Cinegain

Yeah, I've got the 50mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.7 and 25mm f/1.4 c-mount lenses from eBay and Tindeal. They're fun, but imho they are what they are: just 'toy lenses'. It was fun when I only had the GH2 with kit lens, but you'll want more. If you want to spend a little, but just a little only, there are some great vintage lenses you can buy that are built like a tank and optically awesome. You'd have to be careful with oiled up or stuck aperture blades, fungus, excessive dust, scratches and clean-up marks and stuff, but if you go on eBay you'll find quite a few in excellent condition. Mind you, just about every lens has a minimal amount of dust inside, those few microscopic particles won't hurt your image though. Or if you only want new, get the Sigma 19mm or 30mm EX DN f/2.8. Those are optically awesome and native mount electronic too. Not the highest of quality build perhaps, but dirt cheap, especially since now they continued the two within the ART series and sell those for more. And those new ones have a smooth focusring, so the old, more grippy one is better anyways.

Just saw this video with Chris and Jordan and thought it would really fit nicely in this topic. ;)

Just got it in. In size the FZ1000 is comparable with the GH4 with Oly 12-40mm f/2.8.

You don't just invest in a camera. You invest in a system. In a brand. You buy lenses, accessorize with compatible add-ons. It's (not exactly, but kinda) like years ago you bought a car with all the extra bells and wistles the brand had to offer. Though... after a few years what seemed new back then is long gone and the competition is putting focus on other things like hybrid/electric, cooler designs, awesome onboard computers with navigation and what not. You can keep driving your car, but the fuel economy is bad, it looks really dated and compared to what's around at the competition, you start to get annoyed by what you have and want to get a new car. But... turning in your old car will only give you a nice worth if you turn it in with your brands cardealership. So you'd rather not have to sell your car for cheap and then change brands. There was something years ago about the brand you liked, you just want to upgrade to a newer version with better everything that's competitive with what other brands are doing. But they refuse to give you that. So either you have to keep driving your dated car, that btw, still gets you perfectly fine from A to B, just not in the same flashy fashion or with the same fuel economy/performance as what's out there, or... you'll have to take the brave step and change brands alltogether. Or... just as you're about to do that... the brand releases their very latest model... though... it's more or less the same car you bought years ago, same engine, same enginering, just about the same everything. Only things to change is that now it has different rims, the horn has a different tone, it's 1 whole HP more powerfull and now there's LED blinkers. Well, I'm not sure that will get you excited. But that's kinda what Canon has been about the last few years (I'm talking mostly xxxD-series). And especially when most of the gain is brought by air intakes and chip tuning (Magic Lantern). They need to come up with something that's competitive and fresh, both in style and performance. They need to change where the bar is at. Nikon does a fairly good job, I think, atleast in terms of quality. There's a lot of room for improvement, especially when it comes down to handling. Panasonic is doing an awesome job. Always pushing the boundaries of what is possible coming up with new implementations of technology. Blackmagic has proven themselves to be quite awesome and promising for the future. And the guys over at Sony have outdone themselves with the A7S it seems. Canon has to respond! The ball is in their court. They can't expect people to keep buying 700D, 70D or 7D's with all that competition around. The 5DmkIII is still very capable, but don't forget that's much thanks to Magic Lantern. But if you want that fullframe... well, there's the ambitious A7S which is very hard to ignore. You don't have to be a fanboy or a hater. You just have to be realistic and see that Canon needs to step it up... people do not wish to change a concept they fell for to begin with. But as time passes you will evolve and so does the need for your gear to keep up with your standards. And if the brand doesn't feel like coming out with gear like that, well, I think people have every right to be 'moaning'.

