Photokina 2016 preview and summary of the year in video so far

[Cinegain]

Remember hearing about these guys? http://www.craftcamera.com

In the slight chance they really do intend to bring out this camera, their site says 'Starting in the fall of 2016, Craft will be visiting cities around the globe'. I'm skeptic they will come through at all, but I do feel like that's the kinda thing we need right now... Updates have been due for months now... but hopefully we're able to catch a glimp of life some day soon.

I need to go somewhere from the GH4. I refuse to use traditional DSLRs and their quirks, I don't per se need fullframe cameras either. S35/APS-C would be rather perfect. Nice enough crop to easily create a shallow depth of field, have a broader selection of wide lenses, better high-ISO performance... Surely I could live with the M43 format and speedboost lenses, given the ISO performance is not far from that of an APS-C mirrorless camera such as the A6300.

Sony's reliability is affected, some think it's managable, I personally don't want to get something with that kind of track record that can bail on you at any given moment. Colors are tricky (color channel clipping too). The rolling shitter. Samsung did nice job in making a solid camera indeed... pair it with the S line-up lenses and you're still good to go. Great internals and infrastructure in place to pull sweet stuff from the sensor without all the issues the other brands are experiencing. Indeed, why is it you pay good money for cameras these days and they can't keep up? Also: can't they take notes/a hint from others?

Fujifilm indeed might be making waves. Although, it's still a very stills oriented camera, like I think the E-M1 II will be too, so video is going to be rather acceptable, but nothing to fancy in terms of usability and control. I'd really want to see sensor stabilization and a fully articulated touchscreen with cameras like that. The E-M1 II might be that, but will probably screw up writing it away to the card and create files that are rather thin spread sorta say.

For now it looks like the GH5 will be it. Everything the GH4 is and later was experimented with with firmware upgrades and trial features (including paid ones). Especially if the G7 and GX85/80 are an omen. Though I think it will still not be the ideal camera. I think it's going to be an incremental upgrade much like we've seen before. I hope however that it's a nice placeholder for the GH6, which will hopefully be more of a revolution than an update, sporting NX1-like internals and A6300-like lowlight performance. Maybe finally with the organic sensor, no additional crops and upped processing availlable... It would be amazing if next to 'regular' 4K60p they could do Blackmagic-like internal ProRes and DNG RAW at the 1080p resolution.

I also hope Nikon joins the APS-C mirrorless party. I don't think they'll go fullframe, as they want the pros to rely on their sturdy and reliable DSLRs. But something like the D5500 made mirrorless with mirrorless features and new flexible mount type I could really see working. They can almost keep the body style, the D5500 is not that much different than a GH4. Fairly chunky, but really manageable and then the fully articulated touchscreen of course. That's a good concept. But then with the Nikon advantages of excellent color and rendering overall, reduced crop (with the option of boosting it in the direction of fullframe) and better lowlight performance.

I hope by the time Christmas comes around we'll have some great things to choose from to put underneath the Christmas tree. But if indeed it takes CES and next year's NAB to come up with something sexay, I'm sure we'll make it through winter somehow. For a few months set aside the wishes for a new camera and just put focus on lenses, lighting, audio and storytelling.

[OliKMIA]

Yes, I've been holding it for long, waiting for the 5Dmk4 with a little bit of hope but Canon couldn't do it right once again so I'll probably go with the GH5 (already sold my GH4).

I must admit that Canon does such a great job protecting its camera division that I've been buying Panasonic camera and lenses since the GH4 despite my large EF collection. Congrats Canon.

[Geoff CB]

Fantasy: NX2 announced with Full Frame lineup.

[Django]

I wouldn't write out Sony too fast.. the Japan earthquake that affected their sensor factory completely messed up their 2016 release schedule but A7 III series & A9 should be serious contenders.. 

[Cinegain]

2 hours ago, OliKMIA said:

Yes, I've been holding it for long, waiting for the 5Dmk4 with a little bit if hope but Canon couldn't do it right once again so I'll probably go with the GH5 (already sold my GH4).

I must admit that Canon does such a great job protecting its camera division that I've been buying Panasonic camera and lenses since the GH4 despite my large EF collection. Congrats Canon.

Yeah, exactly why it's no use mentioning or having hopes for them. The only plus side is that the 1D C has come down in price... which is still a traditional style camera without all the modern mirrorless bells and whistles and gives you a bitchy workflow. Though yeah, the results speak for themselves. But unless it has a 'C'-badge you can kinda forget about it. And with the increasingly capable competition and Canon upping security protocols trying to block exploits, I also think people will find better things to do than trying to hack another Canon.

