MrSMW

But what choices are there currently other than: Decade old RX1Rii Sigma FP/L Leica Q3/43 And the new Fooj. Which is why I use my Zf as such with the 40mm f2 SE welded on. I just wish it was smaller and had 50+ mp…

The only way they could have improved upon this would have been having the artist formerly known as Ridley Scott, at the helm.

Large sensor more compact bodies are my jam!

MUCH better body than the S5 line, but the S5ii beat it for me for: 6k open gate, LUT support, IBIS and crop markers…otherwise I would definitely have gone for it! The rumor is of course an ‘S5ii’ in an ‘FX’ style body incoming…

Ditto, but then I also wanted IBIS. And a second back up card slot. And 4k 60p. Plus there was this lovely wooden grip that Sigma used to make but stopped and could I find one on eBay, Etsy, or anywhere? Nope. If it had just had IBIS, that was the one deal breaker for me, the rest I could compromise on and I would have done the flip screen. Too late now but that body design and that of the FX3/30 are my faves for my video work…but I am with LUMIX.

Very cool but I bet he can’t recreate Ana de Armas in my living room. It’s his next challenge.

Leica, Hasselblad and Sigma seem to be the only one’s making ‘want it’ bodies these days, for me anyway, but an honourable mention to Sony for the FX3/30. Fuji kind of with certain models, Nikon and Canon less so though at least they are trying with the Zf and Canon’s supposed imminent rival. But Lumix, nah. Innovative in some of the tech, but not the actual chassis which are all very pedestrian. But do they need to be simply functional and that is it? No. Folks like pretty things. Come on Lumix, give us a pretty thing, an S1Rii in a rangefinderesque body 🥰

Slightly chunkier, better built and with a bit more design flair than the S9. Yep, I’ll buy it. Probably… The S9 is my run & gun video unit for 2025. I don’t much care for it for stills however. The Fuji RF I was hoping might be ‘The One’ and it’s close, but no cigar. A7Rii & C have great sensors and size, but ‘fail’ in various other regards for me. Essentially take the best qualities of the above 3 and mash them up and spit it out as the LUMIX S-RF camera. I wish…

That's about the sum of it and I'm not sure if it's going to be a total flop, but The Internet is moaning about the f4 and the lack of IBIS. A lot of those moaning are actual prospective punters who now won't be. And there will be quite a few others who will buy one...and then sell it very quickly and then make a video about why. The used market by the end of this year will have them under 4k and then I reckon before the end of next year, below 3k. Take away the looks (not to everyone's taste), the size and the 100mp sensor (which many did not actually want and would have preferred a 50mp one with better low light), and what have you actually got and who is your market? I think this one was a bit of a punt on Fujis part and I think they haven't got it right. I reckon (but what do I know), that they should have gone with this body style, but NOT made it a fixed lens camera but instead brought out 3x pancake(ish) lenses at least f3.2, such as a 40mm, a 65mm and a 90mm., ie, made it the worlds best compact MF system. Or at least launched it with a wide and tele converter as with the X100. It will still be interesting to know if the X100 jobs will work but so far no one seems to have tested or reported that, that I can find. They should have compromised on the price then. For someone prepared to spend 5k on one of these, it's not that big a leap to 5.5 or even 6k. And if it had to be a tiny bit bigger, who cares? I think it's great that companies at least are willing to push things a bit, but IMO, they aren't pushing enough or just falling short in various niggling, but fundamental areas. Sigma fell way shorter than they might have done with their FP and FP-L, - so close yet so far... The new BF will be the next TikTok camera as those folks dump their X100vi's. The Sony A7Cii and R. S9, S1Rii launches and niggles. Now the RF. All close, but no cigar for me. And it goes without saying no camera is going to be The Perfect camera for all people, all of the time, but surely, when all the various components exist over 5-6 manufacturers, what will it take for just one of them to say, "hey I know, why don't we cherrypick the best bits of the best cameras out there and make The Uber camera?". It's not like the tech doesn't exist! How hard can it be? Very, it seems...

