MrSMW

I don't click on it in sheer point of principal. Unless it's a very nice looking lady with limited clothing in which case I overrule myself. But if it's one of the camera reviewer crowd or anything else I might be interested in, making a mock shocked face with a caption, "you won't believe this shit!", I don't even bother to click on it and thumb you down. You just don't exist to me other than as another clickbait cretin on the internet. And even if you don't have a clickbait thumbnail, but every single frigging time it starts with you riding around on a one wheel or walking aimlessly about staring off into the distance... well look forward to getting past puberty. I'm off to make a video now about me making coffee.

I don't click on it in sheer point of principal. Unless it's a very nice looking lady with limited clothing in which case I overrule myself. But if it's one of the camera reviewer crowd or anything else I might be interested in, making a mock shocked face with a caption, "you won't believe this shit!", I don't even bother to click on it and thumb you down. You just don't exist to me other than as another clickbait cretin on the internet. And even if you don't have a clickbait thumbnail, but every single frigging time it starts with you riding around on a one wheel or walking aimlessly about staring off into the distance... well look forward to getting past puberty. I'm off to make a video now about me making coffee.

You don’t hear about them so much, but didn’t Tokina also release a set of primes for X Mount? I remember the chatter late last year was that they were probably going to be just rehoused Viltrox and whether that is true or not I have no idea. I was hoping around that time there would be solid info on an XH2 and these lenses might just be the answer to my Fuji video conundrum. But no, it was not to be.

Ah but Andrew, this is why YOU buy camera gear and I buy camera gear and many others buy camera gear, but I suspect we are actually a minority in this market. There are far more who are “gonna” but never actually do other than with their intentions. Nothing wrong with that and they are just harmless and if anything, help keep the camera industry alive for us pros and serious amateurs who do actually use our kit. I have no idea what the actual numbers would be but the percentage of kit sold to folks who actually really make use of it, for financial return or not, has to be single figures surely? Personally I find Gerald pretty harmless and a seeming straight up guy. I don’t think he is pretending to be anything but what he is which is a YouTube reviewer of gear who focuses on the technical side of things. He didn’t love the FP-L but then I didn’t either when Sigma sent me one for test. I wanted to. In fact I had hoped that having one hands on might allow me to find some reason to justify purchasing one, but the reality was it did just the opposite and confirmed it has multiple insurmountable flaws for my needs. But I did buy the 65mm f2 (that they also sent me) off the back of that test and it arrived yesterday! I shall now not make a YouTube video about it but it becomes my primary video workhorse welded to my S1H for the foreseeable future 😬

OK, I’ll play… Nikon Z7ii for stills and a Z6ii for video with Atomos recorder. Or sell the lot and go for a Panasonic S1H based system 😍

Interesting… Prior to Fuji XH1 shooting 1080 50p, I had no idea what I was doing. I probably still don’t but used the default. Moving to the XT3 and 4K, I went -3. Panny S5 and S1H, I think I am at -4 but am away right now on vacation so can’t check. Zero sharpening in post but used to use unsharp masking for 1080 as I found it a little soft. Might have a play when I get back myself but otherwise pretty much there with my ‘look’ based on the combo of; tweaked Natural profile, specific Sigma lenses and focal lengths, 1/8th mist filter, zero grade as such in post other than some basic stuff and then a single ‘like analogue film’ finish I had Aditya Varma make for me as a one off. Sharpening and skin tones are the only areas where I could maybe improve even further. Anyway, interested to see what you do @kye

Genuine Coca Cola is what, about £4 for ‘the same’ thing? Just imagine what they could sell it for if they did a Peter McCanon autographed special edition… Why not try for a piece of that action with ‘Tesco Cola’ Andrew? Have your name on it?! Just imagine, it could bring the price down even lower to maybe less than 10p a can? I would be happy to pay less for endorsed product. Always.

Ah, I see… Not being an external recorder user, I wasn’t much interested in the last update. Still not. But that’s fine, everyone’s needs are as individual as they are. Maybe we’ll get an AF tweak thrown in for the rest of us. Here’s hoping…

Another thing that stood out for me was the 'Adolf Hitler Moment' when Andrew picked up the R6...but somehow the rage was mostly contained in this instance. You do need a trademark gimmick however... Maybe a flat cap (being Northern) worn sideways. Think Norman Wisdom... In fact, there's a name for your channel, Andrew's Wisdom. "Ooh, Hironori Oishi-san".

