jonpais

@Andrew Reid Are you finding the color of the G80/85 also a vast improvement over the GH4? I'm considering picking one of these up on my trip to Malaysia this week if I can find the body without lens (I've got 12 already ?).

That's why I don't like step-up rings. You do realize the 16-55mm is a monster lens, don't you? Definitely not something you'd carry around as an all-rounder like the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8. Anyhow, here's a clip I made with the Fuji 50-140mm f/2.8. I followed Max Yuryev's suggestion and raised shadows -2 and lowered highlights -1. With the flatter contrast, what appeared to be oversharpening is no longer an issue either. happy camper.

I intend to try that next. Like I promised, I went ahead and shot with the 50-140mm this morning. Build quality of this monster is on par with Zeiss. The focus, zoom and aperture rings are dampened to high hell, which I happen to love. Autofocus is fast and completely, utterly silent. The 16-55mm f/2.8 amazed me, the 35mm f/2 astounded me, and now the 50-140mm f/2.8 just blew my socks off. It really is, without exaggeration, a flawless instrument. I followed Max Yuryev's recommendation and raised the shadows by (confusingly, -2) and lowered highlights by -1. The images are flatter now, not Panasonic 'Natural' flat, but perfect for just shooting, putting on the timeline and uploading to YouTube without any grading. The colors are not 'accurate', not in the viewfinder, and not when viewed on a desktop at home. What Fuji does is transform the color into something extremely pleasing. When I see lens and camera tests online where the reviewer has placed a color chart next to the subject, well... that's all well and good, but fidelity to nature does not an appealing image make. While a lot of filmmakers in the online community are always asking for a useable Log profile in their cameras, a great many professionals: documentarians, news gatherers, vloggers and the like, just want an image they can easily acquire and deliver. Because I'm a hobbyist, not a professional, and I do this just for my own enjoyment, I can say that, given a camera with IBIS and touchscreen with nice colors, or a device without those features, but which produces spectacular color, I'd choose the latter in a heartbeat.

Thanks for the comments everyone. I still think the colors are a bit too saturated, the blacks are crushed and the highlights are blown out. I'm going to shoot with the 50-140mm this morning with shadow tone set to -2 and highlights at -1 and see if I can't get a flatter image out of this thing. Also, even though I've got in-camera sharpening as far down as it will go, the images stil look way too sharp to me. For run and gun, documentary or guerilla filmmaking, you need a camera that has everything at your fingertips; it should also be reliable. Some things the XT2 has going for it are a wide selection of superb lenses, including a number of fast primes; it has fast autofocus and a brilliant EVF; quick turnaround time in post, since you won't be spending hours tweaking the colors (unless you want to!). Downsides are that many of the lenses in their catalogue aren't stabilized; exposure dials and menu items are all accessed through physical controls, which takes longer than a touch screen, and using them means noise and camera shake. The LCD isn't fully articulating like some of the Panasonics. You can hear more about many of the advantages and disadvantages in Max Yuryev's review, or read my own short review here. For a lot less money, you could get the Lumix G80/85. I don't own the camera (yet!) but the single greatest pitfall I see is weak AF-C performance.

And yet - everyone in the world owns a Canon!

?

So clean looking for such high ISOs. Thanks. I would never push my GH4 past Panasonic's inflated setting of 800. I'll be picking up a Lumix in Malaysia next week if they can get me a body without lens. I've already got a dozen lenses, don't need any more.

Here's my test of the Fuji 35mm f/2 on the Fuji X-T2. Tomorrow I'll do the 50-140mm f/2.8. Free background music from JewelBeat.com

I figured out what I was doing wrong. To keep the blacks from getting crushed, use -2, not +2 in shadow tone setting. Ha. Tomorrow, go out and try again.

Something's not right here. I've got the GH4, XL and Sigma as well. The aperture should be constant throughout the zoom range. I just checked the calendar to see if you were playing an April Fool's joke...

My mistake. I meant to say 'rebalanced', not 'recalibrated'. The elements are moving inside the lens, changing the balance. Of course, many people disregard this and simply shoot away, but the motors will be working harder and battery life will be shortened. This is not only true of the Nokton, it is true for many other lenses as well. I wouldn't let it stop you from getting the gimbal.

