BTM_Pix

Within a minute of me posting those musings, someone wandered by with an X1D-II doing a bit of street photography. I’d forgotten how compact it was and then remembered that Hasselblad make a focal reducer adapter for the HC lenses that restores their correct FOV on the smaller sensor. The hips gave a small jiggle.

Z8, GFX100S and Sony a1. The Z8 because it just doesn’t give a fuck about restricting specs and for the mounting options. The GFX100S because it had a tiny bit of flaking so was ridiculously cheap *and* it’s party trick is to not only be able to adapt all of my F mount lenses with AF but also my Hasselblad HC lenses. That’s a new lease of life for those lenses, particularly the HC lenses as my H3Dii39 is beyond economic repair. The a1 because used ones have got a lot cheaper in the last ten days with the impending mark 2 versions and it hits a sweet spot of resolution, power and compactness. Also, I have seldom seen anything other than very, very nice video coming from it. The other thing that stopped me was the nagging feeling that a mark 2 Fp-L or higher res ZF are possibly coming over the horizon. At which point the dance will begin anew.

Went here today where they had hands on units. It feels *maybe* a little narrow but a small grip will sort that. My advice is if you don’t want to buy it then for God’s sake don’t have a play with it because you will very likely walk out with one. Unfortunately, they aren’t released here for another week by which time I’ll be back on Monkey Island so without a pre-order I expect I won’t see one available for a while. Incidentally, the orders for the X100vi are still suspended even here in FujiFilm’s own flagship place so you have to wonder at how fluid the supply of the new camera will be too.

Oh I bought two lenses too as soon as the paralysis wore off 😂 They were easy though as I needed two more servo zoom MFT lenses for a project and the herd is thin when it comes to those. I *think* there are only four (two each by Panasonic and Olympus) so I now have the full set.

Needless to say this absolutely did not happen. Again. Been in and out of camera shops for the past 10 days and just can’t make the decision. Three really strong contenders caused a serious case of paralysis by analysis. Two more days here but realistically it is not going to happen. Maybe next year.

Not sure. I’m guessing the wheel might be a mirror of the servo zoom control or assignable to focus. Although, with the camera hidden inside a Perspex box and not exactly looking particularly finished, I could also equally speculate that it is the steam controller for an internal coffee machine hidden behind a secret cover! No, I didn’t see him. The Sigma booth was predominantly a very patient and polite man with a cart full of lenses putting them on cameras for people to test so I didn’t linger there long enough. The Nikon booth was very busy though with them doing presentations about the RED lut stuff whilst the RED booth next to them was a lot about using their cameras in broadcast situations with box lenses etc Nikon were showing their prototype servo zoom lens but also showing RED Kimodos with F Mount lenses. I was quite intrigued by the latter at first glance thinking they’d produced some sort of adapter but they were just using a dumb 3rd party F-RF adapter. You’d think that through the acquisition of RED they’d make their own smart adapter now they had both parts of the puzzle but who knows the legalities of the deal RED had with Canon that would prevent that. I doubt it sits well with Nikon to have that situation last longer than necessary and I wonder whether we might see the inevitable Z mount version of the Komodo be a Nikon branded product.

Bit of an update.. Fujifilm have another stand with an equally perspex cased unit that doesn’t lend itself to being photographed but this one has the new lens attached.

Live from the exhibition floor… Well, it’s here but as expected it’s in a Perspex case making touching it impossible and the reflections and dim environment not exactly easy to get a decent picture of it especially on my ageing iPhone. What I can confirm though which Is what everyone wants to know is that it does have internal ND.

I’m going to Inter BEE tomorrow so I’m looking forward to seeing this in the flesh.

BLE timecode as well. Tricky for them in the market they’re going for with the limited number of DX format Z mount lenses (even with Sigma now pitching in) up against the big back catalogues of Fuji and Sony. They’ve likely bundled it with the wrong kit lens for them too as the wider 12-28mm might be more appropriate for the walk and talk merchants. Hopefully they will update the Zfc to a mark ii with these new additions too.

I’ve already changed my mind so fair play.

Next Monday I will be buying my final camera* and it will be from the same brand that I have bought in every one of the last five decades. Nikon. *insert your own rolling eyes gif here

And they would be right ! I don’t know where I got that notion from. In my defence I am not far off qualifying for a bus pass, not really a fan of the destructive nature of IBIS and prefer OIS which a lot more of the X mount lenses have. Well in my new role as Minister of Disinformation, I could only speculate but as it’s is the X-S20 internally then I’d go by that.

