JurijTurnsek

The pent-up Canon R demand has cooled down and Sony's sales continue strongly. The FF mirrorless market grew substantially and one can assume that sales in units has not fallen dramatically for Sony. As for a7S III, if they leave the mpx count at 12, that alone can decrease the load on the CPU dramatically and reduce overheating (and the body can remain the same size). But then there are a lot of features that simply cannot be missing to make it interesting like 60p, 10bit, maybe even the ND from FS5 instead of the mechanical shutter.

Only 5 fps using AFC suggests that AF is not up to par with the competition.

I really don't understand why come out with such a pessimistic statement? Do they wish to turn away loyal customers or are they trying to protect the resale value of the gear (while the competition tries to win them over with bigger improvements)? Is this a public message to their investors that the decline is inevitable and that they have done everything right and that the market is simply shrinking (like Apple did when they had to revise their profit predictions down)?

You can find the article on other popular photo sites ... basically Canon is saying that they will put more emphasis on R&D for industrial markets, not so much for consumers. Seems like a drastic prediction, but it seems like a logical consequence of evolutionary updates to already very capable hardware. Mobile phone content consumption is even lowering the bar to what is needed to produce "PRO-looking" footage - why bother upgrading you gear anyway? Of course, this can be seen as a welcome change of pace, no more GAS, just content creation.

Seeing as Chinese products are generally a very good value, I would think that this sort of scandal that DJI is dealing with is not as widespead or at least not to such high degree (20% markup). DJI has always been lauded as innovative and if they manage to lower their prices as a consequence of this scandal, more power to them. They had no problem moving their stock at current prices, so this can only be good for them.

The first studio comparison images are in and I must say I am impressed: https://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=5&idPhone1=9468&idPhone2=8966&idPhone3=9065 The only downside that I can think of now is that if pixel binning is done by the CPU itself it would limit the ability of phones to offer 4K at 60p.

30 min limit was due to some EU regulations for importing video cameras. This has been lifted as of 2019 and all new releases should ditch the limit. I don't know if older models can be legally modified via FW updates, but I'd say it is very likely.

The question now is how much of this upgrading could have been done with a FW update for the A6300 (aside from the new screen hinge) and if the AF improvements are coming to the A6500 as well.

<start rant> I feel that selfie vlogging is the lowest kind of film-making and for the most part completely unnecessary. What was once written in short comprehensive (blog) texts now takes dozens of minutes of incoherent blabber banking on the vloggers charisma. This is en even bigger problem when reviewing gear, since most of the testing is not comparable to anything, so it is all extremely subjective. I know that Sony needs a model to cover these users, but it is so frustrating when vlog reviewers (and manufacturers even?) push there (few) features they need as be all end all. I would like to think that most amateur customers still point their cameras away from their faces. </end rant> A6400 seems like a good upgrade to the A6000, which debuted at $800 I think? However, adding even more AF processing on top of 6K downscaled 4K cannot be good for overheating.

Let's not get too excited here - most hacking is a simple matter of social engineering (coning someone into giving you their credentials) and the consequence of insufficient technological knowledge. Similar to leaving your house key under some doormat. Smartphones and social media are ubiquitous now, but the knowledge on how to manage you passwords etc. is not taught anywhere, so this "hacking" is going to happen a lot. Since you guys already know how to post on message boards, read up on password managers, 2 factor verification etc. and you'll be fine.

After a topic is established as the primary topic for a product, it would make sense to just change the topic title to the said product name.

In my limited knowledge SIM hijacking would be the only (publicly known) possible way to intercept your code text message, but that would probably render your whole SIM card useless (I guess it didn't). Also, any hacking that is not done by one-button tools is probably way too labor intensive to be used to take down an account with merely (not trying to offend) a five figure follower count. I might be wrong and there is a tool readily available to hack an IG account with 2 factor authentication and some IG competitor is paying someone to take these accounts down. This should be alarming and it is advised that 2 factor authentication is not done via text message, but rather via app with a hash code. As for security, if IG cannot pull off secure 2 factor authentication, you are a lot less likely to be able to do so on your own platform. I, for one, believe that 2 factor authentication is a incredibly secure option for personal use - provided that you use a secure password in the first place (it was not hacked in any previous leaks). I don't buy your story as it is written here, there must a small step missing, or else IG would be in some hot water right now. Celebrity IG accounts would be hacked daily if it were this easy.

haha, poor Sony will have to postpone the a7SIII launch yet again

Please share more details - did you link you two factor authentication to you phone number? Or do you use authentication app? Was your password stolen in some data breach before that? Do you use a password manager with random password for each account?