So... the FZ1000 has been rolled out. :lol: Anyone got a hands-on yet? Tried to find a shop with one (here in Vienna, Austria) to see what it's about, but none of them had any or knew anything about arriving stock. <_< Only noticed that Cyberport pushed back the 30.7 date to 14.8. But it seems availlable in other countries, so I was just curious if anyone dared to pick up one already? Like I said... I think it wouldn't be a that bad of a purchase at all. Something you take with you on holidays when you're not in it for photography or video per se, which would require you to carry around a camera, lenses, tripod, batteries, accessories etcetera. Just enjoy the holiday and if the moment asks for it, you've got your all-in-one camera with 4K, 1080p 4x slowmo, zebra's, peaking, articulated screen, 2.359K OLED LVF, 25-400mm equiv. range with the 1" sensor, f/2.8-f/4, 5-Axis HYBRID O.I.S. sporting 'Level Shot', manual control ring (zoom/focus), 5 zoomspeeds, highlight/shadow control & Wi-Fi right there with you in one carefree flexible package. For actual planned shoots it surely won't replace an interchangeable lens camera, but even then it might add some great value to shoot B-roll with.

Picked one up yesterday. Had to sent it back. Hot pixels issue. :(

Well, if you pull that kind of data from the sensor it will heat up considerably. And the 5-axis in-body stabilization will not allow for methods to disperse of this excessive heat. So, for me 4K on the EM-1 is a nice fairytale, but nothing more. You can't just provide 4K as a FW-upgrade. It's impossible. Besides, they've never shown any care about us videopeople before. I don't even really need them to throw out 4K footage out of the E-M1 and onto my storage medium. I just need a proper videomode, with a broader selection of just about everything (especially 25fps!) and maybe a little tweaked bitrate or something like that. If they trained their pet into learning new tricks, that's cool. I want to see it. If they drugged it with stereoids and implanted it with a chip I'm afraid something horrible will come of this. But so far, for photography it's really awesome. Although I had a few issues with false exposure readings now and then.

Sounds decent enough. But first I need to get my hands on a LX-8 and the FZ1000. I have the LX-7 now and I love it, could've gone for a RX100 back then, but didn't and still feel like Panasonic might just have the upper hand here again (for me personally). Also, the FZ1000 seems like a lovely addition as well. Kind of a pity they dropped the constant f/2.8-aperture of the FZ200, but it's a seems a good alternative to the RX10 and fitting somewhere in between but on it's own. Sometimes I go out and pack all my gear, other times I just need a nice all-purpose flexible camera without additional gimmicks, so I really like all these new options. But for now I'm just really curious how the LX-8 will stack up against the latest makeover of the RX100. B) Round #2. FIGHT!

It has sensor shift. Take the lens offa your E-M1 body, with a finger tick the housing. You will see the sensor jiggles around freely just a tiny bit. I love the E-M1 for photography. The video is not terrible either, but would really benifit from more framerate options and a mode with enhanced bitrate for example. There was a rumour months ago that this was coming, but to date, nothing there. That's why, for video, I have the GH4 (and GH2 still as well). Did a few of the first tests the other day and 4K detail is just amazing. The 96 fps on 1080p is also a very fun feature to play with. For photography I very much prefered my E-M1 though. Also excited about Pana's LX-8 and FZ1000 though. I have the GH4 and E-M1 for when I'm really going out the door to shoot some stuff. But for everyday on the go, I can't go carry around body, lenses and all that good stuff. That's why I love to always have my LX-7 on me, since it's much nicer than a smartphone and you can just grab it whenever a moment pops up. I could also imagine throwing a FZ1000 in my bag to work though. 'The best camera is the one you have with you', as they say. Well, it then better be a half decent one. :P

Well, probably will be a beefed-up 70D, so I wouldn't count on it. Also still think the 7D is aimed as more of a sports stillscamera than a hybrid videocam. I think the 550D at the same time really was great for anybody also looking into video. I'm kinda waiting for them to come with something like that again...

Just place a filter in front. Tada.

