BTM_Pix

.

The official Leica stores aren't usually up for a haggle, though they can be on used items. If you are UK based there are a few places with decent stocks of used SLs that you can haggle. In fact, some of them are like this

If TechART get their existing M to E mount AF adapter working with their new E to Z mount (I know @Andrew Reid was badgering them about what does seem to be an inexplicable oversight !) then that would be worth a look but whether the Z6 will give the same optical performance issues as the Sony remains to be seen. Other than that, the SL will do the job for you in terms of M lenses being better on it than Sony and is falling in price since the S1 launch and with a likely SL2 on the horizon. It crops in 4K but not in HD so that won't be an issue for you. Gives you some room to expand as well with the new L mount lenses from Sigma, providing Leica doesn't spit their dummy like they did with the MC21 adapter.

This is a decent place to start. They have an app to create foam inserts for all the various hard cases from Peli, SKB etc. There is a limited preset library of lenses and cameras but you can photograph or use pack shots of your own gear as well. https://mycasebuilder.eu

Ironic really that Blackmagic should use a software suite that used to carry an annual service contract fee of up to $80K to highlight the absurdity of how much it now costs to run Premiere.

Based on recent, erm, "re-housing" revelations it might well turn out to have been

Its fine, you just have to brief the camera operators beforehand.

It was the multi interface shoe that gave it the ability to use external microphones. It certainly makes a difference on a 1" sensor. Maybe the Mark VIII will have it back

I'm definitely getting myself a T shirt with that on it. With regard to the hype around this new camera, its a subtle point but Sony haven't finally given the RX100 the ability to use an external mic but merely re-introduced it after removing it post RX100 Mark II. Also, the Mark VI got a lukewarm response by and large because of Sony swapping the lens from the Mark V to the slower one with longer reach but that drawback seems to have now been glossed over because of the new features.

Through the smart one, yes. Its a tricky question as there are a couple of factors that can influence it quite a lot depending on some choices I make design wise. It will be price appropriate to the price of the cameras it is designed for is about all I can say for now. No one likes AF enough to pay more than the cost of their camera to improve it!

This can be set to be the equivalent of back button focus so it can be momentary and only active while you have the controller wheel pressed in. When released, it detaches and you can use the manual focus wheel or just leave it parked until you engage it again etc.

Thats very kind of you to say. I tell you what, considering that rumour of them doing a ToF AF system came out the very day after I teased the first video of mine, I unplugged my Amazon Alexa pretty sharpish! What you are seeing now (and I stress now) is single point, nearest object you point it at and continuous. I keep droning on about it being part of a more comprehensive focus system but the rest of it does provide more context in terms of an overall solution and how the operational modes dovetail. Again, this is the jumping off point and what it does NOW isn't the end of what it will do when its production ready. When I'm back from this trip, I will do something about the overall controller (the wheeled thing with the wires hanging out of it) that will flesh this out a bit more. With regard to the emitter, it won't cause any issue to anyone's sensor. It will blind a human of course but your camera will be fine

I'm pretty convinced its doable for them.

It is continuous but we were just moving between two targets. If the man had come over to steal the plant it would have tracked him and ditto if the plant had come to eat us. It tracks nearest point but is driveable. Take what it is that you see it doing now as a jumping off point for what is possible as more info and nuance will be released over the coming months. I'll keep it out of this thread now and in the main one so normal Pocket4K discussions can be resumed.

Yes to camera agnostic and a not sure to supporting Tilta as that might be shifting the agnostic issue from the cameras to the motors if you get what I mean? Analysing and replicating one protocol is one issue but then it will automatically lead to "can you also support these other brands" and also puts me at the mercy of changes in their protocol that could then lead to our system not working and so on. Truth be told, if I'm going to put that much graft into something then it would be better directed at producing my own motors as I could control and enhance both sides of the puzzle then. However.....as a stop gap if everyone assumes the risk? Maybe . But I would only endorse it for existing owners and couldn't in clear conscience get anyone to go out and buy them specifically. I hope that makes sense ? As above The LiDAR is one (albeit flashy ;)) part of a more comprehensive focus system that you can see it attached to in the pictures and Andrew will be doing a different piece about that. It has numerous tricks involving stored focus points, snap transitions between them, variable speed automatic transitions and a lock mode which emulates hard stops to enable a fully manual transition between them. All of these coexist together so you can use the LiDAR to lock a point, store it, move manually to anothet point, store that and transition between them in auto or manually controlled ways. With regard to placement, there is a calibration procedure which maps distance to focus position that is relative to the placement of the LiDAR so whilst you would normally mount it on top of the camera, you can put it on the end of the lens or even on a wall behind you and the offset is automatically calculated.

Because there is no hunting involved by the lens and its told to go directly to a specific position without passing go or collecting £200 then any speed differences that there may be are far less apparent if visible at all. Yes it could target the zoom operation equally as it could focus but I don't know how familiar you are with MFT powered zooms but the bumpy violence with which they move to positions would make your shot look like a shark attack shot from Jaws rather than the beach scene with Brody. He needs to contribute a bit more then as I'm currently doing all the graft while he's clearly sloping off every afternoon to play golf or get a pedicure.

In this iteration, no. But it forms part of a more comprehensive focus controller that Andrew will be doing a piece about that will give more context to the reasoning. Indeed.

No, it has to be electronically controllable.

I wouldn't rule that out with this one just yet...

Its manually autofocusing (as contradictory as that sounds) so the behaviour is different to the internal one shot AF.

It works with any native MFT lens and EF lenses on a Metabones smart adapter.

Funnily enough this is a reasonably easy port to the Micro. Which, as I have one, might well happen! It calibrates the lens to distance so works with all of them in terms of that level of accuracy. There are variances in lenses depending on how much "dead space" there (a lens we were using yesterday had about 40% of the possible positions unused before and after its minimum/maximum focus positions). That doesn't mean it doesn't focus accurately it just means the range of steps between focus points isn't as granular as other lenses. Basically if the camera can focus it so can the adapter. I'll give some more info regarding point selection at a later time. Take this as a first step for now Thanks. No additional motors, it talks directly to the camera's focus control via BLE. Yes, it does indeed do it continuously.

I knew you were going to say that

Thanks for the positive feedback. Much appreciated. Please buy it I've run out of gaffer tape making this one so that integration will have to wait for a while.

The true context of that clip can now be revealed