Cinegain

I don't really like the new Leica zooms. They're f/2.8-4 which is a bummer and the rendering, like I don't see that signature Leica look (of their primes) back at all. Concerning the 12-60mm, I hardly see a reason to pick the Leica over the Lumix to be honest. It is nice that a wide angle has a filter thread, the beast that's the Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8 PRO just hasn't. But then again, you could get the Laowa 7.5mm f/2 and solve that. :P

Maybe not as small as the Laowa 7.5mm f/2, but they're certainly manageable. Especially in length and weight, they're actually not that bad, no troubles going handheld with this. Having the same width throughout helps of course for easy swapping and keeping your set-up the same otherwise. With T2.2, indeed like f/1.8~f/2 or so would actually have, it's all about wide open performance guarantee. That's just a principle they didn't feel like sacrificing. Those Voigtländers/SLR Magics/Rokinons etc aren't particularly peaking in performance wide open, it would start to look up from f/2.8 anyways. But of course, it's nice to have f/0.95 in a pinch. But then again, cine lens... so traditionally these haven't been f/0.95 anyways even even bright ones are often shot at like f/5.6. We've come to love shallow depth of field, but you're hiding a lot of context with it. I always say: choose your shutterspeed, determine your desired depth of field (!) and corresponding aperture, set the ISO to balance things out... are we at minimum ISO and still too bright? Throw some shade its way! ND filters. Other scenario: things turn out too dark? Bump the ISO towards noise performance acceptable limits. Reached it and still not bright enough? Light your friggin' scene already! Still too dark? Well, you gonna have to either sacrifice depth of field or shutterspeed. Often people sacrifice depth of field, because they like a shallow depth of field anyways... but you know, maybe give it some thought rather than just throwing your lens wide open. In the end, there's different tools to get different jobs done, though. I was once tempted by the idea of the Sony CineAlta cinema primes set (launched at $24,600 back in the day). Speaking of big and heavy and only covering S35.

Yeah, probably... although that was kinda clear from the bat that it was a system stuck set. Later offering conversion mounts for S35/APS-C was merely a fortunate thing to happen, not necessarily something initially intended. But I guess enough folks do eventually wonder over to large flange distance systems or fullframe ones to get more productionfriendliness. Guess my mindset is that I want a compact kit of camera & lenses, so I'm more excited to have a range of mirrorless 4K cameras you could use these on. Thinking about moving on for me would be a GH5 or E-M1 Mark II (until Sony/Fujifilm (where you'd still be able to use the Veydras on) learn a thing or two of them how to create a killer mirrorless body with e.g. vari-angle well-implemented touchscreen, proper audio interface, minimum rolling shutter, etc) rather than a Canon Cinema-range camera or FF Sony. C-AF of course being amongst the big selling points of those systems (so also users that don't actually like MF).

I think Adam Wilt & Noam Kroll are the authorities when it comes to Veydra. https://www.provideocoalition.com/first-look-veydra-mini-primes-for-micro-four-thirds/ , http://www.dvinfo.net/article/acquisition/micro-43/quick-note-veydra-mini-primes-tested-kickstarter-ending-soon.html , http://www.dvinfo.net/article/acquisition/micro-43/veydra-mini-primes-delivering-85mm-t2-2-available-for-pre-order.html & http://noamkroll.com/veydra-mft-cinema-lens-kit-review-rokinon-cine-lens-comparison/ . Pretty spot on stuff. Shane said he'd probably do a Part 4 (series: http://www.thehurlblog.com/?s=micro+lenses+part ) with the Veydras... but no joy. I see a lot of people selling these off again. Would be interesting to find out why exactly. Maybe the image is just too well-behaved for some? To me it means: no surprises, predictability can be a good thing, especially if you're into more commercial shooting where you want your results to be consistent.

Believe some stores on Amazon had some ridiculous good deals... and they actually shipped out! Not sure if they still do, though. I have the Ultra Contrast 3 and Smoque 1, helps to add some atmosphere to the scene, I don't particularly like the blooming highlights or softness of other filters, though sometimes at nighttime that works quite well to soften up those hard contrast streetlights etc. Checkout what each filter does over here: https://tiffen.com/diffusion/ There was also a whole topic on the Ultra Contrast here: http://www.eoshd.com/comments/topic/7284-tiffen-ultra-low-contrast-filters/ .

Ah, EISA, didn't that go something like...

