MrSMW

Well confession time and that is I am doing a complete 180 on letting them go and instead cancelling my Zf pre-order… I would rather flip to Nikon but the finances don’t stack up and I did fluff up my own limited S5ii (photo) test by having a LUT burned in to my raw files. Forgot to reset that feature. Doh. I did wonder why they were so bad…🤨 Been having a play today with my wounded one. Another doh, - I sent off the fully functioning one to be fixed 🤪 But otherwise, initial start up time not brilliant but after that, not too bad or I am used to it so no big deal. Not a fan of the shutter button feel or sound, but that is coming from the ‘in another league S1H’. I would also rather have the rear screen from the S1H. And its build. And battery life. And OLPF. The S1H, which is the better stills camera IMO, is however going in to the static video role, ie, on a tripod with the biggest and heaviest lens. The pair of S5ii’s are going from video roles into hybrid with various max 750g lenses so no single big heavy unit (my S1H combo was 2.8kg) which was a bit much on a typical 12+ hour shoot, so no single in the hand unit will ever be above 1.5kg and most options well under that. Cost? Nothing. In fact I’m going to sell a couple of lenses so taking a hit on depreciation, but putting something back in the bank and lightening the load which is a primary aim. I still think the Nikon/Lumix combo I was considering (Z9 + Zf + S1H) would suit me better, but my man maths says it’s at least 5k to change and that aside, I can’t be arsed to go through the rigmarole, especially after ironing out a few kinks in the set up. I like my video output, though it could be improved. I like my stills output (just need to make a few tweaks from S1H to S5ii). I’m familiar with the system and actually hate change unless something needs to be changed or fixed or the new thing is quantifiable better. It’s more than decent kit. Niggles yes, but actually easily the best kit I have ever had or anyone in my position could ever need, so remaining Lumix for bodies and Sigma for lenses. For the time being at least…😉

Remove a single letter from sJcam and spell a new word. 🤔

At the very least… Perhaps even a slightly better promo pitch than the single line attempt above.

And really, there are better options for shooting steering wheels whilst driving. I think it’s overkill and a GoPro mounted on his hat would also have allowed him to keep two hands on the wheel. Or one hand on the wheel and the other on his coffee.

Eterna SOOC has to date been my favourite look also. I’ve tried to replicate it with Lumix and tried several ‘Eterna’ LUTS, but nothing has come close. I think I’ll have another go this Winter whilst waiting to see if an S2H/R turns up or whether I go back to Nikon. Not that Nikon will give me Eterna, that’s more a stills-orientated thing…

I always forget the XS20 exists… I think I’d pick it over an XT4 today?

Hoping to go see it ASAP but it’s a case of finding a local enough cinema here in France that is showing the Version Originale and not the Version Français dubbed offering…because it should be a criminal offence to watch any movie if it has been dubbed into another language! Not watching any spoilers or BTS prior either and actually rarely watch BTS because I know a lot of it is not real, but just like magic tricks, but I don’t wish to peak behind the curtain.

Had the XH1 and went to the XT3 trading IBIS for 4K 50p…and that is where it began to go wrong for me with Fuji… Put in a preorder for a pair of XT4’s at the start of 2020, but then Covid stalled that plan. Then the S5 came along and made a lot of sense as a sideways move more or less re. continuing with 4K 50p but gaining full-frame stills. With hindsight, would I have made that switch? No, I would have stayed with Fuji and followed it through to either XH2 or XH2s which is where I would otherwise be now. Personally and if you could swing it, I’d be trading my XT3 for an XH2S if video is more your thing, or XH2 if the priority is stills. Pure hybrid, there’s a case for each. Or both.

Something very wrong with that. I can charge my batteries up 2 days prior and they are still showing full charge in the camera. They may…and probably are down, but less than 10% or I’d lose a bar and they have never shown less than full. Possibly something in the settings as Andrew has suggested plus possibly they need a few full cycles of depletion and recharge to work properly? Or there may simply be an issue…

I haven’t noticed the battery drain myself but then I charge up all 6 of my batteries the day prior to use for my pair of S5ii’s…so I guess I would not notice. The start up time however. Yup. As someone who frequently, if not always switches off to save juice between shots (10+ year habit from my Fuji days) it is slooooow. Won’t be a problem for me any longer as the wounded one with disconnected 1/2 press AF button is off to be fixed today and then both along with various lenses are off to be sold. Pity because the S5ii has been a pretty great run and gun video camera, the best I have ever had in fact, but it has not been a great hybrid for me as I do not like the stills side and as that is 50% of my work…

