Trek of Joy

I mostly use the phone for cutaways and shots of my cameras while shooting. I like shots of cameras shooting, or someone shooting with a camera. Though its also great to grab a quick shot when you're walking around instead of taking the camera out of the bag. I also have a waterproof case, I've used the phone instead of a GoPro at times (wife and I snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef with just the iPhone). The stills below are similar to what I usually do with the phone. Chris

Agreed. The video above comparing it to the Titla, I'm surprised at how big it is. It looks like a great setup - especially if your camera works with the focus knob. There's definitely a market for a smaller version with a less payload capacity, this is complete overkill for virtually any mirrorless setup. Chris

We finally get to see something from Zcam's little mystery box. Plus links to footage on Google Drive. Google Drive stuff to download.... Quebec Sample Ungraded: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ow9YlVEsb6pwQYqPwjSTSFX_iBkN5vuB/view?usp=sharing Quebec Graded: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hdl1FRHtGohMwMgZIDyX3WiQ9rNenQ-7/view?usp=sharing 4k 120 fps: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n3WjI9tQxaDXInjqqXtYS8bnMfUk-Qp-/view?usp=sharing E2 with Veydra 35mm: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZPaxT3a3q3AgITzRGED2BwTNGqIYskiu/view?usp=sharing A Zlog shot: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kGKvsJJtKuUlnr0HVZ3_KH_iLVua_q5y/view?usp=sharing Cheers Chris

There's a two-touch version of the 80-200 AF-D. That's the one I'm referring to. I skip rails and just use the zoom's tripod mount with the camera hanging off the back. If I'm shooting with a tele, I'm generally on the sticks or a monopod. I use my lenses on APS-c and FF, so for me they cover a broader spectrum than m43. I would guesstimate that the 28-70 with and without a speed booster can cover 95% of what I shoot. If I like the P4k, I'll find an ultrawide like the Tokina 11-16 to cover the rest of my needs. Cheers Chris

My plan is to do something similar. Only I'm going with the Nikon Bourne lenses, the 28-70/2.8 and 80-200/2.8, sharper wide open with more contrast, with a couple fast Nikon primes to complete the set. I had the Tokina/Angineux zoom, had to stop my copy down to 5.6 to get rid of that milky glow. My lens wasn't decentered and it looked consistent with other samples I'd seen on the net, I just prefer a bit more bite to the sharpness with more modern coatings. Its a great MF lens though, mine was really smooth and easy to repeat focus moves. I would like to do Contax/Zeiss as I really like the way they look, but the zooms are mostly one-touch and I find it challenging to zoom/focus with the same ring while shooting handheld. Chris

Ahh, that would be interesting, when you said action camera I thought GoPro. I'm guessing no 4k on the RX0 because of heat. But something like a 28mm equiv. F/1.4, fully waterproof/shockproof and such would be a very compelling camera Global shutter is one improvement I can think of - which IMO will find its way into smaller sensors before any m43 or larger sensor simply because of phone volumes. Sony has too many heat management issues for any dramatic improvements over existing models, despite their super stacked sensor no 4k60p. I guess we'll have to wait and see if there will be more. There's really not much in the space to begin with and at $1200 I'd be surprised if this is a big seller. The original was a bargain, this is now well into really nice 2-3 lens ILC territory. The only advantage now for the RX100 is smaller form factor. I'd be willing to bet the EOS-M50, Fuji XT20 - and a few other ILC's - outsell this by a wide margin, people spending real camera cash will want a real camera. Chris

Isn't that what the RX0 is supposed to be? Side note: Sony's naming convention between sensor sizes makes no sense whatsoever. Chris

I guess the demand/market for cameras like this is more reach, as the RX10 and now the RX100 both sacrificed speed on the wide end for a longer zoom range. They've gone from a compact an advanced shooter would carry to an all-in-one compact to try and attract the superzoom shoppers. Pour one out for the RX100 series, its now been neutered to have a longer zoom while losing its appeal to enthusiasts. The large sensor compact fad seems to have passed. Its been two years since the mkV after a string of annual updates, I bet this camera is the last of the RX100 line until something revolutionary happens on the sensor side. I still dream of that Nikon DL with the 18-50/1.8.-2.8, I have an ebay alert in case one of the functioning show cameras escapes from Nikon.... Chris

