MrSMW

Bit the bullet and ordered a 145 euro field monitor off Amazon, the Portkeys PT5ii. Comes with a decent screen shade and has pretty decent reviews and is one of the smallest & lightest 5” monitors available. Got to be better than a 3” rear LCD hasn’t it? All it has to do is give me a clear almost 2x size image with my preview LUT and we’re good. We’ll see how the screen shade works in super-bright sunlight but I don’t tend to shoot with the sun behind my back so should be OK right?

Indeed. I think I am personally relatively safe but otherwise there is always flux in most industries and as long as you spend sufficient time and effort on the medium and long term, you should be generally fine. What seems increasingly to be the case is the focus on short term gain. Plenty of folks I come across selling their granny for a small ‘one off’ pay day whilst rejecting anything longer term. I won’t bore you with the details, but just recently I had the situation where a colleague chose 500 euros over a career length full-time situation…just out of sheer short-sightedness. As has always been the case since man stopped fighting the dinosaurs, just because someone is in business does not mean they are good at business. Most people I find are utterly terrible at business and exist more because there is a market demand rather than any business skills.

I just went to Specsavers, had an eye test, chose some rims and have carried on that pattern for the last few years. Varifocals took some getting used to (as in days) but otherwise just seemed pretty normal after that. Varifocals for driving and watching TV, doing general stuff plus photo/video. Reading glasses for editing. Rest of the time, out and about etc, my eyesight is still good enough!

If it's any consolation folks, I suspect in the not too distant future, many of those YouTuber's are going to feel some heat themselves... I think it's a 'temporary madness', this, "I've been in the photography/video industry 5 minutes but I'm jacking it all in and burning all my bridges to follow my dream of becoming a YouTube influencer". They are already complaining about revenues drying up and as even more jump on the bandwagon... Same as so many of our colleagues who jacked in proper paying jobs to become 'part-time workshop trainers for full-time incomes'. How's that now working for you? So many have packed it in and left the industry as that market rapidly dried up due to free YouTube 'education' and they could not face going back cap in hand to venues or planners saying, "err, actually I am available for weddings again". YouTube for the majority I am pretty sure is heading in that direction. Maybe they can leap over to TikTok because surely having to only make 3 second productions, that's going to be an easy life and you will soon not only be rolling in it, but loved by 10 billion fellow shallow fuckwits. Or maybe I'm just also an old goat. Baaaa 😚

A little trick I use is my external SSD's (which I work off with my MacBook) sit on my glass desk when in use and as a result, don't get too hot.

Which is also why I think I am pretty safe being in the wedding industry for the next decade until I retire. It really would require something like a Nexus 6 to replicate what we do!

Met an ‘olde schoole’ DJ at a wedding the other day who mixed the various latest tech in lighting (reactive to the music?) but only spinning vinyl. AI can’t replace this guy. You’d need a Nexus 6. Or 5 a least… He’s set up in a tent on the afternoon taking requests (you go through his boxes of discs and pick stuff) and he then mixes it and twiddles knobs and dances along etc… In the evening, it’s a different location indoors and he’s spent several hours setting up his lighting not behind him as ‘all’ DJ’s do, but throughout the entire room. If you want to protect your career, then carve a niche that is hard to replicate and basically impossible to do!

Seriously? Well it seems so… No idea who this fella is but if I subscribed to this fella I would immediately unsubscribe because that kind of statement is beyond dumb.

Not great and getting worse every year. Glasses wearer; varifocals for every day/work and reading glasses for editing. Ideally I’d like laser at some point but not happening any time soon. Lower light especially it really begins to deteriorate… I am actually debating right now whether to go with the weight of a small monitoring screen for my principle video (S5ii) unit just because of this. Never been a fan of rigging stuff out too much as a hybrid shooter but right now, I am more back in the camp of using my 3 units as: Static/gimbal pure video Roaming video Stills plus occasional video So having the biggest, brightest and most detailed rear LCD is quite important to me, mainly for the MF video side of things.

Could be interesting with the Tilta fan jobbie for heavier video use…but then begs the question why not just FX3?…but 12mp. But these things are intended more for photo use with video capability rather than true hybrids. I’m still on the fence between having hybrid units and dedicated units. Some days I’m a fan of having it all on one, but others happier having one thing in one hand and then switching to another unit rather than flipping a switch.

Good man. It’s great to see charity still exists 😉 Otherwise, I have my fingers and toes crossed that Lumix pull one out. The photographer purist in me would ideally like a Leica, but let’s be honest, the equivalent Lumix does something like 99-120% for less than 50% the price, so realistically, my Leica will be a Lumix. So right now, I have a pair of S5ii’s. They are near perfect for my needs other than in 2 areas… Cropped 50p in 4k and no 50p 6k. Shutter sound. It’s not damped like my beloved S1H and as 50% of my work is photo, that of the S5ii makes me wince. S1H is ergonomically perfect IMO and for my needs, simply lacks uncropped open gate 6k 50p. Give me that and I’m done. There isn’t anything else I want or need other than if it was a bit lighter, I would not complain. Rival? I’d struggle to see past a Z8 but I’d like to see Sigma bring out a sequel to the FP/FP-L because potentially they have the most interesting camera of all time there if they got that right…

Open Gate for sure. I have been using 6k 30p up until the last few weeks for this very reason, the ability to produce 2 productions from the same result. Just one being sub 1.5 minutes and 9:16. Having the full sensor height and using a 9:16 overlay when shooting was perfect…except being in a PAL region and being a fairly heavy slo mo shooter, shooting 30p has been a big compromise. Too big a compromise so I have gone back to shooting cropped 4k 50p which fixes my slo mo issue, but reduces my ability to produce that second social media production a bit… I’m looking forward to shooting that next gen of camera next year whoever it is with, but the Z8 has to be the strongest contender for me right now based on what exists.

