up shooting much. Looking at the few clips on my Mac when I got home, I was reminded of just what at incredible instrument the Sigma is - tack sharp even wide open, beautiful color rendition. So yeah, I do think shooting APS-C and full frame glass on m43 is a pain in the butt, but light gathering ability, bokeh balls and the super 35 look aside, if you're after the ultimate in resolution, good focal reducers with quality glass might be a better choice than many native m43 lenses. I should add that I'm just going by what I've seen from my Sigma lenses with the MB SB XL: Lens Rentals .com has already published several articles showing that focal reducers can actually degrade image quality. And although every single reviewer who's tested the slow PanLeica 12-60mm f/4 kit lens with the GH5 is praising it to the heavens, I will eat my vegetables every day if it holds a candle to the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8. Lastly, as far as build quality goes, the Sigma is all plastic and rubber, while the two Vario zooms I own are mostly metal - yet the Sigma feels solid, the focus and zoom rings are heavily dampened, while the Panasonic Vario lenses feel like Fisher Price toys made in China. Of course, I expect the Leica designed kit zooms to have far better build quality.

As promised, a field test of the Oly 25mm f/1.2 shot on the Lumix G85 and the Fuji 90mm f/2 shot on the Fuji X-T2. At $1,200.00 USD, not sure if I'd trade in my Leica 25mm just yet if you've got one, the Oly is sharp, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN. It does offer a nice manual focus clutch system though, which I wish was incorporated in all my AF lenses. The Fuji lenses are getting kind of boring to test, since they're all outstanding, and the 90mm f/2 is no exception to the rule. Looking at the files from the X-T2, the images are so crisp and detailed, I only wish it had IBIS so I didn't have to use a tripod or monopod for support. Like just about all of Fuji's lenses, the 90mm f/2 has an aperture ring and is all-metal. Aside from Voigtlander, I don't believe there's another manufacturer east of Germany that produces such solidly built lenses. One thing to know if you're in the market for the 90mm is that the lens will make clunking sounds when moved unless attached to the body and in record mode. I'm given to understand that is because of electromagnets that only become active when actuating recording. Music by Eric Matyas www.soundimage.org

Never in my life have I seen such awful warp stabilized footage.

Actually, I haven't got any Panasonic primes! As of next week, my m43 lenses will consist of the Leica 12mm f/1.4, Voigtlander 17.5mm f/0.95, Oly 25mm f/1.2, Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN, Leica 42.5mm f/1.2 and Oly 75mm f/1.8. I've got two Panasonic zooms, the 12-35mm f/2.8 and 35-100mm f/2.8, both of which have been sitting unused and which I'd like to sell, but it will be difficult to find a buyer in Vietnam, since practically nobody shoots m43 here. I find the Nokton virtually impossible to focus, I was going to let that one go too, but perhaps it will be easier once I get the GH5, since it's got a much better EVF and LCD. As for focusing, I find the peaking on my G85 pretty inferior to that of the X-T2, which is why I've assigned Monochrome Live View to one of the function buttons. Up until recently, my white balance had been all over the place, so i wouldn't even know what difference if any my lenses were making color-wise. All I can say is, I really like the colors I'm getting from the two Olympus lenses I've got. I'm busy editing a field test of the Fuji 90mm f/2 and the Olympus 25mm f/1.2 at the moment. The Olympus, which cost some $1,200.00 USD, is sharp, but not blisteringly sharp like my Sigma 30mm, which only cost around $300.

I put an order in for some LED lighting for video, my very first. I'll be getting Chinese versions of some popular Fotodiox models for vlogging, short films and possibly some pinups. A while back, Dave Dugdale did a review of these lights and said they were virtually identical to Fotodiox, except for the price. I'd wanted to get Aputure lighting, but they're not available here, and they cost a small fortune anyway.

Thanks, Fredrik. I should have the lens in my hot little hands early next week. There are a lot of variables, such as the light from the windows, the difference in depth of field and so on, but the 12mm looks sharper to my eyes, especially when glancing at the mat and the lines of the black cabinets or wall on the right.

Shoot in the early morning or late evening?

@Eric Matyas Hi Eric, I'm currently editing a video I hope to post this weekend and I'm using one of your non-looping tracks. The clip is 3 minutes long, the music, 1-1/2 minutes. How do I use it? I've just been overlapping tracks to make them longer in the past, but is there a better way? Also, can you tell me how you use looping tracks? Do you just lay them end-to-end? Sorry, really stupid when it comes to this. I'm using FCP X. Thanks!