BTM_Pix

Go motorhome/camper shopping with my wife. The layout deliberations makes my pre-purchase machinations over cameras (where they are almost always superseded before I finish my deliberations) look like impulse purchases. I'm hoping that we reach a conclusion about which one to buy before I am too decrepit to actually drive the thing. I think it might be a bit more prosaic and related to the authorisation period where their first post won't appear until they've been approved which can take a couple of days. So they are likely just too impatient in this attention span of a goldfish with a markedly short attention span even for a goldfish era. As well as being wankers.

I often wondered what would come first, Panasonic putting PDAF in an MFT camera or aliens being discovered. Based on whats going on in Mexico today it looks like Panasonic just about won that contest. Maybe the aliens had them under an NDA.

I'm not sure who's more excited about this really. You for receiving your new camera or the rest of this forum that a new member started a thread asking for camera buying advice and then didn't disappear never to be heard from again. Well done on both fronts !

Somewhere in France next summer a wedding party recoils in horror.

The a1 has by and large flown under the radar so its diminishing price on the used market does make it an interesting proposition a bit down the road to do a poor man's 10% of the price / 90% of the image version of the Burano with one. Need a name though. Base it on the Venice* obviously, so it has to be something with lots of canals. But a bit more rough and ready to reflect the price. And a bit more northern for the dourness and attitude. Right, the Birmingham it is then. * Fun fact is that Birmingham is one of the gazillion places referred to as the Venice of the North but in actual fact it should be that Venice is called the Birmingham of the South as Birmingham actually has more miles of canals. All built by order of The Peaky Fucking Blinders presumably.

Not sure I could stop myself turning into Vic Reeves every time I had to say Burano though

I have acute Main Character Syndrome. Its always about me. I pride myself on my Morrissey levels of unhappy-go-pesimistic and deep seated lifelong grudges so I doubt its that. I just accept that people talk a lot of shit on the internet. And that a lot of people are hysterical Marys. Hence, my ignore list is extensive. Well, to be fair, its right there on the front page of their organisation that does have the power to decide that. "Micro Four Thirds is a versatile and highly mobile system that meets all kinds of photographers' needs and chases an optimal balance of high image quality, compactness and lightweight in cameras with interchangeable lenses." https://www.four-thirds.org/en/ The semantics can be argued regarding the relativity of the elements of the balance but there is no doubt that the thrust of it is in the direction of smaller. Otherwise, what would be the point of differentiation or even mentioning it. They could have saved some space and just put: "Micro Four Thirds is a versatile system that meets all kinds of photographers' needs in cameras with interchangeable lenses" Then I have misunderstood a whole swathe of your posts in regard to this matter. My understanding was that one of your primary desires was for a camera that had the discretion necessary for you not to be ejected from museums and galleries. Which is why I would advocate for and made the point for the more demanding internals of the GX80 to be housed in something faintly approaching but not matching the Fp but with its heat management system. It would be entirely possible so making the cameras in the form factor of the G9ii is a choice not a necessity. Which is perfectly fine because its their choice. And its my choice in terms of buying it. So we all get our own way in the end. Its actually 9 in 7. It does APS-C coverage and is a bit faster too so it is to be expected. There is a specific lens type that can be calibrated called "LINK" It is similar in terms of connection to the "FIZ" option in that it uses the MMX multi mode expander option but only uses two motors. Unlike "FIZ" where the AFX gives you independent control of each motor, the two motors in "LINK" mode are as the name suggests linked. During calibration, you adjust the focus of the anamorphic lens with one motor and the focus of the taking lens with the other motor until the image is in focus. Once calibrated, the motors then automatically move the two lenses to their respective focus points based on the distance to the subject detected. It did but the gap is much narrower now. I'm very surprised - pleasantly so - by how good it is on the S5ii. But all of that goodness is relative to within the context of how you view IBIS anyway. The irretrievably destructive nature of it in terms of the distortion of the image (not just in the "that doesn't look steady") is what puts me off it far more than the "is it actually looking stable" or the perceived "oh it looks too floaty for me" aspect. The double whammy with this is that it not always easy to see what it has done when you are looking on a small monitor/EVF so you tend not to find out until its too late. Tripods and balanced shoulder rigs still remain by far the better and safest option but its not always practical of course so its all just part of those compromises when you aren't in control of the environment. I do have a way of testing IBIS systems that involves putting a 1/4 20 mounting point on something that has repeatable and controllable degrees of small lateral movements but I suspect that using the item that I have in mind would mean that the results would only be available on OnlyFans.

