eatstoomuchjam

Were there reports of it overheating beyond some reviewers finding that in the most taxing mode (6k open gate IIRC), it would overheat after more than an hour of continuous recording?

The Pyxis and Pyxis 12K price changes were initially right in line with the Chinese tax hike. Then a day or two later, the Pyxis 12K price dropped to the Aussie rate. BMD said they shifted enough to Australia to make that a thing. They had also made a comment that they build some of their equipment in China and some in Australia. At a guess, I'd say they focus on the high end where there's ostensibly more profit margin in Australia. That or they just figured nobody would bother auditing them if they claimed it. I'm sure that a big part of it was that nobody was going to buy Pyxis at $4k and the Pyxis 12K at $6600 was about $1,100 less than UC12K and unlikely to be purchased by anybody since anybody looking to spend $7k on a BMD camera probably already did with UC12K. Like me. I went on a crazy buying spree in the last month since I knew the tariffs were coming. Now my credit card bills hate me (which is translating to my bank account hating me), but I do have some fancy gear now. Anyway. None of that detracts from your point about all of the prices being pure chaos. In the reddit small business forum that I linked above, a bunch of people were complaining that foreign suppliers (mostly Chinese) were refusing to even do business with them, at least partly on the basis of insane and unpredictable US tariffs.

Why's that? I thought BMD did enough manufacturing and assembly for it in Australia that it would be an Aussie tariff instead of Chinese. During the initial round of tariff increases, they only changed the price by 10%.

Cool! I hope you get a response somewhere! They don't come up for sale too often - it's really a niche product and the people who have them tend to love them and hold onto them. Last time RG released them? The only reason I remember is because I ordered a second DSO - the first one was with the oval fixed faux aperture, no tint, and a black exterior (which makes it around a T2 lens). For the one I ordered in December, this is what was on the receipt: Anti-Reflective Coating Removal: Remove Edge Tinting: Amber Aperture: Fixed Q1.5 (Ultra Low Contrast) External Finish: Rat (Rusty) Qty: 1 £275.00 / Item If you can get them from RGO when he decides to do a run, it'll be a lot better price. I paid about $2k for first one with the 38 and 88 converters. Kits tend to sell for about that much when they come available. Oh, and FWIW, I don't think any converters were being sold during the December run. But also keep in mind that the converters will severely limit the coverage when used with an anamorphic adapter. One other thing - if your goal in getting DSO is to get a wider anamorphic look when using a 1.3x anamorphic adapter, you might also consider looking at the new Blazar anamorphics that they announced at NAB. They're 1.3x with a variable oval aperture which should put them in a similar anamorphic/anamorfake category.

Well, the 90-day pause is good - should reduce a lot of suffering for a lot of people, but there really doesn't seem to be an endgame in the tariffs on China. We need their goods a lot more than they need ours - and they know it.

Looks even worse from the inside, believe me. But I wasn't talking generalized bloodshed - I was talking about martial law after massive protests against the use of the insurrection act to deploy the US military within our own borders. Once the big protests start, it just takes a little bit of violence or property damage for a president (who has already defined Tesla dealership vandalism as domestic terrorism) to declare that there's a need to expand the use of the military to contain the unrest. Newsweek has a non-hyperbolic take - I personally just believe it will go further than they think: https://www.newsweek.com/insurrection-act-martial-law-comparison-donald-trump-deadline-2057016

Agreed that the Republican party is unlikely, absent other factors, to do anything about the tariffs - but I just got linked to the smallbusiness subreddit today and if it's any indicator, small businesses (who tend overwhelmingly to be supporters of Republicans) are starting to melt down. One person was complaining that they'd ordered something like $3,500 in parts from China pre-tariff and they arrived yesterday. DHL gave them a bill for $2,500 in tariffs that would be due within 5 days or they'd send the parts back. Another thread asked if there would be any positive outcome from the tariffs for small businesses and the responses ranged from polite to scorching, none of them even remotely positive. Reddit isn't real life, of course, and I'm sure that a lot of business owners haven't been directly impacted yet, but give it a month or two and let's see. I guess the big question at this point is whether those same people are willing to accept martial law if it gets declared sometime in the next month, as people have pointed out that our glorious leader has been teeing up since the inauguration.

Have you checked with Richard Gale? He did a new run of DSO lenses in November or December of last year. Maybe he has plans to do another run sometime this year. Also, if you aren't already a member of the Richard Gale Optics facebook community, you might consider joining. They come up for sale every so often and if you ask there, you have a decent chance of finding somebody selling theirs. That's where I got my first DSO lens and the 38mm and 88mm converters.

Well, he just announced that at midnight, the tariff on Chinese goods will raise to 104%. I just can't stand all this winning.