I can speak about this from actual experience. Lots of random thoughts that I will assemble into a travel blog at some point... I've spent the last year and a half traveling around the world non-stop, visiting 55 countries on 6 continents (my wife and I scraped and saved, sold our house and everything we owned just to make this happen). I've used a mix of Fuji (aps-c) and Sony (FF). I went with a mix of wide angle, standard and tele zooms with a 16-35, 24-70 and 70-200 equiv and then went with one fast prime at 28mm, my favorite walk around FL. My tripod is just a small Siuri CF travel tripod that weighs about 1kg for long exposure stills and static video shots, it also makes a nice faux-steadicam counterweight when shooting video and walking around. I've shot 30k stills and tons of video, most handheld, so IBIS or stabilized lenses are an absolute necessity for me. Personally I'd ditch the gimbal and the fluid head and get an IBIS body. Seriously, when you go to places like any museum or the Taj Mahal they won't even let you in with a tripod or a gimbal, so avoid carrying unnecessary gear and the hassles of checking stuff with a crush of people waiting behind you. You can cut your bag weight in half just by doing that alone. The A7r2 or GH5 can be had for less than $1500 USD. Move to an IBIS body and a couple zooms with a fast prime. If you're sticking m43, I'd go with a Olympus EM1.2 or GH5, the 12-100/4 or the 12-40/2.8 and a fast prime like the 17/1.8 (or the Panny equivalents for dual IS), plus a cheap backup body (crucial). Last thing you want is to be in Namibia and have the shutter in your camera seize without another option to shoot the one time in your life you get to see a sunrise over the amazing sand dunes. I saw that happen to one person, ouch. Also two bodies means fewer lens changes and less dust, this is a big deal across Asia, Africa, South America, Central America, China and so on - because they're all incredibly dusty and it gets everywhere - so I never change lenses in the field, I just carry two bodies. For everyday stuff the zooms are fine, if you're visiting landmarks like the pyramids in Egypt, Borobodur in Indonesia, the Forum in Rome and so on, you're limited to daylight hours anyway, so absolute speed isn't necessary and shallow DOF is silly when you're standing in front of one of the world's great landmarks. Getting there first thing when they open is more important -- always try to beat the crowds. Travel photography is less about subject separation and more about composition and when/where to finding the best light or best locations to shoot from. Make charging as easy as possible, the fewer things that need batteries, the fewer chargers/adapters you have to carry. I carry a universal plug adapter with 4 USB inputs. My wife and I can charge a phone, iPad, my computer and my cameras on one outlet. Many places we only have access to a single plug, so being able to charge everything from a hub makes life a lot easier. I carry the 70-200 with the a7r2 specifically because I spent a few months in Africa with multiple safari's and trips self-driving through wildlife sanctuaries, so I wanted more reach. Beyond that I mostly used the 16-35 (10-24 with Fuji) and the 24-70 (18-55 in Fuji). If you're not shooting wildlife you can probably skip longer FL's. For lowlight with Sony I have the 28/2, with Fuji its the 23/1.4 and 56/1.2. Here are photo albums from most of the counties I've been to so far, I'm a little behind (47 of 55 posted so far), but you get the idea. All of my gear, 2 bodies, 4 lenses, a MacBook,a GoPro, a portable HD, Rode Video Micro, batteries, chargers and so on fit in a Lowepro Flipside Trek 450 AW. Total bag weight was 8kg and the bag fit on every plane (including small regional jets), train, car, bus, Tuk-Tuk and so on. https://www.facebook.com/pg/trekofjoy/photos/?tab=albums Cheers Chris P.S. Things like extra batteries, chargers, cards, plastic bags for bad weather, a blower for dust (its really dusty everywhere that isn't paved, which is most of the planet), lens cleaning cloth and so on are a given. Plan accordingly. P.S.P.S. Traveling and shooting weddings/events are two different things. I wouldn't try to gear up for extended globe trotting with the same gear I use to shoot events (something I also do). With events your total kit weight is less of a concern since you're not lugging gear all day, every day - trying to check it on flights (weight + size), fit in cramped overhead bins on trains and so on. The dual camera strap is what I use at events, I'd never walk around in India (or anywhere else) with one because of the attention it would draw from police and gawkers. Plus its not secure at all, you'd be ripe for a slash and run. YMMV. One last thing - budget for insurance. A few hundred dollars will cover all your gear for a year. To risk losing everything is unwise, shit happens. Be protected.

