BTM_Pix

What would be the fantasy camcorder that would flip you completely do you think ? Super35, 15-85mm f3.5, internal ProResRAW, IBIS+OIS, e-ND, BP970 power ? If you look at basing it on something like the A6400/6500 then Sony could easily knock that out tomorrow for £4-5K. While we are all still buying the A6*** upgrades or their 1" lower end broadcast camcorders though, why would they bother ? I've said it before but its a pity there's not the photo equivalent of aftermarket car companies like Shelby or Brabus etc who take stock products and make new ones with them. They exist for lenses of course and at the higher end for cameras with Panavision but a company targeting the lower end who could take an A6500 etc and integrate it into a new product like that would be great.

Yes, sorry, with my first response I was actually referring to the Mark I and Mark II of the Second (f3.5-5.6) version. Not confusing at all

Not that I'm aware of. Amazon do have a used like new version of the Mark II from their own Warehouse deals for £504.78. With their returns policy, I'd be tempted to get that one ? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B07QH4WYBV/

There is a slower one (f4-5.8) which is about half the price used as the new one. https://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Used/Panasonic-14-140mm-F4-5.8-Mega-O.I.S-G-Vario_249079.html

They are more likely to do it the other way round just to spite everyone !

If you are looking for a genuine UK product then the safest way is to check the product codes on Panasonic's own UK direct website (though not necessarily buy from there obviously ) From their site the H-FS14140E9K is the original one. https://panasonicdirect.store.panasonic.co.uk/p-5508-panasonic-h-fs14140e9k-h-fs14140e9k-panasonic-lumix-g-vario-14-140mm-interchangeable-lens-black.aspx?psn=15 And the H-FSA14140E is the MarkII version https://panasonicdirect.store.panasonic.co.uk/p-5689-panasonic-h-fsa14140e-h-fsa14140e-panasonic-lumix-g-vario-14-140mm-interchangeable-lens.aspx?psn=12

I'll preface this by saying I've got a pretty jaundiced view of that place and one that is pretty outdated as the Koolaid wore off a long time ago with me and this doesn't apply to every discussion or user on there but.... One very cynical and blunt interpretation of many of the conversations that I used to see on there was that when they say "modern" they mean too expensive for them to own and when they say "vintage" they mean the ones they can afford to own. That melting pot of high end pros and ambitious indies that I was referring to that were brought together on there led to a nuance around that language that, again, a cynical and blunt viewpoint would be suggestive of a snobbery/class divide. Because of that there was definitely a vibe that many people were dressing for the job they wanted rather than the one they had if you know what I mean and would offer up that caveat of "of course these lenses would only be for personal projects" to offer a shield against some perceived ridicule or scorn from people higher up the food chain when the reality was that the only projects they were doing were personal projects or low enough budget one where hiring let alone buying higher end lenses wasn't on the cards. I'm not saying everyone was doing that but there were certainly a lot of them that were and it was pretty sad to see. Instead of just feeling free enough to be able to say "I could just about afford the camera but fuck me the lenses and everything else are killing me, anyone got any suggestions for cheap stuff that I can use to get going with?" (which is exactly what would happen on here) a lot of discussion became couched in people not wanting to be thought of as not shooting this summer's Hollywood blockbuster so a kind of euphemistic/nebulous masking language developed. The cultism aspect of Red ownership and Reduser isn't just limited to the "How shall we fuck off oh Lord?" deference to the billionaire founder and his colleagues but also extends to the grip it has on the perception of a number of its more rabid followers in somehow elevating them into the higher echelons of film making. With some of them it was borderline cosplay. In about three or four years when everyone is sick and tired of cobbling stuff together and manufacturers are sick and tired of being caned by cellphone advances eating their real camera sales, we will all get camcorders again. And breathe a massive sigh of relief at the liberation of it all. I mean, I seem to recall you only wanted a bit of a bump in quality and shallower depth of field from your XC10 and look at the absolute rabbit hole you've tumbled down

It really does defy its price in that test. Top tip is open two YouTube tabs, park the first one at the Master Prime and then use the other tab to compare the others against it as thats the only comparison to make

In the great equaliser of the granite worktop and colourful booze bottles then it would likely be Samyang again This 50mm lens shootout is about as comprehensive as it gets and includes the Cooke Panchro. http://www.mikkotimonen.com/50mm-shootout

That would be a great website wouldn't it? Put in a film you like and it tells you what lenses were used and the nearest suspected stills equivalent.

