salim

Minimal: D810 sensor (DR and colors) Sony A7Riii level focus ability (with native Z-mount lenses and adapted Nikon G lenses) small but sharp 28/f2.8 or 35/f2.8 lens at launch. Plus: IBIS (probably wont happen, at least 1-2 generations later) 10bit 4k video D810 level weather sealing

Hi is Titffen Variable ND any good? B&H has their sales and after a mail-in rebate it will be $69. Is this variable ND any good? https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/821128-REG/Tiffen_82VND_82mm_Variable_Neutral_Density.html I'm weighing this vs. buying a few individual NDs from https://breakthrough.photography/products/x4-neutral-density?variant=30850759185 This way I can alway reuse the same settings if I use fixed ND filters and the quality might be better, without any criss-cross effects at extreme ND levels. Thoughts?

seeing this...makes me want to think about buying into the Fuji platform. I'm looking into investing more into the Sony system, but Fuji seems to really care for its customers and is constantly doing right by them. Lets see what this new video camera is going to be like, I'll give it a serious thought.

this is so good that makes me cry

I have a SD 302 that I use with a tascam DR40 recorder. I looked at the Mixpre and I like how the recorder and everything was just one unit. No more extra XLR wires in my bag. So I looked at eBay and found a mixPre 3 open box. Made a lower offer. But I ended up contacting the company selling it and they also had a MixPre 6 also an openbox unit. I figured my needs might expand MixPre 3 and I should just cough up the money. So I got like $80 discount on basically a brand new one and I decided to take it. However, I have SO MUCH TO LEARN. To use this setup and leverage all their potential. If you guys have any tips would love to hear them. thanks!

@IronFilm and @Kisaha I blame you guys for this. At least for the sony stuff. But seriously. Thanks for the feedback and sharing your experiences. Salim

Thanks! I guess I'm still on El Capitan.

I see this micro stuttering when you were panning. I wonder if the OIS is not that good in video mode. It like the OIS is trying to hold on stability and then they let go and it catches it again.

so is the upgrade to High Sierra a requirement for 10.4? I only got an option to upgrade Logic but not FCP

@IronFilm would your recommend the UTX-P03 to use as a wireless boom. Or it's not able to transmit all the sound quality out of a nice shotgun microphone? Thanks!

hey....don't ruin my dream

That's what I got too. Channel 14/25. I got an open-box dual receiver version from Adorama and got a used transmitter from Roberts. Now looking for one more transmitter and I can shoot an entire 2 person dialogue without worrying about the sound boom person. At least that's my hope

I'm new to all of these including sound. These lavs were recommended by @IronFilm and there is a 1-day sale on the at B&H: It's usually $529 but the sale if for $379 https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1025751-REG/sony_uwp_d11_30_bodypack_lavalier_mic_eng_package.html One thing you have to keep in mind, the sale is only for the 566 to 608 and 614 to 638 frequency units. The 600Mhz are getting phased out in US, I believe. So I'm not 100% sure what it means for end-users. But something to keep in mind.

Thanks! For sure, something is off...I was told Sony had bad color science, but I can't imagine it be this bad.

Thanks for the post, but when you switched to A7Riii from canon your skin tones looked horrible. Just so redish! Is it with the profile? I was convinced to get this camera, but seeing your skin vs. canon...I'm not sure anymore. Can you help clarify what happened there please. Thanks!

I agree! the Focus seems like a great deal size, weight and all the accessories that you get if you buy the kit. This is where testing is important. I'm not sure if on a 5" screen the DPI will make that much of a difference. Especially if you're viewing the screen from 1 foot away. Does the human eye has that kind of resolving power that after 1 foot you can see the difference between 720 and 1080.

I saw some reviews of Focus. 1 - it seems to have the same OS. Which looks great in all the reviews. 2 - the physical device also seems well built and seems light. 3 - it does not have the crazy brightness of some of their top end models. To be honest, this seems like product segmentation by them. So I'm thinking the quality is pretty good. I fly drones, and the option for me would be CrystalSky expect I'm not seeing much reviews from it in that aspect. But it's bright and solid and I can use it to fly my drone in daylight and see where I'm going.

@Kisaha As someone who end up buying 4-5 different tripods before spending over 1000 on the good one. I get this argument. But I'm curious if Focus is the cheap brand, then what is a quality brand?

@Mark Romero 2 - to my eyes...the XT-2 was a better camera. Especially in the highlights. The center building is all clipping on every camera, except the Xt-2. At the same time the midtowns on Xt-2 seem lower by 1/2 to 1 stop. So maybe the ISOs are not the same between these cameras. But purely on highlights, I would pick the XT-2