And more of what were previously Sony only Tamron lenses are becoming available in Z Mount. But yes, lenses have always been my issue since late Fuji really, trying to adapt things that kind of worked and then the same with Lumix, - not quite the focal lengths that worked for me and so always juggling bodies and lenses and not always having what I needed to hand or in hand as required. If I was a pure videographer, zero issues. Ditto if I was purely a photographer, but I am neither and have not been for over a decade other than rarely. Nikon...or rather Tamron, wipes out that issue. It's the 35-150 really, - it's a god level focal range for what I do and fast, nothing else like it. I've known it all year but a mid season change was not realistic but now it's all in the bag, I am effectively a free agent for the next 6 months and I concluded this season adamant I would not be starting the next without the right combo of tools. I'm sick of compromise and frustration year after year and whilst there are some aspects of what I do that I have less or sometimes no control over, in this regard, I have total control. And I'm taking it. It's not about blaming the tools, but until recently, the right combo for my unique needs simply has not been available. It only became so in recent months. Z9 + Tamron 35-150 hybrid use. This is the key unit really. Zf + 40mm and still deciding between 28mm or 20mm, but probably going to have to go for the 20... primarily stills but some hybrid use. This is more the 'fun' unit that reduces the burden of the above 2.5kg unit for half the day. S1H + probably my 'vintage' Carl Zeiss 40-80mm f3.5 because it's perfect for static video duty, plus the Sigma 18-50mm APSC lens because it has some damage that makes it unsellable, but can cover off any AF requirements if needed. For full length ceremonies and speeches, it just does the job and makes zero sense to try and replace it. It's just 2x single long takes which also makes colour matching to anything else if required, much easier than dozens of clips. A bit of a no-brainer for me.

They didn't make much profit on it then!

If it was not for the requirement to have the 35-150 permanently attached, I would also, but the Z9 makes more sense than the Z8 with a grip. I'll take ergos over weight any and every day, hence why I prefer the Z9 form factor. For this lens combo. In principle yes, but in practicality, for me, no. This unit needs to go from medium wide to long in an instant. I'd prefer 28 over 35 and in an ideal world, 200 over 150, but the closest thing out there to my 'ideal' right now is that 35-150. I'm only going to be in the business for another 7 years so can't see any further brand swaps ever again. I'm not expecting a Zf/Z9 based set up to last that duration, but having said that, the only real reasons I've ever changed anything before are because the things I had could never quite do what I wanted them to do. This set up does and for me is actually 'Peak Camera'. I'm at the level I was aiming for. I'm not going to be coasting from here on in but rather much more focused on the craft rather than the tools now that the tools are no longer the weakest element.

I wish I'd bought yours now. And the 1/2 dozen others I have had in and out of various baskets...but almost 100% committed now. Zf already on preorder and almost certainly going to be followed by a used Z9 and the Tamron 35-150mm. Big (the later combo) yup and bigger than I'd ideally like but there just is no better combo for my specific needs, ie, does not exist other than this specific combo. It is slightly lighter and smaller than my current set up so well used to it and it's my only real compromise. But one with twice the megapixels for pure stills which I'd like and offers me the option to explore stills from 8K raw internally at 50p. Again, the ONLY option in existence at this time. And the Zf I never knew existed or was coming until it was announced, answered the remaining questions. Back to Nikon where it all started for me 23+ years ago. The S1H stays for static duty because there is no need to change it and it makes n o sense to do so. Season over for me now so starting the clear out...

I've just made a YouTube video 'Why I Am Switching' and it's because I am swapping the pig for a cow. So I can make a moovie.

I’ve just ordered 68 units. And a pig.

Clearly. There is a special handshake and everything and a solemn promise that what happens on YouTube, stays on YouTube. They give it all up to get their $2 ad revenue return… Just 10 years ago, the common folks paid these rawk stars a small fortune to go on one of their secret revealing workshops. They have since mostly become charities for the short remaining time they have in the industry.

Stop giving the world our secrets huh?! But that’s kind of the sum of it actually…

Decision made, I am getting one. Why? Because I have spendyitis vulgaris? Nope. Because it's only the second time in my life I have been inspired by a camera. The last time was Spring 2011 when the original Fuji X100 was announced. I drove 200 miles to a trade show in March to see and handle the thing and knew instantly it was right for me so preordered and had one of the first available in the UK. It arrived the day prior to my first wedding of the season so I took it alongside my pair of Nikon D3S's with big boy zooms. It was an instant revelation shooting bridal prep right up to the point the battery ran out of juice which coincided with the end of bride prep. Oops. Viewed the files when I got back and preferred them over the so called 'pro' camera files. There was a certain 'filmic/organic' look to them that has never been replicated by any camera I have ever used. I bought some more batteries and increasingly used that little guy over my pro cameras before actually shooting a large chunk of the season with just the X100. With hindsight, that was a little bonkers so as soon as the X Pro-1 was announced for the following year, I preordered a pair plus all 3 launch lenses and dumped the big Nikon stuff. Again with hindsight, it was probably a bit much/too little but I traded 'image quality' and joy of use for outright capability and range. Nothing has come close since. OK, the X Pro 2 did and so did the XH1 and more recently, the S1H, but none of these have really captured the intangible magic that the original X100 did. Today, I reckon a X100V might, but I think I have been there and done that now and it would not be another 'X100 moment'. I am pretty sure the Zf will be. I'm not expecting to get those same 'filmic/organic' files that the original X100 produced. I think that was off it's time, but instead, at the very least, the ethos and joy of using such a set up. But so so much more capable and without the shortcomings (crap battery life, super slow start up time and AF) of the X100. My education and career was for 5+ years on F2's or 3's, - it's that long ago, I'm not entirely sure so there is some heritage there just as my first proper camera was a Fuji STX2 that my grandparents gave me for my 16th birthday, which fostered a sense of nostalgia when I went fully Fuji in 2012. I have maybe 7 seasons left in this industry. We'll see about that, but 30 years I think is probably long enough and I think I am heading back to my roots and Nikon to see out those years. Not 100% committed yet, but I do have a need now to have something relatively lightweight and compact and around 35-50mm for at least 50%+ of my stills work so am going to get a Zf with the 40mm f2 SE lens as a very minimum for that very purpose. Beyond that, it's in Lumix's hands... They either produce a S2R or S2H within the next few months, or it will be Nikon all the way for me. It might still be Nikon regardless, but I need to give Lumix that chance because it will be a big and relatively costly move. Or it could even be a Nikon/Lumix mix as my S1H could easily be re-purposed into the mix as my dedicated static longer form video capture tool at which it excels.