Did Sony stop putting the little rubber gasket on their battery doors? They used to have them just like most other camera vendors have them. The purpose of that gasket is to allow you to run a cord for a dummy battery and still close the door. And you don't have to put the battery in a pocket. That's just one place. You could put it in a backpack or hip pack. You can also attach it to the camera in a number of ways - that'll just increase the bulk/size of the camera which is what you initially said you don't want to do (thus the suggestion that you put it on your body instead). You really have two options available to you to power the camera: - You use the internal battery of the camera - You power the camera with an external source, either by USB or dummy battery (or by a DC barrel plug if the FX30 has one) and then you put that external source somewhere. If you don't need to operate the battery continuously, you can certainly put a power bank in your bag and plug in the camera when not in use so that it'll recharge from the power bank. That'll be a cheap option which leaves the camera the same size/weight when it's being used.

I'd also say that statements like this are often fairly privileged. The people I know who would self-describe as "localvores" or similar end up spending more on things like produce because it also comes with buying organic/sustainable and with well-paid labor. These are all things that I support and like - and I try to be mindful of them in my consumption as well, but I also have a good income, no kids, and I've paid off my house and car. For the people living in the house next door to me which is government-subsidized housing for struggling families, I doubt that "pay twice as much for your produce to support local farmers" is as compelling as "have enough food that school lunch is the only decent meal your kids eat today." It turns out that transportation costs in the modern world aren't huge and are dwarfed by a number of other factors. And as the stock market is already showing. The whole "buy and use less" thing sounds great - but instantly shifting to it from more of a consumerist mindset means massive short-term economic chaos, some of which may be unrecoverable. "I'm sure that in 1985, plutonium is available in every corner drugstore, but in 1955, it's a little hard to come by!"

If the dummy battery cord is long enough (or if you use an extension), you can keep the dummy in a pocket while recording. I did that once while trying to film a documentary about a friend's sled dog race in Alaska in Winter. For the unattended camera on sticks, I put the battery in an insulated bag that I hooked to the ballast hook on the bottom of the tripod. For the camera that was either handheld or on sticks with me, I kept the dummy battery in my jacket's internal pocket. The documentary fell apart for any number of reasons, but at least the cameras were working throughout the limited shoot.

Some updates from cined at NAB. They said they knew before, but I somehow missed that the Eterna will be dual native ISO at 800 and 3200. I think the GFX 100 II is only single native ISO at 800. So that's a differentiator - but I also hope they'll bring 3200 to the GFX 100 II since, at least for me, having a higher native ISO is generally more useful in a travel/run and gun camera than on a camera that I'll be using on set. Also, the electronic ND will indeed be internal which wasn't fully clear before (even though it would be the only thing that makes sense). It's a mechanical mechanism which goes between clear and ND. https://www.cined.com/fujifilm-gfx-eterna-camera-development-update-internal-nd-hot-swap-audio-and-more/ This wasn't clear before, but based on the cined interview, it does not. The camera has a 3.5mm audio input and won't have XLR without the Tascam attachment.

Angénieux lenses! Are there uranium mines in France? Plus only eating local means a greatly reduced diet from what a lot of us enjoy. I'm not even sure about that. What do smaller countries do? Does Singapore just become part of Malaysia or Indonesia? I doubt there's even close to enough space there for them to make everything they use/need. Do people in Taiwan just start eating microchips since they make a lot of those, but the island is probably too small to have agriculture to feed the whole population?

Also don't forget that many of those countries have looser environmental rules than the US. Of course, part of shithead's dismantling of regulatory agencies is to also relax our environmental regulations - won't we all be happy when there are toxic chemicals poured with impunity into the ground and water. Make America Bhopal again? If there's one thing that the US has done very well through most of its history, it's dislike foreigners! Nearly every wave of immigrants has been despised until a couple of generations after they arrived. Exactly this. A bunch of other countries have already started negotiations or entered trade agreements with new suppliers as retaliation against the US tariffs. Apparently soy exports to China have already cratered. Know anybody who wants about 18 billion dollars worth of soybeans? We have a few spares. Brazil, on the other hand, has suddenly found an excellent new market for theirs. Time for some farmers to illegally cut down some more of the Amazon to feed the demand!

The other part of this is that if the goal is to increase manufacturing, there should be a stated date for the tariffs to go into effect which is far enough away that companies can build/buy factories and train workers. And the tariffs also shouldn't be on things like the raw materials needed to build the factories in the first place and/or that the factory will need to operate. Or the food that the workers need to eat. You don't, but several red states have passed laws in recent years (or have them currently in debate) to make it much easier for children to have jobs. Even now, the legislature in Florida is in the midst of pasing HB 1225 which would make it legal for 13-year olds to get jobs and remove restrictions on the number of hours that 16 and 17-year olds can work. It would also eliminate mandatory 30-minute meal breaks for 16 and 17-year olds during shifts of more than 4 hours. Also, it would allow kids who are 14/15 who are home schooled or in virtual school to work unlimited hours 7 days/week, also without any mandated meal breaks. And it would say that they could start at the beginning of summer break during the calendar year when they'll turn 14 (which is how it allows 13-year olds to get jobs). So, soon enough, we could be making america child sweatshop-friendly again!

