MrSMW

Yup. They were my favourite for primes, but I preferred various recent Tamron's for zoom stuff, notably my current trinity of 20-40, 28-75 and 70-180. But this year, Sigma moved the game on with their 28-45 f1.8 and 28-105 2.8 and all that's 'missing' for me with them right now is a longer sibling to that 28-45. I've said it before and will say it again, - if they make something like a 45-90 or 50-100, also f1.8 and internal zoom, I'm done! As it is, I'm getting the 28-45 and 28-105 for next season as they just make complete sense for my needs. Plus, yes, I also love their philosophy and family run nature.

Possibly the less than stellar IBIS and AF, but even back in my Fuji days ending with XT3 for stills and XH1 with adapted Canon lens, I found both to be OK. Not great, but OK and it’s come a long way since with more recent models. I could EASILY shoot a GFX stills unit plus a pair of XH2’s for video. But just as easily an all Nikon set up based around a Z8 for stills and pair of Z6iii’s for video. Or an all Canon set up of R5ii stills plus a pair of R6ii’s for video. So many great options these days. For my needs anyway, but just 2 years ago, I did struggle to suit my specific needs, but knowing it was so close…

🙄

Because Lumix are far from being my favourite as a company. They have made some stuff, the timing of which suited me, but then continue to frustrate re. the future. I don't much care for Sony as a brand either, but hey, guess what? I shoot Lumix and Sony 🤪 I've never really bought anything much simply because of the badge or because how popular something might be.

Oh yes. XS-20 then!

I'd say S1H over S5 as it's SO much more camera and though not as cheap on the used market, an absolute steal now. I have to give the nod to the S5ii as I said above however, due to AF, but that's about it. Re. the FX3 and 30, thought about them several times and they look visually so much better than the generic Lumix black boxes, but then when I look at the spec etc, Lumix just beats them for me. The lenses I think are now there and it came good in 2024. This year brought at the very least: Samyang 35-150 f2/2.8 Sigma 50 f1.2 Sigma 28-45 f1.8 Sigma 28-105 f2.8 A number of compact cine primes I think Panasonic would be utterly mad to not replace the S1 line. But on that, we will have to wait and see...

I would have to split my choice into 4 categories and include lens options in the mix. Group 01 = 'Real World Fantasy' as in if I had the money, but also had to actually use the things for work. For stills, an easy one for me; a pair of Hasselblad X2D's each with a prime. For video, until/unless an S2H appears, honestly, I can't see past the Lumix S5ii. Maybe the Burano paired with another smaller Sony, but I don't know enough about it really as it's so far beyond my pay grade and probably too big anyway. Group 02 = my 'Real World' as in what I have/can afford/choose to use. For stills, Sony A7RV with Tamron trio: 20-40 f2.8, 28-75 f2.8, 70-180 f2.8, for the range, size, weight, performance, price. I will be almost certainly replacing the 28-75 f2.8 with the new 28-70 f2 for next year as the only slight weakness this year has been lower light work within that focal length. I did briefly consider the even faster Sigma 50mm f1.2, but the focal length limited it. For video, Lumix S5ii. As above with my 'fantasy' list, I just can't see beyond it at this time for my needs. I prefer the S1H body and its outright image quality, but it lacks certain features I need. Also as above, if a new 'S2H' comes out that is essentially the old S1H body updated and with equal or better than S5ii spec, it's a no-brainer as my primary, but as things stand, does not exist. Lenses = all Sigma: 20 f2, 28-45 f1.8, 28-105 f2.8, 70-200 f4 which cover all my bases perfectly. Group 03 = 'Honourable Mentions'. Stills camera for primes under 500g, Nikon Zf. That thing is superb...until you add longer/bigger lenses on it. Z6III looks a stellar hybrid unit and the fact that you can easily adapt e Mount lenses... I love the form factor or the OM-1 and those chunky little M4/3 zooms and primes. All things Fuji. Fuji are probably my favourite outright brand despite me having dropped them 3 years ago. Sigma 1 for lenses, Tamron 2. Group 04 = 'One & Done'. If I had to choose just one single body and one single lens and it had to do everything; stills & video, work & personal, absolute no-brainer, my Sony A7RV with Tamron 28-75mm f2.8. The combo of; size, weight, capability/performance/cost, - as a 'one & done', I could do anything with this set up. Summary, the 3 most important factors for me (beyond certain basic minimum specs such as decent IBIS, twin card slots, 6k 30p) are: Lens ranges with minimal swaps when on a job. Low light capability. Realistic minimal size & weight.

