BTM_Pix

He made a significant lifestyle change a few years back.

Sigma being Sigma, I think it might well be a bit more niche. My feeling for a while is that the struggle they've had with trying to make a FF version of the Foveon would lead them to producing another APS-C version of it as a stopgap. With Leica leaving the APS-C arena, it leaves a whole market wide open for them to step into it with a stills only body (CL/TL owners were never arsed about video) that they also have a great range of lenses for.

There are actually 22 cameras as the S5D needs adding to the full frame count and the Leica T, TL and TL-2 to the APS-C count. There has been a 23rd camera announced which is still yet to actually hit the shelves yet which is the Lumix AW-UB50 box camera. Of course, its stretching a point a bit with the T/TL/TL-2 as they have been discontinued but then again so has the CL, which means there is no currently produced APS-C L mount camera. However, it wouldn't surprise me to see Sigma fill that void.

Its a sad indictment of the state of the world we live in when you can't rely on YouTubers to competently and objectively test something thirty seconds after its been released 🙂 That was the point that I was making (badly) - the significance of the mount change is in terms of what is going on behind it now rather than the physical performance of it moving to a specific point. Its like BM with MFT,EF and L mount in that they know how to move it but don't have the algorithms/techniques/will to determine the why and where effectively enough to get beyond single zone AF-S capability. That was largely the same situation for RED with the RF mount (albeit not as rudimentary as only having simple AF-S) as the actual process of determining where to move effectively wasn't in their wheelhouse and/or list of priorities but its a different story with Nikon being onboard because they do have that expertise to integrate into the main code. With them claiming that they will be able to bring these enhancements to the RF mount version by firmware then the presumption is that it is not being done by an additional processor.

They are claiming improvements - which they say will come to the RF mount as well - so it remains to be seen although the difference between licensing a mount and getting assistance from a manufacturer as they were doing with Canon and the ownership change meaning that they are now a part of the company with far more expertise in AF than themselves is potentially very significant indeed. The licensing with RF gave them the information of how to drive the lens to a certain position whereas now they can leverage Nikon's vastly superior understanding of the process of determining when and where to drive it, hence why they will be able to improve the situation for the RF mount as well. It was rumoured last summer that Megadap (who make the E to Z adapter) were releasing one but no official confirmation or date as yet. There is/was a reticence with 3rd parties to produce anything that used electronics for RF due to Canon's stance on outlawing them. I think that may have softened somewhat recently but perhaps only through an official licensing agreement. The new mount opens up a lot more new people to be enraged by them down the line! I was only making the point that the new mount and a price cut towards PYXIS levels would go some way to justifying the "this changes everything" strap line rather than them actually doing it, particularly so soon after the last cut. But at the same time, even with the last reduction its now found itself launching with a very strong presence at that new price in the new "stripped down" version of the BM Cine 12K. They are very different cameras of course but if I was looking to spend £6K on a cinema camera then its hard to ignore the value on offer from the BM camera.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt - as CVP are not usually into the breathless hyperbolic nonsense- it is the greater flexibility of the Z mount over the RF mount that opens up new paths for more people to move into RED. Both Z and RF can adapt EF with AF but the Z offers the same with F, E and even Leica M with adapters. Stretching a point, even manual MFT lenses can be used with the K-X via an additional cheap E>Z adapter as most of them will cover Super35. That’s a lot more existing lens collections that people can use and could tempt more people in who have been reluctant to lock themselves into RF. But, yeah, whilst it’s very interesting (a compact cinema camera with compact M mount lenses with AF for example) and a more flexible option, it’s not really in the “this changes everything” territory. Changing the mount AND a price cut further towards PYXIS territory would’ve been though !

The first Z mount RED cameras have been released. There is also a bundle with the new Nikkor 28-135mm Power Zoom lens for under $10K. Not sure how appropriate that full frame lens is focal length wise for a Super35 camera like the Komodo X but here we are. https://www.red.com/komodo-x-z-mount-black?quantity=1&kxzpackage=2

Slashcam have produced an AF, stabilisation and colour profiles test set shot with the longer of the two kit lenses, the £300 50-250mm.

Yeah, and he will be saying that the amount of people who are riding round Japan on these e-bikes means that they are making far more dosh designing appropriately sized panniers and baskets to be arsed about designing new appropriately sized MFT cameras.

Cheaper than the Leica jackets they put on the Lumix cameras though !

The £70 a year software sub is the other one but apparently you get a year's free when you buy the grip.

Here is a list of the 75 FF and APS-C cameras that WEX sell for the same or lower price than the OM-3 https://www.wexphotovideo.com/compact-system-cameras/?p=categoryPath%3A"cameras>compact-system-cameras"&filter=SensorFormats_uFilter%3A"Full Frame" OR SensorFormats_uFilter%3A"APS-C"&filter=sellingPrice%3A[400 TO 500] OR sellingPrice%3A[500 TO 600] OR sellingPrice%3A[600 TO 700] OR sellingPrice%3A[700 TO 800] OR sellingPrice%3A[800 TO 900] OR sellingPrice%3A[900 TO 1000] OR sellingPrice%3A[1000 TO 1100] OR sellingPrice%3A[1100 TO 1200] OR sellingPrice%3A[1200 TO 1300] OR sellingPrice%3A[1300 TO 1400] OR sellingPrice%3A[1400 TO 1500] OR sellingPrice%3A[1500 TO 1600] OR sellingPrice%3A[1600 TO 1700]&sort=sellingPrice desc&rows=96&start=0 I'm curious about the rationale for anyone walking in there and choosing it over a sizeable number of those on that list. There is only so far the "well they've got the lenses so we've locked them in to the format" thinking will stretch when you are charging more for less.

Leica deservedly get a lot of stick for putting Panasonic cameras in posh overcoats but I think this is pretty nice. They've more or less sawn the grip off an SL, put a MagSafe on it and brought a very ergonomic integration with their LUX camera app. Yes, of course its £260 and only works with their subscription only LUX app but it is a package of transformational beauty when it comes to iPhone photography.