Unless I'm being thick, didn't the S series (except the R) get BRAW a few months back, to an external recorder? I'd only be interested if it was internal.

Please please please Andrew will you consider doing a subscriber only tutorial on your awesome studio lighting set up? Also, I’d like to get that sponsorship for my own channel. Good job. Off now to look at wooden grip wonder cameras of yore…

Didn’t the 4/3 line get an AF tweak also very recently? Maybe/hopefully something there also as that’s about all that would interest me. Working with raw (video that is, for stills, always) is a bit above my pay grade and needs. But then having said that, I will consider anything if I think it will add some kind of value.

That was my experience, the f2’s were not great in CAF with the 35mm being the worst offender.

I know I sound like a fanboy, but for me/my needs, it is basically perfect other than the less than stellar tracking AF. Maybe could be 10% smaller and lighter? The Leica SL2 is the closest to the perfect size & weight combo for me. I would have rather it did not have big white LUMIX lettering on the front. I blacked it out on my S5 before the SL2-S came out 😉 But really, for my run & gun, as it is, straight out of the box, hybrid needs of high quality stills (raw) and at a flick of a switch, excellent SOOC 10 bit 4K 50p, there is nothing…nothing, else out there.

Don't tell anyone, but since getting my S1H, the S5 just doesn't compare in any area except maybe size and image quality. Build, handling, controls, the way everything clicks, shutter sound (sublime), rear screen articulation (the best rear screen ever designed) & resolution, EVF and actually, I quite like the weight of the thing which is basically 1kg/2.2lbs and gives a good stable platform for handheld work. And in regard to the whole size and weight thing, it's smaller and much lighter than my old Nikon D3S's, especially when you added in the 24-70 and 70-200 they went armed with...and then compared with the Sigma 35mm and 65mm f2's that are my new lenses of choice, no contest in the size & weight department. The S5 is going to static longer form duty with the Sigma 28-70mm f2.8 for all video work and when not doing video work, it will be my stills 'special' such as sticking on the 20-60mm for the wide end or the 85mm for longer stuff, or if I really need it, the 24-105mm f4 in APSC crop mode for it's long end up to '160mm' reach. Plus it is my other 'personal' camera. The Sony ZV1 is for family trips etc, but going say hiking in the mountains, the S5 with the 20-60 is the one. I'm a fan of the entire L Mount system, but especially the S1H and Sigma glass. I like the S5 but love the S1H and will be getting another as soon as the working/funds situation allows.

For sure. Also on what device, - phone, ipad, laptop, monitor, big screen TV? Is it a back-lit screen or not? Is it calibrated? What environmental conditions are you viewing in? And then there is how we each see and perceive colour etc... So many variables... I've long since stopped taking into consideration anyone else's opinion, - not colleagues, clients or even the wife's. The best thing you can do IMO is shoot and present to please yourself and if it's not for personal use only, no reason why not to and if it is for clients, book clients who like and want what you do without any of their own input. Unless you are happy/need to shoot to specific client needs, which is fine and equally valid. In 20+ years, with over 1000 clients however, I have never had a single one ever question my presentation, grading (photo or video) or any other visual factor. At least not after the fact. I have had maybe 4 or 5 that have asked certain questions prior to booking and then either did or didn't (book) and I have no idea how many have dismissed me without any conversation or even awareness on my part that there was something they did not like. But who cares if you are hitting targets. Yes, the odd wedding client, usually a mother asking why there are only 37 pictures with her in them but there are 38 with the other mother...because she's counted, or the very occasional soundtrack question, but this has nothing to do with the visual capture or processing. I did have one bride comment once that her pink bridesmaids dresses looked a different shade of pink to the actual material in my photos and the difference was exaggerated in; outdoor photos in the sun, outdoor photos under/in green trees, indoor photos with fluorescent tube lighting, indoor photos in a marquee with purple uplighters...but you know, life's too short to try and have a conversation explaining that what you are looking at is not, 'a dress', 'a colour singular', 'your mother', but tens of thousands of different coloured pixels... 🤪

Somewhere between the two, but if I had a gun to my head and had to choose one, I'd go with A. But B shows his face a bit better. B looks a bit 'thin' and more towards the yellow/green whereas A edges a bit towards the magenta? Of course when you put any 2 images together, these characteristics are enhanced.

Oh and as it’s an XT3 body, the 18-55 is a bit of no-brained as it has OIS!