Right, but the reason he released the local representatives was because Moraes was threatening to have them arrested after Musk refused to block several accounts that he found were focused on spreading defamatory fake news. Musk thought he'd found some idiotic loophole where he could just close their office in Brazil so nobody would be arrested. Moraes gave Musk 24 hours to appoint a new representative and when Musk didn't, Moraes ordered ISP's to block access. I stand corrected about Starlink, though. You're right that it wasn't blocked - just with its assets held. And yes, private wsp/telegram groups are also a huge problem.

This, yes! In the year when I went, B&C Camera had some really great deals for NAB. I think I bought a PanaLeica lens or two then. I don't see anything on their website now so either they're too confused by tariffs or the deals are in-person only.

I think Blackmagic are still figuring things out. Right now, I see the UC12K (body only) listed at "Only $7,695" - it was $7,000 when I bought mine a few weeks ago. I'm assuming the 10% increase is based on it being made in Australia instead of China. And now the Pyxis 12K is showing up as $5,495 which is a price at which they have at least some chance of selling it. The old price seemed to be based on making it in China. Maybe they're going to shift production to Australia or another less-tariffed country. Do people go to NAB to buy things? When I went pre-covid, there were no sales on the floor. It was just a trade show with items for display, not for purchase. And yes, cinema cameras are just a thing where I pay some attention to prices so it's a little bit of a barometer for me for the prices of all things. And judging by this microcosm, it's chaos and nobody really knows/understands what's up.

It would definitely help their sales numbers in the US. As it is, a $6600 Pyxis is going to be a much harder sell than a $7700 UC12K, other than that the Pyxis is so much smaller and lighter. Otherwise, most people who were going to spend about $7,000 on a BM camera probably already did with the UC and/or will continue to hold out for the bigger camera with a less silly screen, built-in ND's, etc.

And Brazil has stricter and better laws about hate speech and false reporting than the US - the reason that Twitter and Starlink were recently shut off in the country for a while. It's even worse here where that's not even a thing. Speaking as someone from the US, this is more true than I'd like it to be.

Some new details courtesy of Petapixel: - Will support 4:3 open gate (brace yourself for rolling shutter comments!) - "Will have an electronic variable ND filter" - 0.6-2.1/2-7 stops - I'm assuming this is in-body, but they didn't specify - Supports an internal NP-W235, seemingly as a backup - CF Express type B and SD card slots - Supports Tascam XLR Microphone handle - Frame.io support https://petapixel.com/2025/04/06/new-fujifilm-gfx-eterna-details-a-fancy-variable-nd-frame-io-and-more/ If they bring 4:3 to the GFX 100 II, it could be fun for anamorphic shooters, especially if anybody comes out with some decent anamorphics that cover it for under $5k. The electronic variable ND is a good idea too. Still, if they don't nail the pricing, it'll be a hard sell vs the Ursa 17K now that it has a $22k (or so?) body-only option (or maybe more now for those of us in freedom-land). At least the 44x33 sensor is a differentiating factor vs the 56x24mm sensor.

Yes, in many cases, it would be the original vendor. Because especially on the stock market, they care about profit margin and not absolute dollars. In a theoretical situation, let's say Canon currently sells a camera for $3,000 and they get 10% profit margin on it. Now there is a 10% tariff levied. Will they sell the camera for $3,300? No. Because then they go from making 10% on each camera to making 9.1%. Their stock will drop. Instead, the camera will sell for $3,340 or so. Now the margin is retained and wall street isn't pissed off. BMD, I think, isn't a public company and as far as I can see, their US price increases pretty closely track the tariff increases without maintaining margin. The changes have caused total havoc on BMD's pricing - UC 12K only went up 10% or so from $7,000 to $7,700. Pyxis went up 33% to $4,000 and Pyxis 12K went to $6,600 which puts the price way closer to the Ursa now, making it a harder sell.

I'm about 80% there with you, but if the so-called "AI" tools are also for things like making smarter masks/object tracking in Resolve, I'll gladly take it. I have 0 interest in generating random lamp posts in my footage, but for my last short film, I spent a bunch of hours doing object tracking manually for somebody's eyes to turn them black when she gets possessed because when I tried the automatic tracking, the machine kept losing track of them. When I looked online to see how to improve the hit rate for automatic tracking, the general advice seemed to be "adjust some parameters and try again and keep doing that until it's tolerable." If there's some machine learning model that makes it track like super duper well, I'd even consider paying a small upcharge for it. As it is, I'm probably going to pay more than that to have a real special effects person do it because my end results are a bit trash (though thankfully most people watching don't comment on how the blackened eyes are shifting on the face a little bit).

That's the specific reason, though, that they are that different. If BMD charge me $60 to upgrade to the latest major version every year and I am not interested in the new features that they added, I pay them $0. If they go to a subscription model and charge me $5/month, I pay them $60 every year and if they add new features that I don't care about, I still have to pay them $60 for it or I can't use the existing features that I need. Basically, a subscription model removes the impetus for innovation and for developing features that customers are interested in. Like if the new feature is "we added a stock footage catalog that you can also pay to access," I wouldn't want or care about that new feature. I haven't used stock footage before and don't expect to use it any time in the near future. So yeah, there's a world of difference between a subscription and an optional yearly cost for extra features (and this is more or less how Luminar have been doing things and I'm here for it)