I think somewhat sadly you are correct. I don't think it's a bad lens as such, but rather for my needs, won't cut it. I really do want that 'one & done' relatively compact, fixed lens, probably medium format, camera...but it doesn't quite exist yet. For me. f2.8 and we might have been talking... 50mm AND 2.8 and we'd have been in, because it would then have been more like a 35mm f2 in FF speak. I'm not really sure why the lens has to be so slow? Well it's not that slow, but too slow for me realistically and from my experience, f4 doesn't cut it indoors after dark. Not without flash and that would mean going back to a totally different way of working and I'm not changing what I do in order to force a camera to try and meet my needs. Look around and there are quite a few FF 28/35/40mm FF lenses f2 and faster that are no bigger. I compared the new RF with the Leica Q3 today and decided that although I preferred the RF as a concept, in reality the Q3 would suit my needs better. And the Q3 43 even more so most of the time...but then I would now be limited by not being able to shoot wider than 43mm. The reality is that at over 5k each, I'd have to be nuts to use any of these as my only camera. Sony A7CR could be considered a competitor for the Q3/43 being about the same size and having the same sensor except it's so flawed to me, I wouldn't have one...because I compared that with the A7RV and within mere nanoseconds came to the conclusion that the A7RV was the most perfect camera for my (stills needs) and the A7CR fell way short. And still is. Yes, it's a little big bigger, but there isn't another high MP camera that's any smaller other than the Sigma FP-L and by comparison, that has even more flaws than the A7CR, so that's a nope. And what's better than a used A7RV? A pair of A7RV's! I'm going to sleep on that proposition for a couple of weeks, but it's viable. Very viable. Trade the Zf and the 40mm plus 3x Tamron zooms for another used A7RV and pick up 4 used compact i-series Sigma primes. Zero availability issues with any of this stuff. It's not 'one and done' but 2+4 (which kind of equals 6?) but it's the closest real world I can get to the new RF without keeping a zoom in the mix. It's really '2 & done' because I'd use one set of lenses indoors and the other set out, ie, 20 + 65 in and 35 + 90 out, plus use crop mode on the 90 if I wanted something longer. And if I did keep a zoom in the mix and wanted to stick with 'one & done', I'd struggle to see past the A7RV with the excellent Tamron G2 28-75mm which is my current workhorse because I can shoot that thing at 61mp FF or 26mp cropped with a range of 28-110mm...which is almost double the RF, with more megapixies, albeit at a bit of size & weight. Basically, all day today, I have been trying to find a way to make the RF a reality and the closest I got was pairing it with an XM5 + Sirui Aurora 85mm f1.4 (so like a FF 125/130mm) for all the longer stuff and some small fast lens for darker indoor environments. And it could work...but then I was back to 2 cameras and lens swaps on one of them and did that make any more sense than 2x A7RV's plus 4 primes, because it's actually only 1 more lens than the Fuji option, about the same overall cost, but arguably the Sony option offers a higher quality output ALL of the time and not just see of the time. Here endeth my day: The twin Fuji option looks the least likely of the 3 options I have been pondering. The safest one is stick with my current set up of A7RV + 3x compact zooms + Zf with 40mm. The kind of 'between the two' options is the 2x A7RV + 4 primes. I'm very happy with my current set up. I stand by that and am not looking to change ANYTHING unless it actually makes sense. Could I make something work? Of course. There are many options I could make work, but as above, change for change sake does not interest me. So sorry RF, maybe one day, but sadly I can't make a good enough case for you 😏

I haven’t slept on it, but I’m going to have to pass at this time. Love both the concept and the execution, but I think I’d need a lens more like that on the Leica Q3 43 for my needs to make it workable. I really would like a fast(ish) fixed prime or short zoom, relatively lightweight compact but for my needs, at this time, it does not exist. I have my benchmark for my stills needs and it’s still the A7RV and as things stand, for my specific use case, it’s still unbeatable. I won’t bore you with why or try and justify it and it might not be as cool, but ultimately, this stuff is a tool first and any fun and sexiness have to come second. Sadly 😏

Is it a full frame camera though as all the chatter seems to be about a crop sensor?