You saw that one too then 😂 I must say looking at some of the footage from the Burano did have me immediately thinking about the a1 and was surprised to see how cheap that one was. I had presumed that the a1 could do 8K RAW out to the Ninja V+ but it can only do 4K though. The a1 is still a lot of camera for that money though.

Come on, it really doesn't suck. Its odd then after how after I "persuaded" the GX80/85 to be able to have Cinelike D that there was a subsequent mass obsession with trying to get VLOG on it. 😉 Physics determines this to be true of course for most smaller sensor versus large sensor comparisons, until very recently where the gap has closed somewhat. So its all part of the +/- mix. Is it enough for me ? Personally yes but I'm also a bit old fashioned with regard to using those three legged (or one legged) things that you can put underneath cameras so I'm not fully reliant on it. Which completely rebalances everything in the equation. Any perceived gap in video performance in favour of the GX80/85 is completely blown out of the water by the gulf in favour of the A7Rii when it comes to stills. Being able to plug a microphone into it doesn't do it much harm either.

Not sure why you are couching it in such dramatic terms as people throwing their cameras out of the pram. There were no hissy fits and not all the old camera were disposed of, rather that the more the new cameras moved away from the original ethos the less inclined people like me were to replace their old ones. I didn't stop buying new Lumix MFT cameras post the GX80 in some fit of pique, its because the form factor of the new ones became increasingly at odds with the point of the system. The system appealed as a much smaller alternative to the bulkier FF and APS-C DSLRs that I had so I was less inclined to buy the newer ones as they began to expand and, of course, this became even more acute when mirrorless FF and APS-C cameras started to come down and meet them in the middle. I didn't mind making the compromise on IQ and low light when it was traded off for size but once that size increased then its advantages as a system went the other way. I didn't and haven't stopped using mine but it has diminished with each passing year over the past five years. Not because they have become unusable just that their USP is no longer anywhere near the U and there are better alternatives. The lenses were always shared with the OG Pocket and Micro and the LS300 but have also found a new home with the P4K but absolutely nothing would tempt me into buying into a new MFT camera and new lenses. I've just got three of my cameras out (GX80,S5ii and Fp) which have similar-ish focal length lenses to illustrate my broader point about MFT. If the G9ii is - as I understand it - even anywhere close to the size one in the middle then a shark has not only been jumped but pole vaulted over. Whilst the S5ii is the elephant in the room when it comes to a choice of buying into a new MFT camera, the Fp is the elephant in the room when it comes to where the system should have gone. An updated GX80 with all the bells and whistles of the G9ii in a form factor somewhere between the GX80 and Fp (which lest we forget has a proper cooling system) would have made me interested as it fits with the original ethos. The lenses are another example of where compact has gone with MFT when I look at a couple of my lenses. They are not the same focal length but still it illustrates how the size has increased from the original ethos of those original pancake lenses like the 20mm here and the 14mm if you want to take the next step up. And of course the Sigma here is actually pretty compact in relative terms to the latter primes and zooms from Panasonic. Coming ? It has been there in the DJI guise - and modesty forbids me to mention from another bijou manufacturer too - for well over three years. With regard to anamorphic, the support for aligned multi motors means that the smaller manufacturer also provides AF for dual focus anamorphic setups 🙂 All that Panasonic is doing with DJI for non manual lenses is basically what that other guy does with Blackmagic in that it uses the LIDAR to control the camera's internal focus motors. If Panasonic had opened their control protocol up in the same way as BMD then the other guy would have done the same for Panasonic cameras three years ago. So they are playing catchup more than innovating to be honest. The innovation would have been for Panasonic to integrate LIDAR into the cameras themselves. Manufacturer maybe but Sony E and Nikon Z users have been able to do this for quite a few years using the TechART such as my A7Rii with a Voigtlander here. In terms of "easy AF on MF lenses" it is actually much easier to use than an outboard LIDAR system too for several reasons as well. It also brings me back to another comparison between that A7Rii and a GX80 with a similar f1.4 focal length lens. Not only is the A7Rii full frame, it too also has IBIS too and the AF with that MF lens is far snappier than the MFT setup at a marginal overall size increase. Maybe I actually should throw that GX80 out of the pram after all 😉