I want something up from the GH4, yet not spend the kind of money that would set me back an A7RII/A7SII set-up with fullframe covering lenses or having to go up to the league of Sony FS5 and Kinefinity Terra with all the add-ons. I just want to spend like 1799~2499,- and be done with it. Have my ideal camera that does it all. Something in between the things we've already seen the GH4, GX80, NX1, A6300 and D5500 do. How hard can that be? Sure there's Blackmagic which kinda tries to bridge the gap, but since the BMPCC I haven't really seen a camera that could be used as casual as the GH4. Also, shooting/light conditions have to be near perfect shooting with those. I get it, it's a 'cinema camera', but that doesn't mean I only want to shoot on well lit sets...

[The Chris]

27 minutes ago, Django said:

I wouldn't write out Sony too fast.. the Japan earthquake that affected their sensor factory completely messed up their 2016 release schedule but A7 III series & A9 should be serious contenders.. 

Agreed. Everything Sony has dropped since the hack a couple years ago completely caught everyone (rumor sites) off guard. They shut the lid on all leaks, many recent announcements got zero advance notice via rumor sites - we just woke up to new camera news. I'd be more surprised if we didn't get something big from Sony.

[Tim Sewell]

I'm still working on mastering my secondhand FS700 - I'll be holding off any purchases! (Full disclosure: I don't have to make my living out of it)

[k-robert]

6 hours ago, etidona said:

Agreed on all but the gh5 wish list looks unrealistic. I suspect we will see a little image quality and autofocus improvement due to the new processor and the same gx80 stabilized sensor. Give me just that and I'll buy it.

There is no way Panasonic is using the few years old GX80 sensor in the new GH5.
I don"t believe it and don"t know where this info comes from, and don"t understand why people are repeating it.

Just think about it. Within this business unit, the GH5 is going to be the most important camera for Panasonic. In the electronic business, no "normal" company can come out with a technology from yesterday. If Sony is delivering the sensor, than it is going to be the a6300 stacked and back-lit technology. That's exactly why, we are waiting for the GH5! There is plenty of GX80s on the shelves,so that sensor would be available, but the GH5 is waiting for another sensor :-)

[Flynn]

What is the hold up with the organic sensor? It sounded so promising.

[Cinegain]

As with all new tech, it takes time to implement well. We're probably looking at 2018 rather than right now I'm afraid.

But then you have sick dynamic range, insane lowlight capability, very good color reproduction and global shutter to end the swirly swirls and bendy bends!

So yeah, definitely something to get excited over and worth waiting for...

[tyger11]

The crop on the X-T2 isn't too bad, really. The real weakness appears to be the requirement of the battery grip to get the headphone jack, and reasonable record times in 4K.

Depends on the kind of shooting you do, of course, but those two things would bother the hell out of me.

It'll be interesting to see how Canon screws up the XC15 that's coming. I don't know if that's supposed to be at Photokina or later, though. Nothing is known about it at this time other than that it's coming.

[OliKMIA]

18 minutes ago, tyger11 said:

It'll be interesting to see how Canon screws up the XC15 that's coming.

Price, lens, aperture, FPS. Will be a refined mix of all that probably.

[mercer]

10 minutes ago, OliKMIA said:

Price, lens, aperture, FPS. Will be a refined mix of all that probably.

Spoken by someone who hasn't used the XC10 I presume?

[Matt Holder]

Sign me up for the Gh5 even if  IBIS is all they bring to the table.

 

Right now with my current gear  - Gh4 and Olympus 7-14, Panasonic 12-35 and 35 - 100 - and the venerable Voigtlander 25  - Sliders, steadicams, panasonic's AMAZING native codec (it really is under rated) and the turbo editing speed of FCPX ..

 

-I reckon i could be QUICKLY creating great content for the next 5 years without any need of an update. 

 

Its nice to have too many stories to tell, a ton of forward bookings from clients and no new gear acquisition syndrome! 

[Brian Williams]

As someone who preordered the X-T2 the minute preorders opened, and then cancelled that same preorder in order to buy a used A6300, I have to say I think you're way too hard on the A6300. Yes, the ergonomics are weak compared to the beauty that Fuji is, but it's still a pretty amazing camera, one of the best Sony has made, including its FE line. The X-T2's omission of 120fps and the A6300's inclusion of it was a big factor in my change of plans, as was the fact that it was half the price. From my tests I get 30minutes of 4k before overheating happens, and I've never in my life records for that long in one sitting; I know tons of people do, but I don't and probably never will. And from what I've read from reviews, rolling shutter is the same between both cameras.

Not trying to knock the X-T2 in any way, I wish I could have both, but to say the A6300 is anything less than great is hard to swallow.

[sanveer]

1 hour ago, Brian Williams said:

As someone who preordered the X-T2 the minute preorders opened, and then cancelled that same preorder in order to buy a used A6300, I have to say I think you're way too hard on the A6300. Yes, the ergonomics are weak compared to the beauty that Fuji is, but it's still a pretty amazing camera, one of the best Sony has made, including its FE line. The X-T2's omission of 120fps and the A6300's inclusion of it was a big factor in my change of plans, as was the fact that it was half the price. From my tests I get 30minutes of 4k before overheating happens, and I've never in my life records for that long in one sitting; I know tons of people do, but I don't and probably never will. And from what I've read from reviews, rolling shutter is the same between both cameras.