Revised 4.1 FW update coming soon... https://www.fujirumors.com/fujifilm-announces-firmware-updates-for-x-h1-x-t2-x-pro2-coming-in-june/ No Eterna internal, bummer. Chris

The XC10/15 and EOS-M need to have a love child - the EOS-MXC using the C200's sensor and the EOS-M lenses. I dig the XC15, but the fixed lens is a deal breaker for me. So is the m50's rolling shutter. Chris

I spent some time tinkering with the GFX when I was in Japan. Love the files, fat pixels mean wonderful tonal transitions - much like the a7s. Looking forward to seeing some samples with the SigArt lenses mentioned in the article. Also Andrew, Fuji says with FW 3.10 you can use a custom button for 35mm mode. http://www.fujifilm.com/products/digital_cameras/gfx/fujifilm_gfx_50s/features/page_08.html Chris

^^^ Interlaced awesomeness! Love it. Chris

Nice video Andrew, some of those lenses have a lot of character. Corner pixel peepers bash field curvature, but it can be used to your advantage as long as you know where to place the subject. The Nikon 58/1.4g comes to mind, can look awful if you don't know where its strengths lie, but when you nail it, its magic. Chris

Search that site, there have been numerous rumors of a LX100 successor for a couple years. The DPreview interview from the previous years CP+ said pretty much the same thing. And as usual that site quoted only part of a graph for the clickbait. Here's what they left out "Yes, we have lots of requests from editors and users waiting for the next LX100, so we are studying that." They're studying it. Hardly confirmation of anything beyond evaluating the viability of bringing out another model. This interview from last year is more telling, they're strengthening the FZ (1" sensor) series and once again studying the LX100 successor, see the quote below. But in that interview the top priority is mirrorless. "So as the customer expects LX200 we will also strengthen the successor of LX100. How will we answer to the passionate customers of the LX100? We will study how we’re going to answer these customers." Studying it last year, studying it again this year. I do believe there LX100 was a successful cam and I'd get one if it had a mic input, but the wave of high end compacts that exploded a few years ago seems to have collapsed with the rest of the fixed lens market. Ricoh hasn't brought another GR, Fuji hasn't brought a new premium compact in a couple years, Nikon killed the DL's. Its all speculation, but IMO its gone the way of the AF100. You can get a small, IBIS equipped Panasonic mirrorless body with the 12-32 pancake zoom and the small 40-150 for $599, few casual photographers will opt for a new LX100 at about $800 over something like this kit. http://shop.panasonic.com/cameras-and-camcorders/cameras/lumix-interchangeable-lens-ilc-cameras/DMC-GX85WK.html#start=1&cgid=cameras Cheers Chris

It would seem it either didn't sell well or Panasonic doesn't see a viable market for another. Without actual sales numbers and the costs associated with the camera, nobody can say for sure, but if a successor was planned it surely would have been released by now. Sony made the RX100 an annual affair, until they stopped at v5 a couple years ago. The cratering compact market also killed the Nikon DL before it was even released - despite a lot of fanfare when they were introduced. I know I was going to get the 18-50 version as soon as it was available, still disappointed it never saw the light off day. The writing is on the wall, this segment is wilting like cheap P&S cameras. My guess is Panasonic decided to focus on more profitable areas - superzoom and ILC's. I doubt we ever see a LX200 (or whatever you want to call it). Chris

This is not true, and it would be easy to find samples that disprove what you're saying. There is no such thing as the "FF look". Chris

Beautiful. "You never finish anything perfectly, you just reach a point to where this is as far as I want to take it" Describes every project I've worked on. Chris

Xtrans - IMO - is keeping Fuji a little behind the curve. It was great with 16mp images, but with the 24mp sensor its seems to be holding performance back, as Fuji themselves have stated Xtrans eats up a lot more processing power compared to a Bayer array. They said no zebras because the processor is maxed out downsampling 4k. And despite all that, its still a really fast camera. I've commented numerous times on Fujirumors that I'd like to see a Bayer version of the XT2 with the XProcessor Pro and I get roasted. Fuji has painted themselves into a corner as well, if a Bayer XT2 theoretically outperformed the Xtrans cams, it would make all their claims about Xtrans superiority nothing more than a big steaming pile of poo. It seems they're sticking with Xtrans for the upcoming XT3 and Fuji has cultivated a fanboy user base of old-fart photo types that whine about any advancement - like IBIS, flappy LCD's and touchscreens. Though bumping the bitrate in the XH1 was a nice surprise, hopefully its foreshadowing a future GH5-esque, video centric body. Cool beans about the XA5 getting a AF update. I've thought about getting the XA5/XT100 as a cheap backup stills body, and to do a Fuji Bayer vs. Fuji Xtrans comparison. Cheers Chris