Another disappointing (to me) rear LCD resolution. Dealbreaker? Not sure but as someone who exclusively works off the rear LCD for stills and video, it’s something of importance to me. The original camera intrigued me though being something of a fan of the rangefinderesque styling and this/these new one’s may be of interest…

Nice footage and grade, but it’s all sunset and as such, only showcases one very specific use case.

If I went for an R3, I’d get this lens, also because A. I think it needs a grip to balance the bastard of a thing and B. because the R3 is very light for a built in grip camera. Still a 2.5kg unit paired up…but that’s still lighter than my S1H, battery grip and Leica 24-90 I have been running about with all day at 2.85kg 🤪 But then I’m still considering I really need to get this weight down because it’s a bit nuts… In the end, same as it ever was, there needs to be a compromise somewhere…

My definition also. Some would add ‘conduct’ to that, but I think that that is a different definition of ‘professional’. The tools are not a benchmark and someone else’s opinion does not matter. Unless their opinion stops you from getting the or any other work with them. I am a full-time ‘professional’ and have been for over 20 years but have used all kinds of kit that would not be considered as such. Most of a season shooting all my hybrid video on a tiny pocket Sony RX100v (before switching to its bigger brother RX100). Most of a season (photography only) with a single card slot, original X100 with a pocketful of batteries. The tools I find are just the limitation. The RX100 was fantastic…except it overheated all the time and was not great in low light. The X100 produced the most sublime film-like images…but it was fixed 35mm and if stuck at the back of a church… But the sole source of my income and a pretty decent one. Some might argue it wasn’t actually very ‘professional’ of me to have relied on those ‘non-pro’ cameras, but exploration and pushing boundaries is part of the enjoyment for me. Today I am a bit more cautious but still take a punt every now and again… The other week I did so with a vintage zoom lens. I got away with it but flipped it at the mid point of the 3 day job as I knew it wasn’t working as I would have hoped. A professional making an arguably slightly unprofessional choice initially with an arguably non-pro piece of kit before making a professional decision to switch back to a more ‘pro’ piece of kit 😉

I hear you and will be sailing in that very same boat over this Winter… Pros and cons to each option… A single ‘S2H’ would be my preferred option to simply replace my S1H and then the pair of S5ii’s could remain in their role for quite a few more years. Nikon or Canon systems would just require massive investment so holding out for something from within L Mount which could be even Leica or Sigma. As things stand, based on what exists, I think the R3 body would be my number one, but the Nikon pairing plus adapted (and soon native) Tamron lenses pips it for me as a total system. If cost did not come into it, otherwise L Mount because it will simply be upgrading a single body but a system change…big bucks! Fingers crossed also for Sigma to pop out a compact 70-180 f2.8 in L Mount or something to rival the Tamron and Samyang 35-150. I am really enjoying the results from the Leica 24-90 paired with the Lumix 70-200 but they are big lumps of glass and really I just want a single f2.8 compact as it can be, 40-120. Wishful thinking…

I suspect your ‘niggles’ with the Z8 might have been more because of your Canon background and stuff…well it works differently despite being ‘essentially the same thing’. I remember being a Nikon DSLR shooter and borrowed a friends 5Dsomething equivalent to my D3 or D3s for a short period of time and thought, “your shoot with this piece if shit?!” But the reality was it was basically the same tool but I just wasn’t in tune with it. Ditto tried a Sony A7ii I think it was and another, “really?” moment but it was probably as good or better even than my Fuji X Pro2’s of the time. Fast forward to today. The R5 is probably better for my needs than my S1H and then the R3 better still with both Z8 and Z9 probably an even better pairing. Do I want to flip? Yep, but not because I need to today but because I need to for that next gen spec I actually yes, do need. I am pretty sure all of this stuff will meet my needs so it’s more a case of picking something and then getting super-familiar with it. For me, that means waiting 5-7 months, hope that Panny have an S1 successor out on sale and then getting my hands on one at the same time as a Z9 and an R3 and then making a final decision. I’m sitting in my camping car right now. Motorhome In English, RV in American. Previously I had/towed a caravan for my work away from home needs, (about 70 nights a year) but very first day I got it and drove it away from the dealers, I thought maybe I had made a mistake… Nope. It was just new and a bit alien. It’s like a glove now. I don’t miss the caravan at all and I won’t miss the 6lb 3 1/4oz S1H, grip and Leica 24-90 but boy is it a combo for the ‘23 season 😉

This is pretty much how us event shooters work to a T. With weddings especially, many folks like to think theirs is different and in some ways they are…but basically they are the same… Couple get ready separately followed by ceremony followed by congrats, drink and nibbles followed by meal and talking and dancing. When you have been to 800 of the things over 23 years in 15+ countries in every month and in every weather with many cultures and size ranging from 2 to 400… People are indeed creatures of habit with little variety in reality!

Plus no personal bias and doesn't judge you based on your choices 😉

You me and quite a few others…but a completely different topic methinks! 😉

Being serious, that’s actually quite interesting John and I will try it myself next time I have a question I need answering.

Was the answer to all of these, “Let’s get undone”?

Which is partly why I use a pair of them plus an S1H!

Cost cutting and I suspect 99% of users won’t experience overheating etc. I think somewhere like here with a mix of pros and keen enthusiasts, we consider these things more. I was ready to rubbish a stick on fan, but having looked at it, and the preorder price, thought it was quite decent actually and if it works and can make something like that new Sony better, then great. The Fuji option looks good also. But yes, part of me would like to see everything included but then every bit of kit would probably cost too much and could not exist in the marketplace?