MrSMW

I have been toying with it… Not necessarily that specific lens, but Voigtlander. Around 12+ years ago when still shooting Nikon DSLR, I had this crazy idea to adapt a pair of M Mount Voigtlander primes to a pair of Panasonic GX1’s and shoot a wedding (stills only) with just that combo. Went OK. Ish. The results I did get were good but it was getting the results, especially any kind of tracking as I don’t think the cameras had focus peaking? There were flaws in the capture process to say the least! Anyway, Fuji announced the X100 and I bought the hype (which was real) and the camera and then went over to them exclusively for the next 9 years. Roll forward to the present day. I have a Leica itch. I can probably afford a Leica itch but the reality is I can’t justify it. I watch and read a lot of M Mount glass reviews and the general consensus seems to be that Voigtlander lenses these days are as good as Leica, but at a fraction of the cost. I have just bought (re-bought actually) another Leica TL2 to use as my personal camera and as soon as possible, I am going to make it manual focus only. Yes, I can use any of my Sigma Contemporary glass with it and initially will be using the tiny and compact 18-50mm f2.8, but would like to make it a fixed lens, manual focus compact ASAP. To that end, I have decided on the Voigtlander 28mm f2 Ultron as this will give me an approx 40mm FOV in FF terms which is my ideal all round focal length. It’s also going to be a test bed for both photo AND video work on my full frame S bodies. I have the EF-L adapter from Fotodiox with built in variable ND. My plan is to adapt M Mount glass to that with an M-EF adapter so I have ‘internal’ VND. My only real concern is getting the IBIS of the S1H to play nicely but it should if I set the focal length in camera and save the set up? My ‘ideal’ would then be a 28, a 50 and a 75 (or 90), over 3 identical bodies such as any future S2H…but this is not a definite plan. The only negative though is Sigma as in the Contemporary range of primes and compact zooms are perfect for my needs. So why even bother considering adapting MF only M Mount glass? Because any real artist strives to be different, not for the sake of being different (ie, a contrived and artificial difference) but because they are driven to achieve a level of artistry or craftsmanship that drives them to further creativity. That ethos is what led me to try those Voigts 12+ years ago followed by the move to Fuji (before they became a TikTok star) and now with L Mount. L Mount, at least from the camera side of things is for me, the best and most interesting platform to create and be creative with.

I suspect they are simply going where there is another regular presenting income without having to really do any marketing themselves. Nothing wrong with that and we all have bills to pay and being a self-employed creator has as many risks as it does potential rewards. I get the impression they have gone from one regular paid position to another as one door closes and another opens.

Ditto all of that but especially this. Traded a pair of S1R’s last week for another S1H. It’s not that I disliked the S1R’s and obviously their ultimate image quality is higher res, but in every other department, the S1H trumps it. Looking forward to a S2H, but not in any rush and even if available later this year, isn’t a viable option for me in ‘23.

In many businesses, it is so often the case to operate in one of the extreme ends as it’s too easy to get lost in the middle.

One good thing has come out of this… Andrew’s mention that Sigma has a blog and magazine. I’m off to check that out 👍

As I said, I thought they seemed too smug! I don’t know much about PetaPixel…

Yes, just saw that trawling YouTube. Obviously they already have a Plan B in place because that entire video was hardly a “goodbye, we’re up shit creek” piece was it. I don’t really care either way… On one hand DPR is a bit of an institution and quite useful, but at the same time, as long as you did not go into the comments section which is a pretty toxic pit to step into. It does all seem like there is something ‘happening’ that is not simply a closure.

Having said that, I am looking to get a dedicated manual M Mount (adapted) prime for my TL2 and have decided on the Voigtlander 28mm f2 (because 40mm or thereabouts) is my favourite focal length for a walkabout lens and the question is now down to; all black, all silver or black with a silver band and nose…and you know what, I am favouring the latter. ‘Minimalist bling’ 😬

Well actually…. Personalising both tools and everyday objects has been going on since forever. I am in Paris right now and yesterday was at one of the museums and the level of work that went into some of the suits of armour and intricate detailing on some of the guns was/is incredible. The armour just needed to take repeated blows of blunt or sharp instruments. The shooting sticks just needed to fire a ball of lead into another man. Ain’t nothing wrong with jazzing up your camera for shooting your fellow man (woman, child, animal, inanimate object or scene) in 2023! Personally, I’m more about the understated which is why I tend to prefer an all black camera (gunmetal would be my personal preference but rarely available) over silver and blacked out logos a la SL2s and S5iiix, but that’s just my preference.