In round figures (because it depends on the sensor) 8k 16:9 = 8000 x 4500 vs 6k 3:2 = 6000 x 4000, so for extracting portrait orientation stills, not that big a difference... As that hybrid shooter, it's my next project as in, in addition to shooting stills and video at the same time, can I also in certain situations, have both the highest quality video but also extract extremely useable stills that are indistinguishable to 'real' shot as photography stills? I have already established in my own mind I do not wish to go over to totally extracting stills from video and never doing photography, but rather using it as a bridge as it were when I need to do both at the same time and reduce my kit from 3 down to 2 units. Kind of limited on which cameras I can use to do this as I still want to shoot 50p for slow mo when needed...which just happens to coincide with when I'd want to extract those stills. I've tried it with 4k and the resolution is more than good enough for video, but not for the level of quality of stills I need to produce, but from what I have seen, 8k looking really good. There are a few 6k options but the only one that really fits the bill for my needs is the R3. The outline plan is to shoot 4k 50p + stills 90% of the time plus 6k or 8k raw 50p the other 10% of the time to have both video and pulled stills from the same camera and sequence. That's a good balance for me for remaining a photographer as much as a videographer but being able to reduce the kit which in itself, has various added bonuses.

?

It's the No.2 combo on my list of 3 options. As I've said before, I could live with this kind of size and weight if it had enough merit... My current combo of S1H + battery grip + Leica 24-90 f2.8-4 is superb except in 2 areas and that is size & weight, plus that lens is a leeeetle slow in low light and I wish it was a constant aperture f2.8. The rendering in combo with the OLPF S1H sensor is stunningly good. The R3 and 28-70 beats it on weight, but not by much, - around 300g or something so 2.5kg vs 2.8kg, not that big of a deal. It will be faster re. AF for sure and probably slightly more accurate and has much better low light performance...but, sacrifices 20mm at the long end and that is a lot as I shoot 90mm a lot. The 24mm vs 28mm at the wide end...I actually prefer 28mm which for me is the point at which going wider, especially with people on the edges of a frame, it starts getting a bit meh for me. So as a combo, it is enough to beat out my current set up, but then it also needs a longer lens such as that compact 70-200 f4...but that then causes me issues during ceremonies when I want/need both long and wide. The bottom line is it could work, but the reality is there is a better option for me and as things stand, that is where I will be going. For me it's always this balance between number of bodies vs primes or zooms and the reality is that much as I prefer primes in principle, the reality is I need a zoom based set up or it's 4 versus 3 bodies. I started this year with 4 and finished (this weekend actually) on 3. 2 is potentially on the horizon...

Another rabbit hole entered…

Is it the 40mm f2 SE? I'm not sure if they are different optically or the SE version is just a fancy retro-ish casing?

But I think only the old Sigmas and Tamrons so nothing like the latest 28-70mm f2.8 from Sigma which I think is L and E only or the Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 G2 which I believe is E only? I'm not personally interested in a system where I would need to adapt bigger and older lenses, but smaller/more compact and lighter though can understand why others might due to having the lenses or because older stuff can be bought 'cheap' used. That Canon RF 24-70 is pushing 1kg. I really want to get away from stuff like that. To be honest, I don't know that much about the cheaper/lighter RF primes other than that they are not that highly regarded whereas Nikon's Z 1.8's and Lumix 1.8's and Sigma's f2 Contemporaries are. As it stands, Canon have only 2 lenses in RF that interest me and to be honest, they are MORE than enough to build a system off and it's not totally out of the question; R3 + 28-70mm all day long except C&S flip to that 70-200 f4 and job done. But is that the best option for me based on what else is out there? It's on the list but I need hands on in Paris this Winter...