BTM_Pix

The protocol is the same so its a cautionary yes but I would need to test it on one. Yes to focus control (and zoom if the lens supports it) on the analog stick.

Bit of an update about new functionality to drive the app from a joystick. As the joystick is also bluetooth, you can essentially just use the app as a bridge to control the camera from the joystick as well as use it in the way shown here as a single RC style integrated unit. Other small thumbstick type joysticks will be supported for mounting on a gimbal arm.

You can control the aperture directly from the plug in receiver so you only need the handle if you want to do remote focus. As the other speedboosters don't allow any sort of focus control on the P4K anyway it would be much of a muchness aside from the extra bulk of the plug in receiver.

I've got drawers full of them! I suspect they animate at night like something out of Toy Story and mock me.

The F1 is very versatile in that you can use their add on shotgun mic module or their other stereo mic modules as well as the add on dual XLR module but be warned that the XLR module can't provide phantom power.

With Sony bodies, you can always count on there being major heat

It only has Bluetooth LE so that forces the decision Not using wifi is very beneficial battery wise though as Bluetooth LE (as its name suggests) uses very little power so can be an always on connection. The drawback of course is that there is no way to implement a wireless live feed without wifi but there is always more than one way to skin a cat as they say so watch this space .....

Bluetooth LE I'm sure they will in time as, of course, if this idiot can manage it .... There are a couple of challenges involved though that they will need to work around that are too dull to go into but as I say it wont be long.

To be fair you can run the Pocket4K off NPF970s as well with the £10 small rig plate and the DC cable so you can knock off a big saving with those 2 PowerEdge batteries in that cost comparison.

No espresso??!!? Looks like you really did fall in love with someone you shouldn't have fallen in love with.

The truly abysmal EVF is a joke though. And the fold out LCD doesn't inspire much confidence. But.... The release of the Ninja V changes things considerably for the LS300 as it is compact enough to address those issues without making it unwieldly like the 7" recorders did whilst adding additional monitoring functionality. Of course it also enables the recording of 4K60p which the LS300 can't do internally and offers a ProRes workflow. If the LS300 drops below £1500 (which it is well on the way to doing) then the two together is quite the package for £2000. I've said it before but if there is one company that I could see working with Atomos to do ProRes RAW over HDMI it would be JVC for the LS300. Considering how much JVC have enhanced its functionality since its release, I wouldn't say one last hurrah like that would be out of the question

I'll certainly bear that in mind.

Thanks. No, unfortunately I am nowhere near bright enough to be of any use to them.

I'm not sure there has been another product that has created a market for someone to make one. RED cameras and BM Video Assist are two products that spring to mind that use mini XLRs but they would generally expect people to be connecting microphones/mixers with XLR outputs on them hence why they are the only ones available. If you want to keep the adapters to a minimum then one option is to buy the BM Video Assist and cut one of the cables and put a 3.5mm socket on it. You can then have it the exact length you need. It would also mean you would still have the other cable of course so you would now have a cable kit to cover both 3.5mm and XLR mics.

If its the mini socket you need (I'm presuming to connect a mic with a 3.5mm jack on it?) then you can get a regular one like this to a full size xlr MagiDeal 3.5mm (Mini) 1/8inch Stereo Female To XLR Male Adapter Cable https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07CY2J3DT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6gKcCbK33Q34Y And then use an XLR to mini XLR adapter . Incidentally for anyone looking for ready made XLR to mini XLR cables, BM themselves do a kit for the video assist that has 2 of them in it for about £30 https://www.scan.co.uk/products/blackmagic-design-mini-xlr-cable-for-video-assist-4k-set-of-2-195?gclid=CjwKCAiA0ajgBRA4EiwA9gFOR_ywjdHoW_RfaATfXT5pS_A-1--6PWuKCVuxWMNT6M0XyjsRsZtFBRoCEUEQAvD_BwE