I caved. Not to the X100V hype train…though I think it’s a superb bit of kit, but regarding the EDC. I have gone backwards and forwards on the whole ‘compact vs phone’ argument and as part of that process, discovered my iPhone 12 is in fact a 13 Pro (shows how much attention I pay to these things) but in the end decided I would like something more than my phone, but is relatively compact. Contenders were: X100V, X100 OG, XE4, FP, GRIIIX, Q2, CL and TL2. Went TL2 for the following reasons… Had one briefly last year but the screen began to fail so I sent it back to MPB for a refund. It takes all my L Mount lenses so I will pair it with the tiny apsc Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 zoom. It takes really nice pictures that do have a certain magic about them. It cost less than 1000 euros delivered, is mint and this time I went stealth black over the more bling silver I had previously. I did come very close on a mint OG X100 and the Ricoh was very tempting but in the end, had to make a choice and it’s the right one for me.

Taught against a neck strap or any form of strap. In fact a better option than the next strap is the twin shoulder harness such as the Holdfast Moneymaker (other brands available). Simply attach both straps to the camera and push the camera away from you and keep your arms locked and then make any movements with your entire body, not hands. Or there is the tripod ‘trick’ where you mount the camera on a tripod and then place a leg over each shoulder with the 3rd leg shortened and into your chest. Both work very well with non-stabilised bodies or lenses.

Same conclusion I came to already being a paid up member of the L Mount Private Members Club and having had both an OM-1 plus an XH2 in the house for testing. I loved the micro chunkiness of the OM-1 but didn’t like the quality of the video. The Fuji system I could easily have flipped back to having come from that ecosystem 2012-2020 and right now, I think there are only whiskers between XH2 and S5ii and could make a case for either. The XH2/s really is like a mini S1H/Z9 and I think I prefer it over the S5ii… …but not by enough to change system.

Depends on; the camera, the lens, the photographer, the location, light, familiarity/skill with the specific camera, processing/grading, yada yada yada. Leica can look great or it can look shit. Ditto; Canon, Sony, Nikon, Fuji and even old Pannyboy 😉 SOOC, Panasonic can be a little bit towards the magenta, but it’s such a simple fix, it just isn’t remotely an issue. Sony used to be green 🤢 and I still see some awful output, but also some great stuff so…

Lumix fan boy hat off, nah, shoot raw and the file is as good as anything else full frame. Came from Fuji and before that Nikon and before that film. SOOC might be different, I don’t know, probably/almost certainly differences but I never shoot SOOC.

Quite a few years back now, in the UK, when a kid failed his exams, it was no longer to be referred to as ‘failed’, but ‘deferred success’. What a load of old shit.

Yes, that as well. As I was packing up my S1R’s yesterday, I had the new S1H sitting bare body next to an S1R and it’s no contest body-wise. The S1H just feels better in the hand, has a better LCD, button positioning including on/off which is perfect on the S1H and just wrong on the S1R and then that top LCD just finishes it off. Some people class the S1, S1R and S1H as basically the same camera but with the S1R just having more megapixels and the S1H being the video-orientated one but I think the S1H just sits in a class above the R and the vanilla S1. I just think it’s one of those cameras that after the initial hype has died down, is actually a far stronger contender than most other stuff out there. I have watched over the last 4 years quite a few hop on the S1H only to drift away to either Sony or more recently the S5ii and now pretty much all those ‘Content Creators’ have moved on. But the S1H did not stop being great. In fact, at under 2k, it became even more fabulous. S1H fan boy? Yup, 100%. The S5, S5ii and S1R have all been or are just tools for my needs and I don’t feel any connection with them. The S1H though… 🥰

I came close to pushing the button on a SL2-S. Used of course, but still, almost 4k euros when my ‘new’ S1H was 1850. Why an SL2-S? As a 20+ year career photographer, I have always wanted to scratch that Leica itch and to my eye, the SL2-S is a stunning looking camera and the perfect size and form. The only camera I like and want more is the most recent Hasselblad and thought I could probably just about swing a single body and lens, as a system, which I need, no chance. Sadly. But then I can’t afford a Porsche either so drive a Skoda Octavia 🤪 Except it (SL2-S) doesn’t have a tilt screen and at that point, it came back out of the shopping basket and the S1H went back in. I don’t ‘need’ anything more now from a camera body. I ‘want’ of course, but the want now has almost no need and my next purchase will ideally be a fusion of S5ii, S1H and SL2-S and if it has the Leica styling, finish and brand, great. And I will take 3 of them and it will be a min 5 year investment. Or Sigma might throw a curve ball into the mix with an FP that actually works in the real world 😉 Providing they do bring out an S1 replacement which I am pretty sure they will and providing Leica pop out an SL3 which I believe is on the cards, then the future of L Mount is very rosy indeed and an extremely strong system of options and output.

I believe they will, or will at least be surprised if they do not. My ‘prediction’ is they will skip the direct S1 replacement and go for a twin pairing of next gen S1R and S1H with the S5ii fulfilling the place of the S1. I have zero idea re. their figures but the sales of the S1R especially cannot have been great? That camera is criminally under-regarded. Ditto the S1H. My second one turned up today and is charging. 1800 euros, condition ‘excellent’. When the S5iix comes out, prices of used S1H’s will drop even further but IMO, it may be 4 years old, but it’s a better camera in every regard except the obvious AF. I would like to see and almost certainly would upgrade to ‘S2H’s at some point, but part of me also doesn’t really care because there is nothing more I actually need, just would like.