I have the A6000 and the Sigma 19/2.8. I also adapted my contax c/y 28/2.8 on it too and used the focus peaking. The 19/2.9 works well. I shot a few video. I wasn't happy after iso 1600 or so. The A6500 AF and some IBIS appeals to me. That's reason I'm thinking about it. And some of the basic focus racking I've seen on youtube with the touch screen actually looked good. I've seen a few mirrorless cameras that are not good at image stabilization and panning. Probably why many IS lenses from Canon/Nikon have a panning switch option. This is super valuable. Do you use any X-rite or neutral gray color cards to color match? Yes, I watched t his video. I'm still open to M4/3. I also fly drones so I can use my lens investment on DJI Inspire potentially. But I mostly shoot full frame with camera, and I'm not sure I can get use to such a small sensor, especially in low light high ISO situation and not to mention the look of a larger sensor. And I don't want to do speed boosters, etc. I still have a couple of canon lenses left so I ordered the MC-11 when it was on sale. But I think the 18-35 on A6500 + an adapter seems so big and out of balance on a gimbal. But the images look good. So that could be an option, still. I love prime lenses mostly, but the 18-35 is such a great looking lens from what I've seen. A6000 with the 19/2.8 I've taken some nice photos. I either use it as a camera around my neck when we are hiking with my nikon on my backpack and I need something light and easy to access for photos that I don't care that much but I still want a better quality over the iPhone image. I was thinking something on the Canon cinema line. But I have not research that enough to make an informed comment. My point basically was, I don't see a need for a monitor with SDI. Mostly low light...I'll be shooting some stuff inside a metro station (which is not allowed). So I need to shoot high iso, wide open for maximum light and just pray the AF will be just fine. @IronFilmand @Mark Romero 2 - thanks for the great feedback. It's extremely helpful. I'm including a A6000 - 19/2.8 still. I put this camera around my neck while snowshoeing up very steep climb with full backpack of gear. So it's easy to just pull the camera out of my pocket and take a photo without removing my Nikon D810 out of the backpack.

Great formula. I don't need SDI and any camera I'm looking at for this project or foreseeable projects wont have SDI. At that point, I'll probably need something which also handles external recording. So Ii guess I'm okay with no SDI. But the waveform is a bummer. So that might be a deal breaker. The way I look at it, I pay few $100 more and I save time in post.

@maxotics - thanks for the wonderful reply as well as to our PMs on this topic. You've helped me a lot about how to think about my approach. I'm looking and reading the reviews of the 35/1.8 oss. That might be an option. I'm looking at if the AF on A6000 is good or if I should be thinking about A6300/A6500. Maybe I shoot in 4k and downsize to 1080 in post for optimal quality and maybe mix cuts with A6000 as my B camera or something. So far I have not found any good review on 35/1.8. Mostly looking to know how well the OSS works for handheld work. And also if there is a compound results of combing the 6500 IBIS with OSS. Also how well the AF works. @Kisaha I want to mostly shoot from a gimbal. So need the AF. If the IBIS or OIS + IBIS was like olympus maybe I could manually focus and not worry about the gimbal. I would actually prefer that. Just handhold something. Carry around an easy gear and just shoot. I need to steal some shots, that would be the ideal setup. Actually it would be by optimal dream. An APSC camera with olympus level IBIS/OIS smoothness. I'm posting all the reviews that I have found useful. So if anyone else lands here, can save some time: 6500 steady shot on gimbal + touch focus using the gimbal. I really like this setup. Minus the issues with screen darkness: 6500 on gimbal vs 6300 on gimbal. Looks the IBIS does add some incremental smoothness: Max Yurev review of SmallHD 5" model That being said, I was looking at Max's Facebook group regarding A7Riii and his initial test shows no dimming for the A7Riii screen during video work. I'm not ready to spend $3200 yet and would rather wait to see what Panasonic and Fuji have planned out. But If there is a bright screen and good IBIS, that could make this a dream camera that I can use both for photography and my video work. Max was asking for questions on what to test and show on his next review video. And I listed some of my questions including low light AF, IBIS and screen brightness to test. Anyways. So I guess...this is where I'm now... A6000 with the 19/2.8 sigma (it worked fine for my last shoot) and the 35/1.8. OR Get the A6500 I was also thrown a big curveball and suggested to look at the Fuji Xt20 and the kit lens(18-55) for $1100 I'll keep you guys posted and thanks again

@IronFilm - So Adorama had an open box version of this URS PO3D 14/25 via eBay. They accepted by counter offer of $499. So hopefully I'll get it next week. Having the ability of worrying about only one receiver from two different source was the final clincher on this. Along with your comment about size. @Kisaha - you're correct. Not a sound man at all...I liked the Rode option. Especially with digital transmission and the price. But the size was crazy bulky. The movie I'm trying to do is with two ladies. And the sony seems far more discrete and probably easier to hide than the Rode. I also really like not worrying about having two receivers if I wanted to record a dialogue from two different actors at the same time and just deal with one receiver. You both were great in helping me think through this. I need to find a good bargain on couple of transmitters. @IronFilm - Do you recommend a different lav than what comes with the sony? In this companions the Sen's lav seems so much hotter and more sensitive and the sony seems it has no life almost Thanks again!

I would love to see the review from your before making a purchasing decision. But if I were at Fuji I would never risk giving you the camera. I think your reviews are very good and direct for consumers, but if I was a marketing person at one of these camera companies, the risk/reward ratio would not be worthwhile to my product or even to my job. You have to remember, as a marketer I need to market the product but I also have to think about my job. In an industry that mistakes are much more evident than any bump in sales that could or not be attributed to a early review by you. Just my $.02, but I hope they give you early access.

How does NX1 AF compares to A6500 or Canon's PDAF? I was very excited about the this new panasonic as I'm about to invest into a new video system until I saw the rumors out of Fuji. With IBIS, etc. I'm only waiting for Nikon to leak their upcoming mirrorless wonder, to make my decision even more confusing since I own many nikon lenses.