MrSMW

I don’t know about ‘always’ because 5 years vs 50 years vs 5000 years… But for the foreseeable future as in our lifespans, changes because there is always change, but probably not to the extent that some think. I believe this to be the case because although ‘progress’ continues to accelerate, there is only so much we can take, ie, it cannot simply increase exponentially. And then there is retro/analogue or whatever we wish to call it, but even that gets updated because to some, ‘retro’ is stuff from just a few years back which others of us, might think of as not far off being current. So AI I think will continue to play a part and increasingly so, but at the same time, I don’t think the sky is falling in. Well not completely. Or at least for some time yet… Please not if there is a god, until I’m done. Thanks. If you exist and are listening/read comments on this forum. And if you truly are omnipotent, you surely do? Or have someone do? Because you must because just reading that volume of shit on YouTube comments must take up a heck of an amount of time. Appreciate it.

A bit of a blunder to say the least, but more so trying to convince us a manual focus only f8 lens was something that has been demanded. Maybe on Planet Thargon 9, but not on this one. L Mount has some really great primes but is really lacking in compact full frame fast zooms, mainly at the longer end. The case for this thing though is are you invested in the Sony ecosystem or the Lumix one, or starting from scratch? If L Mount, of course you would not much care but otherwise, you might very well give it a go. Plus also, if we're being 'fair', the S9 is full frame and this Sony isn't, so if you stick the Sigma APSC 18-50mm f2.8 on it (the S9), it puts things back in favour of the S9 for me. That Sigma lens also works on the Sony. Decent release I'd say. I'm waiting for my S9 however 😉

I’m from the future and know so.

Real world, I agree and that there probably isn't much in it. I can see a difference though between the Zf/Z6III and the A7RV. I am talking stills here as I said above. I use Lumix for video so this is purely stills. And good news (for anyone that is interested!) and that is the A7RV passed and is now my 'Z6III'. DR-wise, compared with the Nikon's, there is a noticeable increase. We're not talking massive margins because there aren't any, but noticeable. Image quality-wise, barely anything, but it's there. I had ZERO issue with what the Nikon's were providing in this regard and again, as above, I was looking to get the minimum capability spec-wise of the Zf but in a more ergo friendly body. Colour science? I'd give that to the Nikon's. SOOC they are just 'better' than the Sony. In post, the Sony files look great, but just need more work and even then, ultimately, I'd say are about 95% of the Nikon files 'colour quality-wise'. AF is a step up over the Nikon's. The Z6II easily but also the Zf and that was to be expected. My keeper rate went up by quite a bit and any misses were pretty much me getting to grips with how the Sony AF system works. Low-light is a win for the Nikon's, the Zf particularly. I expected this and may need to get one more lens with a faster aperture for lower light stuff as f/2.8 is fine with those 24mp Nikons but less so with the 61mp Sony. Ergos, the Zf is not great and the Z6II marginally better than the A7RV with base plate, but all factors considered, the A7RV with the base plate is about as 'perfect' as I am going to get for my needs balancing; weight, size, ergos. Finally, it uses my 3x Tamron lenses natively which is a good thing. Performance of them adapted on the Nikon's was pretty good, but a few lens correction issues were a bit of a nuisance. Conclusion, would I swap it for a Z6III? No...but it would not bother me if it was forced on me as the differences would be marginal, real world and that is probably the most important aspect in all these things, ie, not the on paper specs, or anyone's tests, or any other factor other than how does the thing work for you. The only issue I'd have with the Z6III is my 3x lenses not being native and that is the single biggest factor and were they, would swing it for me back to the Nikon. But as has always been my issue my preferred glass never seems to quite match my preferred bodies!! 🤪

