jonpais

One negative of using the Nokton with the GH4 on the Crane is, it must be re-stabilized each and every time it is refocused because the elements are moving, which is a pain in the butt. On the plus side, even when shooting at wide apertures, say between f/2.8 and f/4, when set at hyperlocal distance, the images are sharp as a tack. Which brings up a point I'd really like cleared up, if anyone can: why is it that so many here say to focus the camera at infinity when shooting with drones, which is obviously not a good thing to do, when what they should be doing is setting the lens at hyperfocal distance? Or have the rules of optics changed since I graduated in 1984? I hope to post the 100th review of the Crane since it was released a few months ago and move on. I'd really like to share some stuff shot with the iFootage Shark S1 slider, most likely the best slider on the market nobody's heard about, as well as their superb Wild Bull T7 carbon fiber tripod, not as sexy as the Olympus OM1 or Fuji XT-2 for some, but for me, they are.

Back to the original Zhiyun Crane, some readers might be interested in knowing about their customer service. As several of you are already aware, communication with some of these manufacturers of gimbals and drones is not always a great experience. After owning the Crane for a couple of months, I discovered that the screw that tightens the roll axis arm kept coming loose. Had I noticed the problem sooner, Zhiyun would have simply replaced it, but in this case, all they could do is repair it, which is fine. I sent the gimbal back to Zhiyun in China by snail mail (from Vietnam) on Oct. 8th and they received it on Oct. 25th. Rose over at Zhiyun kept in constant touch with me by email during the entire process. When they'd finished the repair, I requested they return the Crane by FedEx (because DHL Vietnam is incompetent and perhaps corrupt), which they did. I received the gimbal yesterday, and so far, it appears to work fine. The company also scrutinizes customer reviews online daily, so I know they are very interested in making sure users are satisfied with their products. I've been eager to get the Crane back to test out my new Nokton 17.5mm F/0.95 on the GH4, which is just about at the limit of the gimbal's payload capacity. I haven't had the chance to shoot with it yet, but balancing took substantially longer than with the feather-light LUMIX G X Vario 12-35mm F/2.8. If rotated 180 degrees, with such a heavy combination, the yaw motor will obstruct it, because the roll arm must be extended much farther, but it shouldn't matter during actual filming. Whith such a heavy load, it is possible to hear the motors straining when the camera is tilted very far in any direction, so I would really be hesitant about exceeding 1200 grams, at least with the GH4, because with an all-metal and glass lens like the Voigtlander, it is too front-heavy. Heavier camera/lens combinations that aren't so front-heavy might work fine for all I know. Update: I took the Crane out for a shoot this morning, and I'm still not sure whether the problem has been fixed: I had to adjust the roll arm screw once while I was out and about. Also, viewing the clips, they looked jittery as all hell, pretty much the same as the Vario G X 35-100mm f/2.8, so not sure what's going on. Maybe I didn't balance carefully enough? Maybe I've got to practice the ninja walk? Funny, 'cause I've seen a couple of videos on YouTube where the Nokton looks fine on the gimbal. I was hoping to upload a mini-review with various lenses on Thursday, but now I've decided to contact a buddy who does professional work to try this gimbal out and see how his stuff looks first. I'm still waiting for him to get back to me.

I substantially edited my previous post, if you haven't seen it, take a look. I would bet my life that Panasonic issues a firmware update very soon to address the issue with IBIS, and I think those who are returning their G80/85 cameras are making a big mistake. Several online reviewers who abandoned Panasonic for Sony lost me a long time ago, because not all of us have $3,000 lying around for a body only when Panasonic's flagship can be had for somewhere between $1,000 - $1,500, and not all of us require a camera that shoots one trillion ISO, and even the A6500 still lacks the battery life and articulating screen of the Panasonic. I would love to own the Fuji XT2 as well (beautiful build quality), but it also lacks articulating screen, has weak battery life and no IBIS. For now, I'm eyeing both Olympus and Panasonic. I am however, expecting groans from the online community when they see how much Panasonic is going to charge for the GH5. I'm almost certain it is going to cost as much as Sony's A7 cameras. Brace yourselves for a shock. Edit (again!): I realize that many readers here are all excited about the 10-bit of the upcoming GH5, but those of us who don't do heavy grading, or who don't own super-duper monitors, or who just publish stuff for the web (YouTube) probably won't see any benefit, but we'll be paying a hefty premium for it nonetheless. If you haven't already done so, you should check out a recent video of Dave Dugdale's, where he invites Matthew Scott to chime in about the value of 10 bit.