So this has got me thinking, what if Vimeo fold? I am not bothered about anything on-line older than say 3 years, but that is still something like 100 productions and video is 50% of my business as in if Vimeo disappeared overnight, so would 50% of the content of my website. What are the alternatives? I suppose I could start using YouTube over Vimeo as they are the least likely to disappear but do they offer a similar hosting and download (for clients) facility? No one finds me from Vimeo so it is not a marketing platform for me, but YouTube might be? Or what other hosting/client download options are there? My Squarespace site seems to like Vimeo and YouTube as it’s primary/default options.

I'm just a peasant with a used 13 Pro 🤔

There’s a lot of criticism of Vimeo and to be fair, a lot of it is valid, but playing devils advocate… I have over 750+ videos hosted with them. I use it as an on-line storage and download facility both to host videos on my website and for clients to download. Having an upload issue the other day, I went to delete it and err, oops, deleted the most recent 38 client uploads. After some horrified research (I do not have a great connection and a 10 minute 4k production is an overnight job and it can fail several nights in a row) I found out they could restore the most recent 25. I had a chat with them and within 24 hours they restored all 38 with no quibble. The thought of having to re-upload 38 videos with all the fails would be like 2 months for me to re-do manually 🤬 So fair play to them.

Just about to say the same, ie, XM5 + used Sigma 18-50 (27-75) f2.8

I’m going to throw another type of hat into this ring and ask have you ever considered shooting faux-anamorphic? That is use a slightly wider lens and use an in camera crop. Or rather crop markers. Few cameras offer this feature, stills or video. Lumix and Fuji do. I can’t remember the Fuji crop markers, but with Lumix you can set up to 2.39:1. With stills, Xpan mode; 65 x 24! I wish Sony and my A7RV had this but it doesn’t so I am making an LCD overlay for this very purpose. OK it’s ONLY a visual framing guide, but if shooting 6k OG, a great starting point to that wide angle anamorphic look, but without the flares (hate them), warped lines (hate them), blurry corners (hate them) etc, all whilst maintaining the smallest unrigged package with the best AF/IBIS, ie, for non-pro filmmakers who are not shooting a moovie or ad for Coca Cola. Hello S5ii. You can ‘black out’ the negative space 25, 50, 75 or 100% At this point in time, it’s almost certainly my direction in 2025. I’ve been shooting 6k 3:2 all year and cropping in post to phone favourite 16:9 but I want a bit more drama for 2025 productions in the width department and shooting anamorphic for me has too many compromises. Not decided on an actual crop yet and waiting for my 3 new lenses to arrive so I can properly play… 20mm f2 replacing 20-60 f3.5-5.6 28-45 f1.8 replacing 28-70 f2.8 28-105 f2.8 replacing 70-200 f4 ^Brings mostly at least a 1 stop lower light capability with a bit of an emphasis on wider end flexibility over actual reach^ I am probably going to end up shooting with frame markers and then actual crop to CinemaScope 21:9 which I think is a nice balance of wide without being too extreme…

I believe you can as long as you don’t claim it’s by either of them. Easy to copy these two as they were a bit shit.

Actually, that's true and forgot about those... OK, on a GH7 I could run that set up...but not over an S5ii set up which is what I have now. 'Sideways' I guess it would be but probably not backwards!

You can make a case for either. Up until this year, I was in the 4k 50p camp, more for the slow mo than anything. This year I switched to 6k 30p for the open gate ability to both punch in and crop vertically for social media in post. Also, because it claws back a stop of light in dimmer conditions, plus there is a resolution/detail bonus which IMO is noticeable at normal viewing resolutions. 6k 30p just looks 'nicer' to my eye and as I don't slow anything by more than 20 or 25% these days, shooting at 50p isn't a necessity for me anymore. Actually, for longer form stuff, I drop down from the 6k 30p OG because of the 30 min recording limit, but for everything else, I think it's a nice sweet spot. I definitely could not go back to 4/3 because I shoot a lot of low light stuff and would need like f1.4 or faster lenses to get parity and those kind of zooms do not exist.

