BTM_Pix

Its to commemorate the spot from where Oskar Barnack took the very first picture with a Leica camera. And this is it I'm a lightweight drinker so I'd have taken a shot of booze every time I took a shot of the booze I'd have been on my back before we got to the third lens.

I think it has a fraction more contrast but really only a fraction and its nothing that couldn't be adjusted for. I have the 8mm (not a fan but purely for ultra wides of stadiums so a necessary evil), the 14mm and, yes, the 24mm f1.4 Is that a challenge ? I think I should take the post down while we sell our Contax Zeiss collections on eBay ! I haven't got the 135mm but I've seen a few cheap enough that might change that...

I've noticed the BBC have started to use the OneX for self filmed walk and talk reports on things like Newsnight. The use of the tiny planet mode from time to time gives the game away (!) but in the main its actually very effective. You can tell its not been shot on something more elaborate but how many generations are we from it not being the case, one maybe two ? The stabilisation it can do is actually very impressive. This new one is about 10% more expensive and looks to be more aimed at trying to carve out something new for phone users but, like RED, unless everyone has the screen (or adapter) in this case then your target audience is limited if or until it catches on.

I am really knocked out by how good the X is as a fun travel camera but I'm looking at this new one thinking "mmm....but that looks even more fun" Its how they get you isn't it ?

Speaking of which.... I did tests at f1.4 and at f5.6 The top row is the Samyang 85mm at f1.4 and f5.6 and the bottom row is the Contax Zeiss 85mm at f1.4 and f5.6 I deliberately underexposed slightly as I would do normally with the SL but have added no corrections hence the slightly darker image. First up, the chart stuff. The Contax Zeiss has a glow at f1.4 but its a tiny focus error on my part being a blind buffoon. I could have stopped at this point as its pretty obvious that the difference between them is marginal but I like to give value for money so I did a bit more of a contextual test. It might not seem an obvious test (it looks more like a cry for help with all that booze) but its quite informative to illustrate the out of focus rendering, handling of colour and tonality, detail etc etc. Same lineup, so the top row is the Samyang 85mm at f1.4 and f5.6 and the bottom row is the Contax Zeiss 85mm at f1.4 and f5.6 and focus is set on the Cointreau bottle. Just to add a bit more context to what you are getting separation wise for your f1.4 dollar, I brought a couple of slower manual lenses of a similar focal length to do the same test with with both being shot at their maximum aperture. The top row is the Contax Zeiss 28-85mm at 85mm f3.4 and f5.6 and the bottom row is the Leica 90mm Summicron M at f2 and f5.6 CONCLUSION ? My own view is its not really worth pixel peeping between the Samyang 85mm f1.4 and Contax Zeiss 85mm f1.4 when they are as close as this. The Samyang though.....bargain.

It does need a modification but its perfectly easy to do. Here is a full tutorial on how to do it for this specific lens (but can be applied to other similarly tricky EF-S lenses) although this is a far higher precision route to doing it than I did. I took the "hacking" part of the title of this tutorial a little bit more literally !

Just giving it its own thread as the discussion is tucked away in the Cinematic Colour thread. Announced today, very interesting concept of a twin lens 360 camera that folds out to use the twin lenses to shoot 180 degree 3D. You can see the 3D with the supplied small goggles but the neat part is the lenticular adapter that lets you watch it glasses free on the phone screen.

Back to vanilla glass with a couple of stills from the Pocket 4K with cheapish second hand utilitarian EF lenses that have IS. Colour is the Canon 10-18mm f4.5/5.6 and the B&W from the Tamron 16-300mm (yes 300mm) F/3.5-6.3. Both of them benefit light gathering and sharpness wise from being put on a speed booster as they are here.

You should do "Procrastination - The Movie" You've already wrote most of the script.

The Leica is there as that's what I'll be shooting it on but yeah, I shot it on the Quattro just to tease you a bit ! Hint for L mount alliance sceptics about adapting lenses will note that I'll be putting a Nikon F and a Contax C/Y lens on with cheap adapters without any issues... I got a bit too tied up in other stuff yesterday (not least the latest episode of the Brexit omnishambles !) but I'll do some this afternoon. I don't want to pre-empt the results but, yeah, my early messing about points in the direction of the differences not being outrageous. Considering the Samyangs change hands on eBay for a quarter of the price of the Contax Zeiss then that might be good news for you. As you can then put the savings towards a Leica.

Yeah, I think this is where they are approaching it from but in a VR goggles free viewer. They certainly seem excited in this video and the lack of movement of the phone suggests its for over capture for crop approach rather than being something the viewer is going to pan around themselves.

I'm only basing this on my experience with the Insta360OneX so it remains to be seen if it the same when the full product details for this one are released but the fisheyes are just a means to an end with their stuff to get enough coverage for post produced flat videos. I'm not saying that they don't expect anyone to be producing videos with headset viewing in mind but I definitely think they appreciate that the real strength of these cameras is in using their software to take all that coverage and use it to produce really well stabilised re-framed flat content. If that is the same approach with this for the 180 3D (ie 180 degree over capture but with the intention of producing final content with say 60 degrees of coverage) then the additional software corrections may make it more natural. It still won't be as good as a dedicated camera with a more appropriate lens (and the flat videos I've made from my Insta360OneX are still a tiny bit too gopro wide to be honest) but it will be interesting to see what its like. Their teaser video for it has people ooohing and aahhhing looking at its content on a phone so they may also have a viewing app that does a trick as well. Ironically though, it is very reminiscent of the teaser that RED did for the Hydrogen and comes only a few hours after RED quietly dropped the proposed add on modules for that and appear to be having a bit of a re-think...