@Chris Oh Single AF is fine - continuous AF, face tracking, not so fine. Also, AF with other stuff in the frame, like shiny objects, a bright light or a contrasty subject in the background (or even contrasty clothing or shiny accessories) will fool the camera. I've tried them all when testing the Zhiyun Crane, and none of them worked consistently. I'm not trying to trash Panasonic, I know I've been pretty harsh about their lenses: but I've owned four of their cameras already and even intend to get the GH5 if it lives up to expectations; but I really can't get over the fact that their lenses feel so cheap (incomprehensible how so many reviewers found the build quality of the 12-35 and 35-100 so incredible). To their credit, TCSTV, after trying out the 100-400mm Leica, dismissed it out of hand (if I'm not mistaken), because the zoom felt so horrible. In fact, I hadn't used the 12-35 and 35-100 in ages (I had fallen in love with the S35 look of adapted lenses with Metabones), but after getting the Crane, I had no choice. And I learned the hard way that they perform best when manually focussed. At the very least, I'd check out the excellent reviews over at CameraLabs or Max Yuryev's YouTube channel before spending so much money. Edit: I recently saw a several years-old comparison over at Lensrentals.com of top rated 50mm lenses, from esteemed manufacturers like Leica all the way to Zeiss and including Voigtlander and Sigma. And the $950 Sigma (actually around $850 nowadays) compared favorably with the $11,000 Leica lens, and the Voigtlander was no slouch either. Which is another reason why I feel Panasonic made a huge mistake partnering with the legendary German manufacturer. If you haven't done so already, you should go to a camera shop and handle the Sigma and see how it feels compared to the Panasonic. And the Voigtlander is the equal or better of Leica and Zeiss as far as build quality is concerned (I much prefer the feel of the Noktons to the Milvus lenses). Once you've held a Voigtlander in your hands, all these other plastic-y lenses will feel insubstantial. The weather sealing of both Panasonic lenses and bodies is no more than advertising fluff, they are 'splash proof', that's all - and for most of us using external microphones, sliders, adapted lenses, digital audio recorders and focal reducers, this is a moot point.

@Chris Oh How has tracking worked so far with Panasonic? Which camera and lenses are you using?

Why are you selling GX85?

Any reason you're getting the 12-35mm? And which 15mm are you considering? I own the 12-35, and I think its work against bright light is pretty marginal, plus I almost always shoot at the wide end anyway, so something like the modestly faster Samyang or whatever would probably suit my needs better. But I've never handled Samyang/Rokinon, so I have no idea about build quality. Also, Panasonic is sure to issue a firmware update for the G80/85 soon, so I wouldn't get my panties in a bunch. I bought the 12-35 and 35-100 when I picked up the GH3: the 35-100 has nice image quality, beautiful even, but the OIS is garbage; and the 12-35mm isn't super wonderful either; no way would I pay the premium for an overpriced plastic lens for OIS and garbage AF (for stills it might be okay, but for continuous AF or face detection, forget it). I would still recommend a genuine lens like the Voigtlander, or any other wide. The IBIS in either the GX85 or the G80/85 when firmware update is released should be enough to iron out the wriggles anyhow.

This may surprise you if you haven't looked at 43 Rumors recently, but apparently the Olympus EM1 II is being manufactured right here in Vietnam. They built a factory in Dong Nai province about eight years back.

Excellent customer care you received that's true of the entire Internet?

My very first video was shot on the Canon S100 pocket camera (720p).

And even those who are purchasing the G80 for vlogging are probably aware of the inexplicably awkward position of the mic jack, which interferes with the swivel LCD screen. I wonder whether anyone even asked Panasonic representatves about this issue at Photokina concerning the GH5. I imagine it will be the same. At the time, I wanted to purchase a Samsung 840 SSD (not sure if the number is correct) to replace the hard drive in my MacBook, but even though it was available in the States, virtually impossible to locate in Korea. I ended up having a friend bring it over from the States for me.

Yeah, I lived in Korea for 5 years, next to impossible for a foreigner to purchase anything online, not intuitive at all, yet I've managed to buy stuff online from Italy, Denmark and Poland even though I don't speak the language of any of those countries. It was very frustrating. And even here in Vietnam, it is relatively simple for anyone to buy online. Korean companies really make no effort to reach out to foreigners at all. When I was living there, it was a pain trying to find movies in the theater with English subtitles or even watch a K-drama on TV. Yet here, in Vietnam, a country nowhere near as rich as Korea, every theater has English subs for both Vietnamese and foreign movies, and K-Dramas have English subs as well. I should add that, while living in Korea, I spent practically every waking hour studying Korean, but that didn't help much.

@Michael Ma Where did you find it so cheap? Grey market? It's selling for $800 at B&H.

@Liam if you want fungus filled glass, just send me a bunch of lenses. I'll leave them out in the open here for a few months, then return them to you. ???

At around 2:25 you can see the lens zoom ring is quite stiff, which is not ideal, yet he continues to say, 'this has got a nice feel to it, actually', as if trying to reassure himself. Baffling. I own both the 12-35mm f/2.8 and 35-100mm f/2.8 zooms, and they feel like cheap plastic to me. Even some of the lettering around the 12-35mm has worn off, something that has never happened to any of my other lenses. So cheaply made! To each their own. At 5:20, he shows the thin paper bag the camera comes shipped in.

@Hanriverprod Thanks for sharing the video. Several other users reported the same problem over at YouTube. I guess I'll hold off buying the G80/85. I was watching an unboxing video this afternoon, and the 12-60 zoom that came with the camera wasn't smooth, particularly around the 25mm mark. That's another reason I'd avoid Panasonic lenses altogeher, though the G80/85 looks like a great camera once they release a firmware update for the jerky behavior. In that same unboxing video, the reviewer showed how the camera appeared to be wrapped in a thin piece of paper, which made him wonder if it had been properly packaged. I hope your problem gets resolved.