Well, with grading you're going to put a lot of contrast back in the bitch. The problem is, that leaving your contrast alone, you really need to be careful about your highlights, because nothing says 'video' as much as blown out highlights (and overly sharp footage, iffy colors, overly vivid saturation, very deep depth of field, aren't really helping you to sell a filmlook to the audience either). So manage your highlights and leave toning the contrast down to a more advanced grading process in post rather than the in-camera one. As EOSHD Pro Color for Panasonic has shown, this gives you better tonality/nuances in your color. LOG is the real deal, with simple picture styles/profiles... be a little more cautious. Been hearing a lot of good things about Nikon Flat, though. Probably that works well because its color is pretty thick 'n sweet to begin with, so it's not really trading anything in to get a tiny bit more apparent dynamic range out of a high contrast scene. Panasonic color has gotten better over time, but it's still very thin, it should have a label with 'handle with care' on it. Especially at the higher sensitivities where it really seems to favor orange/greens. Really hope they're going to get into sensor advancements soon where every pixel can be read out individually with a sensitivity from say ISO25-1638400. Keeping all that information, no blows, no crushes! Except the crush you have on that new tech that blows you away!

I thought immediately of using GoPros as well... just think of all the surfaces and angles. Timelapses! Anything from the kayak bow, POV helmet/chest cam, paddle cam to underwater stuff. Think Les Stroud/Survivorman has a couple of videos where he's stranded with a kayak.

Shooting init, doesn't mean you export init. Even then there's many reasons to still do your project in 4K. If you don't, that's perfectly fine too, though. Actually wish there was something in-between from 1080p to 4K, for many reasons you might benefit from having a bit more than 1080p, but 4K might not at all be necessary. With GoPro there were a couple of different resolutions. Blackmagic had a 2.5K camera as well. Alexa sensors aren't 4K either. Guess those who offer ultra high 4K/UHD or C4K as the up from 1080p/FHD must have their reasons. One additional benefit I think shooting in higher than 1080p/smaller than 4K resolutions has that you can probably up the framerate. 4K60p is cool, but what about 2K@100?

Agreed! C-mount is interesting, you'll find some budget options here for example: https://rocksphoto.aliexpress.com/store/group/Camera-Lenses/701997_500545195.html . They sure do have quirky character... but more in a sort of toy lens kinda way, not really super interesting bokeh or anything. Am sure the Fujinon and Zeiss have some stellar ones tho, never really looked into that much. What are the benefits over other regular 35mm covering vintage primes? Smaller & quirkier? Am always scared for the vignetting 'n stuff and throwing away precious sensor info cropping in hurts my soul, lol. For me the Russian Zenits are the best for some weird character at fair prices.

Although the Summicron-R 50mm f/2 is a nice actually quite affordable starter. But it's the rest of a matching set that's going to get you in trouble. :P Think the Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AI-s is the only somewhat older Nikon prime I have. It's dang good. Those older classics look pretty solid there too!

That 50mm f/2 tho! Did you every try the Summicron-R 50mm f/2 or are you afraid to fall in love with the more expensive Leica lenses?

It's insane btw, how many times these rumor sites do small updates with non-information, just so they can post some more Amazon affiliate links. Or those discounts on vague imaging software you probably have no interest in. Reliability of their information or general professionalism isn't everything either... but then again, what do you expect of a 'rumors blog'... Well, maybe that atleast they throw their articles through a spell checker? If you're going to make us watch ads, click links and all that to compensate for your free time having spent on this hobby (I hope they don't rely on this as a job), you might as well actually put in the right amount of effort.

Haha, dedication! I'm a Chinese gadgets fanatic, but I had a hard time finding the actual great-bang-for-buck Chinese brands, when I was there back in '14 (attending the HK Electronics Fair, where there obviously was plenty of 'em though). I crossed the border at Lo Wu (on a 5 days visa) to get to Shenzhen, where it was quite a bit better (SEG Electronics Market and surroundings). Definitely a place to think of visiting!

Yup, I recognized its value immediately. Rectilinear like my Olympus 7-14mm f/2.8, yet that one is a beast: heavy and big! And! It hasn't got a filterthread, so you'd have to like have something 3D printed or so. Ended up using it more for stills. The Laowa solves those size/weight and filter issues. Perfect as simple carry around lens, but indeed greatly appreciated for gimbal work (aerial or otherwise). As a launch day pre-orderer I'm getting the lightweight version with a free filter set. Their Facebook mentions they've shipped 'em out this week.

I haven't been following many of those sorta sites or forums (NoFilmSchool, Cinema5D, REDuser, dvxuser, etc) as they always seemed to be for the bit more hardcore cinematographers and fanboys. Especially the forums, with a maze of subforums and early 2000's layout and users with no patience for newbies. No country or normal men. Nah, apart from rumorsites this is about the only place keep checking on the regular. EOSHD has managed to keep a fresh approach and the audience as well as the curator allow for diverse content, though the main theme is: creativity meets common sense. Most revolves around practical and affordable gear and how to use 'em to bring visions to life, not exclusive to people already well-established in the industry. There's a general vibe of chillness, openness, positivity and creativity that makes the forum content range go wherever the crowd takes it. You'll find a lot of passionate enthusiasts here, like me, that might not feel at home that well at other places (where the thing that counts seems to be being init as a professional, rather than doing it for the passion). Apart from EOSHD I think that for the more interesting informative and opinionated content you'll have to head towards YouTube, some channels there are great.