I deleted that post already. From your reply, I thought SuperSet was asking about the most recent video, not the awesome barber shop one.

Leaving highlight and shadow tone untouched in camera on an overcast day, Astia was too contrasty to my eyes. I tried lifting the shadows and lowering the highlights in-camera during my test of the Fuji 35mm f/2 this morning, but I think I got it backwards and ended up with a bunch of insanely super-contrasty shots.The 35mm f/2 is a superb lens: super tiny, solidly built, lovely rendition and wicked sharp. Small lenses like that involve lots of compromises, such as higher vignetting and weaker edge sharpness. But looking at my clips from this morning, you wouldn't guess it. My only gripe is that, even though the lens is all metal, and has an aperture ring (!), the stupid lens cap is a screw-on plastic affair. I guess they fixed this with the 23mm f/2, and from what I hear, the hood can also be used on the 35mm f/2. Anyhow, most reviewers are unanimous in proclaiming the X-T2 a great stills camera and a so-so video camera, but as you can see from practically every video posted in this thread, in the right hands, it produces lovely looking images, and I don't regret my purchase at all. On a side note, I feel like I'm participating in a cult or something here at EOSHD, because I've lived in Vietnam now for four years, and 99% of photographers are still shooting with Canons. Serious filmmakers here wouldn't be caught dead with a mirrorless camera.

You won't miss a thing. Just make sure you keep one of them. I could never sell my GM1. Beautiful 1080p.

Wonderful work, thoroughly enjoyed watching this.

I thought Astia Soft was supposed to be soft: but it looks kind of like when I used to process Ektachrome; rich colors and high contrast - but over or underexpose by as much as 1/2 stop and either the highlights are blown out or the shadows are crushed. Tomorrow, I'll try shooting with boosted shadows and highlights turned down a notch and see if that helps any. Also, although I turned in-camera sharpening all the way down to -4, the image looks over-sharpened to my eyes.

F*** beautiful. Reviewers who've used hundreds of different lenses say Fuji are second only to Voigtlander and Zeiss in build quality. I don't think there's a mediocre lens in their entire lineup of 20-30. I just picked up the 35mm f/2 and 50-140mm f/2.8 this evening. Can't wait to play with them tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'm working on yet another two-minute field test, this time of the humungous, heavy, overpriced and lovely 16-55mm f/2.8.

It's intentionally confusing is why.

Yeah, on iOS, crap 720p. Not only that, but when using the app, the LCD goes black and none of the dials work. So if you mistakenly had exposure compensation on, you can't change it in the app or on the camera either. So, you have to disconnect, make the change and relaunch the app again! It's funny isn't it? I mean how professional reviewers get to spend two weeks with the camera from B&H, but we discover this stuff after only a couple of days with the camera.

Yep, I just discovered that when testing it out for a second time when I got back home this afternoon, so pretty much utter garbage for vlogging. Very disappointing!

Sorry, no touch focus. Funny, because just out of habit, that is the very first thing I tried to do. ?

Sorry I can't help, since I don't own the kit lens. I'm trying to stop myself from getting the 50-140mm f/2.8. Just a note on vlogging with the X-T2: Vloggers may decide to go with one of the Panasonic cameras, such as the G85, because it has a fully articulating LCD screen. And though the Fuji does not have a swivel screen, with the Fujifilm camera remote app, you can view yourself, start and stop video recording, adjust white balance, change ISO settings and shutter speed and even choose between the different film simulation modes. And while the Fuji doesn't have face recognition in 4K mode like the Panasonic, its continuous focusing capabilities are much faster and more accurate than the G85. Finally, from a few feet away, I have difficulty seeing the screen on the Panasonic anyway, and having my iPod nearby, I can see what the Fuji is shooting much more easily.

Can I ask how you're setting up AF-C in your menus?

No two manufacturers report ISO in the same way. For example, on the Olympus EM1, when set to ISO 6400, the actual measured ISO is 3870. And what one viewer considers acceptable noise levels may be unacceptable for another.