@Austin Hatala One thing holding me back is that most of my EF lenses are too heavy to use with Lens Regain on the Zhiyun Crane. CheesyCam did a comparison on YouTube, LensRegain compares favorably with Metabones, costs less, and throws in the follow focus to boot.

If you feel the need for speed, and you don't mind remortgaging your house to raise the cheddar, how about this Thunderbolt 3 ready SSD RAID from LaCie? Paired with the top-of-the-line MacBook Pro (thank goodness Apple finally listened to professional photographers and removed those annoying SD card slots and USB ports!), you should be able to churn through those Terra 6K clips like butter. LaCie claims top speeds of 2800 MB/s for this 2TB drive, which is encased in one solid block of serious CNC machined aluminum. We all love us some CNC machined aluminum. This represents a twofold increase in read speeds over LaCie's previous record-holder, the 1TB Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 (sounds a bit like the name of the son of a native American Indian chief, doesn't it?) released just 2-1/2 years ago. LaCie's most powerful drive to date is appropriately christened Bolt3, because once you see the price, you'll want to bolt out the door at the count of three. And while you're at it, why not also indulge yourself with one of LG's unsightly new 27" 5K monitors with butt-ugly bezel designed with Apple's input, for a mere $2,000, presumably the very same screen used in the current aging iMac lineup. And if you are fortunate enough to be named a beneficiary in the trust fund of a distant uncle, you'll be thrilled to learn that you can drive two of these puppies on the new MacBook Pros. Time to sell your aging Asus netbook and buy a real workstation, one designed for working professionals for whom money is no object!

@aldolega Yep, I just did some research, and the DEC does indeed have some limitations. First, the stepping you mentioned, which may also be accompanied by noise, and which varies according to the lens. The system also requires the use of lenses which have built-in focusing mechanisms, which rules out lenses like the Voigtlander Nokton. It is also awkward to mount on a gimbal, and may require modification, which admittedly is not hard to do, but which may void the warranty.

@Neil Anderson True, to take advantage of Vlog Lite, you need an external recorder. Otherwise it can exhibit banding and weird splotches, which may or may not be visible, depending on the subject matter. You'll probably also want to invest in an external monitor that accepts LUTs because the GH4's LCD and viewfinder will look like greyish mush. I almost always shoot outdoors in the shade, so I don't really need the extra dynamic range. If I'm remembering correctly, you have to shoot Vlog at ISO 800, which would be another pain in the neck for me. On the other hand, one review I watched on TCSTV was shot entirely in Vlog and it was one of the best looking clips they've ever shot. Of the other profiles, some shooters prefer Cinelike D. I shoot everything using the Natural profile. If I purchased the G80/85, I'd probably do the same. Edit: I just checked my camera, lowest ISO with Vlog is 400, which isn't a problem at all.

@Cary Knoop So we can both agree, along with pretty much the whole community here, that micro 4/3 sensors aren't exactly awesome at high ISOs. Which is not the same as saying they aren't good in low light. Slap on a Speed Booster or shoot with a Nokton or Leica and you're covered.

@Austin Hatala You do realize that the DJI Osmo Raw kit with proprietary SSD and follow focus will run over $6,000, while the Aputure DEC Wireless Focus & Aperture Controller for MFT is selling for just $250, don't you? But you'd have to be sure that whatever lens you're adapting doesn't exceed the payload capacity of the gimbal you're using.

@Neil Anderson From what I've read, there is basically no difference in quality between MP4 and MOV files (but apparently MOV files are much larger). But I believe (someone here correct me if I'm wrong), that MP4 files must be converted to ProRes before editing on a Mac, whereas MOV files can be dropped directly onto the timeline in FCP X. I almost always just import the MOV files directly from my hard drive into FCPX and begin editing right away, but it's probably good practice to convert them to ProRes first. Concerning the 200Mbps on the GH4, it only applies to 1080p, not 4K, and according to some shooters, the lower 100Mbps is preferable. I would never intentionally shoot 1080p on the GH4 anyhow, I always capture in 4K and downsample to 1080p in the timeline.

@Cary Knoop What 'high ISO's are you referring to? 3200? 6,400? 'High ISO' is a vague statement, and mud is not an accurate description of the noise artifacts that pop up from 800 and beyond either. In fact, I don't know of any micro 4/3 camera that excels in low light, which is why it's recommended to shoot with fast glass rather than high ISO settings, and I seldom if ever shoot higher than ISO 800 with my GH4 precisely because of noise issues. The G7 supposedly had a one stop increase in clean low light ability over the GH4 according to Max Yuryev (here is a comparison he did between the $600 G7 and Sony's $3,000 low light monster A7s2). And the G85 will in all probability have better low light performance than the GH4, too. So, no reason to prefer the GH4 over the G85 if low light performance is the sole criterion.

The Zhiyun Crane will run from $600-$650. I haven't used DNA glidegear, but it looks rather cumbersome.