Yeah, what I've said earlier. Kind of a pity it puts the camera out of the constant f/2.8-group. :unsure: But I would really be excited to have a bridgecamera/superzoom again though. My normal dayjob gives me plenty of sweet oppertunities to take pictures and video, but I can't and won't go and carry around a interchangeable lens camera with lenses and all. I don't know what I'll come across each day or if I'll even get to use it, so the flexibility of having a bit off everything for me in a single somewhat compact package is superb for the purpose of always having it with me in my bag. I'd then love to get the LX-8 as a carry on, hopefully being able to fit it in some pocket (bermuda's with wide pockets/jackets), would be perfect for in and around the house and on the street. Then take the GH2/GH4/E-M1 with me when it's really about purposed/planned shooting with less of a on-the-go character to it. Usually for on-the-go snaps you'd take out your smartphone, but for me having a FZ1000 in the bag on the job and a LX-8 somewhere on my person, would be way nicer. :lol: I think it compliments ones existing gear nicely.

Oh wow! About two months ago I e-mailed 'em they should come up with a successor to the FZ200 and here it is now! :P Very nice to see! All supercool features. Although the FZ200 really had something going for it, being the first constant f/2.8 bridgecamera/superzoom. Olympus and Sony really paid attention and brought out their own constant f/2.8 aperture camera's with a bit of zoom to 'em: the Stylus 1 and RX10. So it's kind of a shame the Panasonic now runs from f/2.8 to f/4. Not that I encourage people to zoom whilst shooting video. But it's might be a bit of an inconvenience overall. But in return you get a pretty wide zoomrange. 25-400mm is nice. Although I would've liked to see it start a little wider, rather than being able to zoom in all the way to 400mm. But I kinda get it, in the end it's still is marketed as a bridgecamera/superzoom, as a follow up to the FZ200. The 1" sensor is of course a brilliant move and being able to record 4K will really up the ante here. I will definitly checkout these camera's. I really loved my Canon PowerShot SX1 IS superzoom/bridge, back in the day. Some 1080p video's I shot on that were so awesome it totally was the reason I'm excited about shooting video today. I loved the all-in-one flexible solution, also for photography. There really is an appeal to it.

I agree. Excited for the official announcement! :D

Yeah, I've just read up on that... ~ http://photorumors.com/2014/06/08/the-new-panasonic-lx8-camera-will-have-4k-video-and-900-price-tag/ I have the LX-7 with me just about every day. It beats using a smartphone, gives you lots of creative and manual posibilities and the lens is awesome. Still it's pocketable enough to put along in a compartment of a bag or your coat pocket. I mean I love my GH2, GH4 and E-M1, but it's like the girls you're dating, you take 'em out from time to time and magic happens. My LX-7 is more like the trusty best friend you know you can always count on to be there. Would be wicked if it was a mixture between the LX-7 and the RX100M3. And then sports 4K. Great B-roll to go along with the GH4? I was thinking about getting a replacement for the LX-7. At first I wanted to see what the RX100M3 was all about, but it wasn't my kind of cookie. Then I was like... maybe I'll take the GM1 with small zoomlens. I can also throw on one of the pancakes... but now the LX-8 is lurking around the corner. What a great way to replace the LX-7. Really curious about more specs. June 16th!