I’ve limited experience of shooting Sony for video, but based on the specs alone, without real pro level grading as in folks that do that and only that for a living…and considering the value aspect, the S5ii is crazy good. It’s got open gate 6k, anamorphic de-squeeze, the best IBIS in full frame and while many say the image is not quite as good as that of the OG S5 or the S1H, I’d say there is so little in it, it’s not a consideration and something only noticeable if shot side by side with everything identical. And then pixel-peeped etc. Will there be that S2H? Maybe, if so, bonus but if someone can’t make an S5ii work for them, it probably isn’t the tool’s fault.

After running a 4 camera system this year, 3 for video and 1 for stills, I am going back to a 2 for video and 1 for stills in 2025. My pair of static S5ii’s each had a 20-60 with a single 70-200 f4 option. I’m changing that to a single S5ii with the 28-70 from my run & gun unit which I have found too short this year shooting 6k 30p OG compared with 4k 60p cropped last year. That single S5ii unit will have the option of a 20-60 and the 70-200 as required. For my run & gun S5ii, I’m going to pick up the new Sigma 28-105 f2.8 because as above, 70 is often too short plus I don’t really want to ever be swapping lenses on this unit. It’s a slightly bigger lens than I’d ideally like, but still just within my self-imposed 1kg max weight limit and I wish it was internal zooming, but there is no better existing alternative for my needs. I say ‘existing’ because I am still hoping Sigma will pop out a longer version of their recent 28-45mm f1.8 such as a 45-90mm f1.8. If they do that, that is an end game pairing for me and I will immediately switch to that pairing for my run & gun video needs and also another pair in e Mount for my stills needs. Perfect…and I mean PERFECT focal lengths for my needs, internal zooming, size & weight OK. But as things stand, I cannot justify the 28-45 without that other lens 😏

It is which is why I am selling/sold one and keeping the other, though that remaining one is moving into a more occasionally used role as it was actually the longer end I was mostly using them at. And a bit short as a result! So I am having a lens jiggle around for next year by adding in something…

Message me!

If anyone wishes to buy one for a very reasonable price, I have a spare 20-60. A battery grip also. About to offload some kit to MPB. EU only!

Or a small lightweight gimbal.

It doesn’t surprise me at all. I could easily get 30+ minutes out of a Sony ZV1 as long as it was not in direct sunlight. Made for a reasonably decent little static B cam. Ultimately not long enough on a few occasions, partly overheating and partly battery life. So the S9 running longer does not surprise me, but I would not rely on that for pro work beyond a point. IMO it’s better role is as a B or C cam for shorter clips.

Something that just recently occurred to me is this 43mm focal length. I'm probably going to pick up the Viltrox 28mm f1.8 in e Mount next year (or the Sigma 28-45mm f1.8, maybe...) and in crop mode on the A7RV, it's 42.3mm so basically exactly the same as this magical 43mm, ie, I can shoot this lens just like having a Q2 and a Q3, but in a single body. OK, it's 26mp at '43mm' but that's still a fraction higher res than your typical 24mp full frame camera. I just tried at my last gig of the year, flicking to crop mode for some extra reach and can't really notice any loss of anything much compared with shooting full frame. So why bother shooting full frame at all then? Crop mode on a high MP full frame sensor just opens up an extra 50% of range. That works for me. Big fan of high MP cameras for stills!

The S9 is not a ‘pro’ camera. It can be used in a professional capacity by a professional user, but no way is it aimed for such. It’s more a ‘high end interchangeable lens compact’ really. Yes you can stick a big cine or tele lens on it, but it would be so compromised as a result, why would you?

This external fan thing is a bit of a nonsense. It’s like raging because the Golf GTI is not as fast as a Porsche 911 GT3. Well doh! Like everything in this world, the less you spend, the less you get and the lowest priced things cannot be expected to compete with the highest priced stuff! My rule of thumb is that most things can be competitive with most things one class up or one class down, but two classes different is too much. So an example in Cameraland, might be X-M5 vs S9 vs S5iii. The X-M5 is competitive with the S9 and there are pros and cons to each, but other than size & weight (which is a whole different thing), the X-M5 is not competitive with the S5ii. S5ii vs Komodo vs Arri… There are levels.