There is no downside to the PF except for the price and if you want to use it on a non Nikon body. I would definitely urge you to try the original on the Z body though to make sure it feels OK in terms of balance. Bear in mind that my experience of it is using it was on big lumps like the D3s and D4 where the weight wasn't an issue. On a much lighter mirrorless it might be a different story especially as the adapter will be adding to the heaviness in the nose. With regard to using the PF for wildlife then the huge reduction in the weight in the camera pack vs the original will pay big dividends over the course of a day if you are trekking or whatever. What I would say though is that if the 300mm might not have enough reach then whilst it works very well with a TC but you are then at f5.6 (plus more money for the TC) so I might suggest she looks at the 200-500mm f5.6. Its the same aperture with a bit more reach and a lot more flexibility albeit at the expense of a bit of weight. It is a fantastic performer though and would be another compromise option worth considering, especially as it is significantly cheaper. MPB are good guys and I've always had good service and prices. They are only in Brighton so with a following wind they should be able to deliver stuff over the channel to France with a decent catapult. Which will probably be the only way to get goods off the island post Brexit !

Pleased to announce that my Pocket4K app for Android is now complete and is with beta testers so barring any calamties will be available from the Play store on the 21st of December. Here is a screen shot with a quick run through of the features from top to bottom : Across the top we have the controls for Aperture, ISO and shutter angle. Next up we have the colour temperature and tint controls, the preset white balance selectors, the Auto White Balance button and, of course, the Record button. Beneath that we have the 8 snapshot memories which you can use to store and instantly recall 8 different custom settings of ISO, Aperture, Shutter Angle and White Balance. To store the preset you long press on the memory slot that you want to use and to recall it just short press. Haptic feedback is given to indicate that the preset has been written and the currently loaded preset is denoted in orange (M1 in the shot above). Presets are stored in non volatile memory so are always available in any session. Next is the focus controller, which is operated using the slider and/or the fine tune buttons. A long press of the button moves instantly to closest focus and infinity respectively. The AF button in ths row activates the single shot auto focus. To accompany the focus controls, you then have 6 memory slots (A to F) to store focus points and you can switch instantly between them by simply pressing the required one. In addition, next to these are the controls for A-B-A focus transition and the speed control. Again, all focus points are stored in non volatile memory for use in any session. Finally we have the controls for applicable MFT power zoom lenses with the same interface as the focus controls (including long press for instant minimum/maximum zoom) and 4 non volatile memory positions for later recall. There is another function that it can do that I'll let you know about closer to release date and I will put up a little demo video of it in action late next week.

Optically, it is at least as good as the PF. It is also not far off being a third of the price used against a new PF. Another plus is that it has a physical aperture control so is more flexible in terms of being used on a different camera type whereas with the PF using Nikon's new electronic control you are limited to only being able to control the aperture with a Nikon body. So it performs as well as the new one, is much cheaper and also more versatile. Against that, of course, is that it is twice the weight, about a third bigger and doesn't have VR. Until the Z series came along, it would be that final aspect that would be a deal breaker for a lot of people but IBIS should address that. I'm saying should as I've never tested that so I can't comment with any authority over it but anecdotaly it does seem to work well. Which leaves us with the size and weight issue. My use for the original version was for events where a long lens wouldn't be the primary lens I'd be shooting on but wanted the ability to have that extra reach if I needed without having to haul a 300mm f2.8 or 400mm f2.8 with me. So things such as press conferences or close action positional stuff like boxing or track cycling etc. It worked very well in that capacity and the weight and bulk saving was a godsend versus the f2.8 But then the PF version appeared and moved all of that to another level, particularly with the addition of VR, so it was an instant buy for me! As I say, the Z series will take care of the VR part but the original lens is still quite a lump which may be a drawback or at least less desirable, for your intended use. It certainly was for mine. If you were looking for a compromise solution then for somewhere roughly in the middle price wise you could maybe look at a used 70-200mm f2.8 with a 1.4TC. In terms of size, it isn't far off the same as the original 300mm f4 and it would give you near enough the same on the long end with the TC with the added versatility of being a zoom but also taking the TC off and getting the extra stop back. The bottom line for me is that if the PF didn't exist then I would still happily be using the original and if I was buying from scratch then provided I didn't need the lens to be stabilised I wouldn't have a particular problem getting it again at that significant saving. For my needs though, the size and weight is a significant enough advantage that it is worth stretching for but your needs may be different. I would definitely recommend you going and trying one first with your own camera though to make sure it works as a combo for you. But just make sure that you aren't tempted to try the PF version out while you are there