Interesting… Fairly soon, I need to invest in a few small light primes, specifically for full frame 6k video for my S9. Sirui might just be a little too late to the party however because I am looking at the Lumix 18, 50 and 85 which can all be had at decent used prices and are actually available. I hate mixing brands for this kind of thing and if they were launching a trio of maybe 24/50/85, I might have been more interested, but with only an 85 announced…

It's very good. OK, it's a bit plastic fantastic, but otherwise does the business I need it to do which is to make my Zf a fixed lens walkabout

Also, there is digital stab for video it seems but not the crop mode.

If it is, then 🥰 I've watched a couple of early reviews now... Jonas Rask, who produces great photography work, has a TERRIBLE piece on t'internet. Looks like it was all shot with an IG filter as one commentator mentioned. I agree. It was also very boring. And then Gordon, good old Gordon, gave it to us straight and in his usual methodical, drama free, presentation...and now I need to find some funds, a pre-order button for France and work out the rest of what I am going to do.

I'd be interested! I was very interested in the A7CR except for the not so great rear screen and a couple of other things so went with the A7RV which IMO, other than size and form factor, is quite a big step up. Especially as the A7RV with a trio of compact zooms is my main stills camera with a sidekick Nikon Zf with 40mm f2. I love my Zf and use it as a fixed lens camera, but it's not that compact and something like an RX1R, but preferably more modern, would be able to better pairing. Maybe I should actually go and look up used RX1R's myself...

All I have ever wanted really was a medium format/or high MP 'X100' as a 'one & done'. I've looked at other options such as my A7RV with a compact zoom and it's kind of in the ball park, but not quite. It's always the longer end I'm going to struggle with, but actually something like my A7RV with 28-75mm gives me a full frame + APSC crop focal range of 28-110mm and using 61-26mp. The GFX100 by comparison using FF terms is 28-63mm (using it's crop function) albeit with more MP at the wide end (which I don't care about that much) but less at the far shorter long end, but in a lighter, more compact and waaaaaaaay more sexier unit. But slightly less DOF.

All true. How is easy is it to flip between photo and video mode though? Slightly rhetorical question I will look up myself...

Is it a ‘video camera’ though? I’d argue not. I wouldn’t even call it a hybrid but rather a photo-centric camera that can do a bit of 4k if you really didn’t have anything else with you. But no one in their right mind would get one of these for their video kicks. Surely? The lack of IBIS for one thing… For stills though, one of the best bits of it for me is leaf shutter. That pretty much eliminates any need for IBIS or OIS other than in some extreme use case. I think I will go watch a few videos…

It's all happening, everywhere, all at once. It's like a Daniel Kwan movie title out there in Cameraland right now...

Stop it!

Siblings actually and their names are SonyA7RV and NikonZf 🤪 OK, not quite for sale just yet... First of all, yes, I think I *need* this camera, but also it cannot be in addition to anything else and I need something else for the longer stuff and that also probably needs to be Fuji. Second, availability date is too close to my first job of the year and I'd need to trade a few things for it which I can't risk at such a critical time and it would involve MPB and umm, yes, MPB, let's not discuss that any further here! Third, although I think it looks FAB-U-LOUS and the size & weight are just bonkers, - it's basically the same weight WITH it's built in lens as my 24mp Zf WITHOUT a lens. Or grip. It's smaller and lighter than most of the more pro X cameras which is also a bit nuts considering that 102mp sensor. Fourth, that lens. Aesthetically looks great, but still f4 for light gathering if f3.2 for DOF wide open which...not 100% convinced at this time, especially when I can put the f2 Sigmas on a pair of A7RV's and arguably have a better set up and system with far greater focal range, greater DOF and probably better AF, but... It looks stunning though and I am 👏 Fuji.

I now have a child for sale.

If the other news is a focal length increasing adapter for the new RF a la X100, it will get a whole load more interesting for me… Anyone have a spare granny I could sell because mine are gone and I’d rather keep my kidneys. Going for a run. When I come back, I want solid info!