Sigma really delivered for MFT with their 16/30/56 f1.4 primes but have obviously seen the writing on the wall and only offer the new 24 f1.4 and 18-50 f2.8 additions in X and L mount. Those two lenses would have really rounded out that range for a compact, fast and affordable set. The prices are getting too big as well. The 18-50 f2.8 in X or L mount is £400 while a comparable if slower variable aperture Panasonic 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 in MFT is twice that price. There is still plenty of value in the original pancakes etc of course but it gets pretty expensive pretty fast taking the step above those. That LC-1 they did way back when was a handsome bastard so I'd definitely like to see a modern version.

The R5 was a bit of watershed moment because we proved that there was a deliberate obfuscation by Canon but it also shod light on the shilling and/or powderpuff testing aspects of a swathe of the YouTube bros. The reaction from many of them to the original report by @Andrew Reid was particularly vicious and then, sans apology, they then made shameless hay by doing the shock faced testing videos. Never once acknowledging that not only was the camera on fire but also their pants. I think it then died off because it was belatedly addressed through firmware and people shrugged and said "well no one is going to risk releasing an overheating camera again". Neither aspect was re-dressed fully though so it has been waiting to come back again, not least because a lot of the bros have invested serious crypto into those stock footage flames to do the follow up "honest re-test" videos after they've surfed the wave of the initial "reviews". I might be being a bit cynical there though 🙂

That is where I'm going with this to be honest and, despite all the hand wringing on here about it, I don't think the motivation for change will come until the 10% become the 90%. Maybe the EU will come galloping (or more likely sashaying considering the pace they work at) to the rescue with a standard rating system for cameras denoting the number of overheating shutdowns per hour. Call it the Sum of Heat Induced Terminations and measure it on a 1-10 scale with the higher number obviously being the worst. It would offer more clarity and might actually shame them into doing something about it. "So, Mr Sony, regarding overheating, what is the SHIT rating for this new camera ?" "Oh, its very SHIT indeed."

The amount of heat (boom tish) the thermal issue is generating recently is quite interesting to me. Its always been there in the background of course and the R5 was a wild ride while we were investigating it but it’s back with an increased vengeance recently. What interests me is if anyone on here actually works in a camera shop and if so how much cut through does this issue have with the average customer? How far down the list - if it even appears anywhere - is it on the list of questions posed by customers when they are running through a product? And how many cameras do you have returned by customers due to them, for example, going on holiday and discovering their new toy needs more sunscreen than they do? I’m curious because manufacturers seemingly show no interest in tackling it definitively and I would have to guess that it is because they are comfortable with the amount of, erm, heat they receive from dealers and customers about it. Looked at another way, how many more ZV cameras would Sony get returned for ingress of water/sand/avocado if they adopted a vented cooling system than they do now from the inconvenient but recoverable overheating issues.

Nikon and Fujifilm need to slow these releases down. I never got round to buying the previous three nailed on forever cameras and now a new one turns up. It does look to be the last word so maybe this time I’ll jump in before forever runs out !

I’ll preface this by saying that that is some spec and it will likely be a very decent camera. However…. A smaller sensor inside a smaller body with smaller lenses at a smaller price was the whole raison d’etre of the Micro Four Thirds system. The clue was right there in the name. Panasonic seems to have looked what BMW has done since it acquired the Mini and thought “yeah, that’s the path for us too”. In a world where their own full frame S5ii exists, let alone the compact APS-C feature laden cameras from all the other manufacturers, I don’t get where they are coming from with their latter day MFT releases and, in my opinion, they have completely lost their way with the system, particularly in terms of attracting new adopters. Even for the old guard, you’d have to be pretty attached to that native lens collection to go in again. Panasonic seem to have a borderline kinky reluctance to refresh the two cameras that would actually cause a resurgence in the ideology of the system as well as sales. Namely, the GX80 and the LX100. Putting a mic jack on them and giving them 10 bit 4:2:2 internal and VLOG would be a piece of piss for Panasonic and they could sell them all day long at their equivalent launch prices. They might have to push the boat out and put IBIS in the LX but I don’t even think that is a deal breaker. I’m at loss to where they are getting their market research from that’s telling them there is. Bigger demand for small sensor cameras in large sensor bodies at large sensor prices.