The XA5 has the same specs, and since this is essentially a XA5 with a viewfinder, its not surprising. Its their entry level body, Fuji went low spec with the processor on the XA5. The XA bodies haven't seen any significant FW updates compared to the XPro and XT lines, I doubt this gets anything beyond bug fixes. I agree it should have be marketed as something like Panny's 4k photo mode, not video. The side hinge is interesting, a first for the X-mount line. Hopefully it gets adopted across the line. Chris

I'm in that camp, the B85 has swirly cat-eye bokeh wide open - especially when the background is trees/foliage. I much prefer the FE 85. The B135 does the same thing, hate it. The B25 and B18 OTOH are flat out awesome. I have the FE 28 and 85, and sold the Batis 25/85 to get them. The Huff comparison demonstrates exactly what some make so overly complicated - play the equivalence game with aperture/FL and you get the exact same image across various sensor sizes. Though Huff's fanboy "Olympus has better rendering" with a drill shot is just silly. FF's advantage over m43 is even with a moderate aperture lens like a 1.8, you get DOF that requires pretty expensive m43 glass. With the cost of top shelf m43 and aps-c bodies hitting $2000, you really have to evaluate the entire system and your needs because the difference in price isn't that much - especially if you're buying f/1.8's in FF-land and faster glass in m43-land. Used prices also level the playing field quite a bit. I saw an a9 for $2600, a7r3's are dropping to about that level too. Other bodies are far less. If you're shopping Sony, the F/4 zooms have been around awhile and so on. Cheers Chris

This actually isn't true, its a myth repeated throughout the interweb when people discuss Fuji. I shoot manual with auto ISO, I constantly move the SS around - especially when shooting stills - I wouldn't have bought Fuji if I had to move two dials as that would be a major PITA. All you have to do set the SS dial to "T" and use the front or rear control dial like you would with any other camera. I've never actually used the SS dial with the XT2, its locked while set to "T" mode. The XH1 also has a 1/48 option when shooting 24p, something my a7r2 lacks. Note the T right next to Bulb mode, just lock the dial there and pick front or rear control dial (rear is default) to scroll SS's, and you can access all of them, not just what's on the dial. You can also assign ISO to the front dial. Fuji's are incredibly customizable. Chris But with Fuji you can just use the front and rear dials to control SS and ISO, you don't have to use the top dials exclusively. I don't use them at all. Below is the menu where you move ISO to the front command dial. I agree the stinkin headphone jack should have been on the XT2 and XH1 and I'd like to see a bigger battery as well. I'm betting the GFX battery makes its way into the higher end models starting with the XT3. It took Sony 7+ years to update the battery in E-mount bodies, they're not exactly at the forefront in that department. Same for the 100mbps video.

If Red can... That's the big question. So far all we see is a chunky phone, with a less than current chipset, that the faithful can't control their eREDctions (yes, lame boner pun) over its sound. I find the concept incredibly interesting, but I want to see more of the ecosystem before plunking down $1200 on a slightly obese Android phone. I'm more interested in the other bits beyond the hologram stuff, because I don't know anyone else that's even heard on Red, much less will buy the phone. People on Reduser are talking about swapping numbers just to be able to holo-chat with someone else. At this point you still have to buy with the hope that all promises made will come to fruition since nothing has been revealed yet. This feels like a more expensive version of "The Coolest Cooler" with even pricier add-ons. If its not widely adopted - like if they only sell in the thousands, or hundreds of thousands, instead of millions like other phone makers - is this even sustainable? Seems like a lot of teething pains for early adopters as its still unfinished. Hope to see more soon. Chris

Its always distance to subjects. If you're shooting a 50mm on FF and s35 from the same spot, you can crop the FF image and the result will be an identical shot. This article clearly demonstrates that with two completely different FL's. https://admiringlight.com/blog/perspective-correcting-myth/

Bokeh (subjective) is better with the RX1, but I prefer round highlights as opposed to the cat-eye look that's typical many with ultra fast lenses. But I agree with the article, with faster glass on smaller sensors you can get the same look as larger sensor cameras. The devils advocate types will point out that you can get the equivalent for less with FF and say F/1.8 lenses, but then you have other limitations with the current crop of FF bodies. There are definitely situations where different sensor sizes has its advantages, find what works best for what you shoot and put it to use. For run-and-gun event shooting I prefer cleaner files at higher ISO's, so I typically go mostly FF with Sony. For travel I prefer being able to carry a wide range of FL's in a relatively small but high IQ (~7kg) kit - so its Fuji. I've been really tempted to get a GH5 as my video workhorse, but I'll wait for the Blackmagic P4k to arrive before committing to another lens mount. We're spoiled with all the choices, its a great time for content producers. Chris