Little more to it, go to the Raven page and click 'Shop now', you're taken to the Apple Store listing. First I thought it was for Apple to plug and bundle their own Final Cut Pro X software, but again, seems like there's a little more to it. Maybe it was Apple who knew how to quickly create more production capacity for high demand products and lend 'em a hand, in return letting them be the front for sales.

Skipped the GH3 as well. The GH4 however was a huge update. And although it has all the productivity features, now that I have the GX80 (pocketability) and G80 (with battery grip for more serious stuff)... the GH4 hardly gets any use (it lacks IBIS, has worse color and high ISO noise performance). That has kinda made me reluctant as well to get the GH5... because if I'm apparently fine with the basics and the results (!)... would getting a GH5 really add that much? Can't say that with the G80 around, I use the E-M1 much either. And I loved taking it out to the botanical gardens with a macro lens (e.g. the Oly 60mm f/2.8) to shoot plants and insects, where it especially was in its element, but the G80 just fits in with any environment. Just the lack of a headphone jack might be a bummer. Dunno. I actually almost bought the E-M1 Mark II on the last workday of last year, but they closed early and I stood for closed doors (I took it as a sign it wasn't meant to be). At the moment I actually have an additional V-Log L upgrade at home in anticipation of the GH5 (they used to be out of stock frequently, so I prepared)... but I haven't pulled the trigger on that as of yet either. Really need the summer (I thought it was summer already??) firmware upgrades for it to be killer! And maybe for a 12-35mm f/2.8 II kit (although I keep on hearing contradicting stories about it (some say it's their go-to lens, others say it's worse than the old model)) or ca$hback promotion to drop... I'm a sucker for good deals. Anyways. Nuff' bout that. Did want to bring up one more earlier mention of G6 stuff. Actually thought Bushmanfilm really did great on his video Tepui Dream. Think as well enough people have used the GX7 and GM1 (like Jase's earlier stuff) back in the day. Think that the older 1080p cameras with great detail, but some inherent softness to it, makes it organic and possibly still worthwile. I think that's actually what people like about the Canons. Its softness.

Did you mean JazzBox (GH4 though)?

Nice going! Some of my best memories and processes were whilst shooting with the GH2. Became in love with it at the time after having seen the Philip Bloom Christmas Special and the Zacuto Shootout. This video of Andrew as well just had this film-like quality to it: Dunno, there was something special about the GH2. Think with the Panasonic 4K-generation you have to be careful how you shoot, because it tends to look less organic and more artificial looking (lenses, filters, settings and proper editing/grading techniques really helps to take that edge off), although that sorta footage then holds up way better under pressure, especially with colors and noise performance. Of course there's more bells 'n whistles as well. But I sometimes just miss the simplicity of a 1080p camera and its footage. It allowed you to pay more attention to what was happening in front of the camera, than what was happening inside of it. Sounds like revisiting the GH2 might be a fun time! Enjoy!

Ah, that looks pretty neat too. Just not sure that little thing justifies a $199,95 pricetag.

They have their own store: http://www.ratrig.com/ . Not sure if eBay is cheaper? Believe they ship from Portugal. They've got occasional updates or user feedback on their FB: https://www.facebook.com/pg/ratrighardware/posts/?ref=page_internal . Nitsan did a video on the early model: There's also the '2-lane' V-slider: http://www.ratrig.com/dslr/vsliders/diy-camera-slider-kits/v-slider-diy-kit.html . Should give better stability when using it standalone. The '1-lane' version can't really be used that well without mounting it.

Would that give enough of an effect, though? If you want something easy to pack I'd consider something like this: or:

Well, of course stuff like this is interesting as well... http://www.43rumors.com/press-panasonic-announces-first-organic-sensor-with-global-shutter/ . But Lord knows when implementation is near... You're very pessimistic about the X-T2s, that's in your own right. I'm more of the 'easy now... let's just wait and see' though. I'd like to be positively surprised. Like a fidget spinner, I'd first like to see for myself what it is about... I can't just tear it down just because I have the idea it would suck (although I'm now at liberty to say: it totally sucks). Like, the X-T2s is just a rumor now. They might've found a great solution to their lack of in-body stabilization. If you have a problem, you get creative and find solutions... that's how innovation works. It's how Canon came up with dualpixel AF for instance.

I hope the X-T2s is going to be real and dropping sometime soon! ~ http://www.fujirumors.com/?s=x-t2s Definitely something I'd be into as well. From a sensor perspective you do get that more organic feel, with greater dynamic range, richer colors and better lowlight high ISO noise performance. As well as generally just less crop with better access to wide angle options. Plus, you can use a focal reducer and boost it towards fullframe. Currently though, there's just too much wrong with all the mirrorless APS-C options I feel like. If the X-T2s is like a sorta bigger cousin to the Olympus E-M1 Mark II, with APS-C sensor, that would tick all them boxes!