S1H, S5 and S5ii and although I have limited experience shooting log (been mainly shooting profiles to date), I was determined to switch properly to using it this year and tried various conversion LUTs including Panasonic’s own, but found the Gamut one best.

In fact it makes me pretty cross they did not because the standard model is more than enough for it’s principal market so why not make the X more pro? Oh, I know…to protect the S2H. I hope… 🙏

Crossed posts. I agree 100%. I suspect most ‘filmmakers’ would agree whilst most content creators/‘shitters’ would disagree and require that selfie mode because you know it’s all about them and not the ‘content’ don’t you? 😬

Don’t know. Either both are fast enough for me and other stuff like these very slight differences between old and new gen re. color and detail etc, don’t interest me as in none of the things are deal-breakers. Flippy screens are! Exemption granted for the S5ii because of it’s specific role. However, had the S5ii or X had a tilt screen instead of a flip out, I would have flipped my S5, S1H and both S1R’s for 3 of them without any further thought. Ditto why I did not go with the XH2 I tested last year. But for the lack of a tilt screen, I would have traded it all for 3 of those. The tilt screen is THAT important to me and how I prefer to work.

Update: I did it...or am at least in the process of, ie, another (used) S1H is arriving tomorrow and next week, the pair of S1R's will be off. My season is almost upon me so I'd rather start as I mean to go from the very first job which will be a pair of S1H's for hybrid work and a single S5ii for mostly pure video useage. That WILL be it for 2023 and then, having established my preferred 3 unit set up in principle, can work in the future towards an identical 3 body set up also. Why not 3x S5ii or S5iix's? Side-hinged LCD is a deal-breaker for me. Hate is a strong word, but I truly despise such things. Tilt screens are king and the one on the S1H is perfect. Real-time LUT? No, not tried it, but like it and would ideally like to work with that in principle in the future. I'm not a 'filmmaker' or a commercial videographer/photographer that has to please a client who may wish to then use their own look, but an independent hybrid wedding photo/videographer who gets booked specifically for a look. I have however been playing with a creative LUT from Gamut and tweaked it to create my own grading LUT plus have made a preset for Lightroom for my stills using Photoshop, so pretty much the same thing, just not in camera. Again, it's another reason why trading the S1R's for another S1H will help in this regard because consistent grading will be much easier, especially as I am using log (for the first time) this year. Finally, why not flip the S5ii for a third S1H and have complete uniformity and interchangeability...which would be/is my ideal? The AF tracking issue. I have a need and the slight compromise of the grading side of things will be a compromise I can live with for another year. S2H please. Three of them. And then with a career expected to be another 8 seasons, could be my last ever pro camera...

Yes and had it for a couple of weeks now. Had a little play but nothing more though it starts earning it’s keep in a couple of weeks. I got it specifically for 3 reasons: Reliable AF tracking for those few occasions on every job where I need that reliability. No 30 minute timer, essential for me for longer wedding ceremonies and speeches. Fan. Never had my S5 overheat, but then I used to use my S1H as my principal static unit. The new boy has been mounted on a Ronin RS3 which itself is mounted on an ultra-light tripod (a fraction under 1kg) with the APSC Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 and DJI Wireless Go. This unit is purely for ceremonies, speeches, entrances, exits and couple stuff, either full length static or operating the gimbal in my hands. It’s now just a question of whether I flip my pair of S1R’s for another S1H… Pros: I prefer (love) the form factor of the S1H. It is my favourite, almost perfect camera though I would prefer it to be about 10% smaller and lighter ideally. Ideally, I would rather it had better AF, but it’s not terrible and in my use case, not really an issue. The button positioning and damper shutter are superb as is the rear LCD that I use exclusively to shoot with. It has an anti-moire filter. The pros of the S1R’s however are that I have 2 units so can use primes more easily, they were relatively cheap to buy (used) and have a higher res sensor for stills. Going from 4 to 3 bodies is better in most ways, but it does require me to lose two prime focal lengths and replace them with a zoom. The S1H counters with better low light capability. The biggest issue with the S1R’s is that because I shoot 4k 50p, I have to drop to 8 bit which is OK in most circumstances, but not all and I would rather all the sensors matched. The 5k on the S1R is superb, but there is no Vlog option, so editing mismatch issues.. Arguably the S5ii sensor is different but then so is my drone and OK, I need to do a little fiddling in areas. Conclusion = I think I am going to push the button. I might…just might, even consider trading the S5ii for a third S1H and go with that triple set up…

I have been eyeing up S1H’s today. Down well below 2k now on the used market. Can I really chop in 2x S1R’s for another however and go down from 4 to 3 bodies as I’d like? It’s just one single part (but the key one) of my job that currently stops me. At least without not having a fundamental compromise or more lens fiddling…