I'm wondering whether the new FujiFilm X-M5 might be an option if you looked for something outside the MFT format. Its a proper little powerhouse for video with IBIS, PDAF, 10 bit 4:2:2 and 6.2K open gate etc It is also just plain little as well, even against the GX80/85 Price wise its also substantially cheaper than anything comparable MFT wise like a G9ii or GH7. X mount is a mature format so there are lots of lens options used to keep the overall cost down and lots of fast primes both first and third party to keep the low light situation up. There are a lot of very capable zoom lenses as well from Sigma's 18-50mm f2.8 to Fuji's own 18-135mmF3.5-5.6. If you need that extra boost to over 10x zoom then the Tamron 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 would have you covered and then some. For something more premium but under 10x, the constant aperture Fujifilm 18-120mm f4 would be the option and it also includes servo zoom. The following full kit : X-M5 Fuji 15-45 3.5-5.6 kit lens Viltrox AF 23mm f1.4 Viltrox AF 33mm f1.4 Viltrox AF 56mm f1.4 Tamron 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Works out around $200 more than the GH7 body only and of course, aside from the camera itself, are all readily available used to keep the price down further. Its a sobering look at how far MFT prices have crept up. As I say, I know you're not really looking to buy something new but if you were then I think the X-M5 route is worth consideration. Oddly enough, my recent experiences of travelling have shown a shift in the negative perception of people with "real" cameras as my observation is that people are now getting far more irritated by the pouting photoshoots using smartphones happening everywhere. I was walking through St James Park in London a few nights ago and the amount of people draped over the bridge doing the "take a picture of the back of me as I gaze thoughtfully at Buckingham Palace" was ridiculous. Particularly considering it was virtually pitch black !

It works with any generic basic USB-C hub and the camera provides enough to power the attached devices.

Oh yeah, forgot about that. I stand corrected.

It’s exclusive to the GH7 *edit - No it isn’t.

To be fair, their own product page for the S9 certainly says otherwise though. It’s all about the casual shooter. Particularly the crossed out edit graphic. I don’t disagree that it does a lot more but that’s what they’re aiming at based on their own marketing. Which is another aspect of the bundled launch in not having the right lenses or the right type of “reviewers” there. They hedged their bets and it all just looked very confused. Plus, the S5ii 😉 https://www.panasonic.com/uk/consumer/cameras-camcorders/lumix-mirrorless-cameras/lumix-s-full-frame-cameras/dc-s9.html

All of whom work in their accounts department.

I've said it before but the camera that presents the biggest challenge to Panasonic getting traction with their latter releases isn't made by someone else, its made by Panasonic themselves. The S5ii is the spanner in the works for the G9ii, GH7 and S9. Cheaper than the first two (and lets not ignore the not insubstantial difference of it being FF over MFT) and easily justifying the extra £300 over the last one for the additional features. How likely do you think it is that someone walks into a camera store to buy a Panasonic camera and doesn't walk out with the S5ii when presented with all four? Actually, or even all five if you are in Europe when you throw in whatever the hell the S5d is The ARRI LogC3 got a lot of buzz for the GH7 and maybe it could be the thing that does the same for the S9 but that is at the expense of pissing off every owner of the other S cameras. Discontinuing the S5ii seems the only way out of this for them !

I think the significance of this camera extends far beyond whether you actually want it because it doesn’t tick every box for you. That significance is being able to say to other manufacturers “OK, now why can’t YOU do this for $799?”

Oddly enough, I think this might well re-awaken interest in the XS-20 too.

Just going off prices at B&H (dream on for UK/EU punters of course) the S9 with the new 18-40 kit lens is $1797.99. Whereas the following : Fujifilm X-M5 15-45mm f3.5-5.6 kit lens with OIS and Power Zoom Viltrox 23mm f1.4 AF Meike 55mm f1.4 AF Fujifilm 55-200mm f4.5-6.7 OIS zoom MK2 Adds up to $1796.99 So for a dollar less (not sure what that buys you in NY anymore but still) you can have the camera, a more useful kit lens due to the OIS and the power zoom, two fast and very capable third party AF primes and a real hidden gem of a stabilised telephoto zoom. For anyone not married to L mount looking at an S9, that is a pretty compelling alternative as you can get a really comprehensive kit instead. IBIS and Full Frame be damned !

Zhiyun Crane-M 3S and FeiyuTech Scorp Mini 2 would be contenders. Both are reasonably compact and not outrageously expensive and offer camera control as well as having enough weight handling to cope with much bigger cameras too with expansion options for focus motors. The Scorp Mini 2 has additional useful functionality with its built in AI tracking.