Did I have?! XF

Terrible pulsing AF! For whatever reason, the 23 and 50 F2’s seem to suffer much less. Video-centric lenses is a Fuji weakness IMO. Maybe with an XH2, they might make something, but who knows… To tempt me back, I’d need the glass as well as the body and for me right now, somebody else does it better. Dustin, 18-55 then and as I said before, only consider anything else if that doesn’t work for your needs.

I suspected that would probably be the case in most circumstances and the principle reason why I did not go that direction. But...and this for me was THE sticking point, what about in 30+ degree celcius (shade) heat for typical 9-15 hour events here in SW France? I shoot for hours extensively in direct mid-afternoon sun and suspect both R5/6's might melt under such conditions. I was shooting my S1H last week in 23 degrees C which itself is not that hot, but with the direct sun combined with the camera generating heat, the camera was quite hot. Never shut down and even the cooling system set to auto did not kick on once. I'd have needed to test it really and renting kit in these here rural parts is pretty cost-prohib. Anyway, good to hear it's working for someone as I'm sure it does for many. Otherwise, L Mount AF is not horrible, it's just inconsistent at forward or receding tracking 🤪

Just to add, when I talk about f4, for me it's more a low light thing than shallow DOF 'issue'. F4 is f4 for light gathering regardless of sensor size (though that one will be debated forever in some quarters) but equivalent to f6 in FF terms re. shallowness of DOF. I'll take a faster aperture over a higher ISO if I can and this for me has always been the issue, the smaller the sensor, but anyway... I'd be tempted to just go 18-55 and ONLY if it flags up any shortcomings, look beyond that. Depends on your needs... I have an f4 zoom for my FF camera and on anything other than a very bright day, it's not for me for indoor use. 2.8's are better/borderline and 1.8's and faster, night and day difference. It also depends on your screen, EVF or LCD resolutions. Not that they directly affect image quality, but how you see things when shooting and f4 at a higher ISO on my S5 vs f1.8 at a much lower ISO on my S1H, again, night and day difference and as you age and your eyesight gets steadily worse, anything we can claw back is a good thing!

As you know Dustin, the XT3 was my workhorse for 2 seasons. I would say the outright best AF lens was the 18-55 but for me, as a long end zoom user, f4 was too slow and I didn’t like the variable aperture in principle. The 16-55 was probably the best lens for video native to Fuji. A bit too sharp, but a 1/8th mist would solve that and as they now come in variable ND flavour, this world be my first choice without question, effectively covering from 24-83mm in FF terms. Fave zoom however was the Sigma 18-35 f1.8. A bit chunky, especially with the adaptor and lacking a bit in reach forcing a change to a longer prime when needed, but delivered my best results. Fujis own 23mm and 50mm f2 both good but 35mm f2 not, Avoid the faster primes for anything but manual focus, especially the 56mm f1.2 Best cheap AF lens is Canon’s 50mm f1.8 which costs about 100 $£€. Not the quietest but surprisingly good AF. It would do a little rack dance and then lock on which I could live with. If you can work with a 75mm equivalent focal length, which I could bring a 50-100mm man. Little experience of Viltrox etc but the one unit I had, had a very loose aperture ring which drove me nuts.

We’ve discussed this before but most if not all cameras seem to be artificially gimped somewhere, but the ‘somewhere’ seems to be different with each brand so you pick your compromise. I’ve never been a Canon fan or user (other than a compact about 10 years back) but seriously considered an R6 for video and an R5 for stills. Still happy I didn’t make that choice on a number of levels and chose my compromise elsewhere. How does the R6 compare to the S5 then Andrew?

I had the Sony AX100 for that kind of thing but sold it and replaced it with it’s tiny brother, the Sony ZV1. Same sensor, unlimited recording (if you set it to do so), constant faster aperture, but doesn’t have the same zoom reach obviously. If weddings start up for me in the second half of this year, it will be on a lightweight tripod doing full length ceremony and full length speeches. Next year however, it will go to backup as my S5 will take over that roll. 30 minute limit in 10bit I know, but that’s OK as I will just stop/start at an appropriate moment. Battery life is utter trash however, but easily fixed with a small power bank and a Smallrig clamp on the tripod. The AF is great and you cannot trust the AF on the AX100 camcorder…as I found out on one job! Manual focus from that point onwards! Unless you really need the long zoom, some of these compacts or bridge cameras can do the same job? In the Sony camp, the RX10 line is again the same 1” sensor and I had the last one before they went silly with the zoom for the same purpose and that also worked well. For me though, the ZV1 was ‘the answer’ all things considered. Makes a great personal travel camera also.