So.... Insta360 have announced this today, the 360 EVO https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/video/news/just-announced-insta360-evo-ultra-compact-folding-360-vr-3d-camera It is a 360 twin lens camera but the big trick is that it folds out so you can also use the lenses to do 180 degree 3D.

The Sigma SD Quattro and its kit lens, the 30mm f1.4 I'm not up to speed with the different versions in terms of whether they have changed anything over the years but this is the original F mount version.

I was also doing some Pocket4K stuff so the bar mount was for the controller for my 3C app.

You can get lower cost compatible ones on eBay such as this one. Can't vouch for the quality so whether its a false economy I wouldn't be able to tell you https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-5mm-Stereo-Screw-Lock-TO-standard-3-5mm-stereo-Cable-For-Sennheiser/231200664351?hash=item35d4a22b1f:g:D7QAAOxylpNTRS21

Yeah, that was the "interesting" part for me as well ! Haven't seen any other mention of it in any other review either. I'd prefer a lock image button than a delete one to be honest. Far better to put something destructive in a menu especially with the much larger capacity cards these days. The diopter control being recessed isn't a winner for me personally either as I do adjust it a lot depending on how vain I'm being about wearing my glasses

I was quite interested in what Hugh Brownstone had to say here about the rolling shutter performance....

Game on.

As luck would have it, a post about one for the Pocket4K has just popped up in another thread that might be of interest.

It needs an interface but its nothing too dramatic. There are kits for making your own VR headsets that could form the basis of a Hi-Res version of the DIY EVF I made with the Raspberry Pi monitor and the loupe. This one has 1080p AMOLED screens (though you'd only need one of them) and the whole kit is under £150. I will definitely look at making one as the DIY EVF I made is actually pretty serviceable but just a bit low res. But much, much better than trying to use a rear LCD in the sunshine here. Yes it is. And the kindness was particularly apt in this case as she had bought me that particular lens about 30 minutes earlier ! I'll sort out a side by side tomorrow, they are roughly the same size. I expect the Contax Zeiss to smoke it but you never can tell ! I've barely used it since I got it unfortunately. I think these were probably taken the day after I got away with daylight robbery buying it in Tokyo but its not had many outings since so it could do with an airing.

Well looking at his name badge he does actually work for Sigma so that works on two levels ! I will do. I'm trying to set aside some time to actually use the camera as 99.9% of my interactions with it thus far have been titting about with developing for it. The Ninja V actually sits on it well with them being the same size so it feels more like a flip up monitor for it ! Its pretty essential for it for outdoor daylight use for me, though, yes, I would prefer an EVF. I have the Visoflex for my Leica T and its just fantastic the way you can rotate it up for a pseudo-waist level finder use. Why someone isn't making these with HDMI inputs for all cameras I just don't know. Yeah, Sigma's non-ART can still do the business, even the really cheap APS-C and MFT ones so I'd definitely check one out. These are grabs from my (unloved) A6500 with the sub £150 60mm f2.8 DN That WW2 re-enactment video was great but, yeah, I do suspect a lot of those shots were the 70-200mm f4. With regard to 85mm, I haven't used the Nikon one but I actually quite liked the Samyang 85mm f1.4 and I picked up the Contax Zeiss 85mm f1.4 for a silly price last year and have been meaning to do an A/B comparison if that's something that would appeal ?

Its no fan of Spain either. An affordable EVF can not come soon enough for this camera.

The interesting thing with the Quattro is that Sigma getting involved with the L alliance is a bit of a win from both perspectives really. For anyone who doesn't have one, there will be some even bigger bargains around on the SA mount cameras and lenses but that will also benefit existing owners too as it will also mean a lot more SA mount lenses coming up used from people swapping over to the new mount version, particularly if there is a full frame version of it. Everyone knows about their MC-11 EF to E mount adapter but not many people are aware that they do an SA to E version of it as well which means those cheaper ART lenses in SA mount may not be the dead end people imagine them to be I got the Ninja V last week with one eye on maybe getting a cheap Z6 in Japan in a few months but also as a monitor/expander for the Pocket4K and the LS300. After using it in anger for the first time over the weekend, its pretty much a must have for whatever camera you're going to attach it to. This image doesn't really do it justice regarding just how much brighter it is (although the fact that the camera screen looks like its off !) but, to me, its pretty essential when using the Pocket4K outdoors when the big shiny thing is not covered in cloud. Its heresy to say anything that could remotely be interpreted as negative about the Pocket4K of course but I'm just going to come out and say it that the non-articulating screen without an EVF combo is crap. No, I haven't but I will be this week. That little 12-32mm is a really good bonus on the Pocket4K because of the OIS but also as its good enough in the edges to not suffer too much with the reduced crop. Based on how it performs I'm looking at picking up the other similarly diminutive matching 35-100mm that they do which also has OIS and is also usually available cheap second hand. Thanks. Just took a lot of the red out of it to cool it down really to make it a bit more monotone. The main thing was exposing for the window and then using a bit of dodge and burn to help the light along here and there. The B&W version took out more of the distraction of the Photokina exhibition hall in the background !

Using 3C in hub mode with the cheap 8Bitdo controller to give you tripod bar (or gimbal) mounted hands off control of the camera.