Atleast let 'em come up with a different friggin' sensor than the 18MP that we've seen for (4 or something) years now. What has practically changed since the 550D? Some image processing, sure, you want a tilty flippy screen? Here you go. Touchy? Touch all you want. Autofocus? We can manage that. Newer sensor? Hey now, don't push it! By the way, we already gave you the 70D remember? It has a new sensor and *ugh* really is high-end and so advanced. Gamechanger written all over it. Well, that is if you maybe don't compare it to competition. In meanwhile Nikon has brought pretty awesome sensors. They just totally lack the motivation to do something with it when it comes down to video. God knows why, 'cause they should! And of course, why would someone not just jump on the m43 bandwagon? The GH3, GH4, Black Magic... the tiniest of sensors (not really though), but it's all about that video! Now sure, with a Black Magic you won't shoot stills, but the hacked GH2 was just as much of a game changer as the 5DmkII or 550D/7D. Now, if it wasn't for Magic Lantern, you'd still wouldn't improve leaps if you'd get a Canon nowadays. But if you see the GH3 and then the GH4 and compare... it seems like everybody else just throws the towel in the ring, or what? Where's the improvements? If only Nikon and Canon would just work on their videomodes. Dedicated mode with full manual control. Peaking and all the whistles. Mic in and headphone jack standard on any model. You don't even have to go 4K (what I'm concerned) if you're too worried you'll kill the camera, or your high-end line-up sales for that matter. Just give it GoPro Hero3-like specs. 4K @ 15 fps (although, you could just leave it alltogether), the 2.7K at 30 and 24p and 1440p mode at 48 fps (great for warp stabilizing and converting back to 1080p). Then bitrate, bitrate, bitrate! And compression! I think there's enough stuff they could do to make as much of a difference as they used to make. Are they really so clingy on making things focussed on stills? I bet a lot of folks just want a nice affordable camera, such as the 700D or D5300 but with more awesome video possibilities. And what should do those folks do now? They could just pick up a GH3, or spend a bit more quid on a GH4 or BMPCC...

Follow the link from the quote, there's new firmware. Changelist ( http://dl01.olympus-imaging.com/ww/ud2/ENU/0001/1090/index04a.html ) mainly includes AF tweaking. Unfortunately still no better videomode.

I'm excited. My Panasonic GH2 and Olympus OM-D E-M1 are excellent work horses. But if you want something compact to carry with you all the time, but not be your 'crappy' smartphone camera (yeah, there are some good ones these days, but it will never be anywhere near a dedicated camera with nice sensor and optics), you'll end up looking at cameras like this. Now, way back I already bought the Panasonic LX7. I was kinda stuck between it and the Sony RX100 (wasn't a mkII back then) and although the Sony has the bigger sensor, the LX7 for me was more practical. The mkII that came after was a nice improvement, but this mkIII could really crush the current competition, which still is the LX7 amongst others such as the new Canon G1X mkII, S120, Olympus XZ-2, Samsung EX2F, Nikon P340, A, P7700 and so on. All of which equipped with a smaller than APS-C (M43) size sensor, but larger than the typical 1/2.3" one, with decent optics and a small form factor, still providing a lot of features and level of manual control. These somewhat 'premium' compacts are really nice to just carry around in your jacket pocket on a daily basis, catching moments with more class/finesse than your smartphone ever would. It might sometimes also be excellent for B-roll footage and fit in tight spots, also be a little less conspicuous wherever it would be need to blend in and not be stared at, where you'd normally might've used a GoPro, but didn't want the typical fisheye.

I put in the link earlier on for a reason. This is already happening. So...

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~ http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/download/software/firm/e1/ No higher bitrates, no 24p/25p/60p, no nothing to improve video, except the audio that goes with it. Plz Olympus, you can do it...

Maybe take a look at http://www.vintagelensesforvideo.com . I've got the following vintage/legacy glass myself: Pentax-M Asahi 50mm f/1.4 / Minolta MD Rokkor 50mm f/1.7 / Minolta MD 28mm f/2.8 / Zenit Helios-44M-4 58mm f/2 / Zenit Industar-50-2 50mm f/3.5 & Beck 135mm f/2.8 .

Actually... I want a M43 to M43 speedbooster. :P

Just get the DJI Phantom 2 with H3-2D gimbal. Awesome imagery, stabilization and tiltable. Use a GoPro Hero 3(+) Black. Future adds: FPV system w/ Fatshark. More...

I'm just loving the EVF, IBIS and thumb/index finger dials. Now I just need to go and get acquainted. :lol: The menu's and philosophy are quite different from the GH2. Will take it around today, see what I can come up with. Thanks again for the initial review Andrew, it really made me excited about this camera.