As misguided as spec wars are, they do create a market for older models that are good enough and that get discounted officially or on the used market after the new generation is out. It is just up to out psychology to accept the products that fulfill our needs and not our wants for the newest and the best.

You just inadvertently confirmed my thesis that smartphone 4K footage is really only comparable to 1080p from a APS-C or FF camera. I would be surprised if it were up to par with 4K from these bigger sensors, even in good light (quick cuts aside).

But will the footage hold up being intercut with the Sonys?

Huawei has been putting out impressive smartphones this year, but it seems that their Kirin 980 still lags behind the SD 855 in some key areas - SD can do 40K60p and can also produce bokeh effects for video and will probably do HDR video as well. Samsung is sticking to their lowest possible mpx count sensors, which I think is a smart idea, since you lighten the load for the CPU and the pixels can be as big as possible. However, Mate 20 PRO sensors seem like a very good bunch, but the Kirin CPU limits them to 4K30p, they started pushing a non-standard nanoSD card and they've also succumbed to the ridicules curved display hype (adding unnecessary fragility to a very expensive phone). This 38mpx sensor looks very good since it is also bigger than what Samsung has been using. Shame on Google though, for creating their Pixel phones that have such a limited availability and then keeping their impressive camera software exclusive to that small bunch of phones - what a close-minded strategy (it should be a OS-wide feature).

I think it boils down to the underdog syndrome - Sony has been pushing innovation hard at the expense of it not being polished enough. I'd wager that most non-PRO users got used to the kinks and like using their cameras, but of course there are those that either really struggle to use them in paid shoots or are just expecting too much (coming from a slow-evolving, but very mature DSLRs). I would go as far as to say that if Sony had the same market share as Canon, they would have the funds to release more polished products, but with the same innovation. Now, with 2 new players in the segment, their first generation bodies suffer from the same kind of unpolishedness and the same loud users are downplaying the (same) kinks, because they can use their preferred brand forever (extreme hypocrisy). This kind of blind loyalty is therefore really hurting Sony's trajectory and their supporters have a right to be disappointed. The worst consequence of all this are now the incessant attempts to label a review that is not in line with users' subjective feelings (and needs) being labeled as biased and fake news (as if reviewers that test an incredible variety of gear don't a have more objective opinion as someone who uses a limited set of gear). I find it most puzzling the attacks on Dpreview reviews, since they live from selling gear from all brands, and the same people putting vloggers on the pedestal where the referral links are showed in the viewer's face.

Wouldn't it be funny if Sony debuted their fastest AF on an a7S body ?

There's no denying that this is a far more fragile device than an action camera. Judging by the thumbnail, they were pushing the usage limits.

Hopefully, DJI or a 3rd party will make wide angle converter for that snap-on magnetic mount. 28mm could feel cramped in certain situations and I would not mind loosing some light transmission that you'd get with a wider-lens.

It already has more than enough potential as is - video quality is good enough and a stable shot is worth more than dynamic range. It is meant to create content with minimal fuss. It is not meant for creating works of art with exceptional color depth yada, yada. I can totally imagine using it while hiking in the Alps, taking it out of the pocket for a quick 1-5 minute clip every half hour - no setup required. You could say that it would not disrupt the experience for the creator as well, since you would not be fiddling with gear to get a good/perfect shot. And a walking clip gives a far better feel for the scenery as a boring standstill pan without a gimbal. And then, there that awesome moving timelapse mode ... sounds amazing, just set it up as you grab a bite before continuing a hike.

The dilemma here is whether to buy a smartphone gimbal or this. Since most flagships (will) feature more focal lengths and can do 4K60p on the main sensor at least, this pocket cam could be too expensive for these customers.

Compared to what a simple standalone travel camera used to be, this is quite exciting: (ultraHD, huh ? )