Its just different naming conventions between different manufacturers - or, more specifically, a lack of naming conventions - but they amount to exactly the same thing functionality wise. So, no doubt there are manufacturers out there who landed on a different part of the thesaurus and have named theirs Adjusters or Modifiers etc. Prefixing whatever term they use with "Wide Angle" is also a bit of a misnomer anyway as it doesn't convert or adapt a lens into a wide angle lens (commonly defined as having a focal length of say 24-35mm) but just reduces the focal length by the 0.8/0.7/0.6x indicated on it. So whilst a 50mm lens with a 0.7x can be considered to effectively have "become" a 35mm and therefore a "wide angle" lens in common terms, putting the same 0.7x on a 200mm lens will only make that "become" a 140mm, which is very much not a "wide angle" lens in common terms. Basically, for "Wide Angle" read "Wider Angle".

Prompted by a tweet from @Andrew Reid about BBC drama production in the 70s/80s, I remembered this gem of a YouTube channel where the production staff of the era discuss and reproduce their work. The videos are a combination of bitesize and longer form and covers every stage of the production process such as these. It is a fascinating collection of pieces and much can be learned and applied to shooting and editing today. Not least of which how lucky we are to have what we have at our disposal. Full collection here https://www.youtube.com/@AdapttvhistoryOrgUk/videos

As someone who went to the extent of writing an app to test every single permutation, I couldn't agree more !

Funny you should mention Cinelike V.... A couple of years ago, I did a test with the Profile Stepper app that I wrote for Lumix cameras to do a bit of analysis on their colour profiles. The idea was to create a video for each profile that contained every permutation of contrast between -5 to +2 combined with saturation between -5 to +3 to see if there were any hidden gems that might bely the received wisdom of "Cinelike D with everything set to -5". The original post (and thread about the app) is here The overall conclusion was that there weren't any hidden gems in amongst the standard profiles but, perhaps more surprisingly, I also found the Cinelike V versions to be more appealing than the Cinelike D ones. Likely nothing that couldn't be equalised in post but for an out of camera look (which is what I was after) I definitely preferred it. The test scene was nothing elaborate but was set up to contain enough sky, white textured wall, primary colour and black elements in a bright daylight to subjectively evaluate colour and contrast. Each video is annotated with the profile name and Contrast/Saturation levels which update accordingly as the Stepper App changes them every 2 seconds. It was shot on an FZ2000/2500 as that is what I was targeting with the test but will be applicable in relative terms to all Lumix cameras. If you are bored enough to want to plough through them, this link contains a zip with the individual videos for each profile. https://mega.nz/file/06QmwYJb#6R8aADqvKMKgG0jaWtX1e-vdTYco019KHJxl66EduoQ

Currently waiting for a gig to start tonight with my Pocket. Fashionably early though ! Nice to have a stabilised anamorphic camera that raises absolutely zero eyebrows from security staff either on the way in or when you are using it.

To mount Sony E mount lenses on Z cameras. Some desirable lenses (such as the Tamron 20-40mm f2.8 and the Sigma contemporary line) are not available in Z mount but are available in E mount.

Far be it from me to encourage you to have more immediate gear angst but Megadap have just released the v3 Pro version of their E to Z adapter which promises even better compatibility with the Tamron lenses and improvements in AF generally, plus the ability to update its firmware directly from the camera. So even if they don't immediately produce the 20-40mm f2.8 you could pick up an E mount version and attach the Megadap to it in the meantime to go with the native Z mount 35-150. Opens up the a lot of other lens possibilities too from the E mount world, particularly the Sigma contemporary range. My experience of the Megadap on @Andrew Reid's Z9 was that it was already near native performance so any advance on that will make it well worth checking out. https://megadap.net/product/megadap-sony-e-to-nikon-z-autofocus-adapter-etz21pro/

No news on price but expected to be released in the Autumn. https://www.tamron.com/global/consumer/news/detail/a058z_20230725.html