I think there is an interesting aspect involved in those discussions there, particularly with something like the original Contax Zeiss Survival Guide thread, that originates from when the RED ONE was released. The camera was obviously attracting a lot of people that were "buying up" to it from a very indie background that up until that point were getting their cinema look from adapted camcorders with spinning ground glass 35mm adapters. I know because I was one of them To say there was some sticker shock at suddenly having to look at buying PL lenses would be something of an understatement so obviously everyone was looking to do what they had done before and use stills lenses on it. Because of that, it was probably the first time that there was a platform, in terms of both camera and forum, for meaningful comparisons between stills and cine lenses. To me, at least, there is an emotional element to some of the language used there around lenses that is related to and biased from whichever side of the line people were coming to that camera from and its just become the lingua franca for lens discussions on there and beyond since. So I don't necessarily think they are more sensitive to it just that they have been using the language for longer.

Yes

Sorry, for the early reveal ! Anyway, for a bit of sport, here are the dates of manufacture for those particular ones : A - Nikkor 50mm f1.8 - 1990 B - Contax Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f1.7 - 1984 C - Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8 - 1980 D - Leica Summicron R 50mm f2 - 1966 E - Helios 44M 58mm f2 - 1985

That's two psychic moments in two days you've had now

I got the 28-85mm and probably made a mistake not getting the 35-70mm instead. I'm intrigued by the 40-80mm f3.5 which I must confess I didn't even know they made until quite recently. Most of them on eBay seem to be sold from Japan so that is on the list for the next time I go.

From my experience, the really cheap ones are all as good/shit as each other so my rule of thumb is to get the one with the largest number of positive reviews and the least number of reported fires. This one fits the bill in that respect. https://www.amazon.co.uk/SIXNWELL-Compatible-Macbook-Charger-Magsafe/dp/B07R3T53YG

For me, the only one that I probably wouldn't use on full frame would be the Helios as the edges are a bit too funky for me even at f8. For that reason, the Leica would be my absolute pick even though its a lot more money (though I paid just on £200 for mine) than the rest but its better across the whole frame. The Contax Zeiss probably offers the most though as the compromise pick as its very consistent and that little bit faster as well. Like previous tests though, its all very close again and it could well come down to how easily/cheaply you can build out a set. From that point of view, its probably Nikon. Although we should probably just accept the trend of the last tests and just buy a complete set of Samyangs and forget about it !

Yeah, I agree. Lenses and approximate average eBay prices : A - Nikkor 50mm f1.8 (£100) B - Contax Zeiss Planar T* 50mm f1.7 (£130) C - Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f2.8 (£30) D - Leica Summicron R 50mm f2 (£350) E - Helios 44M 58mm f2 (£50) One obvious candidate for the "Punching Above Its Weight" victory there.

Right, so if we get one for A and one for C then we'll have a full house and I'll reveal the lenses.

You can just use an FD to L adapter https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32862542584.html

It is my mission in life with these test to make all lenses look identically bad ! So, thats one for E and one for D then. There's probably only us three remotely interested in this test, shall I just list them now ?

Right, here we go. There are in fact five lenses, as I've included a non 7Artisans mystery guest. Its not much of a guessing game really as to which one is which as each one has a different maximum aperture or different focal length in the case of one of them but I've labelled them A-E nonetheless if anyone wants to play. There are four sets of tests Respective maximum aperture f2.8 f8 Maximum aperture close focus Focus in each of the first three sets is obviously on the SpyderCal and ColorChecker with the bottle of "Statesman" on the same line to show edge performance. All images are jpegs straight out the Leica SL with no further adjustments. MAXIMUM APERTURE f2.8 f8 MAXIMUM APERTURE CLOSE FOCUS O ZIPS of less compressed versions of these attached as well 50mm-2.zip 50mm-1.zip

There is an example of it here

The LAN speed is only 100Mb/s in HDMI so it won't be fast enough.

Worth a shot at buying a battery to have a go. My battery is charged so I've just took a quick couple of frames with the 25mm f1.8 for reference for you in case you decide to lash out the additional £79 for that one too