Not trying to knock the X-T2 in any way, I wish I could have both, but to say the A6300 is anything less than great is hard to swallow.

May I ask, at what temperature were you recording and did you cover your A6300 with a shade of some sort. 

"

Perhaps the headline feature from the stills point of view is the Dual Pixel RAW set up, which allows you to make image adjustments even after you’ve shot them – refocusing and, even more interestingly, messing around with bokeh.

Here’s Canon’s technical explanation: “Each of the EOS 5D Mark IV’s 30 million pixels is made up of two photodiodes which can be used together or individually. This technology enables the creation of Dual Pixel RAW files which contain a pair of images shot from two very slightly different points of view.”

When processed with their Digital Photo Professional software, the files can be adjusted in three ways: Image Microadjustment allows the position of maximum sharpness to be adjusted; Bokeh Shift allows out-of-focus highlights to be shifted horizontally so they coincide better with in-focus elements; and ghosting reduction can be used to reduce the appearance of artefacts like flare."

 

All this from NewsShooter.com

Canon is innovating, though a lot of this may be similar to Panasonic's post focus, as well as things that could be done in Post Processing. And, may bot be something that users specifically want.

 

Also, it makes one realise that Panasonic needs to Upscale its Post Focus, Light Composition and other features to 16MP, rather than 4k, and RAW, if possible, to get the maximum benefits out of such excellent features. 4k photos may be limitedto 4k (or 5k perhaps), if they require 30p, and if the sensor's 24 frame shot rate is at a maximum of 4k (and any higher resolution). 

[Brian Williams]

1 hour ago, sanveer said:

May I ask, at what temperature were you recording and did you cover your A6300 with a shade of some sort. 

I'd guess it was about 80°F and no, no cover; I did have the screen articulated out for the tests.

I just got the camera around the time that the newest firmware came out a few weeks ago, and though the firmware notes only mention fixing overheating in still photos, I saw a bunch of people on a DPReview forum claiming to see improvement in video recording (while some claimed to see none). So I decided to do a test myself, though I have no experience with the previous firmwares so I can't really say if there is an improvement or not, but both tests gave me right around 30minutes, which like I said, for me, is more than I'll probably ever need. 

[sanveer]

1 hour ago, Brian Williams said:

I'd guess it was about 80°F and no, no cover; I did have the screen articulated out for the tests.

I just got the camera around the time that the newest firmware came out a few weeks ago, and though the firmware notes only mention fixing overheating in still photos, I saw a bunch of people on a DPReview forum claiming to see improvement in video recording (while some claimed to see none). So I decided to do a test myself, though I have no experience with the previous firmwares so I can't really say if there is an improvement or not, but both tests gave me right around 30minutes, which like I said, for me, is more than I'll probably ever need. 

Thanks for all the information. 

Interestingly the heat issue with the A6300 is like recall issues in cars. Many cameras did not have it, and thus did not need any firmware to resolve it. Others had it and benefitted (mildly) from the firmware update. And many had absolutely no effect even with the firmware update. So Basically Sony A6300 cameras having issues with OverHeating, would depend on where you bought your camera from (and maybe even with what batch it was).

80°F is under 27°C, so it is not really that hot. But I suspect, you got one of the cameras that were 'safe', for want of a better word.

Excellent Camera, very erratic quality control implementation. 

[Django]

3 hours ago, sanveer said:

 

Perhaps the headline feature from the stills point of view is the Dual Pixel RAW set up, which allows you to make image adjustments even after you’ve shot them – refocusing and, even more interestingly, messing around with bokeh.

 

 

Although this may sound kinda revolutionary on paper, DPreviews early hands-on insists this will allow only very small micro adjustments. They make it sound like it's more a marketing gimmick then actual useful tool. Guess we'll have to wait for more conclusive tests/ information..

Touch screen Dual Pixel AF for video though is the main ticket and I think will be a feature the competition will need to start copying to stay ahead the game..

 

[sanveer]

36 minutes ago, Django said:

Although this may sound kinda revolutionary on paper, DPreviews early hands-on insists this will allow only very small micro adjustments. They make it sound like it's more a marketing gimmick then actual useful tool. Guess we'll have to wait for more conclusive tests/ information..

Touch screen Dual Pixel AF for video though is the main ticket and I think will be a feature the competition will need to start copying to stay ahead the game..

 

I agree. The dual pixel model allows for a person to noy have to spend too much time and effort on manual focus. With the right fearure set and settings it could help get rid of a follow focus set. Like those in the photo burst mode.