Well the Sony A7RV gets to stay. For now at least... It was always going to be a close cal between it and the new Z6III but I think I made the right choice. Had a pretty poor first shoot experience with it the other week when it got dropped and the Tamron 28-75 was sheared off it's mount and then shooting medium raw which 'everyone' recommends turned out to be shit. All medium raw did, other than saving some storage space and make the files slightly slower to process, was remove colour & detail and caused an utter trash low light result. Don't believe everything you read on the internets... OK, 61mp uncompressed raw is overkill for about 90% of my work but there isn't another combination of body & lenses, this compact & light, with this kind of performance. DR is higher than anything I have previously used and that is a big thumbs up. Low light capability on my most recent shoot was a concern after the previous week as these higher MP cameras are not renowned for being low-light monsters, but actually, it passed muster on the basis of using DXO PureRaw which I always use anyway. I would however like a faster lens than f/2.8 for lower light stuff and though it's a brute, that new Sigma 28-45mm f/1.8 is looking mighty tempting for this purpose... Please please please Sigma, make a sibling to it such as say a 45-90mm f/1.8 and I'm set for the rest of my career. No S9 yet, - that won't be here until towards the end of the month, but the Lumix set up are not any kind of concern as they just do the business.

Hmmm, seen a couple of reports now that DR at base ISO is quite a bit lower than the previous gen sensor Zf/Z6II. This is a bit disappointing because until fairly recently, I had only one interest in the Z6III and that is it would essentially take the capability of the Zf but host it in a Z6 style body. Catches up by around 640/800 ISO or thereabouts I believe which is at least something. Any video capability was secondary to me and for my stills needs, it's gone backwards... Yes, I wanted better/faster AF, one of my criticisms of the Z6II is that it's slooooooow compared with the Zf, but the handling of the Zf is terrible next to the Z6 style body. And when a battery grip is involved, that gap increases still further. As an out and out 'sports' camera, sure, things have improved, but image quality, of which DR is a HUGE component for me, has gone backwards. Which is partly why I went to Sony and an A7RV for my stills needs. But having said that, my first job with the Sony did not go so well and after some modifications, I'm interested to see how this second job has gone. Downloading it right now and it will be make or break for this camera. If it's the latter, then I'm not sure what I will do because if the Sony is not what I needed it to be and if the Z6III possibly is not the answer I hoped it would be, so maybe the Z8 or Z9 are possibilities... We just seem to keep making a step forward and then having to also take a step back! For my needs anyway.

Priority 3, actually going out and shooting instead of staying home agonizing over which camera to buy…and then “I’m gonna hold off” for the next generation despite the latest and greatest just being launched because some random YouTuber who also couldn’t get out of their bedroom, said something about a camera they did not understand. The amount of spreadsheet procrastination some folks have… Of course, this does not happen with anyone here 😂

And in most cases, most of the time, that’s a fact. Unless you absolutely must have 120fps in 8k full frame, then yup, ‘everything else’.

I just like one camera, one lens, no bag, no choices or indecision. I love a fixed lens P&S for this very purpose but they have limitations such as “is that Mt Fuji in the background or an anthill?”

That’s me, but actually it’s considered. For video, because my cameras do not have an OLPF (except the S1H which is being replaced) I find that a 1/8th mist is quite subtle and takes off that digital edge whilst helping reduce or eliminate any moiré. For stills, the 1/8th Bloom Golds just reduce the overall contrast a little and again take off that digital edge and make the resulting files that little bit more ‘filmic’ SOOC. For me, it’s about doing more in camera in order that I have the best/a better and consistent starting point when it comes to editing. Could you spot it? Probably in lower light shots when there are visible light sources such as lamps or strings of lights etc, because there is some inevitable (and wanted) diffusion going on. But only nerds like us would spot it and my clients would simply ‘like the images’ but not be able to technically break down as to why.

It’s easily done when packing for such things.

Nah, you take whatever you want as we all do. Me, P&S at most…but it depends on the trip I guess. I’d like to go to Japan and as I am fairly sure Lumix won’t be inviting me to any camera launches, I’ll have to go at my own expense and won’t get a free camera. For such a trip, I would take something with an interchangeable lens and my perfect combo for that would be an OM-1 with the 12-40mm f2.8 so real world FF equivalent of 24-80. That’s my ideal ‘proper’ travel camera set up.

His family.