Aren't BM themselves part of that 'Panasonic etc' group though as the original Pocket camera works in that way too? I do understand that there isn't actually a 'fault' here as such (aside from the odd glitch when fast scrolling or the occasional mismatch on the iOS app) as its expected behaviour because of the way the values are being interpreted but there is an argument to be made regarding the difference between expected behaviour and desired behaviour. Obviously, I might well possibly be in a small minority of one over this not being desired behaviour as it doesn't seem to unduly concern other owners that they have these anomalies. However, the question would be if it will remain this way in the Pocket4K or be changed to the way in which it works with other manufacturers including yourselves with the original Pocket?

Yes, for stills you can select the two slots to be used for the RAW/JPEG splitting, backup or in sequential mode but for video it is sequential only. The sequential process can be set so that stills will go to one card and video to the other though, which is a worthwhile function for a hybrid. So, yes, for video there is no backup option unless you have an external recorder and use the internal SD with simultaneous output to HDMI setting.

Its a difficult question to answer because it will depend on the gimbal you are using in terms of what restrictions it may have with regard to where you can mount the camera itself, which in turn may have implications with regard to the restrictions for where you can mount anything else to it. The Pocket 4K seems to be presenting some challenges with regard to gimbals so I would recommend asking in the gimbal thread what people are doing with specific gimbals regarding mounting external power and SSDs. Of course, with both external power and the SSD being on cables, it would also be possible to mount them off the camera and on the gimbal handle itself or a side mount to it so there should always be an option even if mounting it to the camera proves impractical/impossible due to physical restrictions or balance complications. As I say, have a look in the gimbal thread at what people are doing as if you are committed to using it on a gimbal then their experiences will give you the right steer not only about power and SSD mounting options but also, due to the Pocket 4K being a bit of a challenge with regard to gimbals, probably about which actual gimbal to get for it in the first place.

Yeah, the Tamron is a little bit short on the long end compared to the Sigma. Having said that though, you can make up for some of the restriction of the Tamron that by having a non-speedboosted EF>MFT adapter in your bag and still have the speed advantage of it being f2.8. I suppose it depends on what MFT it is going on as well as you have ETC mode on the Panasonic and of course the fully variable mode on an LS300. I'm not holding my breath on BM doing it but a switchable 1.1 or 1.2x crop mode on the Pocket4K would be a welcome addition to give a bit more flexibility but also to deal with some of the sketchy edge performance on some native lenses and vignetting on speed boosted APS-C lenses. The 18-135mm USM is interesting as well because of the power zoom adapter that they do for it. The combo can be picked up used for under £400 which is an interesting proposition if someone is looking for something comparable to the flexibility of the Olympus 12-100 f4 at a significant saving.

For the money (£150-200) a used Tamron SP AF17-50mm f2.8 zoom on a speed booster has a lot going for it as a constant aperture stabilised 24-70mm equivalent. Not exactly the quietest lens in the world but I can't think of anything that gets you that performance at anywhere near that price. Its quite light in the bag as well as on the pocket too.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0087BV56W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_iyOaCb5Z3CMHJ The battery locks into the holder so is secure. The camera end is on a locking connector so is secure that end. You could lock the barrel at the battery plate end quite easily. Its worth bearing in mind that the external battery is also simultaneously charging the internal battery so you do also have a backup from that point of view. You could fabricate a simple barn type roof to cover it if you wanted to with regard to keeping the elements out. Although I have to say that if you are operating the camera in those sort of conditions then the camera is going to be more of a problem than the battery. Again though, I would repeat that if you want to make something from scratch, then you would also need to have some circuitry in there so you are going to have to factor someone in to design that aspect as well.

What is it exactly that you want to put in the box? The battery plate I'm using is £10 from Amazon. Printing something from scratch and including the circuit to deliver the right voltage for the camera is likely to cost more in materials let alone effort ?