Interesting… First thing I noticed when switching from Nikon to Sony was the increase in noise. Really ugly noise too! And the opposite of you in that I do not de-noise video! These Sony files though… Even the medium raw which are supposed to be better than full uncompressed 61mp raw are supposed to be better, but I thought them horrendous. Actually shocked at how bad they are. Talking stills here. Unless I am missing something but I can see it from 1600 and it just gets worse and the max I shoot is 12800. Hmmm….

Freewell VND 1/8th mist at all times for video. Bloom Gold 1/8th stills.

I know. I like to sail hard against the wind.

Absofuckinglutely. I see what others get out of the S5II and it’s always a case of ‘must work harder’ (an ongoing lifetime project) and never a case of ‘I need a better camera’. A smaller one. A lighter one. One with better (actual) IBIS, or AF that is reliable, all valid reasons to be looking elsewhere, but if it’s simply a case of your work looks a bit cack next to A.N. Others output, well that’s on us.

Not as far as I am aware. I use DXO PureRaw on raw stills files. Video software is available such as Neat but I have never used it myself and haven’t experienced any issues with video noise. Possibly because in lower light of after dark, I light everything…

Or DXO or Topaz. I run everything through DXO these days. 1000 files is about an hour while I walk the dogs. Then when I am back, I import the DNG files into LR with my import preset and hand edit from there on in, but noise is a potential issue that has already been solved.

For now, I’d agree. But these things always get leapfrogged and when the next gen Lumix and Sony appear… But today, if I was going out shopping for my needs from scratch and had the necessary bag, I’d go with an all Z6III lineup for sure. If I was invested as I am in 75% L Mount, I’d be very interested to see what they do next as ideally, I’d like to be 100% within a single system. What stops me currently, cost aside? Lenses. For my needs, Canon has it, Sony has it, Nikon has it, Fuji has it…basically everyone except L Mount. What is missing for me are 2 things: Thing 1, the actual deal-breaker; no long fast zoom under 1kg. That happens any time, I’m in for good. Thing 2, a ‘current’ camera from Lumix that is fantastic for stills. I hate the shutter feel and sound on the S5II and for me it’s a deal breaker for stills use, hence why I am currently with Sony. When a replacement for either the S1R or S1H appears, we’re covered, but Thing 1 still applies. So for me, L Mount is one lens and one body away from being perfect. The body will happen within 6 months, I am pretty sure. The lens though is a massive issue for me and one I have wrestled with for the last 3 seasons.

Yep, but then most other brands also have this? My Sony does and my Nikon’s do. But that is how I work with an outdoor setting, an indoor setting and a low light setting. 3 is a magic number.

Kinda…but not really. Nikon has: Zf, Z6III, Z8, Z9 L Mount has: the super expensive Leica SL3, the old and lacking in so many ways, FP pairing from Sigma and Lumix has the S5II/X. Plus the soon to be replaced S1 line with the S1R long since out of production and the others, what 5+ years old now? Now if we’re talking end of this year or next, then yes, with what will probably be a new S1 line (or single camera at least), I think the balance might be addressed. But until then… And don’t get me wrong, I am an L Mount user (3 of my 4 working cameras), but the S5II/X is really the only current ‘pro’ camera that could arguably be recommended. New Z6III over an S5II? Maybe. Not really looked at it other than for stills and for that, easily a Nikon win for me. And I haven’t included the Lumix S9 as it’s a toy camera only a complete muppet of a pro would use…which is why I have one on preorder and should be my main workhorse by the end of this month 😉 Horses for courses and all that and I don’t know your needs, but blank slate, I’d go Nikon for my needs right now. But as I don’t have a blank slate and have to write my own checks, a 75% Lumix, 25% Sony mix it is. Unless the Sony fails to deliver this weekend and then that 25% will revert back to Nikon…

Neither have I, so should test that really… But then I hate changing settings because inevitably I forget to change them back! WB is often one such thing… 🤪

I need to watch it again. I watched it on the laptop with the missus but I think it deserves another viewing on the 52” 4k TV screen. Maybe this Winter as I have too much on this time of year…

You could just imagine Lindybeige, in a pub, on his own, having a good old chat with himself. About anything.